从前有一个王子，他一时兴起去周游世界，身边只带了一个忠实的仆人。一天，他们走进一片大森林，走到天晚了还找不到住处，不知道在哪儿过夜。突然，王子看见一个女孩向一所小屋走去，便跑到跟前一看，原来她年轻而又美丽。王子于是招呼女孩，说：“好姑娘，能让我和我的仆人在这小屋里过一夜吗？”“唉，”姑娘哀伤地回答，“可以是可以，但是我不建议你们冒这个险。”“为什么我不能进去呢？”王子又问。姑娘叹了口气说：“我继母会巫术，她对陌生人不怀好意。”这一来王子才明白，他已经闯到一个巫婆的屋子跟前啦。可是呢，天黑了，他不能再走，再说他也并不害怕，于是跨进了屋子。老巫婆坐在火炉旁边的一张靠椅上，用红红的眼睛瞅着陌生人。“晚上好，”她哑声哑气地说，装得倒和和气气，“坐下来，休息一下吧。”她吹旺炭火，在炉子上的一只小罐罐正煮着什么。姑娘警告两位客人什么也别吃，什么也别喝，因为老婆子熬的是魔汤。他们安安静静地睡到了第二天早上。当他们已经准备好动身，王子已经骑在马上，老巫婆却说：“等一等，我想请你们喝杯饯别酒再走。”当她把酒拿来时，王子已经离开了，只有正紧鞍子的仆人一个人在那儿，老巫婆端着杯子走来。“这杯酒带给你少爷，”她说，可就在这一刹那，杯子碎了，毒酒溅在马身上，药性大作，马突然倒在地上死了。仆人赶紧追上王子，对他讲了发生的事，可他舍不得扔下那鞍子，又跑回去取。他跑到一看，那死马身上已经站着一只乌鸦，正在吃马肉。“谁知道，今儿个还找不找得到更好的东西。”仆人说。他说着便打死了乌鸦，拎着它走了。主仆二人在森林中继续转了一整天，仍旧没找到出路。天晚了，他们发现一家小旅店，就走进去。仆人把乌鸦递给店主，要他做好给他们当晚餐。可是，他们落到了一家黑店里啦，黑暗中已潜来十二个凶手，想杀死陌生人，抢劫他们的财物。不过呢，在动手之前，他们坐上桌子，店主和那老巫婆也参加了进来，一起吃一钵汤。这汤里边，煮的正是砍成了一块一块的乌鸦肉。他们刚咽下几口，就全都倒在地上死了，因为毒汁已经从马肉传到乌鸦身上。这下在客店里没剩任何人，除了店主的女儿。她是个诚实的姑娘，没参加那些罪恶勾当。她为陌生人打开所有的门，让他们看见了堆积如山的宝藏。谁知王子却说，全由她一个人留着吧，他自己什么也不要，说完就骑着马带上仆人走了。
After they had traveled about for a long time，they came to a town in which was a beautiful but proud princess，who had made it known that whosoever should set her a riddle which she could not guess，that man should be her husband.But if she guessed it，his head must be cut off.She had three days to guess it in，but was so clever that she always found the answer to the riddle given her before the appointed time.Nine suitors(suitor n.起诉者，求婚者，请愿者)had already perished(perish vi.毁灭，死亡，腐烂，枯萎)in this manner，when the king"s son arrived，and blinded by her great beauty，was willing to stake his life for it.Then he went to her and laid his riddle before her.“What is this？”said he.One slew(slew v.回转)none，and yet slew twelve.She did not know what that was.She thought and thought，but she could not solve it.She opened her riddlebooks，but it was not in them—in short，her wisdom was at an end.As she did not know how to help herself，she ordered her maid to creep(creep vi.爬，蹑手蹑脚，蔓延)into the lord"s sleepingchamber，and listen to his dreams，and thought that he would perhaps speak in his sleep and reveal(reveal vt.展现，显示，揭示，暴露)the riddle.But the clever servant had placed himself in the bed instead of his master，and when the maid came there，he tore off from her the mantle in which she had wrapped herself，and chased(chase vt.追赶，追逐，雕镂)her out with rods(rod n.杆，棒) .The second night the king"s daughter sent her maidinwaiting，who was to see if she could succeed better in listening，but the servant took her mantle also away from her，and hunted her out with rods.Now the master believed himself safe for the third night，and lay down in his own bed.Then came the princess herself，and she had put on a mistygrey mantle，and she seated herself near him.And when she thought that he was asleep and dreaming，she spoke to him，and hoped that he would answer in his sleep，as many do，but he was awake，and understood and heard everything quite well.Then she asked，“One slew none，what is that.”He replied，“A raven，which ate of a dead and poisoned horse，and died of it.”She inquired further，and yet slew twelve，“What is that.”He answered，“That means twelve murderers，who ate the raven and died of it.”When she knew the answer to the riddle she wanted to steal away，but he held her mantle so fast that she was forced to leave it behind her.Next morning，the king"s daughter announced that she had guessed the riddle，and sent for the twelve judges and expounded(expound v.详细说明，解释)it before them.But the youth begged for a hearing，and said，“She stole into my room in the night and questioned me，otherwise she could not have discovered it.”The judges said，“Bring us a proof of this.”Then were the three mantles brought thither by the servant，and when the judges saw the mistygrey one which the king"s daughter usually wore，they said，“Let the mantle be embroidered(embroider v.刺绣，镶边，装饰)with gold and silver，and then it will be your weddingmantle.”
主仆二人又周游很久以后，来到一座城市。城里住着位美丽却非常骄傲的公主。她让手下宣布，谁能出一个她猜不出来的谜语，谁就做她的丈夫，谁的谜语她要猜中了，谁就得被砍头。她有三天的考虑时间，但她聪明极了，总是在规定的期限之前猜出了人家出的谜语。王子抵达的时候，已经有九个男人送掉了性命。可他让她非凡的美丽迷住了，决心拿生命去一试。他来到公主面前，说出自己的谜语：“有什么不杀任何人，却杀死了十二个人？”公主不知道这是什么，想了又想，还是摸不着一点头脑。她翻遍自己的一本本谜语书，里边也没有。一句话，她的智慧到了头。没有办法，她便命令她的使女，溜进王子的房间听他说梦话，心里想，他在睡梦里说不定会泄露谜底。谁知聪明的仆人却装做王子躺在床上，使女一溜进来他便拽掉她的斗篷，露出她的本来面目，然后一棒子把她赶了出去。第二夜，公主派来她的贴身使女，让她试一试运气是否好点，结果仆人又拽掉了她的斗篷，用棒子赶跑了她。第三夜，王子心里有数了，自己躺在床上。这时公主披裹着一件夜雾似的灰色斗篷，亲自溜进来坐在了他的身边。她以为，王子已经进入睡梦，就与他搭腔，希望他会像许多人一样在梦里回答她。谁知道王子却清醒得很，把她的一举一动全听在耳里。她问：“不杀任何人的是什么？”“乌鸦，”王子回答，“它吃了一匹中毒的死马肉，就死啦。”“那一下杀死十二个人的又是什么呢？”公主继续问。“十二个凶手，他们吃了乌鸦肉，也死啦。”公主知道了谜底，便想溜走，可王子拽住她的斗篷，她只得让它留下了。第二天，公主宣布她猜中了谜底，召来十二个法官，当他们的面解开王子的谜。可王子却请求发言，说：“她昨天夜里溜进了我的卧室，对我盘根问底，否则，她猜不出来！”法官们说：“拿证据来。”这时候，仆人已抱来那三件斗篷，而其中那灰蒙蒙的一件，法官们一下认出正是公主经常穿的，于是说：“用金丝银线把这件斗篷绣起来吧，它将作你的结婚礼服。”