Who has stolen the three treasures? Who searched after them? Who has found them? Who has payed for them?

Knitting needles which help you to finish your tasks
A stone which helps you have success
A ring which makes you popular

Once upon a time there was a rich man. He owned forests and fields, houses and factories. People called him king, because he was so rich. He was not really a king, because kings did not exist any more. They only called him thus. The king had three sons.

"Whom am I going to give my property after my death?" he asked his advisers.

"Put them to the test!" answered they.

Now the king took his oldest son to one of his forests. He was breathing heavily.Will the following conversation give him a guideline?

"This part of the forest has been the same over 150 years", he said.

Rupert did not answer. He did not know what his father was aiming at.

"Forestry must be economical. From here to the other part of the forest 30 employees are concerned."

"Why are you interested in that?" the boy was very surprised.

"We are responsible for the people who work for us", explained the king.

"Why do you not cut down the trees? The wood would make you a lot of money."

"We are also responsible for nature."

The king was disappointed. The son had learned forestry at university. He had expected, the son would suggest a gentle treatment of trees, which they could talk about with the employees.

The king took the second boy to a meeting about building negotiations. It was about a rental home, which was poorly built and which was full of shortcomings after 30 years.

And so the rich man, the king, invited the second son to visit with him one of his apartment buildings. The son did not want to at first, but saw how much his father was in it, and went with him.

It was a tenement house, which was built over 30 years earlier, flawed. It had been rented out to people who could not pay a lot of rent, but they were expecting that they could spend their lives in this house. They were now grown old. But the municipal building authority had ordered demolition or renovation.

"What would you do?" the king asked his son.

"You could tear down the house, luxuriously build a new one and require a lot more rent" suggested Herbert.

"We are responsible for the tenants," the king said.

"You're going to require a lot of money in this rich and beautiful area of luxury homes. So you can afford to buy the old farmhouse on the outskirts and prepare for these tenants."

The king looked at his second son thoughtfully. What he said made sense. Still, he had not quite captured the problem. Some of the tenants were very old, and a relocation to another, though perhaps more beautiful area would be difficult for them. But the boy was still young. Maybe he was capable of learning?

When the three boys had been born, the king had insisted on asking fairies to be godmothers to each boy, one for Rupert, one for Herbert and and one for the last.

The youngest was called the simpleton, because people did not think much of him. The king was very sorry about that.

• The fairy, the godmother of Rupert, gave him a stone which was supposed to help the owner to success.

• Herbert got from his godmother, also a fairy, a ring that should make him popular.

• And the youngest got knitting needles, which would knit till everything was finished, which would carry him through everything.

• But there were conditions attached to the gifts: The owners must have good will.

However, the possessions were not yet in the hands of the three young men because the father did not consider them mature enough. The father had the three treasures locked in his safe.

The king thinking so much about his sons, opened the safe to take out the three treasures. Then he saw that the stone was gone. He was very concerned. The safe was locked. He thought about it, who would have the safe number or could find out about it, but he could not think of anybody. He ordered Rupert, his eldest son, to keep guard at night. But even though the stone was supposed to belong to him, he fell asleep, and the next day the ring was gone.

The next day Rupert and Herbert were keeping watch. Rupert said to Herbert: "Do you believe that the ring will make you popular?" "That remains to be seen," replied Herbert. "That's nonsense," scoffed Rupert. "If I'm going to have success, it will be purely and solely due to my ability. What should a dead stone and a metal ring do?" And the two sneaked away and made themselves a jolly night at an inn.

Now there were only the knitting needles in the safe. "Let me keep watch!" asked the youngest son his father. "You're too young," the father said. "For you it's too dangerous."

But the Simpleton asked until the father agreed.

Dummling took roses with giant thorns to the safe. Whenever he wanted to sleep, he reached into the thorns that he perked up again. Nevertheless, he dozed so far away that he noticed only by a faint sound that someone was standing by the safe. He saw only a shadow. He touched the shade, a loud howl was to be heard and the figure rushed through the French windows into the garden and away.

People in the house heard the loud howling , and gradually all gathered around Simpleton. In his hand he held a golden hair.
The king ordered to investigate the golden hair, and he was told that it was worth more than all three precious treasures together. And the king said, "If that is so, I want to have the woman who owns this hair." And he promised that the one of his sons should have his riches who would bring him the woman.
"I will look for my knitting needles first," said the youngest son. "They will help me to bring the matter to an end."
The other two laughed at him and told him that the stone, the ring, and the knitting needles were only dead things.

"But do you not realize that the three treasures are aids to cope with life?:
Knitting needles lead all to any goal
The stone promises success
Ring promises popularity.
With all three treasures in common we could have lead father's economic empire well. "

Herbert saw at the Simpleton broodingly. He was not convinced of the value of the treasures, but he somehow found that what Simpleton said, was correct. Nevertheless, he joined in the laughter of his brother, Rupert, and the two went their way.