Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived an old farmer. He had a barn, a flock of sheep, a beautiful meadow by a mountain and three fine sons. For many years, the small farm prospered. But one night, on midsummer’s eve, when the hay in the field was standing at its very tallest, it was all eaten up, so not a bit was left. This happened again the following midsummer, and the farmer grew tired of losing his crop. On the third midsummer’s eve, he called his three sons to him, and said, “Tonight, one of you shall spend the night in the barn by the field. Do not sleep! Keep a sharp look out for the thing that has been stealing our hay!”

“I’ll go, father,” said the eldest son. “I’ll guard our hay so well that no one shall steal a single stalk of it!” When the sun had set, he went to the barn and lay down to rest. In a short while, he had fallen fast asleep.

He had not slept long when he was startled awake by the sound of great hoofbeats. The earth began to rumble and quake so hard that the walls and roof of the barn rattled. The eldest son jumped up and ran off in fright as fast as he could. The next day, the field was empty again. Not a single stalk of hay was left.

Midsummer’s eve came again, and again the farmer was afraid of losing his crop. “I’ll go guard the hay, father!” said the middle son. He went off to the barn, and soon was asleep and snoring on the floor. The hoofbeats came, and the earth began to tremble. Soon the barn was shaking, more terribly than it had the year before. The middle brother jumped up and ran home in fright. Again, the following morning, the field was empty, and not a single stalk of hay was left.

Another year passed, and again, it was midsummer’s eve. “There is nothing to be done!” the old farmer cried, “For who can save my crops, when my two sons have tried and failed?”

“There’s still me, father,” said the youngest brother. “I will spend the night in the barn.” This youngest son was called “Cinderlad” by his brothers, for they always made him clean the fireplace, and do many other chores besides. He was often covered in soot, from head to toe.

“You!” The brothers laughed. “You, little brother, will be so frightened of the noise and shaking that you’ll run home crying in no time!”

Cinderlad did not trouble himself with what they said. When evening drew near he went to the barn. “If I lie down,” he thought, “I’ll surely fall asleep.” So he remained standing. Several hours passed, and finally he heard a noise, light as rain, but growing louder. “Well, if this is all it is, I can manage to stand it,” thought Cinderlad. He stayed still, and the noise became a soft drumming of hooves, which grew and grew. “Well, if it gets no worse than this, I can manage to stand it,” thought Cinderlad. But then the noise grew so loud Cinderlad had to cover both his ears. Now the earth shook and heaved, and the old barn rattled. It seemed to Cinderlad as if all the horses in the world were galloping on the roof of his father’s barn. Finally, just as it seemed the barn was about to split in two, the noise stopped and all was quiet. Cinderlad crept to the door and peeked outside. Standing in the field, chewing the hay, was a great horse, finer than any Cinderlad could have imagined. Its coat was so smooth it shone like a jewel in the moonlight. On its back, it carried a suit of armor made of the purest gold.

“So, it is you who eats up all our hay, then,” thought the boy. “But I will put a stop to that.” He quietly approached the horse, and found it was not frightened of him. He led the horse to a secret place deep within the woods, and there he tethered it to a tree. He returned to the barn, and stayed there until the sun rose.

When he came home, he said to his brothers and father, “This has been the dullest night I’ve ever spent. I saw nothing and heard nothing, and as you can see the hay is still standing, just as long and as thick as it was yesterday. I can’t imagine what it could have been that frightened you so.” The farmer and his two eldest sons were astounded, and at first did not believe him, until they saw the field of hay as high as before.

Now, in the country where Cinderlad lived, there stood a great mountain made all of glass. It was very beautiful to look at, but impossible to climb. Its peak was hidden in the clouds, for it stood taller than any other mountain in the land. The King of the country had a daughter, who was very beautiful, so that all who saw her fell instantly in love with her. One day a sorcerer trapped the Princess at the very top of the mountain. As she sat at the top of the mountain, the sorcerer put three golden apples in her lap. As long as the apples stayed there, she could not move. The King was desperate. He made a proclamation throughout the land, “Whoever rides up the mountain, and takes the three golden apples from her lap rescuing my daughter,” said the king, “be he peasant or prince, he may marry my daughter, if she will have him, and have half my kingdom for his own!”

When they heard the proclamation, Cinderlad’s brothers became very excited, and they rode immediately to the glass mountain, convinced that they would be the ones to climb it and win half the kingdom. “Stay home and sweep the fireplace, Cinderlad.” they said. “Even if you did ride up the mountain, the King would never allow you to marry his daughter or give his kingdom to the likes of you!”

“Well, then, I shall have to go by myself,” thought Cinderlad.

When the two brothers arrived at the glass mountain, there were so many knights and princes under the glass mountain that they seemed to swarm, and many others from throughout the kingdom were there too, to see who might win the King’s daughter and half the kingdom. But no sooner did those who tried set foot on it than they slid back down again, for it was smooth as ice and very steep. They tried and slipped and fell all through the day, until they were so tired that they could hardly move.

At last, just as the sun began to set, a knight came riding on a horse that was so fine, the likes of it had never been seen before. The knight was dressed all in golden armor, which shone so brightly that everyone was dazzled. The other knights and princes all called out to him that he should spare himself the trouble of trying to ride up the glass mountain, for it was of no use trying. But the knight in the golden armor said nothing. Instead, he galloped up the glass mountain on the magnificent horse as if it were no mountain at all, quicker than the wind could ever hope to be. As he climbed, the princess could see his face coming closer and closer, and as she watched, she thought, “Oh, how I hope he be the one who reaches the top!” When he reached the summit he picked the three golden apples off the lap of the waiting princess. With joy, she was able to stand again. The knight in the golden armor picked her up, put her behind him on the back of the horse, and down the mountain they galloped, to the cheers of the entire kingdom.

Later that day, the king proclaimed festivities to celebrate the return of his daughter, and to receive the three golden apples as proof of who had done the deed. The two eldest brothers talked of the celebration with great excitement, for they wanted to know who the knight in the golden armor was. As they talked, they saw Cinderlad approach. “Stay away, little brother,” they mocked, “you would not be welcome at the castle tonight in your soot and rags.”

“Well, then, I shall have to go by myself,” thought Cinderlad.

That night, the knight in golden armor was to arrive at the palace to present the three golden apples to the King. People throughout the land, including Cinderlad’s two brothers, came to see who the man was who had rescued the princess. But instead of a knight in golden armor, a young lad in sooty rags appeared before the king. The king was much surprised.

“Have you the golden apples?” asked the king.

“Yes, here is the first, and the second, and the third, too,” said Cinderlad, and he pulled all three out of his pocket. And as he pulled each one out, the sooty rags fell to the ground in a heap, and he stood there before all in his bright golden armor.

“You shall have half my kingdom!” proclaimed the king, “and if she will have you, my daughter as well.”

By and by, Cinderlad and the Princess fell in love, and soon after were married. The sun was so bright and golden that day that the glass mountain dripped and melted as if it were a great block of ice. It sank into the ground and left nothing but a puddle where it once had stood. Cinderlad and the Princess built a fine palace of their own where the mountain had once been. They lived happily there all their days.

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