Once upon a time, there was a miller who had a neat and clever daughter. She was so clever that her fame spread to seven countries. The king hears of this. He told her that he had a hundred-year-old hemp in his attic, and that she should spin it into gold thread.
The girl replied that they had a hedge a hundred years old, and that the king should make a golden spindle out of it, and then he would be glad to spin the golden thread. But the king must not wish that the golden thread should be spun on a useless wooden spindle.
The King liked the answer. Again, he says he has a leaky jug in the attic, fold it up if you can.
Again the girl called back to the king to turn the jar upside down, for no one had seen that anything had been stolen from its surface.
This answer pleased the king even more. And now he would have her go to him, but not to go; he would have her greet him when he came, but not to greet him; he would have her bring him a present, but not to bring him one.
So the girl asks her father for the donkey, rides it, and goes to the king. At home she took a pigeon, put it in a sieve and took it away. When the king came to her, she said not a word, but bowed her head, and flew the dove from under the sieve. And so he went, and did not go; he greeted, and did not greet; he brought a present, and did not bring it.
The king loved the clever girl so much that he married her.
