Well, Sam had said he could do anything. The King hoped he could do it because “If you can’t do it, you’ll be in serious trouble - your head will come off.” He said. Then he and the princess went away. Sam was horrified. But he was very tired and in spite of everything he fell asleep. When he woke up, it was morning - nearly eight o’clock. He wondered what to do. And then he remembered the little golden box that his father had given him. “What did he say? ‘Don’t open the box unless you’re in serious trouble - unless your life is in danger.’ Well, I am in serious trouble - and my life is in danger. I’m going to open the box,” Sam said.
So Sam opened the box - and to his amazement three little men dressed in red jumped out, yawning and rubbing their eyes. “What do you want, Master?” they asked. And Sam told them about the lake and the ship and the royal salute which had to hit the leg of the princess’s bed - and that it all had to be done by eight o’clock. The three little men didn’t seem very pleased at being woken up. “You haven’t given us much time, have you?” they grumbled. But they flew out of the window and then Sam heard guns firing a salute. He rushed to the window and looked out. “Just in time,” said Sam. The little men had done everything that he had asked them to do. They flew back into the room. “Next time you want us, Master,” they said, “give us more time to do the work.”
And the little men got back into the box, settled down to sleep and shut the lid. The King was very pleased with what Sam had done and his daughter thought that Sam was wonderful. She said to her father “I want to marry him.” But the King was doubtful. “I want to find out more about him. We don’t know enough about him yet.” So although the King was very pleased with what he had done, when he talked to Sam, he said: “I want you to do something more for me. My daughter must have a nice house to live in.” And he told Sam what he wanted: a castle in the middle of the lake standing on twelve golden pillars and he wanted it done by eight o’clock the next morning. “And if it’s not done, your head will come off,” he said. “If you can’t do it, you’ll be in serious trouble.”
This time Sam decided to open the box immediately and ask the little men to do the work. But, as before, he fell asleep and didn’t wake up until just before eight o’clock the next morning. When he realised what the time was he immediately opened the box and the three little men jumped out. He told them about the castle in the middle of the lake standing on twelve golden pillars and that it had to be ready by eight o’clock. “You haven’t given us much time, have you? Why don’t you give us more time?” they grumbled. But Sam insisted that it was an emergency. So the little men agreed crossly to do it and flew out of the window. And just before eight o’clock there was the castle standing on twelve golden pillars in the middle of the lake. The King was pleased with Sam. “Very good,” he said, “now you can marry my daughter. You can marry her next week.”
Sam and the princess were very happy - but that’s not the end of the story. There’s more to come.
THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN JEWEL BOX PART II
One day, just before the wedding, the King took everyone out for a picnic. But for once Sam forgot to take the little golden jewel box with him. He left it behind in the pocket of his coat and one of the servants found the little box. He opened it and the three little men in red jumped out. They were not very pleased when they found it wasn’t their master who had opened the box. “We’ve been woken up again! And all for nothing”, they cried. The servant asked them if they could fly away with the castle. “We can do anything!” they said. And the servant ordered them to move the castle across the sea. “Then it’ll be my castle,” he said.
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