Now, it so happened that on this very day the queen lost her most beautiful ring, and suspicion of having stolen it fell upon this trusty servant, who was allowed to go everywhere. The king ordered the man to be brought before him, and threatened with angry words that unless he could before the morrow point out the thief, he himself should be looked upon as guilty and executed. In vain he declared his innocence.
In his trouble and fear he went down into the courtyard and thought long and hard. Now some ducks were sitting together quietly by a brook and taking their rest; and while they were making their feathers smooth with their bills, they were having a confidential conversation together. The servant stood by and listened. They were telling one another of all the places where they had been waddling about all the morning, and what good food they had found, when one said in a pitiful tone, “Something lies heavy on my stomach. As I was eating in haste, I swallowed a ring which lay under the queen’s window.”