There was once a King who had a daughter who was always ill. A prophecy said she would be cured by eating an apple. The King proclaimed that whoever brought such an apple would marry the princess and become king.
A peasant with three sons heard this. He sent his eldest, Uele, with a basket of apples. On the way, a little iron man asked what was in the basket. Uele rudely said, "Frogs' legs." The iron man said, "So it shall be." At the palace, Uele's basket indeed held frogs' legs, and he was driven away.
The second son, Seame, met the same fate. He told the iron man he carried "Hogs' bristles," and that's what his basket contained at the palace. He was whipped out.
The youngest son, called Stupid Hans, insisted on going. His father reluctantly agreed. Hans met the iron man and honestly said he carried apples to cure the princess. The iron man said, "So they shall be." At court, Hans was initially turned away but persisted. His basket revealed beautiful golden apples. The princess ate one and was instantly cured.
The King, not wanting Hans to marry his daughter, set impossible tasks. First, Hans must build a boat that travels faster on land than on water. His brothers failed, making only wooden bowls. Hans succeeded by telling the iron man the truth about his task.
Next, the King ordered Hans to herd a hundred hares without losing one. The iron man gave Hans a magic whistle to recall any hare that ran. When the princess tried to take one, Hans whistled, and it returned.
Finally, the King demanded a feather from the Griffin's tail. On his journey, Hans promised to ask the Griffin three questions for others: where a lost key was, how to cure a sick girl, and why a ferryman was forced to carry everyone across a lake.
At the Griffin's house, the wife hid Hans under the bed. At night, Hans plucked a feather. The wife cleverly got the Griffin to reveal the answers: the key was under a log; a toad's nest made of the girl's hair under the cellar steps made her ill; the ferryman could free himself by leaving one person in the middle of the lake.
Hans returned, solved everyone's problems, and received rich rewards. He told the King the Griffin granted wishes. Greedy, the King went to the Griffin himself. The ferryman, now free, left the King in the middle of the lake, where he drowned. Hans married the princess and became King.