There was once a poor woman who gave birth to a son with a caul on his head. It was prophesied that in his fourteenth year, he would marry the King's daughter. When the King heard this, he was angry. Disguising himself, he went to the parents and, pretending kindness, offered them gold for the child. Thinking their 'luck-child' would be safe, they agreed.
The King put the baby in a box and threw it into a deep river. However, the box floated like a boat and drifted to a mill-dam, where a miller's boy found it. The childless miller and his wife raised the boy as their own, naming him the 'luck-child'.
Years later, during a storm, the King took shelter at the mill and recognized the youth. Feigning goodwill, he asked the boy to deliver a letter to the Queen, promising a reward. The letter secretly ordered the Queen to kill the bearer immediately.
On his journey, the boy got lost in a forest and found shelter in a cottage inhabited by an old woman and a band of robbers. The robbers discovered the deadly letter. Taking pity, their leader destroyed it and wrote a new one, commanding that the boy be married to the Princess at once.
The Queen, upon receiving the forged letter, arranged a splendid wedding. When the King returned and found his daughter married to the luck-child, he was furious. Confronted with the changed letter, the King set an impossible task: "Whoever marries my daughter must bring me three golden hairs from the head of the Devil."
Undeterred, the luck-child set off for Hell. On the way, he encountered three puzzles:
1. A town where a fountain that once flowed with wine had run dry.
2. A town where a tree that once bore golden apples no longer had leaves.
3. A ferryman cursed to row forever, never gaining his freedom.
The luck-child promised answers upon his return.
In Hell, he found only the Devil's grandmother. She transformed him into an ant to hide him. When the Devil returned and fell asleep, she plucked three golden hairs from his head. Each time he woke, she claimed to have had a bad dream and asked about one of the three puzzles. In his annoyed replies, the Devil revealed the solutions:
1. A toad under a stone in the well was blocking the wine.
2. A mouse was gnawing at the tree's roots.
3. The ferryman could be freed by handing his oar to the next passenger.
With the three golden hairs and the answers, the luck-child returned. He solved each town's problem and was rewarded with gold. He also freed the ferryman by giving him the Devil's advice.
Finally, he presented the three golden hairs to the King. Seeing the great wealth the boy had acquired, the greedy King demanded to know its source. The luck-child told him of a river with shores of gold. Eagerly, the King rushed to the river. The ferryman, now free, rowed him across and then handed him the oar, transferring the curse. The King was doomed to ferry forever as punishment for his sins.