There was a merchant who had two children, a boy and a girl, both of whom were still small and could not yet walk. However, two richly laden ships of him went on the sea, and his whole fortune was in it, and as he thought to win thereby much money, the message came that they had sunk. Now, instead of being a rich man, he was a poor man and had nothing left but a field outside the city. In order to put his misfortune a little out of his mind, he went out to the field, and as he walked up and down, a little black man suddenly stood next to him and asked why he was so sad and what he was taking so much to heart. Then the merchant said, "If you could help me, I would tell you. Who knows,' answered the little black man, 'perhaps I will help you. Then the merchant told him that all his wealth had been lost at sea, and that he had nothing left but this field. Don't worry," said the little man, "if you promise me to bring here in twelve years what you have at home on the first leg, you shall have as much money as you want. The merchant thought 'what else can it be but my dog?' but he did not think of his little boy and said yes, gave the black man his handwriting and seal over it and went home.

When he came home, his little boy was so happy about it that he held onto the benches, wiggled over to him and grabbed him by the legs. Then the father was frightened, for he remembered his promise and now knew what he had prescribed: but because he still found no money in his boxes and chests, he thought it had only been a joke on the part of the little man. A month later he went to the ground and wanted to find old tin and sell it, when he saw a large pile of money lying there. Now he was in good spirits again, bought things, became a greater merchant than before and let God be a good man. In the meantime, the boy grew up and became wise and clever. But the closer the twelve years approached, the more worried the merchant became, so that one could see the fear in his face. Then the son asked him once what was wrong with him: the father did not want to say, but he persisted until he finally told him that he had promised him, without knowing what he was promising, to a black man and had received a lot of money for it. He had given his handwriting with a seal over it, and now he would have to hand it over when twelve years had passed. Then the son said, "O father, do not be afraid, it will be all right, the black man has no power over me.

The son had himself blessed by the clergyman, and when the hour came, they went out together into the field, and the son made a trench and stood in it with his father. Then the little black man came and said to the old man 'have you brought what you promised me?' He was silent, but the son asked 'what do you want here?' Then the black man said 'I have to speak with your father and not with you'. The son replied 'you have deceived and seduced my father, hand over the manuscript.' 'No,' said the black male, 'I will not give up my right.' Then they talked with each other for a long time, and at last they agreed that the son, because he no longer belonged to the hereditary enemy and no longer to his father, should sit down in a little ship that was standing on a downward-flowing water, and the father should push it away with his own foot, and then the son should be left to the water. So he said goodbye to his father, sat down in a boat, and the father had to push it away with his own foot. The boat turned over, so that the bottom part was on top, but the top was in the water; and the father thought that his son was lost, went home and mourned for him.

The little ship did not sink, however, but floated quietly along, and the young man sat safely in it, and so it floated for a long time until it finally came to rest on an unknown shore. Then he climbed ashore, saw a beautiful castle lying in front of him, and went for it. But as he entered, it was cursed: he went through all the rooms, but they were empty until he came to the last chamber, where a snake lay writhing. The snake was a cursed virgin, who rejoiced when she saw him and said to him, "Come, my savior, I have been waiting for you for twelve years; this kingdom is cursed, and you must redeem it. 'How can I?" he asked. Tonight twelve black men will come with chains, they will ask you what you are doing here, but keep silent and give them no answer, and let them do what they want with you: they will torture you, beat you and stab you, let everything happen, but do not speak; at twelve o'clock they must leave again. And the second night twelve others will come again, the third four and twenty, they will cut off your head: but at twelve o'clock their power is over, and if you have then held out and not spoken a word, then I am redeemed. I come to thee, and have in a bottle the water of life; with it I sprinkle thee, and then thou art alive and well as before.' Then he said, "I will gladly redeem you. Everything happened as she had said: the black men could not force a word out of him, and on the third night the serpent became a beautiful king's daughter, who came with the water of life and made him alive again. And then she fell around his neck and kissed him, and there was rejoicing and joy in the whole castle. Then their wedding was held, and he was king of the golden mountain.

So they lived together happily, and the queen gave birth to a beautiful boy. Eight years had already passed, when he remembered his father and his heart was moved, and he wished to visit him once. But the queen would not let him go and said, "I already know that it is my misfortune," but he did not let her rest until she agreed. At parting she gave him a wishing ring and said: "Take this ring and put it on your finger, and you will soon be transferred to wherever you wish to go, but you must promise me that you will not use it to wish me away from here to your father. He promised her, put the ring on his finger and wished himself home to the city where his father lived. At the moment he was there and wanted to go to the city, but when he came to the gate, the guards would not let him in, because he was wearing strange but rich and splendid clothes. So he went to a mountain where a shepherd was keeping watch, exchanged clothes with him and put on the old shepherd's robe, and so entered the city undisturbed. When he came to his father, he made himself known, but he never believed that it was his son and said that he had had a son, but that he had been dead for a long time: but because he saw that he was a poor, meager shepherd, he wanted to give him a plate full to eat. Then the shepherd said to his parents, "I am truly your son, do you not know a mark on my body by which you can recognize me?" "Yes," said the mother, "our son had a raspberry under his right arm. He tucked in his shirt and they saw the raspberry under his right arm and no longer doubted that it was their son. Then he told them that he was the king of the golden mountain and that a king's daughter was his wife, and that they had a beautiful son of seven years. Then the father said, "Now and never is this true: this is a beautiful king to me, who walks here in a ragged shepherd's robe. Then the son was angry and, without thinking of his promise, turned the ring around and wanted both his wife and child to come to him. At that moment they were also there, but the queen, lamenting and weeping, said he had broken his word and had made her unhappy. He said, "I did it carelessly and not with ill will," and talked to her; she also pretended to give in, but she had evil in mind.

Then he led her out of the city to the field and showed her the water where the boat had been launched, and then he said, "I am tired, sit down, I want to sleep a little on your lap. Then he laid his head on her lap and she listened to him a little until he fell asleep. When he had fallen asleep, she first pulled the ring from his finger, then she pulled the foot out from under him, leaving only the doff: whereupon she took her child in her arms and wished herself back into her kingdom. When he woke up, he lay there completely deserted, and his wife and the child were gone and the ring from his finger too, only the potato still stood there as a landmark. You can't go home to your parents again,' he thought, 'they would say you were a wizard, you want to pack up and go until you come to your kingdom. So he went away and finally came to a mountain, in front of which three giants were standing and arguing with each other, because they did not know how to divide their father's inheritance. When they saw him passing by, they called him and said that little people had clever minds, and that he should distribute the inheritance to them. The inheritance, however, consisted of a sword, if one took it in his hand and said 'Heads all down, except mine,' then all heads lay on the ground; secondly, of a coat, whoever put it on was invisible; thirdly, of a pair of boots, if one had put them on and wished to go somewhere, then one was there in an instant. He said, "Give me the three pieces so that I can try them and see if they are still in good condition. Then they gave him the coat, and when he had put it on, he was invisible and was transformed into a fly. Then he took his form again and said 'the cloak is good, now give me the sword'. They said 'no, we won't give it! if you said "heads down all but mine!" our heads would all be down and you alone would still have yours.' But they gave it to him on condition that he should try it on a tree. He did so, and the sword cut the trunk of the tree like a straw. Now he still wanted the boots, but they said, 'No, we will not give them away, if you had put them on and wished to be on top of the mountain, we would be down there and have nothing.' 'No,' he said, 'I will not do that.' Then they also gave him the boots. When he had all three pieces, he thought of nothing but his wife and child, and said to himself, 'Oh, if I were on the golden mountain,' and immediately he disappeared before the eyes of the giants, and thus their inheritance was divided. When he was near the castle, he heard shouts of joy, violins and flutes, and the people told him that his wife was celebrating her wedding with another man. Then he was angry and said, "The wrong one, she has deceived me and left me when I fell asleep. Then he took off his coat and went invisibly into the castle. When he entered the hall, there was a large table filled with delicious food, and the guests were eating and drinking, laughing and joking. But she was sitting in the middle in splendid clothes on a royal armchair and had the crown on her head. He stood behind her and no one saw him. When they put a piece of meat on her plate, he took it away and ate it, and when they poured her a glass of wine, he took it away and drank it; they always gave it to her, and yet she always had nothing, for the plate and glass disappeared instantly. Then she was dismayed and ashamed, and got up and went into her chamber and wept, and he went after her. Then she said, 'Is the devil above me, or has my redeemer never come?' Then he struck her in the face and said, 'Has your redeemer never come? he is above you, you deceiver. Did I deserve this from you?' Then he made himself visible, went into the hall and shouted 'the wedding is off, the true king has come!' The kings, princes and councillors who were gathered there jeered and mocked him, but he gave short words and said, "Will you go out or not? Then they wanted to catch him and pressed upon him, but he drew his sword and said, 'Head them all down, except mine.' Then all the heads rolled to the ground, and he alone was lord, and was king again from the golden mountain.