There once was a poor old man that was so poor that he didn’t have enough money to support his son. The son saw that he was a burden to his father so he decided to go out into the world on his own. With his father’s blessing he went on his way. The kingdom was at war at that time so the son went to serve in the army.

When he faced the enemy in a battle, he did not back down not even when the leader was killed and all the soldiers left standing were running for their life. He called to the men that were retreating, “We will not let our fatherland be ruined!” The men came to protect their kingdom, and that is what they did under the command of the lad. They had won the battle! When the king heard that his kingdom had a victory because of one lad, he gave him praise, in the form of words, jewels, and status.

The king had a beautiful daughter that people saw as crazy. She would not marry any man if he did not promise to be buried alive with her if she was to die first. The same would happen to her if he died first. She claimed that if he really loved her then he would have no life to live once she died. This had frightened most wooers away, but the lad fell in love with the king’s daughter and did not care about his death sentence. “Are you sure that you wish to do this?” the king asked, “Do you not cherish your life?”

The youth just smiled and shook his head, “I must be buried with her if I outlive her, but my love is so great that I do not mind the danger.” So the king arranged the wedding, and what a splendid wedding it was.

The couple lived happily together, until an illness befell on the queen, and she passed away. The young remembered to his horror the vow that he had made. Yet he was compelled to go lie down beside is Queen. On the day of the funeral, he was taken down into the royal burial chamber with the corpse and then the door was shut and bolted.

By the coffin there was a table that had: four loaves of bread, four candles, and four bottles of wine. When the food on that table came to an end the King would die of hunger. He sat beside his wife full of pain and grief, eating a little bit of bread, drinking a little bit of wine, and waited for death to knock on his door.

One day while he was sitting there full of misery he saw a snake start to slitter to the dead body. He drew out his sword and hollering, “While I still have breath in my body you shall not touch her.” he leaped up and cut the snake into three pieces. After a while another snake came out. He saw the killed snake went away and came back with leaves in his mouth. He came up to the snake, but the three pieces together, and wrapped each wound up with a leave. Magically the snake came back to life, and all its wounds were healed.

The leaves were left by the snakes and a though came to the despaired old man. If the leaves worked on a snake, could they not work on a snake, could they not work on a human been as well? So he took the leaves and put one on the mouth, and the other two on the eyes of the queen. Like magic the queen’s eyes flew open and she was alive once more. “My Lord, where am I?” she asked.

“You are with me,” her husband answered and told her about how h was able to bring her back to this world by using the ‘three snake-leaves’, and after giving her the bread and wine so that she could regain her strength, he picked her up and they went to knock no the door. They called out so loudly and knocked so noisily that that the guards heard and told the King. The old King came down and opened the door himself. When he saw his daughter and son-in-law strong and well he rejoiced and cried of happiness. The young King took the leaves with him and gave them to his most trusted servant saying, “Keep these safe we never know when they will be useful.”

There was something much different about the queen after the extraordinary happening. She no longer seemed to love her husband. When he wanted to go on a voyage out at sea to go visit his father, she got a fancy for the captain and a horrible plan started to brew in her heart. When her husband was fast asleep, she called the captain over and they threw the man overboard. When they wicked plan was accomplished the Queen told the captain, “Now, when we get back home we will tell my father that my husband died form an illness on the voyage. I will tell him that you were so kind to me, and praise you so that he will allow me to marry you.”

The faithful servant had seen all of what had happened, and so he quickly took a small boat out to sea and sailed out to find his master. When he found the dead body and brought the body bask to life with the help of the leaves that his master told him to protect, putting them on his mouth and eyes, he told the King of what dreadful things his wife did. The two of them rowed day and night, trying to get back to the palace before the Queen did. Their little boat when so swiftly that somehow they managed to do this. The old King was astonished when he saw both of them come home alone. When he learned of his daughter’s wackiness he said, “I cannot believe that she has behaved so ill, but the truth will soon come to light,” and told them to go hide in a secret chamber.

Soon the large ship came to view and the heartless Queen was home. When her father asked her what happened to her husband, she told him the false tale she made up. Her father answered, “I will make the dead alive again,” and open the chamber door form which the two came out. When the Queen saw her husband she fell on her knees and begged for mercy. Her father replied to this by saying, “There is no mercy. He was ready to die with you and restored thee to life again, but you killed him in his sleep, and you will have the punishment you deserve.” Then she was placed with her accomplice in a ship which had been pierced with holes, and sent out to sea, where they soon sank amid the wave.