Tale 87: Out of the Frying Pan, and Into the Fire (Brock)

(real tale: The Riddle)

"Once a prince had a great desire to travel across the land." Brock begins. "So with his father the king's blessings, he set out early one morning, taking no one with him but one trusty servant. One day, he came to a great forest, and try as he might, he could not think of a place to spend the night. Suddenly, he saw a girl going towards a little house, and he noticed that she was both young and pretty. So he asked her..." In his best mimic of Ash, he asks "May I and my servant spend the night in this house, good lady?"

"Oh yes," he sighs in character as the girl. "You can if you like, but I should not advise you not to do so."

"Why not?" he asks in character as the prince.

"My stepmother deals in evil magic, and she is not very friendly to strangers." he replies as the girl.

"I see...the prince was asking to stay in a witch's house." Melody concludes.

"You're right, Melody--the prince guessed easily that he had stumbled on a witch's house." Brock acknowledges Melody's prediction with a nod. "but as it was getting dark and he could go no further, and he was not afraid, he went inside."

Pikachu swallows hard at this. "The witch welcomed them, and conjured a fire to cook something in a little pot that hung over the coals." Brock explains. "Her daughter had secretly warned the travelers to be very careful not to eat or drink anything, as the old woman's brews were apt to be dangerous."

"Of course witch's brews are dangerous..." Misty mutters.

"They went to bed, and slept soundly till morning." Brock goes on. "The next morning, just before the prince and his servant set out, the witch offered them what she claimed as a healing potion. But the prince knew better, and rode off, leaving his servant behind."

"It had to be some kind of poison..." Ash muses.

"It was poison all right." Brock assures Ash. "In fact, no sooner had the servant accepted the vial, did it shatter, making the poison spurt all over the unlucky Ponyta. It was so powerful, the poor Pokemon was dead in mere seconds."

Happini shudders at this. "The servant ran after his master and told him what had happened." Brock goes on. "But when the servant returned to retrieve his saddle, he saw that a Murkrow had perched on the corpse and was pecking at it. Figuring the Murkrow would make a decent meal, he killed it with an arrow."

"A-and then?" Ash stammers.

"They rode on all day through the forest without even finding an exit." Brock continues. "At nightfall they reached an inn, and the servant gave the innkeeper the Murkrow to prepare for their dinner. They didn't know that this inn was a regular hideout of a gang of bandits, and the old witch too came there often."

"You were right when you said this tale was called 'Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire'" Melody notes.

"Who wants to bet Team Rocket were the bandits?" Ash whispers to Misty. Misty giggles at the thought.

"As soon as it was dark, the bandits arrived with the full intention of killing and robbing the strangers." Brock continues. "Before they set to work, however, they sat down to dinner, and the innkeeper and the old witch joined them. They all ate some broth in which the flesh of the Murkrow had been stewed down. They had hardly taken a couple of spoonfuls when they all fell down dead as doornails, for the poison had passed from the Ponyta to the Murkrow and so into the broth. So there was no one left belonging to the house but the innkeeper's daughter, who was a good, well-meaning girl, and had taken no part in all the evil doings."

"I guess it was a good thing the prince and his servant didn't eat the Murkrow." Misty heaves a sigh of relief.

"She opened all the doors, and showed the strangers the treasures the bandits had gathered together; but the prince bade her keep them all for herself, as he wanted none of them." Brock continues. "After traveling for some time, they reached a kingdom where lived a lovely but arrogant princess--we'll call her Leiko. She had decreed that anyone who asked her a riddle which she couldn't guess would be her husband, but should she figure it out, he would pay with his life. She claimed three days in which to think over the riddles, but she was so smart, she would usually have an answer before three days passed. Nine suitors had already lost their lives when our hero arrived, and, dazzled by her beauty, determined to risk his life in hopes of winning her."

"So what did he do?" Misty is interested.

"Our hero came before Leiko and challenged her with 'One slew none and yet killed twelve.'" Brock replies. "Try as she might, and as smart as she was, Leiko had no idea what the answer was! She thought, and thought, and thought some more. She asked the wisest of sages, and looked through every book in the royal library, but had no luck. So she ordered her maid to sneak into the prince's bedroom, for she thought that he might perhaps inadvertently reveal the answer as he slept. But the clever servant had taken his master's place, and when the maid came he tore off the cloak she had wrapped herself in and chased her out of the room."

"I would do the same if someone came sneaking in my room at 2 AM." Ash smiles. Pikachu laughs as he pictures the servant chasing the maid away.

"On the second night, Leiko sent her lady-in-waiting, hoping that she might have better luck." Brock continues. "But the servant took away her mantle and chased her away too."

"Azu azu ri rill, rill?" Azurill asks.

Brock nods. "That's right, Azurill--in the middle of the third night, Leiko came herself, all huddled up in a misty grey mantle, and sat down by his bed. When she thought he was fast asleep, she spoke to him, hoping he would answer in the midst of his dreams, as many people do. She didn't know that he was wide awake the whole time, and heard and understood everything very well."

"Must've drank a lot of royal coffee to stay awake." Misty whispers to Ash. Ash chuckles as he pictures the prince bouncing off the walls in a caffeine rush.

Brock ignores the chatter. "Then she asked him what 'One slew none and yet killed twelve' meant. He answered: 'A Murkrow which fed on the corpse of a poisoned Ponyta. Then twelve bandits ate the Murkrow and died of it.'

"Gee, this sounds familiar..." Ash smiles as he puts two and two together.

"As soon as Leiko knew the answer, she tried to slip away, but our hero held her mantle so tightly that she was obliged to leave it behind." Brock goes on. "The next morning, Princess Leiko announced that she had guessed the riddle, and sent for the royal council of twelve sages, who listened as she detailed the riddle and its answer. But our hero added that Leiko came by night to question him, otherwise she never would have guessed it."

"So Leiko didn't figure it out on her own!" Melody cries.

"The sages were skeptical, and asked for proof." Brock continues. "So the servant brought out the three cloaks, and when the judges saw the grey one, which they knew was Leiko's favorite, they commanded it to be embroidered with gold and silver--for it was to be her wedding mantle."

"It goes without saying they lived happily ever after, right?" Ash smiles as he applauds. Brock just grins and takes a bow...