There was once a man whose mind was as sharp as his work ethic. When the country called for help, he left everything behind to serve the King as a soldier. For years, he was a hero on the front lines, but when the treaty was finally signed, the King showed no gratitude. He was dismissed with only three pennies to his name.
“This isn't just,” the soldier whispered, looking at the meagre coins. “If I can find a crew with the right set of skills, I’ll make sure the King pays his debts in full.”

As he set out, he entered a deep forest where he found a man uprooting six massive oak trees as if they were simple weeds.
“You have incredible strength,” the soldier said. “Why not join my crew and see the world?”
The man agreed, but first, he bundled the six trees onto his shoulder like a handful of twigs to drop off firewood for his mother. Returning quickly, he told the soldier,
“With your brains and my muscle, I think we’ll do just fine.”

They hadn't gone far when they spotted a Hunter kneeling in the brush, aiming his rifle at the horizon.
“What's the target?” the soldier asked. “Oh,” the Hunter replied calmly, “there’s a fly sitting on an oak branch two miles from here. I’m about to clip its left wing.”
The soldier grinned.
“Come with us,” he said. “A marksman like you is exactly what we need to make our way in this world.”

The Hunter joined the team, and soon the three of them reached a valley where seven windmills were spinning at a frantic pace.
“Strange,” the soldier noted, “there isn't enough wind to move a single leaf on the ground.”
Two miles down the road, they found the cause: a man sitting in a tree, plugging one nostril while blowing a gale out of the other.
“I'm just keeping the mills turning,” the man explained. The soldier invited him along, knowing that four such talented men could achieve wonders.

The Blower climbed down and joined the march. Before long, they came across a man standing on one leg, with his other leg unstrapped and lying on the grass next to him.
“I’m a natural runner,” the man explained. “If I wear both legs, I move as fast as a bird flies, and I'd reach my destination before I even started! I have to take one off just to keep a human pace.”
The soldier was amazed.
“Put your leg back on and join us,” he said. “The five of us will be unstoppable.”

The group set off again and soon met a traveller wearing his hat tilted sharply over one ear. The soldier politely mentioned that his hat seemed to be slipping, but the man shook his head.
“I have to wear it like this,” he warned. “The moment I set my hat straight, a frost so bitter descends that the very birds freeze and fall from the sky.”
The soldier laughed with delight.
“You’re the final piece of the puzzle! With six of us, there is nothing we can do.”

They went on and on till they came to a city. There lived the king whom the soldier had served. Beside the city was a great race course, and here the king's daughter came every day to run.
Her father had said that if any man could outrun her, he should have her for his wife. But if he lost the race, he was to lose his head also. Many men had tried, and always the fleet footed princess had won.
The soldier went before the king and said,
“Oh, king, I would like to try this race, if one of my servants may run for me.”
“Very well,” said the king, “but if he fails, you both must lose your heads.”

The soldier told the Runner to strap on his second leg and give it his all. The race was a long-distance sprint to a distant spring to fetch a cup of water. At the signal, the Princess and the Runner took off, but within two steps, the Runner blurred into a puff of wind and vanished over the horizon, leaving the Princess far behind in an instant.

The Runner reached the spring, filled his cup, and began the return trip. However, halfway back, he felt the midday heat and decided to take a quick nap. To ensure he didn't sleep too long, he grabbed a hard block of wood to use as a pillow, thinking,
“This is so hard that I shall not sleep too long.”

While he slept, the Princess-who was remarkably fast herself-reached the spring and headed back. She spotted the Runner snoring by the road and smiled.
“Ah, ha! I have him in my power now.”
She quietly poured the water out of his cup and sprinted towards the finish line. All would have been lost if the Hunter hadn't been watching from the castle walls with his telescopic vision.

“The Princess must not win this race,” the Hunter muttered.
He raised his rifle and fired a single shot that shattered the wooden block under the Runner’s head. The Runner bolted upright, realised his cup was empty and the Princess was nearing the finish, but he didn't panic. In a flash of light, he zipped back to the spring, refilled his cup, and zoomed past the Princess to win the race by a full ten minutes.

The Princess was humiliated, and the King was even angrier.
“What! Shall my daughter marry a common soldier?” he said.
Instead of honouring his word, he gathered his advisors to figure out a way to get rid of these six strangers once and for all.
“Do not be uneasy, my daughter. I have thought of a plan.”
the King told his daughter.

The King invited the six friends to a royal feast. He led them into a magnificent dining hall, but as soon as they sat down, he stepped out and bolted the heavy doors. The room was a trap: the walls, floors, and doors were all made of solid iron.
“Light a fire under the room and keep it blazing till the iron is red hot,”
the King commanded the cook.

As the fires roared below, the men began to feel the temperature rise. At first, they thought it was just the steam from the hot food, but as the iron floor began to sizzle, they realised the doors were locked. They saw that it was the King's wicked plan to kill them.

“But he shall not succeed,”
cried the man with the hat.
“I will cause such a frost as to put out this fire.”
He straightened his hat perfectly on his head, and instantly, the heat vanished. A frost so powerful swept through the room that the fire below lost its strength and the food on the table froze into solid ice. Two hours later, the King opened the door, and the six men said they should be glad to warm themselves, for it was so cold in the room that their food was frozen.

The King stormed down to the kitchens to yell at the cook.
“Why did you not obey my orders and kindle a fire under the iron room?”
he screamed. The cook pointed to the furnaces and said,
“What more could I do?”
There were piles of coal and wood, yet every ember was covered in a layer of thick frost.
“I see that these men can hold their own against fire,”
said the King.

Trying a different tactic, the King went to the soldier and offered to buy his way out of the marriage.
“Will you take the money and give up your claim to my daughter? If so, you shall have as much as you wish.”
The soldier replied,
“I am quite ready to do that. A princess suits a soldier for a wife no better than he suits her for a husband. Give me as much gold as one of my servants can carry. You are welcome to keep your daughter.”
The King was relieved and agreed immediately.

“I will go away now. In fourteen days, I will come for the gold.” the soldier said.
He spent those two weeks hiring every tailor in the country to sew a single, massive sack. Once it was finished, the soldier called for the Strongman.
“Take this sack on your shoulder. We six will go together to the king.”

They arrived during a royal ball.
“Here is my servant. This is the bag which he brings to hold the gold.”
the soldier said. The King’s jaw dropped when he saw the man with the huge sack.
“Why, that fellow can carry a wagon load of gold,”
the King thought.

The King ordered sixteen men to bring out all the gold they could lift. The Strongman tossed it in with one hand and asked,
“Why do you not bring more at a time? This hardly covers the bottom of my bag.”
They brought hundreds of loads.
“Bring more, bring more! Why are you so slow?”
the Strongman cried. At last, he thrust seven hundred cart loads into the bag.
“My bag is not yet full, but I cannot waste more time on the matter. Besides if the sack is not quite full, I can tie it more easily.”

Seeing his riches carried away, the King ordered his army to seize the men.
“Give up to us the man with the gold,”
shouted the soldiers.
“If you do not, we will take you all prisoners.”
The Blower stepped forward.
“What is that you are saying? You will make us prisoners? Do so, then. But first you shall have a dance in the air.”
He blew a hurricane that sent the soldiers flying. He left only one veteran standing and said,
“I will spare you, old comrade. Go tell the king he may send all the soldiers in the world after us and they will fare no better than these.”

When the King heard this, he said,
“Well, there is nothing to do but to let the fellows go.”
The six friends returned home, shared the gold fairly, and lived happy and content all the rest of their days.