Once upon a time, there lived a king who had 12 sons. When they had grown up, the king instructed them, "You all must find wives that are able to spin and weave a shirt in one day."

After some traveling, the brothers began to quarrel over who would find the best wife 一everyone but the youngest son, Ashiepattle. Impatient with Ashiepattle's ways, they rode off, deserting him.

Then, out of the grass, a tiny figure appeared. Ashiepattle bent down and saw that it was a beautiful girl.

"You look so very sad," she said. "What errand sends you here?"

Ashiepattle explained, "Our father has told me and my brothers to find ourselves wives. But our wives must be able to spin and weave a shirt in one day. If you could perform this task, I would marry you."

In less than one hour she had made a tiny shirt, and so he rode back to show his father, who squinted and examined the shirt closely. At last he said, "Marry the woman who made this. I can see this shirt has been woven with love."

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When Ashiepattle returned to the field, he bent down on his knees and asked the tiny girl to be his wife. She accepted.

Together they traveled back to the palace, Ashiepattle on his horse and his bride in her carriage一a silver spoon pulled by two white mice.

Halfway through their journey, they came to a lake that frightened both Ashiepattle's horse and his bride's mice. The mice reared, thus catapulting his bride into the water.

Ashiepattle ran to save her, but he saw that she had already disappeared beneath the water.

Suddenly, a merman appeared from the lake, carrying Ashiepattle's bride in his arms. To Ashiepattle's amazement, she was now the size of a regular human being.

When Ashiepattle and his bride arrived at the palace, they were married and lived together happily ever after, to the envy of all of Ashiepattle's brothers.