"The Three Feathers" (German: Die drei Federn) is a story by the Brothers Grimm, in their Kinder- und Hausmärchen.
A second variant of the tale also collected by the Brothers Grimm is "The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat" (Der arme Müllersbursch und das Kätzchen), listed as KHM 106.
A king has three sons: the eldest and the middle one are brave and strong, but the youngest is gullible and naïve, so he is called Simpleton.
Simpleton discovers the feather has landed in a lake or pond where a toad lives that speaks in rhyme.
Simpleton manages to produce the items in front of his father, to the jealousy of his older brothers, who are against the idea that he should inherit the kingdom.
For a final task, the king asks for the princes to bring a woman or bride that can do acrobatics and pirouettes so fantastical that they can pass through a very small ring.
When the carriage arrives, out comes a beautiful princess, who performs the impossible feat and earns the hand of Simpleton and the kingdom.
The tale type of the Prince-Animal Bride love story was very popular in the salon culture of 17th century France, as attested by the presence of such motifs in the literary works of, for instance, Madame d'Aulnoy.
[7][8] Parker Fillmore translated a Czechoslovak variant titled The Betrothal Gifts: The Story of Kubik and the Frog.
In this tale, a poor farmer decides to divide his possessions with his three sons, by setting a test: they must find nice wives and bring him a ring and a kerchief.
Kubik, the youngest, finds a talking female frog named Kachenka, who helps him in his father's tasks.
Unable to accept their defeat, the elder brothers convince their father to sends them again into the world for the finest bread for the house.
One day, the youngest prince announces he will partake in a hair-washing ceremony to which all ladies in the kingdom are invited.
At the end of the ceremony, he throws a posy of jasmines into the air and it lands on the frog maiden's head.
Some time later, the king announces he will retire, but first he will see which of his sons shall inherit the kingdom, through a series of tests: finding a golden deer, rice that never goes stale and meat that is ever fresh, and, finally, the most beautiful woman on Earth.
[12] In a tale from the Bubi people from Equatorial Guinea, published in Spanish language with the title El chico que se casó con un sapo, four brothers go their separate ways, each in a cardinal direction, to find brides.
[13] In another tale from the Bubi people, El muchacho y la rana, three brothers want to leave home to find wives.
Later, the father asks for his future daughters-in-law to perform some tasks for him: to have them weave a dress and to cook food.