A young servant is intrigued one night when he retrieves the King's dish and discovers a coiled white snake under the cover.

On his journey to another town in another kingdom, the servant first encounters a number of animals in distress, including three fish out of water, ants at risk of being trodden upon, and starving raven fledglings in a nest.

In the next town, the servant learns that the King has announced that he wishes to marry off his daughter, but any suitor must agree to complete an arduous task to the end or be put to death.

However, the princess sets him upon another task of refilling sacks of grain that she has spilled in the grass, because she has found out that he is not a noble and thus not her social equal.

The young man is discouraged because he believes it impossible to gather all of the grain from the ground, and he lies down and falls asleep.

After a long journey, he encounters the three raven fledglings, who have flown to the end of the world, where the Tree stands, and retrieved the apple for him.

[5] Similarly, Saxo Grammaticus (Gesta Danorum, V.2.6-V.2.8, 12th c.) describes how Eric acquired eloquence and wisdom by eating the snake-infested stew his step-mother Kraka had prepared for his half-brother Roller.