The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #159268 Message #3773012
Posted By: NOMADMan
15-Feb-16 - 08:11 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Answer 3 questions by the king
Subject: RE: Folklore: Answer 3 questions by the king
This is the tale related in Child #45, "King John and the Bishop." There the king has threatened to behead the Bishop if he can't answer the questions. The king asks the questions of a shepherd who has been hired by the Bishop to go to the king masquerading as the Bishop. He gives the same answers related here except for "what I do think." To that one he replies, "You think I'm the Bishop of Canterbury" He then identifies himself. The king is amused. He ends the game and tries to elevate the shepherd to the Bishop's post but is thwarted in that when the shepherd informs him that he is illiterate. The Bishop, of course, survives.