AN:More birthday gifts! This one is for Lost_Heart, who wanted a Clark and Lex version of the Grimm fairy tale 'The Peasant's Wise Daughter' (also known by the alternative translation of the title 'The Farmers's Clever Daughter'). I, being me, did not stick 100% to the prompt, also mixing in aspects of the Russian variant of the story, 'The Wise Little Girl,' and the Greek variant, 'What is the Fastest Thing in the World?'
Once upon a time…
There lived a king by the name of Alexander Joseph Luthor, though he preferred to go by just Lex. The king was well-loved by the citizens of his kingdom, who said him to be well-learned and quick-witted, like his father before him had been, as well full of patience and generosity, which his father before him had not been. It was the latter comparison that the young king sought to encourage, doing things such as shaving off all his fine red hair, so to better contrast with the full beard and mane of hair his father had preferred, and holding an open court three days a week, so that even the poorest and meanest of his subjects might have a chance to appeal whatever case or make whatever request they might have before the king himself.
On one such morning the king's first applicant of the day was a young man, tall and broad-shouldered with golden skin and dark hair. A very close observer of the young man, which Lex found himself to be, would also have noticed a keen gleam of intelligence in his bright green eyes. Lex bade the young man to speak his case, and the young man said thus:
"Your majesty, my name is Clark Kent. I come before you today not on my own behalf, but for the benefit of my parents. My father's family for many years owned a farm to the south of here, and they did quite well for themselves there. But when I was just a child, fire rained down from the sky, killing most of their livestock and ravaging most of their fields. My parents tried have tried their best to recover from the tragedy, but the rocks that fell to the ground during the firestorm poisoned the land, and what few crops that may grow there are not safe to eat. We cannot grow our own food, and we have no more money with which to buy the food, and soon we will be out of belongings to sell for money as well. My parents would not ask for help themselves, for they are too proud to accept charity, so I will ask for them. I will gladly sacrifice my pride, if it means saving the people who raised me. Please sire, is there anything you can do to aid them?"
"The people who raised such a son are certainly deserving of all the help I can give them," Lex declared. "There is some land not far from here that has been recently cleared and could serve as new farmland for your parents to replace the old. It need not be charity either; I'm sure there is some small task I can set to you, so you can go to your parents and tell them you have earned the money fairly. Pray tell, what is an area you are skilled in?"
Now, though that day was the first time Lex had ever laid eyes on Clark, there were many others in the room, awaiting their own turn to speak to the king, that had met the young man on numerous occasions before. And because Clark was as fair of mind and heart as he was of face, he was very well-liked by those who had had the chance to meet him. So, when the king asked his question there was a great cry about the room. "Clark is very fast, your majesty!" and "Clark is very strong, your majesty!" and "Clark is very good at this, your majesty!" and "Clark is very good at that, your majesty!" and one clear voice ringing above the others that called out, "Clark is very clever, your majesty!"
Lex, who was very clever himself and prized the trait in others, asked, "Is that true; are you clever? Do you think you could solve a riddle to earn the land for your parents?"
"A riddle in exchange for land seems a very generous offer, but if you believe it to be a fair one, then yes, I think I can solve it," Clark said.
Lex considered for a moment, hoping to devise a riddle hard enough that Clark might feel he earned the aid for his parents fairly, but not so difficult that there was a chance he might not solve it. Finally he declared, "Your riddle is this: you must return to the castle tomorrow, and when you do so you can be neither on foot nor on horseback."
Clark thought carefully and nodded. "I think I can find the answer to this riddle, your majesty, but may I ask for some small help in solving it?"
"What manner of help?" Lex asked, thinking that perhaps Clark wished permission to consult his parents or friends regarding the answer.
"As I have said to you before, my parents lost nearly all their livestock when the fire rained down on their farm, and they have not been able to replace it. So I must ask if I may borrow the use of a donkey."
Lex laughed. "Indeed you may, but there is no need. It's clear you have solved the riddle, so I will not make you act the answer out. Instead, I will give you a second riddle, and if you manage to solve that as well, then in addition to their new farmland, I will replace the livestock your parents lost. Your second riddle is this: again I bid you to return to the castle tomorrow, but this time when you do so you can be neither naked nor dressed."
"This riddle I think I can find the answer to as well, but again I must ask for some small help in solving it," Clark said, and Lex found himself grinning.
"What manner of help?"' he repeated.
"As I have said to you before, my parents have had to sell many of their belongings in order to get money with which to buy the food we cannot grow ourselves. So I must ask if I may borrow the use of a large fishing net."
Again Lex laughed. "There is no need for that, as you have clearly solved this riddle as well. Instead I will offer you a third riddle, and if you can solve this one, I will gift your parents with 100 silver coins, so that they may buy back all the belongings they had to sell. Your third riddle is this: again I bid you to return to the castle tomorrow, but this time when you do so you can be neither empty-handed nor bearing gifts."
Clark considered the third riddle for a long moment before saying, "This riddle I can solve without help, but I still must ask a boon of you, your majesty. I ask for five minutes of your time, that I may collect what I need and answer your riddle today."
Intrigued, though in truth he had been intrigued by the young man from the moment he first saw him, Lex allowed it. Clark left the room, and five minutes later he returned, his hands clasped tightly, yet gently, before him.
"I see you have not returned empty-handed," Lex said. Clark nodded in agreement and approached the throne, Lex waving off the guards who might have stopped him. He offered his clasped hands to Lex, opening them up to revealed the sparrow trapped inside. Lex reached out to touch the bird, but before he could do so, the animal startled and flew away, out one of the open windows.
"Nor bearing gifts," Clark finished.
Lex stared at Clark in amazement. "Surely you are one of the cleverest people in all the world. As promised, I will give your parents the new land for their farm, and new livestock to replace their old, and 100 silver coins. But I have one last set of riddles, and if you can solve these, then I will freely give to you all of my time, for such will be your right as my husband. Tell me, what is the fastest thing in the world? What is the strongest? And what is the most precious?"
"You have heard it said today that I am very fast, and that is true. Faster even than the swiftest horse in your stables," Clark said, dropping his voice to a whisper that only Lex could hear for that sentence before raising it again to be audible to the whole room. "But far faster than I, is the speed of the minds of men.
"You have also heard it said today that I am very strong, and that is true. Stronger even than the mightiest oxen in the field," Clark said, dropping his voice to again to a whisper. "But far stronger than I, is the strength of the will of men.
"As to the most precious thing in the world, I confess there are many things that I find precious. And there are others still that I think may grow to be precious to me with time. But the most precious of them all is honesty," Clark concluded with such a grin that Lex felt his breath catch.
There was a hush over the room as the crowd awaited the king's judgement. "I can find no fault with your answers," Lex said. For despite the ludicrous nature of his claims of speed and strength, he could sense that they were truth, and that seemed to prove how precious honesty really was. "And so I offer you a place at my side as my husband, if you will accept it."
"Gladly," Clark replied, "and with all my heart."
The two were wed with much fanfare, and the next few months were the happiest that either man had ever known. Then came a day where Lex had to leave to handle some affairs in the next city over, requiring that the two be parted for three days' time. As Lex was about to depart, a commotion broke out in the courtyard and the two men beseeched their king to solve their dispute. The first man claimed that his mare had just given birth, and that the foal had then wandered over in between the second man's two oxen, and that the second man was now refusing to return the foal to the first man to whom it rightfully belonged. The second man claimed that the foal rightfully belonged to him, because it was in fact his ox that had miraculously give birth to the young thing. Lex was anxious to leave quickly, that he might that much sooner return to his husband, so he dismissively commanded that the foal should just be left where it lay.
Later that same day, the first man, who had heard much about the cleverness and kindness of the king's husband, approached Clark and begged him for his help in getting his foal back from the other man. Clark heard the judgement Lex had made, and recognized it to be a foolish one made in haste, one that his husband would regret if he thought on it again in the future, and so he agreed to help the man.
"My husband will return as the sun is setting on the day after tomorrow. When he returns you must be on the road waiting for him, and here is what you must do."
The man did as he was bade, so when Lex came riding up with his men two days later, he found himself forced to stop for the road was blocked by the man, who had a great net and had cast it out across the road.
"What are you doing?" Lex questioned the man.
"I am fishing," the man replied.
"How can you be fishing if there is no water?" Lex asked.
"I can catch a fish on dry land as easily as an ox can give birth to a foal," the man replied.
Lex cast a suspicious gaze on the man. "You did not think of this on your own. Tell me, who advised you do this?"
The man found himself worried by the king's tone, but saw no reason to lie, so he told Lex honestly, "It was your husband that bade me do this, your majesty."
Now, Clark had only meant this to be a teasing gesture of sorts, but Lex had been raised by a father who was not known for being patient or generous. So to him it seemed that his husband, who Lex loved more dearly than anything, was trying to make him look foolish, and that Clark perhaps did not care for Lex at all. So Lex flew into a rage, and upon returning to the castle, he told Clark he was to return to his parent's house, and never darken Lex's doorstep again.
"But I am not completely cruel, so I will allow you to take the one thing that is dearest and best in your eyes with you," Lex said.
Clark was momentarily shocked, but he recovered quickly, which to Lex seemed further proof that his husband did not truly care for him. "If that is what you wish, then shall do as you command," Clark said. "But may we share one last drink together in farewell?"
Lex agreed to this, so Clark left and returned a few minutes later, bearing a tray with a decanter of wine and two glasses. He poured them each a glass and they both drunk deeply. In a matter of minutes, Lex succumbed to the sleeping potion that Clark had mixed into the wine, and fell into a deep slumber. Clark, who was unaffected by the draught, gently picked Lex up and used his speed and strength to carry Lex back to Clark's parent's house, and placed him in the bed that had been set aside for Clark should he come to visit.
Lex slept through the night and well into the next morning. When he finally awoke he was startled to find himself nowhere he recognized, and he loudly called out for his attendants. None of them came, but presently his husband entered the room, and sat down on the bed beside him.
"You told me that I might bring with me the one thing that was dearest and best in my eyes with me when I returned to the home of my parents. And what could there possibly be that is better or dearer to me than you yourself?" Clark said.
Tears sprung to Lex's eyes as he saw how foolish he had been. "My dear husband, I promise you that you shall be mine and I shall be yours for all the rest of our days, if you will only forgive the hasty words I spoke in anger."
"Gladly," Clark replied, "and with all my heart."
…And they all lived happily ever after.