Once upon a time there was a king, whose name was Asgore, who had a wife, whose name was Toriel, and a son, whose name was Asriel. On a certain day of the days, Asriel and Toriel went to a glen, where there was a well, and in it there was a trout.
Said Toriel, "Troutie, bonny little fellow, am not I the most beautiful monarch in the world?" "Oh! Indeed you are not." "Who then?" "Why, Asriel, your son." Toriel went home, blind with rage. She lay down on the bed, and vowed she would never be well until she could get the heart and the liver of Asriel, her son, to eat.
At nightfall Asgore came home, and it was told him that Toriel, his wife, was very ill. He went where she was, and asked her what was wrong with her. "Oh! Only a thing which you may heal, if you like." "Oh! indeed there is nothing at all which I could do for you that I would not do." "If I get the heart and the liver of Asriel, my son, to eat, I shall be well."
Now it happened about this time that the son of a great king had come from abroad to ask Asriel for marrying. Asgore now agreed to this, and they went abroad. Asgore then went and sent his lads to the hunting-hill for a he-goat, and he gave its heart and its liver to his wife to eat; and she rose well and healthy.
A year after this Toriel went to the glen, where there was the well in which there was the trout. "Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, " am not I the most beautiful monarch in the world?" "Oh! Indeed you are not." "Who then?" "Why, Asriel, your son." "Oh! Well, it is long since he was living. It is a year since I ate his heart and liver." "Oh! Indeed he is not dead. He is married to a great prince abroad."
Toriel went home, and begged Asgore to put the long-ship in order, and said, "I am going to see my dear Asriel, for it is so long since I saw him." The long-ship was put in order, and they went away. It was Toriel herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all before they arrived.
The prince Sans was out hunting on the hills. Asriel knew the long-ship of his father coming. "Oh!" said he to the servants, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me." "She shall not kill you at all; we will lock you in a room where she cannot get near you."
This is how it was done; and when Toriel came ashore, she began to cry out: "Come to meet your own mother, when she comes to see you," Asriel said that he could not, that he was locked in the room, and that he could not get out of it. "Will you not put out," said Toriel, "your little finger through the keyhole, so that your own mother may give a kiss to it?" He put out his little finger, and Toriel went and put a poisoned stab in it, and Asriel fell dead.
When Sans came home, and found Asriel dead, he was in great sorrow, and when he saw how beautiful he was, he did not bury him at all, but he locked him in a room where nobody would get near him. In the course of time he married again, and the whole house was under the hand of this husband but one room, and he himself always kept the key of that room.
On a certain day of the days he forgot to take the key with him, and the second husband Doggo got into the room. What did he see there but the most beautiful man that he ever saw. He began to turn and try to wake him, and he noticed the poisoned stab in his finger. He took the stab out, and Asriel rose alive, as beautiful as he was ever. At the fall of night Sans came home from the hunting-hill, looking very downcast. "What gift," said Doggo, "would you give me that I could make you laugh?" "Oh! indeed, nothing could make me laugh, except Asriel were to come alive again." "Well, you'll find him alive down there in the room."
When Sans saw Asriel alive he made great rejoicings, and he began to kiss him, and kiss him, and kiss him. Said the second husband, "Since he is the first one you had it is better for you to stick to him, and I will go away." "Oh! indeed you shall not go away, but I shall have both of you."
At the end of the year, Toriel went to the glen, where there was the well, in which there was the trout. "Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, "am not I the most beautiful monarch in the world?" "Oh! indeed you are not." "Who then?" "Why, Asriel, your son." "Oh! well, he is not alive. It is a year since I put the poisoned stab into his finger." "Oh! indeed he is not dead at all, at all."
Toriel went home, and begged the king to put the long-ship in order, for that she was going to see her dear Asriel, as it was so long since she saw him. The long-ship was put in order, and they went away. It was Toriel herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all before they arrived.
The prince was out hunting on the hills. Asriel knew his father's ship coming. "Oh!" said he, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me." "Not at all," said Doggo; "we will go down to meet her."
Toriel came ashore. "Come down, Asriel, love," said she, "for your own mother has come to you with a precious drink." "It is a custom in this country," said the second husband, "that the person who offers a drink takes a draught out of it first."
Toriel put her mouth to it, and Doggo went and struck it so that some of it went down her throat, and she fell dead. They had only to carry her home a corpse and bury her. The prince and his two husbands were long alive after this, pleased and peaceful.
