Harlequin Explained:
Despite only turning up in medieval times in a novel written by famous story writer, the legend of the Harlequin is widely regarded as one of the most significant elements of mythology. In the story One Story Just Enough or One Story Short as it's known today a famous story teller with a remarkable memory has learned all the stories there are to know and a king looking to entertain his spoiled child, who also has an excellent memory, has run out of stories to tell his child and calls for the story teller to tell stories to the young prince. The story teller is told that if he can come up with a new story every single day for a year without repeating himself or telling a lie (presuming that the stories are true), lest he be boiled in oil. Unable to refuse the king's offer lest he be killed as well, the story teller reluctantly agrees to it. As the stories get more obscure the story teller has to ask the king to search further and further afield to find people who have heard the story before to prove the story teller isn't lying. However after almost a year the story teller is just one story short and no matter how hard he tries he cannot come up with the final tale as he's used every single story there is to tell. Being unable to tell a lie he's also not able to fabricate a story that nobody's heard of as the king must find another unrelated person to corroborate the story. Also the king hasn't paid the story teller for his upkeep the entire year and the story teller is down to his last crumbs of bread and last lump of charcoal for the fire and worries how he's going to feed his family and keep them warm.
That night a blizzard blows and due to a harsh winter nobody else has much to spare in the castle. a harlequin (horse tender) that has become too old to work approaches the door to the castle and begs for food and shelter but he is turned away. Hearing the commotion the story teller thinking nothing of himself rushes to the man's aid and defends him from being beaten with sticks and walks the man to his home next to the castle. out of the blizzard but still very cold the story teller is reluctant to use his last lump of charcoal to make a fire or eat the last crumbs of food he has, saving it for his family tomorrow when he expects to be dead. The harlequin asks for warmth and food and the story teller tells the stranger that they have barely enough for themselves and shows him the crumbs and charcoal. The harlequin looks at it and laughs saying "What do you mean? There's plenty enough.". The story teller feeling his heart sink gives the last crumbs of bread and lump of charcoal to the stranger saying that he needs it more than they do. The harlequin takes a bite out of the lump of charcoal and the story teller cries out in shock as the harlequin tosses the crumbs into the dead ashes of the fire. Before his eyes the ashes burst into flames warming the whole room instantly. In amazement he turns to the harlequin who hands him the charcoal with a bite out of it and says "You can have the rest". On looking into the bite mark the story teller can see bread and looks at the harlequin in shock. "It's just a little dusty is all." the harlequin says as he grabs the charcoal and shakes the dust from it revealing a loaf of bread. The storyteller wakes his family and soon they are singing with happiness that they have food and warmth.
The cook's quarters backs onto the story teller's dwellings and soon the mean cook, who will not keep his family and home warm because he'd rather spend his money on luxuries for himself, notices his home getting warmer from the residual heat next door. The cook bursts into the story teller's home and sees they have warmth and bread and, believing the story teller has stolen bread and charcoal from the castle pantry, marches the story teller to it along with his family and the stranger in tow. There the cook counts every single item of food and checks his list but, despite being the very same person who has checked every single item every single day since even before the story teller arrived, can't find anything missing and asks how the story teller got the bread and charcoal to which the story teller tells him the truth. Skeptical, the cook lets the story teller go but intends to tell the king the following day that the story teller was caught lying and have him killed even if he has a story by tomorrow.
The family and the stranger return to the story teller's dwellings where the harlequin now feeling much more animated after his warmth and meal invites the story teller to a game of fates and bones (a game using playing cards and dice, which requires a good memory to play). The wife of the story teller tells the harlequin that her husband is a master of the game and has never been beaten. Feeling confident the story teller agrees to the game and beats the harlequin fair and square for one turn and after the harlequin beats the story teller for one turn. The story teller is now very impressed by the harlequin' memory and thoroughly enjoying the game but then he suddenly remembers that he needs to come up with a story by tomorrow and throws the game to draw it to an end as his heart's not in the game. The story teller's wife noticing that her husband lost deliberately inquires why and he tells her that he needs a story by tomorrow or he'll be boiled in oil and can't provide for her, a secret he has kept from her until now so as not to worry her. The harlequin then says to the story teller "okay then. we'll play for bets and produces a hefty sack full of gold from a saddlebag he's been carrying. The storyteller agrees to it and soon he has won enough gold for a dowry so his wife can remarry and calls an end to the game. The wife seeing plenty more gold to be had scolds the husband for stopping the game and encourages him to continue playing but he says "It's gold enough" and tells his wife that he dare not take any more money from the harlequin who has done "More than enough for them.". However the harlequin begs him to keep playing and soon all of the harlequin's gold is gone. The story teller offers to give the harlequin his gold back but the harlequin refuses saying that the storyteller has earned it. Then the harlequin offers to keep playing. The story teller refuses but after being encouraged by his wife, goes on with it and beats the harlequin fair and square. The story teller realizes that the harlequin has nothing of value and announces the game is over but the harlequin offers the saddlebag and after refusing three times the story teller accepts it. The harlequin then asks to keep playing and the story teller wins again and the harlequin gives the story teller his robe and after refusing three times the story teller accepts it. Naked and having nothing to offer the harlequin asks the man to play again and the story teller wins a third time. The story teller calls an end to the game but the harlequin says he has one thing left that he can offer, a story. The story teller's ears perk up and he asks for the story but the harlequin says that he will give the story to the story teller when the time is right. The harlequin asks one thing in return, that the story teller wears his robe when telling the story.
The following day the story teller dons the robe and is brought to the king and having no story to tell, he tells of his own story and the events of last night. The prince appalled by this pitiful story, even though the cook steps forward and admits the story teller had charcoal and bread without taking it from the pantry, orders the man to be boiled in oil and soon a boiling pot of oil is brought to the court. The man is tossed into the oil but instead bathes himself in it as it doesn't affect him before he vanishes beneath the surface and the harlequin's robe which the story teller was wearing at the time floats to the top. Thinking he's been tricked into using colored water the cook reaches in to grab the robe and immediately burns his fingers. Straight after the story teller emerges from the saddlebag unharmed and fully dressed in his usual clothes.
The king and family applaud the story teller for his fine story to which the story teller asks "which story?" to which the prince replies "the story I'm going to tell".
Later adaptations have the king seeking out the harlequin and asking him to grant his wish to be great and powerful to which the harlequin turns him into a giant. When the king asks how this is what he asked for the harlequin replies "are you not great? are you not powerful?". The harlequin was a frequent appearance in stories around the time and often appeared as a man who granted wishes, making sure the wicked got a tainted wish and the good didn't. The court fool or jester is based on the harlequin. The harlequin is known for speaking rhyme but it's most likely because all stories of the time were told in rhyme and the harlequin was merely a character in them. Often the harlequin offers that the greedy person enter a contract with them and when they can't comply with the requirements of the contract due to the harlequin's own meddling they are sent deep into the earth where fire and brimstone lay and burned forever in a pool of boiling lava. the harlequin is the inspiration for a lot of things we associate with the devil, despite being human in appearance. The story of "One Story Just Enough" is a modern variant of "An Eternity And One Day", which is more commonly known by its faulted English translation "1001 Arabian Nights".
