Once on a time there were seven friends, and the king thought he would try them, and see whether they were as true friends as they seemed to be; so he sent them on a long journey together.
First they came across a swamp, through which they had to pass. Six of the friends helped each other through, but the seventh gave no help to any one. “You are no friend,” said the king; and he told the rest to go on without him. So on they went.
Going a little farther, one of the company fell sick. All but one of the friends gladly stayed to nurse him, but the sixth spurred on his horse, eager to reach his inn before nightfall. To this man the king sent word that he might travel the rest of the way by himself. So the five went on together, as soon as the sick man recovered.
Before they had proceeded much further, they were beset by robbers, who burst upon them from a thick forest. Four of the friends drew their swords to defend each other and themselves, deciding to die together as they had lived together; but the fifth ran away as fast as he could make his horse go, and was not seen again. So the four went on together.
A little distance farther, a strange thing happened. A party of soldiers took them prisoners, put them in a dungeon, and told them they must remain there until they promised to be disloyal to their good king. One man readily agreed to do this, and urged the rest to submit; but they scorned him, and encouraged each other to remain loyal to their king. These last the soldiers (for they were the king’s soldiers in disguise) speedily sent on their way, but the fourth was kept in prison.
The three that were left had not gone far before the first strayed away on a dangerous path that would have led him to a lion’s den. The second quickly pulled him back, though the third was for letting him turn aside from the straight road, if he wanted to. Pretty soon the second, in his turn, took a notion to some pretty flowers that grew on the treacherous edge of a precipice, and was just on the point of reaching after them when the first smartly pulled him back into safety. The third again laughed at this, and asked why he wasn’t allowed to fall over, if he wanted to.
At this the king detached the third friend, also, from the company, saying, “I have found that these two alone are true friends, for they help each other over hard places, they tend each other in sickness, defend each other in danger, keep each other loyal, and correct each other when they make mistakes.”