De Zes Dienaren (The Six Servants)

Long Neck is the sixth servant and is bigger than life in the Fairytale Forest. He is one of ten of the very first fairytales in the Fairytale Forest.

Story

Originally a Grimm tale.

Once upon a time there was an old wicked witch who had used her magic powers to make herself queen.
She was so wicked that she locked her own daughter in the tower because she was envious of her sweet nature and breathtaking good looks.
Before a prince could marry her daughter, he would have to complete three tests: three impossible tests of course; and if they failed, that would be the end them.
None of the princes ever passed all of the three tests and they were never seen again.
But there was another prince.
He had heard of the witch’s beautiful daughter and decided to try his luck.
On his journey to find the wicked witch, the prince ran into six men; each of them slightly more unusual than the next.
One of the men was so fat that he could eat the whole world in one go!
Another could hear everything that was going on in the world and a third had the longest legs you have ever seen.
He could walk around the world in just twenty paces.
The fourth man had the sharpest of eyesight in one eye and had to wear a patch over it.
If he did not, everything he looked at would be shattered into a thousand pieces.
The fifth was always cold; so cold that no fire could ever warm him.
The sixth was Long Neck.
His neck was so long that he could see half of the world from way up in the sky.
All of these men joined the prince on his quest to find the wicked witch; they became his servants and companions.
Like all others, the prince had to complete three impossible tests set by the witch.
Do you think he will succeed?
Would his companions be able to help him?

To read the full story go to the Efteling souvenir shop and purchase the Efteling Book of Fairy Tales.

Get Long Nek souvenirs from the Efteling souvenir shop

Translation

The story of The Six Servants is played on audio. This is in the Dutch language. Please find below a translation for your benefit.

A long time ago in a distant land there lived a beautiful princess. She was so beautiful and kind that many princes had come to ask for her hand in marriage. But her stepmother was a wicked queen, who was very miserly yet wanted to grow richer.

Therefore, before she would consent to a marriage, each prince had to accomplish a very difficult task.

And, if he could not, then the executioner would cut off his head, and the queen would take possession of all the land the dead prince had owned.

Since there had been many princes who had wanted to marry the princess but were unable to accomplish the very, very difficult tasks, the wicked queen had gotten quite wealthy.

Then one day, another prince reported to the Queen. And because he was much smarter than his predecessors, he had hired six servants on the way, each of which possessed a very special ability.

The first, called Putoor (Pit Ear) had such big ears that he could hear all that was happening in the world.

Springkuit (Jump Calf), the second servant, had such long legs, that he could run from here to China within half an hour.

The third had such a great belly, more than long ladders were needed in order to peer over it.
His name was Heuvelbuik (Hill Belly).

The fourth, known as Kogeloog (Bullet Eye), was always kept blindfolded, because his eyes were so strong that anything he looked at would explode into pieces.

The fifth was a wonderous guy.
This one, the hotter it got, the colder he felt.
His name was therefore Koukleum (Shivery).

And the sixth could stretch his neck so far that he could see all that was happening in the world. His name was Langnek (Long Neck).

How friendly the false queen was, when yet another prince came to ask for the hand of the princess. "Of course," she said, "Of course you can marry the princess. "

"However, you have to see to it that within a quarter of an hour she will be standing right here in front of me. "Now that did not seem all that difficult to the prince.

But when Langnek had stretched out his neck and Putoor put his ear to the ground, to listen, it appeared that the princess was sitting at the other end of the kingdom and was crying.

This made the prince very sad, for he thought:
"Oh, I could never get the princess here within a quarter of an hour."

But he had not accounted for Springkuit.
He quickly put the prince on his back, took under his one arm Kogeloog and Koukleum and under his other arm Heuvelbuik, and he began to run, so fast that Putoor could no longer see him after the count of three.

In just a few minutes they arrived at the other side of the country. However, a large water passage blocked them. No problem! Heuvelbuik drank all the water, and they went on,

…until they came to a large rock they could not cross. But Kogeloog jumped into action.
He pulled the blindfold from his eyes and BANGGG! The entire rock exploded into pieces.

Moments later they came to a great fire. But Koukleum only had to blow on it with his icy cold breath, and all the fire went out immediately.

The Prince and Springkuit ran on, and oh yes.
There they found the princess.
She was sitting on the moss under a big tree, and her face was wet with tears. But that soon changed when she realized that the prince was here to come to her rescue.

"Now hurry back Springkuit,” said the Prince, "Because time is short!" "Hahaha, hah, then I can finally let loose," said Springkuit, he took the prince and the princess on his back and began to run like he had never run before.
Along the way they picked up Koukleum, Kogeloog and Heuvelbuik, and were returned to the palace in an instant.

There Langnek and Putoor were already waiting for the prince holding the prince's horse by the bridle. How angry the false queen was, when she saw that the prince had returned within a quarter of an hour with the princess. But yes, she had to accept their marriage now. The prince sat the princess before him on his horse, and then they rode on to his country.

Well, I'm sure you understand a great wedding was celebrated there. And yes, they lived happily ever after together.
Where the servants Heuvelbuik, Putoor, Koukleum and Springkuit went afterwards, nobody knows. But Langnek, accompanied by Kogeloog.... yes, they went to the Efteling.

Because, as Langnek said “My eyes will never ever tire of all the sights I see here”.
And so it came to pass that Langnek is still sitting here today.....

!The video below has English subtitles!