A terrible demon, a ghoul, once lived in a kingdom. He lived in a cave in the forest, not far from the town where the king lived. Everyone feared the ghoul because it lured wanderers into the forest to devour them and ate the animals in the meadows.  It would have been easy to kill the ghoul, because all you had to do was pull out three hairs, but no one dared go near the demon.

Now the king had a very beautiful daughter, so he proclaimed: "Whoever brings me the three hairs from the ghoul will have the princess as their wife!" But none of the princes and nobles of the land dared to enter the demon's cave. However, there was a young man in the country who had loved the princess for a long time. But as he was poor, he could never marry her. So he decided to try his luck and kill the ghoul. He bravely went into the forest, not knowing whether he would come out alive.  It was still light when he reached the cave, but the ghoul was not at home. He was on the hunt for humans. So he ventured into the cave. There he saw a girl sitting in the cave and crying.  When she saw the young man, she called out: "Go away quickly, because if the ghoul finds you here, he will eat you! He won't eat me because he wants me as his wife, but I am already promised to another man!"

"I've come to kill the ghoul. Because you see, I want to marry the princess and for that I need three hairs from the ghoul's head. If you pull them out, he dies. Maybe you can help me, then you'll be free too?"

The girl took courage and said: "Hide here in this alcove, because the demon is coming home soon. I want to see if I can outwit him." Shortly afterwards, the ghoul came home. He sniffed, growling with hunger, and called out, "I smell human flesh, where is it?"

"Nonsense," said the girl. "You must have brought the smell yourself. Eat and rest."

The ghoul ate everything the girl had put out for him, then lay down and fell asleep. The girl sat down at his head and waited. When the ghoul began to snore loudly, she plucked one of his hairs from his head.

"Ow! What was that?" cried the ghoul.

"I dreamt that you were drowning in the sea and only your head was sticking out of the water. I pulled you out by your hair," the girl replied.

"Very well, but now let me sleep," said the ghoul and closed his eyes again. The girl waited for a while, then plucked out the second hair.

"What was that?" the ghoul asked angrily.

"I dreamt that I fell out of the boat, and as I fell I grabbed your hair, otherwise I would have drowned. It's a good thing you woke me up with your scream," said the girl.

The ghoul believed her words, fell asleep and began to snore. Then she pulled out his third hair and the ghoul died instantly. The young man had observed everything and now jumped out. The girl gave the young man the three hairs, then they collected the demon's treasures together and made their way back. Everywhere they went, they shouted: "The ghoul is dead!" The people cheered and accompanied them into the city.  The king was already waiting there with his court and the pretty princess. The young man bowed to the king and said: "Here they are, the three hairs of the ghoul." He handed them over to the king and showed him the treasures they had brought with them. The king rewarded the girl handsomely, but the young man took the princess as his wife. They celebrated for many nights. We were there too, saw the happiness of the young married couple, ate their feast, went home and put this story in your hands.

Märchen aus Palästina, Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: I. Muhawi, S.Kanaana, Speak Bird, speak again, Palestinian Arab Folktales, Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1989, unter dem Titel „The brave lad“.englische Fassung Lysander Jaenike ©Mutabor Märchenstiftung