Once upon a time there was a large and prosperous kingdom ruled by a wise and powerful king. Then disaster struck in the form of a virulent plague which caused people to sicken and die horribly within a few weeks. The population of the Kingdom was declining rapidly. All the physicians in the land were called to the Kingdom, but none of them had any idea of what to do about this terrible disease. Alas, the even king's own daughter had fallen to the sickness and would soon die without an antidote!

The old priest of the church said that he had once heard that many years ago, when his grandfather was a boy, the kingdom had been struck by just such a mysterious sickness. The pestilence had been ended with a magic potion whose formula was known by an old sorceress. It was said that she was still alive, but her home was in the middle of the Dark Forest.

"The Dark Forest!" everyone gasped. They all knew that the Dark Forest was the most dangerous place in the region. Perhaps the most dangerous place in the entire world, for in the Dark Forest roamed the mystical giant Saffron Hands, which grabbed any traveler who entered and would squeeze him to death. Since no one could come up with another plan to save the kingdom it was decided that someone had to face and defeat the Saffron Hands to locate the ancient sorceress in the middle of the Dark Forest.

The king called his bravest knight and explained the mission. Without hesitation, the brave knight mounted his steed and rode into the forest. He was never heard from again.

The king then called his second bravest knight. The second bravest knight hesitated for only a moment before going into the fatal forest. But once he went in he, too, was never heard from again.

So the king called his third and fourth bravest knights, who took a bit more persuading. None of them ever returned from the forest. Finally the remaining knights, who were not very brave at all, went into hiding.

The king was reduced to a state of despair. One of the king's young pages, Elmer, came to him and offered to go into the Dark Forest and get the magic potion from the old sorceress in return for the hand of the king's beautiful daughter in marriage.

The king was astonished by the lad's foolish bravery, but he said, "Don't you realize that the Dark Forest is the home of the Saffron Hands, and that many of my bravest knights have perished there?"

The young fellow said that he knew all about it, but for the hand of the princess he was willing to risk it. Having nothing to lose, the king agreed to let the page try it.

The page walked off into the Dark Forest, and the king expected never to see him again. Therefore the king was not merely surprised but very nearly hysterical with joy when, two days later, Elmer came walking out of the Dark Forest clutching the formula for the magic potion that would save the kingdom.

 
"How did you do it?" cried the king.

The page shrugged and said, "It was terrifying, your majesty. I was walking through the forest and I had just spied the hut of the old sorceress when out of the trees came two enormous yellow hands! I knew those had to be the Saffron Hands and thought I was surely to die. But when they got near they sort of froze just before they were about to wrap around me and I was able to walk right past them!"

The king smiled, clapping the brave young man on the back, and set about arranging for a royal marriage. The court physicians prepared enough of the elixir to save the rest of the kingdom.

Which goes to show, always let your pages do the walking through the yellow fingers.