 King Jozef, the absolute ruler of a tiny, backward country in a magical world, receives suitors for the hand of princess Prieeltje, his only child, even though she refuses to marry and thus determine the succession to the throne, as he intends to retire. After her furious dismissal of all candidates, the king decrees a contest to determine her groom, without divulging the stakes; his servants, the brothers Grimm, charged with executing all his orders, devise as task to bring the three golden hairs on the chin of the mother of the devil. She however reads his intent in her crystal ball, and decides her son the devil must win to become an evil tyrant, even though he is by nature kind and docile, so he is to smuggle her in as a rabbit. By accident Kulderzipen, a simple peasant boy, pulls her hairs, but the king only wants a rich, mighty warrior  like him ...