A poor scholar was traveling along the highway into a town and found the body of a dead man under the gate walls, unburied and trampled by passers-by. He didn't have much money, but he gave enough to bury the man, so he wouldn't be spat on or have sticks thrown at him. After saying prayers over the freshly made grave, the scholar continued on his journey. In an oak forest, he fell asleep, and when he woke up, he was amazed to find a bag full of gold. He thanked the unseen kind hand and reached the bank of a large river, where he needed to be ferried across.
The two ferrymen, noticing the bag full of gold, took him into the boat and, at a swirling part of the river, stole the gold and threw him into the water. As the waves carried him away unconscious, he accidentally grabbed onto a plank and floated safely to the shore. It wasn't a plank, but the spirit of the buried man, who spoke to him: "You honored my remains by burying me; thank you for that. As a token of gratitude, I'll teach you how to transform into a crow, a hare, and a deer." Then he taught him the spell.
With the spell, the scholar could easily change into a crow, a hare, and a deer. He traveled far and wide until he reached the court of a mighty king, where he served as an archer. This king had a beautiful daughter who lived on an unreachable island, surrounded by the sea. She lived in a copper castle and owned a sword that could defeat the largest army. Enemies had invaded the king's land, and he needed the sword. But how to get it when no one had ever reached the island? He announced that whoever brought back the sword would marry his daughter and inherit the throne.
No one dared to try until the wandering scholar, now an archer at the court, offered to go and asked for a letter so the princess would give him the sword. Everyone was amazed, and the king gave him a letter for his daughter. He went into the forest, unaware that another archer from the court was secretly following him. He first turned into a hare, then a deer, and dashed off quickly until he reached the sea. Then he transformed into a crow, flew over the sea, and landed on the island.
