There was an old man who had three sons and one daughter. When the
time came for the old man to die, he summoned all his three sons,
and made them promise under oath to give their sister to the first
who came to ask for her, whoever he might be. When some time had
elapsed after the father's death, an old man arrived in a
two-wheeler, and asked for the maiden in marriage. The two elder
brothers would not give her to him immediately, because he was old
and poor; but the youngest insisted that they should give her to
him, reminding them of the oath they had sworn to their father. And
so they gave her in marriage to the old man, and the old man took
her away to his home. After some time, the elder brother went on a
visit to his sister. When he got there, it was a large house, and
couldn't be better. The sister was greatly delighted when she saw
her brother, and when he inquired of her how she was getting on, she
replied: 'Excellently; it can't be better.' When the brother arrived
at his sister's, the old man was not at home, but soon afterwards
arrived, and was very pleased when he saw his wife's brother, and
said to him: 'We will feast and be merry; but first you shall go on
my horse to fetch him some grass, but you must cut it where the
horse paws with his foot, and not where you please.' His wife's
brother said to him: 'Good! brother-in-law, I will.' He then mounted
the horse and went off. As on he went, he came to a silver bridge.
When he espied the bridge and saw that it was all of silver, he
became covetous, dismounted, and pulled off a silver plate, saying:
'I may benefit myself.' Afterwards he cut grass where he pleased,
without waiting till the horse pawed with his foot, mounted the
horse again, and returned back. On arriving at the house, he put the
horse in the stable, placed the grass before him, and went off into
the house. When he arrived in the house, the old man asked him
whether he had satisfied the horse, and whether the horse was eating
the grass. He replied, 'Yes,' and that the horse was eating. The old
man said: 'It is good that I also look.' He then went into the
stable. When he got there, the horse had not touched it. The old man
understood that the grass had not been cut where he had told him; he
therefore at once sent off his brother-in-law supperless, to go back
whence he had come. On reaching home, he didn't tell his brothers
how he had fared at his brother-in-law's, but said to the middle
brother: 'Our brother-in-law salutes you, and wishes you to go to be
his guest.' After some time, the middle brother went on a visit to
his sister; but he, too, fared even as the first one. His sister's
husband sent him, too, for grass, and when he got to the silver
bridge, he, too, became covetous, like the first, pulled off a
silver plate, and did not cut the grass as his brother-in-law told
him, but where he thought fit. When he came back to his
brother-in-law's house, his brother-in-law caught him, too, out in a
lie, and sent him home supperless, like the first one. When he got
home, he told nobody how he had fared at his brother-in-law's, but
said to the youngest brother: 'Our brother-in-law salutes you, and
wishes you to go to visit him.'
After some time, the youngest brother, too, went off. When his
sister espied him, she said to him: 'Only, brother, be sure not to
do as our two brothers have done.' He didn't know what they had
done, and his sister would not tell him anything more. When his
sister's husband came home, he, too, was delighted with his wife's
brother, and said to him: 'We will feast and be merry, only go first
on my horse and fetch him some grass; but you will cut it there
where the horse paws with his foot, and not where you please.' He
mounted the horse and went off for the grass. When he arrived at the
bridge, he was astonished at its beauty, but was quite sorry that it
hadn't those two plates; and when he came to the middle, he looked
on one side and the other, and saw under it, where water was
bubbling in a huge caldron, and human heads boiling in it, and
eagles pecking them from above. Afterwards, having passed over the
bridge, he came to a village, and, as he passed through it, saw that
there everything was sad and sorrowful, and wondered thereat, and
asked a man: 'How is this, brother, that all is so sorrowful with
you?' He replied: 'How should it not be sorrowful, when hail smites
us every hour, and we have nothing.' When he came out of the
village, he found two pigs on the road, and they were fighting
without ceasing. He tried to part them, but in vain, and, being
unable to part them, went on further. Thus proceeding, he came to
another village, and, as he went through, heard on all sides singing
and merriment, and said to someone: 'I went through one village and
found everything sorrowful, and why is all so merry with you?' The
villager answered him: 'Why should it not be so, when every hour is
productive to us, and we have all in abundance?' Finally, the horse
carried him to a very beautiful meadow. When they were in the middle
of the meadow, the horse stood still and pawed with his foot, and he
dismounted and cut grass, and returned back to the house. When he
got to the house, he led the horse into the stable, laid the grass
before him, and the horse immediately began to eat. When his
sister's husband saw that he had satisfied the horse, he was very
pleased, and said to him: 'You are my true brother-in-law; now let
us be merry and feast.' Then they sat down to table and began to
sup. At supper the old man said to him: 'Now, tell me what you have
seen.' He answered him: 'Oh, my brother-in-law! what I have seen
cannot be expressed. First I saw a very beautiful silver bridge, but
it was disfigured where it wanted a pair of plates. Whoever took
these away, the living God hath slain him!' The old man thereupon
told him: 'Your two brothers stole them. As they have done, so have
they fared. But tell me what you saw next.' His wife's brother
replied: 'At the middle under the bridge I saw a huge caldron, where
it was bubbling, and in it the heads of dead people, and eagles were
pecking them from above.' Thereupon his sister's husband said:
'Those are the eternal torments in that world. What did you see
more?' His wife's brother continued: 'I saw a village, and in it
everything miserable.' The old man said to him: 'There there is no
union and no truth, nor knowledge of God. What did you see further?'
His wife's brother said to him further: 'I saw two pigs fighting
without ceasing.' His sister's husband replied: 'Those are two
brothers who do not live in concord. What did you see further?' 'I
saw another village, and in it all was cheerful.' His sister's
husband said to that: 'Those are people after God's will; they
gladly welcome and entertain everybody, and do not drive the poor
empty-handed from before their houses. Tell me what you saw
further.' His wife's brother said to him: 'I saw a very beautiful
meadow. I would stay there three days to view such beauty.' His
sister's husband replied: 'That is the paradise of that world, but
it is difficult to attain to it.' After this they enjoyed each
other's society for many days. Finally, the wife's brother declared
that he must go home, and his sister's husband presented him with a
large gift, and told him that he recognised him immediately for an
honourable man, because he had insisted that his father's
directions, which he had sworn to observe, should be carried out,
and that he would be prosperous, and his two brothers unprosperous.
* * * * *
N.B.--There are two words for 'brother-in-law' in Servian: _shura_,
the wife's brother, and _zet_, the sister's husband. This makes the
tale read better in Servian than in English.