Once upon a time there were two brothers. Each had ten loaves of bread
and nothing else. So they said, “Let us go and seek our fortune.” And
they went.
When they had gone a little way they were hungry. One brother said to
the other, “Come, let us eat thy bread first, then we shall eat mine.”
So they did and went on their way. When they had gone farther they were
hungry again. The first brother said again to the other, “Come, let us
eat thy bread, then we shall eat mine.” They did and went on their way.
And when they had gone farther they finished the ten loaves. Then the
first brother, who had yet kept _his_ loaves, said to the other, “Now
thou mayst go thy way, and I shall go mine. Thou hast no loaves left, and
I will not let thee eat my bread.” And the heartless fellow turned his
back and left his brother to go on alone without a morsel of food.
Well, the brother went on and on and on, more and more feebly, for want
of food, till he came to a mill in a dark forest. He said to the miller,
“I can go no farther; pray let me stay here to-night.”
Now the miller was a truer brother to him than his own had been, and he
answered, “Brother, I would not turn thee away if it were safe. But
wild beasts come into this wood at night, perhaps into this very mill. I
myself do not wait to see.”
“I feel no fear,” said the poor boy; “the beasts will not harm me.” So
while the miller went off home he crept into the hopper of the mill.
At midnight from some place or other a big bear, a wolf, and a jackal
came into the mill, and went leaping and bounding about as if they were
having a dance. When they had done the bear said, “Come, let us each tell
something he has seen or heard. I’ll begin.
“I know a hill where there is a great heap of money. It glitters when the
sun shines. If anyone should go there on a sunny day, he would find his
fortune.”
“I know a town,” said the wolf, “where there is no water. Every mouthful
has to be brought from a great distance. Now, in the center of that very
town, hidden under a stone, where no one can see it, is beautiful pure
water. Whoever finds the stone will make a fortune.”
“What I can tell is best of all,” said the jackal. “I know of a king who
has only one daughter, and she lies weak and pale now three long years.
If only someone would bathe her in beech leaves she would grow strong and
rosy. Whoever cures her will make his fortune.”
At the last word day began to dawn. The bear, the wolf, and the jackal
left the mill and disappeared into the wood.
The boy had heard it all. Full of thanks he came out of the hopper.
“Perhaps,” said he to himself, “I may be the one to find the money, take
away the stone, and cure the king’s daughter. If so, my fortune is sure.”
He set forward with a stout heart just as the sun rose. Soon its beams
fell on a hill to the right and something glittered in its rays. And here
he found the great heap of money, a fortune in itself. Farther on he came
to the town where the people had no water. In the center of it there was
the stone. He rolled it away, and behold! streams of clear water gushed
forth. The people ran to get pitchers and filled them to overflowing. And
they gave him a great sum of gold and silver. After this he set out for
the kingdom of which the jackal had spoken. When he arrived he asked the
king, “What wilt thou give me if I cure thy daughter?”
“If thou canst do this,” said the king, “thy fortune is made, for I will
give thee my daughter as thy wife.”
The youth gathered the beech leaves, the princess bathed in them, and was
cured. In great joy the king married the maiden to the youth. So now his
fortune was made.
The news of this reached the ears of the selfish brother. He came to his
brother and asked how it had all happened. When he heard he said, “I
also will go and stay at that mill a night or two.” His brother warned
him of the danger. But he would not listen. He reached the mill, crept
into the hopper, and waited.
As before, at midnight, from some place or other, the bear, the wolf, and
the jackal came into the mill, and went leaping and bounding about as if
they were having a dance. And when they had done the bear said, “Come,
let us each tell something he has seen or heard. I’ll begin.
“Next day after I told you my story the money was all taken away.”
The wolf said, “And the stone was rolled away and the water found.”
“And the king’s daughter was cured,” added the jackal.
“Then perhaps someone was listening when we talked here,” growled the
bear.
“Perhaps someone is here now,” howled the wolf and the jackal.
“Let us go and look,” shrieked the three.
They looked up and down and round about and in all the corners. At last
they poked their noses into the hopper. And that was the end of the
greedy brother.
But he who had married the king’s daughter lived happy ever after and
when the king died ruled well and wisely.
—FOLK TALE.