_It matters little what we have to start with, the great thing to
consider is what we shall do with it._
Once upon a time a man called his three sons to him and said: “My
sons, I am getting old and cannot long be with you; I have no gold,
nor lands, nor houses to give you, but you shall have what I have
left.” So he gave one a cock, one a scythe, and one a cat. The
oldest son took the cock and started out on his travels. Soon he
came to a place where nobody had ever seen a cock.
“What can he do?” they all asked. The oldest son told them the
cock would crow at certain hours, and was as good as a clock. He
would call everybody an hour before sunrise, and if he crew in the
daytime the weather would change.
All the people admired the cock and lay awake at night to hear him
crow. The next day they asked what the cock was worth.
“Oh, as much gold as an ass can carry on his back,” said the oldest
son. “That is not much for so wonderful a creature,” said they,
and gave him the gold, and he went back home and showed his two
brothers his fortune.
The second son went out with his scythe, and soon came to a place
where the people had never seen a scythe. When the grain was ripe
they would shoot down the stalks with a cannon, but sometimes they
shot too high, and then again they often hit the ears and that made
them lose a great deal of it.
“What can you do with that blade?” they asked him. Then the second
son showed them how he could cut down the grain with his scythe
evenly and quickly and not lose even a stalk or an ear. “How
wonderful!” they all exclaimed; and then they asked what the scythe
was worth. “Oh, as much gold as a horse can carry on its back,”
said the second son. “That is not much for such a wonderful blade,”
said the people, and gave him the gold. He then went back to his
brothers and showed them his fortune.
Now, the third son went out with his cat, and soon came to a place
where the people had never seen a cat. But the mice danced over the
tables and ate everything in the storehouses. They even bit the
king’s nose and ears while he was taking a nap.
“What can he do?” the people asked the third son. Then the third
son told the cat to catch rats. Such a rat killing you have never
seen. The cat killed a pile so big that it took a wagon to carry
the rats away, and he did this in a few hours.
“What a wonderful creature! How much do you ask for him?” they
asked. “Oh, as much gold as a mule can carry,” said the third son.
The people gave him the gold and he went back to his brothers and
showed them his fortune. And so they left the cock crowing, the
scythe cutting grain, and the cat catching rats, but the three sons
kept the gold.