Before times long past, there lived in a little cottage an old father,
with his three sons. The eldest son was called Martin; the second,
Mihal; and the third, Yanek.
"Martin," the father used to say often, as they were sitting in the
evening at a bowl of skimmed milk, "I shall not be long alive; I feel
it in my body. When I die, the cottage will come to thee; but do not
cheat thy old mother and thy brothers."
Martin always promised; but while the others were listening to their
father, he looked sharply at the food, and picked out every piece of
bread from the milk. Mihal saw this with astonishment; but Yanek was
always grieved from his father's talk, and did not even think of
eating.
The father spoke the truth. In no long time he groaned his last; but
when he saw his death-hour, he had all summoned for the parting. He
reminded Martin again that he was never to let the cottage go out of
his possession; and then turning to Yanek, whom he loved most, he
said: "Yanichek, thou art simple, 'tis true; but what the Lord has
kept from thee in wit, he has added in heart. Only be ever as kind as
thou hast been, and obey thy brothers;" with that he coughed, and was
no more.
Martin and Mihal gave themselves up to lamentation, but Yanek was
silent; he stood by his father's bedside as if without sense. Only
after a long time did he go out, sit in the garden under a tree, and
cry like a little child.
After the funeral, Martin and Mihal decided to go out in the world,
and leave Yanek with his mother. "The world is wide," said they;
"there fortune may meet us quickly, while in this little cottage we
should never come to anything as long as we lived."
It was all one to Yanek; but his mother who was still in good
strength, did not like to have Yanek lose his fortune, and talked with
his brothers so long that they took him with them. This was not
agreeable to Martin and Mihal, but they reverenced their mother, and
obeyed her.
All three made ready; Martin and Mihal put food in bags for
themselves, and went out into the world. On the road Yanek said to his
brothers, "I shall be glad to see if that fortune meets us soon."
"Thou mayest run to meet it," snapped the brothers, "since thou hast
nothing to carry." They were angry that Yanek had taken nothing, while
they must carry heavy bags on their backs.
They walked on a whole half-day; the sun was burning, and the brothers
were tired and hungry. They sat down at the roadside under a tree, in
the shade, took out provisions, and began to eat,--that is, Martin and
Mihal; but Yanek sat by himself and began to cry, either because he
remembered his father's death or was hungry. His brothers ridiculed
him and said: "See now, thou wilt not be so lazy another time, and
then thou wilt not be hungry."
Yanek brushed away his tears with his sleeve, and said: "Ye might have
a little shame. Ye are going out into the world so as to be able to
support your mother when ye go home; but now ye have taken from her
everything!"
Such an answer the brothers did not expect from simple Yanek. They
were silent; and after a while, as if moved from kindness, they asked
Yanek to eat with them; but they did not do it from compassion or
brotherly love, but to lessen their fault. When they had eaten, they
rose and went on their way. In the evening they came to a cottage and
asked for lodgings. The cottager took them under his roof, and asked
them to sup. Martin thanked him with a certain boastfulness, saying
that he had provisions enough of his own.
The man sat down to supper with his wife. Yanek sat with downcast face
alone in a corner. The woman went to the kitchen, and when returning,
saw that Yanek had nothing to eat. "Oh, little boy, come and eat with
us!" said she kindly. Turning to Martin she asked if that was their
servant.
"What servant!" said Martin. "He is our brother, but such a lazy
fellow, he would not bring anything for himself."
Yanek did not wish to go to the table, but consented at last. Martin
squinted at the dish; and when he saw soup, he hated Yanek. Soup was
his favorite dish, and now he must look on and see how Yanek enjoyed
it, and must be satisfied with dry bread and a bit of cheese. Full of
hatred he went to bed in the place which the cottager showed him, with
his brothers. For a long time he lay awake, and when he fell asleep he
saw in a dream, Yanek eating soup. In the morning the brothers rose
before breakfast, because they wanted Yanek to have nothing to eat.
Martin went through the nearest forest, hoping that they would find no
house all day, and so Yanek would have no food.
The whole forenoon they walked through the thick forest, and Martin
wished to eat his dinner; but the forest began to grow thin and soon
they came to an open country. They looked for a road, went on a small
hill, and then saw in the valley a great castle as high as ten houses
placed one on the other. Yanek laughed, but Martin was not pleased:
"We have lost the road," said he; "we must go back."
"But, foolish fellow," said Mihal, who was tired, "we are going out in
the world, what difference does it make; it is all the same whether we
go one way or another."
Without saying a word or looking at his brothers, Yanek went straight
toward the castle. That started off Martin, and soon he caught up with
Yanek. "Walk behind," said he, "I'm the eldest; I must go ahead."
They soon came to the castle, but did not see a living thing; they
were greatly afraid. Martin wished to run away; but when he saw Yanek
open the door, he followed him. They entered a splendid hall. How
astonished were they! On the floor was a pile of copper money five
ells high. Martin and Mihal, blinded by the glitter of the money,
threw out their remaining provisions, filled their bags, and wanted to
run away; but Yanek opened the next door, through which the brothers
saw in another hall a still greater pile of money, but silver. They
emptied their bags of the copper money with all speed, and filled them
with silver. They had barely done this when Yanek opened a third door,
and cried out with wonder,--a thing which he seldom did,--"Ai!" The
brothers threw their bags on the floor, rushed to the door, but had to
cover their eyes with their hands, for it was as bright as the sun in
the next chamber. They saw this was gold. Still more quickly than
before, they threw the silver out of their bags, and panting for
breath, filled them with gold pieces.
"Now let us go," cried Martin; "some one may come, and then we shall
suffer." They started from the castle as fast as they could. Yanek
went too, and took as he was going only one piece of money from each
heap, and in the third room the remnants of food which his brothers
had thrown out. The brothers escaped with the money successfully,
meeting no one. Yanek followed at his leisure, eating the provisions
which his brothers had thrown away. When they came to the forest, the
two brothers crawled into the thicket, threw their bags on the ground,
and began to rest. Yanek also lay down after he had put the last bit
of bread in his mouth. Here Martin remembered the provisions, but he
had only ducats in his bag.
"Yanek," said he, "run back to the castle and bring us from the first
chamber the provisions which we forgot there."