‘A church.’
When they heard this the brothers set to work again to earn some more money, and when they had got enough they set about building a church, which should be as large and beautiful as the palace itself.
And after the church was finished greater numbers of people than ever flocked to see the palace and the church and vast gardens and magnificent halls.
But one day, as the brothers were as usual doing the honours to their guests, an old man turned to them and said, ‘Yes, it is all most beautiful, but there is still something it needs!’
‘And what may that be?’
‘A pitcher of the water of life, a branch of the tree the smell of whose flowers gives eternal beauty, and the talking bird.’
‘And where am I to find all those?’
‘Go to the mountain that is far off yonder, and you will find what you seek.’
After the old man had bowed politely and taken farewell of them the eldest brother said to the rest, ‘I will go in search of the water of life, and the talking bird, and the tree of beauty.’
‘But suppose some evil thing befalls you?’ asked his sister. ‘How shall we know?’