THE TWO BROTHERS
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.”