“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.
HESTER’S EASTER OFFERING
We often find our greatest joys in the sacrifice we make for others; especially when that other is a tired and care-worn mother.