And he opened his book and began:
There was once upon a time a widow who had three sons; they were fine, strong young men, and the two elder thought themselves more than commonly clever. The youngest did not think much about anything but his business, which was to keep the sheep, look after the horses, and supply the pot with the game he brought home. He was a hard worker, and when he lay down at night, he was glad enough to sleep, though the others would usually sit up scheming how they might grow rich. He thought them rather grand fellows, all the same, and quite expected they would do something wonderful.
One day the widow called them all and told them it was high time they saw something of the world. “To-morrow morning you shall all be off round it,” she said to the eldest. “You must start facing east, your next brother facing west, and when you meet in the middle at the other side you can compare all you have learned. As for you,” she went on, turning to the youngest, “you shall start southward, and no doubt will be in time to fall in with them and profit by their knowledge.” She also had a great opinion of her elder sons.
So off they went, and when they had gone half round the world, the two elder brothers came face to face at the other side in a sandy hollow. They sat down and began to talk.
“Well, brother, and what have you done?” asked the second.
“Done!” exclaimed the first brother; “what do you mean? I haven’t made a penny or seen anybody I think as well of as myself. There is nothing to be got by giving oneself all this trouble. The world is an overrated place, I can tell you. What have you got out of it?”
“Nothing,” said the second; “and I agree heartily with every word you have said.”
At this moment they looked up and saw the third brother coming over a hillock. He did not look much more prosperous than themselves.
“We won’t tell him,” they said; “we will pretend we have done wonders and made our mark, and then we’ll get a pretext to be rid of him before he finds out the truth. It would never do for him to lose his respect for us.”
“Hi!” cried the youngest brother, “this is luck indeed!” And when he had greeted them he sat down beside them in the sand.