Bab Bab 136 · The Turnip

. The Turnip

There were once two brothers who both served as soldiers; one of them

was rich, and the other poor. Then the poor one, to escape from his

poverty, put off his soldier’s coat, and turned farmer. He dug and hoed

his bit of land, and sowed it with turnip-seed. The seed came up, and

one turnip grew there which became large and vigorous, and visibly grew

bigger and bigger, and seemed as if it would never stop growing, so

that it might have been called the princess of turnips, for never was

such an one seen before, and never will such an one be seen again.

At length it was so enormous that by itself it filled a whole cart, and

two oxen were required to draw it, and the farmer had not the least

idea what he was to do with the turnip, or whether it would be a

fortune to him or a misfortune. At last he thought, “If thou sellest

it, what wilt thou get for it that is of any importance, and if thou

eatest it thyself, why, the small turnips would do thee just as much

good; it would be better to take it to the King, and make him a present

of it.”

So he placed it on a cart, harnessed two oxen, took it to the palace,

and presented it to the King. “What strange thing is this?” said the

King. “Many wonderful things have come before my eyes, but never such a

monster as this! From what seed can this have sprung, or are you a

luck-child and have met with it by chance?” “Ah, no!” said the farmer,

“no luck-child am I. I am a poor soldier, who because he could no

longer support himself hung his soldier’s coat on a nail and took to

farming land. I have a brother who is rich and well known to you, Lord

King, but I, because I have nothing, am forgotten by every one.”

Then the King felt compassion for him, and said, “Thou shalt be raised

from thy poverty, and shalt have such gifts from me that thou shalt be

equal to thy rich brother.” Then he bestowed on him much gold, and

lands, and meadows, and herds, and made him immensely rich, so that the

wealth of the other brother could not be compared with his. When the

rich brother heard what the poor one had gained for himself with one

single turnip, he envied him, and thought in every way how he also

could get hold of a similar piece of luck. He would, however, set about

it in a much wiser way, and took gold and horses and carried them to

the King, and made certain the King would give him a much larger

present in return. If his brother had got so much for one turnip, what

would he not carry away with him in return for such beautiful things as

these? The King accepted his present, and said he had nothing to give

him in return that was more rare and excellent than the great turnip.

So the rich man was obliged to put his brother’s turnip in a cart and

have it taken to his home. When there he did not know on whom to vent

his rage and anger, until bad thoughts came to him, and he resolved to

kill his brother. He hired murderers, who were to lie in ambush, and

then he went to his brother and said, “Dear brother, I know of a hidden

treasure, we will dig it up together, and divide it between us.” The

other agreed to this, and accompanied him without suspicion. While they

were on their way, however, the murderers fell on him, bound him, and

would have hanged him to a tree. But just as they were doing this, loud

singing and the sound of a horse’s feet were heard in the distance. On

this their hearts were filled with terror, and they pushed their

prisoner head first into the sack, hung it on a branch, and took to

flight. He, however, worked up there until he had made a hole in the

sack through which he could put his head. The man who was coming by was

no other than a travelling student, a young fellow who rode on his way

through the wood joyously singing his song. When he who was aloft saw

that someone was passing below him, he cried, “Good day! You have come

at a lucky time.” The student looked round on every side, but did not

know whence the voice came. At last he said, “Who calls me?” Then an

answer came from the top of the tree, “Raise your eyes; here I sit

aloft in the Sack of Wisdom. In a short time have I learnt great

things; compared with this all schools are a jest; in a very short time

I shall have learnt everything, and shall descend wiser than all other

men. I understand the stars, and the signs of the Zodiac, and the

tracks of the winds, the sand of the sea, the healing of illness, and

the virtues of all herbs, birds, and stones. If you were once within it

you would feel what noble things issue forth from the Sack of

Knowledge.”

The student, when he heard all this, was astonished, and said, “Blessed

be the hour in which I have found thee! May not I also enter the sack

for a while?” He who was above replied as if unwillingly, “For a short

time I will let you get into it, if you reward me and give me good

words; but you must wait an hour longer, for one thing remains which I

must learn before I do it.” When the student had waited a while he

became impatient, and begged to be allowed to get in at once, his

thirst for knowledge was so very great. So he who was above pretended

at last to yield, and said, “In order that I may come forth from the

house of knowledge you must let it down by the rope, and then you shall

enter it.” So the student let the sack down, untied it, and set him

free, and then cried, “Now draw me up at once,” and was about to get

into the sack. “Halt!” said the other, “that won’t do,” and took him by

the head and put him upside down into the sack, fastened it, and drew

the disciple of wisdom up the tree by the rope. Then he swung him in

the air and said, “How goes it with thee, my dear fellow? Behold,

already thou feelest wisdom coming, and art gaining valuable

experience. Keep perfectly quiet until thou becomest wiser.” Thereupon

he mounted the student’s horse and rode away, but in an hour’s time

sent some one to let the student out again.