Chương Chương 119 · The Four Skilful Brothers

. The Four Skilful Brothers

There was once a poor man who had four sons, and when they were grown

up, he said to them, “My dear children, you must now go out into the

world, for I have nothing to give you, so set out, and go to some

distance and learn a trade, and see how you can make your way.” So the

four brothers took their sticks, bade their father farewell, and went

through the town-gate together. When they had travelled about for some

time, they came to a cross-way which branched off in four different

directions. Then said the eldest, “Here we must separate, but on this

day four years, we will meet each other again at this spot, and in the

meantime we will seek our fortunes.”

Then each of them went his way, and the eldest met a man who asked him

where he was going, and what he was intending to do? “I want to learn a

trade,” he replied. Then the other said, “Come with me, and be a

thief.” “No,” he answered, “that is no longer regarded as a reputable

trade, and the end of it is that one has to swing on the gallows.”

“Oh,” said the man, “you need not be afraid of the gallows; I will only

teach you to get such things as no other man could ever lay hold of,

and no one will ever detect you.” So he allowed himself to be talked

into it, and while with the man became an accomplished thief, and so

dexterous that nothing was safe from him, if he once desired to have

it. The second brother met a man who put the same question to him what

he wanted to learn in the world. “I don’t know yet,” he replied. “Then

come with me, and be an astronomer; there is nothing better than that,

for nothing is hid from you.” He liked the idea, and became such a

skillful astronomer that when he had learnt everything, and was about

to travel onwards, his master gave him a telescope and said to him,

“With that you canst thou see whatsoever takes place either on earth or

in heaven, and nothing can remain concealed from thee.” A huntsman took

the third brother into training, and gave him such excellent

instruction in everything which related to huntsmanship, that he became

an experienced hunter. When he went away, his master gave him a gun and

said, “It will never fail you; whatsoever you aim at, you are certain

to hit.” The youngest brother also met a man who spoke to him, and

inquired what his intentions were. “Would you not like to be a tailor?”

said he. “Not that I know of,” said the youth; “sitting doubled up from

morning till night, driving the needle and the goose backwards and

forwards, is not to my taste.” “Oh, but you are speaking in ignorance,”

answered the man; “with me you would learn a very different kind of

tailoring, which is respectable and proper, and for the most part very

honorable.” So he let himself be persuaded, and went with the man, and

learnt his art from the very beginning. When they parted, the man gave

the youth a needle, and said, “With this you can sew together whatever

is given you, whether it is as soft as an egg or as hard as steel; and

it will all become one piece of stuff, so that no seam will be

visible.”

When the appointed four years were over, the four brothers arrived at

the same time at the cross-roads, embraced and kissed each other, and

returned home to their father. “So now,” said he, quite delighted, “the

wind has blown you back again to me.” They told him of all that had

happened to them, and that each had learnt his own trade. Now they were

sitting just in front of the house under a large tree, and the father

said, “I will put you all to the test, and see what you can do.” Then

he looked up and said to his second son, “Between two branches up at

the top of this tree, there is a chaffinch’s nest, tell me how many

eggs there are in it?” The astronomer took his glass, looked up, and

said, “There are five.” Then the father said to the eldest, “Fetch the

eggs down without disturbing the bird which is sitting hatching them.”

The skillful thief climbed up, and took the five eggs from beneath the

bird, which never observed what he was doing, and remained quietly

sitting where she was, and brought them down to his father. The father

took them, and put one of them on each corner of the table, and the

fifth in the middle, and said to the huntsman, “With one shot thou

shalt shoot me the five eggs in two, through the middle.” The huntsman

aimed, and shot the eggs, all five as the father had desired, and that

at one shot. He certainly must have had some of the powder for shooting

round corners. “Now it’s your turn,” said the father to the fourth son;

“you shall sew the eggs together again, and the young birds that are

inside them as well, and you must do it so that they are not hurt by

the shot.” The tailor brought his needle, and sewed them as his father

wished. When he had done this the thief had to climb up the tree again,

and carry them to the nest, and put them back again under the bird

without her being aware of it. The bird sat her full time, and after a

few days the young ones crept out, and they had a red line round their

necks where they had been sewn together by the tailor.

“Well,” said the old man to his sons, “I begin to think you are worth

more than breen clover; you have used your time well, and learnt

something good. I can’t say which of you deserves the most praise. That

will be proved if you have but an early opportunity of using your

talents.” Not long after this, there was a great uproar in the country,

for the King’s daughter was carried off by a dragon. The King was full

of trouble about it, both by day and night, and caused it to be

proclaimed that whosoever brought her back should have her to wife. The

four brothers said to each other, “This would be a fine opportunity for

us to show what we can do!” and resolved to go forth together and

liberate the King’s daughter. “I will soon know where she is,” said the

astronomer, and looked through his telescope and said, “I see her

already, she is far away from here on a rock in the sea, and the dragon

is beside her watching her.” Then he went to the King, and asked for a

ship for himself and his brothers, and sailed with them over the sea

until they came to the rock. There the King’s daughter was sitting, and

the dragon was lying asleep on her lap. The huntsman said, “I dare not

fire, I should kill the beautiful maiden at the same time.” “Then I

will try my art,” said the thief, and he crept thither and stole her

away from under the dragon, so quietly and dexterously, that the

monster never remarked it, but went on snoring. Full of joy, they

hurried off with her on board ship, and steered out into the open sea;

but the dragon, who when he awoke had found no princess there, followed

them, and came snorting angrily through the air. Just as he was

circling above the ship, and about to descend on it, the huntsman

shouldered his gun, and shot him to the heart. The monster fell down

dead, but was so large and powerful that his fall shattered the whole

ship. Fortunately, however, they laid hold of a couple of planks, and

swam about the wide sea. Then again they were in great peril, but the

tailor, who was not idle, took his wondrous needle, and with a few

stitches sewed the planks together, and they seated themselves upon

them, and collected together all the fragments of the vessel. Then he

sewed these so skilfully together, that in a very short time the ship

was once more seaworthy, and they could go home again in safety.

When the King once more saw his daughter, there were great rejoicings.

He said to the four brothers, “One of you shall have her to wife, but

which of you it is to be you must settle among yourselves.” Then a warm

contest arose among them, for each of them preferred his own claim. The

astronomer said, “If I had not seen the princess, all your arts would

have been useless, so she is mine.” The thief said, “What would have

been the use of your seeing, if I had not got her away from the dragon?

so she is mine.” The huntsman said, “You and the princess, and all of

you, would have been torn to pieces by the dragon if my ball had not

hit him, so she is mine.” The tailor said, “And if I, by my art, had

not sewn the ship together again, you would all of you have been

miserably drowned, so she is mine.” Then the King uttered this saying,

“Each of you has an equal right, and as all of you cannot have the

maiden, none of you shall have her, but I will give to each of you, as

a reward, half a kingdom.” The brothers were pleased with this

decision, and said, “It is better thus than that we should be at

variance with each other.” Then each of them received half a kingdom,

and they lived with their father in the greatest happiness as long as

it pleased God.