The Three Brothers

Once there was a man who had three sons, and nothing else in the world except the house he lived in. Each son wanted the house after his father died. The father loved them all equally and didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to sell the house because it had belonged to his ancestors, or he could have divided the money among them. At last he had an idea. He said to his sons, “Go out into the world and each learn a trade. When you come back, the one who makes the best masterpiece will get the house.”

The sons were happy with this plan. The oldest decided to become a blacksmith, the second a barber, and the third a fencing master. They set a time to come home, and then each went his own way.

It happened that they all found excellent teachers who taught them their trades well. The blacksmith shoed the king’s horses and thought, “The house is surely mine.” The barber only shaved important people and already considered the house his own. The fencing master received many blows, but he just bit his lip and didn’t let anything bother him. He told himself, “If you’re afraid of a blow, you’ll never win the house.”

When the agreed time was up, the three brothers came back home to their father. They didn’t know how to show their skill best, so they sat down and talked it over. As they sat there, suddenly a hare ran across the field. “Aha, just in time!” said the barber. He took his basin and soap, lathered the hare as it ran, and shaved off its whiskers while it raced at top speed, without cutting its skin or hurting a single hair. “Well done!” said the old man. “Your brothers will have to do something amazing, or the house is yours.”

Soon after, a nobleman in his coach came dashing by at full speed. “Now you’ll see what I can do, Father,” said the blacksmith. He ran after the coach, took all four shoes off one of the horses while it galloped, and put on four new shoes without stopping it. “You are a fine fellow, as clever as your brother,” said the father. “I don’t know which of you should get the house.”

Then the third son said, “Father, let me have a turn, please.” It began to rain. He drew his sword and swung it back and forth above his head so fast that not a single drop fell on him. The rain fell harder and harder until it poured in torrents, but he swung his sword faster and faster and stayed as dry as if he were sitting indoors. When his father saw this, he was amazed and said, “This is the masterpiece. The house is yours!”

His brothers were satisfied with this, as they had agreed. They loved one another very much, so all three stayed together in the house, followed their trades, and because they were so clever and had learned so well, they earned a lot of money. They lived together happily until they grew old. At last, when one of them fell sick and died, the other two grieved so much that they also fell ill and soon died. And because they had been so clever and loved one another so much, they were all buried in the same grave.