A certain
king died, and soon after his death his wife bared him a daughter, as she had
heretofore borne him a son. And then she too died. But before she died, she
bade her son "Strike hard, but once only!" And she committed her
daughter to his care. And, though they lost their kingdom and were forced to
beg their bread, the brother was a good brother, and took care of his sister
until they came to a certain kingdom, the king of which took pity on them and
kept them in his own palace.
Now, in that
kingdom dwelt seven thieves, who oppressed the king, so that he was compelled
to send them fowls, pigs, cattle, and pigeons every day. And when the brother
heard of this, he begged the king to let him go and kill the thieves. And when
the king was unwilling to let him undertake the enterprise, the brother
insisted, and, borrowing a horse and a sword from the king, went to the
thieves' house, and there tied up his horse and waited with drawn sword at the door.
And when the eldest thief came out, he cut him down, and so in turn he cut down
each of them. But the youngest of all was suspicious and came out cautiously,
so that the brother was not able to kill him at one blow. So, mindful of his
mother's saying, he shut him up in one of the thieves' houses, and put a lock
upon the door. And then he went and told all that had happened to the king;
who, as a reward made the brother and sister custodians of the thieves' houses.
And so they went and stayed there, and the brother said to his sister "You
can go into and examine all the houses except the one that is locked." And
the brother was a mighty hunter. But before he went out hunting, he mixed pulse
and grain, and, filling a plate with the mixture, bade his sister separate the
seeds while he was away. And this occupied her a whole day. And then she went
and examined all the rooms in the thieves' houses. And in some were cattle, and
in some fowls, and in some horses, and so forth. But her mind was ill at ease, because
she might not examine the house that was locked. "For," she said to
herself, "if I do not see what is in that house, I cannot be happy."
So she went and saw, and there she found a man half dead with his wound; and
when he besought her, she pitied him, and fetched him such medicines as he
required of her. So that at the end of some days he was healed, and in course
of time they two fell in love with one another. And the wicked thief began to
teach the girl how she should bring about the destruction of her brother. And
he bade her, when her brother returned, to pretend to be ill, and to say that
nothing would cure her save a drink of tigress' milk. And when her brother
heard this, he set out in search of a she-tiger. And, as luck would have it, he
found a she-tiger with a bone stuck in her teeth. So, after binding her with a
vow, he extracted the bone from her teeth, and then he told her what he
required. So she gave him of her milk, and also one of her whelps. And then he
returned home. And at dawn the thief asked the sister "Did he bring you
the tigress's milk?" And she replied "That he did, and he brought a
tiger's whelp also." On which the thief was much discomfited. Then he bade
her ask her brother fetch some water from a certain tank, well knowing that to
fetch water from that tank, was certain death. On which she said to her brother
"If you can only get me water from that tank, I shall certainly be
well." So the brother took his horse and a sword, and a hound, and also
the tiger's whelp, and set out. And on the way he came to a great tree and stopped
to rest in the shade; and while he was resting, a huge snake came and began
climbing up the tree. And, seeing it, the brother cut the snake in two with his
sword; and when a second snake came, he slew that, too. And while he was still
resting, a bird came flying to the tree with food for her nestlings. But they
refused to eat. And when their mother asked them why they would not eat, they
said "Unless you take pity on the man who is resting under the tree, we
cannot eat." So the mother bird promised; and, having fed her nestlings,
flew down to the brother and asked him what he desired. And he said that he
desired water from a certain tank. But the bird knew all about the properties of
the tank, and told the brother. Now, near the tank dwelt a maiden, the guardian
of the tank; and he entered into her house, and told her his heart's desire.
But she said to him "You must not go near the tank, for you will die. You
must marry me. And as for your sister, she has disobeyed your word, and has
married the thief you nearly killed, and their desire is only to be rid of
you." So they two were married, and, going to the thief's house, slew the
thief and the wicked sister. And then they lived happily ever afterwards. And
that's all!
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