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The Four Clever Brothers (1) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (1)

There was once a poor man who had four sons.

When they were grown up he said to them, " My dear boys, you must now go and earn your own living. Learn a trade and see how well you can get on in the world. "

So the four brothers said goodbye to their father, and walked out of the town gate together.

When they had traveled for some time, they came to a crossroads, each had leading to a different country.

The eldest brother said, " Here we must part and go our separate ways. We will have a better chance of finding work. "

Then the youngest brother said, " Let us meet each other again at this spot in four years' time. Then we can tell each other our adventure. "

(1/11) 
どこの話かよくわからないのですが、古くからの昔話です。

The Four Clever Brothers (2) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (2)

So each of the brothers took a different road.

Soon the eldest brother met a man who asked him where he was going.

" I'm going to try my luck in the world, " he answered.
" I want to learn a trade. "

" Come with me, " said the man, " and I'll teach you how to become the cleverest thief in the whole world. "

" Oh, no ! " said the young man.
" That's not an honest trade. I don't want to end up in prison. "

" Oh, you need not fear that, " said the man.
" I will only teach you to steal things that no one else can get or cares about. "

" Well, that's different, " said the eldest brother.
So he went away with the man and became a very clever thief.

(2/11)
アレッ、と。

The Four Clever Brothers (3) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (3)

The second brother met a man who also asked him what he wanted to learn.

" I don't know yet, " he replied.

" Then come with me, and be an astronomer. Once you understand the stars, you will understand everything. "

The second son liked the idea.
He became such a clever astronomer that when he had learnt everything, his master gave him a telescope saying, " With this you can see all that is happening in the sky and on the earth. Nothing will be hidden from you. "

The third brother met a huntsman.

This man gave him such an excellent training that he became a wonderful marksman.

When he was ready to leave, his master gave him a very special gun saying, " You will never miss if you shoot with this gun. "

(3/11)

The Four Clever Brothers (4) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (4)

The youngest brother also met a man, just as his brothers had done.

" Would you like to be a tailor ? " asked the man.

" Oh, no, " replied the boy.
" What a boring job ! I don't want to sit cross-legged stitching to and fro from morning till night. "

" Oh ! I don't mean that kind of tailoring, " said the man.
" With me, you will learn something much more interesting than that. "

So the youngest boy went with the man, and learnt this very difficult art from the very beginning.

When they parted, the man gave the boy a magic needle.
"This needle sews through anything. Even if it is as hard as steel or as soft as butter. The seam will be so fine it will never show, and it will never come apart again. "

(4/11)

The Four Clever Brothers (5) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (5)

When four years are over, as promised the four brothers met at the crossroads.
They were very happy to see each other again and they threw their arms around each other.

They returned home to their father who was delighted to see them all.

They together sat in the garden under a large tree, and the young men told their father about the trades they had learned.

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

He looked up and said to his second son, " At the top of this tree there is a chaffinch's nest. How many eggs are in it ? "

The astronomer took his telescope, looked up, and said, " There are five. "

Then the father said to the eldest son.
" See if you can take the eggs away from under the mother bird, without her knowing anything about it. "

The skillful thief climbed up and took the eggs fro beneath the bird without her feeling anything.
The father took the eggs and put one on each corner of the table and fifth egg in the middle.

(5/11) 

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The Four Clever Brothers (6) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (6)

Then he said to his huntsman son :
" Shoot the five eggs in half with one shot. "

The huntsman put the gun up to his shoulder, aimed, and shot the eggs just like his father wanted.

" Now it's your turn, " said the father to the youngest son.
" You must sew the eggs with the young birds inside together again, in such a way that they will look as if they had never been broken apart. "

What a difficult job.

But the tailor son brought his needle and sewed them just as his father wished.
When he had done this the eldest son carried them back to the nest as quietly as he had taken them out.

(6/11)

The Four Clever Brothers (7) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (7)

After a few days the young birds hatched out of the eggs.
They were completely unhurt.

" Well, " said the old man to his sons, " you have used your time well, and learnt something useful. I don't know which of you is the cleverest. Perhaps the time will come when you can each use your trade for a useful purpose. "

Not long after this something terrible happened.

The whole country was upset.

The king's daughter was carried off by a dragon !
Nobody knew where she was.
The king was very unhappy, and said that whoever brought her back could marry her.

The four brothers said to each other, " This is a wonderful chance for us to show what we can do. "
So they all left together, to try and save the Princess.

(7/11) 

The Four Clever Brothers (8) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (8)

" I will soon know where she is, " said the astronomer.
He climbed a high hill and looked through his telescope.

" Oh, I can see her, " he cried.
" She is far away from here on a rock in the sea, and the dragon is standing guard over her. "

Then he went to the King and asked for a ship for himself and his brothers.

They sailed across the sea until they came to the rock.
There the Princess was sitting, and the dragon was lying asleep nearby.

" I dare not shoot, " said the huntsman.
" I should kill the beautiful maiden, too. "

" Then I will try, " said the thief.
He silently crept up over the rocks.
He stole the Princess from near the wings and the tail of the dragon, so quickly that the dragon did not even awake, and went on snoring.

(8/11)


The Four Clever Brothers (9) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (9)

He carried her to the boat.
Quickly they sailed out into the open sea.

But then dragon woke up.
In a terrible temper he flew through the air, and around the ship, leaving great clouds of steam behind him.

When he was right over the ship, the huntsman put his gun to his shoulder and shot him right through the heart.

The dragon fell down dead right on to the deck.
He was so heavy that the whole ship was crushed.
Fortunately, however, they were able to catch hold of a few planks, and they swam about the wide sea.

They were in great danger.
But the tailor took his magic needle and sewed the planks together.
They all sat on the raft he had made and collected together all the bits of the ship.
The tailor sewed them up so skillfully, that soon the ship was seaworthy, and they got home again in safely.

(9/11) 

The Four Clever Brothers (10) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (10)

the king was overjoyed to see his daughter.
He said to the four brothers, " One of you shall marry her. You must decide for yourselves who it shall be. "

The four brothers argued.
" She belongs to me, " said the astronomer.
" If I hadn't found her all your cleverness would have been useless. "

But the thief said, " I got her away form the dragon. She is mine. "

The huntsman said, " Te dragon would have killed you all if I had not shot him. She should be my wife. "

And the tailor said, " If I had not sewn the ship together again we would all have drowned. So I should marry her. "

How they argued.
But however long they tried, they just could not decide which of them played the most important part in rescuing the Princess from the dragon.

So after a while, they turned to the King.
" What shall we do ? " they asked.
" We cannot all marry your daughter. "

(10/11) 

The Four Clever Brothers (11 完) [Four Clever Brothers]

The Four Clever Brothers (11 完)

But the King was clever man and he said, " You are all right. As you can't all marry the Princess then none of you shall have her. Instead I will give each of you a reward. You will each have half a kingdom. "

The brothers were very pleased.
" It is much better than us quarrelling with each other, " they said.

So the Princess married a Prince and the brothers each received half a kingdom, and lived happily ever after, taking care of their father.

(11/11 完) 

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