Then each of them went his way, and the eldest met a man who askedhim where he was going, and what he was intending to do? "I want tolearn a trade," he replied. Then the other said, "Come with me, and bea thief." "No," he answered, "that is no longer regarded as a reputabletrade, 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 teachyou to get such things as no other man could ever lay hold of, and noone will ever detect you." So he allowed himself to be talked into it,and while with the man became an accomplished thief, and so dexterousthat nothing was safe from him, if he once desired to have it. The secondbrother met a man who put the same question to him what he wanted tolearn 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 ishid from you." He liked the idea, and became such a skillful astronomerthat when he had learnt everything, and was about to travel onwards,his master gave him a telescope and said to him, "With that you canstthou see whatsoever takes place either on earth or in heaven, and nothingcan remain concealed from thee." A huntsman took the third brother intotraining, and gave him such excellent instruction in everything whichrelated to huntsmanship, that he became an experienced hunter. When hewent 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 alsomet a man who spoke to him, and inquired what his intentions were. "Wouldyou not like to be a tailor?" said he. "Not that I know of," said theyouth; "sitting doubled up from morning till night, driving the needleand the goose backwards and forwards, is not to my taste." "Oh, but youare speaking in ignorance," answered the man; "with me you would learna 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 thisyou can sew together whatever is given you, whether it is as soft asan 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 arrivedat 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 hadhappened to them, and that each had learnt his own trade. Now they weresitting just in front of the house under a large tree, and the fathersaid, "I will put you all to the test, and see what you can do." Then helooked up and said to his second son, "Between two branches up at the topof this tree, there is a chaffinch's nest, tell me how many eggs there arein it?" The astronomer took his glass, looked up, and said, "There arefive." Then the father said to the eldest, "Fetch the eggs down withoutdisturbing the bird which is sitting hatching them." The skillful thiefclimbed up, and took the five eggs from beneath the bird, which neverobserved 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 ofthem on each corner of the table, and the fifth in the middle, and saidto 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 asthe father had desired, and that at one shot. He certainly must have hadsome of the powder for shooting round corners. "Now it's your turn," saidthe 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 itso 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 hadto climb up the tree again, and carry them to the nest, and put them backagain under the bird without her being aware of it. The bird sat her fulltime, and after a few days the young ones crept out, and they had a redline 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 morethan breen clover; you have used your time well, and learnt somethinggood. I can't say which of you deserves the most praise. That will beproved if you have but an early opportunity of using your talents." Notlong after this, there was a great uproar in the country, for the King'sdaughter was carried off by a dragon. The King was full of troubleabout it, both by day and night, and caused it to be proclaimed thatwhosoever brought her back should have her to wife. The four brotherssaid to each other, "This would be a fine opportunity for us to showwhat we can do!" and resolved to go forth together and liberate theKing's daughter. "I will soon know where she is," said the astronomer,and looked through his telescope and said, "I see her already, she isfar away from here on a rock in the sea, and the dragon is beside herwatching her." Then he went to the King, and asked for a ship for himselfand his brothers, and sailed with them over the sea until they came tothe rock. There the King's daughter was sitting, and the dragon was lyingasleep on her lap. The huntsman said, "I dare not fire, I should killthe beautiful maiden at the same time." "Then I will try my art," saidthe thief, and he crept thither and stole her away from under the dragon,so quietly and dexterously, that the monster never remarked it, but wenton snoring. Full of joy, they hurried off with her on board ship, andsteered out into the open sea; but the dragon, who when he awoke had foundno princess there, followed them, and came snorting angrily through theair. 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 monsterfell down dead, but was so large and powerful that his fall shattered thewhole ship. Fortunately, however, they laid hold of a couple of planks,and swam about the wide sea. Then again they were in great peril, butthe tailor, who was not idle, took his wondrous needle, and with a fewstitches sewed the planks together, and they seated themselves upon them,and collected together all the fragments of the vessel. Then he sewedthese so skilfully together, that in a very short time the ship was oncemore seaworthy, and they could go home again in safety.
When the King once more saw his daughter, there were great rejoicings. Hesaid to the four brothers, "One of you shall have her to wife, butwhich of you it is to be you must settle among yourselves." Then a warmcontest arose among them, for each of them preferred his own claim. Theastronomer said, "If I had not seen the princess, all your arts wouldhave been useless, so she is mine." The thief said, "What would have beenthe use of your seeing, if I had not got her away from the dragon? soshe 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 theship together again, you would all of you have been miserably drowned,so she is mine." Then the King uttered this saying, "Each of you hasan equal right, and as all of you cannot have the maiden, none of youshall have her, but I will give to each of you, as a reward, half akingdom." The brothers were pleased with this decision, and said, "It isbetter thus than that we should be at variance with each other." Theneach of them received half a kingdom, and they lived with their fatherin the greatest happiness as long as it pleased God.
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