THE THREE BROTHERS
Once upon a time a man had three sons. The eldest was very
scholarly and loved to study, the middle one was very jolly and had many
friends, the youngest was artistic and loved poetry. One day the father gathered
his three sons around him with their mother.
“My sons,” he said, “the time has come for you to go out
into the world and to seek your fortune. As you know I am a poor man. I am sure
you will all do very well and make me very proud.”
And so inspired the three young men went out into the world.
The eldest went into the service of an abbot and worked in the library where he
could study. The middle one became a merchant, and the youngest a troubadour.
Many years passed, and eventually the three came back together to see their father,
who asked them to account for their achievements. The eldest had now become a
knight, but had little money of his own as he had taken a vow of charity. The
middle one had become rich, and the third had been a wandering minstrel but was
yet poor although he still loved his
trade and was happy.
“My sons” said the old man, “what a shame it is that only
one of you has gained riches enough to make me proud to say he is my son. He
has made his way in the world while two of you are but wanderers. Perhaps one
day I will be so proud of you all, but that
day has not yet come. I am sad at this.”
Saddened, the three brothers went out again, the middle one
feeling sad for his two brothers even though he had been the most successful of
the three. He offered his brothers some money to help them on their travels,
but the knight said he would probably give it away and the troubadour said he
may simply spend it on merriment, so they both declined this generous offer.
Many years later dark times came over the land. The youngest
had ceased to sing and tell stories and had become a wandering beggar. The
middle one lost all of his money through deceit and treachery, and the knight
had gone away to fight in many wars in all the corners of the earth and was
weary and battle-scarred. Eventually they came together to see the father who
by now was very old.
“My sons,” said the old man. “I have failed as a father.
Instead of the proud sons I believed I would have, I am confronted by a
wanderer, a pauper and a mendicant. It is hard for me to believe you are my
sons in truth at all. How has this come about?” Their mother listened sadly and
silently.
“Father, “ said the youngest, “I felt so ashamed when I last
saw you that I ceased to sing and knew not what to do with myself, so I fell
into bad times. I tried various trades but had no success at these so fell into
the habit of drinking and became lost. Forgive me.”
“Father,” said the middle one, “I was so sad for my brothers
that I offered to give them some money, but they refused because they were too
proud to accept it. In my sadness I became careless and fell into gambling so
lost all of my riches. Please forgive me.”
The knight became sad and angry and recalled in his mind a
time when he visited a small cottage where an old man had three sons, a
fisherman, a shoemaker and a woodcutter. They were all poor but they were happy
and would spend many hours together, and there it was that the knight had once
stopped for food and drink which they were happy to give him.
Thinking of this, the knight commanded the youngest to try
to sing again.
“Well”, he said, “ I am not sure I can, but I will try.”
He then sang and the
song was so beautiful that it brought tears to the eyes of all especially the
old man.
The knight then asked his younger brother if he could
remember the things in his life that gave him laughter as when he was a boy.
The middle one then told tales so funny that they made
everyone, especially the old man, laugh until their sides were aching and they
could not breathe properly.
And the knight told of some of his exploits in which he had
saved whole villages from enemies and had protected children from marauders, so
that all were greatly moved especially the old man.
“Father, “ said the knight, “today we gave you music,
laughter and honour. This is all we ever had to give you, but we give it
willingly and what is more, if you had only known, you could have had this
every day all your life. Instead you commanded us to go into the world seeking
for that which you already possessed. If these things are not enough, you will never
find happiness.”
For the first time, Mother smiled.
The old man saw the truth of the knight’s words and begged
forgiveness of his sons. From that day on, the three brothers lived together
with the old man and in their house was song, laughter and honour all of their
days.
