Four clever brothers

That was a long time ago, there was a poor family, the couple had four sons, son grew up, the poor want them to learn some skill to get rid of poverty, he said to his sons: "my dear children, I have nothing to you, must be yourselves to make into this world, to learn, to master their own fate. I think you should start by learning a variety of trades to lay a good foundation for living independently in the future." So the four brothers took leave of their father, walking sticks and bags in their arms, and went out together to learn from his teacher.

When they came to a crossroads where four roads in different directions led to different places, the eldest said, "Here we must part, and here we shall meet again, four years from now. During this period, we have to rely on their own to learn to make a living." After exchanging their blessings, they set off on different journeys.

The eldest brother and his brothers parted and hurried on. On the way, he met a man who asked him where he was going and what he wanted to do. He replied, "I want to make my way in the world and learn a trade to enrich myself." "Come with me," said the man, "and I will teach you how to be the shrewdest thief that ever was." The eldest said, "No! It is not a proper profession, and to earn a living by it is to be hanged in the end." The man explained, "Hi! You need not worry about the gallows, for I am only teaching you how to find the most suitable ways and means and objects, and to take what no one else can get, so that no one can find you." After hearing this, the young man was persuaded. He followed the master and soon showed that he had a gift for everything he wanted.

The second brother also met a man on the way, and when the man knew the purpose of his visit, he asked him what he wanted to learn. The second brother replied, "I don't know yet." "Follow me and become an astrologer," said the man. "It is a noble profession, for when you know the stars, nothing can be hidden from you." This pleased him so much that the second brother became a very good astrologer under the guidance of his teacher. When he had finished his studies, he was ready to say goodbye to his teacher and go home. The teacher gave him a telescope and said, "With this telescope you can see everything in the sky and on the earth. Nothing can be hidden from you."

The third met a hunter, with whom he learned all kinds of hunting skills, and became a very capable hunter. When he left his master, the master gave him a bow and arrow and told him, "With this bow and arrow, whatever you want to shoot, you will hit it."

Similarly, the younger son met a man who asked him what he wanted to be and said to him, "Will you be a tailor?" The youngest son replied, "No, no! The tailor sat cross-legged all day long, threading with a needle and pushing with an iron. That's not the job for me." The man explained, "Hey! I am not that kind of tailor. Follow me, and you will learn a very different kind of dressmaking." Although he did not fully understand what was special about the man's craft, curiosity and desire to learn compelled him to follow him, and to learn all his skills. When he was leaving the master, the master gave him a needle and said, "With this needle, you can sew anything together, from soft eggs to hard steel. It can be sewn seamlessly and without flaw."

Four years later, on the appointed day, the four brothers met at the crossroads. They said goodbye happily to each other and went back to their father's home. They told their father what they had done and what they had learned. One day, as they sat together under a very tall tree in front of the house, the father said, "I want to test each of you on the skills you have learned." He looked up into the tree and said to his second son, "At the top of this tree, there is a chaffinch's nest. Tell me how many eggs there are in the nest." The astrologer took out his telescope, looked up, and said, "Five." The father turned to his eldest son and said, "Now you go and take the eggs off, but do not disturb the female bird that is lying on the eggs while they are hatching." So the clever thief climbed up the tree and took five eggs from under the bird and gave them to his father. The female bird did not see or feel that the eggs had been taken away, but still lay quietly in the nest. The father took the five eggs and placed one on each corner of the table, and the other one in the middle of the table. He said to the hunter, "You must strike all the eggs in half with one arrow." The hunter took his bow and, with a single arrow, shot all the eggs in half as his father had ordered. At last the father said to his youngest son, who was a tailor, "Sew up the eggs and the little birds inside them, so that there is no sign of any harm." The tailor took out his needle and sewed the eggs as his father had asked. Then the Master-Hand put the eggs back under the female in the nest, and the bird continued to incubate them without knowing it, as if the eggs had not been disturbed. A few days later, when the birds come out of their eggs, their necks are streaked with light red where the tailor has stitched them together.

The old man was pleased with his four sons' performance and said, "Well done, my children! You have made good use of your valuable time and have learned valuable skills. I cannot decide which is more valuable. Let time judge your skills, given the opportunity."

After a while, there was a big mess in the country. The king's daughter was captured by a dragon. The king mourned the loss of his daughter day and night, and made a proclamation that whoever brought his daughter back would marry her to him as his wife.

The four brothers talked to each other and said, "This is our chance. Let us each do what we can." They were all willing to try and see if they could get the princess back. Second, the astrologer, said, "I'll soon find out where she is." Then he looked through his telescope and cried, "I see her. She is sitting on a rock far out in the sea, and I see the dragon standing guard beside her." So that their brother could get there, he asked the king to equip him with a ship and set out to sea. Following the guidance of the second brother, after a long voyage at sea, the ship reached the rock. Just as the second brother had said, they found the princess sitting on the rock. The dragon was sleeping beside her, and the dragon was resting on the princess's lap. The huntsman said, "I dare not shoot the dragon, for I am afraid that I will kill the beautiful young princess too." "Let me try my skill," said the dodger. Then he jumped on the rock and stole the princess out from under the dragon's head. He was so quick and light that the dragon knew nothing of it and still snored.

When they had rescued the princess, they were so happy that they hurried with her to the boat and sailed home. Soon the dragon woke up and saw that the princess was gone. He flew up into the air and came after them with a loud roar. As he flew over the ship, he swooped down on them. Just then, the hunter raised his bow and arrow and shot it right in the heart. The dragon fell and died. But they were still in danger, for the huge body of the dragon landed on the boat and broke the whole thing. They all fell into the endless sea and had to drift aimlessly, clinging to pieces of the planks. Then the tailor took out his needle, and in a few strokes he sewed together some of the planks. He climbed on top of them, scooped up all the floating pieces, and sewed them all together, and soon restored the ship to its original appearance. Then the brothers and the princess got into the boat and sailed on to their destination, talking and laughing, and soon they were safely back at home.

When they took the princess back to the palace and gave her to her father, the king was overjoyed and said to the four brothers, "One of you will marry the princess, but you must decide which one." This caused a quarrel between the brothers. The astrologer said, "Unless I find out where the princess is, all your skills will be of no use. Therefore, the princess should be mine." The Master-Hand said, "If I had not stolen the princess from under the tap, what good would you have done to see her? So the princess should be mine." The hunter said, "No, she should be mine. If I hadn't shot the dragon, it would have torn you and the princess to pieces." "If I had not sewed the boat again," said the tailor, "you would all have been drowned, so she must be mine." The king heard their argument and said, "Every one of you has reason, but you cannot all marry my daughter. The best thing is that none of you marry my daughter. In return, I will give you a portion of my kingdom." All four brothers agreed to the plan, thinking it was much better than fighting each other.

So the king kept his promise and gave each of them a part of his land. The four brothers lived a happy life, and they were very filial to their father, so that he also enjoyed the happiness of the old age.