University of Virginia Library

XLI.—THE SONS' OATH TO THEIR DYING FATHER.

There was an old man who had three sons and one
daughter. When the time came for the old man to die, he
summoned all his three sons, and made them promise under
oath to give their sister to the first who came to ask for her,
whoever he might be. When some time had elapsed after
the father's death, an old man arrived in a two-wheeler, and
asked for the maiden in marriage. The two elder brothers
would not give her to him immediately, because he was old
and poor; but the youngest insisted that they should give
her to him, reminding them of the oath they had sworn to
their father. And so they gave her in marriage to the old
man, and the old man took her away to his home. After
some time, the elder brother went on a visit to his sister.
When he got there, it was a large house, and couldn't be
better. The sister was greatly delighted when she saw her
brother, and when he inquired of her how she was getting
on, she replied: `Excellently; it can't be better.' When
the brother arrived at his sister's, the old man was not at
home, but soon afterwards arrived, and was very pleased
when he saw his wife's brother, and said to him: `We will
feast and be merry; but first you shall go on my horse to
fetch him some grass, but you must cut it where the horse
paws with his foot, and not where you please.' His wife's

brother said to him: `Good! brother-in-law, I will.' He
then mounted the horse and went off. As on he went, he
came to a silver bridge. When he espied the bridge and
saw that it was all of silver, he became covetous, dismounted,
and pulled off a silver plate, saying: `I may
benefit myself.' Afterwards he cut grass where he pleased,
without waiting till the horse pawed with his foot, mounted
the horse again, and returned back. On arriving at the
house, he put the horse in the stable, placed the grass before
him, and went off into the house. When he arrived in the
house, the old man asked him whether he had satisfied the
horse, and whether the horse was eating the grass. He
replied, `Yes,' and that the horse was eating. The old man
said: `It is good that I also look.' He then went into the
stable. When he got there, the horse had not touched it.
The old man understood that the grass had not been cut
where he had told him; he therefore at once sent off his
brother-in-law supperless, to go back whence he had come.
On reaching home, he didn't tell his brothers how he had
fared at his brother-in-law's, but said to the middle brother:
`Our brother-in-law salutes you, and wishes you to go to be
his guest.' After some time, the middle brother went on a
visit to his sister; but he, too, fared even as the first one.
His sister's husband sent him, too, for grass, and when he
got to the silver bridge, he, too, became covetous, like the
first, pulled off a silver plate, and did not cut the grass as
his brother-in-law told him, but where he thought fit. When
he came back to his brother-in-law's house, his brother-in-law
caught him, too, out in a lie, and sent him home supperless,
like the first one. When he got home, he told nobody how
he had fared at his brother-in-law's, but said to the youngest
brother: `Our brother-in-law salutes you, and wishes you to
go to visit him.'

After some time, the youngest brother, too, went off.

When his sister espied him, she said to him: `Only,
brother, be sure not to do as our two brothers have done.'
He didn't know what they had done, and his sister would
not tell him anything more. When his sister's husband
came home, he, too, was delighted with his wife's brother,
and said to him: `We will feast and be merry, only go first
on my horse and fetch him some grass; but you will cut it
there where the horse paws with his foot, and not where you
please.' He mounted the horse and went off for the grass.
When he arrived at the bridge, he was astonished at its
beauty, but was quite sorry that it hadn't those two plates;
and when he came to the middle, he looked on one side
and the other, and saw under it, where water was bubbling
in a huge caldron, and human heads boiling in it, and
eagles pecking them from above. Afterwards, having passed
over the bridge, he came to a village, and, as he passed
through it, saw that there everything was sad and sorrowful,
and wondered thereat, and asked a man: `How is this,
brother, that all is so sorrowful with you?' He replied:
`How should it not be sorrowful, when hail smites us every
hour, and we have nothing.' When he came out of the
village, he found two pigs on the road, and they were fighting
without ceasing. He tried to part them, but in vain,
and, being unable to part them, went on further. Thus
proceeding, he came to another village, and, as he went
through, heard on all sides singing and merriment, and said
to someone: `I went through one village and found everything
sorrowful, and why is all so merry with you?' The
villager answered him: `Why should it not be so, when
every hour is productive to us, and we have all in abundance?'
Finally, the horse carried him to a very beautiful
meadow. When they were in the middle of the meadow,
the horse stood still and pawed with his foot, and he dismounted
and cut grass, and returned back to the house.
When he got to the house, he led the horse into the stable,
laid the grass before him, and the horse immediately began
to eat. When his sister's husband saw that he had satisfied
the horse, he was very pleased, and said to him: `You are
my true brother-in-law; now let us be merry and feast.'
Then they sat down to table and began to sup. At supper
the old man said to him: `Now, tell me what you have
seen.' He answered him: `Oh, my brother-in-law! what I
have seen cannot be expressed. First I saw a very beautiful
silver bridge, but it was disfigured where it wanted a pair of
plates. Whoever took these away, the living God hath slain
him!' The old man thereupon told him: `Your two
brothers stole them. As they have done, so have they fared.
But tell me what you saw next.' His wife's brother
replied: `At the middle under the bridge I saw a huge
caldron, where it was bubbling, and in it the heads of dead
people, and eagles were pecking them from above.' Thereupon
his sister's husband said: `Those are the eternal
torments in that world. What did you see more?' His
wife's brother continued: `I saw a village, and in it everything
miserable.' The old man said to him: `There there
is no union and no truth, nor knowledge of God. What did
you see further?' His wife's brother said to him further:
`I saw two pigs fighting without ceasing.' His sister's
husband replied: `Those are two brothers who do not live
in concord. What did you see further?' `I saw another
village, and in it all was cheerful.' His sister's husband
said to that: `Those are people after God's will; they
gladly welcome and entertain everybody, and do not drive
the poor empty-handed from before their houses. Tell me
what you saw further.' His wife's brother said to him: `I
saw a very beautiful meadow. I would stay there three
days to view such beauty.' His sister's husband replied:
`That is the paradise of that world, but it is difficult to
attain to it.' After this they enjoyed each other's society for
many days. Finally, the wife's brother declared that he
must go home, and his sister's husband presented him with
a large gift, and told him that he recognised him immediately
for an honourable man, because he had insisted that
his father's directions, which he had sworn to observe,
should be carried out, and that he would be prosperous, and
his two brothers unprosperous.

N.B.—There are two words for `brother-in-law' in
Servian: shura, the wife's brother, and zet, the sister's
husband. This makes the tale read better in Servian than
in English.