The Blind Man And His Brothers

Once upon a time there were seven brothers - one of them was blind, another was a cripple. As soon as their father died, five of the brothers got together and they threw out the two weak ones without giving them their share of the paternal property.

The blind man lamented, "If there is someone to guide me along the road, I"ll take him as my god."

The cripple also cried, "Oh, God, if someone will only carry me!"

Presently it dawned upon the blind man that although both of them were helpless yet they could help one another. So, the blind man carried his brother on his back and the latter guided him along the road.

Before they had gone far, the cripple saw a swing, of which only a piece of rope was left. He said to his brother: "That is a piece of good rope. Let's take it. We might have a use for it."

The blind man said, "How can I carry it?"

"Let me take it," said the cripple.

So he took the rope and on they went. Presently the cripple saw a nice piece of rock lying on the road, and he said: "Brother, that is a beautiful stone. Let's take it."

But the blind man objected: "I must carry you. How can I carry the stone too?"

"But we might have a use for it one day," said the cripple, "Let's take it along."

"Well, you can take it," said the blind man.

They had not gone far when the cripple cried out, "Ah, there is a winnowing tray. We must take it with us, Brother."

"Oh, Brother, what shall we ever do with a winnowing tray?" said the blind man, "We have no wives. Who will use it?"

"That is true," said the cripple, "Yet we might have a use for it. Let me carry it."

In the evening they came to a house. They stopped and the cripple called, "Hallo, anyone here?"

An old woman came out and said, "Hush, this is no place to stop. Go away from here."

"We are tired," said the man, "We cannot move at all, Old Mother."

The old woman told them about the ogres that lived in the hills. Every day they used to come and kill many people in the neighborhood until it was agreed to let them have one person daily. Each house in the village, therefore, took turns to send a member of the family every evening to this house. Here the ogres came for their dinner. It was the old woman's turn this evening.

"My brother is blind," said the cripple, "In the dark, I am also blind. Where else can we go in this darkness? Let us stay here, Old Mother."

"I it is my duty to warn you," said the old woman, "But do as you please."

Indeed, before long the ogres arrived. As soon as they came near the house, one of them cried aloud, "Ah, I can smell my supper."

Seeing that there was now no escape for them, the blind man cried out boldly, "Oh, yes, I am here waiting for you."

The ogres were surprised to hear the man, for those who waited for them were always so terrified that they scarcely made a sound. They hesitated at the doorway, and one of them said, "Throw out your ears to me. I'll eat them up."

The blind man was not to be daunted. He spoke in a louder voice: "I too can eat your ears. Throw them in."

"Throw me yours first," said the ogre.

"Here comes my child's ear then," said the man and he threw down the winnowing tray.

The ogres said to themselves that if a child had such a large ear, the man must be very big indeed.

Another ogre now called out, "Let me see your teeth."

"Ah, here is my servant's tooth," said the man as he threw out of the window the rock picked up earlier on the road.

The white hard stone frightened the ogres.

A third ogre now called out: "Let me see your intestine. I'll eat it up."

"Here comes my child's intestine," said the man and he flung down the coil of rope.

The ogres were now really frightened and they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. They never returned and the blind man and his brother lived in the house happily ever after.