Go there and pull up some turnips for us.”
Catherine went to the ground, and began to pull them up, but was so
idle that she did not gather them together. Then a man came by, saw
her, and stood still and thought that it was the devil who was thus
rooting amongst the turnips. He ran away into the village to the
pastor, and said, “Mr. Pastor, the devil is in your turnip-ground,
rooting up turnips.” “Ah, heavens,” answered the pastor, “I have a lame
foot, I cannot go out and drive him away.” Said the man, “Then I will
carry you on my back,” and he carried him out on his back. And when
they came to the ground, Catherine arose and stood up her full height. “Ah, the devil!” cried the pastor, and both hurried away, and in his
great fright the pastor could run better with his lame foot than the
man who had carried him on his back could do with his sound one. 60 The Two Brothers

There were once upon a time two brothers, one rich and the other poor. The rich one was a goldsmith and evil-hearted. The poor one supported
himself by making brooms, and was good and honourable. The poor one had
two children, who were twin brothers and as like each other as two
drops of water. The two boys went backwards and forwards to the rich
house, and often got some of the scraps to eat. It happened once when
the poor man was going into the forest to fetch brush-wood, that he saw
a bird which was quite golden and more beautiful than any he had ever
chanced to meet with. He picked up a small stone, threw it at him, and
was lucky enough to hit him, but one golden feather only fell down, and
the bird flew away. The man took the feather and carried it to his
brother, who looked at it and said, “It is pure gold!” and gave him a
great deal of money for it. Next day the man climbed into a birch-tree,
and was about to cut off a couple of branches when the same bird flew
out, and when the man searched he found a nest, and an egg lay inside
it, which was of gold. He took the egg home with him, and carried it to
his brother, who again said, “It is pure gold,” and gave him what it
was worth. At last the goldsmith said, “I should indeed like to have
the bird itself.” The poor man went into the forest for the third time,
and again saw the golden bird sitting on the tree, so he took a stone
and brought it down and carried it to his brother, who gave him a great
heap of gold for it. “Now I can get on,” thought he, and went
contentedly home. The goldsmith was crafty and cunning, and knew very well what kind of a
bird it was. He called his wife and said, “Roast me the gold bird, and
take care that none of it is lost. I have a fancy to eat it all
myself.” The bird, however, was no common one, but of so wondrous a
kind that whosoever ate its heart and liver found every morning a piece
of gold beneath his pillow. The woman made the bird ready, put it on
the spit, and let it roast. Now it happened that while it was at the
fire, and the woman was forced to go out of the kitchen on account of
some other work, the two children of the poor broom-maker ran in, stood
by the spit and turned it round once or twice. And as at that very
moment two little bits of the bird fell down into the dripping-tin, one
of the boys said, “We will eat these two little bits; I am so hungry,
and no one will ever miss them.” Then the two ate the pieces, but the
woman came into the kitchen and saw that they were eating something and
said, “What have ye been eating?” “Two little morsels which fell out of
the bird,” answered they. “That must have been the heart and the
liver,” said the woman, quite frightened, and in order that her husband
might not miss them and be angry, she quickly killed a young cock, took
out his heart and liver, and put them beside the golden bird. When it
was ready, she carried it to the goldsmith, who consumed it all alone,
and left none of it. Next morning, however, when he felt beneath his
pillow, and expected to bring out the piece of gold, no more gold
pieces were there than there had always been. The two children did not know what a piece of good-fortune had fallen
to their lot. Next morning when they arose, something fell rattling to
the ground, and when they picked it up there were two gold pieces! They
took them to their father, who was astonished and said, “How can that
have happened?” When next morning they again found two, and so on
daily, he went to his brother and told him the strange story. The
goldsmith at once knew how it had come to pass, and that the children
had eaten the heart and liver of the golden bird, and in order to
revenge himself, and because he was envious and hard-hearted, he said
to the father, “Thy children are in league with the Evil One, do not
take the gold, and do not suffer them to stay any longer in thy house,
for he has them in his power, and may ruin thee likewise.” The father
feared the Evil One, and painful as it was to him, he nevertheless led
the twins forth into the forest, and with a sad heart left them there. And now the two children ran about the forest, and sought the way home
again, but could not find it, and only lost themselves more and more. At length they met with a huntsman, who asked, “To whom do you children
belong?” “We are the poor broom-maker’s boys,” they replied, and they
told him that their father would not keep them any longer in the house
because a piece of gold lay every morning under their pillows. “Come,”
said the huntsman, “that is nothing so very bad, if at the same time
you keep honest, and are not idle.” As the good man liked the children,
and had none of his own, he took them home with him and said, “I will
be your father, and bring you up till you are big.” They learnt
huntsmanship from him, and the piece of gold which each of them found
when he awoke, was kept for them by him in case they should need it in
the future. When they were grown up, their foster-father one day took them into the
forest with him, and said, “To-day shall you make your trial shot, so
that I may release you from your apprenticeship, and make you
huntsmen.” They went with him to lie in wait and stayed there a long
time, but no game appeared. The huntsman, however, looked above him and
saw a covey of wild geese flying in the form of a triangle, and said to
one of them, “Shoot me down one from each corner.” He did it, and thus
accomplished his trial shot. Soon after another covey came flying by in
the form of the figure two, and the huntsman bade the other also bring
down one from each corner, and his trial shot was likewise successful. “Now,” said the foster-father, “I pronounce you out of your
apprenticeship; you are skilled huntsmen.” Thereupon the two brothers
went forth together into the forest, and took counsel with each other
and planned something.