Grimm's Household Tales

There was once a man who had three sons and nothing else in the world but the house in which he lived. Each of the sons wished to have the house after his father’s death, but the father loved them all alike and did not know what to do. He did not wish to sell the house, because it had belonged to his forefathers; otherwise he might have divided the money among them. At last a plan came into his head, and he said to his sons, “Go out into the world, and each of you should try to learn a trade. When you all come back, the one who makes the best masterpiece will have the house.”

The sons were quite content with this, and the eldest decided to be a blacksmith, the second a barber, and the third a fencing master. They fixed a time when they would all come home again, and then each went his own way.

It happened that they all found skillful masters, who taught them their trades well. The blacksmith had to shoe the King’s horses, and he thought to himself, “The house is mine, without a doubt.” The barber shaved only important people, and he, too, already looked upon the house as his own. The fencing master got many a blow, but he only bit his lip and let nothing upset him, for he said to himself, “If you are afraid of a blow, you will never win the house.”

When the appointed time had passed, the three brothers came back home to their father, but they did not know how to find the best opportunity for showing their skill, so they sat down and consulted together. While they were sitting there, a hare suddenly came running across the field. “Aha, just in time!” said the barber. So he took his basin and soap and lathered away until the hare came up. Then he soaped the hare and shaved off its whiskers while it was running at top speed, and he did not even cut its skin or injure a hair on its body. “Well done!” said the old man. “Your brothers will have to exert themselves greatly, or the house will be yours.”

Soon after, a nobleman came up in his coach, dashing along at full speed. “Now you will see what I can do, father,” said the blacksmith. So away he ran after the coach, took all four shoes off the feet of one of the horses while it was galloping, and put four new shoes on it without stopping it. “You are a fine fellow, and as clever as your brother,” said his father. “I do not know to which one I ought to give the house.”

Then the third son said, “Father, let me have my turn, if you please.” And as it was beginning to rain, he drew his sword and flourished it back and forth above his head so fast that not a drop fell on him. It rained harder and harder, until at last it came down in torrents, but he only flourished his sword faster and faster and remained as dry as if he were sitting in a house. When his father saw this, he was amazed and said, “This is the masterpiece! The house is yours!”

His brothers were satisfied with this, as had been agreed beforehand. And because they loved one another very much, they all three stayed together in the house and followed their trades. Because they had learned them so well and were so clever, they earned a great deal of money. Thus they lived together happily until they grew old. At last, when one of them fell sick and died, the other two grieved so deeply about it that they also fell ill and died soon afterward. And because they had been so clever and had loved one another so much, they were all laid in the same grave.