When the brothers grew to manhood the old father died leaving directions

that they divide his wealth between them, share and share alike.



Nonsense! the older brother said. That fool would only squander his

inheritance! To every poor beggar that comes along he'd give an alms

until soon my poor father's savings would be all gone! No! I'll give him

three golden ducats and a horse and tell him to get out and if he makes

a fuss I won't give him that much!



So he said to his younger brother:



You're a fool and you oughtn't to have a penny from our father's

estate. However, I'll give you three golden ducats and a horse on

condition that you clear out and never come back.



Brother, the younger one said quietly, you are doing me a wrong.



What if I am? sneered the older. Wrong is stronger than Right just as

I am stronger than you. Be off with you now or I'll take from you even

these three golden ducats and the horse!



Without another word the younger brother mounted the horse and rode

away.



Time went by and at last the brothers chanced to meet on the highway.



God bless you, brother! the younger one said.



Don't you go God-blessing me, you fool! the older one shouted. It

isn't God who is powerful in this world but the Devil!



No, brother, the other said, you are wrong. God is stronger than the

Devil just as Good is stronger than Evil.



Are you sure of that?



Yes, brother, I'm sure.



Well, then, let us make a wager. I'll wager you a golden ducat that

Evil is stronger than Good and we'll let the first man we meet on this

road decide which of us is right. Do you agree?



Yes, brother, I agree.



They rode a short distance and overtook a man who seemed to be a monk.

He wasn't really a monk but the Devil himself disguised in the habit of

a monk. The older brother put the case to him and the false monk at once

answered:



That's an easy question to decide. Of course Evil is stronger than Good

in this world.



Without a word the younger brother took out one of his golden ducats and

handed it over.



Now, sneered the older one, are you convinced?



No, brother, I am not. No matter what this monk says I know that Good

is stronger than Evil.



You do, do you? Then suppose we repeat the wager and ask the next man

we meet to decide between us.



Very well, brother, I'm willing.



The next man they overtook looked like an old farmer, but in reality he

was the Devil again who had taken the guise of a farmer. They put the

question to him and of course the Devil made the same answer:



Evil is stronger than Good in this world.



So again the younger brother paid his wager but insisted that he still

believed Good to be stronger than Evil.



Then we'll make a third wager, the other said.



With the Devil's help the older brother won the third golden ducat which

was all the money the younger one had. Then the older brother suggested

that they wager their horses and the Devil, disguised in another form,

again acted as umpire and the younger one of course lost his horse.



Now I have nothing more to lose, he said, but I am still so sure that

Good is stronger than Evil that I am willing to wager the very eyes out

of my head!



The more fool you! the other one cried brutally.



Without another word he knocked his younger brother down and gouged out

his eyes.



Now let God take care of you if He can! As for me I put my trust in the

Devil!



May God forgive you for speaking so! the younger one said.



I don't care whether He does or not! Nothing can harm me! I'm strong

and I'm rich and I know how to take care of myself. As for you, you poor

blind beggar, is there anything you would like me to do for you before I

ride away?



All I ask of you, brother, is that you lead me to the spring that is

under the fir tree not far from here. There I can bathe my wounds and

sit in the shade.



I'll do that much for you, the older one said, taking the blinded man

by the hand. For the rest, God will have to take care of you.



With that he led him over to the fir tree and left him. The blinded man

groped his way to the spring and bathed his wounds, then sat down under

the tree and prayed God for help and protection.



When night came he fell asleep and he slept until midnight when he was

awakened by the sound of voices at the spring. A company of Vilas were

bathing and playing as they bathed. He was blind, as you remember, so he

couldn't see their beautiful forms but he knew that they must be Vilas

from their voices which were as sweet as gurgling waters and murmuring

treetops. Human voices are never half so lovely. Yes, they must be Vilas

from the mountains and the woods.



Ho, sisters! cried one of them, if only men knew that we bathed in

this spring, they could come to-morrow and be healed in its water--the

maimed and the halt and blind! To-morrow this water would heal even the

king's daughter who is afflicted with leprosy!



When they were gone the blind man crept down to the spring and bathed

his face. At the first touch of the healing water his wounds closed and

his sight was restored. With a heart full of gratitude he knelt down and

thanked God for the miracle. Then when morning came he filled a vessel

with the precious water and hurried to the king's palace.



Tell the king, he said to the guards, that I have come to heal his

daughter.



The king admitted him at once to the princess's chamber and said to him:



If you succeed in healing the princess you shall have her in marriage

and in addition I shall make you heir to my kingdom.



The moment the princess was bathed in the healing water she, too, was

restored to health and at once the proclamation was sent forth that the

princess was recovered and was soon to marry the man who had cured her.



Now when the evil older brother heard who this fortunate man was, he

could scarcely contain himself for rage and envy.



How did that fool get back his sight? he asked himself. What magic

secret did he discover that enabled him to heal the princess of leprosy?

Whatever it was he got it under the fir tree for where else could he

have got it? I've a good mind to go to the fir tree myself to-night and

see what happens.



The more he thought about it the surer he became that if he went to the

fir tree in exactly the same condition as his brother he, too, would

have some wonderful good fortune. So when night came he seated himself

under the tree, gouged out his eyes with a knife, and then waited to see

what would happen. At midnight he heard the Vilas at the spring but

their voices were not sweet but shrill and angry.



Sisters, they cried to each other, have you heard? The princess is

healed of leprosy and it was with the water of this, our spring! Who has

spied on us?



While we were talking last night, said one, some man may have been

hiding under the fir tree.



Let us see if there is any one there to-night! cried another.



With that they all rushed to the fir tree and took the man they found

sitting there and in a fury tore him to pieces as though he were a bit

of old cloth. So that was the end of the wicked older brother. And you

will notice that in his hour of need his friend, the Devil, was not on

hand to help him.



So after all it was the younger brother who finally inherited all his

father's wealth. In addition he married the princess and was made heir

to the kingdom. So you see Good is stronger than Evil in this world.