The Younger Brother

There once lived a widow. She had two sons. They grew up in poverty, without supervision. One day, the children saw a bow and arrows hanging on the wall.

On the bow, it was written: "Do not lie with your wife until she washes your face with her own hands."

Time passed. The brothers grew up.

One day, they went hunting. The younger brother was very strong. As they walked through the forest, they came upon a large palace. Inside the palace stood a huge cauldron. In that cauldron, one could cook ten to twelve deer.

The brothers rested there and said to each other:

"Whose could this be?"

As they spoke, they saw three devas approaching. The devas looked at the brothers and rejoiced: "We had no food for tomorrow, but now it has come to us on its own!"

The devas brought two deer and threw them into the cauldron to cook. They prepared dinner. The brothers watched, but the devas seemed not to notice them.

Then the devas asked:

"Do you eat bones or meat?"

The older brother was frightened, but the younger one said:

"I will eat both the bones and the meat."

The devas took out the meat and gave it to the brothers. The younger brother ate the meat and then threw a bone at the devas. The devas were frightened, looked at him, became even more scared, and said:

"The Kajetian king has stolen a beautiful woman from us. We will never see her again, but you could rescue her. She is so beautiful, there is no one more beautiful on Mother Earth."

"Which way was the woman taken?" asked the younger brother. The devas replied:

"To the west, but we do not know the exact path."

"I will go and search for that woman," said the younger brother, "and I will leave my brother with you. Take good care of him—treat him as your master. If I return in three months, all will be well. If I do not return, you may eat him."

The younger brother set off. He reached the western lands. There, he found an old woman and promised her many gifts in exchange for showing him the way to the kidnapped beauty. This old woman was a witch.

The witch said:

"I will tell you where the beauty is, but it will be difficult to take her away—three hundred kajis are guarding her."

The witch had a cat. Only this cat could sneak in to the beauty. The witch sent the cat with a letter for the beauty. The cat slipped through, delivered the letter.

The beauty was overjoyed, though she did not believe it was possible to rescue her from the kajis.

The cat brought back a reply: "I am here, but do not let anyone perish for my sake. It will be impossible to take me away from here."

The younger brother thanked the witch and left.

The witch blessed him:

"May God grant victory to you and your bow."

The younger brother went on. He approached the Kajetian kingdom. He entered the kingdom and began to fight. It was a great war, but in the end, the younger brother emerged victorious. He took the woman and left, cutting the kajis to pieces.

Three months passed. The younger brother was one day late returning to the devas, fearing they would eat his older brother. He shot an arrow, and it struck the ground right by the devas' house.

All three devas rushed to the arrow but could not pull it out of the ground.

The devas were terrified:

"He will destroy us all."

They abandoned their home and fled.

The younger brother arrived. He embraced his older brother, gave him the beauty as his wife, and blessed them.

Time passed. The king heard of the younger brother's heroism and decided to give him his daughter in marriage. He sent a messenger with a letter, asking him to become his son-in-law.

The younger brother agreed and went to see the bride. She was as beautiful as the woman he had rescued from the kajis. The groom also pleased the bride.

They married with the king's blessing, and the younger brother took his wife home to the devas' dwelling, where his brother also lived. However, he did not lie with his wife, for on the handle of his bow it was written: "Do not lie with your wife until she washes your face with her own hands." No matter what, he did not lie with her.

The wife grew sad and wrote to her father: "We live well, but my husband does not sleep with me, and I no longer wish to live with him."

The king invited his daughter and son-in-law to visit the palace. They went. The wife rode in sadness, dressed in black.

The king decided to kill his son-in-law and give his daughter to his general as a wife. As soon as they arrived, the king took his son-in-law for a walk to show him his gardens.

In the king's garden, there was a place fenced with iron, and behind that fence lived a gveleshapi, a creature that devoured anything it encountered. The king led his son-in-law to the fence; as soon as the son-in-law entered, the king slammed the door shut. There was no way out.

The king returned to the palace and gave his daughter to the general as a wife. Soon, they held the wedding.

Meanwhile, the gveleshapi attacked the man to devour him. They fought for a long time. But the man drove an arrow into the gveleshapi, grabbed it with his hands, and tore it in two. The gveleshapi died instantly, and the younger brother, exhausted and covered in blood, collapsed on the grass and fell asleep.

The general celebrated the wedding and led his wife to the bedchamber. Suddenly, a tiny mouse appeared, running back and forth.

The general's military prowess was as great as that of our modern generals. He drew his saber and began chasing the mouse. He fought with it for two whole hours. He cornered the poor mouse, captured it, and put it in a cage.

The general rejoiced in his victory. He ran to his father-in-law with the cage containing the captured mouse, boasting of his bravery. The king and the general laughed, praising each other and raising their cups to celebrate the victory.

In his joy, the general forgot about his wedding and his bride. He sat at the table, downing cup after cup, inflating his general's pride, discussing victorious plans with the king.

The daughter wept.

"My husband destroyed all the kajis and devas, and no one marveled at him. But this man caught one little mouse, and everyone calls him a hero. I will not live with such a husband!" She jumped up and ran away.

She took the key to the garden from her drunken father, opened the doors, and fearlessly walked into the gveleshapi's cage.

She saw the gveleshapi lying dead, torn apart by her husband's mighty hands. She searched for her husband and found him lying in a pool of blood, lifeless and breathless.

She sat beside her husband and wept.

She cried bitterly all night, and by morning, she had no tears left. She came to her senses, ran to fetch water, and washed her husband's face with her own hands.

The husband woke up, saw his wife, embraced and kissed her. She cried even more.

The younger brother then explained:

"I could not become your husband until you washed my face."

The wife rejoiced, and they went together to the king. They told him everything, astonishing the king.

The king did not get angry—it was not fitting for a king to be angry at his own foolishness!

The king blessed the young couple once more and threw another feast for the entire world. That king loved feasts—he declared a royal feast for every occasion.

The general was given three medals at the feast as consolation. He hung them on himself, proudly thrusting his fat belly forward, and ran to the troops to conduct a parade in full regalia. He did not even remember his former bride.

The captured mouse was released—so the general could catch it again another time and demonstrate his general's valor.

Soon after one of the merry feasts, the old king died, and the younger brother became king.

The husband and wife lived very happily ever after.

And all the common people lived freely and happily under their reign.

The neighboring kings feared the mighty and wise warrior-king and dared not attack his kingdom.

To avoid offending the general, the king and his wife never forgot to award him a medal for every mouse he caught.

After all, the general tried very hard, and his parades became more colorful and joyful—bringing carefree happiness to the people, who no longer feared attacks from evil enemies and lived peacefully and prosperously, raising their children in joy.

May peace and celebration always reign in your blessed home.

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The Younger Brother

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