The three sons from three different fathers

Once upon a time, a long time ago, a beautiful woman had three sons with three different but very handsome fathers; one of them with black skin who was very strong; one with oriental features and golden skin who was very swift and one with blonde hair and blue eyes who was the perfect marksman.

 

“You each have a different strength”, she told them, “Because you each come from a different father and have inherited his characteristics but you are brothers nonetheless; brothers of the same mother and you all have your mother’s heart. Look after each other, stay together, use your strengths to help each other and you will always survive”.

 

And yet, in spite of their great talents; people looked down upon the three sons.

 

“Your mother must have been a harlot”, they would say, “To have three sons from three different fathers”.

 

And so the three sons decided that they would go out into the world and seek their fortune together,

 

“If we can become wealthy and great”, they all said, “Then no one shall look down upon us or our mother anymore”.

 

Now their mother, when they were very young had often told them a fairy tale about a place, at the edge of the world,

 

“Go far enough North”, she’d said, “And you’ll come to a magical place where fire freezes and beyond that, a place where diamonds can melt and beyond that a mountain at the top of which there is a rainbow that never fades and under it a fountain of gold and jewels that never runs dry”.

 

And so the three sons decided that they would go and look for that place and, chartering a sailing ship, they travelled north and kept sailing north and every day they would light a candle and place it upon the prow of the ship until, one day, coming to a place of snow and ice, to their amazement they saw the flame of the candle freeze solid.

 

“This must be the place where fire freezes”, said the dark skinned son.

 

But then, because the sea beneath them was all ice, they had to abandon their ship and set off on foot and while they were walking over the ice, suddenly a storm rose up and they were forced to seek shelter inside a cave.

 

But then while they were in the cave all three of the sons saw a giant spider with white fur and large red eyes and rows of sharp teeth in its mouth that, crawling slowly towards them intended to eat them

 

But then the black skinned son who was very strong leapt upon the spider and wrestled it, tying its eight legs up into a knot, unfortunately, when he did that the spider stuck out its tongue, touching him upon the cheek and when it did he started to turn into ice.

 

“Forget about me”, he said to the other two sons, “Go on and find that rainbow that never fades and beneath it that never ending fountain of gold”.

 

And because, as he said this, his head turned to ice and he was frozen solid, so the two remaining brothers had no choice but to go on without him.

 

And leaving the cave, their tears turning into snow and then ice, they continued northward and as they did, one of them carried a diamond around his neck until one day, to their amazement, when the had reached a hot place full of flowing lava and fire, they both saw the diamond begin to melt.

 

“This must be the place where diamonds melt”, said the blonde, blue eyed brother.

 

But then the two brothers came to a lake of fire that was impossible to cross but on the other side they saw a small bell and beside it a sign carved in stone which read,

 

“Ring the bell and the bridge shall rise”.

 

And so the blonde haired, blue eyed brother because he was a great marksman, took his bow from his back and fired an arrow across the fiery lake that struck the small bell upon the other side and made it ring.

 

And the moment that it rang a giant stone bridge rose from beneath the fiery lake then, rejoicing, the two brothers walked across it.

 

As they were crossing it, however, suddenly, the bridge began sinking again and so the blonde, blue eyed brother said to his oriental brother who was very swift,

 

“Forget about me. Run quickly and cross the bridge to the other side. Go on and find that rainbow that never fades and the never ending fountain of gold that is underneath”.

 

And, two tears falling from the eyes of the oriental son and turning into steam upon the fiery lake, because the bridge was sinking so fast, he had no choice but to run and he ran as fast as he could to the other end of the bridge but then, sadly, when he looked back, the bridge had sunk completely and his brother was drowned in the fiery lake.

 

But then the swift brother ran on and on and he did not stop until he had come out of the fiery place and reached a place that was full of green fields and flowers and chirping birds, then up ahead he saw a mountain and running as fast as he could to the top of the mountain he saw the unfading rainbow and beneath it a fountain of gold and jewels.

 

But, looking down at the fountain, he did not feel like taking the gold.

 

“It isn’t the same without my two brothers”, he said.

 

“You may have your two brothers back”, said the rainbow, speaking with a voice like the strummed strings of a harp, “But only if you give up all the gold and wealth you see before you”.

 

“Gladly”, said the oriental brother.

 

So then, out of the rainbow came first the black skinned brother who was very strong and then the blonde haired and blue eyed brother who was a great marksman and, seeing each other, they all smiled and embraced each other.

 

“It’s real my brothers”, said the oriental son, pointing to the unfading rainbow and fountain of gold and jewels, “Just like our mother said, only I had to give it all up to get you back”.

 

But the two other brothers didn’t mind, they were just happy to be alive and together again.

 

Just then however, the rainbow said to the oriental son,

 

“I made you promise to give it up but your brothers made no such promise and you have each proven in making sacrifices for each other, that you are worthy of this wealth and will use it wisely”.

 

So then the brothers gathered up as much gold and as many jewels as they could and placing it into a hundred sacks which the strong black brother carried upon his back, they took the gold and jewels back to their mother and with their wealth bought her a palace where they lived with her like three princes and a queen, happily ever after.