Long ago there lived two brothers who both served as soldiers, one of them was rich, and the other poor. Then the poor one, to escape from his poverty started to work as a farmer. He dug and tilt his bit of land, and sowed it with turnip-seed. The seed came up, and one turnip grew there which became large and strong, and visibly grew bigger and bigger, and seemed as if it would never stop growing, so that it might have been called the princess of turnips, for never was such a big turnip seen before, and never will such be seen again.
At length it was so enormous that by itself it filled a whole cart, and two oxen were required to draw it, and the farmer had not the least idea what he was to do with the turnip, or whether it would be a fortune to him or a misfortune. At last he thought, "I would be better to take it to the king, and make him a present of it."So he placed it on a cart, harnessed two oxen, took it to the palace, and presented it to the king. "What strange thing is this," said the king. "Many wonderful things have come before my eyes, but never such a monster turnip as this. From what seed can this have sprung, or are you a favorite of good fortune and have met with it by chance."
"Ah, no", said the farmer, "no favorite am I. I am a poor soldier,and since the war was over and i had no money I took to farming land for my livelihood. I have a brother who is rich and well known to you, lord king, but , because I have nothing, am forgotten by everyone." Then the king felt pity for him, and said, "You shall be raised from your poverty, and shall have such gifts from me that you shall be equal to your rich brother." Then he bestowed on him much gold, and lands, and meadows, and herds, and made him immensely rich, so that the wealth of the other brother could not be compared with his.
When the rich brother heard what the poor one had gained for himself with one single turnip, he was jealous of him, and thought in every way how he also could come by a similar piece of luck. He set about it in a much more cunning way, however, and took gold and horses and carried them to the king, and made certain the king would give him a much larger present in return. If his brother had got so much for one turnip, what would he not carry away with him in return for such beautiful things as these.
The king accepted his present, and said he had nothing to give him in return that was more rare and excellent than the great turnip. So the rich man was obliged to put his brother's turnip in a cart and have it taken to his home. There, he did not know on whom to vent his rage and anger, until bad thoughts came to him, and he resolved to kill his brother. He hired murderers, to kill his brother. One day he went to his brother and said, "Dear brother, I know of a hidden treasure, we will dig it up together, and divide it between us."
The other agreed to this, and accompanied him without suspicion. While they were on their way the murderers fell on the farmer, bound him, and would have hanged him to a tree. But just as they were doing this, loud singing and the sound of a horse's feet were heard in the distance. On this their hearts were filled with terror, and they pushed the farmer hastily into the sack, hung it on a branch, and took to flight. The farmer, however, worked up there until he had made a hole in the sack through which he could put his head.
The man who was coming by was no other than a traveling student, a young fellow who rode on his way through the wood joyously singing his song. When the farmer saw that someone was coming there, he cried, "Good day. You have come at a lucky moment." The student looked round on every side, but did not know where the voice came from. At last he said, "Who is calling me?"
Then an answer came from the top of the tree, "Raise your eyes, here I sit in the sack of wisdom. In a short time I have learnt great things after sitting in this sack of wisdom, and I'm wiser than all other men. I understand the stars, and the tracks of the winds, the sand of the sea, the healing of illness, and the virtues of all herbs, birds and stones. If you too sit in this sack of wisdom you would be surprised to know what great things you can learn from this." The student, when he heard all this, was astonished, and said, "Blessed be the hour in which I have found you. Can I also enter the sack of wisdom for a while."
The farmer replied as if unwillingly, "For a short time I will let you get into it, if you reward me but you must wait an hour longer, for one thing remains which I must learn before I giving this to you." When the student had waited for a while he became impatient, and begged to be allowed to sit inside the sack of wisdom at once as his thirst for knowledge was so very great. The farmer pretended at last to agree, and said, "In order to sit inside the sack of wisdom you should pull me down from the tree. Once i Come down then you can enter in it. So the student let the sack down, untied it, and set him free, and then cried, now draw me up at once, and was about to get into the sack.
The farmer took the student by the head and put him upside down into the sack, fastened it, and drew the disciple of wisdom up the tree by the rope. Then he swung him in the air and said, "How is the feeling, my dear fellow. Can you feel wisdom coming, and are you gaining valuable experience. Keep perfectly quiet until you become wiser." Thereupon he mounted the student's horse and rode away, but in an hour's time the farmer sent someone to let the student out again.
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