Once upon a time there lived a poor man in a village named Jacob. He owned nothing but a flock of sheep. Jacob used to sell the milk and wool which he used to get from the sheep to buy his food. Jacob was also a good carpenter and so at times he used to carve wooden spoons from the wood which he used to collect from the forest. Sometimes when he had no wool or milk he used to sell those wooden spoons in the market to earn money. Jacob had a wife and a little girl whose name was Mary. After few years Jacob's wife gave birth to a second child. The new born child was not in good health and so Jacob had to go to the near-by village to fetch for a nurse.
On his way to the village Jacob met a priest and Jacob told the priest about his child's ill health. The priest asked Jacob to take him to his house as he can cure the child and so Jacob took the priest with him to his home. The priest after spraying some holy water on the child recited few chants and after a while the child seemed to be hale and healthy. Jacob thanked the priest for his help and the priest left after naming the child as "Robert". After few years Jacob and his wife died and Mary and Robert were left alone in the world. They had no money with them and so they started selling the sheep one by one to buy food and after few months they were left only with three sheep. Robert and Mary decided that they will not sell the remaining three sheep, instead they will move to the near-by town to make their fortune. Thinking so they packed all their clothes and while packing Mary found a knife which was gifted by the priest. So she took the knife and gave it to her brother and advised him to keep the knife in his pocket.
Mary and Robert along with their three sheep started their journey towards the town. After travelling for three days they met a man who too was travelling to the town. The man had three dogs with him and he was taking the dogs to the town to sell them and buy a flock of sheep. He was quite excited to meet Mary and Robert and proposed that they should exchange the animals, he taking the sheep and they taking the dogs. Mary and Robert were pleased to hear this and so they exchanged their animals and parted their ways. After travelling for two more days Mary and Robert came to a great castle. In the castle lived dwarfs who were man eaters and when they saw the brother and sister they fled. So the brother and sister thought that the castle was empty and started living there. Every morning Robert used to go to the near-by forest for hunting with his dogs and bring food for Mary. One day while Robert was away the leader dwarf came inside the castle. When he saw Mary he was terrified, but she told him no to be afraid and by and by they fell in love with each other. Every day when Robert was away Mary would call the dwarf up. One fine day when Robert was away Mary and the dwarf got married. When Mary realized her mistake it was too late and and she was afraid of Robert's wrath when he would come to know about this.
After few days when Robert was away the dwarf came as usual and he told Mary "It's high time now and that we must start living together, you must inform you brother about our marriage." Mary was terrified and said that she cannot do so and so the dwarf said "You must pretend to be ill" and when Robert asks what ails you, you must answer "Berries", and when he asks where these are to be found, you must say "There are some in a garden a day's journey from here." Your brother will go there but will never come back as the Berry tree is guarded by my brothers and they will look after Robert very well. Mary did as she was told to and so the next day Robert started his journey to get the "Berries".
Robert along with his dogs came to the garden after travelling for the whole day. Robert drank some water from the near-by spring and thought of taking rest for a while before picking the berries and so he laid down on the grass and soon fell asleep. Suddenly three monsters appeared from nowhere to eat Robert but the three dogs flung on those monsters and tore them in pieces and then they scratched the ground with their paws to dig a grave and buried the three monsters before Robert was awake. When Robert woke up he was surprised to see the dogs mouth covered with blood and thought that the dogs would have hunted some wild beast to feed themselves. Thinking so he picked the berries and brought then home for his sister. Mary declared that she felt better after eating the berries.
The next day again the dwarf arrived and advised Mary to pretend ill again and this time she should ask for "Cherries" which grew in a garden three day's journey from the castle. Mary did as she was told to and so the next day Robert started his journey to get the "Cherries". He travelled for three days and when he reached the garden he thought of taking some rest as he was tired and soon fell asleep. This time nine monsters came from nowhere to kill Robert. The dogs flung and tore the monsters into pieces and again six monsters arrived and while the dogs were fighting with the monsters Robert woke up by the sounds and was surprised to see the scene. He pulled his knife and killed the rest of the monsters. Suddenly Robert heard some cries from the bushes and went to see there and found a beautiful princess tied with ropes. Robert freed the princesses and she told him that the monsters had captured her and thanked Robert for his help. She asked Robert to marry her but Robert denied saying that he cannot do that and asked the princesses to take care of all the lame and blind who passed by her castle. The princesses promised to do so and gave her ring to Robert. Robert took departure after picking the "Cherries". When Mary ate the "Cherries" she declared that she felt better and thanked her brother.
The next day again the dwarf arrived after Robert was away. He said to Mary "Now we are indeed both lost unless you find out from Robert wherein his strength lies". That night when Robert came home Mary asked him "From where do you get all the strength my dear brother to fight with the monsters?". Robert answered "It lies in my two fingers; and if these are bound together then I will loose all my strength". Mary said "I will not believe this brother until you show me". So Robert asked her to tie both his fingers with a piece of thread and when Mary did so he immediately became powerless. Mary called the dwarf at once and the dwarf came in, tore Robert's eyes and threw his body in a dry well.
It happened that some travellers were on their way to the town and when they passed by the well they were surprised to hear cries coming from the well. They went to see who was there inside in the well. They shouted and asked Robert "Who are you and why are you crying"?. Robert replied "I am a blind man and I was on my way to the town with my servant, and my servant a greedy fellow took all my money and threw me inside the well so please help me get out of here. The travellers felt pity for Robert and let a rope down and drew him up. Robert begged the travellers to take him to the near-by kingdom where the King's daughter takes care of all the blind and lame people who go there for help. The travellers agreed and took Robert to the princesses. She recognized Robert as he had her ring on his finger and took him with her to her chamber. Robert told her the whole story and the princesses immediately ordered her soldiers to kill Mary and the dwarf and get Mary's eyes in return. The soldiers did as they were told and when they bought Mary's eyes The princesses ordered the royal physician to cure Robert by fixing the eyes into his eye socket and so did the physician and soon Robert was able to see as usual. Then the princesses and Robert got married and together they lived happily forever.
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