The two brothers

Once upon a time there lived a family with two sons. The older one was almost an adult, and the other one was still growing up. One was strong and loud, the other one humble and quiet. One day the family, who lived on a lonely farm, almost ran out of their water supply. When one of the sons went to get water, the well, which was just a few meters away from the house, started to complain: “What, you have come to get water again? I have so little of it left. If it only started to rain, so I would be full again.” he added.

The family soon started to take the well’s complaints seriously. “What’s going to happen to us if the well runs dry?” said the mother with a trembling voice. “Don’t be hysterical!” said the father firmly. He knew he couldn’t just wait for rain. Something had to be done! “Boys” said the father to his sons, “from now on you have a different task. You will no longer help in the field. You will search for the underground water so we can fill up our well.”

And so it was. For the next few days the boys would leave home early and go to a nearby forest to search for an underground river that would save their family. Every time they would return home late in the evening and bring bad news. However, there was nothing else they could do but to go searching again next day.

After a week, when they had no more power to dig, just before going home, the younger son found a few drops of water. He started to shout and jump out of joy as if he had lost his mind. The older brother came running, thinking they have finally found water. But when he saw that there were only a few drops, all his happiness disappeared and he got so angry his face turned red. “You are happy because of these few drops? Do you think we can survive on this?!” he started screaming at his more and more ashamed brother. Angry and hopeless, because they still have not found water, he turned around and left for home.

That night the younger son kept tossing and turning in bed and tried to fall asleep but all his efforts were in vain. Although the bed creaked every time he moved, he did not wake his older brother who slept above him. The older brother was sleeping like a log because he was exahusted from the idle digging, while the younger brother had only one thing on his mind: “Could those few drops I found be a sign of water?” He wanted to continue digging in the same place the next day since “Where else would the water drops come from if not from water?” But he also knew that his brother was partly right. “If I keep digging and find no water, I will look like a fool. And waste precious time! After all I have only found a few drops and not a stream.” But something in his heart kept saying to try anyway.

While they were walking to the forest the next day they didn’t say a word. The older brother stared at a distance with his tired eyes, the younger one was excited despite the sleepless night. He was still wondering what to do. “Should I trust my heart that says there are no drops without water, or should I listen to my brother and rather dig somewhere else?” Although he wanted to listen to his brother he couldn’t betray his heart. So he sneaked away from his brother who was no longer aware of the surroundings because of his despair, and ran towards the drops.

When he arrived, he started digging right away. He dug and dug but he didn’t find any new drops. Slowly he began doubting his decision but he didn’t want to give up. As if he wanted to overcome his doubt by force, he dug in the shovel with all his strength. Then as a bolt from the blue a cold jet of water gushed from the ground and gently caressed the sweated cheeks of the younger son. He had been carrying a heavy burden and now he could put it off his chest.

After he had taken time to rest, he poured some water into a gourd and ran off to find his brother. He found him exhausted at the bottom of a hole that was twice as deep as his. Apart from moving he showed no signs of life. “Brother, I have found water!” he yelled. The older brother looked up and showed his tired red eyes. The little brother quickly helped him out of the hole and gave him the gourd to recover. The water refreshed the older son and soon his eyes relaxed. Life once again settled in his body and he looked at his brother with a relief. “Where have you found it?” he asked. “There where I found those drops of water yesterday.” That shocked the older brother. He became overcome by the harsh words he had said to his little brother the day before and tears started pouring down his face. “And I scolded you because of those drops!” he barely said through the tears and buried his face into his palms. The younger son stepped closer to his brother and hugged him. “Don’t cry. Everything is fine now. Let’s go tell our parents the good news.

And so they went. The younger brother became stronger and the older one more humble.