There were once 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, put off his soldier's coat, and turned farmer. He dug and hoed his bit of land, and sowed it with turnip-seed. The seed came up, and one turnip grew there which became large and vigorous, 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 an one seen before, and never will such an one 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, "If thou sellest it, what wilt thou get for it that is of any importance, and if thou eatest it thyself, why, the small turnips would do thee just as much good; it would be better to take it to the King, and make him a present of it."
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, "If thou sellest it, what wilt thou get for it that is of any importance, and if thou eatest it thyself, why, the small turnips would do thee just as much good; it 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 as this! From what seed can this have sprung, or are you a luck-child and have met with it by chance?" - "Ah, no!" said the farmer, "no luck-child am I. I am a poor soldier, who because he could no longer support himself hung his soldier's coat on a nail and took to farming land. I have a brother who is rich and well known to you, Lord King, but I, because I have nothing, am forgotten by every one."
Then the King felt compassion for him, and said, "Thou shalt be raised from thy poverty, and shalt have such gifts from me that thou shalt be equal to thy 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 envied him, and thought in every way how he also could get hold of a similar piece of luck. He would, however, set about it in a much wiser way, 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. When 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, who were to lie in ambush, and then 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, however, the murderers fell on him, 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 their prisoner head first into the sack, hung it on a branch, and took to flight. He, 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 travelling student, a young fellow who rode on his way through the wood joyously singing his song. When he who was aloft saw that someone was passing below him, he cried, "Good day! You have come at a lucky time." The student looked round on every side, but did not know whence the voice came. At last he said, "Who calls me?" Then an answer came from the top of the tree, "Raise your eyes; here I sit aloft in the Sack of Wisdom. In a short time have I learnt great things; compared with this all schools are a jest; in a very short time I shall have learnt everything, and shall descend wiser than all other men. I understand the stars, and the signs of the Zodiac, 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 were once within it you would feel what noble things issue forth from the Sack of Knowledge."
The student, when he heard all this, was astonished, and said, "Blessed be the hour in which I have found thee! May not I also enter the sack for a while?" He who was above replied as if unwillingly, "For a short time I will let you get into it, if you reward me and give me good words; but you must wait an hour longer, for one thing remains which I must learn before I do it." When the student had waited a while he became impatient, and begged to be allowed to get in at once, his thirst for knowledge was so very great. So he who was above pretended at last to yield, and said, "In order that I may come forth from the house of knowledge you must let it down by the rope, and then you shall enter 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. "Halt!" said the other, "that won't do," and took him 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 goes it with thee, my dear fellow? Behold, already thou feelest wisdom coming, and art gaining valuable experience. Keep perfectly quiet until thou becomest wiser." Thereupon he mounted the student's horse and rode away, but in an hour's time sent some one to let the student out again.
Der var engang to brødre, som begge to var soldater, men den ene var rig og den anden var fattig. For at se at komme på en lidt grønnere gren, tog den fattige uniformen af og blev bonde, hakkede og gravede i sit lille stykke jord og såede roefrø. Frøene slog rod og der voksede en roe op, som var stor og tyk, og ikke ville holde op med at vokse. Dronningen over alle roer, kunne man med rette kalde den, for så stor en plante har hverken været set før eller siden. Til sidst var den så mægtig, at den fyldte en hel vogn, og der måtte to okser til for at trække den. Bonden vidste ikke rigtig, hvad han skulle stille op med den, og om han skulle være glad eller bedrøvet. Til sidst tænkte han: "Hvis jeg sælger den, får jeg ikke noget videre for den, og jeg selv kan ligeså godt spise de små roer som de store. Det er bedst, jeg går op og forærer kongen den." Han læssede den på vognen, spændte okserne for og kørte op til slottet. "Hvad er det for en løjerlig genstand?" sagde kongen, "jeg har set meget mærkeligt i mine dage, men sådan et uhyre er aldrig kommet mig for øje. Af hvilket frø er den vokset, eller er du måske et lykkebarn, for hvem alt går efter ønske." - "Jeg er kun en stakkels fattig soldat," svarede han, "men jeg tog uniformen af og gav mig til at dyrke jorden, for at se at tjene lidt. Jeg har en bror der er rig, som I kender godt, men jeg er fattig og derfor har hele verden glemt mig." Kongen fik ondt af ham. "Nu skal jeg tage mig af dig," sagde han, "du skal blive så rig, at du ikke behøver at stikke op for din bror." Han gav ham nu både guld og jord og kvæg, så han blev så rig, at hans bror slet ikke kunne måle sig med ham. Da denne fik at vide, at han havde opnået alt dette ved en eneste roe, blev han meget misundelig og gav sig til at spekulere på, hvad han skulle gøre for at opnå en sådan lykke. Han ville bære sig rigtig fiffigt ad og bragte kongen guld og prægtige heste og tænkte, at han måtte få noget ganske vidunderligt til gengæld, når hans bror havde fået så meget for en sølle roe. Kongen takkede ham mange gange og sagde, at han ikke kunne give ham nogen bedre og sjældnere gave end den store roe. Han blev da nødt til at læsse den på vognen og køre hjem med den, men han var ude af sig selv af vrede og vidste ikke, hvem han skulle lade sin harme gå ud over. Endelig fattede han den plan at dræbe sin bror, og lejede nogle mordere, der skulle stille sig i baghold og falde over ham når han gik forbi. Derpå gik han hen til ham og sagde: "Jeg har fundet en hemmelig skat. Kom med, så deler vi den." Den anden var meget velfornøjet med det og nærede ingen mistanke. Men da de kom ud, styrtede morderne frem, bandt ham og ville hænge ham op i et træ. I det samme lød der hovslag og munter sang i det fjerne, og de blev så forfærdede at de i en fart stoppede ham ned i en sæk, hængte den op på en gren og tog flugten. Men den der sang, var ikke andre end en ung svend, der nok så lystig kom ridende gennem skoven. Han deroppe havde imidlertid slidt så længe, til han havde fået lavet et hul, han kunne stikke hovedet op af, og da den anden kom ridende forbi, råbte han: "Vel mødt." Svenden så sig om, og da han ikke kunne begribe, hvor stemmen kom fra, spurgte han: "Hvem er det, der kalder på mig?" - "Se herop," svarede stemmen, "her sidder jeg i visdommens sæk. Alt, hvad man lærer i skolerne, er ingenting mod det, jeg har lært heroppe på ganske kort tid. Om lidt er jeg udlært, så er jeg det klogeste menneske i verden. Jeg kan læse i stjernerne, forstår vindens tale og ved, hvad der er skrevet på havets bund. Jeg kan helbrede alle sygdomme, kender de hemmelige urter og ved, hvad magt der bor i stenene. Hvis du var her, ville du mærke, hvilken vidunderlig ting visdommens sæk er." Da svenden hørte det, blev han meget forbavset og sagde: "Gudskelov, jeg har mødt dig. Må jeg ikke komme lidt ned i sækken?" Han deroppe lod, som om han ikke var ret meget for det. "Ja, for gode ord og betaling må du vel have lov til at komme herned et øjeblik," sagde han, "men vent lidt, der er noget, jeg først må være færdig med." Tiden faldt svenden dernede lang, og lidt efter bad han igen, om han ikke snart måtte komme derop og få sin længsel stillet. "Ja, ja," sagde han, "tag så fat i snoren og hejs sækken ned, så skal du komme ind." Da svenden havde hjulpet ham ud, ville han selv smutte ned i sækken og råbte: "Træk mig så op i en fart," men manden greb fat i ham. "Så let går det ikke," sagde han, puttede ham på hovedet i sækken, snørede den sammen og hejsede så den videbegærlige unge mand op i træet, så han svingede frem og tilbage i luften. "Hvordan går det, min ven?" sagde han, "har du allerede mærket, at visdommen kommer? Sid så pænt stille, til du er blevet klogere." Derpå satte han sig op på svendens hest og red af sted og sendte en timestid efter et bud ud, der skulle hjælpe ham ned igen.