The Turnip

Once there were two brothers who had both been soldiers. One was rich, and the other was poor. The poor brother wanted to escape his poverty, so he took off his soldier's coat and became a farmer. He dug and weeded his little piece of land and sowed turnip seeds. The seeds grew, and one turnip became huge and strong. It grew bigger and bigger, as if it would never stop. It could have been called the queen of turnips, for no one had ever seen such a turnip before, and no one ever would again.

At last it was so enormous that it filled a whole cart, and two oxen were needed to pull it. The farmer had no idea what to do with the turnip, or whether it would bring him luck or trouble. Finally he thought, "If I sell it, what will I get that's worth much? And if I eat it myself, the small turnips would do me just as much good. Better to take it to the King and give it to him as a present."

So he put the turnip on a cart, harnessed two oxen, drove to the palace, and presented it to the King. "What a strange thing!" said the King. "I have seen many wonderful things, but never a monster like this! What seed did this come from?

Or are you a lucky child who found it by chance?" "Oh no," said the farmer. "I am not lucky. I am a poor soldier who could no longer support himself, so I hung my soldier's coat on a nail and started farming.

I have a rich brother whom you know well, Lord King, but because I have nothing, everyone has forgotten me."

Then the King felt sorry for him and said, "You shall be lifted out of your poverty. I will give you such gifts that you will be equal to your rich brother." He gave him much gold, lands, meadows, and herds, and made him very rich.

The rich brother's wealth could not compare with his. When the rich brother heard what the poor one had gained with a single turnip, he grew jealous and thought of ways to get luck like that.

He decided to be smarter: he took gold and horses to the King, expecting a much bigger gift in return. If his brother got so much for a turnip, what would he get for such beautiful things?

The King accepted his present and said he had nothing more rare and excellent to give in return than the great turnip. So the rich man had to put his brother's turnip on a cart and take it home.

At home he did not know where to vent his rage and anger. Bad thoughts came to him, and he decided to kill his brother. He hired murderers to lie in ambush, then went to his brother and said, "Dear brother, I know of a hidden treasure.

Let's dig it up together and share it." The other agreed and went with him without suspicion. On the way, the murderers attacked him, tied him up, and were about to hang him from a tree. Just then they heard loud singing and the sound of a horse's hoofs in the distance.

Filled with fear, they shoved the prisoner headfirst into a sack, hung it on a branch, and ran away.

The man in the sack worked until he made a hole big enough to stick his head out. The one coming by was a traveling student, a young fellow riding through the woods and singing happily. The man in the tree saw him and called out, "Good day!

You come at a lucky time!" The student looked around but could not tell where the voice came from. Finally he said, "Who's calling me?" "Look up," answered the voice from the top of the tree. "Here I sit in the Sack of Wisdom.

In a short time I have learned great things! Compared to this, all schools are a joke. Soon I will know everything and come down wiser than anyone. I understand the stars, the zodiac signs, the paths of the winds, the sand of the sea, how to heal sickness, and the powers of all herbs, birds, and stones.

If you were inside this sack, you would feel what wonderful knowledge comes from it."

The student was amazed and said, "Blessed be the hour I found you! May I also enter the sack for a while?" The man above pretended to be unwilling. "For a short time I will let you in, if you reward me and speak kindly.

But you must wait an hour longer, for there is one thing I must learn first." The student waited, but soon grew impatient and begged to get in right away, so great was his thirst for knowledge. Finally the man above pretended to give in.

"To let me out of the House of Knowledge, you must lower the sack by the rope, then you may enter." The student lowered the sack, untied it, and set the man free. Then he cried, "Now pull me up at once!" and was about to climb in. "Stop!" said the other.

"That's not how it's done." He grabbed the student by the head and stuffed him upside down into the sack, fastened it, and pulled the disciple of wisdom up the tree by the rope. Then he swung him in the air and said, "How is it going, my dear fellow?

You are already feeling wisdom come, gaining valuable experience. Stay very still until you grow wiser." Then he mounted the student's horse and rode away. But after an hour he sent someone to let the student out again.