The Three Brothers (Open Sesame)

p. 181

THE THREE BROTHERS (OPEN SESAME) ²

There were three brothers who were working in the silver mines. The two eldest brothers worked hard, but the youngest one was lazy. The two eldest went after a load and when they got to the mine, they would say, "Let it be open!" The door would open and they would load their wagons. When they were finished they would say, "Let it be shut!" And the door would shut. So nearly every day they went up and loaded their wagons at the mine. Every day they would say, "Let it be open," and the door would be open, and when they were through, "Let it be shut," and the door would be shut.

One day when the two brothers came home the lazy one said, "Where did you get this silver?" They would not tell. He, said to himself, "I will follow and see." He followed at a distance and saw them come to the mountain. He began to wonder how he could get close to see them open the mine. He saw a pine tree, and he said, "What shall I do? Shall I stay on the ground? Or shall I climb up? I think that I had better run on ahead and climb the tree." So when the two brothers got to the mountain they saw tracks. The lazy brother had got there first and had climbed the pine. They said, "Let it be open!" And the door opened. The two brothers loaded up, and then said, "Let it be shut!" And the door closed. The boy up the tree heard and thought, "If I say 'Let it be open,' I can get the same load as my brothers." The youngest brother got down from the pine tree and said, "Let it be open!" And the door opened. When it was open he went in and saw lots of silver (money) piled like wheat in the corner of the cave. While he was loading he forgot what to say to get out. While he was inside, robbers came to the mine. They said, "Let it be open!" The door opened. The youngest brother thought that they were his brothers, but they were thieves. They found the boy in the cave and killed him, and they took his body outside and hung it on the pine tree. They got all the silver they wanted and went away.

The two brothers came and found the boy hanging on the pine tree. When they recognized their brother they began to cry. They said to their brother, "You have never been here, I don't know why you have come to this place." They took the body down and. carried it home. On the way they met a woman. She heard them coming. She thought, "What body have they there?" Her husband heard her and was jealous. The brothers said it was an old woman,

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the owner of the mine, who had been killed there. The husband watched his wife as she peered through the window at the brothers, and he thought that they were whispering to her through the window. He was angry and struck her dead. The neighbors went to the governor and told him that the man had killed his wife. The governor sent out soldiers to arrest him-------------

(As far as she remembers.)

Footnotes

181:2 Informant 1. Notes, p. 247.