Two Brothers

one day the mountain man said to the sea man, "i have never tried fishing in my life. i'd like to go fishing in the sea at a time. so why don't you exchange your fishing rod1（钓杆） for my bow and arrows2 and try to go hunting in the mountain？"

"if you say so, only once." said the sea man, agreeing at last.

the sea man went to the mountain while the mountain man went to the sea.

no matter how hard the sea man tried hunting in the mountain, he couldn't get any games（猎物） .

the mountain man went fishing for the first time in his life, but he also didn't get any fish. what was worse, he lost the important fishhook（鱼钩） in the sea.

"my brother, please forgive me for losing your important fishhook."

"what？ you lost my fishhook？" said the sea man in anger.

the mountain man apologized to his brother so many times but the sea man never forgave him and ordered him to find it back. though the mountain man made 500 fishhooks from his own sword3 by himself, he was never forgiven by his brother.

"please use these fishhooks instead of the lost one." said the younger brother.

"no, i can't go without that fishhook." said the elder one.

the mountain man had been sitting on the beach for a long time, thinking and crying and looking at the sea. then an old man came to him and said, "what's the matter with you？ what makes you cry so bitterly4（悲痛地） ？"

he was an old man who knew everything about the sea. the mountain man explained the whole story to him.

"well, i see. i'll teach you something useful." said the old man and brought a small boat made of logs5.

"row（划船） this boat until you find an island. you can find a castle there and have only to wait for someone in front of the entrance gate."

he rowed the boat until he found the castle and stood at the gate and waited for someone to appear.

soon a lady with a water pot passed by him. he said to the lady, "excuse me, but i'm so thirsty. would you give me some water？"

he was given water and gave his necklace to her in return for her kindness. she was a maid6 working for the princess in the castle. she showed the necklace to the princess, who had never seen such a wonderful one before that she brought it to her father, the king. he watched it carefully and said, "this is unbelievable the man must be an important man. we can't leave him standing7 at the gate."

the mountain man was invited in the castle and treated so nice meals every day.

a few days later, the king said to him, "we would like to have you as a husband for my daughter."

one year had passed quickly since they got married in the castle.

one day he was seen to sigh（叹息） deeply8 by his wife, remembering his brother and his village.

"is there anything wrong with you？" asked the princess.

he told the whole story to his wife and his father for the first time. his father ordered his men to find the fishhook and at last they found it.

the mountain man decided9 to bring it back to his brother. when he departed10（出发） from his wife for a little while, he was given two balls by her.

"when you are treated so badly by your brother, these two balls will do you good. this blue ball is called 'water ball', which will cause water. the other yellow one is 'dry ball', which will stop water." said the princess.

he returned to his brother on shark's back.

"my brother, i succeeded in finding11 your fishhook." said he, handing it to his brother.

the sea man went fishing in the sea at once, but he didn't get any fish.

"you must have damaged my fishhook." said he in anger and attacked his brother with his fishing fellows. the mountain man cried, taking the blue ball out.

"water, come out." instantly12 there was much water around them.

"help me, i was wrong." cried the sea man and apologized to the mountain man, who took out the yellow one and said, "water, stop." immediately there was no water around them.

after that, the two brother made friends again and lived a happy life.