The Brothers

“The brave man is most deserving of the girl. He loved her the most for he risked his own life in order to save hers. The other men provided their services to the brave man and were merely assistants given to him by fate,” you reply confidently.

Upon hearing your answer, the creature in your arms opens its disfigured mouth to reveal broken, rotten teeth hanging to blackened gums by small slivers of flesh. Forcing down the bile threatening to climb its way up your throat, you come to the horrifying realization that the creature is attempting to smile.

“Very well done,” the creature rasps. The dull red of its eyes glows brighter and the weight on your arms gradually begins to lessen. With a gasp you realize the creature is floating in the air before you. It rises higher and higher, until you can barely discern its figure through the foliage. And in a blink—it is gone.

As you stand there, heart beating loudly and the rush of blood roaring in your ears, you remember the creature’s words: If you know the truth and speak it, I will return to my dwelling on the tree at the start of the path and you must begin this journey anew with a new tale.

Looking around, you resign yourself to the fact that you have no choice but to return to where you began this simulation. That’s right, this is just a simulation, you reassure yourself as you begin the trek back to the clearing.

When you return, you breathe a relieved sigh at the creature dangling on a tree branch. The creature’s eyes open slowly to reveal those same red pupils seemingly mocking you for your failure. Again the creature opens its mouth and says, “I see that you have returned to complete your quest. Take me to the graveyard and I will tell you another story to pass time.”

Without another choice, you comply with the creature’s request and gather it in your arms before setting off along the same path as earlier.

The creature opens its mouth and says, “Come friend, let me tell you an interesting story…”

—

Once upon a time in a kingdom lived a family with four sons. Upon their parents' death, the family's relatives stole all the sons' inherited wealth. The brothers decided to travel to their maternal grandfather's house where their uncles took them in and raised them. Over time, their uncles grew to dislike them because they didn't amount to much. As a result, the brothers grew uneasy.

One day the eldest brother told the others that he had been wandering around the forest when he came upon the body of a dead man. Resolving that this was the best way to go, the brother had hung himself and lost consciousness before the rope was cut. When he came to, he saw the man who had cut the rope. The man asked why he was so unhappy and told him that only those who live unrighteous lives feel unhappy; those that live righteously are rewarded with happiness.

The eldest brother told the others that fate was unwilling to let him commit suicide but if he wished to die, he could travel to a holy place and immolate himself. The younger brothers comforted him. They said that money, like an evil friendship and a flirt, was fickle and not worth worrying over. Only a learned virtue could bring true happiness.

The brothers resolved to travel around the world separately and each learn one science. When they reunited, one brother shared that he had acquired the skill to place flesh on a skeleton. The second brother claimed he could add hair and skin to the flesh. The third said he could then add eyes and other sensory organs to the hair and skin. The final brother asserted that he could bring the animal to life once all the organs were present.

The brothers wandered around the forest looking for a skeleton that they could test their skills on. They stumbled upon the skeleton of a lion, and not knowing what it was, began to reanimate the corpse. Once it came to life, the lion killed all four brothers.

—

“So, friend,” says the creature, “which brother was to blame for the death of his siblings?”

You mull over your options before settling on one.

Author’s Note: In this part, I first wanted to explain the reasoning behind why the brave man is most deserving of the girl. In the original story, Twenty-Two Goblins, a king is tasked with carrying a goblin through the forest. Much like this story, the goblin insists on telling the king a story to pass the time. The goblin curses the king: he must speak the truth if he knows it. But every time the king speaks the correct answer, the goblin flies back to the tree where they began the journey. This creates a seemingly never-ending loop where the king goes back after every story to collect the goblin only to be faced with a new story again. Since I am pulling the tales of the creature from the original text, the reasoning for the correct answer is exactly what the king offers the goblin in the original story. I also wanted to explore the beginnings of helplessness the reader feels in this part. They are left with no other choice than to return to the tree to restart this loop and hope for a different outcome. Like the last part, the explanation for the correct answer will be offered soon.

Bibliography. Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

Image: Brothers running away from a reanimated lion; source: Perham W. Nahl

Banner image: Dark forest on Pixabay.