Simeli Mountain

There were once two brothers, the one rich, the other poor. The rich
one, however, gave nothing to the poor one, and he gained a scanty
living by trading in corn, and often did so badly that he had no bread
for his wife and children. Once when he was wheeling a barrow through
the forest he saw, on one side of him, a great, bare, naked-looking
mountain, and as he had never seen it before, he stood still and stared
at it with amazement.

While he was thus standing he saw twelve great, wild men coming towards
him, and as he believed they were robbers he pushed his barrow into the
thicket, climbed up a tree, and waited to see what would happen. The
twelve men, however, went to the mountain and cried, "Semsi mountain,
Semsi mountain, open," and immediately the barren mountain opened down
the middle, and the twelve went into it, and as soon as they were
within, it shut. After a short time, however, it opened again, and the
men came forth carrying heavy sacks on their shoulders, and when they
were all once more in the daylight they said, "Semsi mountain, Semsi
mountain, shut thyself;" then the mountain closed together, and there
was no longer any entrance to be seen to it, and the twelve went away.

When they were quite out of sight the poor man got down from the tree,
and was curious to know what really was secretly hidden in the
mountain. So he went up to it and said, "Semsi mountain, Semsi
mountain, open," and the mountain opened to him also. The he went
inside, and the whole mountain was a cavern full of silver and gold,
and behind lay great piles of pearls and sparkling jewels, heaped up
like corn. The poor man hardly knew what to do, and whether he might
take any of these treasures for himself or not; but at last he filled
his pockets with gold, but he left the pearls and precious stones where
they were. When he came out again he also said, "Semsi mountain, Semsi
mountain, shut thyself;" and the mountain closed itself, and he went
home with his barrow.

And now he had no more cause for anxiety, but could buy bread for his
wife and children with his gold, and wine into the bargain. He lived
joyously and uprightly, gave help to the poor, and did good to every
one. When, however, the money came to an end he went to his brother,
borrowed a measure that held a bushel, and brought himself some more,
but did not touch any of the most valuable things. When for the third
time he wanted to fetch something, he again borrowed the measure of his
brother. The rich man had, however, long been envious of his brother's
possessions, and of the handsome way of living which he had set on
foot, and could not understand from whence the riches came, and what
his brother wanted with the measure. Then he thought of a cunning
trick, and covered the bottom of the measure with pitch, and when he
got the measure back a piece of money was sticking in it. He at once
went to his brother and asked him, "What hast thou been measuring in
the bushel measure?" "Corn and barley," said the other. Then he showed
him the piece of money, and threatened that if he did not tell the
truth he would accuse him before a court of justice. The poor man then
told him everything, just as it happened. The rich man, however,
ordered his carriage to be made ready, and drove away, resolved to use
the opportunity better than his brother had done, and to bring back
with him quite different treasures.

When he came to the mountain he cried, "Semsi mountain, Semsi mountain,
open." The mountain opened, and he went inside it. There lay the
treasures all before him, and for a long time he did not know which to
clutch at first. At length he loaded himself with as many precious
stones as he could carry. He wished to carry his burden outside, but,
as his heart and soul were entirely full of the treasures, he had
forgotten the name of the mountain, and cried, "Simeli mountain, Simeli
mountain, open." That, however, was not the right name, and the
mountain never stirred, but remained shut. Then he was alarmed, but the
longer he thought about it the more his thoughts confused themselves,
and his treasures were no more of any use to him. In the evening the
mountain opened, and the twelve robbers came in, and when they saw him
they laughed, and cried out, "Bird, have we caught thee at last! Didst
thou think we had never noticed that thou hadst been in here twice? We
could not catch thee then; this third time thou shalt not get out
again!" Then he cried, "It was not I, it was my brother," but let him
beg for his life and say what he would, they cut his head off.
