The Fool and the Wise Brother

Emily Alexander, Mandeville.

Once a lady had two sons; one was very foolish and the other was very wise. The wise one was hired to look after some sheep while the foolish one was to stay at home and mind the mother. One day the mother became very ill and the wise brother had to leave his work and come home, so he sent the foolish brother to go mind the sheep. So the foolish boy took a stick and broke the legs of the sheep and brought them home in the yard.

The wise brother had on a bath on the fire for the mother. It was piping hot. So the wise brother went to the owner of the sheep to tell what had happened to the sheep and to ask for pardon, so he told the foolish brother to take off the pot off the fire and give the mother a sponging while he was away. The foolish brother took off the piping bath and put his mother in a tub and poured the hot bath on her, and she died.

When the wise brother came home and found that his mother was dead, he was so disappointed because the owner of the sheep said as soon as their mother died he would take away their lands to pay for his sheep. So the sheep-owner took away the land and left them with only an iron gate. So both of them lifted the iron gate on their backs and began to travel. As they reached a tree they sat down to rest. While they were there, they saw a band of robbers coming; so both of them with the iron gate mounted the tree. The robbers came and sat under the tree and began to eat. But they had no custard and no vinegar and they wanted some. So the foolish brother in the tree said, “Brother, I want to werine!” So he said, “You may do so,” and so he did. The robbers underneath saw it coming down. Thinking it was vinegar, they took a pan and caught some and said, “Thank the Lord! the Lord has sent vinegar for us.” Again the foolish brother said, “I want to dédé!” So he did, and the robbers caught some, thinking it was custard, and said, “Thank the Lord! the Lord has sent down custard for us.” So both of them in the tree now became tired of holding the iron gate, so they dropped it. The robbers were so frightened that they ran away leaving everything, and the two brothers came down out of the tree and took up all the money that was left and a knife.

The robbers sent one of the men to see what it was, and the two brothers took the knife and cut off his tongue and sent him back. When the robbers saw him coming, they ran to meet him and asked him what was the matter. He could only say to them, “Bla, bla, bla!” They were so frightened that they started running, he running after them calling out “Bla! bla! bla!” They ran until they were out of breath and fell down and could go no further.