and a bachelor. When the father was dying, he called his children to
him and told them how he had left his property. The house was for his
two married sons, with a sum of three hundred florins each. After his
death he was buried with great pomp, and after the funeral there was a
splendid feast. All these honours were supposed to be for the benefit
of the man's soul.

When the elder brothers took possession of their inheritance, they
said to the youngest: "Listen, brother; let us take charge of your
share of the money, for we intend going out into the world as
merchants, and when we have made a great deal of money we will buy you
a hat, a sash, and a pair of red boots. You will be better at home;
and mind you do as your sisters-in-law tell you."

For a long time this silly fellow had been wanting a cap, a sash, and
a pair of red boots, so he was easily persuaded to give up all his
money.

The brothers set out on their travels, and crossed the sea in search
of fortune. The "fool" of the family remained at home; and, as he was
an out-and-out sluggard, he would lie whole days at a time on the warm
stove without doing a stroke of work, and only obeying his
sisters-in-law with the greatest reluctance. He liked fried onions,
potato soup, and cider, better than anything else in the world.

One day his sisters-in-law asked him to fetch them some water.

It was winter, and a hard frost; moreover, the sluggard did not feel
at all inclined to go out. So he said, "Go yourselves, I prefer to
stay here by the fire."

"Stupid boy, go at once. We will have some onions, potato soup, and
cider ready for you when you come back. If you refuse to do what we
ask you we shall tell our husbands, and then there will be neither
cap, sash, nor red boots for you."

At these words the sluggard thought he had better go. So he rolled off
the stove, took a hatchet and a couple of pails, and went down to the
river. On the surface of the water, where the ice had been broken, was
a large pike. The sluggard seized him by the fins and pulled him out.

"If you will let me go," said the pike, "I promise to give you
everything you wish for."

"Well then, I should like all my desires to be fulfilled the moment I
utter them."

"You shall have everything you want the moment you pronounce these
words:

'At my behest, and by the orders of the pike,
May such and such things happen, as I like.'"

"Just wait one moment while I try the effect," said