e little brother was satisfied, and climbed on the bird's back, and
the latter told him to close his eyes. So he only heard the air
whistling past his ears, as though he were driving through a strong
wind, and beneath him the roar and surge of flood and waves. Suddenly
the bird settled on a rock: "Here we are!" he said.
Then the little brother opened his eyes and looked about him: and on
all sides he saw nothing but the radiance and shimmer of all sorts of
white and yellow objects. He took about a dozen of the little things
and hid them in his breast.
"Have you enough?" asked the Roc.
"Yes, I have enough," he replied.
"That is well," answered the bird. "Moderation protects one from
harm."
Then he once more took him up, and carried him back again.
When the little brother reached home, he bought himself a good piece
of ground in the course of time, and became quite well to do.
But his brother was jealous of him, and said to him, harshly: "Where
did you manage to steal the money?"
So the little one told him the whole truth of the matter. Then the big
brother went home and took counsel with his wife.
"Nothing easier," said his wife. "I will just cook grain again and
keep back one seedling so that it is not done. Then you shall sow it,
and we will see what happens."
No sooner said than done. And sure enough, a single sprout shot up,
and sure enough, the sprout bore a single ear of millet, and when
harvest time came around, the Roc again appeared and carried it off in
his beak. The big brother was pleased, and ran after him, and the Roc
said the same thing he had said before, and carried the big brother to
the island. There the big brother saw the gold and silver heaped up
everywhere. The largest pieces were like hills, the small ones were
like bricks, and the real tiny ones were like grains of sand. They
blinded his eyes. He only regretted that he knew of no way by which he
could move mountains. So he bent down and picked up as many pieces as
possible.
The Roc said: "Now you have enough. You will overtax your strength."
"Have patience but a little while longer," said the big brother. "Do
not be in such a hurry! I must get a few more pieces!"
And thus time passed.
The Roc again urged him to make haste: "The sun will appear in a
moment," said he, "and the sun is so hot it burns human beings up."
"Wait just a little while longer," said the big brother. But that very
moment a red disk broke thro
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