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the third place, even if we swim across the river, do you think it is an easy thing to take the

cubs away from the she-bear?

She will seize us, and instead of finding happiness, we shall perish, and all for nothing. In
the fourth place, even if we succeeded in carrying off the bear cubs, we would not be able to
run up a mountain without stopping to rest. And most important of all, the stone does not

tell us what kind of happiness, we would find in that house. It is possible that the happiness
awaiting us there is not at all the kind of happiness we would want.”

“In my opinion,” said the younger brother, “You are wrong. What is written on the stone
could not have been put there without reason. And it is all perfectly clear. In the first place,

no harm will come to us if we try. In the second place, if we do not go, someone else will read
the inscription, on the stone and find happiness, and we shall have lost it all. In the third
place, if you do not make an effort and try hard, nothing in the world will succeed. In the
fourth place, I do not want to have the thought that I was afraid of anything.”

The elder brother answered him by saying, “The proverb says: ‘In seeking great happiness

small pleasures may be lost’ and also: ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’ So I want
no risks.”

The younger brother replied, “I have heard: ‘He who is afraid of the leaves must not go into
the forest.’ And also: ‘Beneath a stone no water flows.’ So I have decided to go.” The younger

brother left and the elder brother stayed back.
No sooner had the younger brother gone into the forest,

than he found the river, swam across it, and there
on the other side was the she-bear, fast asleep.
He took her cubs, and ran up the mountain
without looking back. When he reached the
top of the mountain, the people came out to
meet him with a carriage to take him into the

city, where they made him their king.
He ruled for five years. In the sixth year,
another king, who was stronger than him,
waged war against him. The city was

conquered, and he was driven out.
Again the younger brother became a

wanderer, and he arrived one day at
the house of the elder brother. The elder
brother was living in a village and had grown
neither rich nor poor.

39 Arrow - English Plus-8