Simeli Mountain (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The poor brother discovers the magical mountain and its treasure
Two brothers lived very different lives - one wealthy and prosperous, the other struggling in poverty. The rich brother refused to help his poor sibling, who barely managed to survive by trading corn and often lacked bread for his family.
One day while wheeling his barrow through the forest, the poor brother noticed a great, bare mountain he had never seen before. As he stared in amazement, twelve wild men approached. Believing they were robbers, he quickly hid his barrow in the thicket, climbed a tree, and watched what would unfold.
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 some time, the mountain opened again and the men emerged carrying heavy sacks. They commanded the mountain to shut, and it closed completely, leaving no trace of an entrance. Once the twelve men disappeared from sight, the curious poor brother climbed down and approached the mountain, repeating the same magical words he had heard.
Modest gains and a life transformed
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
Overwhelmed by the sight of such wealth, the poor man wondered whether he should take any treasures. Eventually, he decided to fill his pockets with gold but left the pearls and precious stones untouched. After commanding the mountain to close, he returned home with his barrow, no longer worried about providing for his family.
With his newfound wealth, the poor brother could now buy bread and wine for his family. He lived joyously and uprightly, helping the poor and doing good to everyone. When his gold ran out, he borrowed a bushel measure from his rich brother and returned to the mountain for more treasure, but again took only what he needed, avoiding the most valuable items. He repeated this process a third time.
The rich brother uncovers his brothers secret
The rich brother had grown increasingly envious of his sibling's prosperity and comfortable lifestyle, unable to understand the source of his wealth or why he needed the measure. Suspecting something, he devised a cunning plan and covered the bottom of the measure with pitch.
When the measure was returned, a piece of money was stuck to the pitch. The rich brother confronted his sibling, asking what he had been measuring. When the poor brother claimed it was corn and barley, his wealthy sibling showed him the coin and threatened to accuse him in court if he didn't tell the truth. Under this pressure, the poor man revealed everything that had happened.
The rich man... drove away, resolved to use the opportunity better than his brother had done, and to bring back with him quite different treasures
Immediately, the rich brother ordered his carriage prepared and set off for the mountain, determined to acquire far greater wealth than his modest sibling had taken.
Greed and forgetfulness lead to a fatal end
Upon reaching the mountain, the rich brother spoke the magic words and entered the treasure cavern. Faced with the vast wealth before him, he spent a long time deciding what to take first. Eventually, he loaded himself with as many precious stones as he could carry, his heart and soul consumed entirely by greed.
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.'
But this was not the correct name, and the mountain remained shut. Growing alarmed, the rich brother found his thoughts becoming more confused the longer he tried to remember. His treasures were now useless to him. When evening came, the mountain opened and the twelve robbers returned. Seeing him there, they laughed and declared they had finally caught the thief who had been stealing from them twice before. Despite his pleas that it was his brother, not him, who had taken the treasure, they cut off his head.