The Singing Bone (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The terrorizing wild boar and two brothers quest
A wild boar terrorized a certain country, destroying farmers' fields, killing cattle, and attacking people with its tusks. The beast was so large and powerful that no one dared venture near the forest where it lived.
The King promised a great reward to whoever could rid the land of this plague - his only daughter's hand in marriage.
Two brothers, sons of a poor man, volunteered for the dangerous task. The elder brother was motivated by pride, while the younger acted from kindness. The King instructed them to enter the forest from opposite sides to ensure they would find the beast - the elder from the west, the younger from the east.
The magic spear and the boars death
As the younger brother ventured into the forest, a little man appeared before him carrying a black spear.
I give you this spear because your heart is pure and good; with this you can boldly attack the wild boar, and it will do you no harm.
The youth gratefully accepted the magical weapon and continued fearlessly through the forest. Soon he encountered the wild boar, which charged at him in blind fury. The beast ran so swiftly against the spear that its heart was split in two. The younger brother then carried the dead monster on his back toward home to present it to the King.
Meanwhile, the elder brother had stopped at a house at the forest's entrance where people were drinking and dancing.
He had decided to drink until he felt brave enough to face the boar, thinking it would not run away from him.
The elder brothers treachery and murder
When he saw his young brother coming out of the wood laden with his booty, his envious, evil heart gave him no peace.
The elder brother called out to his younger sibling, inviting him to rest and refresh himself with wine. The trusting youth, suspecting no evil, entered the house and told his brother about the good little man who had given him the magical spear. The elder brother kept him there until evening, pretending to celebrate his success.
When darkness fell, the two brothers set out together. As they approached a bridge over a brook, the elder brother allowed the younger to go first. When his brother reached the middle of the bridge, he struck him such a powerful blow from behind that the younger brother fell down dead.
The murderer buried his brother's body beneath the bridge, took the wild boar, and carried it to the King. He claimed to have killed the beast himself and was rewarded with the King's daughter in marriage. When people asked about his missing brother, he claimed the boar must have killed him, and everyone believed this lie.
But as nothing remains hidden from God, so this black deed also was to come to light.
Years passed, and the wicked brother enjoyed his ill-gotten rewards, believing his crime would never be discovered.
The singing bone exposes the crime and brings justice
Years later, a shepherd was driving his herd across the bridge when he noticed a snow-white bone lying in the sand beneath.
Thinking it would make a good mouthpiece for his horn, he climbed down and carved it into shape. When he blew through it for the first time, the bone began to sing of its own accord:
Ah, friend, thou blowest upon my bone!
Long have I lain beside the water;
My brother slew me for the boar,
And took for his wife the King's young daughter.
Amazed by this wonderful horn that sang by itself, the shepherd brought it to the King. When the horn repeated its song before the King, he understood everything. He ordered the ground beneath the bridge to be excavated, revealing the complete skeleton of the murdered man. Confronted with this evidence, the wicked brother could not deny his crime. He was sewn up in a sack and drowned as punishment, while the bones of the murdered brother were laid to rest in a beautiful tomb in the churchyard.