Hans and Jake were brothers. Their mother had died when they were very young. Their father also died after some time, leaving behind a cow and a date-tree for his two sons.
Hans was greedy and cunning. Jake was kind and honest. They decided to divide their father’s property. Hans said to Jake, “I will be very fair. You take the front portion of the cow as your share. I will take the hind side of the cow. Each one gets his profit only from his share.” In the same way, Hans divided the tree as well. The upper part of the tree went to Hans and the lower part to Jake.
Jake fed the cow fresh grass and water. It gave a lot of milk. Hans got the milk which he sold and made a lot of money. But he did not share the money with Jake, saying, “I got the milk from my portion of the cow. The hind part is mine as per the agreement. Each of us gets the benefits only from his part.” Jake did not say anything.
The next day, when Hans was milking the cow, Jake started beating her in the front portion. The cow started kicking. Hans shouted at Jake, “Why are you beating the cow? Can’t you see me milking her?”
“The front portion of the cow is mine. I can do whatever I want with it. That is our agreement,” said Jake, calmly. Hans could not say anything. Finally, he agreed to share the money with Jake.
Now, Hans had taken the upper part of the date-tree. He made holes on the upper part of the tree from where a kind of sweet-smelling juice oozed out. The juice was collected in pots. Hans sold the juice, but again, did not share the money with his brother.
So, the next day, when Hans was on the top of the tree, fixing pots near the holes, Jake started cutting the lower part of the tree. Hans shouted at Jake, who reminded his brother about the agreement. Jake said, “I can do anything with my part. You cannot question or stop me.”
Hans now realised his mistake. He said, “Jake, I feel ashamed of my selfishness. Please forgive me. I promise to be fair to you from now on.” And so he did without any hesitation. Both the brothers lived happily thereafter.
