er thought it
impossible for him to draw the magic sword, but at his brother's command
he took the handle in his hand and pulled with all his might. To
everybody's surprise out came the magic sword, and the Chinaman walked
away in triumph.

The elder brother now made up his mind that if he could not get the
sword he would try for the bow, and he might have more success with
that, so he exerted all his strength, and slowly, slowly bent it, till
the cord was taut and the bow all ready to shoot.

The people of the city were amazed that the two brothers should have
such strength and good luck, and many envious eyes followed them as they
again set out on their journey, carrying their trophies with them.

They traveled on and on till they gave up counting the distance, it was
so great, till one day, as they were resting on the banks of a large
river in a far country, they saw a great fish swimming in the water. It
was so great that nobody heretofore had been able to catch it, and it
was in fact the king of all the fishes. It broke all the nets and
smashed all the traps. It snapped all the lines that were set for it,
and nobody was strong enough to pull it ashore when it did take the
hook. The Chinamen saw it, and the elder brother instantly strung his
bow, put on a bolt, and shot the great fish as it was swimming in the
shallow water. In a few minutes he had it on his shoulder, and they
commenced to cross the bridge to the other side of the river.

Now the river was very wide, the current was very swift, and the bridge
was not at all strong. It was only made of bamboos and rattan and swung
from side to side as the men crossed it. When they got to the middle it
began to creak and strain till the two travelers were in great fear it
would break. The one who had killed it turned to his brother and said:

"O brother, the fish is so heavy I am afraid the bridge will break.
Please draw your magic sword and cut it in halves, and then we will be
able to get to the other side in safety."

The younger brother therefore drew his sword and cut the fish in halves;
but he did not yet know how sharp the sword was, for he cut the fish in
halves, it is true, but not only that, but the whole bridge as well, so
that his brother fell into the water and was immediately swept from his
sight. On his part he could not of course cross, now the bridge was
down, so he returned to the same side of the river and ran along the
bank looking to see whe