that will save our rent. For as they are, they profit you
nothing.'

And the younger brother listened and pitied him, and gave him the houses
that he asked for, and the elder went away happy.

For some years things went on as they were, and then the rich brother
began to feel lonely, and thought to himself that he was getting older,
and it was time for him to be married. The wife he chose was very
wealthy, but she was also very greedy, and however much she had, she
always wanted more. She was, besides, one of those unfortunate people
who invariably fancy that the possessions of other people must be better
than their own. Many a time her poor husband regretted the day that he
had first seen her, and often her meanness and shabby ways put him to
shame. But he had not the courage to rule her, and she only got worse
and worse.

After she had been married a few months the bride wanted to go into the
city and buy herself some new dresses. She had never been there before,
and when she had finished her shopping, she thought she would pay a
visit to her unknown sister-in-law, and rest for a bit. The house
she was seeking was in a broad street, and ought to have been very
magnificent, but the carved stone portico enclosed a mean little door
of rough wood, while a row of beautiful pillars led to nothing. The
dwelling on each side were in the same unfinished condition, and water
trickled down the walls. Most people would have considered it a wretched
place, and turned their backs on it as soon as they could, but this lady
saw that by spending some money the houses could be made as splendid as
they were originally intended to be, and she instantly resolved to get
them for herself.

Full of this idea she walked up the marble staircase, and entered
the little room where her sister-in-law sat, making clothes for her
children. The bride seemed full of interest in the houses, and asked
a great many questions about them, so that her new relations liked her
much better than they expected, and hoped they might be good friends.
However, as soon as she reached home, she went straight to her husband,
and told him that he must get back those houses from his brother, as
they would exactly suit her, and she could easily make them into a
palace as fine as the king's. But her husband only told her that she
might buy houses in some other part of the town, for she could not have
those, as he had long since made a gift of them to his brother, who