Simeli Mountain



Poor man learns spell that gives access to the mountain and its treasures. His brother obtains it by fraud and is caught by robbers.

There were two brothers, one rich and the other poor. But the rich gave nothing to the poor, and he had to make a miserable living from the corn trade; things were often so bad for him that he had no bread for his wife and children. Once he was driving through the forest with his cart when he saw a large bare mountain to one side, and because he had never seen it before he stopped and looked at it with amazement. As he stood there, he saw twelve big, wild men coming: thinking they were robbers, he pushed his cart into the bushes and climbed a tree and waited to see what would happen. But the twelve men went in front of the mountain and called out, "Simeli Mountain, Simeli Mountain, open up." Immediately the bare mountain opened up in the middle of each other, and the twelve went in, and when they were inside, it closed itself. But after a little while it opened up again, and the men came out and carried heavy sacks on their backs, and when they were all back in the daylight they said, "Simeli Mountain, Simeli Mountain, shut up." Then he drove mountain together, and there was no more entrance to be seen on it, and the twelve went away. When they were now completely out of sight, the poor man climbed down from the tree and was curious about what was secretly hidden in the mountain. So he went in front of it and said, "Simeli Mountain, Simeli Mountain, open up," and the mountain opened up before him too. So he entered, and the whole mountain was a cave full of silver and gold, and behind lay great heaps of pearls and sparkling jewels, heaped up like corn. The poor man didn't know what to do or whether he could take anything from the treasures; Finally he filled his pockets with gold, but left the pearls and precious stones where they were. When he came out again, he also said, "Simeli Mountain, Simeli Mountain, close yourself." Then the mountain closed and he drove home in his cart. Now he no longer had to worry and could use his gold to buy bread and wine for his wife and child, lived happily and honestly, gave to the poor and did good to everyone. But when the money ran out, he went to his brother, borrowed a bushel, and got it again; but he touched none of the great treasures. When he wanted to get something for the third time, he again borrowed the bushel from his brother. But the rich man had long been jealous of his fortune and the beautiful household he had set up, and could not understand where the wealth came from and what his brother was doing with the bushel. So he devised a ruse and smeared the floor with pitch, and when he got the measure back, a piece of gold was stuck in it. Immediately he went to his brother and asked him, "What did you measure with a bushel?" "Corn and barley," said the other. So he showed him the piece of gold and threatened him that if he didn't tell the truth he would sue him in court. He now told him everything about how it had happened. But the rich man immediately had a carriage hitched up and drove out, wanting to make better use of the opportunity and bring quite different treasures with him. When he came to the mountain, he called out, "Mount Simeli, Mount Simeli, open up." The mountain opened up and he went inside. There all the riches lay before him, and for a long time he did not know what to grab first, finally he loaded up as many precious stones as he could carry. He wanted to bring his burden out, but because his heart and mind were full of the treasures, he had forgotten the name of the mountain and called out "Mount Simeli, Mount Simeli, rise up." But that was not the right name, and that Berg didn't move and remained closed. Then he became afraid, but the longer he pondered, the more confused his thoughts became, and all the treasures were no longer of any use to him. In the evening the mountain opened up and the twelve robbers came in, and when they saw him they laughed and called out, "Bird, have we got you at last, don't you think we didn't notice that you came in twice, but we couldn't catch you?" You shall not come out again for the third time.” Then he cried out, “It wasn't me, it was my brother,” but he could ask for his life and say what he wanted, they cut off his head.