Chapter 139 138. The Three Orphans

A man fell ill and died, leaving three children orphaned.One day, the elder brother said, "Brother, I'm leaving home to earn a living outside." He came to a city and shouted along the street: "Whoever wants to hire me as a servant, I will recognize him as the master!" A great gentleman came out on the balcony and said, "I'll hire you as a servant if we agree on terms." "Okay, what conditions do you have, tell me." "I hope you will listen to me obediently." "I will do everything you tell me to do." The next morning, the gentleman called the young man to him and said, "Take this letter, and ride this horse, and set off at once. But you must not pull the rein, or the horse will turn around and go back." Run. You just let the horse run, for he knows the way and where you want to send this letter."

The boy mounted his horse and went away.He rode and ran, and ran, until he came to the edge of a cliff.The orphan thought: I am sure I will fall! So he took the rein, and the horse turned its head, and ran back to the owner's house like a gust of wind. When the master saw that he had picked back, he said, "Look, you haven't come to the place I told you to go! You don't have to do it. Here is a pile of money. You can take as much as you want, and then go away!" After filling his pockets with money, the orphan went out.As soon as he stepped out of the gate, he fell into hell all at once.

Let's talk about the other two orphans.Seeing that their eldest brother never returned, the second child also decided to leave home to make a living.He took the same road as his elder brother and came to the same city.He also went through the streets and shouted: "Whoever hires me as a servant, I will recognize him as the master!" The gentleman came out and stopped him.They negotiated terms, and the next morning the lad was sent to do the same thing as his brother.He set off with the letter.When he reached the cliff on his horse, he also took the horse's rein, and the horse also turned around and ran back. "Now," said the master, "take as much as you like, and go away!" The boy filled his pockets with money, and went away.As soon as he stepped out the door, he fell into hell.

Seeing that neither the eldest brother nor the second brother came back, the third brother also left home.He went the same way, came to the same city, and shouted: "Whoever hires me as a servant, I will recognize him as master." The gentleman came out, called him into the house, and said: "I will give Your money, for your food, whatever you want, but there is one thing, you have to listen to me." The orphan agreed.The next morning, the master handed him the letter and explained everything to him.When he got to the edge of the cliff, the young man looked at the abyss of the cliff below and was terrified.He prayed silently: May God bless! Then he closed his eyes.However, when he opened his eyes again, he was already on the other side of the cliff.

Running, running, he rode to a river as wide as the sea.he thinks: I'm really drowning now, but what can I do? He prayed again, "God bless!" Then the river parted and he crossed. He rode on and ran, and ran, until he came to a small river with blood-red water tumbling in it.He thought: I am really going to drown here.He said "God bless!" again, and jumped his horse into the waves, but the water parted in front of the horse. Running, running, he rode to a forest; the forest was so thick that even birds could not fly through it.The orphan thought: This is the end for me, but so is the horse.God bless! He galloped off into the forest.

In the forest he met an old man who was sawing a tree with a leaf of wheat. "What are you doing?" he asked the old man. "Do you want to saw down a tree with this wheat leaf?" "If you talk too much, I'll cut off your head too." The orphan rode away on horseback. And he rode and ran, and ran, until he came to a blazing arch, with lions on either side of the arch. "I'll go through the arches, and I'll be burned; but so will the horse. Go forward, God bless you!" Running, running, he came across a woman kneeling on a stone in prayer.At this moment, the horse stopped suddenly.The orphan thought, is the letter addressed to this woman? He handed the letter to her.She opened the letter and read it, then grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in the air.The orphan mounted his horse again and ran back.

After he came back, his master (he was Jesus Christ) said to him: "I tell you, the cliff you jumped over is the slope that leads to hell; the river is my mother's tears; the blood is from my five wounds." the forest is the thorn in my crown; the man who saws the tree with the wheat-leaves is death; the burning arch is hell; the two lions are your two brothers; the one who kneels The woman here is my mother. You listened to me. There is a heap of gold over there, take as much as you want." The orphan wanted nothing, and at last took only a gold coin, and left Christ. The next day, he went to the store to buy something and spent the gold coin.However, he found that there was always a gold coin in his pocket.From then on, he lived a happy life.

(Calabria region)