Once upon a time, there was one mother fish living in a river with her 2 sons. One day she said to her sons, "My beloved sons, I am a fish so I cannot take care of you. It's time for you to move ashore and start living a human life. I'd like both of you to love each other, helping and sharing, not abusing each other. Share whatever food you have. For instance, if you have only 1 grasshopper, you share it with your brother so each of you would each half of the grasshopper." Once the mother fished had finished her speech, she sent both of her sons ashore and insisted to them again not to harm each other. The two sons promised to follow their mother's words.

 

After traveling for a while, the two sons came across a stream close to a village where they decided to stop to rest. The younger brother said to his older brother, "Big brother, I'm starving." The big brother replied, "What are we going to eat? I don't know where to find food. But it's all right. Just wait for me here. I will find food for us." Having said that, the big brother went into the woods to search for foods. He returned with fruits, roots, and small animals like grasshoppers and crickets, which they grilled and shared with each other, the way their mother had instructed them to do.

After a while, hunger returned. The elder brother told his younger brother to wait at the same place, and he decided to set foot to the village with an attempt to ask for food from the villagers. However, when arriving the village, he was too embarrassed to beg for food, so he decided to stand at the stairs of one of the house that happened to belong to two sisters. After noticing the man, the younger sister told her elder sister, "Come look. There is someone standing at the front of our house." When hearing that, the elder sister stopped weaving and walked towards the man, asking him, "What are you doing here?" The man was too embarrassed to tell the sisters that he was there to ask for food. But he was so worried about his younger brother so he decided to tell them, "Can I have some food for my younger brother? He is starving." The big sister asked, "Where is your brother? Bring him here so we can eat together." Having heard that, the big brother returned to his brother who had been waiting and told him to go to the village with him because the villagers would cook food for them.

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From that day, the two brothers lived with the woman and when the big brother grew up and became a man, he got married to this woman. After having been together for a while, the big brother wanted to test the woman's feelings so he instructed his little brother to disturb the woman's work, telling her he was hungry when she was going to collect water or to tell her that he was thirsty when she was weaving. His objective was to test whether the woman would fulfill the little brother's demands during his absence.

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One day, after the big brother was away from home, the little brother started to test his sister-in-law. On seeing her getting ready to collect water, the little brother told her he was hungry and asked her to prepare food for him. The sister-in-law happily prepared rice and fish for him to eat and continued her daily chore of collecting water. Soon after this, the sister-in-law was getting ready to start weaving, but the boy told her he was thirsty and asked her to bring him some water. Once again, the sister-in-law happily brought him water and then continue her weaving while the boy went out to play. On returning home from playing, the boy saw the sister-in-law getting ready to pound rice, he told her he was thirsty and hungry and wanted something to eat. Without delay, she brought water and food to him to fulfill his demand, and continued her daily chore of pounding rice. When the boy was full and satisfied, he went out to play some more. Then, seeing the sister-in-law getting ready to cook rice, the boy walked to her and told her he was thirsty and needed water. The sister-in-law brought him water and continued with her cooking.

Later that day, the big brother returned home in the evening. He talked to his little brother in private and asked whether the sister-in-law had fulfilled his demands. The boy told him she had done everything he had asked her to do.

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Several days later, the wife told the husband that they needed a chicken for a ritual so she told him to go out and get a chicken. The husband agreed, got up, grabbed his bag, walked to the boy and told him, "Once I'm away, I'd like you to test the sister-in-law again, the way I had instructed you to do many days ago." The boy nodded. After the husband left, the boy would disturb the sister-in-law all day, asking her to bring him food and water. When the big brother returned, he checked with the boy, who reported to him that the sister-in-law had done everything to fulfill his demands.

 

A few days later, the husband had a reason to be away to look for a pig. This time, he had to spend 3 days traveling from one village to another looking for a pig because none of the villages he visited had any pig available for sale. During these 3 days, the boy followed his brother's instruction to continue testing the sister-in-law by demanding her to do things for him. On the first two days, the wife did everything the boy demanded her to do. But on day 3, annoyance started to build up in her. She said to him, "Why are you being so annoying and disturbing me so much? Whenever I start to work, you always ask me to do this and that for you. I'm being annoyed now. I will no longer pay attention to you or fulfill your demands." Having said that, she continued doing her weaving, while the boy went out to play. After a while, he returned to his sister-in-law and told her he was hungry and asked her to bring him some food. She heard every word the boy had said but she continued with her weaving. The boy kept disturbing her, saying he was hungry. The woman scolded him for being demanding. She said, "Stop bothering me. I'm very annoyed at you. I can't stand you anymore. You finish a bottle of drinking water in one time. You even finish a pot of rice in one meal. You eat too much. No one can stand you." The boy heard this but all he did was rubbing his hungry stomach with his hands until he passed out due to hunger.

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In the meantime, the husband came home from his pig-hunting trip. He saw his younger brother napping and asked the wife why he was napping like that. The wife explained the boy had just napped after he had done playing while she had been weaving. The husband then walked to the boy attempting to carry him to the house but he found the boy's body was weak and droopy. He carried the boy to the house, lay him down on the mattress and slowly fed him with food that other villagers had given him during the trip. The big brother ground the rice, mixed it with water and slowly fed it to his little brother, who gradually regained his conscious.

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Many days after this incident, the wife complained to the husband and told him to take his little brother away because he was very demanding and kept disturbing her while she worked. She said he did nothing to help with the household chores as he neither weaved nor cooked food. He ate so much rice and drank so much water that no one would have enough to feed him. She demanded her husband to take the boy away and kill him.

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After hearing his wife complaining nonstop, the husband felt sorry for his little brother. Not knowing what to do, he decided to go into the woods and start cutting down some bamboos. The boy saw this and asked why he was cutting down so many bamboos. The brother answered, "I'm making a ladder so I can use it to hunt birds and mice for food." His answer made the boy happy and excited. Before leaving for hunting, the big brother prepared some chillies seeds, lettuce seeds, pumpkin seeds, cucumber seeds, and paddy, and invited the little brother to go with him. During the trip, the boy said that if he found 3 big bird's eggs, he would give one to his big brother, one to his sister-in-law, and the other for himself, but if he found only 2 bird's eggs, he would give one to his sister-in-law and keep the other one for himself. The boy kept repeating this over and over until they reached their destination. There, the big brother made a long ladder by connecting the bamboos together, and lean it against one big tree. He, then, persuaded his little brother to climb up the ladder with him. On the top of the tree, they found 3 birds. The boy was very happy and said "one for the sister-in-law, one for the big brother, one for me". Then, the big brother told the boy to climb on other branches. The boy said he was too scared to move as the tree was very tall. After a while, both of them fell asleep on that tree. The big brother woke up and climbed down the tree. He removed the ladder from the tree and took out all the ladder steps. Before leaving, he left a bag of prepared seeds for his little brother and started to walk home.

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After the boy had a good long nap, he was startled and awake. He looked around but did not see his big brother. He started to climb from one branch to another, caught some worms and fed them to the three birds. When the birds were full, they said to the boy, "Brother, when our mother returns to the nest, she will peck you. Come and stay under the nest. We will cover you with our wings so that mom cannot see you." When the mother bird arrived the nest, she was surprised that all her babies were sleeping. Normally, when she returned to the nest, all of them would hurry and greet her with hunger. She then asked her babies why none of them greeted her, why they were full and who fed them. The baby birds refused to answer as they were afraid she would harm the boy. The mother bird insisted on them answering her questions. The baby birds agreed to answer her questions but she had to promise she would not harm that person. After the mother bird agreed, they told her, "The brother was feeding us." The mother bird asked, "Where is that brother now?" The baby birds begged their mother not to hurt the boy. After she agreed, they showed where the boy was hiding. They told their mother that the boy fed them with delicious foods. The mother bird then asked, "If that brother has brought you delicious food, what does he feed on?" The baby birds said they did not know and told her to ask the boy by herself. She said to the boy, "My babies feed on worms and insects. You caught these and fed them to my babies, but you yourself ate none of these. So, what do you feed on?" They boy replied and explained he ate rice but there was no rice here, which was fine with him because he wanted the baby birds to be full and it was all right if he had nothing to eat. Hearing his answer, the mother bird wondered what she was supposed to do. Then she realized this was the period when humans went out to plough the fields. So, she started to steal packed rice from the villagers in order to feed the boy. Several days passed and the villagers began feeling upset with the mother bird and wondered why she had been stealing their food. The mother bird realized the villagers were upset with her so she started to go to many different places to steal human's food.

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Time went by and the baby birds gradually grew up. Each day, their climbing skill significantly improved. During the first days, the boy could follow the baby birds climbing on branches, but when they became more skillful and climbed on leaves and branches faster, the boy could not keep up with them. He just looked at them and said, "Little birds have wings. One day they will fly away from me." When the mother bird overheard that, she told him the baby birds would grow up and fly away, but he was not supposed to be worried because she would be with him, accompanying him.

 

One day, while flying along the stream, the mother bird found one long big vine, which she cut and carried with her beak. The villagers saw her flying and carrying the big vine, but they thought she was carrying a big snake. Upon arriving the nest, the mother bird tied the vine to the nest and let it hang loose down the tree. The boy climbed down on the vine attempting to leave the tree but the vine was too short for him to reach the ground (that vine still hangs on the tree to this day. The next day, the mother bird changed her direction and flew northward up the stream. She found the bigger and longer vine so she managed to cut it from the root and used her beak to carry it back to the nest. This time, the villagers saw her flying with the big vine again and were amazed by her action, saying "Look at that giant bird carrying a big snake!!". When returning to the nest, the mother bird tied the new vine to the nest and let it hang down the tree. This time, the vine was long enough and reached the ground. Then, she said to her babies, "Tomorrow will be the time for all of you to leave this place and start your own journey." When a new day arrived, it was time for the birds to leave. They told the boy to be the first person to climb down the tree, but the boy refused and told the birds to go first so he could watch them fly away. None of them agreed to be the first person to leave and kept arguing. A while later, one bird decided to leave and fly away. The boy and the other two birds kept watching until the first bird flew further and further away. The other two birds kept on arguing who would leave first. After a while, one bird started to fly away leaving the nest. The last bird hesitated to leave so the mother bird told the boy to leave and climb down the tree by using the vine. Following the mother bird's instruction, the boy slowly climbed down the vine and successfully reached the ground. The mother bird and the last baby bird saw that and flew away. The boy watched until the two birds flew out of his sight.

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The boy walked around to many places looking for an area to build a hut. He found one place with the flat ground and big rocks, which he liked, so he decided to rest there and would later build a hut in that area. Using the knife he had carried with him, the boy cut down branches and banana leaves and used them to build a shelter on the big rocks. When finished, he looked around the plain and started to clear a portion of land big enough to plant vegetables. When he was done ploughing, he left the leaves to dry and later burned them so that he could use the land for planting. With the seeds that his big brother had left for him, the boy sowed the seeds on the prepared land. After some time, the seeds sprouted, grew up and gave the boy lots of yields. When the rice-planting season arrived, the boy used the paddy his big brother had left for him to plant rice.

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During that time, the pumpkin plants had such healthy vines, but they were all eaten by the chickens. The boy had planned on cooking the pumpkin tops and leaves but now they were gone and he thought of how he had nothing to eat now. The boy realised that it was all right as these chickens could not plant their own vegetables but he could. Not long after that, the lettuces became mature and looked mouth-watering, but they were eaten by some animals that came to his land during the night. The young man didn’t mind and thought that the animals needed the food more than he did. Soon it was time for the corn to mature and be ready for harvest. Again, they were eaten by animals during the night. He thought long and hard about what he was supposed to do because no matter what he planted, the vegetables would be eaten and gone. He told himself that it was alright because at least he had rice in the fields, which he could later harvest. However, when it was time to harvest rice, there was none left as it had all been eaten. Again, he thought to himself what he was supposed to do because if he let this continue, he would have no food to eat. As a result, he decided to follow the traces of the animal that had eaten his rice in the field. He followed the tracks and found an elephant's tusk fallen on the ground. He collected it and took it home. At night, he used it as a pillow, laid his head on it and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, it appeared that some animals built a beautiful house for him. When he woke up, he found himself lying on a beautiful tree. He wondered what had happened because before this he had been sleeping on the ground. After that day, the young man did not have to work or do anything because he had a nice house filled with food and household items. Then he thought of his big brother, wondering how he had been doing and whether he was happy. He thought of the lesson the mother fish had given to them, that they were supposed to love and help each other. But then he became sad because his big brother had abandoned him on the tree. The young man shook away sadness and realized he was living a good life, so he decided to travel and look for his big brother.

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When the young man arrived his big brother's house, his big brother could not recognize him because he had grown up and become a young man. The big brother asked a stranger, "Where are you going?" The young man replied, "I have been wandering around." The big brother asked "Do you need anything?". The young man said, "No, I'm just wandering around looking for food." The big brother replied, "I don't even have food to eat. You should go to other houses. They might have extra food for you." The young man nodded, and then he said, "Can I spend the night at your house?" The big brother said, "If you're looking for a place to sleep, you should go to other houses because we are poor. We have no food. We have nothing to welcome you." Having heard that, the young man replied, "I will stay here for only one night. I will also give you some money to buy some food." The young man then gave some money to his big brother, who used it to buy rice, which was enough for 1 cooking pot. During that time, the young man noticed the sister-in-law who was on the way to collect water, so he asked his big brother, "Do you not really remember me?" The big brother was shocked and surprised, saying "Is it really you?" "Yes, it's me!", the young man confirmed. The big brother asked how he had been doing after the last day he had seen each other. The young man explained he had not been doing anything much because he had a nice house and farms. He said, "How about you? If you are having a hard life, would you like to come live with me?" Then the young man reminded his big brother about the lesson that their mother fish had given to them. He then reassured his big brother that he would have a house to live in, a place to plant vegetables, and he could stop living in hardship. He also invited the sister-in-law to go live with him. Hearing all these, the big brother replied, "I'm not taking my wife with me. I want you to leave now, and I will visit you at your house later." The young man said, "If I return home, how do you know where it is? How will you get there?" The big brother replied, "Don't worry. I will ask other people for direction. I'm sure I will find your house." After the younger brother left his big brother's house, the big brother decided to end his life because he was so ashamed for the things he had done to his little brother.