This is post #24 of my penance after I have been blacklisted by Hivewatchers for plagiarizing.
No need to upvote this post, as the payout has been declined.
But comments are welcome. I will continue to upvote all meaningful comments.
THE TWO TWINS
The older twin pulled a hair from his head and passed it through the cat flap. Immediately, the earth swallowed him up.
While this was happening, the lady, who knew nothing, asked for news of her husband.
“Do you know where he went?” she asked everyone.
"Madam, we saw him, from a distance, enter the poorly inhabited house. But we didn't see him come out."
"Ah! My God! Something bad will have happened to him."
While the lady was thus crying with all the tears in her eyes, and praying to God to restore her husband to her, the younger of the twins had finished his journey towards the setting sun. He was returning to his country, mounted on his horse, and followed by his dog. Arriving at the crossroads where the stone cross was, he remembered the promise he had made to his older brother. Immediately he drew his sword and struck the cross. At the first cut, blood flowed.
“Ah! My God, something bad has happened to my brother. Go, my dog. Earn your oats, my good horse."
At sunset, the younger twin was in the city, where his brother's wife wept with tears, and prayed to God to restore her husband to her.
“Madam,” cried the people of the town, “here is your husband who is coming back."
"Ah! my God, my good friend. I feared that something bad had happened to you in the poorly inhabited little house."
The younger twin looked so much like his older brother that everyone took him for him. He had dinner with the lady and went to sleep with her. But going up to bed, he placed his drawn sword between her and him. The next day, at daybreak, the younger of the twins saddled his horse, whistled to his dog, and went to knock on the door of the poorly inhabited cottage.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"What are you asking?"
"Open, or I'll break down the door."
"The door is of solid oak, with good locks and strong bolts. You won't break it. If you want to come in, pull a hair from your head and pass it through the cat flap."
The younger twin pulled a hair from his horse's mane and passed it through the cat flap. Immediately, the earth swallowed up the horse. Then the rider entered with his dog through the open door and killed all the bad people who were in the house. This done, he cleared the lower chamber and freed his brother and his horse.
“Now, brother, we must return to the city. When we get there, I'll see if you're a wise man."
When they arrived in the city, the people were very surprised to see two men, two horses, and two dogs so perfectly similar. The elder's wife didn't know how to recognize her husband.
“Woman,” said the younger brother, “don’t you recognize me?"
“Woman,” said the eldest, “don’t you recognize me?"
"Riders, you are so alike that I am not in a position to choose. Let the one of you who is my husband give me proof."
Then the eldest twin showed the handkerchief containing the seven tongues of the Great Beast with seven heads.
“It is you who are my husband."
“Brother,” said the younger brother, “I see that you are a wise man. Stay here with your wife. I'm going home, and I'll give our parents your news."
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
Once again, the good guys won.
The younger brother was smart: he did not use one of his hair to open the door.
And he challenged his brother to show his wife that he was her husband. I really liked this part.
Two days ago, I went to Paris to meet my brother Gregoire. He is the main priest at the chapel Notre-Dame de Consolation.
We went to a restaurant nearby for dinner, and, as my late mother used to say: Tongues were not idle.
Yesterday, I had lunch with one of my schoolmates at the French Naval Academy (École Navale) and his wife. We met for the first time at the École Navale in September 1968: I was 19 years old, and he was 20.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.
Then I traveled by the métro and a tram to visit my younger sister, Nicole (#11).
She brought me to her small house and we ate there. Then, we went to some sort of a community place where an association was organizing a "Loto", a French game of chance, similar to what is called Bingo in the USA or the UK.
Nicole and her boyfriend are members of the association and she was the one collecting the money from the participants at the door. I helped her distribute the loto cards for 45 minutes.
As you can see from the picture above, the room was packed and the event was quite successful.
-- Vincent Celier