The Three Strong Men

Three Strong Men

Some time ago, near a far-off village, in a far off country, on a far-off continent, there lived three very strong men. Each day, the Three Strong Men would travel into the village to amaze the residents with their unbelievable feats of strength, and each day the villagers would try to find something that the Men could not lift. But, they never did. They tried their fattest cows, their biggest wagons, and their largest barrels, but the Three Strong Men could lift each thing. This went on every day, and every day the villagers admired their shows of strength.

The Three Strong Men were helpful too; if a wagon was stuck in the mud, the Three Strong Men would be there to lift it out. If a cow became sick in a field, the Three Strong Men would carry it into the barn so the farmer could tend to it. If a shed had collapsed, the Three Strong Men would lift away the heaviest pieces of rubble.

So it was, that each night the Three Strong Men left the village with their pockets full of gifts from grateful villagers. The Three Strong Men had all they could ever need. This continued for a time, and it was very good. But, one day much later, a travelling wizard happened upon the village.

This wizard had made a living travelling through the lands impressing people with his spells, incantations, and illusions. He'd performed the most extravagant spells for the richest kings, the keenest tricks for the drunkest taverns, and the most cunning magic for the stoniest villages. He always drew large crowds, and whether out of fear of his power or awe of his magic, he left each town much richer. But, when the Travelling Wizard came to the Far-Off Village in a Far-Off Country, not a single man or women noticed. When he performed his first magic, meant to draw a crowd, not one person stopped - except for a lone black crow. This made the wizard angry, for he was not used to being ignored.

"Where is my crowd?" he shouted to the crow.

"They watch the Three Strong Men. They lift very heavy things," the crow squawked. "But you are a liar. You couldn't lift a single thing".

That night, the wizard mixed a powerful potion that could steal the strength of men, and sneaking into the Three Strong Men's home, he mixed it into their morning porridge. So it was that the next morning when the Three Strong Men came to town they couldn't lift a single thing. In grief, the Three Strong Men went to the tavern and drank themselves to death.

The Travelling Wizard saw the crowd was no longer distracted by the men and ran to his travelling wagon.

"If I show them my most extravagant trick, they will forget the Strong Men and give me gifts instead," he said to the crow.

"Your wagon is stacked too high," the crow cackled in his ear.

With a powerful crack, the wagon toppled over and the wizard was crushed underneath. For three days the townsfolk tried to lift it away; their strongest could not move it an inch and their ox couldn't shift it a bit. By the third day, the wizard knew he was going to die, and he looked up at the crow, who smiled a big toothy smile.

"If only someone could lift it away, maybe you'd not have died today," the crow cackled as it flew away.