1、Two Brothersby Hans Christian Andersen（1859） ON one of the Danish islands， where oldThingstones， the seats of justice of ourforefathers， still stand in the cornfields， and hugetrees rise in the forests of beech， there lies a littletown whose low houses are covered with red til
2、es. Inone of these houses strange things were brewingover the glowing coals on the open hearth； therewas a boiling going on in glasses， and a mixing anddistilling， while herbs were being cut up and pounded in mortars. An elderly man looked after itall. “One must only do the ri
3、ght thing，” he said；“yes， the right—the correct thing. Onemust find out the truth concerning every created particle， and keep to that.” In the room with the good housewife sat her two sons； they were still small， but hadGREat thoughts. Their mother， too， had always spoken to t
4、hem of right and justice， andexhorted them to keep to the truth， which she said was the countenance of the Lord in thisworld. the elder of the boys looked roguish and enterprising. He took a delight in reading of theforces of nature， of the sun and the moon； no fairy tale plea
5、sed him so much. Oh， howbeautiful it must be， he thought， to go on voyages of discovery， or to find out how toimitate the wings of birds and then to be able to fly！ Yes， to find that out was the rightthing. Father was right， and mother was right—truth holds the world together.
6、 the younger brother was quieter， and buried himself entirely in his books. When he readabout Jacob dressing himself in sheep-skins to personify Esau， and so to usurp his brother'sbirthright， he would clench his little fist in anger against the deceiver； when he read of tyrants
7、and of the injustice and wickedness of the world， tears would come into his eyes， and he wasquite filled with the thought of the justice and truth which must and would triumph. One evening he was lying in bed， but the curtains were not yet drawn close， and the lightstreamed in
8、 upon him； he had taken his book into bed with him， fo
