A poor man said to his four sons, "My children, I have nothing to give you. You must go out into the world and find your luck. Go and learn a craft."
The four brothers took their walking sticks and left home together. When they reached a place where four roads met, the eldest said, "We must part here. But in four years, we will meet at this same spot."
Each brother went a different way and met a master.
The eldest brother met a man who taught him to be a master thief. "I will only teach you to steal things that no one else can get," the man said. The young man became so clever that he could take anything he wanted.
The second brother met a star-gazer. His master gave him a special glass and said, "With this, you can see everything that happens in the sky and on earth. Nothing can be hidden from you."
The third brother became a hunter. His master gave him a bow and said, "Whatever you shoot at with this bow, you will always hit."
The youngest brother learned to be a special tailor. His master gave him a needle and said, "You can sew anything together with this, and no one will ever see the seam."
After four years, the brothers met at the crossroads and went home to their father. To test them, the father asked the star-gazer to count the eggs in a bird’s nest at the top of a tall tree. "There are five," the son said.
Then, the father told the thief to steal the eggs without the bird noticing. The thief did it easily. Next, the hunter shot all five eggs in half with one arrow. Finally, the tailor sewed the eggs back together so perfectly that the mother bird hatched them a few days later. The baby birds only had a tiny red line around their necks.
Soon after, a dragon stole the King's daughter. The brothers decided to save her. The star-gazer found her on a rock in the sea. The King gave them a ship, and they sailed there. The dragon was sleeping with his head on the princess’s lap.
The thief stole the princess away quietly, but as they sailed away, the dragon woke up and flew after them. The hunter shot the dragon through the heart, but the heavy beast fell on their boat and broke it into pieces. Luckily, the tailor used his needle to sew the planks of wood back together, and they reached the ship safely.
The King was happy and said one of them could marry the princess. However, the brothers began to argue. Each one believed he had done the most important job.
The King said, "You are all right. Since you cannot all marry her, I will give each of you half a kingdom instead." The brothers agreed that this was a better plan. They lived happily and took great care of their father for the rest of their lives.