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On hearing this, the elder brother was astonished the more, knowing that, after their father's death, when the property was divided between them, he had cheated his brother, in keeping the best reindeer for himself, and had given the worst to him.

After they had discussed their meal of burdiuk, the elder brother suggested that, by way of diversion, the reindeer of each should run a race, to which proposal the other readily acceded. The best reindeer that the elder brother possessed were then brought from his herd; but when both nartas set off, the reindeer of the younger brother ran almost as swift as the wind, leaving their competitors far behind.

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'From whom did you get such brave and superior beasts?" asked the elder brother, in surprise at this result, and burning with envy.

"Oh, these are but mean animals, when compared to my white reindeer, to which nobody can find equals," replied the other.

"But does their strength equal their swiftness?" inquired the first.

"Shall we go with them on a hunting excursion? If you like, it

might take place in a few days, and we can then

see whether your reindeer are as excellent in hunting, as they are in racing."

The younger brother, without a moment's hesitation, accepted the challenge, and, on the day appointed, arrived with his white reindeer at his brother's house.

The elder brother, as may be imagined, made choice of the best white ones in his herd, that he might not, as on the former occasion, be surpassed. But no sooner had they started, than the younger, borne along with the celerity of the wind, vanished far from his brother's view. In his rapid course he encountered some foxes and a herd of young reindeer (piehski), and no sooner did his team perceive them, than they trampled them beneath their hoofs; so that before the elder brother could come up, the younger had a load of venison in his narta. This appeared so strange to him, that he suspected such extraordinary luck in the chase must be a trick, and that the slain animals had been brought by him from home, and after being secreted in his sledge, were now produced as a proof of skill. While he was ruminating on this idea, a black fox was descried at a distance,

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and both simultaneously started in pursuit of him; but the elder brother was left far behind, while the white reindeer of the younger outran the fox, and, as before, trampled it under their hoofs.

The elder brother acquiring thus an undeniable proof of their superior qualities, tried everything to induce the other to make an exchange; but. the latter would, on no condition, part with them. In the end, however, he was prevailed on to promise him the young ones, should they ever yield any.

After the lapse of three years, the elder brother paid him a visit, and reminded him of his pledge, and in compliance with it, he handed him over the young ones. But the gift turned out most unlucky to the covetous man, as the young reindeer, accustomed only to one master, would not obey their new owner, and turned stubborn and restive; so that the more the latter tried to bring them into subjection, the wilder and more unmanageable they grew. At last, one day when they were put to the narta, they overturned it, and he was thrown out and killed. Then they run away with his

corpse, which unfortunately caught in their head-reins, and dragged it to the threshold of his dwelling, where they came to a stand.

The son of the ill-fated man not being ignorant of the bitter hatred his father had borne to his brother, supposed that the latter hated him with equal intensity, and that the good-understanding which had apparently existed between them, had been, in fact, but a mask; and he now imagined that his father had been slain by the other, who had adopted this method of covering the crime, to avert suspicion from himself. Harbouring these thoughts, he went one day to his uncle's abode with the view of surprising him, and taking his life in retaliation. On coming, however, within a short distance of his uncle's tchoum, he recognized the young reindeer which had caused the mischief, and which were grazing on the pasture-ground in the forest; and covetousness getting, for the moment, the better

of revenge, he resolved in the first place to carry off the animals, and seek his uncle afterwards.

Taking his own reindeer from his sledge, he put-to those of his uncle, and directed his course homewards, flattering himself with the

hope that he would traverse the whole distance in a few moments; but scarcely had he stirred from the spot, when the reindeer, growing wild and unruly, and impatient of control, started on their mad career through the forest, and ran till they had killed him; when they came back to their master's home, dragging his nephew's dead body after them.

In this manner, the reindeer of his old and trusty friend, though purchased at a high price, amply repaid their cost, and twice saved his life.

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