Long ago, there were two brothers who worked together. The elder brother, John, was wise but the younger one, Jack, was stupid. John always took care of his younger brother and kept him out of trouble. They owned a small hotel where passing travellers would often stop to rest and have some food.
One day, John went down to a nearby river to fish, leaving Jack look after the small hotel. Soon, a group of travellers appeared. Instead of being helpful, stupid Jack made them angry. The bad travellers tied him up and left the small hotel, taking him along with them. Poor Jack cried and waited for his brother.
John was coming home with his catch when he saw what had happened far away. Quickly, clever John thought of a plan to save his brother. He climbed up a tree and tied a number of fish to its branches (树枝). Then he moved towards the travellers and pleaded (乞求) with them to free his brother.
"Your brother has said something bad about us. You must pay a price for his mistake." Said the leader of the travellers.
"Sir, if you set my brother free, I will take you to a fish tree," John replied.
The travellers were very surprised to hear of such a tree, but they allowed themselves to be led to the strange tree. The travellers freed Jack and climbed up the tree to catch the fish.
After a few days, the travellers returned to catch more fish. It was then that they realized they had been fooled. The two brothers, of course, had by then, sold off their small hotel and moved to another place.
