When the appointed four years were over， the four brothers arrived at the same time at the crossroads， embracedembrace vt.拥抱， 互相拥抱， 包含， 收买， 信奉 and kissed each other， and returned home to their father. “So now，” said he， quite delighted， “the wind has blown you back again to me.” They told him of all that had happened to them， and that each had learnt his own trade. Now they were sitting just in front of the house under a large tree， and the father said， “I will put you all to the test， and see what you can do.” Then he looked up and said to his second son， “Between two branches up at the top of this tree， there is a chaffinchs nest， tell me how many eggs there are in it.” The astronomer took his glass， looked up and said， “There are five.” Then the father said to the eldest， “Fetch the eggs down without disturbing the bird which is sitting hatchinghatch vt.孵， 孵出， 策划， 图谋 them.” The skillful thief climbed up， and took the five eggs from beneath the bird， which never observed what he was doing， and remained quietly sitting where she was， and brought them down to his father. The father took them， and put one of them on each corner of the table， and the fifth in the middle， and said to the huntsman， “With one shot you shall shoot me the five eggs in two， through the middle.” The huntsman aimed， and shot the eggs， all five as the father had desired， and that at one shot. He certainly must have had some of the powder for shooting round corners. “Now its your turn.” said the father to the fourth son， “You shall sew the eggs together again， and the young birds that are inside them as well， and you must do it so that they are not hurt by the shot.” The tailor brought his needle， and sewed them as his father wished. When he had done this the thiefthief n.小偷， 贼 had to climb up the tree again， and carry them to the nest， and put them back again under the bird without her being aware of it. The bird sat her full time， and after a few days the young ones crept out， and they had a red line round their necks where they had been sewn together by the tailor. 四年过去了，哥儿四个如约在同一天相聚在十字路口，相互又是拥抱，又是亲吻，然后一块儿回家去见父亲。“啊，”父亲高兴地说，“上帝保佑，你们终于回到了我的身边！”随后，四弟兄讲了他们的经历，讲了每个人都已学会一门手艺。当时他们坐在房子前面的一棵大树下，父亲便说：“现在我想试你们一试，看你们都有什么本事。”接着，他抬头望望，对二儿子说：“这棵树梢顶的两根枝丫中间，有一个画眉窠，告诉我，窠里有多少只蛋？”星象家掏出望远镜，看了看树上回答：“一共五只。”父亲听了又告诉大儿子：“去把蛋取下来，但不得惊动坐在上边孵蛋的母鸟！”本领高强的小偷爬上树去，从毫不察觉而仍然静静坐着的鸟儿身体底下取走五只蛋，拿下来交给了父亲。父亲接过蛋，在桌子的每个角上放一只，把第五只放在桌子中央，对猎人说：“你要一枪把五只蛋都从中间射成两半！”猎人举起枪射那些蛋，果然如父亲要求的，他虽然只放了一枪，五只蛋却全分开了。他显然有一种弹药，能拐着弯儿击中目标。“现在轮到你啦，”父亲对小儿子说，“你把蛋都缝拢来吧，还有蛋里的那些雏鸟，而且要缝得丝毫看不出被枪打过的样子！”裁缝马上掏出针来，按照父亲的要求缝。他缝好了，小偷又得把蛋摆回树上的窠里，送进母鸟的身体底下并且没有被它发觉。这小家伙把蛋完全孵好了，几天后，雏鸟爬出壳来，在颈子上裁缝缝过的地方都有一圈红印。
