There was a woman who had three sons, the eldest of whom was called Chris One Eye, because he had only one eye in the middle of his forehead; the second, Matthew Two Eyes, because he had only two eyes like other people; and the youngest, Tom Three Eyes, because he had three eyes, one of them being also in the middle of his forehead. But because Matthew Two Eyes looked no different from other people, his brothers and mother could not bear him. They said, ''You with your two eyes are no better that anybody else; you don't belong to us.'' They knocked him about and gave him shabby clothes, and food which was left over from their own meals; in short, they vexed him whenever they could.

It happened that Matthew Two Eyes had to go out into the fields to look after the goat; but he was still quite hungry, because his brothers had given him so little to eat. He sat down on a hillock and began to cry, and cried so much that two little streams ran down out of each eye. And as he looked up once in his sorrow, a woman stood near him; who asked, ''Matthew Two Eyes, why do you cry?''

Matthew Two Eyes answered, ''Have I not need to cry? Because I have two eyes, like other people, my brothers and my mother cannot bear me; they push me out of one corner into the other, give me shabby clothes, and nothing to eat but what they leave. Today they have given me so little that I am still quite hungry.''

The wise woman said, ''Matthew Two Eyes, dry your tears, and I will tell you something which will keep you from ever being hungry more. Only say to your goat, 'Little goat, bleat; little table, rise,' and a neatly-laid table will stand before you with the most delicious food on it, so that you can eat as much as you like. And when you are satisfied and do not want the table anymore, only say, 'Little goat, bleat; little table, away,' and it will all disappear before your eyes.'' Them the wise woman went out of sight.

Matthew Two Eyes thought, ''I must try directly if it is true what she has said, for I am much to hungry to wait.'' So he said, ''Little goat, bleat; little table, rise.'' and scarcely had he uttered the words, when there stood before him a little table, covered with a white cloth, on which was laid a plate, knife and fork, and a silver spoon. The most delicious food was there also, and smoking hot, as if just come from the kitchen. Then Matthew Two Eyes said the shortest grace that he knew, ''Lord God, be our guest at all times. Amen,'' began to eat, and found it very good. And when he had enough, he said as the wise woman had taught him, ''Little goat, bleat; little table, away.'' In an instant the little table, and all that stood on it, had disappeared again. ''This is a beautiful, easy way of housekeeping,'' thought Matthew Two Eyes, and was quite happy and merry.

In the evening, when he came back home with his goat, he found a little earthen dish with food, which his brothers had put aside for him, but he did not touch anything - he had no need. On the next day he went out again with his goat, and let the few crusts that were given his remain uneaten. The first time and the second time his brothers took no notice; but when the same thing happened every day, they remarked it, and said, ''All is not right with Matthew Two Eyes; he always leaves his food, and he used formerly to eat up everything that was given to him; he must have found other ways of dining.''

In order to discover the truth, they resolved that Chris One Eye should go with Matthew Two Eyes when he drove the goat into the meadow, and see what he did there, and whether anybody brought him anything to eat and drink. So when Matthew Two Eyes set out again, Chris One Eye came with him and said, ''I will go with you into the field, and see that the goat is taken proper care of, and driven to good pasture.''

But Matthew Two Eyes saw what Chris One Eye had in his mind, and drove the goat into long grass, saying, ''Come, Chris One Eye, we will sit down; I will sing you something.'' Chris One Eye sat down, being tired from the unusual walk and from the heat of the sun, and Matthew Two Eyes kept on singing, ''Are you awake, Chris One Eye? Are you asleep, Chris One Eye?'' Then Chris One Eye shut his one eye, and fell asleep. And when Matthew Two Eyes saw that Chris One Eye was fast asleep, and could not betray anything, he said, ''Little goat, bleat; little table, rise.'' and sat himself at his table, and ate and drank till he was satisfied; then he called out again, ''Little goat, bleat; little table, away,'' and instantly everything disappeared.

Matthew Two Eyes now woke Chris One Eye, and said, ''Chris One Eye, you pretend to watch, and fall asleep over it, and in the meantime the goat could have run all over the world; come, we will go home.'' Then they went home, and Matthew Two Eyes let his little dish again stand untouched; and Chris One Eye could not tell the mother why his brother would not eat, said, as an excuse, ''Oh, I fell asleep out there.''

The next day the mother said to Tom Three Eyes, ''This time you shall go and see if Matthew Two Eyes eats out of doors, and if anyone brings him food and drink, for he must eat and drink secretly.''

Then Tom Three Eyes went to Matthew Two Eyes, and said, ''I will go with you and see whether the goat is taken proper care of, and driven to good pasture.'' But Matthew Two Eyes saw what Tom Three Eyes had in his mind, and drove the goat into the long grass, and said as before, ''We will sit down here, Tom Three Eyes; I will sing you something.'' Tom Three Eyes seated himself, being tired from the walk and the heat of the sun, and Matthew Two Eyes began to the same song again, and sang, ''Are you awake, Tom Three Eyes?'' But instead of singing then as she should, ''Are you awake, Tom Three Eyes?'' he sang, through carelessness, ''Are you asleep, Matthew Two Eyes?'' and went on singing, ''Are you awake, Tom Three Eyes? Are you you asleep, Matthew Two Eyes?'' So the two eyes of Tom Three Eyes fell asleep, but the third did not go asleep, because it was not spoken to by the verse. Tom Three Eyes, to be sure, shut it and made believe to go to sleep, but only through slyness; for he winked with it, and could see everything quite well. And when Matthew Two Eyes thought that Tom Three Eyes was fast asleep, he said his little sentence, ''Little goat, bleat; little table, rise,'' ate and drank heartily, and then told the table to go away again, ''Little goat, bleat; little table, away.'' But Tom Three Eyes had seen everything. Then Matthew Two Eyes came to him, woke him and said, ''Ah! Tom Three Eyes, have you been asleep? You keep watch well! Come, we will go home.'' And when they got home, Matthew Two Eyes again did not eat, and Tom Three Eyes said to the mother, ''I know why the proud thing does not eat: when he says to the goat out there, 'Little goat, bleat; little table, rise,' there stands a table before him, which is covered in the very best food, much better than we have here; and when he is satisfied, he says, 'Little goat, bleat; little table, away,' and everything is gone again; I have seen it all exactly. He put two of my eyes to sleep with his little verse, but the one on my forehead luckily remained awake.''

Then the envious mother cried out, ''Shall he be better of than we are?'' fetched a butcher's knife and stuck it into the goat's heart, so it fell down dead.

When Matthew Two Eyes saw that, he went out full of grief, seated himself on a hillock, and wept bitter tears. All at once the wise woman stood near him again, and said, ''Matthew Two Eyes, why do you cry?''

''Shall I not cry?'' answered he. ''The goat who everyday, when I said your little verse, laid the table so beautifully, has been killed by my mother; now I must suffer hunger and thirst again.''

The wise woman said, ''Matthew Two Eyes, I will give you some good advice; beg your brothers to give you the heart of the murdered goat, and bury it in the ground before the house door, and it will turn out lucky for you.'' Then she disappeared, and Matthew Two Eyes went home and said to his brothers, ''Dear brothers, give me some part of my goat; I don't ask for anything good, only give me the heart.''

Then they laughed and said, ''You can have that, if you do not want anything else.'' Matthew Two Eyes took the heart, and buried it quietly in the evening before the house door, after the advice of the wise woman.

Next morning, when the brothers woke, and went to the house door together, there stood a most wonderful splendid tree, with leaves of silver, and fruit of gold hanging between them. Nothing more beautiful or charming could be seen in the wide world. But they did not know how the tree had come there in the night. Matthew Two Eyes alone noticed that it had grown out of the heart of the goat, for it stood just where he had buried it in the ground.

Then the mother said to Chris One Eye, ''Climb up, my child, and gather us some fruit from the tree.''

Chris One Eye climbed up, but when he wanted to seize a golden apple, the branch sprang out of his hand; this happened every time, so that he could not gather a single apple, though he tried as much as he could.

Then the mother said, ''Tom Three Eyes, do you climb up; you can see better about you with your three eyes than Chris One Eye can.''

Chris One Eye scrambled down, and Tom Three eyes climbed up. But Tom Three Eyes was no cleverer, and might look about him as much as he liked, the golden apples always sprang back from his grasp. At last the mother became impatient, and climbed up herself, but could touch the fruit just as little as Chris One Eye or Tom Three Eyes; she always grasped the empty air.

Then Matthew Two Eyes said, ''I will go up myself; perhaps I shall prosper better.''

''You!'' cried the brothers. ''With your two eyes, what can you do?''

But Matthew Two Eyes climbed up and the golden apples did not spring away from him, but dropped themselves into his hand, so that he could gather one after the other, and brought down a whole apron full. His mother took them from him, and instead of his brothers, Chris One Eye and Tom Three Eyes, behaving better to poor Matthew Two Eyes for it, they were only envious because he alone could get the fruit, and behaved still more cruelly to him.

It happened, as they stood together by the tree, one day, that a young knight came by.

''Quick, Matthew Two Eyes,'' cried the two brothers, ''creep under, so that we may not be ashamed of you,'' and threw over poor Matthew Two Eyes, in a great hurry, an empty cask that stood just by the tree, and pushed also beside him the golden apples which he had broken off.

Now, as the knight came nearer, he proved to be the handsome prince Dominic, who stood still, admired the beautiful tree of gold and silver, and said to the two brothers, ''To whom does this beautiful tree belong? He who gives me a branch of it shall have whatever he wishes.''

Then Chris One Eye and Tom Three Eyes answered that the tree was theirs, and they would break off a branch for him. They both of them gave themselves a great deal of trouble, but it was no use, for the branched and fruit sprang back from them every time. Then the knight said, ''It is very wonderful that the tree belongs to you, and yet you have not the power of gathering anything from it.''

They insisted, however, that the tree was their own property. But as they spoke, Matthew Two Eyes rolled a few golden apples from under the cask, so that they ran to the feet of the knight; for Matthew Two Eyes was angry that Chris One Eye and Tom Three Eyes did not tell the truth.

When the knight saw the apples he was astonished, and asked where they came from. Chris One Eye and Tom Three Eyes answered that they had another brother, who might not, however, show himself, because he had only two eyes, like other common people. But the knight desired to see him, and called out, ''Matthew Two Eyes, come out.'' Then Matthew Two Eyes came out of the cask quite comforted, and the knight was astonished at his great beauty, and said, ''You, Matthew Two Eyes, can certainly gather me a branch from the tree?''

''Yes,'' answered Matthew Two eyes, ''I can do that, the tree belongs to me.'' And he climbed up and easily broke off a branch, with it's silver leaves and golden fruit, and handed it to the knight.

Then the knight said, ''Matthew Two Eyes, what shall I give you for it?''

''Oh,'' answered Matthew Two Eyes, ''I suffer hunger and thirst, sorrow and want, from early morning till late evening; if you would take me with you and free me, I should be happy.''

Then the knight lifted Matthew Two Eyes on to his horse, and took him home to his paternal castle; there he gave him beautiful clothes, food and drink as much as he wanted, and because he loved him so much he married him, and the marriage was celebrated with great joy.

Now, when Matthew Two Eyes was taken away by the handsome knight Dominic, the two brothers envied him very much his happiness. ''The wonderful tree remains for us, thought,'' thought they, ''and even though we cannot gather any fruit off it, every one will stand still before it, come to use, and praise it.'' But the next morning the tree had disappeared, and all their hopes with it.

Matthew Two Eyes lived happy a long time. Once two poor men came to him at the castle and begged alms. Then Matthew Two Eyes looked in their faces and recognized his brothers, Chris One Eye and Tom Three Eyes, who had fallen into such poverty that they had to wander about, and seek their bread from door to door. Matthew Two Eyes, however, bade them welcome, and was very good to them, and took care of them; for they both repented from their hearts the evil they had done to their brother in their youth.