The Gold-measurers of Lofer

In Lofer, a hamlet on the Tyrolian frontier towards Salzburg, lived a

rich peasant who on his death left behind him three daughters, of whom

the youngest was totally blind. The mother was long since dead, and so,

after the demise of their father, the three orphans set about dividing

the money and property which he had left to them. They found so large

a treasure in the old man’s coffers that they were obliged to divide

it by means of a sieve, by which the two eldest girls shamefully took

advantage of the infirmity of their poor sister to cheat her of her

share. Each time the blind sister’s turn came round they reversed the

sieve and covered only the bottom with money, so that the poor deluded

girl in placing her hand upon it should be convinced that she received

her right share.

In this way, of course, she never got even a hundredth part of what was

her due, and after the division was finished the avaricious sisters

hid their unjustly gained wealth in a secret hole in a rock on the

mountain. But the All-seeing Eye of Heaven remains ever open, and on

the death of the two sisters they were condemned to lie in the form

of black ferocious dogs in the cavern and to guard their hidden and

ill-gotten treasure. There they are chained until their unholy wealth

is exhausted by those who succeed in approaching it and take of it only

so much as they really want; for all who attempt to carry off more

are immediately seized upon by the infuriated guardians and torn into

atoms. But as there are few in the world who are contented with real

necessities, the treacherous sisters will doubtless be compelled to sit

over their unjustly-gained wealth for many ages to come.