There was once a man who had three sons, and nothing else in the
world but the house in which he lived. Now each of the sons wished
to have the house after his father's death, but the father loved them
all alike, and did not know what to do, he did not wish to sell the
house, because it had belonged to his forefathers, else he might have
divided the money amongst them. At last he conceived a plan, and he
said to his sons, "Go into the world, and try each of you to learn a
trade, and, when you all come back, he who makes the best masterpiece
shall have the house."