Three brothers travelled a winding road,

and reached a river here,

but learned were they in the magical arts,

so they made a bridge appear.

And with a swish of trav'ling cloaks,

the three began to cross,

but a hooded figure blocked their path,

who saw them as a loss.

Usually travellers drowned upon the banks,

and gave Death what he sought,

but Death was cunning, shrewd and cruel,

and so Death hatched a plot.

All three did Death congratulate,

for their skills in the magical trade,

and deemed that each should earn a prize,

as death they could evade!

The first brother, a combative man,

requested a wand that would always win,

so Death crossed to an elder tree,

and fashioned one from a limb.

The second brother, an arrogant man,

desired to take others from Death's rank,

and so Death once more crossed the bridge,

and picked a stone from the riverbank.

The final brother, wisest of three,

worried of what the exchange could provoke,

asked to go forth without Death, who, unwillingly,

handed over his own invisibility cloak.

Then Death allowed the three to pass,

who contemplated with great fascination,

the wondrous gifts that they had received,

before separating: each for his own destination.

The first brother sought out an enemy,

determined to settle their score,

and with the Elder wand as his weapon,

left him dead upon the floor.

Then in the inn he went to boast,

but as he slept, to him unknown,

his wand was stolen, his throat was slit,

and Death took the first brother for his own

The second brother travelled to his house,

where he lived alone,

placed Death's gift in the palm of his hand,

and turned three times the stone

Then at once, appeared before him,

the dead girl he'd once adored

but she was separated, as though by a veil,

her life was not truly restored

Driven mad with hopeless longing,

for the life he had once known,

to truly join her, he killed himself,

and Death took the second brother for his own

The third brother Death could never find,

though he searched for many a year,

for underneath the invisibility cloak,

he need never appear,

It was not until he had grown old,

that he said goodbye to his son and his wife,

then greeted Death as an old friend,

and equals, they departed this life.