Two brothers and a city

Two Brothers and a City by Chris Smith, with illustrations by Aurélia Fronty

A story from Jerusalem

Once upon a time, the wise King Solomon reigned over the city of Jerusalem. One day, two brothers came before the king. Their father had recently died, and they had set off scrambling for the land left behind as an inheritance. Not being able to understand each other, the two brothers wanted the great Solomon to advise them. The wise king listened to them argue for a while. The enraged brothers shouted at each other louder and louder until the king finally raised his hand in silence. "I'm going to tell you a story," he said, "a story from a long, long time ago, before the city was here, before any temple stood in these lands." And this is the story that Solomon told them...

A long time ago, the valley of a water meandered through the land bordered by hills to the east and the sea to the west, and on the high banks of the river swayed on either side olive and almond groves. At the end of the valley, where the bed wound its way up a stony hill, were two small villages, each a cluster of white stone huts and animal pens. In the meadow between the two villages, the land, only good, rich and fat, was worked by two brothers. The eldest lived in the meadow village above the field they shared, and the youngest lived in the valley village below the field. Between the villages there were two paths, one that went over the hill, and another that took it through the valley, crossing the land of the two brothers.
(Translation: Lavinia Braniște)

Age group: 3–9 years
26 × 24 cm/ hardcover book/ 32 pages.
ISBN: 978-606-8544-31-1/ Year of publication: 2016