Long ago, in an ancient land, lived two brothers who owned a farm. Both of the boys were strong, handsome and hard working, but the younger, Heimsk, had a twinge of jealousy within him. Not jealousy for his brother, Vitur, but for the town across the river. While they lived life with no responsibilities, fancy clothes, and a drink in each hand, he had to work and slave for no reason.
“Why must we work and slave here while they dance and sing every night? Why can’t we ever join them?” he asked his older brother.
“You know why,” was his reply. But Heimsk really didn’t know. As long as he could remember, he was told not to go into town, but never told why. He knew that some family had gone to the town never came back, but he always figured that they were too happy to come back to work.
Late that night, Heimsk could hear laughing and singing coming from the town. He was walking out the door, when he found Vitur sitting on a broken down chair staring out the window towards the town.
“Are you going now?” the older one asked, though he already knew the answer.
“I promise, brother, if you let me go to town to have fun, I will work a hundred times harder tomorrow.” Vitur gave a warning once more to not go to town, but he left the choice to Heimsk. The next morning, Vitur woke up and went straight to work. He heard the laughing and singing, he wiped a tear from his eye, and knew the town found another victim for the savage beast that it held prisoner.