Traditional | Ukraine

The Story of the Unlucky Days

A poor brother outsmarts misfortune, becomes wealthy, and teaches his greedy rich brother a lesson in humility.

The Story of the Unlucky Days
Text Version

Once upon a time, in a small village near the plains, there lived two brothers. One was rich, and the other was poor. One day, the poor brother went to visit his rich brother and sat down at his table. But the rich brother was not kind and said, "How dare you sit at my table? You belong in the fields, scaring the crows!" So the poor brother went to the fields to scare the crows away.

As the crows flew off, one raven returned and said to him, "In this village, you will never find luck or happiness. Go to another village, and things will be better for you." The poor brother listened, went home, and told his wife and children to pack their few belongings. They left the village and started walking to another place. But as they walked, the Unlucky Days followed him closely, saying, "You belong to us, and we will never leave you!"

They reached a river, and the man was very thirsty. He had an idea. He opened his water bag and tricked the Unlucky Days into getting inside. He tied it shut and buried it by the riverbank. Then, he and his family went on to the next village, where they found an empty hut.

One day, the man heard a voice from the mountain calling, "Catch me! Catch me if you can!" Curious, he grabbed a rope and headed up the mountain to investigate. There, he found an old goat with big horns. The man didn’t know it was the Devil in disguise, so he caught the goat with a rope and gently pulled it down the mountain. As soon as he brought the goat to his barn, it disappeared, but gold coins started raining down from the ceiling! The poor man gathered the coins, filling two large chests. He then became a rich man.

With his newfound wealth, the poor brother sent a message to his rich brother, inviting him to visit. The rich brother thought, "Maybe he needs my help because he has nothing to eat," so he baked a lot of pancakes and set off. But as he traveled, he heard more and more about how rich his brother had become. Feeling jealous, he threw the pancakes into a ditch, regretting his earlier thoughts.

When he arrived, his poor brother showed him the two large chests full of gold coins. Envy filled the rich brother’s heart, and he turned green with jealousy. The poor brother, noticing this, wanted to teach him a lesson and said, "I’ve buried even more gold coins by the river in a water bag. You can have it if you like!" The rich brother hurried to the river, dug up the water bag, and opened it with greedy hands. But instead of gold coins, the Unlucky Days jumped out and clung to him, saying, "You are ours now!"

When the rich brother returned home, he found his house had turned to ashes, and all his wealth was gone. From that day on, he lived in his poor brother’s old house, and the Unlucky Days stayed with him forever.

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The Story of the Unlucky Days