Forty Brothers and a Sister

The old man had forty sons and one daughter. The daughter was a blind girl who took care of the household. Every morning, she made forty-two beds, cooked a large pot of soup for dinner, and placed forty-two bowls on the table.

The father and sons worked in the fields. On their plot of land, they grew good wheat, each grain of which was the size of a grape. In the middle of the field grew an apple tree, and beneath it, a spring of the freshest, coldest water bubbled up from the ground.

Autumn came. The leaves on the apple tree turned yellow, and the harvest ripened. The old man and his sons threshed the sheaves, gathered the grain, and took it to the barn. Then the sons led the oxen to the plowed field and began to till the land. The old man walked from furrow to furrow, scattering the seeds, which fell into the earth like golden hailstones.

From the heavy labor, the old man became exhausted, fell ill after three days, and took to his bed. The medicinal brews his daughter gave him did not help. Sensing his final hour approaching, the old man called his sons.

"My dear children," he said, "my time has come. Come to me one by one so I may bid each of you farewell."

After the father had said goodbye to all his children, he shared his final wish:

"Live together in harmony, as brothers should. Cultivate our field, for the kindest and sweetest bread will grow there. Now, take a jug and bring me water from the spring beneath the apple tree. I wish to drink, one last time, the water that my ancestors drank."

All forty brothers grabbed their jugs and ran to the spring. However, upon arriving, thirty-nine of the brothers threw their jugs under the apple tree, broke off branches, and began to measure the field.

"Brothers, what are you doing? Why are you measuring the field?" asked the youngest brother.

"We’re going to divide it now!" replied thirty-nine voices.

The brothers measured and measured the land, then began to divide it, and soon quarreled. They shouted loudly, argued, and then began to swing sticks at each other. A fight broke out among them, and all the jugs were shattered.

"What are my sons doing?" asked the old man, hearing the noise.

"They’re fighting over the field," his daughter answered.

"Did they bring me water?"

"No, Father."

The father grew angry and cursed his sons.

"If you are so greedy for land, then turn into moles and dig in it forever!" he exclaimed.

At that very moment, the forty sons turned into forty moles, dug holes in the ground, and disappeared beneath it.

The blind girl buried her father and went to the field to search for her brothers. She called and called, shouting all forty names, but no one answered. She then sat under the apple tree and wept bitterly.

A lizard, scurrying near the spring, heard her and felt sorry for the girl. It climbed onto a stone and said:

"Don’t cry, dear. Your brothers are alive! They are in the underground kingdom."

"How do you know that?" asked the girl.

"The spring told me, for it flows from the depths of the earth."

"How can I find them?"

"At the edge of your field, there is a dried-up well. Sit in the bucket and descend. The spring has no water, but at the bottom lies a stone slab. Beneath it is a staircase. Descend it, and you will reach the underground kingdom."

The blind girl went to the house to fetch a basket, then returned to the apple tree and gathered ripe apples from it. There were exactly forty apples. She placed them in the basket and set off on her long journey. She found the dried-up well, sat in the bucket, descended to the bottom, lifted the stone slab, and began to climb down the staircase. For twenty weeks, she walked, exhausted from fatigue and hunger, but she did not touch the apples—she wanted each brother to receive an apple from their father’s tree.

On the Monday of the twenty-first week, the blind girl finally reached the underground kingdom. There, she met an old woman.

"What are you looking for here?" asked the old woman.

"My brothers," replied the girl.

"Here they are, locked in a cage," the old woman pointed to the forty moles. "I feed them salty earth three times a day, and when I give them water to drink, as soon as they bring the cups to their mouths, the bottoms fall out, and all the water spills. They cannot quench their thirst, for they bear a heavy sin."

"Please, let me give them an apple each!" pleaded the girl.

"Very well, give it to them," replied the old woman.

The girl approached the cage, and the moles whimpered pitifully. She opened the cage, took out each mole, and gave it an apple. They greedily devoured the fruit. And as soon as the apples were eaten, the moles turned back into people. Their sister wept with joy, hearing their voices again. Only the youngest brother needed just half an apple to turn back into a man, and he offered the other half to his blind sister.

As soon as she took the first bite, her sight was restored.

The joy of the brothers and sister knew no bounds, and they could not stop looking at one another. They set off on their return journey, with the sister leading the way. They walked for twenty weeks, and on the Monday of the twenty-first week, they all emerged from the dried-up well onto their field.

In the meantime, the field had filled with strong grain. The forty brothers took forty sickles and began to harvest together. They gathered the grain, and their sister baked bread. She gave half of it to the poor, so they might remember her father, and baked the other half for her brothers, who now lived together in peace and harmony, as brothers should.

↑ To the top

Forty Brothers and a Sister

More fairy tales