Five Brothers and a Sister

Whether it happened or not—there were five brothers, and they had one sister. They loved her more than their own lives. They married her off, but soon she was widowed and left alone with two sons.

The brothers brought their widowed sister and her sons into their home, caring for her so tenderly that she barely felt her widowhood. She lacked for nothing—she had plenty of clothes and food.

But their wives grew envious, angered by how much their husbands loved and pampered their sister. Once envy took root in their hearts, they could think of nothing but how to sow discord between the brothers and their sister. They whispered one accusation after another against the widow, but no matter what they said, they couldn’t turn the brothers against her—they loved her, and that was that.

One day, the wives took the brothers’ favorite buffalo, the one they cherished most, led it into the barn, and slaughtered it. They came out and told the brothers:

“Look what your beloved sister has done—she slaughtered your favorite buffalo!”

The brothers didn’t even bat an eye.

“If she slaughtered it, let it take all her misfortunes with it.”

The wives were furious that their trick had failed. So they slaughtered the brothers’ favorite horse and blamed the sister again:

“Look what your beloved sister has done—she slaughtered your favorite horse!”

The brothers still didn’t fall for the deception.

“So she slaughtered it. As long as we’re alive and well, what does it matter? We can always acquire more livestock.”

The wives were now beside themselves with rage. They plotted an unspeakable evil, determined to rid themselves of the hated widow. One night, when everyone was asleep, the eldest wife got up, crept to her son’s bed, and slit the sleeping child’s throat. Then she took the bloodied knife and secretly hid it in the widow’s pocket.

Morning came. Everyone was busy with their tasks, while the dead child lay under a blanket, as if still asleep.

When the sun rose, the eldest brother went into the room for something and saw the child lying there. He said to his wife:

“Check on the child—he’s been sleeping for a long time; maybe he’s sick.”

But his wife replied:

“No, he’s just sleeping soundly. Let him sleep; it’s a shame to wake him.”

They waited a little longer, but the boy still didn’t wake up. They pulled back the blanket and saw the child lying there with his throat slit.

The mother screamed and collapsed as if fainting. They rushed to revive her. When she came to, she wailed and lamented, tearing her hair and beating her chest.

They began searching for the killer.

The mother said:

“Search everyone. Whoever has a bloodied knife is the murderer.”

The widow was there too. She wept and grieved for her nephew, unaware of the calamity that awaited her.

“Search us, dear ones. Perhaps we’ll find the killer,” the poor woman said.

They searched everyone, but no one had a knife. Then they searched the widow and found the bloodied knife in her pocket.

The poor woman’s heart sank. She wept and swore her innocence, but who would believe her?

The eldest wife screamed and lashed out at her husband:

“Now do you see, you blind fool, what kind of sister you have? You idolized her, refused to believe anything against her, forgave her everything. She slaughtered your buffalo, killed your horse, and now she’s murdered your son! Tear your hair and scream all you want—it won’t help your grief!”

The brothers were enraged. They blinded their sister and drove the poor, sightless woman away. They brought her to the bank of a river, far from home, and abandoned her there with her children.

The blind woman sat by the river, weeping and lamenting, hugging her orphaned children. They had no food and no shelter.

What could they do? The children fashioned small fishing rods and began to fish.

When a fish bit, they would catch it, cook it over a fire, and eat it. That’s how they survived. But they had no salt, so the children said to their mother:

“Mother, there are shepherds grazing their sheep over there. Let’s go ask them for some salt.”

Their mother let them go, and the children ran off, got some salt, and brought it back.

The mother said:

“Give it to me, children. Let me see if it’s really salt or something else.”

They handed it to her, but she couldn’t see. She tasted it—it was indeed salt.

She said:

“Yes, children, it’s salt. Sprinkle it on the fish and cook it.”

One day, while the children were fishing, they caught a big fish. The boys were delighted:

“This one will feed all three of us,” they said.

But as they were about to gut it, the fish spoke:

“Let me go, and I’ll repay your kindness.”

The children were astonished and frightened. They ran to their mother and said:

“Mother, we caught a big fish, and it spoke like a human! It asked us to let it go and promised to repay us with kindness. What should we do? Should we release it or cook it?”

The mother was surprised and said:

“Let it go, children.”

The children carried the fish to the water and released it. The fish said:

“Wait here, where you released me. I’ll return soon.”

The children waited.

After a short while, the fish reappeared, swam to the shore, and tossed two eyeballs onto the bank.

“Take these,” it said. “Place them in your mother’s eye sockets, and she will see again.”

The fish flicked its tail and swam away.

The children took the eyeballs, brought them to their mother, and placed them in her eye sockets. Her sight was restored.

She rejoiced, hugging and kissing her children.

They settled by the river, built a small house, and lived there.

The sons grew up, worked hard, and eventually acquired a pair of oxen. They began plowing and sowing, and their harvest was so abundant that they not only had enough for themselves but also had surplus to sell. They bought what they needed and lived without want.

Meanwhile, back in their homeland, where the widow’s brothers lived, the crops had failed. Everyone was starving. The brothers decided to travel to buy grain.

They heard that in a certain place, there were people with plenty of grain for sale. The eldest brother took money and set off to buy grain.

He arrived at his sister’s house, but how could he recognize her? He wouldn’t have believed she and her orphaned children were still alive.

But the sister recognized her brother. Her heart raced.

He bought the grain he needed, and they measured it out for him. As they were loading it, the mother called her eldest son, gave him a ring, and said:

“This is your uncle, my son. Take this ring and secretly drop it into his boot.”

The boy took the ring and discreetly slipped it into his uncle’s boot.

Once the grain was loaded onto the cart, the brother prepared to leave. The mother raised an alarm, sending her sons after him.

“Stop the cart!” she cried. “My ring is missing—he must have stolen it!”

The brother swore by heaven and earth: “I didn’t take anything! I’ve never seen your ring!”

But they didn’t believe him.

“You’ll have to come back. We don’t take your word for it. Let’s see if the ring is on you.”

What could he do? He returned to the house, where his sister greeted him as a stranger and scolded him:

“What is this? We welcomed you with honor, gave you grain, and you repay us by stealing my ring? Is this fair?”

The poor man swore: “By God, by my word, I’ve never stolen anything in my life!”

“No, this won’t do. Search him—see if he has my ring,” the mother ordered.

They searched him, and the missing ring fell out of his boot. He turned pale, but what could he do?

“God knows I’m innocent,” he said. “But I’m in your hands now—do with me as you will.”

“Exactly, brother,” his sister said. “Just as you didn’t steal this ring, though it was found on you, I didn’t kill your child. It was your wife who killed him and planted the bloodied knife on me.”

They embraced and kissed. The sister told her brother everything—how she regained her sight, how she lived alone with her children.

The brother rejoiced. He took his sister and nephews home, tied his wife to a horse’s tail, and killed her.

Famine there, feast here,
Chaff there, flour here.

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Five Brothers and a Sister

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