The Brothers Who Met Poverty

A Polish Story by Aleksandra-Dokurno

Once upon a time, in a faraway village by a great river, there lived two
brothers named Antek and Jonek.

Jonek was a kind hearted and patient man, always eager to help others, and it
was with gratitude that he took over the running of his parents’ farm once they
had become too old to care for the animals. Jonek was a successful farmer
and soon married a beautiful woman who was as gentle and hardworking as
he.

Antek helped his brother at the beginning, but he soon tired of farming and
moved on from one job to another, first becoming a carpenter’s apprentice,
then a baker’s assistant, and then a blacksmith’s assistant. Being a lazy man,
Antek was unable to stay in any one job and would always move on when the
work became too hard or tiresome. Finally he settled down and married the
daughter of a very rich widow and lived a comfortable and luxurious life which
required very little work.

Jonek, despite being a diligent and compassionate man, had no such luck. He
toiled in the fields but his crops did not yield very much come harvest time.
The wheat that did grow was soon beaten down by angry storms and
merciless winds, and his cattle were plagued by disease and hunger.

His wife fell ill, and just as she began to recover, four of his children were
struck down by yellow fever.

When he finally ran out of money, Jonek was forced to pay a visit to his
heartless brother.

‘Antek, lend me some money,’ pleaded Jonek. ‘My beloved children are ill, my
horse is dying, and my ox is lame. I cannot work, and we are so hungry.’

‘Alright, but you must pay me back what you owe and more,’ replied Antek
with a smug grin on his face.
Jonek was saddened by his brother’s lack of goodwill, but he had no choice
but to borrow the money despite such unreasonable demands.

Jonek borrowed and borrowed from his brother, and Antek let this happen,
believing that one day he would be able to take over the family farm and reap
the rewards.

It was not too long before the mean brother got his wish. Jonek fell behind in
his payments and was unable to continue the upkeep of the farm. Eventually
he was forced to search for a new home.

Antek was a very mean fellow and began to move all of his possessions into
the farm before Jonek and his family had even had a chance to move out.

Despite his terrible run of bad luck, Jonek remained positive. He told his wife:
‘There is a small house at the very edge of the village where a shepherd once
lived. We can just about manage to live in such a place.’

Although he was determined to remain optimistic, Jonek wept as he bid

farewell to his childhood home. He left the farm with his wife and seven
children. They carried their humble possessions on their backs and made their
way towards their new home. Antek was so mean that he even refused to lend
them his cart for the journey.

Jonek sold his remaining cattle for less than half what they were worth and
tried his best to settle into the little house on the edge of the village.

His wife and children tended a small vegetable patch in the modest garden,
while Jonek took on various odd jobs around the village. The family spent
many years living an impoverished life, all the time wary of the wolves who
roamed in the forest, all the time hungry for food or in need of extra money to
buy clothes or medicines.

During those hard years, Antek, the mean hearted brother, became the
wealthiest man in the county, but never once did he offer to help his poor
brother.

One day, as Antek was hosting a lavish wedding for his eldest daughter,
Jonek decided to visit the church to pray for help. In the church he saw his
brother and his family – all sitting in the front row, all dressed in extravagant
silks and furs and smooth leather boots, while poor Jonek remained at the
back of the church: a cold and hungry figure hiding in the shadows.

Once the ceremony had come to an end, Jonek followed the wedding
procession towards his old family home. He stayed in the background where
he would not be seen, tears filling his eyes, overcome with grief at all that he
had lost. When he reached the farmhouse, he stood hunched in the doorway
and pleaded with his brother. ‘Brother,’ he whispered, ‘God be with you. I am
famished. My wife and children are starving. Take a moment from your
festivities to help us, please.’

Upon seeing his poor brother, Antek growled: ‘I do not help idle creatures.’
And with that he grabbed a bone with barely a few scraps of meat on it and
thrust the feeble offering into his brother’s hands.

Jonek was overcome with despair and anger at how his own brother could
treat him so callously. He took the bone and ran from the farm into the cold,
dark night.

It was not long before Jonek found himself on the bank of the river. A strange
voice inside his head whispered: ‘Why must you suffer so? Jump in, jump in.
The water is deep. You can finish this.’

But Jonek knew that he could not leave his family to fend for themselves. He
slumped down onto the damp grass and began to gnaw on the scraps of meat
still left on the bone his brother had given him.

Suddenly, Jonek felt a cold hand on his shoulder, then a quiet voice said:
‘Give some meat to me. Give some to me too.’

The poor farmer slowly turned around and took in the strange sight that stood
before him: a tall creature, thin and bony with skin almost translucent in the
moonlight. The creature was very pale with dark, sunken eyes. It had red lips
that seemed to glow in the darkness, and it wore upon its shoulders a cloak
made from spider weds. Atop its head there sat a wreath made from dried
ferns. This was a truly ghostly apparition, but Jonek was not afraid.
‘What do you want me to give you?’ asked the poor farmer. ‘You see for
yourself that this bone is almost stripped bare of all meat.’

‘You just give me the final scraps,’ whispered the creature. ‘Let me lick the
juices clean from the bone. I am Poverty who has been following you for many
years. We share everything you and I.’

Jonek jumped to his feet and cried out: ‘You pest! You nuisance! It is your
fault that my family and I are suffering from hunger and cold. It is you who
has brought on this wretchedness and misery that plagues my life! I will get rid
of you once and for all!’

But Poverty did not move, did not seem disturbed by the poor man’s outburst.
She simply looked at him and asked: ‘What will you do to me when no man
can hurt me nor kill me? I am an apparition and cannot be harmed. Give me
the bone and I will leave you and your family in peace for one whole day.’

Jonek was very hungry, but he could not resist the offer of one whole day of
peace; one whole day without Poverty preying on his family.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and surrendered the bone to the strange
creature.

Poverty snatched the bone from Jonek’s shaking hand and began eagerly
gnawing every last scrap of meat. Seeing a small hole at the rounded end of
the bone, she placed a skeletal hand inside, then another; then, like a ghostly
snake, she slid inside the bone so that she could better suck at the juicy
marrow hidden in the hollow.