Once upon a time, there were three brothers who divided their inheritance after their father's death. The two older ones were already married, used their inheritance wisely and became very wealthy. The youngest, however, had always let money slip through his fingers, and it wasn't long before he was impoverished. And because he was also lazy, his brothers no longer wanted to help him. So the young man thought: "I'll go out into the world and see if I can find someone who can help me."

He walked for a long time until he came to a mountain. There he saw an old man collecting herbs. The young man greeted him, but the old man continued to work in silence.

Not knowing where to go, the young man followed the old man until they came to a hut in the evening. The old man led him inside, shared his bread with him and silently showed him where he should lie down to sleep that night.

At midnight, the young man woke up because he heard a voice. It seemed to come from the earth and said: "A thousand children were born that night".

The young man then heard the old man reply: "Their fate shall be like this night."

The next morning, the young man followed the old man on his search for herbs. When it got dark, they came to a house. The old man led him inside, shared soup and bread with him and showed him the bed where he was to sleep.

At midnight, however, the same voice was heard calling out how many children had been born and the old man replied again: "Your fate shall be as it was that night."

The next day, too, the young man followed the old man in search of herbs. In the evening they came to a splendid house. Servants entertained them and assigned them a bed. That night, too, a voice was heard and the old man said: "Your fate shall be as it was that night."

The next morning, the old man approached him and said: "You have followed me for three days and three nights, now tell me your story." The young man told everything and then the old man said: "I give you this advice: go home and marry the maid of your brothers, for she was born on a night like last night and a good fate awaits her. You, on the other hand, were born on a night like the first, and your fate is poverty. Marry her and you will be happy and rich. But remember: if anyone asks you, always say: everything belongs to my wife."

The young man thanked him for his advice and made his way home. He asked the brothers to marry the maid and they agreed. They built the young couple a beautiful house and gave them a good field for the wheat seed.

The young man set to work diligently and began to plow the field. Before long, he came across a pot of gold with his plow. Happily, he and his wife bought more fields and soon they could look out over their rich wheat fields. At harvest time, the young man was tying the golden sheaves together with the harvest workers. Suddenly, an old man came by and asked: "Who owns the house and the large wheat fields?"

"It's all mine!" the young man shouted proudly.

No sooner had he said the words than a wind came up, whirled the sheaves around and threatened to cover the roof of the house. The young man quickly shouted: "It all belongs to Habibti, my wife!"

Then the wind died down. The old man smiled and walked away. But the young man never forgot that he owed his good fortune to his wife - and to the wise old man's advice. 

Fassung D. Jaenike, aus: J. Schütz, Jugoslawische Märchen, Frankfurt a. M. 1972, englische Fassung Lysander Jaenike ©Mutabor Märchenstiftung,