Once upon a time there was a girl whose mother had died. Her father married a woman who also had a daughter. She loved her daughter more than the other girl. When the father also died, she began to scold and beat the girl.
But the girl was much more beautiful than her own daughter. This annoyed her so much that she wanted to get rid of the girl. Once, in the middle of the night, she ordered: “Go to the well and get some water!”
The girl set off with the jugs. She walked for a long time through the dark night until she finally came to the well outside the village. There were eleven men sitting under a tree. They were tall and short, young and old. These were the eleven months. The smallest was Sechko, February. Grandmother March stood next to him.
The girl greeted him kindly.
“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” asked Grandmother March.
“The stepmother sent me to fetch water,” replied the girl.
“You poor child,” said Grandmother March, ”that's not right. But tell me, which month is your favorite?”
“I think all months are equally good and beautiful,” the girl replied.
Grandmother March smiled and said, “Those are good words, and each one is worth its weight in gold.”
The girl filled her jugs, said goodbye to the twelve months, went home and knocked on the door.
The stepmother opened the door and was annoyed that the girl had returned safe and sound and began to scold her: “Where have you been for so long?” and she wanted to hit the girl.
The girl replied, “I was at the well and saw the twelve months,” and a gold coin fell out of her mouth with every word.
Now the wicked woman wanted to know everything. She immediately woke her daughter and ordered her to go to the well too.
Sleepily, the young woman walked the long way to the well. She saw the eleven men and the old woman, but did not recognize them. Grandmother March asked: “Tell me, which month do you like best?”
“Oh,” she sighed, ”I don't like any of the months. They do what they want. Kolosheg, January, and Sechko, February, are the worst. Grandmother March is the worst. Sometimes she sends warm, then cold weather and has a thousand moods.”
“Those are bad words, poisonous like snakes,” said Grandmother March.
The young woman took the jugs and went home.
Her mother was waiting there and asked: “Have you met the twelve months?”
But as soon as her daughter opened her mouth to answer, poisonous snakes fell out.
The two were chased out of the village. But the kind girl distributed the gold among the poor and the twelve months took care of them - for life.

Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: Wolfgang Eschker, Mazedonische Volksmärchen, Köln 1972, englische Fassung L.  Jaenike  ©Mutabor Märchenstiftung