Storytelling for Week 6: The Two Brothers

There once was a small village hidden away in the jungle. Within the village lived a well-known man and his little brother, and the townspeople thought very highly of the older brother. He was the greatest hunter and warrior in the village, and provided food and protection for the entire village. The younger brother was a different story. He was constantly compared to his brother and fell short in the townspeople’s eyes every time.  They never paid any attention to his help if it wasn’t either hunting or fighting. He always cleaned up after the feast and ceremonies, looked after the elderly, and build houses for the widow. The others always overlooked those deeds mostly because they wanted him to be more like the older brother; they only thought highly of hunters or warriors. Even his brother would look down on him.

One day an elder’s chicken got out of its pen. The younger brother immediately went to find it. He followed the tracks deep into the untamed forest for days. He finally found the chicken by a stream only to find that another had killed it. Tired form his journey he fell asleep by the stream only to be awaken by a beautiful women! The women told him the spirits found him to be of a pure heart and wanted to reward him. Anything he grew or killed doubled in quantity. The woman insisted that he take her as his wife, which he did. The younger brother decided not to return to his village and build a home next to the stream where he met his wife.

Years have passed since the younger brother left his village. He had numerous children with his wife and lived a life of abundance and peace. The spirits provided him with plenty of food and the stream never dried up. The younger brother was happy and had a family that cherished and loved him.

One day the younger brother was walking through the forest and ran into his older brother hunting. After catching up, the older brother informed him of the famine that the village. He could see the hunger in his brother’s eyes and could not bear to see him in so much pain. He told his brother to gather the townspeople and come live with him and his new family. He showed him how much food and water he had, which was more than enough for both villages. The older brother thanked him and returned to retrieve the townspeople.

When the older brother brought the townspeople to the younger brother’s village they shouted with rejoice:

“How great is he, the oldest of the two? He led of safely to a place of paradise. Let us build him a statue in his honor next to this stream in!”

Author's Note: This story is adopted from the Vanishing Wife from Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). The original story is about a brother who fleas home and lives on his own. Later on he has a dream about finding a wife. Once he wakes he repeats what happens in his dream and when he returns home he finds a woman (his wife) and her children. The only thing he must do to keep her is to cut the heads off of the fish he catches. The two he left hears about his fortune and are jealous. His brother who mistreats him goes to see if it is true. On the day his brother goes to see him, he does not cut the heads off of the fish and everything he has vanishes right before his brother arrives. He returned to his miserable state he was originally in. I wanted the main character to be more likable and honorable, as well as keep the happiness he found. I wanted to keep his intentions good to. He never helped others for his benefit, always for their benefit. That is why I kept the townspeople ungrateful towards him. The image is from Mongabay.