In a quiet Bulgarian village, long ago, there lived an old man blessed with forty sons and a single blind daughter. Though sightless, the daughter was the heart of the home, diligent, gentle, and kind. Each morning, before the roosters crowed, she would prepare the household for the day. She made forty-two beds, stirred a large pot of soup, and placed forty-two bowls neatly upon the long wooden table.
While the daughter tended to the home, her father and sons laboured from dawn till dusk in their fertile fields, where golden wheat grew tall and proud, each grain as large as a grape. In the middle of the field stood a majestic apple tree, its branches heavy with fruit, and beneath it bubbled a spring of the freshest, clearest water in all the land.
When autumn came, the family rejoiced. The fields shimmered with ripened grain, and the apple tree’s leaves glowed like molten gold. The old man and his sons worked tirelessly, threshing, binding, and carrying the harvest to the barn. Then, as winter approached, they took their oxen to plough the land once more. The old man walked between the furrows, sowing seeds that glittered in the sunlight like drops of gold.
But years of hard labour had weakened him. Soon after, the father fell gravely ill. For three long days he lay upon his bed, and though his daughter brewed every healing herb she knew, his strength ebbed away. Feeling death draw near, the old man called his children to his side.
“My dear children,” he said weakly, “my time has come. Come to me, one by one, so that I may bid you farewell.”
Each of the forty sons came forward, weeping, and the daughter knelt by his side, holding his hand. The old man spoke once more:
“Live together in peace, as true brothers should. Care for our field, for from it grows the sweetest bread on earth. And before I go, bring me one last drink, the pure water from the spring beneath the apple tree. I wish to taste it once more, as my fathers did before me.”
Immediately, the forty brothers seized their jugs and hurried to the spring. Yet as they neared the apple tree, greed and envy crept into their hearts. Thirty-nine of the brothers threw their jugs aside and began to measure the land, shouting to one another.
“Why wait until Father is gone?” they said. “Let us divide the field now, each to his own share!”
Only the youngest brother protested. “Brothers, what are you doing? Our father is dying he asked for water, not quarrels!”
But they ignored him. Soon, anger flared; they shouted, argued, and raised their sticks. In the struggle, the jugs shattered into pieces, and the ground echoed with the noise of their fight.
Back in the hut, the old man stirred. “What is that sound, my daughter?”
“They are fighting, Father over the field.”
“Have they brought me water?”
“No, Father,” she whispered.
A shadow crossed the old man’s face. Lifting his hand with the last of his strength, he cried, “If you are so greedy for land, then turn into moles, and dig in it forever!”
And in that moment, a great silence fell. The ground trembled, and the forty sons vanished, transformed into moles, who burrowed deep into the earth, doomed to dig forever in the soil they had coveted.
The blind girl buried her father beneath the apple tree and mourned deeply. Then she went to the field and called each of her brothers by name, all forty of them, but not a single voice answered. She sank beneath the apple tree and wept bitterly.
From a nearby stone, a lizard scurried forth. Seeing her sorrow, it climbed up and spoke gently, “Do not cry, kind girl. Your brothers are alive’, they dwell now in the underground kingdom.”
“How do you know this?” she asked.
“The spring told me,” said the lizard. “It flows from the depths of the earth. If you wish to find them, go to the dried-up well at the edge of your field. Sit in the bucket, descend to the bottom, and lift the stone slab there. Beneath it lies a staircase that leads to your brothers.”
The girl thanked the lizard and went to gather forty ripe apples from the tree, one for each brother. Placing them in a basket, she found the old well, sat in the bucket, and slowly descended. At the bottom, she lifted the stone slab and began her long journey underground.
For twenty weeks she walked, through damp passages and endless shadows, weary and hungry, yet she never touched the apples. She meant for each of her brothers to have one from their father’s tree.
At last, on the Monday of the twenty-first week, she reached the underground kingdom, where an old woman met her.
“What brings you here, child?” the woman asked.
“I seek my brothers,” she replied softly.
The old woman pointed to a cage filled with forty moles. “There they are. I feed them salty earth three times a day, and when I offer them water, the bottoms of their cups fall out, they can never drink. Such is the punishment of their sin.”
“Please,” begged the girl, “let me give them an apple each.”
The woman nodded. “Do so.”
The blind girl opened the cage and placed an apple into each mole’s tiny paws. One by one, they ate, and as the fruit touched their lips, their forms began to change. In moments, they stood before her again as men, her forty brothers, weeping with joy and shame.
Only the youngest needed half an apple. He offered the other half to his sister, and when she took a bite, her sight was restored.
The siblings embraced, tears of joy streaming down their faces. Together, they began the long climb upward, walking twenty weeks until they emerged once more into the sunlight.
The field above had grown tall with grain. The brothers took forty sickles and worked side by side, harvesting the wheat. The sister baked bread, half for the poor, in memory of their father, and half for her brothers, who now lived together in peace, as family should.
Moral Lesson
Greed divides families, but repentance and love can restore even the deepest wounds. Unity and humility bring the truest form of wealth.
Knowledge Check
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Who were the main characters in “The Forty Brothers and Their Blind Sister”?
The story features an old man, his forty sons, and his blind daughter from a Bulgarian folktale. -
What caused the brothers’ transformation into moles?
Their greed and quarrel over their father’s land led to his curse. -
What symbolizes purity and redemption in the story?
The apples from the family tree, which restored humanity and vision. -
How did the blind sister find her brothers?
A lizard guided her to the dried-up well leading to the underground kingdom. -
What does the underground kingdom represent?
The spiritual consequence of sin, separation from the light of family and harmony. -
What cultural lesson does the Bulgarian folktale teach?
It emphasizes unity, respect for elders, and the dangers of greed within families.
Source: Adapted from the Bulgarian folktale “Forty Brothers and a Sister”, collected on Detskie-Skazki.com (English translation).
Cultural Origin: Bulgaria (Bulgarian folklore)
