The Unlucky Days in Bain’s Ruthenian Tale

Overview

The Unlucky Days are a speaking collective encountered when a poor man leaves the village where his rich brother has humiliated him. A raven among the field’s crows advises the poor brother to seek another settlement, because neither luck nor happiness awaits him at home. He gathers his wife, children and few possessions. The Unlucky Days attach themselves behind him on the road and insist that they belong to him and will never leave. Their pursuit gives the family’s poverty a mobile, articulate form.

At a river the traveller opens his water-skin as though preparing for a drink, persuades the Unlucky Days to enter and ties it shut. He buries the closed container beside the bank and continues with his family. They settle in an empty hut whose previous occupants died of hunger. His later wealth comes through a separate encounter: he catches a horned old goat, identified by the narrator as the Devil, and brings it to his barn. The goat disappears and money falls through the ceiling. The imprisoned Unlucky Days do not themselves grant this treasure.

The newly prosperous man invites his brother to visit. Envy replaces the visitor’s initial contempt when he sees the two coffers of money. The host tells him that more money lies buried in a water-skin beside the river and that he may take it. His brother digs up the container and opens it eagerly. The Unlucky Days spring out and claim the opener as their own. He returns to find his wealth destroyed and his house reduced to ashes. The ending places him in his brother’s former dwelling, with the Unlucky Days as permanent companions.

The narrative does not count these beings or describe faces, bodies, clothing or animal forms. Clinging, speech, entering the container and emerging from it are their stated actions. The raven’s advice and the goat-Devil’s money are separate episodes, not additional shapes attributed to them. Their transfer depends on the water-skin deception; this selected witness does not name a universal ritual for removing misfortune.

Origins & earliest records

Bain’s selected English translation of narratives he labels Ruthenian, from the Kulish, Rudchenko and Dragomanov collections. The introduction supplies a broad historical language geography; the individual tale has no named teller or collection locality. The 1916 Harrap witness is a historical printed translation, not a recovered oral performance. Underlying original-language editions were not independently read.

Records & interpretation

Complete located tale in Bain’s 1916 English edition, printed pp.261–263; introduction and full footnote list inspected. Digital transcription reused from preserved source, locally reinspected 23 October; no new original PDF attempt.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales

   R. Nisbet Bain, selector, editor and translator · 1916

   Bain’s selected English translation of narratives he labels Ruthenian, from the Kulish, Rudchenko and Dragomanov collections. The introduction supplies a broad historical language geography; the individual tale has no named teller or collection locality. The 1916 Harrap witness is a historical printed translation, not a recovered oral performance. Underlying original-language editions were not independently read.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical translated primary narrative; preserved Gutenberg transcriptionBain 1916 — complete selected narrative, pp.261–263Research access: 2026-10-23

Image credits

AI-generated narrative scene illustrating confinement of the Unlucky Days in a water-skin. The beings are unseen; their appearance is not described in the source.

AI-generated narrative scene illustrating confinement of the Unlucky Days in a water-skin. The beings are unseen; their appearance is not described in the source.