There was once a poor man stuck to the land. Every day he tied a broom to his back, took it to town and lived with his wife from one day to the next.
At the end of the city stood Fortune and the Blessing. They were competing to see which was more powerful, which could do more good. Just when they were arguing most vigorously, the poor man arrived with a good broom. Says the Blessing:
- Let us try; here comes a poor broom-maker. If I will, he will bring no more brooms to the fair.
- 'All right,' says Fortune, 'then I'll have a go myself. The one that will make the poor man richer will be the most powerful. You'll see that I win, for the poor man will tie a broom after your gift, but after mine he will carry six oxen of wheat into town, and you will prance after the cart on a steed.
The Blessing calls the poor man and says to him:
- No poor man, you've been carrying a broom long enough. I have pitied your miserable life; I will give you a hundred forints, but I will never see you with a broom again.
The poor man thanked him nicely for the gift. He sold his brooms with great diligence and went home, glad to have so much money, which even his grandfather never had. But he could not find his wife, and because there was no god-given place to lock up the money, he put it in the bran box, and ran into the woods to fetch wood, so that his wife would at least have something to heat water with.
In the meantime, his wife came home. But as she had nothing to make lunch from, she suddenly measured the bran, ran to a neighbouring craftsman and changed the bran for pulse flour. When his master returned home, the pulp was ready. When he was full, he went to the bran box to get the hundred forints. Well, there was neither bran nor money.
- Hey woman, where's the bran?
- "I was changing pulse flour at the mill", said the woman.
- But where did you put the hundred forints?
- "Kend had a hundred forints," the woman snapped, "not even for Kend, but not even for his clan.
The poor man was seized with anger, took out his whip, and sent his wife to the whip.
- Have you lost your mind? - asked the maid, when the hundred forints were demanded - you poured the bran into the chava yourself!
What could be done, they went home without money, and the poor man went out into the woods again, tied a broom to his back and set off for town. Fortune saw him from afar, and so he began to flirt with the Blessing:
- Look, look, Blessing! Where comes the poor man with a broom on his back.
The Blessing was very angry, he went to meet the poor man:
- How dare you wear a broom?
He told me how unlucky he was with the hundred forints.
- 'Well,' says the Blessing, 'I will give you a hundred more, but I will not see you with a broom.
The poor man hurried home with great joy, but this time he could not find his wife at home either. He hid the money in the ash pot in his ashtray. He went out into the woods to fetch wood, while his wife came home from the neighbour's.
There was not a pinch of flour in the house. He got the ash pot, ran to the timar with it, and changed the pulse flour on it. The farmer, when he was well done with the pulp, thought to himself that he would take out the money, and let his wife see a large sum. But there was neither ashes nor money, neither ashes nor ashes.
- Hey, woman, where are the ashes?
- "The ashes?" the woman tongued, "in the belly of the kend.
- What about the hundred forints?
The poor woman could not see the colour of it.
The poor man misses the whip and chases his wife with it until they reach the timar. They ask for the hundred forints back. The tamer got the corholo knife and beat the poor man and his wife out of his house so badly that the village was amazed.
What was there to do? The poor man took out his basket again, went out into the woods, knitted a back broom, and took it to town that very day. Fortune had known him from afar, and now he was even more intrigued by the Blessing.
- You see! Here's the poor man, bring the broom!
The Blessing said:
- I don't give him anything anymore, because I can see he's not a man to live. Do with him as you please.
When the poor man got there, Fortune told him:
- Well, poor man, I'll give you a penny, because I see you're having a hard time earning your daily bread.
The poor man said thank you very much. So he went into town, sold his broom and bought flour, salt and eggs, and with the pence he bought three nuts and set off for home.
On the way, he came across three children, and they were digging each other's eyes out, fighting about something. The poor man asked:
- What are you fighting about, my sons?
- 'Look, my brother,' said one, 'we found this gem together, and now we can't share it. And the shining one was a piece of diamond, which neither the poor man nor the children knew.
'Don't quarrel,' says the poor man, 'give it to me, and I'll give you a nut for it. The children gladly accepted, and the poor man took the treasure home and put it on the beam.
It's getting darker. Suddenly the house is as bright as if ten candles had been lit at once. The poor man rejoiced, thinking to himself that he could now tie his broom at night, not having to think of candles, and thus earn a little more. As he was rejoicing, he heard a cart stop in front of his house. An Armenian merchant has called him in for a pipe of fire, for he has seen no other house in the world. The Armenian saw the shining diamond and knew it at once. He asked the poor man how much he would sell it for, because he needed such a burning tool for all his travels.
- 'Oh, sir, it is a precious commodity,' said the poor man.
- "I will give you a silver twenty for it," said the Armenian.
- 'Oh, sir, it is a precious commodity,' said the poor man, tying himself.
- Well, I'll give you two.
- Not I, my lord, for three crowns; it is worth as much among the brethren.
They shook hands. The Armenian knew what he was buying and was happy to give him three pints of twenty. He immediately weighed the money from the cart and brought it in. The poor man was also happy about the sale because he didn't know what he was selling. He thought he could afford candles and other things.
The next day he bought a fine cattle, bought a plough and a mower, and that autumn he had so much fine wheat threshed that he could not get enough of its beauty. He bought six fine oxen, two horses in front of the cart, and one oxen in the back, and for the St. Martin's Day fair he had so many wagons of wheat brought into the town that the six oxen could hardly stand it. He himself sat on the back of the horse and accompanied the wheat cart with great haste.
Fortune and Blessing were already at the end of town when he arrived. Fortune asks the Blessing:
- Do you know, Blessing, this gentleman?
- "No," replied the Blessing, "I don't remember.
- "But you should know him," says Fortune, "for he is your one and only broom man. I've made him a rich man for a penny.
The Blessing then became ashamed and said:
- You are right; I now see that blessings are not worth much without luck.
(Vilmos Radó: Hungarian Children's and Folk Tales, First Collection - Singer and Wolfner Publishing; Budapest, Andrássy út 10, VI.)
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