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The Three Magic Pumpkins A Ukrainian Folk Tale Once upon a time there were two brothers, Bohdan and Ivanko. They were poor, but they had enough to eat and drink, and they wore clean clothes. When the time came for them to marry, Bohdan married a rich and snobbish maiden; they lived in a stately house. Ivanko married his sweetheart; she was as poor as he but they both loved each other and lived very happily in their little whitewashed cottage. Before they married, the two brothers never quarreled but after their marriages, they became somewhat unfriendly to each other. One day Bohdan told Ivanko: "I do not want to see you in my house!" Ivanko was very sad but refused to take this seriously. Spring came and Ivanko had no seeds to plant in his vegetable garden. He said to his wife, "What shall I do?" "Go to your brother and ask for help," she replied. Ivanko walked to his brother's stately house and knocked at the door, but as soon as Bohdan opened it, Ivanko heard him say, "Go away!" "But I need your help," said Ivanko. "I do not care. I told you never to set foot in my house," replied Bohdan. Ivanko returned home, very sad. "Well?" asked his wife. "Bohdan refused to let me into his house. He refused to hear me." "Don't worry," said Ivanko's wife. She sat next to him, put her arm around his shoulders and softly said, "Who knows how things may turn out!" And they both sat on a bench built alongside their whitewashed cottage, and watched the sunset. Under the roof of their whitewashed cottage, there was a swallows' nest. A gust of wind suddenly sent a baby bird toppling out of the nest. Ivanko picked it up. The baby bird's leg was broken. Ivanko took a little twig and mended the injured leg. Several days later, the leg healed and Ivanko set the bird free. A few days later, the little bird returned and dropped a pumpkin seed at the doorstep of Ivanko's whitewashed cottage. "Look what the swallow brought us!" exclaimed Ivanko to his wife. "Let's go and plant it!" said the wife. And together they planted the seed in their vegetable garden, and every day they watered it with water from their well. . .until one day a shoot appeared. . .and then a vine. . .and then leaves on the vine. . .and the vine grew longer and longer and trailed all over the ground. Then beautiful yellow flowers appeared, beautiful golden yellow flowers. When summer came, three beautiful fruits began to grow. They grew and grew and by the end of the summer they were huge! Then fall arrived and the three pumpkins were three giant, round balls. Ivanko told his wife, "It's time to pick the pumpkins for the winter." "Let's go to bring them in," she replied. They brought each pumpkin into their whitewashed cottage. The pumpkins were so big that they made a special stretcher to carry them. Winter arrived, and they began to cut the first pumpkin. No sooner was it cut open than before their very eyes all kinds of good foods and drinks unfolded on a beautifully embroidered tablecloth. There was enough food for them and for their whole village. When they cut open the second pumpkin, clothing of all kinds fell out. There were enough shirts and dresses for them and for their whole village. When they cut open the third pumpkin, silver and gold and precious stones poured out of the opening. . .and Ivanko and his wife were no longer poor. The whole village rejoiced in Ivanko's good fortune, that is, the whole village except Ivanko's brother, Bohdan. For days, Bohdan wondered how Ivanko had come upon this good fortune. He was so curious that it gave him no peace. Finally he could not help it any longer and he sent his wife to Ivanko's whitewashed cottage and instructed her to find out where and how his brother got his riches. Bohdan's wife knocked at Ivanko's whitewashed cottage door. Ivanko's wife welcomed her with open arms. She did not keep anything back and was very glad to explain how the wind had swept the baby swallow out of its nest, how Ivanko had cared for the injured bird and how the bird had brought them a seed that had produced the three huge magic pumpkins that had brought them their riches.
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