Once upon a time, in a faraway village by a great river, there lived two brothers named Antek and Jonek.
Jonek was a kind hearted and patient man, always eager to help others, and it was with gratitude that he took over the running of his parents' farm once they had become too old to care for the animals. Jonek was a successful farmer and soon married a beautiful woman who was as gentle and hardworking as he.
Antek helped his brother at the beginning, but he soon tired of farming and moved on from one job to another, first becoming a carpenter's apprentice, then a baker's assistant, and then a blacksmith's assistant. Being a lazy man, Antek was unable to stay in any one job and would always move on when the work became too hard or tiresome. Finally he settled down and married the daughter of a very rich widow and lived a comfortable and luxurious life which required very little work.
Jonek, despite being a diligent and compassionate man, had no such luck. He toiled in the fields but his crops did not yield very much come harvest time. The wheat that did grow was soon beaten down by angry storms and merciless winds, and his cattle were plagued by disease and hunger.
His wife fell ill, and just as she began to recover, four of his children were struck down by yellow fever.
When he finally ran out of money, Jonek was forced to pay a visit to his heartless brother.
'Antek, lend me some money,' pleaded Jonek. 'My beloved children are ill, my horse is dying, and my ox is lame. I cannot work, and we are so hungry.'
'Alright, but you must pay me back what you owe and more,' replied Antek with a smug grin on his face.
Jonek was saddened by his brother's lack of goodwill, but he had no choice but to borrow the money despite such unreasonable demands.
Jonek borrowed and borrowed from his brother, and Antek let this happen, believing that one day he would be able to take over the family farm and reap the rewards.
It was not too long before the mean brother got his wish. Jonek fell behind in his payments and was unable to continue the upkeep of the farm. Eventually he was forced to search for a new home.
Antek was a very mean fellow and began to move all of his possessions into the farm before Jonek and his family had even had a chance to move out.
Despite his terrible run of bad luck, Jonek remained positive. He told his wife: 'There is a small house at the very edge of the village where a shepherd once lived. We can just about manage to live in such a place.'
Although he was determined to remain optimistic, Jonek wept as he bid farewell to his childhood home. He left the farm with his wife and seven children. They carried their humble possessions on their backs and made their way towards their new home. Antek was so mean that he even refused to lend them his cart for the journey.
Jonek sold his remaining cattle for less than half what they were worth and tried his best to settle into the little house on the edge of the village.
His wife and children tended a small vegetable patch in the modest garden, while Jonek took on various odd jobs around the village. The family spent many years living an impoverished life, all the time wary of the wolves who roamed in the forest, all the time hungry for food or in need of extra money to buy clothes or medicines.
During those hard years, Antek, the mean hearted brother, became the wealthiest man in the county, but never once did he offer to help his poor brother.
One day, as Antek was hosting a lavish wedding for his eldest daughter, Jonek decided to visit the church to pray for help. In the church he saw his brother and his family - all sitting in the front row, all dressed in extravagant silks and furs and smooth leather boots, while poor Jonek remained at the back of the church: a cold and hungry figure hiding in the shadows.
Once the ceremony had come to an end, Jonek followed the wedding procession towards his old family home. He stayed in the background where he would not be seen, tears filling his eyes, overcome with grief at all that he had lost. When he reached the farmhouse, he stood hunched in the doorway and pleaded with his brother. 'Brother,' he whispered, 'God be with you. I am famished. My wife and children are starving. Take a moment from your festivities to help us, please.'
Upon seeing his poor brother, Antek growled: 'I do not help idle creatures.' And with that he grabbed a bone with barely a few scraps of meat on it and thrust the feeble offering into his brother's hands.
Jonek was overcome with despair and anger at how his own brother could treat him so callously. He took the bone and ran from the farm into the cold, dark night.
It was not long before Jonek found himself on the bank of the river. A strange voice inside his head whispered: 'Why must you suffer so? Jump in, jump in. The water is deep. You can finish this.'
But Jonek knew that he could not leave his family to fend for themselves. He slumped down onto the damp grass and began to gnaw on the scraps of meat still left on the bone his brother had given him.
Suddenly, Jonek felt a cold hand on his shoulder, then a quiet voice said: 'Give some meat to me. Give some to me too.'
The poor farmer slowly turned around and took in the strange sight that stood before him: a tall creature, thin and bony with skin almost translucent in the moonlight. The creature was very pale with dark, sunken eyes. It had red lips that seemed to glow in the darkness, and it wore upon its shoulders a cloak made from spider weds. Atop its head there sat a wreath made from dried ferns. This was a truly ghostly apparition, but Jonek was not afraid.
'What do you want me to give you?' asked the poor farmer. 'You see for yourself that this bone is almost stripped bare of all meat.'
'You just give me the final scraps,' whispered the creature. 'Let me lick the juices clean from the bone. I am Poverty who has been following you for many years. We share everything you and I.'
Jonek jumped to his feet and cried out: 'You pest! You nuisance! It is your fault that my family and I are suffering from hunger and cold. It is you who has brought on this wretchedness and misery that plagues my life! I will get rid of you once and for all!'
But Poverty did not move, did not seem disturbed by the poor man's outburst. She simply looked at him and asked: 'What will you do to me when no man can hurt me nor kill me? I am an apparition and cannot be harmed. Give me the bone and I will leave you and your family in peace for one whole day.'
Jonek was very hungry, but he could not resist the offer of one whole day of peace; one whole day without Poverty preying on his family.
He wiped the tears from his eyes and surrendered the bone to the strange creature.
Poverty snatched the bone from Jonek's shaking hand and began eagerly gnawing every last scrap of meat. Seeing a small hole at the rounded end of the bone, she placed a skeletal hand inside, then another; then, like a ghostly snake, she slid inside the bone so that she could better suck at the juicy marrow hidden in the hollow.
