At the edge of a village near the steppe lived two brothers, one rich and the other poor. One day, the poor brother came to the rich brother’s house and sat at his table. But the rich brother drove him away, saying, “How dare you sit at my table? Get out! Your place is in the fields, scaring away the crows!”

So the poor brother went to the fields to scare away the crows. The crows flew away when they saw him, but a raven came back and said to him, “Man, you will never find luck or happiness in this village. Go to another village, and you will do well!”

The man went home, gathered his wife and children, packed the few old clothes they had, and headed to the next village with his water-skin on his shoulders. They traveled down the road, but the Unlucky Days clung to him and said, “Why don’t you take us with you? We will never leave you, for you belong to us!”

They followed him until they reached a river. Thirsty, the man went to the water’s edge for a drink. He opened his water-skin, convinced the Unlucky Days to get inside, tied it up again, and buried it on the riverbank. Then he and his family continued on. They traveled until they reached another village, where they found an empty hut at the end—the previous occupants had died of hunger.