Black Augur’s Gift

Once upon a time there lived a poor countryman called Fraily. He had a large family, a small thatched house, a horse as skinny as himself, and a sandy field that could hardly grow any crops. Behind the field there was a muddy pond, and further beyond there was a huge forest full of wild animals and all sorts of creatures. This was a place where all the augurs lived. There was a Green Augur that frightened the horses of occasional travellers, a Brown one that turned fresh milk sour in the mornings, a Yellow one that put stains on washed linens, but the worst of them all was the Black Augur.

It was a murky autumn morning when Fraily wrapped a slice of bread in a cloth and took his horse to plough the stony field. He put his bread by the tree and started working in the field. The Black Augur appeared at the edge of the forest, grabbed the bread, crumbled it, and spread it all over the place, hoping to hear Fraily swearing and cursing over his lunchtime. The sun was high in the sky when Fraily stopped to eat his bread. He looked around but found only an empty cloth.

“Bless whoever has eaten my bread; he was probably hungrier than me,” he said.

In the evening the Black Augur went to a gathering where all the augurs were talking about the mischief they had done during the day. When the Chief Augur heard what the Black Augur had done, he said:

“We augurs are well known for our ill doings, but taking a daily slice of bread from a poor man is against our morals.” So he ordered the Black Augur to return the bread. That was not possible, since birds had eaten all the crumbs in the meantime. The Chief Augur became even more annoyed and said:

“As a punishment, you will spend three years working for Fraily as a rustic.” The Black Augur did not like what he heard but had no choice. He stamped his hoof and turned into a human.

Fraily was slowly going home, as exhausted as his horse, when a young man took the other side of the plough and helped him. Even the horse started walking more lively.

“Could you hire me as a rustic?” he said to Fraily.

“I haven’t got any money to pay you,” said Fraily.

“Don’t worry; we’ll agree on some reward.”

“This autumn we’ll sow the muddy parts,” said the rustic. Fraily was reluctant, thinking it was a complete waste of grain, but eventually agreed. The following year, the biggest drought anybody could remember plagued the villagers. All the crops were damaged in the scorching sun, but on Fraily’s muddy bits the wheat was growing fine, so he got the best crops in the village.

“This year we will sow the driest parts,” said the rustic. Fraily was reluctant again but agreed in the end. The following year, heavy rains flooded other fields, but Fraily’s field brought the biggest crops.

The third year the rustic mixed the mud with the sandy parts and made all the fields fertile, so Fraily was well off again.

“I have worked for you for three years,” the rustic said. “Can you reward me for that?”

“What would you like?” Fraily said.

“A sack of wheat.”

Fraily was a bit surprised that a traveller might want to keep a sack of wheat, but agreed eagerly. The rustic took the sack and locked himself in a house. Half a day later he invited Fraily in. The inside of the house was full of vessels filled with some strange liquid. The rustic gave Fraily a cupful. Fraily tried it and twisted his face.

“Awful,” he said.

“Try another cup,” said the rustic.

The second one tasted much better, and the world started looking brighter. After the third one, the world started turning around for Fraily. The rustic looked at Fraily, giggled, stamped his foot, and turned back into an augur. Fraily woke up the next morning with a terrible headache, took a cup, and started sipping Black Augur’s gift again....