Gudbrand on the Hill-side

Gudbrand on the Hill-side

Once, on a green hillside in Norway, there stood a small farm. Gudbrand and his wife lived there. They had no grand palace, but they had a cozy home, two cows, a few chests of belongings, and a habit of talking things over together.

One morning, his wife said,

“Gudbrand, two cows are more than we need. Perhaps we should sell one at the market? We’ll have a little money, and there’ll be less work.”

“That’s a good idea,” Gudbrand agreed.

He took the cow by a rope and set off for town. The road wound between the hills, the sun climbed higher, and Gudbrand was already picturing himself coming home with jingling coins in his pocket.

But no one at the market wanted to buy his cow.

“Well then,” he said to himself. “If no one will buy her, she’ll come home with me. That won’t make the road any longer.”

And he turned back.

Before long, he met a man leading a fine horse.

“Would you trade your cow for my horse?” the stranger asked.

Gudbrand looked at the horse, thought it over, and decided,

“Why not? A horse would make trips to town much quicker.”

So the cow became a horse.

A little farther along, he saw a man leading a plump little pig.

“How about your horse for my pig?” the man asked.

Gudbrand thought again.

“A pig could be useful on the farm, too.”

And the horse became a pig. Not by magic, of course, but in an ordinary trade.

A few more bends along the road, and Gudbrand traded the pig for a goat.

“A goat will give us milk,” he reasoned.

Then he traded the goat for a sheep.

“A sheep will give us wool.”

The sheep for a goose.

“A goose will be right at home in our yard.”

And the goose for a rooster.

“A rooster will wake us every morning better than any bell.”

By evening, Gudbrand was walking along with nothing but the rooster. The road was long, his stomach was rumbling louder and louder, and at last he stopped at an inn.

“My friend,” he said to the rooster, “you’re a fine bird, but right now I truly need some supper.”

He sold the rooster for a coin and bought himself a hot meal.

When it was quite dark, Gudbrand stopped at a neighbor’s house to rest.

“Well, how did the market go?” the neighbor asked.

Gudbrand honestly told him everything: about the cow, the horse, the pig, the goat, the sheep, the goose, the rooster, and supper.

The neighbor clapped his hands in amazement.

“You’re going home without a cow and without any money! I can imagine what your wife will say.”

Gudbrand smiled.

“She’ll listen to me first. And then, I’m sure, she’ll find something good in it all.”

“I won’t believe that until I hear it for myself!” said the neighbor.

They even made a friendly bet: the neighbor would stand by the door and listen to how Gudbrand’s wife greeted him.

Gudbrand went into the house.

“Good evening!”

“At last, you’re home!” his wife said happily. “How was your day?”

“No one bought the cow, so I traded her for a horse.”

“A horse? How interesting!” she said. “We could have ridden to town so quickly.”

Gudbrand scratched his head.

“Well, I don’t have the horse anymore, either. I traded him for a pig.”

His wife laughed.

“Then it’s a good thing we don’t have to think about where to keep a horse in winter.”

“But I traded the pig, too. For a goat.”

“A goat gives milk. That’s not bad at all.”

“And the goat for a sheep.”

“Wool is always useful.”

“The sheep for a goose.”

“A goose is cheerful. I can just picture her strutting around the yard and telling everyone what to do.”

Gudbrand could hardly keep from laughing.

“And I traded the goose for a rooster.”

“What a day! Then we would have had our very own morning alarm clock.”

“We would,” Gudbrand said. “But I sold the rooster because I was terribly hungry. I used the coin to buy supper.”

His wife was quiet for a moment. Then she came over to him and said,

“The best thing of all is that you came home safe and with a full stomach. Cows, horses, and roosters come and go. But you are one of a kind.”

Outside the door, the neighbor gave a little cough.

Gudbrand opened the door and asked,

“Well, did you hear?”

The neighbor stood there looking as if he had just seen a goose bargaining at the market.

“I heard,” he admitted. “And you know what? It seems the two of you really do know how to live happily.”

Gudbrand’s wife invited the neighbor inside, set tea and a slice of bread on the table, and Gudbrand told his remarkable chain of trades once more. This time, all three of them laughed.

From then on, whenever something on the farm did not go according to plan, Gudbrand and his wife would ask each other,

“Well, what good can we find in this?”

And almost always, they found some.

Because sometimes the greatest treasure is not what lies in a chest or stands in a stable. The greatest treasure is coming home to someone who will listen, understand, and greet you with kindness.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨