"Little Master Misery" (also known as "Woe" among other alternate titles) is a Russian Fairy Tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki (Народные Русские Сказки). It has been translated to English and included in collections such like Arthur Ransome's "Old Peter's Russian Tales
", W. R. S. Ralston's "Russian Fairy Tales", Leonard A. Magnus "Russian Folk-Tales" and De Blumenthal and Xenophontovna's "Folk Tales from the Russian".
Once upon a time there was one poor peasant called Ivan Ilyitch who was kind but naïve and luckless, in contrast with his brother, who became very rich through his cunning. One day, Ivan went to his brother's house and begged him to help his hungry family. His merchant brother asked Ivan to work for him one week in return. Ivan worked hard during seven days, and at the end of the week, he was repaid with a single bread loaf, since his brother argued he had fed Ivan the whole week. Ivan took the loaf and was setting off towards his house when his brother invited him to his name-day feast the next day.
The next day, Ivan and his wife Maroosia attend the rich brother's party, but Ivan's brother is too busy entertaining rich merchants to make sure that his servants are taking care of Ivan and Maroosia's needs. Nobody brings them food or drink, and they eventually leave the party feeling hungry, sad and humiliated. Since the other attendees are singing and joking around, Ivan also decides to sing a song so nobody knows he had a miserable time. As singing, though, he notices a tiny, miserable voice singing along with him. Ivan asks who is helping him, and a tiny voice introduces himself like Misery. A wretched, small figure walks out of the darkened tree line, and Ivan suggests Misery to come along with them and keep them company. Misery answers it will never leave them— ever.
As soon as they get home, Misery asks Ivan to take him to the tavern to drink their sorrows. When Ivan points out that he has no money, Misery retorts he can change his winter jacket -which he will not be wearing for the time being since Spring has begun- for one drink. The next day, Misery wakes Ivan early in the morning to complain that he has a hangover, he hates the weather, Ivan's kids are noisy, there is no food in the house, and Ivan should take him to the tavern so he can drink his woes away. Ivan again protests he's got no money, and Misery again shouts him to sell something- his cart and his sledge, in this case. Next day, Misery complains worse than before, and there is no silencing , placating or avoiding him. Ivan sells his barrow and plough to take Misery to the tavern and keep him quiet at the cost of being unable to work his land anymore.
A month goes by like that until Ivan has nothing left to sell, and no will left due to Misery's unabated grumbllings and demands. Since Ivan cannot buy him more alcohol, Misery tells him to borrow a cart and a pair of oxen. Misery then leads Ivan to a big stone in the middle of a nearby field, and tells him to heave it up. Ivan finds a huge stash of gold under the stone, and Misery commands him to load that treasury into the cart as swift as possible so that they can get back to the tavern. Ivan piles all the gold into the cart, and then he looks into the pit to make sure that there is nothing left down there. Ivan then says he can sees one coin shining in one corner, but he cannot get to it. Misery jumps down into the pit to grab it, and Ivan instantly rolls the stone over the hole to entrap him. Otherwise, he knows Misery will drink up everything he has again.
Ivan takes his treasury back home and his family begin living a wealthy life. Some time later, Ivan invites his merchant brother to his name-day feast. The merchant is surprised at his brother throwing a feast, and believes Ivan is pranking him when he says he has become rich. Nonetheless, the merchant attends the feast and finds out Ivan is now wealthier than him. Becoming insanely envious, the merchant wheedles the whole story out of Ivan and decides to let Misery out so it tears his brother to pieces for imprisoning him.
The merchant drives off to the field and moves the stone aside. Though, he is instantly attacked and beaten up for Misery, who mistakes him for Ivan. When the rich brother protests he is not his captor but his liberator, Misery declares he will not be tricked by clumsy lies again, and he will never leave him again. Immediately Misery starts drinking up the merchant's fortune until he becomes as poor as his brother used to be.
The merchant racks his brains to find a way to get rid of Misery. One night, as Misery is sleeping it off, the merchant goes out into the yard, takes one a cart wheel and drives one wooden wedge into the wheel's hub. Then he leaves the wheel in the yard, lying another wedge and a big hammer close to it.
In the morning, Misery wakes up and, as usual, demands to be taken to the tavern. When the merchant informs him he has nothing left to sell. Misery demands to be entertained anyway, so the merchant proposes playing hide-and-seek in the yard. Misery gloats that he cannot lose because he can make himself so small he can fit a mouse-hole. The merchant does not believe him, so Misery decides to demonstrate by shrinking himself and jumping into the wheel's hub. Immediately, the merchant hammers the second wedge into the hub, trapping Misery again. He then drags the cart wheel to the river and throws it away.
Then he went home and set to work to make money again, and earn his daily bread; for Misery had made him so poor that he had nothing left, and had to hire himself out to make a living, just as his peasant brother used to do.
But what happened to Misery when he went floating away?
He floated away down the river, shut up in the hub of the wheel. He ought to have starved there. But I am afraid some silly, greedy fellow thought to get a new wheel for nothing, and pulled the wedges out and let him go; for, by all I hear, Misery is still wandering about the world and making people wretched—bad luck to him!
Different versions of the tale can be read here, here, here, here, here and here.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Misery has one only goal in its life: getting drunk...with someone else's money. It'll latch on to some poor loser and will pester him into going to the local tavern to drink every day until its poor victim has run out money and things to pawn.
- Antagonist Title: The story is named after the entity who clings to Ivan and almost leads him to ruin.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Misery is the humanoid personification of misery and despondency, clinging to people living in squalor and making them even more miserable.
- Anti-Alcohol Aesop: Misery nags penniless farmer Ivan into going to the tavern to drink his sorrows until Ivan has spent and pawned off what little he had. Then Misery leads Ivan to a buried treasury, and expects to begin spending it on alcohol immediately, but Ivan gets rid of Misery to not waste his money on alcohol and become destitute again.
- Cain and Abel: Ivan Ilyitch's rich brother exploits his poor brother, making him work for him one whole week and then giving him a single bread loaf in payment, invites him to a party only to shame him, and tries to ruin him when Ivan finds a buried treasury and becomes rich.
- Driven by Envy: The rich brother attempts to ruin his formerly destitute brother because he cannot bear the thought that Ivan has become richer than him.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Deconstructed. Every day, Misery goads Ivan into going to the tavern and drinking to forget that he is poor, his family has no food, and his brother is a greedy asshole. Naturally, getting drunk every day does not drive his problems away; in fact, it makes his situation worse. After one month, he is even poorer, having pawed his few belongings and even borrowed money to buy another drink, his family keeps starving, and he cannot even work his own land because he sold his barrow and his plough to buy more alcohol.Next day, early in the morning, little Master Misery began complaining. His head ached and he could not open his eyes, and he did not like the weather, and the children were crying, and there was no food in the house. He asked the peasant to come with him to the tavern again and forget all this wretchedness in a drink.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: The rich brother believes he can ruin his brother by freeing the embodiment of Misery from his entrapment and goading him into latching onto Ivan again until he is left penniless. Nonetheless, Misery latches onto the rich brother, mistaking him for Ivan, and drinks his fortune up until the rich brother is left penniless.
- Fatal Flaw:
- Misery is undone by his Alcoholism, Greed and Pride. He latches on to his victim and demands to be constantly taken to the tavern and bought drinks until his unfortunate and broke hosts plot for ways to get rid of him. Ivan manages to lose sight of his parasite when Misery leads him to a buried treasure. After loading the loot onto a cart, he claims there is one coin left. Misery jumps down to retrieve one single gold coin, and Ivan rushes to cover the hole. Later, Ivan rich brother takes advantage of Misery boasting about and needlessly showing up his shrinking power to bait him into hiding into a cartwheel's hub. Misery hides in the hub only to prove he can, and the rich brother quickly plugs the hole.
- Ivan's rich brother loses his whole fortune because of his Greed and Envy. If he had been generous to his destitute brother, Ivan would not have met Misery. And if he had been able to live with the fact that Ivan had become richer than him, he would not have tried to ruin his brother by freeing Misery, who proceeded to drink up everything he had instead.
- Green-Eyed Monster: When Ivan finds a buried treasury and becomes very wealthy after living in squalor, his brother decides to find a way to ruin him because he cannot bear the thought of Ivan being richer than him.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The rich brother decides to release Misery from its imprisonment so it again hounds his brother into squandering his whole newfound wealth. Once released, though, Misery mistakes the rich brother with his former victim, latches on to him despite his protests, and makes him go to the tavern every day and drink up all his money.
- Mistaken Identity: Ivan's jealous and rich brother releases Misery, expecting him to go and make Ivan miserable again, but Misery mistakes him with Ivan and clings to him, swearing never to let him go again. The rich brother protests he is not Ivan, but Misery will not be convinced because it believes Ivan is trying to trick it again.
- No Name Given: The main character is given a name and even a family name -Ivan Ilyitch-, but his rich brother remains unnamed.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Misery coerces Ivan to fund his daily binge drinking, despite his host being too poor to feed his family, until Ivan has nothing left, not even a will to resist's Misery's unrelenting demanding and complaining. When Misery leads him to a buried treasury and demands that Ivan begins spending it on buying him drinks immediately, the man imprisons Misery in the hole, reasoning that Misery would drink up everything he has again.
- Pirate Booty: After leeching off Ivan until he has run out of money, Misery leads him to a great loot of gold buried and hidden under a big stone in the middle of a faraway field. It is not revealed who buried it down there or how Misery knew of its existence, though.
- Rags to Riches: After finding a buried treasury and getting rid of Misery, Ivan -who was living in squalor and whose family had nothing more than the clothes on their backs- becomes very rich.
- Riches to Rags: Misery bugs the rich brother into riding to the tavern and getting drunk every day until he has squandered his entire fortune.And every day he rode the rich merchant to the tavern, and made him drink up all his money, and his house, his clothes, his horses and carts and sledges—everything he had—until he was as poor as his brother had been in the beginning.
- Schmuck Bait:
- When Ivan cannot afford buy even one drink, Misery leads him to a buried treasury. After loading the whole treasury onto a cart, Ivan states he can see one last coin shining in the bottom of the hole, but he cannot reach it. Misery jumps down into the pit to find it, and the poor brother quickly rolls one stone over the hole, shutting him in so that Misery does not drink up everything he has again.
- Misery swears to not be tricked again when he is released by the rich brother, proceeding to pester him until drinking his whole fortune up. One day, the rich brother suggests to play hide-and-seek in the yard, and Misery gloats that it can become tiny enough to hide in a mouse-hole, or the hub of a wheel. Since the rich brother calls him a bluffing liar, Misery makes himself smaller and pops into the hole of the hub. Instantly the merchant drives a wege into the hole and throws the weel into a flowing river.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Ivan manages to imprison the embodiment of misery in a pit, covering the hole with a heavy boulder. Later, his brother foolishly releases Misery, but manages to trick him into shrink down and jump into a wheel's hub, thereupon plugging the hole and throwing the wheel into a river. The narrator concludes the tale by pointing out that, given the state of world, some greedy fool surely found the wheel, pulled the wedges out and set Misery free.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Misery latches on to the poor brother and promises to move to his house and never, never leave his side. The poor brother is badgered by Misery every day to go to the tavern and get drunk, pawning his few belongings to buy one more drink; and he has no other option but to comply because Misery will not stop complaining and pestering him until he obeys. After one month, the poor brother has nothing left, not even a will to resist Misery's demands, but he is delighted when one chance to get rid of his unwanted guest presents itself.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Even though his rich brother barely helped him when he was living in squalid conditions, Ivan does not hold him against him; Ivan actually invites his brother to his name-day feast, greets him warmly and sincerely, makes sure to give him and his wife the best places at the table and the best food. Ivan's brother's reaction is becoming insanely envious of his brother because Ivan is now wealthier than him and plotting his ruin.
