Friday night folktales: The Bakki-brothers and the Foot Problem

This is the only Bakki-brothers tale that is likely to make anyone laugh:

The brothers had been told that soaking their feet and legs in hot water was very beneficial for their health, but since they they usually only had enough firewood for cooking they didn’t often heat water to bathe their feet.

Once when they were on the go they came across a hot spring and immediately decided to soak their feet in it, since they could do it for free. They all removed their shoes and socks and sat side by side with their feet and lower legs in the hot water and enjoyed the heat.

When they decided they had had enough, they realised that that they had got their feet mixed up and none of them dared stand up for fear of accidentally walking away on his brother’s feet. So they sat there until a traveller came by and called to him to come and help them. He asked what the problem was and they explained. He laughed and said this was an easy problem to solve. He then raised his walking stick and hit the tangle of feet and legs in the spring. This hurt, and then the brothers each recognised his own feet and removed them swiftly from the water.

Copyright notice: The wording used to tell this folk-tale is under copyright. The story itself is not copyrighted. If you want to re-tell it, for a collection of folk-tales, incorporate it into fiction, use it in a school essay or any kind of publication, please tell it in your own words or give the proper attribution if you choose to use the wording unchanged.

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