The Man Who Had No Story — Obscure Fairy Tales

There once was a man who lived in Barr an Ghaoith, called Brian Ó Braocachain. He used to cut rods and weave them into baskets for a living. One day, as he had ran out of rods in Barr an Ghaoith, he decided to try his luck in nearby Alt an Torr, a rumored fairy glen, to look for rods.

Thus, Brian packed a lunch and said goodbye to his wife before going about his way towards the aforementioned glen. Once he got there, he found plenty of rods for his basket weaving and started cutting and collecting them into bundles.

As the hours flew by, a thick fog started enveloping the area and, soon, visibility in the glen was close to none. So Brian sat down and ate his lunch, hoping the fog would dissipate while he was waiting. When he was done eating, it was already starting to get dark and Brian felt uneasy about the situation. The basket weaver then saw a light in the distance.

“Where there is light, there is people,” he thought, aiming for the light through the thick fog.

When he reached the source of the brightness, he saw a beautiful, yet modest, wooden house in the woods. There lived a couple, a man and a woman, who gladly invited Brian in as refuge for the night.

When they asked him to tell them a story, Brian could come up with none. The man of the house then asked Brian to fetch some water from the well to earn his keep. As he filled the bucket and placed it down, Brian felt a strong gust of wind coming out of nowhere pick him up and bring him into the sky.

When the wind brought him down, the man found himself in a very unfamiliar setting. Still in a foggy area, Brian looked for a light in the distance.

“Where there is light, there is people,” he said under his breath.

Following the light for a second time that evening, the man eventually arrived at a much bigger house than the first. He was greeted by a houseful of guests to a wake: there was the corpse, four men and a woman in the living room.

While offering Brian hospitality, one of the men asked another to get the musician. Looking at Brian, the lady of the house stated there was no need look for an entertainer, as they had among them the best fiddle player in all of Ireland, Brian Ó Braocachain!

Brian, confused, said he didn’t know how to play the fiddle. The woman laughed.

“Now, now, enough joking. Don’t make me a liar!’ she said., handing Brian a fiddle.

To his astonishment, Brian could actually play the fiddle as if he was born with one in his hands. He played and played all night.

“Now we must get the priest for the Mass, so this corpse can be out of here before dawn,” announced one of the men when the end of the night was coming near.

“We mustn’t get a priest, for we have here the best priest in all of Ireland, Brian Ó Braocachain!” said the lady.

“Oh, but I have never conducted a Mass before,” responded Brian, suddenly anxious.

“Don’t you worry, Brian,” said the woman. “You will be as good doing it as you have been everything else.”

Thus, Brian stood at the altar and conducted the best Mass he ever heard of, and gave out multiple beautiful prayers before daybreak.

Then, they put the corpse in a coffin, and four men carried it to the graveyard. The latter had a high wall everyone had to climb to the top and jump down to reach the other side. Brian was the last one to climb the wall.

As he reached the top, a gust of wind coming from nowhere picked him up and flew him into the sky. When he landed, Brian found himself near the well with the bucket of water still where he had left it on the ground. He walked through the fog back to the tiny house and told the couple of what had happened to him. The woman said:

“Next time you must tell a story, you can tell that exact tale!”

After the retelling, the woman finished preparing supper and they all ate together before going to bed.

When Brian woke up, he was in Alt an Torr, lying beside the two bundles of rods he had picked up earlier.

The man went home and never thought to cut a rod ever again.

The serie Obscure Fairy Tales encompasses an array of tales, myths and legends from around the world. To read more, visit this page dedicated to fiction writing.