The story of the Twelve Months is a Slovak folk tale, first mentioned by a Czech writer, scientist, lexicographer, and Prague university professor named Mistr Clarit in the fourteenth century. The story was rewritten several times and published in several languages afterward as a children’s fantasy story. In 2014, Russian writer Svetlana Bagdasaryan published a children’s book with the same name. Each time, several modifications were made to the original story.
The Twelve Months
Once upon a time, in ancient times, there was a small girl named Kiara who lived with her father, Arnold. She was his only daughter. Her mother had become very ill when she was small, so he cared for her and raised her. He would bring her dolls and act out plays with his voice for her. Kiara loved her father very much, and Arnold and Kiara were very hardworking in their lives.
But one day, Kiara became very ill. When the doctor came, he told her father that her illness was very rare and that they hadn’t reached a cure for this disease until today. Arnold was very sad and said he would never feel joy again if his daughter didn’t recover.
Suddenly, a fairy appeared before him and said to him: “Do you care, Arnold, if you’re never happy again? Life will continue in any case.” Arnold was amazed and afraid of her, and he asked her if she was a sorceress. She told him she was a fairy of the magic land.
Then she asked him about his daughter’s illness. He described the disease to her. She told him that his daughter’s illness was dangerous and that it only happened to some people when the seasons changed.
The sorceress told him that this disease happened to children at the age of six years, so it was natural that it would afflict his daughter at this age. He asked her: “How did you know my daughter is six years old?” She told him: “I know some information about you, and I love your small daughter Kiara very much. She’s a wonderful child.”
Then she gave him a recipe to make soup for Kiara and asked him to collect all the ingredients, then mix them together to make soup and give it to Kiara to drink, and she would recover. But there was one problem with that recipe. The sorceress told him that those ingredients were only found in certain months during the year.
Some ingredients he would find in May, some in August, and some in September. Arnold thought about what he heard and knew what he would do. He said goodbye to the sorceress and returned to his daughter.
When he returned to Kiara, he told her about the sorceress’s recipe. She asked him: “Will I remain sick for a whole year, Father?” Arnold said to her: “No, but I’ll have to leave you for a little while to go visit the twelve brothers. My mother told me about them.”
Kiara asked him: “Who are they, Father?” He told her: “They are the twelve months. My mother told me about them when I was small. They live in the hills, and if I can find them, I can get all the ingredients at once and make the soup for you.”
But Kiara was afraid of her father going and leaving her alone. He told her he had to go and would leave her in the care of their neighbor, Mrs. Pillsbury, to care for her during the period he would be away.
Arnold walked for weeks, passing through forests, climbing hills, and crossing the ocean, but he didn’t find the twelve brothers. Suddenly, he reached a strange forest and noticed that the trees had fruits from different seasons. He said to himself: “This must be the place of the twelve brothers.” Indeed, when he searched among the hills, he found twelve brothers, each one representing a month of the year.
Arnold found a large chair, bigger than the others, and the brother named November was sitting on it. Arnold thought that this chair belonged to the current month because the time was in November, and when the month changed, its owner would sit on the chair. But Arnold didn’t know how he would convince them to help him make the seasons change.
Arnold began to think and reached a plan. He took off his clothes and hid behind a tree, shouting: “My clothes, my clothes! Let someone help me!” December spoke first and said to him: “What’s wrong with you? Why are you shouting?” Arnold said: “A child stole my clothes while I was swimming, and now I’m freezing from the cold and will die.”
December said to him: “But that area doesn’t have water. Where were you swimming?” Arnold said to him: “That doesn’t matter now, I’ll freeze from the cold.” One of the sisters said: “The only solution is that May sits on the chair until the ice melts.” Indeed, May sat on the chair, and as soon as he did, the ice disappeared, and flowers appeared in the trees that only appear in the summer season.
Arnold was happy and took the ingredient he wanted, then thanked them, but they didn’t pay attention to him. November returned to sitting on the chair, and snow covered the place again.
Arnold went far away, and after a short time, he returned again but disguised himself as a lady’s robe and shouted: “Help me!” The brothers heard his shouting and asked him why he was shouting. He told them that he was a sick lady who had lost her sight, and a fairy had told her she could only recover if she ate January fruit in November.
January decided to help her and told his brother November to leave him the ruling chair. Indeed, November left the chair, and January sat in his place. Arnold got what he wanted, thanked them, and left.
While November was preparing to return, Arnold came again and pretended another matter, continuing to do this and collecting the required ingredients from almost all the months. But the last thing remained, which was the hardest thing. He needed a frog’s footprint. Arnold thought that if July sat on the chair, the ice would begin to melt, water would accumulate, and frogs would come out, and then he had to act quickly to get the footprint before the ice melted.
Arnold pretended he was the prince of lightning. When July sat on the chair, winds blew, and Arnold’s disguise flew away. The brothers recognized him as the man who had claimed his clothes were stolen while he was in the water. They knew he had been deceiving them.
Arnold tried to explain his situation, but before he could speak, December froze him, turning him into an ice statue. Suddenly, the fairy appeared with Kiara and said to them: “Shame on you. He came to seek a cure for his sick daughter.”
Kiara was crying after seeing her father. When the months learned the reason that had made Arnold lie to them, they asked their brother May to sit on the ruling chair. Indeed, May sat, and the ice melted. The sorceress prepared the soup with the ingredients Arnold had collected. Kiara drank it and recovered from her illness.
Arnold and Kiara thanked the twelve months and also thanked the sorceress, and happiness returned to the father and daughter again.