{"id":2862,"date":"2026-05-21T06:58:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T03:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/kazka\/khlopchyk-z-khvorym-bratykom\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T07:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:17:57","slug":"khlopchyk-z-khvorym-bratykom","status":"publish","type":"kazka","link":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/kazka\/khlopchyk-z-khvorym-bratykom\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarasik and a silver candle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tarasyk was nine, and his brother Mikhas was only five. They used to run around the yard together, sculpt a snow woman, and argue about whose snowball would fly farther. But Mikhas hadn't gotten out of bed for a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctor came often. He stroked Mykhas' head, gave his mother some drops and said quietly: "Let's wait, let's wait." But Tarasyk didn't know how to wait. He sat by his brother's bed and read him fairy tales - even those that Mykhas already knew by heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

"Is it true," Mykhas asked in a weak voice, "that Saint Nicholas comes to Christmas Eve?" "It's true," Tarasyk said firmly. "And this year he'll come to you." "And what if he forgets?" "He won't forget," promised the older brother. "I'll remind him.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas Eve had come. Mom was cooking a Lenten dinner, Dad was quietly carrying firewood. The house smelled of honey and dried apples. Mykhas dozed off, holding in his hand a small wooden bird that his grandfather had once carved for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarasik waited until his parents went out to the neighbors to invite them to carol singing. Then he put on his fur coat, took a candle from the shelf, and went outside. The blizzard threw handfuls of snow in his face. The boy gritted his teeth and went to the old fir tree that grew behind the garden\u2014the place where, as his grandmother said, Saint Nicholas comes first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fir tree stood majestically, dusted with silver. Tarasik placed a candle near its roots and shaded it from the wind with his palms. \u201cSaint Nicholas,\u201d he whispered. \u201cI know you don\u2019t bring such gifts. But I\u2019m not asking for myself. Let Mykhas get up. Let him run with me in the snow just once more. I\u2019ll give you all my gifts\u2014forever.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\u0422\u0430\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0438\u043a<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The wind suddenly died down. Snowflakes fell slowly, like feathers. And Tarasik felt someone standing behind him. He turned around and froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amidst the blizzard stood a tall old man in white and gold robes. His mitre shone even in the twilight, and his staff was decorated with silver carvings. His white beard swayed softly in the wind. \u201cI heard you, Tarasik,\u201d said Saint Nicholas. His voice was warm, like a stove at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarasik wanted to say something, but his throat was dry. He just held out his hands\u2014not for a gift, but as one holds them out to a loved one. \u201cYour candle burns very brightly,\u201d said the old man. \u201cDo you know why? Because it was lit by the love of a brother. I see such lights from afar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He bent down and placed his candle next to Tarasykov's\u2014a thin silver one with a soft golden light. "Take it home. Place it by Mikhas's bed. Don't blow it out\u2014let it burn out on its own.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tarasik carefully took the candle. It didn't burn him, it just warmed his hands. He ran home, hiding the light under the hem of his coat. His mother was already looking for him with a flashlight, but when she saw her son's face, she didn't scold him - she just hugged him tightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A silver candle stood on the table by Mikhas's bed all night. Tarasik did not take his eyes off it. At dawn the light quietly went out - and it was then that Mikhas opened his eyes. He smiled and said in a clear, not weak voice: "Tarasik, I dreamed that we were running with you in the snow.".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week passed, and Mykhas was already sitting. Another week passed \u2014 and the two of them were sculpting a snow woman. And Tarasyk hid the silver stub in his grandmother's box. Because you don't throw away such things. You keep such things for a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n

\ud83d\udc9b Brotherly love is also a small miracle that can heal.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tarasyk's younger brother hasn't gotten out of bed for a month. On Christmas Eve, the boy decides to go out into the blizzard to ask Saint Nicholas for one miracle.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":2996,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","rank_math_description":"\u0422\u0435\u043f\u043b\u0430 \u0437\u0438\u043c\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u043a\u0430\u0437\u043a\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e \u0445\u043b\u043e\u043f\u0447\u0438\u043a\u0430, \u044f\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u043c\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f \u0437\u0430 \u0445\u0432\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0431\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430, \u0456 \u043f\u0440\u043e \u0441\u0440\u0456\u0431\u043d\u0443 \u0441\u0432\u0456\u0447\u0435\u0447\u043a\u0443, \u0449\u043e \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0438\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0430\u0434\u0456\u044e.","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"","footnotes":""},"kategoriya":[],"vik":[],"zhanr":[],"class_list":["post-2862","kazka","type-kazka","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"emoji":"\ud83d\udd6f\ufe0f","moral":"\u041b\u044e\u0431\u043e\u0432 \u0431\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0430 \u2014 \u0446\u0435 \u0442\u0435\u0436 \u043c\u0430\u043b\u0435\u043d\u044c\u043a\u0435 \u0434\u0438\u0432\u043e, \u044f\u043a\u0435 \u0432\u043c\u0456\u0454 \u043b\u0456\u043a\u0443\u0432\u0430\u0442\u0438.","image_1_prompt":"warm watercolor children book illustration, young boy in winter coat holding small candle, walking through gentle snowstorm at dusk, village houses in distance, soft glowing windows, tender melancholic mood, soft pastel, painterly, no text, no letters, no words","image_2_url":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/khlopchyk-z-khvorym-bratykom-2.jpg","image_2_prompt":"warm watercolor children book illustration, Saint Nicholas as Orthodox bishop in flowing white and gold liturgical vestments with tall golden mitre church hat and ornate bishop's staff (posokh), long white beard, kind face, standing in snowy forest holding silver candle, gentle smile, NOT Santa Claus, NO red Santa suit, NO white fur trim, NO Santa hat, soft pastel, no text, no letters, no words"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kazka\/2862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kazka"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/kazka"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kazka\/2862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2997,"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kazka\/2862\/revisions\/2997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"kategoriya","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kategoriya?post=2862"},{"taxonomy":"vik","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vik?post=2862"},{"taxonomy":"zhanr","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kazkaland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/zhanr?post=2862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}