There were once three sisters, dirt poor and destitute, upon whom fortune never shone. They were known across the land as The Beggars of Malintip, for that is where they lived. They were neither lazy nor slow of wit; ill luck and bad decisions haunted their days. Fate forever played his hand in the events of their lives and Fate did not play kindly.
Through Malintip three strangers passed.
“We are The Three Princes of Serendip,” the eldest brother announced, “We will clothe, feed and bathe you if you will lay down with us.”
“You have only this moment laid eyes upon us,” chorused the sisters.
“Gold isn’t any less precious for being newly brought from the mine,” replied the youngest brother, for he was prosperous in his manner with women.
The sisters readily agreed, thinking they were to marry the princes.
Leaving town, the fortunate princes concurred that what comes to pass on a quest for knowledge, shall forevermore stay on a quest for knowledge. The sisters, left alone with the bill and each heavy with child, again cursed Fate.
Fate did spare the bastard children, who experienced neither good luck nor bad, such was their mix of parentage.
Authors Note
The preceding story was written purely as a launching device for my newly invented word, the opposite of Serendipity.
Malintipity (Mel–in–tip–i–ty) Noun: 1. Ill fortune, bad luck. 2. A natural gift for making unfortunate discoveries by accident.
Rather than have the adjective form follow ‘serendipitous’, I have decided to run with Malintipic. That way when things don’t go right you may say, “Malintipicaly it all went wrong,” or just “Malintipical!”
Based on the Latin malus, meaning “bad, wicked or evil,” I think it works as a word. Please go out into the world and use it in a sentence today or make up a better version and I will amend the story. I feel it could be a German sounding word if you want to try.
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