One poor miller died and left only a cat, a rooster and a sickle as an inheritance to his three sons. What about the mill and the donkey? - you ask. The mill belonged to the owner of the village, and the donkey died a week before the miller's death.
“What should we do?” - the brothers thought as they returned from the cemetery.
- What to do? What to do? - they repeated sadly.
“We were unlucky,” said the elder brother. - Let's divide our father's inheritance - not a rich one, I must admit - and go around the world to seek luck. Let's agree, if you want, to meet at this very place in exactly one year and one day.
“Well, we’ll do that,” answered the younger brothers. - You are the eldest, you share the inheritance.
- Fine. Here we are at home. Jean, take the rooster. Jacques, take the sickle. I'll keep Mina the cat.
Jean called the rooster, Jacques took the sickle, Pierre, the eldest son of the miller, called the cat, and they set off.
Three brothers approached the crossroads, hugged each other and parted.
Then everyone went their own way: Pierre with his cat, Jean with a rooster, Jacques with a sickle.
Pierre walked and walked and finally came to the royal castle. Just at this time, two thousand royal servants, armed with huge sticks, fought with mice that had completely ruined the country. It turns out that they have been fighting mice in this country for six months, but they have killed only four so far. Pierre looked at all this in surprise, when suddenly a fat mouse jumped out of the palace basement and ran straight towards him, and at least fifty hunters rushed after it. Pierre could not help laughing as he watched them try to kill the mouse, which seemed to be deliberately scurrying under the feet of its angry pursuers and teasing them. The mouse hunters hit each other with sticks with all their might, trying to hit the animal, and Pierre laughed louder and louder. The servants were angry. One of them said to Pierre:
“If you were in our place, you wouldn’t laugh so much, stranger.”
- Why do you think so?
- Why? Don't you see how difficult it is for us to catch these animals, God punish them!
“And I can easily catch this mouse.” Look.
And, having said this, Pierre released the cat Mine from the bag, who in one jump caught up with the mouse, grabbed it and brought it to his master.
- Oh God! What is this wonderful animal? - the royal servants shouted in one voice, barely recovering from surprise.
- This animal is called a cat, and it costs him nothing to destroy all the mice in your kingdom.
- A cat?.. Doesn’t he eat people?
- No, but he is a big fan of rats and mice.
- If so, come with us to the king. He will be very interested to look at your... what is he called? -Cat.
- ...For your cat, and he will pay a lot of money for it. Just remember - the king is very rich, ask for more.
Pierre followed the servants to the palace, and they brought him to the king.
“They told me that the animal you hold in your hands will kill any mouse in an instant and that it can be released without fear for the lives of my subjects.” Is this true?
- True, and if you want, I’ll prove it to you now.
Half a dozen mice were running up and down the room; Pierre released the cat, who had developed an appetite after the first mouse, and Mine, pleased with such a lively one, began jumping from one mouse to another until he had dealt with them all.
The king was amazed.
- How much do you want for it?
— My cat is not for sale. There is no other animal like it in the whole world, and I cannot part with it.
“But I like him so much that I’m ready to give half the kingdom for him!”
- I can’t. But here’s the thing: give me your daughter as a wife, and everything will be fine - I won’t have to part with Mine, and he will belong to you.
The king happily agreed to this condition, and Pierre married the royal daughter that same day.
Jean, the miller's second son, also came to the royal castle, but in another country. He asked for shelter there, and in the evening he was very surprised when he saw a huge chariot drawn by large black horses leaving the castle. This chariot sped off towards the east. Jean asked one of the palace servants:
-Where did this carriage go?
-Where did the carriage go? What a question! Of course, she went to bring a day that would not otherwise return. Is it eternal night in your country?
- No, what are you talking about! Thanks for explaining.
And Jean began to wait for the next day. He woke up when the palace clock struck six, and since it was summer time, it seemed strange to him that it was still completely dark. The clock struck seven, then eight, and the night continued. Finally, at nine o'clock, a loud sound of wheels was heard in the distance: it was the carriage that had left the day before, returned and brought the day.
- That's it! Are there really no roosters in this country? Let's see what happens tomorrow.
Jean did not tell the servants anything about his plan, but when night fell again, he released a rooster in his room and began to wait.
At about three o'clock in the morning the rooster woke up, flapped his wings and crowed his cheerful “crow” deafeningly, not just once, but several times.
Immediately it began to dawn. How alarmed everyone in the castle was! At first they thought that the chariot had returned earlier than usual, but they immediately realized their mistake. They began to question the servants, and one of them said that just before daylight appeared, he heard some bird in the stranger’s room sang: “crow.” The king ordered Jean to be brought to him and asked him:
- So it was you who called the day?
- Yes, I am; or rather, the bird that I hold in my hands.
- What is it called?
- Rooster. As soon as he sings “crow, crow,” the day rushes to his call.
- Where are these wonderful birds found?
“There is no other like it in the whole world.” My godmother, a fairy, gave it to me.
- Sell me a rooster, I’ll give you whatever you want for it, even half the kingdom.
“My rooster is not sold for silver or gold, and I will never agree to part with it.” And if you really like him, then we’ll do this: you give me your daughter, the princess, as a wife, and I’ll give you the rooster. He will bring the day to you every morning, and I will not have to part with him.
- I agree, I agree! - the king exclaimed cheerfully, rejoicing that he had concluded such a profitable deal.
And on the same day, Jean married the royal daughter. Meanwhile, Jacques, who believed that he had been deprived, was more than once about to throw away the sickle. Fortunately for him, he did not do this and continued on the path he had taken after parting with his brothers.
Like Pierre and Jean, he came to an unfamiliar country, to the palace of the king who ruled there. The palace was surrounded on all sides by grain fields, and thousands of reapers were harvesting the crops with sticks. At the same time, almost all the grain was lost, and people were exhausted from fatigue.
Jacques looked at them in surprise, not believing his eyes. Then he approached the peasants, showed them his sickle and with one wave of his hand cut off an entire armful of ears of corn.
-What is this thing you have? - the reapers shouted. - Let's go tell the king.
And they went to the king and told him about what the stranger had done before their eyes. The king wanted to see the miracle himself and, together with his servants, went into the field to talk with the miller’s son.
At the request of the king, Jacques cut off several armfuls of ears of corn with his sickle...
“Sell me your sickle,” the king asked him.
— My sickle is not for sale. So be it, I’ll give it back, but on one condition.
- With which one?
- Give me your daughter as my wife.
- I agree, I agree!
And that same evening Jacques married the royal daughter, the princess.
And then exactly a year and one day later, three brothers - Pierre, Jean and Jacques - returned to the mill, hugged each other and told how rich, honorable and happy they lived, and all thanks to the cat, the rooster and the sickle - the inheritance of the poor miller!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru