A long time ago, there lived in a village an old woman with a son, she had only one son, and his name was Zhang Cai. The unfortunates are completely exhausted from need - they eat in the morning, and sit hungry in the evening. And then one day, when there was not a grain of rice left in the house, Zhang Cai said to his mother:
“Even in the Yellow River the water is clear, I don’t believe that the poor cannot see happiness.”
The young man said this and went to the mountains for brushwood. He came to the mountains and cut a bundle of brushwood. He saw that it was soon noon, hunger and fatigue overcame him, he lay down straight on the ground and fell into a sweet, sweet sleep. In a dream he saw an old man with a white beard and a staff in his hand.
The elder says:
“You and your mother are in need, come, Zhang Cai, to me, behind the southern mountain, I will give you money.”
The young man woke up and thought: “Can you trust dreams?” He turned over on his other side and fell asleep again. And take the old man and appear to him again in a dream. Three times the young man fell asleep, three times the old man appeared to him in a dream. And the young man decided: “I’ll go there and see whether to believe the dreams or not.”
The young man set off on his journey. Whichever way the elder told him, he went. He passed one mountain, then another, climbed a third, and conquered a fourth. I reached the South Mountain. It’s tall and steep, I climbed it all day, I’m hungry - I eat wild fruits and roots, I only got to the top in the evening, when the sun set behind the mountain. I looked down - ah-ya! How many houses are there! And everything is new! The young man was delighted and rushed down as fast as he could. He approached the village and looked - an old white-bearded man came out to meet him, the same one he saw in his dream.
The old man says:
- I've been waiting for you for a long time. Come into the house quickly.
Zhang Tsai followed the old man into the gate, and there was such beauty that it’s impossible to describe: the grass is fresh, the trees are young. The old man seated the young man in the hall where guests are treated, and ordered the household to bring wine and snacks. Zhang Cai ate his fill. The old man took him to bed. The bedding is new, the blanket is new, soft and warm. Zhang Cai fell asleep and only woke up in broad daylight. I was about to leave. The old man didn’t hold him, he pulled out his straw hat, gave the young man a small hoe, and went to see him off. As soon as they left the gate, the yard and houses, the village - everything disappeared. Zhang Cai took the gifts and went to look for the road along which he came here. I got to the place where I was chopping brushwood, I wanted to chop some more and sell it in the village. He took a hoe, swung it, and stuck it into the ground. Looks - a wonderful miracle! In the place where the hoe entered the ground, the silver glitters. He hid as much silver as he could fit under his robe, and even under his jacket, and returned home joyful. He saw his old mother, opened his robe and said:
- Look, mother, how much silver!
He said so and began to lay out the white shiny silver. The old woman got angry and said:
- Tell the truth, son, where did you get this silver - did you steal it or find it on the road? We may be poor, but we must be honest.
Zhang Cai heard this, quickly pulled out a hoe from his belt and said:
- Do you see this hoe? She has no price! If you dig, silver will appear from the ground!
The young man told his mother everything in order, from the spine, as they say, to the very top. The old one was happy. And they lived happily. Day by day it gets better and better. Both mother and son have good hearts; they share silver with their neighbors, but they don’t know how to thank them.
There lived in that village a landowner nicknamed Sheng Lai-ji - Vyn-Da-Give. He once heard about a magic hoe and about silver, his eyes lit up, his heart began to beat. He decided to get that hoe by deception, he had evil plans.
Once Zhang Cai was going to the market to do some shopping, took a cart and went. He walked and walked, and suddenly he saw a girl on the road. The face is round, eyebrows are arched. She looked at Zhang Cai and said:
- I'm tired. Give me a lift, do me a favor!
The young man agreed. The girl sat down in the cart and chatted incessantly. She saw that Zhang Cai was sweating on his forehead and threw her handkerchief to him. They came to the market and began to say goodbye. The girl gave him a long look and a smile.
Zhang Cai returned home, still thinking about the girl. One day he was walking past the landowner's gate, and suddenly he heard the gate creaking and a girl coming out of the yard. Zhang Cai looked at her - this was the same girl he was carrying on the cart. He realized then that this was the landowner’s daughter, and remembered his mother’s words: “Just get in touch with the landowner, he’ll rip off two skins even after death!” All the young man’s love instantly passed, he hurried to get away, and the girl closed the gate, beaming with a smile, following the young man, saying:
“I’m not a tiger, I’m not a wolf, don’t run from me!”
She approached the young man, smiled and said:
“Since we met, not a day has passed that I haven’t thought about you.” If you want, let's become husband and wife.
Zhang Cai looks at the girl, she seems to have become even more beautiful, and asks her innocently:
- Do you love me?
The girl laughed and said:
“When I saw you on the road then, I fell in love with you, otherwise I wouldn’t have given you my handkerchief!”
The girl speaks and persuades him this way and that, the young man’s head is spinning. The girl noticed that she had fallen into his heart and said:
- I see that you are not a rich man. Wait for me here, I’ll immediately pack my things and grab some silver so that you and I don’t need to know.
Zhang Cai heard these words, believed that the girl really fell in love with him, and replied:
“I won’t deceive you, I have a magic hoe.” When you dig into the ground, silver appears from the ground.
The girl shook her head and said:
- There are no such hoes.
Zhang Cai laughed, pulled out a hoe from his belt, and handed it to the girl:
- If you don’t believe me, just look!
Before the girl had time to take the hoe in her hands, the gate creaked, swung open, the landowner himself jumped out of the gate, pushed his daughter into the yard, and Zhang Cai looked at him and shouted:
“You’re such a scoundrel, you wanted to steal my daughter!”
He slammed the gate and pulled the bolt.
Zhang Cai was left without his hoe. He's sad and offended. He went to the Southern Mountain to look for the white-bearded old man. He walked and walked, got tired, sat down by the road under a tree to rest, closed his eyes, dozed off, and again saw the white-bearded old man in a dream.
The elder tells him:
“Don’t be sad, Zhang Cai, remember I gave you the hat?” With that hat you can drill into the sky wherever you want, and it will take you there. Moreover, it will hide it from human eyes.
The young man returned home, took the invisibility hat, looked at it, and was happy. He raised it above his head and said:
- Hat, hat, take me to the tower, to the one that stands in the landowner’s backyard.
The young man said this, put on his hat, he smelled it - it picked him up and lifted him into the sky. And at that time the landowner’s daughter was sitting by the window, admiring the trees and flowers. Suddenly he hears something hit the floor. It was Zhang Cai who knelt down in front of her and said:
- Give me my hoe!
If the girl hears, someone is speaking, but whoever doesn’t see.
She got scared and asked:
- Who are you - an evil spirit or a werewolf?
“I’m not an evil spirit or a werewolf, I’m Zhang Cai.”
The girl heard that it was Zhang Cai, grabbed her head, cried and said:
- Finally, you came, and I sit by the window all day, thinking about you.
The young man saw the girl crying and dying, felt sorry for her and said:
- Close your eyes and let's get out of here!
Zhang Cai put the girl on his back, the wind hummed and whistled. Before the girl had time to come to her senses, they had already sank to the ground. She opened her eyes and looked - the water was seething all around. Zhang Tsai did not tell the hat where to fly, but she took them to an island in the middle of the sea. There are no houses here, no huts, just mountains. Zhang Cai took off his hat, stood in front of the girl and asked:
- Where did you put my hoe?
The girl answers him sweetly and affectionately:
“I buried your hoe in a safe place.” I just couldn’t see you. From that day on, my father didn’t take his eyes off me, he kept watch over me. Nowadays no one will stop us from becoming husband and wife. Well, now tell me the truth, how did the wind bring us here?
Zhang Cai looked at the girl and asked:
- Do you really love me, are you not deceiving me?
- I'm not lying. Otherwise I would have screamed when you climbed into my house.
The young man believed her, told her everything in order, and gave her the hat to look at. The girl listened to him, turned her hat in her hands, said nothing, and complained of hunger. Zhang Cai looked around and said:
- Don’t be sad, do you see how many apple trees there are on that mountain? Just be patient, I’ll pick some apples.
The young man said this and ran to the mountain.
The girl waited until Zhang Cai walked away, put on her hat and shouted:
- Hat, hat, take me home quickly!
As soon as she said this, she immediately rose into the sky.
Her hat brought her neither further nor closer, straight into the house. Meanwhile, the young man picked apples and returned. He looks - both the girl and the hat have disappeared. He realized then that he had fallen for a deception. And it was already getting dark. On the mountains, fierce animals howled and roared. Zhang Cai was scared, and he climbed a tall tree. Soon the moon came out. Zhang Tsai sits on a tree, looks - a monkey and a fox walk past, talking:
Monkey says:
- Brother fox! Have you seen it? We came across two trees along the way: one peach, the other plum. So know this: whoever tastes peaches will become ugly, like you and me, and whoever eats plums will turn into a man, stately and handsome.
Zhang Cai heard everything from the first to the last word.
Finally it began to get light, the wolves, tigers, leopards - they all hid. Zhang Cai got down from the tree and went to the mountain. Suddenly he smells it - it smells like peaches, it’s so delicious! He turned his nose and said:
- It smells so delicious! How sweet it smells!
The young man senses where the scent is coming from and goes in that direction. I approached the tree, and it was all hung with peaches, rosy, juicy, each the size of a fist. The young man remembered the monkey’s words and immediately realized what kind of tree it was. The young man broke off a branch, there were two peaches on it, and continued on his way. Suddenly he smells a plum. He found a plum tree, the plums on it were blue and shiny. I immediately realized what kind of tree it was. He extended his hand, picked a berry, give it to him, he thinks, I’ll check whether the monkey said the truth or not. He wiped the peach with his hand, took a bite, the juice couldn’t be swallowed! I took three bites - no peach. He began to wipe his mouth with his hand, looked - hair had grown on his hand, looked at the other - hair too, touched his cheeks - shaggy. The young man felt disgusted, he took a plum, let’s eat quickly. I looked at my hand and the hair was all gone. Suddenly they didn’t disappear from your face? The young man rushed to the sea, looked into the clear water - hey! It’s as if it wasn’t him there, but someone else. It’s very good and pretty!
The night passed, Zhang Cai hid himself in a tree, and suddenly he looked and a white-bearded old man came up to him and said:
- Do you want to go home? Close your eyes and grab the hem of my robe, just tightly!
Zhang Cai closed his eyes and grabbed the hem of his robe. The wind began to hum and whistle. A moment has not passed, and the young man is already home. Zhang Cai wanted to thank the old man, but before he knew it, he disappeared. The mother sits on the threshold, crying bitterly.
Zhang Cai approached his mother and called:
- Mom!
The next day Zhang Cai went to the landowner's garden. He jumped over the wall, pushed the branches apart, and looked at the landowner’s daughter and her maid admiring the flowers. He put the branch with peaches between the other branches and quietly walked away. And the girl played and played, and suddenly she smelled a wonderful smell that hit her nose.
She asks the maid:
- Where does this smell so delicious?
The maid went to look for it and looked at it: a peach, the maid was amazed, she screamed, took it, and brought it to the mistress. The girl looks and marvels. Where do ripe peaches come from in the spring? And the peach is fragrant and fresh. The girl's mouth began to water. She didn’t bother wiping it off, she took one, two, three bites - delicious! I ate a whole peach. Instantly the hair grew on his face, and on his body too, his mouth stretched forward, and his eyes, just look, would pop out. The maid was frightened and screamed:
- Werewolf, werewolf!
The landowner and his wife jumped out at the scream and looked - their daughter had disappeared somewhere. No joke! They crashed to the ground and died.
Zhang Tsai heard about this, ran to the landowner, opened the cabinets, opened the painted chests, took the hoe that was digging for silver, and the hat that was flying across the sky.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru