In one country there was a very cruel ruler who had an adult daughter. A certain poor man wanted to hire himself into the service of this nobleman. He wrote a letter to the nobleman and waited for him on the road, where he was passing on a mule, accompanied by his retinue. When the nobleman drove up to him, he began to ask that the nobleman be given his letter. The nobleman ordered his guard to take the letter and give it to him. In the letter, the young man asked to be taken into service and fed for his service. The nobleman asked the young man what he could do, and he replied that he could do any work. Then the nobleman felt sorry for this poor man, and he ordered the manager to make him a room servant.
One day, a nobleman, pleased with the efficiency and hard work of his servant, asked him:
- What's your name?
“Me,” he answered.
The next day his master's wife said to the young man:
“I still don’t know your name.” Tell me, what is your name?
“My lady, my name is Husband,” he answered with respect.
Then one day their daughter said to the servant:
- Tell me what your name is, so I can call you by name.
“My name is Father,” he answered her.
Some time passed, and the poor young man, from good food and even wearing new clothes, became very handsome, and it seemed as if he was the son of a nobleman. Therefore, the nobleman’s daughter began to talk with him, share her secrets with him, and finally she conceived from him.
When her father and mother realized that she was about to give birth, they asked her:
- Tell us the truth: who is the father of the unborn child?
“This servant,” she answered. “After all, you yourself, on the very first day he came to work for us, made him a room servant and treated him the same way as you treated us, your children.”
- She's right. We ourselves are to blame for everything. We have exalted him too much, they decided and, angry, ordered this servant to be tied hand and foot and taken to court so that the judge would decide on his punishment.
When the servant appeared before the judges, he was ordered to tell in detail about his offense and was asked:
- Do you admit your guilt?
- No. I, a poor man, was tied up for no reason. “I did not commit such an offense at all,” he answered them.
Then the judges ordered the servant to be put in prison for a while, and in order to quickly sort out this matter, they decided to invite the nobleman, his wife and their daughter on the appointed day.
When they all came to court, the judges called their daughter and asked her;
-Who should you have a child with?
“From the Father,” she answered.
Then they asked the nobleman:
-Who do you think your daughter should be born from?
- Of course, from Me, and from whom else! - he answered them.
Then the judges asked his wife:
- Tell us, who should your daughter give birth to?
And she answered:
- Of course, from the Husband, and from whom else!
Then the judges turned to the father and mother of this girl and said:
“Why did you bring this poor man here?” Did you want to put all the blame on him?! We decided this: for the fact that you tied him up and mocked him, you must pay him a reward. You, sir, have committed an offense that is punishable by law and condemned by holy scripture, and therefore must be imprisoned. This is our verdict.
So the poor man received the money and was released. That's what they say. It’s not for nothing that people say: “When you cut, it’s important how you hold the knife; when they judge, it is important what they say.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru