One miller's children had holes in their sieve. While one is thrusting a piece of food, another is getting hungry, and the third is already whining:
- Give me some bread, father! At least it's burnt!
“It’s better to fall through the earth than to live in such poverty,” the miller thinks. Before he had time to think, he was already standing in front of the gates of hell. He began to thump through those gates with an ax, and everything around him was already buzzing.
- Why are you making noise? – the devil attacked him.
– I’m going to build a church for you!
- Don’t, don’t build it, I’d rather give you a bag of money!
The devil gave him a full sack of gold, and the miller is drinking at the gate again. Another devil pops up:
-What do you want?
– I want to build a church!
- Don’t build it, I’d rather give you a bag of money!
The miller already has two bags of gold, but he knocks again and breaks out the boards. The third devil runs out:
- What do you want?
– I’m going to build a church!
- Don’t build it, I’ll give you a bag of money.
- When you give it, then I’ll leave!
He shouldered all three bags and left. He goes and catches up with the driver with empty carts. I threw the bags on the cart, sat down and started counting the money.
That's where it started!
The devils have come to their senses and are scratching behind their ears: we must give such a ton of money to the miller! The first devil rushed after the miller. He catches up and shouts:
- Stop, miller, this is not your money yet.
- And whose?
– Whoever runs faster gets the money!
- How so?
“I’m telling you: whoever runs to that mountain the fastest will get all the bags.”
“I’m too old to run in races,” the miller answers him, “over there under the bush my younger brother is sleeping, race with him!”
And under the bush the hare was sleeping.
- Get up, brother, let's run a race! - the devil shouts.
The hare jumped up, and while the devil was rubbing his eyes, there was already no trace of him. – The devil himself couldn’t catch up with this! - the devil cries, returning back to the inferno.
Another devil set off after the miller.
- Stop, miller, stop counting the money, it’s not yours yet.
- And whose?
- Let's see who can put who on their shoulder blades.
“I am a sick and hungry man, how can I compete with you?” Look, my old dad is walking around there, he’s well-fed, you can fight him!
And there the bear wandered, the fur on the back of its neck stood on end, growling with a menacing roar.
“Get up, grandfather, let’s fight,” the devil tells him.
As soon as the bear's paws were enough and he slammed to the ground, he barely rose to his feet. The devil returned to the inferno barely alive.
- Well, did you overcome it? - the devils ask him.
“Well,” he groans, “go on your own, maybe you can!”
The third devil catches up with the miller:
- Stop, miller, this is not your money yet!
- And whose?
- And the one who wins!
- What?
-Who can whistle louder?
The devil whistled and the miller could barely stand on his feet. I even broke out in a sweat, I don’t know what to do, what to do! He began to knock the rim off the wheel so as not to sit idle, and the devil asked:
-What do you need a rim for?
- We need it, brother!
- For what kind of trouble?
“I want to put it on your head so it doesn’t fall apart when I whistle.”
The devil didn’t wait, he ran away!
The biggest devil from the very bottom of hell came running after the miller. I caught up near the outskirts. The devil stopped the man and said:
“Come on, let’s play tag, whichever of us can throw more pigs that are grazing here over the fence, and he’ll get the money.”
While the miller was managing one skinny pig, the devil threw all the big and fat ones over the fence.
- Well, who is bigger? - the devil grins.
“I don’t know,” the miller answers, “I twisted everyone’s tails.” Let's count how many are yours and how many are mine.
They began to count, and all the pigs had corkscrew tails, only the skinny one had a straight tail. The devil had to return to the hell with nothing, and the miller got the money.
He fed the children to their fill. They lived happily ever after and forgot about poverty forever.
And the miller also had a daughter-bride. As soon as there was money in the house, the suitors showed up. The first one has been turned, the second one is coming. And behind him comes the third. She began to choose. I chose it. Her father celebrated her wedding as expected.
We began to mount the horses so that we could ride for the young man, and I climbed onto the mare. Suddenly my mare bucked, knocked me to the ground, and threw me here to you. Here I am! And at that wedding they did without me. For better or for worse, let’s go for a walk and have a lot of fun!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru