One day a man came to the village who called himself a magician. He settled in the headman's house.
In the evening, when the headman’s family gathered for tea, the magician made the following speech:
- I have a magic towel. If you blindfold them, you can see anything, from hell to heaven!
The headman's son doubted:
– If I really see the underworld, what then? he asked.
And the magician answered him:
“If you see it, then you will pay me a hundred ja, and if you don’t see it, then I must give you a hundred.”
And in the presence of the headman and several other respected villagers, the disputants sealed their agreement with signatures.
Then the magician took a towel and slowly began to blindfold the headman’s son with it, saying:
– If you are the son of respected parents, you will definitely see the underworld!
The headman's son waited patiently for the promised vision, but it never came. He realized that the magician had deceived him, and began to think like this: “If I say that I saw the underworld, then I will have to give a hundred dollars; and if I claim that I didn’t see anything, I’ll offend my parents.”
And so he thought, and so, but still did not dare to offend his parents, and therefore he had to pay a hundred ja.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru