Once upon a time there lived two stonemasons. From year to year, from dawn to dusk, stone was cut in the mountains. That autumn, the ninth moon had just passed, the tenth had arrived, in the mountains the leaves had fallen from the trees, and the chrysanthemums had withered. The masters gnaw on dry crackers and wash them down with cold spring water.
The stonecutter nicknamed Zhang Er—Zhang the Second—sighed and said:
- The only life for the poor is that in the sixth moon, and in winter, in the cold, it’s just torment.
Wang San - Wang the Third didn’t say anything at first, he just frowned, thought and thought, then looked at his partner and said:
“I want, brother, to go to distant lands, otherwise you’ve been toiling here for a whole year, but you’re still poor and naked.”
Zhang Second did not hesitate and immediately agreed:
“You’re saying the point, let’s go today!”
The stonemasons have neither land nor a house, much less treasures or any kind of jewelry - and even more so. As they say: there is no one to drag on the reins, there is nothing to hang on the yoke. No sooner said than done. The fees are short. We decided and hit the road.
They met shoemakers on the road and asked:
- Where are you hurrying, brothers stonemasons?
Zhang Second responds:
“Well,” says Van Third, we need to go to distant lands, maybe we can earn money there for food and clothes.
The shoemakers heard this, rejoiced and said:
“We bend our backs all day, sew shoes, but have nothing to put on ourselves.” Let's go, you and I.
They walked further, walked, walked, and suddenly they met two women who sewed and embroidered for the rich.
Women ask:
-Where are you hurrying, brothers?
The shoemaker answers them:
“Well, the stonemasons say we need to go to distant lands, maybe we can earn money there for food and clothes.”
The women heard this, rejoiced and said:
“We bend our backs every day, we sew dresses, but our clothes are old and shabby.” Let's go, you and I.
They moved on. They go and every time they meet all sorts of masters. The further they go from their native places, the more people come with them: carpenters and blacksmiths, masters of all crafts. At the very least ten times a hundred. There will be several hundred stonemasons alone!
The masters are coming - a mighty avalanche - forward and forward. I don’t even know what places we wandered into. In a day, at least we would have met a village or come across a person. And it will get dark here soon. They saw a huge and dry tree to the side of the road. Wang San stopped and said:
“It’s better for us to spend the night in a hollow than in a field in the open air.”
Everyone liked his words. They climbed into the hollow. Hey! What a thick tree! What a hefty hollow! There were countless people who went to sleep in it! Not a thousand - more than a thousand. And if necessary, another half thousand will fit. No one even thinks about the fact that the belly is empty. They sleep, snore, sniffle and whistle.
But it must be said that from the place where the masters slept, at most a few thousand li away, lived one family. The hostess was just preparing dinner at that time. She could only hold the donuts over the steam for a little while longer, but the firewood is about to run out.
So she says to her son:
- Run behind the house quickly, bring an armful of grass, something drier!
The boy obeyed and went out the gate. Instantly I found myself in the place where the artisans were sleeping. He looked at the tree and thought: “This is good for kindling today. Since when has it been dry? He thought so, strained himself, and broke the tree. There was such a crash that the craftsmen all woke up at once - they thought it was being fired from a catapult - and fell out of the hollow onto the ground. The boy saw the little people and was so happy that he couldn’t even tell. Squatted down, let's look at them. He could not even imagine that such miracles were happening in the Middle Kingdom.
And then a firefly appeared, flying back and forth, shining, so brightly, brighter than ten thousand candles combined. From this light, the boy’s face turned red, the black hair on his forehead seemed to shine with oil. He is huge in stature, but looks kind. The masters look at him, they are amazed, they cannot utter a word, only Wang San the stonemason remembers that he needs to help his comrades. He raised his head up as he shouted:
- Hey, giant boy! I see you have a good heart. We didn't even have a grain of rice in our mouths today. Do you have anything to eat?
The boy heard the stonecutter shout and said:
- Wait! I'll run home immediately! My mother bakes steamed donuts and sent me to get some firewood.
The boy jumped up from the ground, pulled out an armful of thick reeds in one fell swoop, and ran home. He came running and looked - the fire in the hearth had not yet gone out.
Now the donuts are ready. The boy did not forget his promise, asked his mother for one, and took it to the craftsmen. Only then did he return home and begin to eat himself.
The masters were delighted. And how can you not be happy! The donut is huge, the size of a hill! And the white one - well, it’s like snow! Yes, even if there were a hundred times a thousand masters here, they wouldn’t be able to eat this donut in three years and six moons. They don’t even know which end to approach it from. They finally started eating. We ate for many days and ate a small hole. Look - there is vegetable filling in the middle. How can you not taste the filling? They began to push and shove each other, climb into the middle, finally got in and began to feast on the filling. Vegetables are aromatic and fresh! The masters have never had the opportunity to eat such delicious donuts.
They live for themselves, get along, there is silence and peace all around. We lived for many days. But then one day, just when they were having lunch with their donuts, there was a roar - it was as if the sky had collapsed. The ground under the donut began to shake. Wang San called the boys and they went to see what had happened. We looked out slowly. Ay-ya! What a wonder! The rain is pouring down with all its might, only drops are not falling from the sky - streams are pouring, and not in hundreds - in thousands - a silver waterfall is falling from the sky, sparkling. It was as if there was no land - the sea-ocean spilled around. In the middle there is a donut floating and mountains of transparent crystal - there are a lot of them. And truly a marvelous miracle! The masters look, look, and suddenly they see more mountains rising out of the water, huge, tall. One mountain is floating straight towards them, and the next moment it will collide with a donut. The masters screamed in fear. At the same moment, the mountain flew into the donut. Hey! There was no rumble, no noise, the donut remained intact as it was, but the mountain broke into pieces about it. Wang San and his comrades rejoiced, where had the sadness gone! We realized that this was not a mountain, just a simple bubble that happens on water.
So the rain got tired, stopped pouring, and carried the donut into the big river. Huge waves move along the river, whirlpools turn the water, the donut sways from side to side, the masters’ heads are already spinning, circles are floating before their eyes. They strained themselves, pulled up a leaf that was floating on the water, and plugged the hole in the donut with that leaf so that the waves would not break in.
Masters are sailing along the river, but they don’t know where, they can’t see it. Even Wang San, who is already experienced, cannot really say how much time has passed - there is nothing to measure time with.
And then one fine day the masters sensed that the donut was no longer pumping, they listened and there was silence all around. Where did they go? The craftsmen were so happy that you can’t even tell, they all grabbed the sheet at once and pulled. And then a warm ray of sunshine slipped into the hole. The blue sky sparkles, light white clouds float across the sky - silver ingots. The masters became sad again, they began to worry: the donut did not stick to the shore, it did not stick to solid ground - it was floating on the sea again. And the sea is a blue sky, only wider, bigger, smoother and cleaner.
The masters look at the sea - it’s big and beautiful, but everything is heavy in their souls - you can’t sail on the sea forever. I don’t even know how much time has passed, suddenly a strong wind came out of nowhere, the waves raised high, and not even an hour later their donut would hit an underwater rock. Wang San was alarmed, but did not lose heart, did not hang his head and spoke calmly, neither quickly nor slowly:
- What's the use of being sad? Although the sea is large, there is a shore. There was a branch here somewhere, a wave carried it into the donut. Let's make oars out of it. There are a thousand of us! What is there to be afraid of? Will we really not row to the shore?
The masters cheered up and began to smile. The carpenters went to look at the branch. Good! The thinnest branches on it are thicker than an ordinary trunk. The carpenters began to saw and chop. Soon they made enough oars to count them.
The master took the oars in his hands and began rowing. They row - they don’t take a break.
And they row at dawn, when the sky lights up scarlet, and at night, when the stars sparkle over the sea water.
And then one day the night came, the moon rose, the sea was calm - just like a smooth mirror. Here the masters saw a long black shadow - either a shore or an island. We were delighted! After all, they were carried across the sea for so many days! And even though they were tired, they began to row even harder, and the closer the shadow got, the higher it seemed. The craftsmen thought it was a seashore. Yes, apparently, he's pretty cool. How will you climb on it? And from the very top something shines! There’s only a little more swimming left, now they’ll land on the shore. E-va! What a wonder! The shore suddenly moved. The masters took a closer look: and it was not a shore at all - it was a huge fish. Before the masters had time to escape, the fish opened its mouth and swallowed the donut along with the masters. Like a date, the donut slipped into the fish’s belly. The fish was not satisfied, it wagged its tail, it swallowed a whole steamship, loaded to the brim with wool, it was not full again, it swallowed two steamships with linen - it satisfied half its hunger.
It’s scary in the fish’s belly, it’s dark; in the dead of night, when the sky is still cloudy, and even lighter. The masters sit face to face, but cannot see each other. Zhang Er sighed here—I have never sighed like that since I left home. He was very worried. He got up, walked a few steps, bumped into Wang San and said sadly:
“It’s better to rush around the sea for ten years, which glitters under the moon, than to sit for a day in a fish’s belly.”
Wang San laughed and asked:
- Why are you guys hanging your heads? Have you forgotten that donuts contain pork fat? Now let's light it, and it will become light.
For a fire to burn in a fish's belly, no one has ever seen anything like it. And the artisans lit the pork fat, and it became light, like white day. The masters rejoiced: they had just been blind, but now they were sighted again. They look at each other, laugh, talk. A little time passed, but they were still filled with joy. They saw two large steamships with canvas near the pampushka. Truly joy!
And so their clothes were all shabby, and while they were on the road, they were completely worn out. Everyone wants to try new rituals. Although there was no one among the masters of Wang San’s ingenuity, he could not say how many dresses could be sewn from the material that was on the ships. If one of the masters remembered his native home, the clean river, the red flowers, he only became sad: at that time they had nothing to eat, nothing to wear. And they set to work with a calm heart.
While the artisans were busy in the belly of the fish, many things happened. The fish was driven to the seashore by the waves, then the kite saw it, went down to the water itself, opened its beak, and swallowed the fish. He flapped his wings, soared into the sky, then flew to some roof. Well, it’s beautiful here! If you want to tell, you won’t be able to. The sun shines gently and sends pink rays into the most secluded corners. The kite shook off its feathers and screamed. And in the yard a girl was sitting with embroidery. She raised her head, saw a kite, took a patterned slipper, and threw it at the kite. And the kite spread its wings, just about to take off. The toe of a shoe hit him right in the wing and got stuck. The kite cannot fly.
The girl looks at the fat kite and thinks: “I’ll cook it for my father, let him enjoy it.” The girl gathered her threads and needles, took the bird, and went into the house.
And by that time the masters were dressed in everything new, happy, smiling. As they say, joy for the whole sky, joy for the whole earth. They run, jump, sing, as if on a holiday. The girl pulled a fish out of the belly of the kite and heard someone laughing inside. The girl marveled: where did human voices come from? The fish seems like a small fish to her. She carefully ripped open the fish's belly, and there were three steamships and a donut, with a thousand people in the donut. And during this time, the masters of such miracles have seen enough that they were not the least bit afraid of that girl. Wang San even politely thanked the girl, told him why they left their homeland, and told about the troubles that happened to them on the way. The girl took pity on them and told them to settle here forever.
The craftsmen all rushed into the yard at once, they really wanted to look at the blue sky, at the clear sun. And even more than that, I wanted to listen to the birds singing and the wind rustling in the trees. The craftsmen are running around, fussing, they've been running for half a day, but they can't reach the door. Suddenly they look - two mountains cling to each other, standing side by side. The masters picked at the mountain once and tasted it - it was sweet, well, just dough made from rice flour. It turns out that the girl dropped two grains of rice.
The masters climbed the mountain-grains, climbed, I don’t know how much time passed before they were defeated. And then it got dark, and the masters couldn’t see what places were here, so they had to go back. Half the night passed until they came to that girl again.
By that time her father had returned home. He has a white beard, laughs cheerfully, and is obviously kind. The daughter told him everything that happened, the old man did not eat, he began to wait for the masters and have dinner with them. The masters and the owner began to work on the kite. Delicious, tender! The girl sits aside, spins red wool and says:
“Father, the red balls on your hat are completely worn out.” I got some wool out of the fish’s belly today, let’s make some new ones!
The girl took all the wool that was on the ship, made two huge beautiful balls out of it, and attached it to her father’s hat.
At this time the masters had just finished dinner. The old man looked at the red balls, put on his hat, and promised to take the masters with him tomorrow, take them to different places, let them have a look. The next day, the old man called Wang San, called all the thousand masters, and ordered them to climb on his shoulders. I put on a hat with new balls, took a few steps, and found myself at the gate. The old man carried the craftsmen into the garden. From afar, the masters heard how gloriously the wild plum sings. And when they came to the garden, they realized that the bees were buzzing. On the dark green grass, on the light green leaves, on the red flowers, on the thin willows - dewdrop pearls are everywhere. The smallest ones are larger and rounder than the moon in the sky. So the dewdrops sparkle, they shimmer, sometimes they turn red, sometimes they turn purple. The craftsmen sit on the old man’s shoulders, look down, and it seems to them that these are not dewdrops, but a thousand times a thousand, ten thousand times ten thousand moons sparkling among multi-colored clouds.
The old man and the craftsmen approached the orchard. People smelled the delicious smell of apples, their mouths began to water, they wanted to try those apples, the old man would certainly treat them to them. But then suddenly, out of nowhere, a black eagle flew in. He really liked the balls on the old man’s hat; he had never seen anything like them in his life. The eagle spread its wings, grabbed the balls in its beak, and flew south. The old man got alarmed and ran after him. And the masters were also worried, they were afraid that the old man might accidentally drop them. They were hidden in the folds of his clothes, only sticking their heads out, looking around.
The eagle flies faster and faster, the old man behind him. He runs and runs, but never catches up. Then he suddenly bent down, picked up a large mountain from the ground - it took three days to climb, three nights to climb to get to the top - and threw that mountain at the eagle. The mountain did not hit the eagle and fell onto the southern slope of another mountain - even higher and larger. Then suddenly a voice rang out, so loud that the sky became frightened and the earth trembled:
- Who threw a grain of sand into my cup?
The old man heard a voice, stepped over a huge and tall mountain, and there the old man was sitting on the ground, three times larger than this, eating hard-cooked rice. That old man took the mountain with chopsticks, threw it out of the cup, and began to eat again. And the old man, who carried the masters on his shoulders, began to apologize and said:
- Forgive me, elder brother, I was chasing the eagle, I wanted to hit it with a stone, but it ended up in your cup. Don't be angry!
The elder not only did not get angry, on the contrary, he invited the old man to eat with him. It's just that his voice is so loud.
But the old man didn’t sit here and help himself, he didn’t say anything more, he ran on, chasing the eagle. He was just about to catch up with him, but then a mountain grew in front of the old man, and for him it was huge and tall. White, smooth, not a blade of grass on it, not a tree! The old man managed to overcome it with difficulty and barely reached the top. The masters look: sweat is rolling down the old man’s face. It’s not for nothing that they say: “Going uphill is easy, going downhill is difficult.” The old man began to go down, could not resist, and rolled into the gorge. He looks - there are steep stone walls all around. There is no way for an old man to climb them - everything slides down. The masters are watching - they won’t get out of here unless they grow wings. They looked at Wang San, he also frowned, did not straighten his eyebrows, did not know what to do.
Ay-ya! What a wonderful thing happened! The stone walls moved, the gorge began to shake, its bottom turned upside down towards the sky, well, just like a basin. An old man fell out of the gorge, well, the masters held on tightly, otherwise they would have fallen to the ground. They look, look closely, look - the guy in front of them will be several hundred times taller than their old man. The guy stood up. Heh! This is not a gorge. In the giant's belly button, that's where the old man landed.
The giant sat down and rubbed his eyes, apparently he had just woken up. The old man tells him:
“I beg you, elder brother, look where the black eagle flew, otherwise I can’t see it!”
The giant jumped up, folded his hands like a house, looked south and shouted:
“You’re late, old man, you’re late!” The eagle has already flown into the Southern Gate of Heaven! What a sly one! I was afraid that you would catch up with him, so he laid an egg and rolled down the Southern Gate of Heaven with it!
The old man heard this, stamped his feet in frustration, and began beating his chest with his fists. It's a pity for his masters. And the giant thought and thought and said:
- Stand on my palm, I’ll lift you to the sky, to the very Southern Gate, maybe you’ll move that egg to the side?
That’s what the old man did, climbed into the giant’s palm, and he raised his hand, and at that very moment the old man and the craftsmen found themselves ten thousand miles above the ground. They raised their heads and looked - in the purple clouds there was a round door, firmly seated like an eagle's egg, golden rays radiating from the door in all directions. The old man pushed the egg, but the eye did not move. The old man began to spin, and tears began to fall from his eyes. Wang San talked with the masters and said:
- Don’t be sad, venerable one! Now let's drill into this egg, we'll ascend to the sky, we'll find the black eagle!
The craftsmen got to work here. They hit the chisels with hammers: cheng-cheng. Only the shell of an eagle egg is hard, harder than stone. If they hit, sparks fly in all four directions, if they hit again, sparks fly again. But Wang San and his fellow masters did not give up. The chisels became dull, the blacksmiths set the forge, let's beat the chisels. The handles of the hammers broke off, the carpenters took axes and saws and made new handles. They finally broke through the eagle's egg. The white and yolk spread on the ground. From the protein, Lake Qinghai turned out to be pure and pure. From the yolk - the Yellow River, yellow and fast. They won’t dry out in a thousand years, they won’t dry out in ten thousand years. A thousand years have flowed, six thousand years will flow. And the hardworking and skilled craftsmen went to heaven with the old man.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru