Once upon a time there lived an old man. From his late wife he left a bald son, and then his father married a young neighbor.
How much time passed, but it so happened that the young wife liked one man and became her lover. Every day, when the husband went to work in the field, the wife prepared the most delicious dishes and treated her lover. And the poor old man had to be content with dry churek, cheese and sour milk.
That was until the bald son grew up.
One day, when the father went into the field, the son was sitting on the roof and suddenly saw an unfamiliar man sneaking into the house. “Who could it be?” - thought the bald man and pressed his ear to the chimney. He heard cheerful laughter and the smell of fried meat. And the son heard the words of his lover:
“I’ll go to the field now, and you come after.” I have two bulls: one is red and the other is red with white spots. They can be seen from a distance.
When he left, the bald man ran to his father in the field. There were two red bulls. The son took sour milk and created white spots on one of the bulls.
Soon they saw a dressed-up woman with a large bundle coming towards them. When she came closer, the father exclaimed in surprise:
- Why are you so dressed up, wife, and what are you carrying in your bundle?
“What could there be here other than food for you,” said the wife and began to untie the knot.
The husband was surprised at the dishes that his wife brought him, but he ate with great pleasure.
On the second day, the father went to mow hay, and the bald son climbed onto the roof again.
And again the lover came, and the bald man overheard his words:
— Today all the villagers went to mow hay. You can easily find my site. The apple peel will show you the way.
The lover went out, and the bald man followed, picked up all the peels and scattered them along the road to his father’s hayfield.
The old man was even more surprised when he again saw his wife with a large bundle.
- What happened to you, wife? — he was surprised. “You decided to completely spoil us.”
“Who should I spoil, except my beloved husband,” answered the wife and began to untie the knot.
The father and son ate a hearty meal, but the wife did not take a single bite into her mouth. On the third day, the bald son again began to eavesdrop and realized that they wanted to destroy his father.
“Tomorrow I will go to the next village to the mullah and ask him for advice on how to get rid of the old man,” said the wife. The lover agreed.
The next day, early in the morning, the bald man ran to the neighboring village to the mullah and said:
- O honorable mullah! Here are three fogs for you and for this do me a small favor.
“I’ll be happy to do it, son,” said the delighted mullah and prepared to listen.
- Let me wear your clothes for one hour.
The mullah did not see anything wrong with this and gave the bald man his turban, robe and staff.
Soon the wife of the brigade appeared and in tears began to beg the mullah to help her get rid of her old husband.
“Here’s what, dear,” said the mullah. “As soon as you come home, slaughter the largest bull and feed its meat to your husband and son.” They will finish eating the last piece and fall dead.
The beauty was delighted, gave the mullah three tomans and quickly went home.
When Uzden returned home, he saw a slaughtered bull and a boiling cauldron full of meat.
- What have you done, stupid woman? Why did you slaughter our best bull? - exclaimed the old man.
“You yourself are a fool,” answered the wife. “Look how thin you have become.” And the son is good - just bones and skin! So I want to feed you a little.
The old man calmed down and praised Allah for giving him such a caring wife.
And the wife became surprisingly affectionate and every day treated her husband to the most delicious morsels. Finally, she put the remaining meat into the cauldron and went after her lover, so that later she could hide the corpses with his help.
- Father! Don’t ask me anything yet, but I ask you, listen to me,” the son whispered. “When you swallow the last piece of meat, pretend to be dead.”
Soon the wife returned. And when the last pieces were eaten, father and son fell to the floor screaming.
“Come in, come in quickly,” the woman shouted, and together with her lover she dragged the corpses under the ottoman.
Then she put the oil on the fire to cook! halva. When the oil in the cauldron began to boil, the son shouted: “Stop the thieves!”, jumped out from under the ottoman and poured boiling oil over his lover and stepmother. They started running and, they say, are still running. Well, what about our fellow? He got rid of the scab and became known as the smartest guy in the village.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru