Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. The husband was a quiet man: modest, knew various crafts, worked tirelessly, and they lived little by little - neither shaky nor shaky. However, time and worries had silvered his hair and beard so that at forty years old he looked like a very old man. One day his wife was going to the bathhouse. I came there, and there was an extraordinary bustle there. What's happened? It turns out that now the wife of the court astrologer will come here to wash.
The mistress of the bathhouse disperses the washing women in different directions.
“You can’t do it here, you can’t do it here,” she says.
And so, to the accompaniment of music and singing, the wife of the court astrologer arrives at the bathhouse with a whole retinue of women. It goes without saying that the mistress of the bathhouse, in the hope of earning more money, does not know where to seat her and shows her various honors.
This man's wife was extremely offended by all this. Nevertheless, she washed herself honorably in the bathhouse, and then came home and in the evening declared to her husband:
“Tell you what, hubby, either become a court astrologer, or leave me.”
“For mercy, wife,” he replies, “I don’t even know how to write, so what should I do for the position of court astrologer?” There would be bread and salt.
And the wife pesters:
- No, husband, as you wish, just become a court astrologer, otherwise I will not live with you.
However, the woman was so beautiful that the poor man cannot refuse her and begins to look for some way out. He goes to a coffee shop, takes a cup of coffee and becomes lost in thought. At this time, one of his friends approaches him.
- Listen! What are you thinking about? - he asks, and he tells him what and how.
And this friend was just a friend of the owner of the bathhouse.
“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something,” he consoles him and immediately goes to his sweetheart.
When he told her everything, she said:
- Let that person come to the bathhouse on such and such a day, sit opposite him, lay out a skin in front of him, on it - paper, a pen, an inkwell and other things, and then let him begin to draw and write, as if he were a fortuneteller. We will arrange his case.
As soon as she said this, the friend goes and informs that person. And the poor guy not only doesn’t know how to write, he doesn’t even know how to hold a pen in his hand. There is nothing to be done, he does as the mistress of the bathhouse ordered. Be that as it may, everyone who enters and leaves the bathhouse takes him for a learned man - a genuine Khoja.
That day, the wife of the court astrologer again comes to the bathhouse. And the bathhouse attendant, as the hostess of the bathhouse taught her earlier, while washing, steals her expensive ring. The hostess takes the ring, buries it in the corner in the trash, and she tells our fortuneteller about it.
Long story short, the wife of the court astrologer soon notices that her ring is missing.
- Ah! - she screams.
Everyone in the bathhouse is worried, and the hostess calmly remarks:
- Khanym-effendi, the Hodja is sitting opposite the door to the bathhouse. Let's let him tell his fortune - he reveals all sorts of secrets very well.
Let's not delay! Our fortuneteller, scratching the paper, reports:
- Khanym-effendi, the ring is in the corner, among the garbage.
The mistress pretends that she knows nothing, ordering the maids to look for the ring in the trash. Well, it’s a well-known fact - the ring is found! Hodja is given expensive gifts; He goes home joyfully, but his wife wants nothing more than the position of astrologer.
Several days passed after this, and suddenly Sul-tan-Khanym’s ring disappeared in the palace. And one of the slaves stole it.) They look for him here and there, but they don’t find him.
And just on that day, the wife of the court astrologer comes to the palace to the sultana. Hearing that the sultana’s ring was missing, she says:
“I, too, once lost a ring, but one Khoja immediately pointed out where it was. This is a very knowledgeable person, order him to be brought. - And indicates where it can be found.
The Sultan immediately sends a message to the mistress of the bathhouse.
And our poor man was so afraid of his wife that he spent all his days at the bathhouse.
And suddenly the palace people come and take him away. Let's shorten our story, otherwise we'll probably get into trouble! The Sultana orders:
- Hey, Khoja, find my ring. The deadline is until the morning. If you don’t find it, head off your shoulders!
And the hodja is locked in a separate room.
Night is coming. The slave who stole the ring thinks: “Now I’m lost!” And sleep does not close her eyes. “Whatever happens, I’ll go and ask the Khoja for help.” Quietly she enters the Hodja's room. And the Khoja was shaking with fear more than a slave. “Oh, horror, isn’t it morning already?” - he thinks. And at this time the slave falls at his feet and hands.
- Sorry, oh Khoja, I have the ring. If I get caught, it will be my last day. “My life depends on you,” she asks and begs him.
Khoja thinks to himself: “Allah sent me luck today too!” - and he says to her:
- Well, well, daughter, what doesn’t happen in the world! Don't worry, we'll figure something out. “Then, after hesitating a little, he adds: “Listen, daughter, let the goose swallow the ring, but only so that no one sees or knows, and break his leg.” Go, don't be afraid.
The girl leaves and does as he said.
As soon as morning came, the Sultan sent for the Khoja.
- Oh Shah, I was wondering all night; I threw sand and I saw birds. Order everyone to be released into the garden, no matter how many chickens, roosters, geese, turkeys and other birds there are in the yard,” says the hoja.
The Sultan immediately ordered all the birds to be released into the garden.
And so - the Khoja in front, and the padishah and many people behind - go out into the garden; Khoja holds a pen in his hand and constantly draws and writes something on paper. Noticing a lame goose, he says:
“Oh, Shah, order this goose to be caught and slaughtered: he has a ring in his stomach.”
And then they grab that goose, cut it, a ring falls out of its stomach, and everyone freezes in surprise.
And then the Sultan, walking through the garden, caught a grasshopper.
“Come on, Khoja, what’s in my hand?” Find out! - he asks, and the Khoja’s breath caught in fear.
“Oh, Shah, you can’t lie,” he replies, blushing and cowering, and, about to reveal his tricks, whispers: “Eh, grasshopper, once you jump, jump twice, you’ll get caught on the third!”
The Sultan unclenches his hand, and there is a grasshopper there. Everyone clapped their hands, and Khoja was surprised at himself. “When Allah helps, it helps!”
The Sultan liked all this very much.
- And there is so much wisdom! - he says, immediately makes the Khoja his court astrologer, bestows him with various gifts, and his wife achieves the fulfillment of her desire.
They have reached their goal, I hear
Let's climb onto the roof.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru