Once upon a time, there lived an old man and an old woman, the poorest of the poor, in their village. They never had warm clothes or hearty food. But this is not what they considered grief. They grieved that they did not have a child, that the carefree laughter of children did not ring in their house...
And then, in their declining years, joy came to them: they had a boy, healthy, cheerful, beautiful, like a ray of sunshine.
They had a boy, but what should they dress him in, what should they feed him?
“We’ll take our son around in rags, people will laugh at us,” the old man said to his wife. “Let’s go further into the forest, maybe we’ll meet our happiness there...”
They built a small house in a dense forest, where no human had ever set foot, and settled in it. One day an old man went into the forest to get some prey, and the old woman was sitting at home, nursing her son, and singing a song to him. She took the boy out to play on the threshold and left him alone, she went into the house for something. And a bear ran out of the thicket, grabbed the child and carried away. The old woman was killing herself, crying, screaming... But what was the point? You can't bring the boy back!
The old man came home in the evening, and in the house there was such grief that you would not wish on your evil enemy. They grieved together and decided:
- We won’t leave the forest anywhere. Where our only child died, let death befall us too.
Meanwhile, the bear brought the boy into his den and began to look after him like a bear cub: he fed him plenty of hazelnuts, berries and honey, and put him to sleep on his chest. When the boy grew up, the bear took him to a forest clearing, chose a stronger young oak tree and ordered:
- Come on, try it, pull it out by the roots! The boy grabbed the trunk with both hands,
he pulled once or twice, but only tilted it, but could not pull it out of the ground.
“Apparently, it’s not time yet!” the bear grumbled.
Several years have passed. And again the bear took the boy to the clearing and ordered him to drag the oak tree out of the ground. And the tree straightened out and became stronger. The boy also gained more strength, but still, no matter how hard he tried, he could not uproot the tree, only broke off the top.
“It’s early, brother, it’s early!” the bear grumbled this time too.
But the boy became a strong and dexterous young man. The bear led him into the clearing for the third time. The oak rose high, spreading strong branches. But the young man also accumulated strength. He grabbed the trunk with both hands and tore the oak out of the ground like a blade of grass.
“Now is the time!” the bear rejoiced. “Now, my son, I will reveal to you who you are.” Many years ago I was wandering through the forest and saw a small house. A woman sat on the threshold with a child and sang a sad song to him. She grieved that she had nothing to feed her little son. I listened for a long time, and I felt sorry for the mother and child. When she left, I grabbed the boy and took him away. This boy is you! I raised you, educated you, made you powerful. Now return to your father and mother, be their helper and support. Go, learn human customs and always remember: evil entails evil, good gives birth to good!
The young man said “thank you” to the bear for his science, returned to his father and mother, they returned to their village, and began to live and get on with their lives. They themselves did not know grief and helped the poor in need.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru