Once a poor man ordered shoes from a shoemaker and, due to his poverty, could not pay him for a long time. The shoemaker is tired of reminding the poor man of his debt, so he says to him:
- Listen, Jeantoinel, do you want me to help you repay your debt without paying a single sou?
- How can you not want to!
- Well then, let's agree this way. From now on, you must remain silent all the time and answer all questions and inquiries with two words: “bernik, bernak.” And until I myself lift this ban from you, remain silent! Remember?
- Of course, I remember. Repeat to yourself the same thing: “bernik, bernak” - that’s all, - the poor man nodded his head joyfully and went to his home.
He came, and his wife asked him grumpily:
- Where have you been, my dear?
- Bernik! — her husband humbly answers her.
- Where? - she was surprised.
- Bernak!
- Oh, fathers! What's wrong with you? Have you gone crazy? - the wife clasped her hands.
But she didn’t hear anything else other than “bernik, bernak”. What to do here? She rushed to her neighbor and started complaining:
- Oh, woe, woe! Misfortunes are pouring down on my unfortunate head!.. - Did something wrong happen? - the neighbor asked curiously.
- Well, of course! My husband seems to have gone crazy.
- It can’t be! After all, he was completely sane. You were probably mistaken.
- How wrong I was, if he forgot how to speak like a human being. Know yourself repeating the same thing: “bernik, bernak!” And you won’t get anything else from him! Come to us, and you’ll see for yourself that I wasn’t mistaken.
The neighbor agreed to visit them - after all, this is a whole event in the village! She came to Jeantoinel and said:
- Good health, neighbor! How is life possible?
- Bernik!
- Why are you talking nonsense?
- Bernak!
The neighbor never got another answer from Jeantoinel. The women then decided to go to the parish priest. Maybe he will heal the unfortunate man and restore his sanity?
Jeantoinel's wife came running to the priest and - bang! - at the feet:
- Your Reverence! Your Reverence! Come quickly to our home! After all, my husband has gone completely crazy!
- Have you really gone crazy? “Somehow I can’t believe it,” the priest doubted.
“Think for yourself, your reverence, how can a person be in his right mind if he says the same thing: “bernik, bernak”?! “That’s it... Well, I know the treasured word, I’ll cure him quickly!” Mister curé loved to boast. “Only it will cost ten francs,” he added right away, because even more than boasting, the curé loved to receive money.
The poor woman sighed heavily, but agreed. And then the priest came to Jeantoinel’s house and said:
- God help you, Jeantoinel!
- Bernik! - Jeantoinel answers.
“What are you muttering, my son?”
- Bernak! - Jeantoinel answers.
No matter how hard the priest tried to reason with Jeantoinel, he heard nothing worthwhile from him except these two words. And soon the whole neighborhood already knew that poor Jeantoinel had lost his mind.
One day the priest was walking through the village and met a shoemaker.
“Good afternoon, your reverence,” the shoemaker bowed to him.
- Hello, hello!
— What news in our parish, your reverence?
- None, my dear, except for one. You know, of course, that poor Jeantoinel has gone crazy?
— Are you crazy? - the shoemaker seemed surprised.
- Well, yes, I lost my mind. All he knows is that he repeats: “bernik, bernak.”
- Ha-ha-ha! Jeantoinel is as crazy as me or you, hey!
- Don't talk nonsense, my son!
- What nonsense is this, if he is completely sane!
- Why are you arguing with me! I'm willing to bet that Jeantoinel has gone crazy.
- And I say no! We bet?
- Come on... How much should we bet?
- For ten francs.
- Few! “Give me fifty,” Mister curé couldn’t resist.
- It's coming!
Having made the bet, the priest and the shoemaker immediately went to Jeantoinel. They came, and the shoemaker said:
- Hello, debtor! - And whispers in his ear: - You can talk now.
- Ugh! - Jeantoinel sighed with relief. “You haven’t come to me for a long time!” It seems that the shoes cost me much more than they were worth.
- Eh, nothing... Better ask how much they cost Mister curé.
The priest turned purple with annoyance, threw fifty francs on the table and left without saying goodbye.
And when they found out in the area how cleverly Mr. Curé had been caught, everyone laughed so much that, they say, it was heard further in Paris.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru