Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They lived for many years, but they had no children, and they were very sad about it.
One day the old man went to work, and the old woman stayed at home to cook dinner.
She began to sort out the beans for the soup, took one bean and said:
- Oh, if only we had a son, even as small as this little bean!
Before the old woman had time to say this, the bean immediately grew legs, arms, and a head, and she said in a thin voice:
- I am the boy Bebele - the bean and I will be your son!
The old woman was delighted and sewed the smallest pants and the smallest shirt for the boy Bebele that you could imagine. Then she cooked porridge in a thimble and fed it to Bebele. After that, she began to get ready to go somewhere.
-Where are you going, mother? - the boy asked Bebele.
The old woman replied:
“I’m going to take breakfast to your father in the workshop.”
“I’ll take him breakfast myself!” - said Bebele.
- But how will you carry it, son? After all, you are so small!
- Nothing, I’ll take it! Just tell me where to go.
The old woman told how to get to the workshop, then she put a piece of fish on a saucer, tied it in a scarf and gave it to Bebela. He took the bundle and ran.
On the way he saw an old beggar. The beggar sat sadly on a large stone.
Bebele approached him and asked:
- Why are you so sad, grandpa?
“Oh, boy Bebele,” said the beggar, “I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, I’m very hungry!”
Then Bebele handed him the bundle and said:
- Eat this fish! This is a very tasty fish.
The old beggar ate all the fish and left only the bones.
After this, Bebele ran home to get more fish and take it to his father.
He runs, and seven thieves come towards him.
They saw Bebele and were very happy. The oldest thief bent down, took it with two fingers, placed it on his palm and said:
- Hey! This boy will help us steal. He is so small that he can fit into any crack! Do you want to steal with us?
Bebele decided that it was impossible to argue with thieves, and therefore said “yes,” although he had no intention of stealing.
Then the thief put it in his pocket, and they moved on.
Bebele stuck his head out of the thief's pocket and kept watching where they were going. When the thieves passed very close to some wall, Bebele jumped out of his pocket and ducked into a crack, so that the thieves did not even notice it.
Bebele thought that he had already escaped, but that was not the case: he began to get out of the crack, began to climb and fell straight into a feeder with chopped beets. The big red cow ate these beets. Along with a piece of beet, she swallowed the boy Bebele, and he ended up in a cow’s belly.
Then a worker came to the barn and sat down to milk the cow. Suddenly she heard a cry:
- Oh, you scoundrel, oh, you trashy one!
It was Bebele who scolded the cow for swallowing him. But the worker didn’t understand - she thought it was a cow swearing. The worker got scared, dropped the milk pan and ran away from the barn.
She ran to the hostess and said:
— The cow does not order herself to be milked. The cow screams and swears loudly!
The hostess said:
- Here I will milk the cow myself! She won’t dare scold me, her mistress!
But as soon as she sat down to milk the cow, an angry cry was heard:
- Oh, you scoundrel, oh, you trashy one! Wait! Here I will ask you!
The owner was also scared and ran away from the barn. She called her husband and told him to go to the barn.
“The cow won’t dare be rude to you!” she said.
But the cow also cursed the owner.
He ran out of the barn and said:
- This is a very cheeky cow! She definitely needs to be slaughtered!
And the red cow was slaughtered. The meat was placed in the icebox, and the tripe was carried far away and thrown away.
An old beggar was passing by this place. He saw cow tripe and said:
- I don’t have money for meat, I’ll take this tripe, cook it - and I’ll have a delicious lunch!
He took the tripe, put it in a bag, threw the bag over his shoulder and went home.
But I must say that Bebele had a small saber, he made it from a piece of an old needle. With this saber he began to stab the beggar in the shoulder. Don’t think that he wanted to hurt the old man: he only wanted to remind himself.
The beggar threw the bag over his other shoulder. But the boy Bebele injected him again. Then the beggar decided to see what was bothering him. He cut the tripe and saw Bebele. And that’s all Bebele needed: he jumped out and stood in front of the beggar. The beggar recognized him and was very surprised.
“Te-te-te...” he said. “Anything can happen in the world!” So we meet again! But what should I do with you, boy Bebele?..
- Take me home! - said Bebele.
And the beggar took him home to the old man and the old woman. The old man and the old woman were very happy. They seated the beggar at the table and fed him to his fill. And everyone was glad that everything ended so well.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru