Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had no children. One day, the wife was chopping food for the pigs, and the husband was mowing the hay. The wife hit him on the leg with a whip and cut off her finger. She wrapped her finger in a rag and put it behind the trough. I have to bring breakfast to my husband, but my leg hurts and I can’t walk.
“If only I had a son,” the woman sighed, “even as big as this finger!”
Then a boy as big as a finger jumped out from behind the trough, ran up to her and said:
- Give it, mother, I’ll take it!
The woman gave him breakfast, and the little boy took it to his father. And he’s happy and happy: here’s a son.
“Give me the scythe, father, I’ll cut the hay for you!” The father is having breakfast, and the son is mowing his head. A gentleman drives past and sees: he’s so small, but how great he mows!
“Sell it to me,” the master asks his father.
- Give me a hat full of money, then I’ll give it to you.
The master poured a hat full of money for the old man, took the boy by the finger, put him in a matchbox and drove off. We arrived at the forest, and a little boy asked to be let out. The master let him out, and the little boy crawled into the grass and disappeared. The master searched all the grass and couldn’t find it. And the boy climbed into the mushroom as big as his finger.
Cows passed by, and one of them swallowed a mushroom, and with it a boy the size of a finger. The housewife began to milk the cow in the evening, and the boy shouted:
- Doi, doi, leave it for me too!
The hostess got scared and looked around - she couldn’t see anyone. The owners slaughtered a cow and began looking for a little boy, but they couldn’t find him. And he hid in the ham.
A beggar came in and asked for alms, and the hostess gave him this ham. A beggar carries it, and from the ham a voice says:
- Carry it, carry it, don’t let me catch a cold!
The beggar was frightened: where did the voice come from? I shook out the whole bag - there was nothing. And when he throws the bag behind his back, someone says again. He left the meat on the stone and left.
A wolf ran past and ate this meat. The wolf began to creep up on the cattle, and then someone shouted:
- Shepherds, shepherds, the wolf is approaching the cattle!
The wolf was surprised: who is screaming? He decided to drag away the sheep at night. He climbed into the barn, and the little boy in his belly screamed again:
- Master, master, the wolf is in the barn!
The owner jumped out, the wolf - run! In the forest the wolf asks:
- Hey, who's in the belly? Get out! The boy with a thumb answers:
- Take me to my father on the field! The wolf took him to the field.
- Take it to your father’s yard, then I’ll get out! The wolf took him to the yard.
- Take it to the kitchen on the chest.
As soon as the wolf entered the kitchen, a little boy jumped out of the wolf’s belly and shouted:
- Father, the wolf is in the kitchen, hit him!
The old man killed a wolf and sold the skin. The old man has money, and his son is now with him. And so they lived happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru