One day, two brothers Ivan and Andrey, who lived on neighboring farms, quarreled. This was the first serious quarrel in 40 years between the brothers, whose farms were very interconnected. But their cooperation came to an end. It all started with a small misunderstanding, which grew into a verbal altercation and protracted silence, offensive to both. One morning there was a knock on Ivan’s door. A carpenter stood on the threshold, looking for part-time work. Ivan told him: “I have work for you. Look at this stream. It divides our farms. Just a week ago there was a meadow here, but my brother bulldozed the river dam and now a stream separates us. He did this to spite me. So, you will build a high fence between us and save me from having to see his face and his farm.” The carpenter agreed and got to work.
He carefully measured everything, sawed wooden blocks - he didn’t waste a minute. By sunset, when Ivan returned from the field, the carpenter had already finished his work. Ivan's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Instead of a fence, a bridge was built across the stream!
Imagine Ivan’s surprise when he saw his brother rushing towards him across the bridge. “Well, you give it to me! You built us a bridge after everything I’ve done!” Andrey exclaimed. The brothers met in the middle of the bridge, shook hands and hugged each other.
They asked the carpenter to stay and work for them some more, but he told them: “I would love to, but I still have a lot of bridges to build.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru