There lived a peasant named Campriano. He had a wife and a donkey. He worked in the field, and Chiciorans often passed by and usually asked him: “What are you doing, Campriano?” Come take a walk with us.
And Campriano took his donkey and trudged after them. One morning Campriano put some gold coins under the donkey's tail. As always, chichorans passed by.
Campriano says:
“Wait, I’m with you.” He loaded the donkey and wandered along with the Chichorans.
It was spring, the grass was green. On the way, the donkey ate so much of it that he began to empty his stomach, throwing out all the gold that Campriano had shoved under his tail.
The Chichorans were terribly surprised and asked:
- Campriano, buddy! Does your donkey make money? And Campriano responded:
- It contains all my wealth. If I didn’t have this donkey, I would have stretched my legs long ago.
Chichorans say:
– Sell us the donkey, Campriano! Sell!
- Eh, no, do they really sell such a donkey?
- Well, if it were for sale, how much do you think it would cost? How many?
“I still won’t sell it, even if you promised me mountains of gold.” But if you gave me three hundred crowns, then...
The Chichorans rummaged in their pockets, and all together; they collected three hundred crowns. They took the donkey and went home. And at home they ordered the wives to spread white sheets in the stall, and in the morning we would collect the gold money the donkey had made during the night. At dawn, the Chichorans came running to the stall and saw something yellow on the sheets. Grab it, it's manure.
– Campriano deceived us! Let's kill Campriano! “They grabbed pitchforks and spades and rushed to Campriano’s house.
His wife looked out the window.
– Campriano is not at home, he is in the vineyard.
“We’ll make him come out of there,” the Chichorans shouted and ran to the vineyard. “Campriano, come out!” We will kill you!
Campriano appeared among the vines.
- For what? he asked.
“You sold us a donkey, but he doesn’t make money.” Campriano answers:
– We need to see how you feed him first.
– We feed well: fresh grass and sweet drink.
- Poor donkey! Yes, you completely killed him. He is accustomed to rough food, and this is where his strength to make money comes from. It's clear! I'll have to go with you and examine the donkey. If he is healthy, I will take him with me, and if he is bad, I will leave him with you. Wait, I’ll be right there,” Campriano added. “I’ll just run home.”
- OK! Run and come back quickly, we will wait for you here.
Campriano ran to his wife and said:
– Put a pan of beans on the fire. And when the chichorans and I return and enter the house, make it as if you were taking boiling beans out of the cupboard. Clear?
And Campriano went with the chichorans to the barn. The donkey stood on the sheets, and there were mountains of dung all around.
“I’m surprised he didn’t die,” said Campriano, “but he’s no longer fit for work.” Oh, what did you do to him! If only I knew you would treat him like this! Poor donkey!
The Chichorans were embarrassed:
– What should we do?
- What to do? Okay, shut up!
- Yes, yes, it’s our own fault!
“Well, here’s what: let’s go to dinner with me, let’s make peace and not remember the past.”
We came to the house. Campriano and see that the door is locked. Campriano knocked, and his wife came out of the stall looking as if she had just returned from somewhere.
We entered the house. They look, there is no fire in the hearth, Campriano says to his wife:
- What, weren’t you preparing lunch?
“I just came from the field,” the wife answers. “But don’t worry.”
She set the table and went to the cupboard, and there was a pan with boiling beans.
- What a miracle! – the chichorans were surprised. “Is the pan boiling in the cupboard?” No fire, and it's boiling!
“If we didn’t have this pan,” Campriano noted, “we would have had a tough time.” We leave for the field with peace of mind and know that lunch will be ready.
“Campriano,” exclaimed the Chiciorans, “sell us this pan!”
- No way in the world!
“Campriano, we’re in trouble with the donkey, but you’ll still sell us the pan.” Here's three hundred crowns for you.
Campriano sold the pan for three hundred crowns, and the Chiciorans left. Then the wife says to Campriano:
“The Chichorans almost killed you for the donkey.” Now what will you do?
“Wait, I’ll be right back,” Campriano said. He went to the butcher, bought a bull bladder, ordered it to be filled with fresh blood, and then he said to his wife:
“Hide this bubble on your chest and don’t be afraid when I rush at you with a knife.”
Chichorans arrived with sticks and drekoly:
- We want to kill you! Give us our money or we'll beat you to death.
-What's the matter? What's happened? Well, post it!
– You told us that the pan boils without fire. We went to work with our wives, came back, and the beans were raw, just like before.
- Calm down, calm down! My wife did something here. Now we will ask her: she must have given you the wrong pan.
He called his wife and said:
- Well, admit it, you gave these people the wrong pan.
And the wife answers:
- So you distribute things without my knowledge, and then you send them to the field. I won't give you the pan.
And Campriano screams:
- Oh, you are so and so! – grabbed the knife and plunged it straight into the bubble hidden on her chest. Blood splashes in all directions. The bloody woman fell and did not move.
The Chichorans turned pale with horror.
“Did you kill your wife for some pot, Campriano?”
And Campriano looked at his wife in a pool of blood and pretended to feel sorry for her:
- Oh, poor thing! Well, she’ll come to life now.” He pulled a reed out of his pocket, put it in his wife’s mouth, blew three times, and the woman stood up, healthy and unharmed, as before.
The Chichorans blinked their eyes.
- Campriano, sell us this reed!
“Well, no,” said Campriano. “I have to kill my wife so many times.” How will I revive her?
But the Chiciorans did not let up, and Campriano sold them the reed for three hundred crowns. At home, the chichorans and their wives started a quarrel and killed everyone. The guards took the chichoran while they were still blowing the reed, and the court sentenced them to hard labor.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru