One old woman had two sons - Sinforso and Bartolo. One day Bartolo went to work in the field, and Cinforso stayed at home to look after their old mother. The next day, when Sinforso went to the field, Bartolo remained at home. He should have heated the water and washed his mother, then cooked the chicken and given her something to eat.
But Bartolo overdid it. He heated the water too much: the old woman boiled in it and died. Bartolo decided to pretend that everything was in order and put his mother’s corpse in bed, covering it with a woolen cloak.
When Sinforso returned, he immediately realized that mother was already dead. The sons had to bury her.
The next day the brothers went in search of work. They had already walked quite a distance when Sinforso remembered his pig, which he had forgotten to untie, and sent Bartolo to untie it.
But he didn’t understand what they were talking about, and, returning home, he began to untie... the door, and even dragged it to where his brother was waiting for him. Sinforso reproached him, but then they continued on their way.
It was already evening when they approached a large tree. Fearing predators, the brothers climbed up. And Bartolo also dragged the heavy door with him. Late in the evening, people with loads loaded on mules settled down to rest under the same tree. And then Bartolo wanted it out of little need. But Sinforso ordered his brother:
“Don’t even try to urinate, because they’ll notice us and might kill us.”
But he said:
- I can’t take it anymore! It's about to start pouring.
When it started pouring from above, people raised their heads and began knocking.
- Ah, a parrot! Why are you urinating on us?
After some time, Bartolo began to feel a stomach ache. Sinforso told him:
- No, buddy. If you do this, they will look up again.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Bartolo replied and began to defecate.
The excrement fell onto the plates, and the people began to knock again:
- Come on, parrot! Now our food is dirty.
A little more time passed, and Bartolo was no longer able to hold the door, which he himself had dragged.
“I’ll throw this door now,” he said.
Cinforso exclaimed:
- No, buddy!
“But I can’t do it anymore, I’ll leave her.”
And the door fell with a crash. The people who were under the tree got scared and shouted:
- The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
They ran away and threw their luggage under a tree. Then Cinforso and Bartolo went downstairs to sleep. But Bartolo couldn’t sleep out of curiosity - he really wanted to see what was being carried in the bags. Finally he stood up to untie one and found pants, shirts and masks. He put on his pants, shirt and mask and, in disguise, began to dance. Cinforso woke up and saw someone dancing in a mask. I got scared and ran. Bartolo stopped dancing and also ran after Cinforso; when he turned around, he saw Bartolo following him. But at that moment they reached the edge of the gorge, fell there in the dark and both died.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru