The fame of Apandi's wisdom and learning spread widely throughout the world. Then the padishah's order came out - Nasreddin Apandi should live at court.
The padishah did not let Apandi leave him even one step.
One day the padishah organized a big hunt.
The court nobles hastened to sort out all the fleet-footed horses in the palace stable.
When the hunting train had already left the yard, the padishah suddenly saw that Apandi was not among the hunters and ordered him to be found immediately. Soon Apandi was brought before the face of the padishah.
“Why don’t you go hunting?” said the padishah. - Take your horse and follow us.
Apandi did not want to go to the steppe, but there was nothing to do, he must obey the command of the padishah.
Apandi went to the stables. But there he managed to find the most ordinary-looking horse.
Apandi went hunting on his horse. The nobles and the padishah himself boasted of their fiery horses and showed miracles of dexterity and skill. Poor Apandi could barely keep up with everyone and had to listen to thousands of ridicule and mockery. The padishah himself made fun of the sage quite a bit.
“Hey, Apandi,” he said, “where did you get yourself such a nag?” However, wise men should ride donkeys.
Suddenly the sky became cloudy and heavy rain started pouring down. The hunters galloped their horses and, although they were pretty wet, they arrived safely at the palace.
Apandi saw that he would not soon reach the city on his horse.
“Hey, I’m going to get completely wet,” he said to himself, “he quickly took off his clothes, put them under the saddle and rode like that while it rained.
As soon as the weather cleared, Apandi got dressed and returned to the palace.
The padishah was amazed at the sight of Apandi’s dry clothes and asked:
- Listen to Apandi, what spell do you know that protects from rain? We all drove very quickly, but still got pretty wet, and your nag dragged along for an hour and you are completely dry.
Then Apandi replied:
“It was in vain that you, padishah, laughed at my horse.” It looks very inconspicuous, but in fact it is a winged horse “Dul-dul”. As soon as the rain started, it rose above the clouds and the rain did not soak me.
The padishah was amazed and ordered the nag to be sent to the best stall and the best grooms assigned to it.
Less than a few days later, the padishah went hunting again. He gave his thoroughbred horse to Apandi, and he himself mounted the little horse.
The padishah suffered quite a bit from the bumpy ride. Couldn't catch up with any game.
And this time it started to rain.
Apandi whipped his horse and in a few minutes was already under the roof.
But no matter how much the padishah lashed his “Dul-dul” with a whip, he trudged along, barely moving his legs. The rain soaked the padishah so much that he looked like a chicken caught in a ditch. Only late at night, frozen and hungry, did the padishah return to the palace.
He immediately ordered Apandi to be called:
- Hey, sage, how dare you deceive me. You know that one word from me is enough for your head to fly off your shoulders.
Apandi bowed and said:
- Oh padishahs, why are you angry and letting your bile run wild? This is very harmful to health. Do you really need to be a sage to, like me, take off your clothes during the rain, put them under the saddle and get to the city dry?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru