There was, and there was nothing - Combley lived in the world. He had three sheep. He drove them into the forest and released them. He sat down and began whittling the kombalas. They ask him: “Are you whittling all the commanders?” —-...
Comblet answers: “I know this craft, it will feed me!” He put the big comble on his shoulders and went. He walked up to the wolf’s pit and shouted to the wolf: “Did you eat my herd?” “No, not me.” “Come on, open your mouth, there’s meat stuck in your teeth!” The wolf said: “Don’t kill me, Comblet, I’ll give you happiness.” “What happiness?” “But you see, the shepherds have a whole flock of sheep?” They have one golden sheep, I’ll snatch this lamb, everyone will chase me, and you take it and drive away the whole flock.
The wolf grabbed the golden sheep, the shepherds chased after him - Comblay got all the sheep! They asked Comblay: - Comblay, you had three sheep, why did they multiply so quickly? - He let them into the forest - and they multiplied.
They believed him. They all bought three sheep, let them go into the forest, and... they were the only ones they saw - the wolves ate them all. People came home and said: “What to do with Comblet?” “We’ll burn his house!”
They burned it. And Comble put out the fire, picked up a braid of coal, exchanged three rubles, put the change on top of the coal, put the braid on his back and carried it. He came to the treasury and said to the watchman: “Tonight I’m spending the night here, save me this braided line of money.” Fine. Spent the night. The next morning he demands: “Bring me my wicker!” They brought it. Comble looked and began to shout: “My wicker was with money, this one with coals!” Give me the full rope of money, otherwise I’ll go to the king to complain.
Everyone got scared and poured a full rope of money into Comblet. He brought the wicker home, and they asked him: “You took the coals, you brought the money.” Teach me how to do it. - I burned the house, collected the coals, took it to the city and exchanged it. They burned all their houses, took the coals, took them to the city, shouting: “Coals for money, coals for money!” Who will exchange coals for money?
So they returned with nothing. They came and said: “What to do with Comblet?” Let's kill his wife. They killed him. Comble took his dead wife and left. He comes to one person, and he has three daughters. Comble leaned his wife against a tree, walked up to the house and said: “Let me spend the night.” They let him in. “Who’s that standing there?” - the owners ask. “And this is my wife, she’s smart, shy, she doesn’t come on her own.” Come, take her hands - she will go.
The daughters went and took her hands, and she just fell. The daughters came running to their father and said: “She fell and died!” Comble jumped up and started shouting: “You killed her!” Let's quickly get another wife, otherwise I'll go straight to the king with a complaint. The owners got scared: “Just don’t complain to the king, here are three beauties, choose any one.” He chose the most beautiful Comble and took her home. He brought her, everyone was surprised: “You took away your dead wife, where did you get the living one?” “And there they exchange the dead for the living.”
They took everything and killed their old wives, they carry them and shout: “We exchange the dead for the living, the dead for the living.”
Nobody responded, who will give alive for dead? They dragged their dead wives home and said: “What to do with Comblet?” Let's kill him! They came to Comblet, and he said: “Wait, I’ll show you how to kill me.” Comble went into the field, dug three holes and said: “You stand in the outer holes, I stand in the middle one, when I shout, swing your sabers and chop.”
They all began as Comblet taught them. They picked up sabers. Comble shouted and bent down, hid in the hole, and they waved their sabers and started cutting. So they killed each other. But Comble remained alive and well.
A feast here, a pestilence there. A torment here, a screening there.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru