Once upon a time there lived two brothers in a village. The time came, and the brothers separated: the younger one moved to foreign lands, got married, became rich, and the eldest remained in his native village, also got married, but he was unlucky, and he vegetated in poverty. And this way and that he tried to dodge, but he had no luck.
One day, the elder brother found an empty piece of land and decided to plant it. But the land was rocky and completely unsuitable for sowing. And there was nothing to process it with. He had neither a buffalo, nor a cow, nor a plow. He thought and thought and decided to go to the younger one for advice.
He came to his younger brother’s house, and he had guests - all rich people. The poor brother did not want to disgrace the rich brother, and he went straight to the kitchen. There, my brother’s wife was just preparing food. At first she pretended not to notice him, and when, after feeding the guests, she returned to the kitchen, collected all the leftovers, put them on a tray and served them to her brother-in-law. Just at this time the younger brother appeared.
“Come into the house,” he invited his older brother. - Do you have business with me? Speak up, don't hide. Perhaps I can help you.
“I don’t need anything, except maybe a tray!” – he frowned.
- What a joker you are! Why did you need this tray? Now, if you wanted to cultivate a field, I would help you with cattle and money.
But the elder stood his ground:
- I don’t need anything! Just this old tray!
The elder brother took the tray and returned to his home. He armed himself with a shovel, tied a tray around his neck and went into the field.
He worked there for not a day, not two, and the rocky dry earth became like fluff.
Three years have passed. The elder brother began to reap the fruits of his labor. He grew rich by leaps and bounds. He got a household, built a new house and invited his youngest to visit.
“Your tray served me well,” he said, cordially treating the guests to all sorts of dishes. “I will remember forever how generously my daughter-in-law treated me from this tray.” It was then that I realized that there is nothing worse than poverty, and from then on I never parted with him. Just one tray helped me stand out among people, and this is the merit of my daughter-in-law!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru