Lord Yao had two daughters. The eldest Ehuan is adopted, and the youngest Nuying is her own. Wise Yao loved them equally, and his wife cared more about Nyuying. Native blood is closer. The eldest daughter worked a lot, and the youngest had fun at this time. But Yao grew old and decided to give up his throne to the worthy and noble Shun. To do this, they had to become related. But which daughter should he marry to Shun? The father thought for a long time, because he loved both girls equally.
“Let both become Shun’s wives,” Yao wisely decided and told his wife about this. - And let both be equal.
“I want Nyuying to be the eldest wife, and Ehuan to obey her in everything,” the wife became stubborn, and it was not possible to convince her.
And then Yao came up with three problems to determine which of the daughters was more talented, agile and smart. Whoever wins will be the eldest wife. The wife could not argue with such a fair decision.
Yao gave his daughters ten beans and five bundles of brushwood. Whoever cooks the beans first wins.
Ehuan had to cook food every day. She lit a fire, took a small pot, poured beans into it, poured in some water and set it to boil. The beans were quickly cooked, and four fagots of brushwood remained untouched. And Nyuying took a large pot, poured a lot of water into it and poured out the beans. All the bundles of brushwood burned, and the water didn’t even have time to boil! My wife had to admit that Ehuan won.
The second task was to quilt the felt soles of the shoes. Yao ordered his wife to bring soles and rubbish. Ehuan often had to sew shoes. She cut the dredge into short pieces. One ends, she immediately inserts another into the needle. The matter got complicated. And Nyuyin took a long, very long thread of dratva, threaded it into a needle and also began to work. And the long, very long thread kept getting tangled in knots. By noon, Ehuan had quilted two soles, but Nyuying couldn’t even finish one during that time. The wife was even more upset.
The third task was asked by Yao: whichever of the daughters gets to Lishan Mountain, where Shun lived, faster, she will win. Here Yao's wife intervened:
“Ehuan is the eldest, it is fitting for her to ride in a chariot drawn by three horses.” And Nyuyin is the youngest, let her get there on a mule.
Yao immediately understood his wife’s cunning. After all, the wide road for chariots was many times longer than the path along which one could drive a mule. But he didn’t argue. Let them go...
Nyuyin drove the mule. He quickly ran along the path, took the girl onto the road near Mount Lishan and suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Nyuin lashes him with a whip, lashes him, but he doesn’t move. After all, mules are as stubborn as donkeys. Meanwhile, Ehuan was slowly driving along the wide road. “It’s all the same,” she thought, “I won’t be able to overtake Nyuying.”
And suddenly I saw what trouble had happened to my sister. Ehuan stopped the horses, got off the chariot, took Nyuyin by the hand and sat her down. So they went to Shun together.
“We came together, so we are equal,” said Shunyu Ehuan.
They became equal wives. They helped Shun with all their might to rule the Celestial Empire and did a lot of good to people during their long lives.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru