Once upon a time there lived a poor peasant. He had a wife and three daughters. One day, when the peasant was working in the field, he was very thirsty. And he sent his eldest daughter to the spring for water.
The girl, taking the jug, went to carry out her father’s instructions. Near the spring where she was going to get water, a huge tree grew. Approaching him, the eldest daughter looked at him thoughtfully and thought:
Someday I'll get married
Then a son will be born to me named Kikos.
When he grows up, he will come here for water.
He sees this tree and climbs it,
And the branch there breaks off and he falls down:
He will hit his head on a stone and die immediately.
Oh, woe, woe! Poor little Kikos!
The girl sat down under a tree and started wailing and wailing. And at home they were already starting to worry: why was she not returning for so long?
The mother sent her middle daughter to find out what was going on:
“Find out that it’s your sister who’s digging around there,” she instructed her middle daughter.
When the elder sister saw that the middle sister was coming towards her, she began to scream and shout even louder:
- Come, come here! Poor inconsolable aunt, look what happened to your little nephew Kikos!
- Which Kikos?
- How, don’t you know? Here, listen:
Someday I'll get married
Then a son will be born to me named Kikos.
When he grows up, he will come here for water.
He sees this tree and climbs it,
And the branch there breaks off and he falls down:
He will hit his head on a stone and die immediately.
Oh, woe, woe! Poor little Kikos!
The middle sister also began to cry. She sat down next to her older sister and let’s start crying and wailing together.
And the girls’ mother was already seriously worried. She sends her younger sister:
“Go and find out what is happening with your sisters,” she tells her daughter.
The younger sister went to the stream, looked, and the older and middle sisters sat under a tree and cried bitterly.
- What is going on here? – the younger sister asks with concern.
- Don't you know yet? - the younger sister answers her. - Here, listen:
Someday I'll get married
Then a son will be born to me named Kikos.
When he grows up, he will come here for water.
He sees this tree and climbs it,
And the branch there breaks off and he falls down:
He will hit his head on a stone and die immediately.
Oh, woe, woe! Poor little Kikos!
- Oh, poor Kikos! Who did you leave your poor unfortunate aunt with? - the younger sister began to wail along with the two older ones.
In the end, the mother could not stand the hardship of waiting and rushed to the spring herself. And all three of her daughters come to meet her:
- Go, go faster, poor inconsolable grandmother! Look what happened to your beloved little grandson!
- What other grandson? Since when did I become a grandmother? – the amazed woman screamed.
- What, don’t you know yet, mom? – the eldest daughter asked crying. - Here, listen:
Someday I'll get married
Then a son will be born to me named Kikos.
When he grows up, he will come here for water.
He sees this tree and climbs it,
And the branch there breaks off and he falls down:
He will hit his head on a stone and die immediately.
Oh, woe, woe! Poor little Kikos!
- Oh, woe, woe! Why am I still living, dear Kikos? It would be better if I, your unfortunate grandmother, died instead of you! – the woman sobbed.
But the peasant still couldn’t understand where it all went. He began to look for them and finally found them near a spring. As soon as they saw him, they immediately rushed towards him, shouting and wailing:
- Here, here, you unfortunate grandfather! Look what happened to your beloved grandson Kikos!
- What other grandson? Kikos – who else is this? – asked the shocked peasant.
-What are you all talking to me about here? I don't understand anything!..
- What? Don't you understand? Then listen:
Someday I'll get married
Then a son will be born to me named Kikos.
When he grows up, he will come here for water.
He sees this tree and climbs it,
And the branch there breaks off and he falls down:
He will hit his head on a stone and die immediately.
Oh, woe, woe! Poor little Kikos!
And all four roared in unison:
- Oh, grief, our baby Kikos has died!..
The peasant thought and thought and said:
- Listen to me, you stupid women. Stop crying. We can no longer bring back Kikos with tears. Let's better go home, call the neighbors and arrange a wake in memory of Kikos. This is life: whoever comes into it, then leaves it.
But they only had: one ox and a bag of flour. They slaughtered an ox, baked bread and invited neighbors to celebrate the funeral.
And then we went to church to order a memorial service for the deceased Kikos.
It was there that they came to their senses and began to live their old lives.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru