Once upon a time there was a boy. He had no one and nothing except the most ordinary bean. He had nothing to eat and no one to talk to. And then one day he took a bean and went wherever he looked. He walked and walked and saw a house standing by the river. A boy entered it, and there an old woman was sitting on a bunk, sewing a robe. The boy took out a bean, handed it to the old woman and said:
- Grandma, hide this bean, and put it far away so that the mouse cannot get it: after all, the bean is not an ordinary one.
And the old woman had a mouse sitting in an iron chest under lock and key. The old woman took the bean from the boy and put it on the main pillar of the house, and she went to bed.
At midnight the boy got up, took a bean from the pole and, quietly lifting the lid, threw it into the box. The mouse swallowed it, even the boy did not notice it.
In the morning, stretching sweetly, he jumped off the warm bunk and began to get ready for the journey.
“Grandma,” the boy humbly asked, “give me a bean, I’ll move on.”
The old woman approached the post, but there was no bean. She searched and searched for her and could not find her. Too bad, she thought, where could the bean have gone?
- Or maybe the mouse ate it? – the boy asked, narrowing his eyes slyly.
- But how can she eat? – the old lady was surprised. - After all, she sits under lock and key in an iron box. Let me go and look at my chest.
She opened the lid and realized that a mouse had eaten the beans. All that was left of the bean was the husk.
– What will I do now? – the boy cried bitterly.
“Don’t cry,” the old woman began to reassure him, “I have nothing but this mouse.” Take it, just don't show it to anyone.
He took the mouse and moved on. I walked for a long time along the bank of a mountain river and came across a house. A beautiful girl lived in it. She also had nothing but a cat. She sits by the window, embroiders and sings sad songs.
The boy entered the fanza and said:
“Sister, hide the mouse somewhere, and make sure the cat doesn’t eat it.” She's my assistant.
The girl took the mouse and put it in a birch bark box.
At night the boy opened the box and gave the mouse to the cat.
The cat immediately grabbed onto it, began to tear it with his teeth and ate it. After that he lay down and purred.
In the morning the boy asked to return the mouse to him. The girl begged him for a long time to stay with her, but he did not agree. There was nothing to do, the girl went and opened the birch bark box, and it was empty.
“Where could she have disappeared to?” – she thought and began to search.
“The cat probably ate my mouse,” said the boy.
“How could he eat it, because the mouse was in the box,” said the girl.
She approached the cat and saw him lying on his side, his face oily, licking his lips, purring with pleasure. – What are we going to do now? After all, the cat really ate your mouse! – the girl began to tan.
The boy began to cry again.
- Why are you crying? Better take my cat!
As soon as she said this, the boy stopped crying, became happy, took the cat and moved on.
He walked and walked and saw a big house on the mountain. A dog was running around him.
The boy entered the house and saw the young man.
- Brother, let me spend the night in your house, and put the cat somewhere so that the dog doesn’t tear it up. I was very tired on the way.
- Well, stay, and we will keep the cat in the house. We ate, drank and went to bed.
At night the boy woke up and took the cat outside. And the dog was right there and immediately tore the cat into pieces. Morning has come. The boy got dressed and said to the young man:
“I’m moving on, please give me a cat.” No matter how I called him, he did not come running to me. Where did he go? The dog probably ate it. Here she is playing with the cat’s tail—all that’s left of it.
- What will I do? - said the young man.
And the boy was already crying in the house, so much so that the window made from the bladder of the elk began to vibrate, as if a man’s chest after a long run.
“Take my dog,” the young man began to reassure, “maybe it will be useful to you.”
The boy was happy, took the dog, thanked the young man and moved on.
He walked and walked, and on the way he met a house where an old man lived. The old man had a horse.
“Grandfather, tie up my dog, and be careful that your horse doesn’t run over it,” said the boy, “and I’ll take a break from the hot road.”
At night, the boy untied the dog and took him to the stable, left it there, and went to bed.
In the morning he woke up as if nothing had happened and said again:
“Grandfather, I’m moving on, give me the dog.” The old man went outside and, not finding the dog, said:
-Where could this dog have gone? I remember well that I tied her here.
“The horse probably ran over,” the boy answered.
- I'll go have a look.
He looked into the stable and saw a dog lying on the ground with a broken head.
– What should we do now? – And again the boy cried bitterly. – How can I live without a dog?
“It’s okay, boy, don’t cry, I’ll give you my only joy, a horse,” said the old man.
The boy was happy, took the horse’s bridle and went back home.
He walked and walked and thought. Now I have a horse, but no girlfriend. I’m alone anyway, what should I do?
And the road passed by a cemetery. He turned to the grave, pulled the old woman out of it, put her on a horse, gave her a bridle in her hands, and he led the horse by the bit. The old woman sat in the saddle as if alive. The pipe was smoking in her teeth.
He walked and walked and reached the village. He took the horse to the shore so that it could drink, and he went to the village. I went into the house, people were having fun there.
“Come, come here,” they said. – Are you alone, or do you have friends with you?
“Mother is with me,” the boy answered.
-Where is she?
- On the shore.
“Call her here quickly,” they asked the teenagers.
They hurried to the shore and saw an old woman sitting on a horse. They call her, but she doesn’t answer.
They ran up to her with a joyful cry. The horse got scared, rushed to the side, the pipe flew out of the old woman’s mouth, and she herself fell headfirst and did not get up.
People began to feel sad: What will we tell the boy? There is nothing to do, you need to tell him. They went to the village, and they themselves were darker than a cloud. A boy comes towards them. As soon as he saw them, he immediately guessed what news awaited him.
- What about my mother? Why isn't she with you? he asks.
They told him everything. The boy got angry.
- What have you done, you killed my mother. Ooh,” he cried. – What will I do now?
He cried for a long time. Nobody could console him. Then one elderly man came up and said to him:
- Don’t cry, I’ll give you my daughter as a wife. The boy immediately calmed down. - Soon they had a feast. They feasted for three days and three nights, and only then did the boy come to terms with grief.
On the fourth day, he and his wife went to their homeland. They built a new house there and lived happily. A year later, a son was born. His parents can't stop looking at him. The father nursed his son all day long, and the mother worked in the yard.
And then one day his father’s son became capricious. His father can't calm him down. Then he sang his song:
- I once exchanged a bean for a mouse, and a mouse for a cat, a cat for a dog, and a dog for a horse... bye-bye-bye, sleep my boy.
And he put a lifeless old woman on this horse and exchanged her for a living beautiful girl. And we began to live and get along, and soon our son was born. This son was you. Bye-bye-bye...
The son calmed down and laughed loudly. The wife heard this, got angry and shouted from the yard:
“You deceived me, you deceived my parents too!”
“Don’t believe what I sang,” he reassured his wife. But his wife did not believe his words. She took her son and went to her parents. And again he was left alone.
What is obtained by deception will still be lost forever.
No matter how you hide the truth, it will find its way to people!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru