Once upon a time there lived a king. All day long he did nothing but lie on his royal bed and listen to fairy tales through his sleep. And if the narrator fell silent, then the king became despondent, as soon as he did not cry. That's how much he liked to lie down and listen to fairy tales! Therefore, they told him them all day long, from morning to evening and even late into the night. And only when the king finally fell asleep, the exhausted storytellers quietly walked away on tiptoe to get a little rest. Can you imagine what things were like in this kingdom, where the king was obsessed with fairy tales. The courtiers flattered him, because they didn’t care: fairy tales are just fairy tales! They lived by royal favors, as long as the king was pleased, but the common people became worried. The people fed themselves by labor and then, they wanted better and knew that the Tsar had to be discouraged from fairy tales, and, moreover, as quickly as possible.
And the king, unfortunately, loved long fairy tales. Especially those that were told to him for several days, or even weeks. Like this! One fairy tale was so long that it lasted a thousand and one nights. The king, listening to her, was so happy that he even began to cry.
But in life everything comes to an end - no matter how long the fairy tales were, they all ended. And the king was upset. And it happened that one day the king fell ill. I got sick and said: “Until,” he said, “you find a storyteller who would know an endless fairy tale, I will be sick and will never get better!” That's how you want it, but it will be this way and not otherwise!
The messengers galloped to all directions of the kingdom, looking for a storyteller who would know the endless tale. The king promised him the greatest mercy - a bag of gold and his daughter to marry him. Well, at worst, for a poor man it’s not a bad pay at all! But who knows this endless fairy tale?
But, so that people would not crowd in vain, the king added one more condition: whoever starts a fairy tale, and it has an end, will immediately, without hesitation: cut off his head!
As those who wanted to get rich heard about this, they immediately lost the desire to acquire easy wealth. But the people were thinking about something else: how to bring the king to reason. So a daredevil was found. Either he didn’t value his own head, but who would believe that? Most likely, he was not afraid to give his life for people, that’s what. And who helped is unknown: maybe his father, or his grandfather, or other old people, in a word, he gained intelligence among the people, and he himself was sharp-witted.
He came to the king, bowed, and asked: “They say, great king, that you promised to reward him with a bag of gold and give your daughter in marriage to the one who will tell you an endless fairy tale?” “I promised,” says the king. “And since I promised, that means I will give the reward.” And if the fairy tale ends, I’ll cut off your head.” “If that’s the case,” said the guy, “we’ll have a firm agreement.” And I agree. They shook hands. The king rejoices: either there will be a fairy tale, or the guy’s head will fly off his shoulders. And so good and so good! So the king collapsed on his royal bed and said: “Well, let’s tell you!”
The daredevil sat down on the rug, opposite the king, and began: “Once upon a time there was a king.” He collected wheat from all the fields of his vast kingdom and poured it into one barn. And this barn was so huge that if you galloped along it on the best horse, you wouldn’t be able to ride around it in a day!
And an attack happened: a cloud of locusts swooped down on the capital of that king. Yes, so huge that it blocked out the sun. There is rustling in the streets, breaking into houses, these locusts make it impossible to breathe. Not a day passed, the locusts devoured all the vineyards, devoured all the forests and was not satisfied. She rushed back and forth... And then she smelled wheat in the barn. Locusts swooped down on the barn, but to no avail. The barn stands like a fortress wall: there are no windows in it, not a crack. And the doors are tightly closed. How many days did the locusts hang around the barn? Finally, one was lucky: she found the smallest hole. Yes, such that only one got through there.
She crawled through and took one grain. With two, she wouldn’t have crawled back out: two grains wouldn’t have gotten through the crack. The locusts crawled back. And the second one climbed after her. This one also took one grain of wheat and crawled back. Well, after the second the third one snuck into the barn. She just got out, and there was a fourth one behind her. And then there was the fifth... And it went, and it went: one after another they climbed. One will come out, the other will climb.
... Days passed, weeks, months, a brave guy sat in front of the king and repeated his thoughts: “Then another one crawled into the barn.” She just returned, followed by another. And this one returned with a grain of wheat, another one climbed... Finally the king could not stand it and asked: “Please tell me, how long will the locusts climb into the barn?” “Oh, great king!” answered the smart guy. “It’s only she who pulls out the wheat from the very crack, and all the wheat lies intact in the barn!” “Well, that’s the end, the end,” said the king in anger, “the end of this will there be locusts? “But with this, your Majesty, wait!” said the guy. “Maybe a hundred, or maybe a thousand years will pass.” Only first the locusts have to pull out all the wheat, and then whatever happens, then we’ll talk about it... And while you and I are talking like this, another locust crawled into the crack and took one grain of wheat and crawled back out of the barn. And behind her...
Here the king could not stand it and shouted: “Damn her, your locust!” You'll drive her crazy! Take the bag of gold and your daughter quickly, just leave me alone!
So that smart man married the Tsar’s daughter. He distributed the bag of gold to people, and he himself began to rule the kingdom. And everyone was happy, because he ruled wisely and with care. But the king had no time for that: they began to tell him shorter tales that had an ending. They are more interesting. So he was busy with business, listened to them and did not interfere with the rule of the kingdom by those who were wise and had experience.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru