Once the king decided to take a ride with his wife and daughter across the sea on a ship. Before they had time to sail far from the shore, a strong wind blew and carried them to distant lands, to an unknown country, where nothing had been heard of their kingdom. We went ashore. The king was afraid to say who he was, and they had no money with them at all. The king did not know any craft and hired himself as a shepherd to guard the village flock.
They lived like this for several years. And then one day the son of the king of that country saw the daughter of a shepherd. She was as beautiful as a clear dawn, and she had already become a bride. The prince announced to his father and mother that he would not marry anyone other than the daughter of a shepherd from such and such a village. His father, mother and all the courtiers tried to persuade him not to be ashamed: how could it be that the prince would suddenly marry a shepherdess! After all, there are so many royal and royal daughters in the world! But it’s all in vain, the prince kept repeating one thing: “I don’t need another!” Seeing that he could not be dissuaded, the king sent the vizier to tell the shepherd that he wanted to marry the prince to his daughter. The vizier came and said this to the shepherd, and he asked:
- What craft does the prince know?
The vizier was horrified:
- God bless you, good man! What kind of craft can a prince know! And what does he need a craft for? People learn a craft to feed themselves, but the prince has both lands and cities.
“Since he doesn’t know any craft, I won’t give him my daughter,” says the shepherd.
The vizier returned and conveyed the shepherd's words to the king. The courtiers were surprised. They thought that the shepherd would consider it a great happiness and honor if the prince took his daughter as his wife, but look, he demands that the prince know his craft! The king sends another vizier, but the shepherd says the same thing to him:
“Until the prince learns some craft and brings me the products of his hands, until then there will be no friendship between us.”
The second vizier returned to the palace and said that the shepherd would not give up his daughter until the prince learned some kind of craft. Then the prince walked through the market square and began to choose what was easier to learn. He walked from one shop to another, watched how different craftsmen worked, and came to a shop where matting was woven. This craft seemed to him the easiest. He began to study and after a few days he wove matting. They took it to the shepherd, they said that the prince had learned a craft, and here, they say, is his product. The shepherd took the matting in his hands, examined it from all sides and asked:
- How much does it cost?
“Four pennies,” they say.
- Well, nothing! Today four pennies, but tomorrow four is eight, and four the day after tomorrow is twelve... If I knew this craft, I would not be tending the village flock now!
And the king told who he was and how he got here. Everyone was happy that they were taking not the shepherd’s daughter, but the king’s daughter, they married the newlyweds and had a merry wedding. Then the king was given ships and people, and he returned to his country.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru