On the edge of a small village lived a peasant named Kizhavan. He was very poor and had no relatives, even distant ones. But Kizhavan did not grieve: he was friends with all the forest inhabitants - animals and birds. And whoever has a lot of friends, does he ever get bored?! Kizhavan knew the language of animals and birds well. He will meet one of the forest inhabitants, talk to him - and his soul will be at ease. The birds, seeing Kizhavan, always greeted him with joyful twittering.
Kizhavan lived in a small hut. One day he was very hungry, but there was nothing edible at home. Kizhavan took a stick and went into the forest. He wandered and wandered there, found nothing and turned back to the house.
- Help me! - he suddenly heard. Kizhavan turned around and saw a ruffled pigeon standing on the road.
- I can't fly. Save me! – he asked with a plea in his voice.
Kizhavan felt sorry for the defenseless pigeon. He picked him up from the ground, gently hugged him and walked on. At home, he carefully placed the bird on the bed.
- Until you recover, you will live with me. Don't be afraid, I won't let anyone hurt you and I will help you in any way I can. The only trouble is that now I have nothing to feed you. “I have nothing at all,” Kizhavan said bitterly.
“Don’t be sad,” the dove consoled him, “there’s a big mango tree growing in the forest.” There is rice in his hollow. Go there and get this rice.
Kizhavan immediately went into the forest to look for a mango tree. He walked and walked, but still did not meet a tree.
Finally Kizhavan got tired and sat down on a hillock. He looks and a mango tree grows right in front of him. Kizhavan looked into the hollow and saw that there was a handful of rice lying there, and everything around was sparkling and sparkling with diamonds and other precious stones. Kizhavan looked at the treasure indifferently.
“Why do I need these stones? After all, I’m not going to decorate myself,” he thought.
He took only rice, returned to the village, went up to his porch and saw a second dove at the threshold. As soon as he opened the door, the dove fluttered inside and found itself next to its sick friend. The birds cooed happily. Kizhavan gave them all the rice, and they quickly began to work with their beaks. And the peasant sat next to them and admired them.
- Why didn’t you leave some rice for yourself? – the second dove asked him.
- But there was nothing to leave there. Just enough to fill you up. “It’s okay, I’ll endure it, I won’t die,” Kizhavan calmly answered.
The pigeon flew out of the shack and soon returned, carrying something in its beak. Flying up to Kizhavan, he laid his burden at his feet. It turned out to be a gold ring.
- Take this ring. As long as you don’t take it off your hand, you will have everything you want, said the dove.
“If this is true, then thank you,” Kizhavan thanked him. “I would just like a little bread and milk, but I don’t need anything else.”
Before he had time to say this, a small plate with fresh, delicious-smelling bread appeared on the table and next to it a cup of milk. Kizhavan drank the milk, ate a piece of bread, and crumbled the rest for the pigeons.
Since then, Kizhavan lives happily. Everything he needs for life is given to him by the ring - a gift from his friend the dove.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru