Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. One day an old man went into the forest to get firewood. He took a fancy to a tall tree and just swung his ax when suddenly a golden bird jumped out of the hollow.
“Don’t cut down my tree, old man,” the bird spoke in a human voice. The old man was surprised and almost dropped the ax to the ground.
The bird begged and promised to do everything he wanted.
The old man agreed and said:
- Carry some wood to my yurt.
- Okay, old man, there will be firewood for you. The old man returned to his yurt empty-handed.
- Why did you come back without firewood, lazy man? - the old woman asked him.
The old man told about the golden bird.
The next day, the old man and the old woman saw that there was a lot of firewood piled up around the old yurt. The old man was surprised, put the ax in his belt and went into the forest again. He approached a tall tree and hit it with an axe. A golden bird jumped out of the hollow and asked:
-What do you want, old man?
“Give me a white yurt,” said the old man.
“Okay, old man, there will be a white yurt for you,” the bird answered and hid in the hollow.
The old man returned home.
The next day, an old man and an old woman woke up in a large white yurt.
The old man went into the forest again. He knocked on a tall tree, a golden bird jumped out and asked:
-What do you want, old man?
- I want to have white cattle! - said the old man.
“Okay, old man, you will have white cattle,” answered the golden bird and hid in a hollow.
The old man returned to the yurt.
The next day, the old man and the old woman woke up and saw a huge herd of white cattle around the yurt.
The old man and the old woman began to count. All day they were counting the cattle, but they could not count them.
An old man asks an old woman:
- What else could we ask from the golden bird?
“Don’t be greedy, old man,” answered the old woman. “We have enough of everything, enough for our life.”
- Oh, you old one! You give up your happiness. I want to be a khan - to order servants, and you must be a khan.
“Come to your senses, old man, throw these nonsense out of your head,” his wife tells him.
The old man did not listen to her and hurried into the forest. He hit a tall tree with an ax - there was no bird. He hit harder, but this time the golden bird did not appear. The third time the old man hit the tree with all his might, almost cut it down completely and began to call the bird. But it was all in vain. The old man got angry, knocked down the tree, searched the hollow, but did not find the bird there.
The old man returned and told his wife how it had happened. The old woman scolded her greedy husband for a long time.
Morning has come. The old people woke up, and lo and behold, they had the same leaky black yurt.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru