A long time ago there lived an old man and an old woman. They lived to an old age, but they never had children. The old man went hunting, tinkered in the garden, climbed the mountains - sowed corn on the mountain slope. The old woman wove fabrics, cooked simple food, and caught fish.
One day the old woman put out a top, but the next morning it turned out not to be a fish, but a golden turtle. This turtle was of amazing beauty. The old woman thought for a long time about what she should do, and then she decided to let the turtle go free. She placed the top at another bend in the river. A day later, the old woman again pulled the top out of the water and saw that the same golden turtle was moving in it again. The kind old lady once again let the turtle into the water. But several days passed, the turtle again found itself on top.
“Listen, good woman,” the golden turtle suddenly spoke in a human voice, “take me to your house, I will still be very useful to you.”
“Be it your way, I’ll take you home and give you food and water.” Look, the house will not be so lonely. And the old man and I will love and cherish you instead of our own child.
The old man returned from the mountain field and saw a golden turtle in the house. The old man was very happy. From that day on, the old people began to take care of the golden turtle, looking after it, and it became very attached to them and behaved like a reasonable and obedient child. On occasion, she gave the old man and the old woman advice, and it was so sensible - it was simply surprising! The golden turtle was wise, and she also knew how to predict everything that would happen in advance. The old people now lived well, calmly and joyfully.
One day the golden turtle says to the old man:
“Father, within a few days there will be a big flood, water will pour into the fields, flood our house, and even the trees that grow around us.” You, father, need to immediately chop good bamboo and make a raft, and you also need to prepare food in reserve.
The old man knew that the golden turtle would never blurt out anything in vain, and therefore, without hesitation, he began to knit a large raft. Less than seven days had passed before the raft was ready, and on the same day a terrible rain fell from the sky, the river overflowed its banks, and water flooded the fields. The fast current carried away the boats. Only those that were tightly tied to the trees near the shore survived. And the water kept coming and going. The houses and trees behind them gradually began to disappear under water. Many people and animals died.
And then the golden turtle said to the old men:
“Father and mother, let me dive to the bottom, there I will make sure that our raft is firmly tied.” While I’m under water, don’t worry about anything, sit quietly on the raft. And if you need me, just pull the rope and I’ll swim out to you right away.
The old man and the old woman took turns looking after the raft. They were very afraid that the boiling water would smash it to pieces. Suddenly a tiger swam from somewhere. He saw a good-quality raft and prayed:
- Take pity on me, good people, save me from death at the bottom of the abyss, I will be grateful to you until my death.
The old man and the old woman became worried and didn’t know what to do. They pulled the rope, and the golden turtle immediately swam up. The old man asks her:
- Tell me, honey, what should we do? The tiger asks to board the raft, begging to be rescued from trouble. But we don’t know whether to save such ferocious creatures as a tiger or not.
“Save the tiger,” said the golden turtle and dived to the bottom.
Soon a huge snake appeared near the raft.
“Good people,” she begged, “take me on the raft, save me, and I won’t be in debt, I’ll be grateful to you forever.”
The old man and the old woman pulled the rope again, and this time the golden turtle immediately swam up.
“And this creeping creature must be pitied,” she said and immediately disappeared into the water.
The old man and the old woman listened to the golden turtle and let the snake onto the raft. The next day a man swam to the raft. He grabbed onto the raft and prayed:
- My strength is running out. Don’t let me, the unfortunate one, die, help me get onto the raft, and I’ll try to repay you with kindness.
The old man and the old woman pulled the rope again, called the turtle again and once again asked her for advice. The golden turtle swam out and said:
- You can’t leave a person in trouble, help him. And after seven days the water will subside, we’ll go to the field again, and we’ll start growing corn again.
After seven days, the water actually subsided. The tiger, the snake and the man thanked the old man and the old woman and the golden turtle for their kindness and went off in different directions. In parting, the tiger, the snake and the man promised to definitely stop by and visit the old people if necessary.
The great water subsided and the fields began to bear fruit again. Everything went as before.
And then one day the princess, the daughter of the king of Laos, went to visit the empress of a neighboring country. She had to spend the night in a dense forest, she ordered to pitch tents right under the trees. And the ruler of this forest was the same tiger that the old man and the old woman saved during the flood. At midnight, the tiger quietly crept up to the tents, stole all her jewelry from the princess - gold, silver, stones - and hid it in a hiding place. The next morning the guards learned about the loss and rushed to look for the thief, but they never managed to find him.
The tiger came to visit the old man and the old woman and laid out the stolen jewelry in front of them.
- Please accept my humble offering. “This is because you saved me from death,” said the tiger.
It never occurred to the old people that these jewels were stolen from the princess. They happily accepted the gift and placed it in the house in the most visible place.
Soon after this, a man came to visit the old people, the same one whom they had prevented from drowning in the flood. He saw the jewelry and hastened to take his leave. He ran to the capital, to the palace and immediately reported what he saw to the king. They captured the old man and the old woman and imprisoned them.
The snake crawled to check on its saviors; it looked like there was only one golden turtle left in the house. She told the snake about the misfortune that befell the old people. The snake listened to the golden turtle, immediately crawled towards the royal palace, and crawled into the queen’s chambers. She was just fast asleep. The snake contrived and stung the queen right on the eyelid: the unfortunate queen immediately lost sight of one eye. She cried day and night from grief and pain.
The king ordered to convene doctors from all over the kingdom and even from neighboring countries, but no one managed to heal the queen.
Then the king ordered to convene all the people, and again, no matter how hard the people tried, no one could help the queen. Finally it was the turn of the old man and the old woman. The king ordered them to be brought from prison to the palace.
But it must be said that even earlier the snake snuck into their prison and prudently taught them how to behave. “Take this root,” the snake said to the old men. “It helps against snake bites. Go boldly to the palace and you will save the queen from illness.”
And so it happened. The old man and the old woman came to the palace and healed the queen. She began, as before, to look at the world with both eyes. The king was very happy and granted half the kingdom to the old man and old woman. Since then they have lived gloriously in their domains.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru