Once upon a time there lived a poor peasant. He only had one strip of land. The peasant sowed millet on it. There was a tree growing on the strip, and on that tree the lark made a nest for itself. The poor man sowed millet on his strip, and the millet grew and grew, blossomed, blossomed, and now it was full of grain. The millet ripened and the lark began to peck at it. The poor man sees this and thinks: “We must cut down the tree and drive away the lark, otherwise he will eat all the millet for me.” The poor man took an ax and approached the tree. He hit the trunk with an ax, and then the lark spoke in a human voice:
“Don’t cut down the tree, man, I’ll give you everything you ask.”
The poor man marveled, looked up and asked:
- What can you give me? You yourself have nothing - only feathers on your body.
“And you pick up that stick that lies under the tree,” says the lark, “and hit the ground with it three times and tell me what you want.”
The poor man picked up his stick, hit the ground three times and said:
- Stick, give me bread and cheese!
At the same moment, a warm wheat loaf and fresh cheese in a white towel appeared in front of him. The poor man was amazed. At first I couldn’t believe my eyes, then I ate myself and took the bread and cheese to my wife. The poor man told his wife about everything that had happened to him, but she did not believe it. Then he hit the ground three times with a stick and said:
- Stick, I want to have a rich dinner. Serve fried chicken and honey drink!
And before he had time to say this, a rich dinner appeared in the upper room. There was just so much: fried chicken, honey drink, and a lot of other things. The poor man and his wife ate their fill and went to bed. And the next morning the wife says to her husband:
- That's it, hubby, I'm tired of living in a shack. I want our house to be better than all the houses in the area.
The poor man hit the ground three times with a stick and said:
- Stick, I want to live in a good house!
Before he could look back, his shack disappeared and in its place appeared a large house with wide windows. There was no other like it in the entire area.
The husband and wife lived in this house for a day, then lived another, and then the wife again said to her husband:
- You and I got rich. Now I wish you honor. Invite the king to visit us.
The husband tap-tap-tap on the ground with a stick:
- Stick, bring the king to visit me!
At the same moment someone knocked on the door. A peasant came out - and what did he see? Before him is the king himself!
“I heard a rumor,” says the king, “that you are now the richest man in the area.” So I came to check on you.
- Welcome, honest king! Come in and be my guest!
The king entered the house and admired it: he liked the peasant chambers. And the hostess says:
- You are welcome, honest king! Try our treat. Hubby, take a stick and ask for the most expensive food that only kings eat.
The peasant hit the ground three times with a stick, and at that very moment such dishes appeared on the table that only kings eat. The king marveled and, while they all ate and drank, he thought about only one thing: how to steal the stick. I thought and thought, came up with nothing, and failed to steal the stick. So the king returned home and ordered his servants to cut him exactly the same stick as the peasant’s. The king hit the ground with this stick three times and said:
- Stick, I want to have a marble fountain with two pipes, and let milk flow from one, and honey drink from the other.
But no matter how much he knocked the stick on the ground, no matter how much he asked it to create a marble fountain, nothing appeared: after all, the king’s stick was simple, not magical, not like the peasant’s. Then the king hid his stick under his clothes and again went to visit the peasant.
The husband and wife greeted the king warmly, fed him, gave him something to drink, and fell asleep. And that’s all the king needs. He took their stick, left his own, and that was it.
The next morning the peasant took a stick and hit the ground three times, but the stick did not give him anything. He knocked three more times, and again, and again - all to no avail. He guessed everything and groaned:
- Oh, wife, the king stole my stick!
- It can’t be, hubby! Well, our king is good, there’s nothing to say! We received him, gave him a treat, and he stole the stick from us. Go to him quickly and demand the stick back.
The peasant went to the king to demand his stick, but the king did not even let him on the threshold. Shouts:
“I did you an honor, I came to visit you, and you call me a thief?” Hey servants! Get this fool! Give him a hundred batogs on his naked body so that he won’t dare come near my palace another time.
The tsar's servants grabbed the peasant, beat him with batogs and threw him out. A peasant lies in front of the royal chambers, groaning and groaning. No one dares to help him - everyone is afraid of the evil king.
So he finally got up and somehow made his way to his house. The poor man told his wife about everything that had happened to him, and she said to him:
- How can we compete with the king! Be grateful that you are at least alive. Go back to the lark and ask for another stick.
The poor man approached the tree and began to chop it down.
- What do you want, good man? - the lark asks him.
The peasant told how the king stole his stick and how the king’s servants beat him, and asked the lark for another stick.
“I only had one such stick,” says the lark, “so I can’t give you another.” But I'll give you a donkey. When you slap him on the back, he will spit out a gold piece for you.
-Where is this donkey?
- Over there, under the tree. Take it and go with God.
The peasant looked and saw a gray donkey grazing under a tree. The peasant mounted him and rode straight to his home. Before he could enter the gate, he shouts to his wife:
- Come out, wife, look at the donkey I brought you!
The wife came out, saw the donkey and let’s swear:
“I don’t need a donkey, but a stick!”
- Wait, wife, you don’t know anything. This donkey is not simple, not like the others.
The peasant patted the donkey on the back, and it opened its mouth and spat out several ducats. And every time it’s like this: the peasant slaps the donkey on the back, and it spits out a gold coin.
The peasant and his wife lived in contentment and satiety. Yes, unexpectedly, disaster struck. One day a peasant was getting ready to go to the market, sat astride a donkey and rode into the city. So he drives past the smithy and thinks: “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to shoe the donkey.” No sooner said than done, done. The peasant slapped the donkey on the back, and the donkey spat it out. The peasant gave the coin to the blacksmith and went to dinner. He tied the donkey in the yard and went to the tavern. That's all the blacksmith needs. He tied his donkey in the tavern yard, and took the peasant’s donkey to his place.
In the evening the peasant returned home, and his wife immediately guessed that the donkey was a stranger. She began to scold her husband:
- What is this, hubby? Have you been bullied again? Or don’t you see that the donkey is not ours?
The peasant didn’t believe her and slapped the donkey on the back, but he not only didn’t spit out the coins, but kicked him and almost knocked out the owner’s teeth.
The poor man was spinning. He took his ax and went to the tree again. He began to chop down the tree, and the lark said:
- What do you want, good man?
“I have a great problem, my donkey was stolen,” the peasant answers, and he himself almost cries.
“Don’t worry, good man,” the lark tells him. “There’s an iron hammer hanging on that pear.” Hit the ground with this hammer three times, and three brave young men will appear in front of you. They will do whatever you tell them to do. And when they do, knock three times again and they will disappear.
The peasant was delighted, grabbed a hammer - and went straight to the king. The king saw him and again ordered his servants to give him a hundred batogs on his naked body and throw him out of the palace. And the peasant, don’t be bad, knock-knock-knock on the ground with a hammer. And then three brave young men would jump out of nowhere, rush at the Tsar and the Tsar’s servants and start beating them - they left no living space. The king was frightened and begged.
“Have mercy, brother,” he asks, “order your fellows to leave me alive.” I'll give you everything you want.
The peasant laughed:
- Yeah! Now you call me brother! Give me my stick and get out of my sight while you live!
The peasant took his stick and took his donkey from the blacksmith and went home, cheerful and satisfied.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru