There lived a certain peasant named Talbey, he had a wife and two sons. At the gate of his yard lay a large stone. Every time he passed the stone, he heard the same question: “Hey, master, what do you want, a happy youth or a happy old age?”
For a long time he thought about how to answer this mysterious question. One day he went to a wise old man who lived in the same village and said to him:
“Every time I pass the stone at the gate, I hear the same question: “What do you want, a happy youth or a happy old age?” I've thought about this for a long time, but I don't know what to say.
The old man replied:
“Ask him for a happy old age, no matter what your youth may be.”
When the peasant appeared at the stone, he heard again:
- “Hey, master, what do you want, a happy youth or a happy old age?”
“Whatever my youth may be, may my old age be happy,” said the poor peasant.
Soon, one misfortune after another befell Talbey: his mother and father died, his livestock died from the Samarlyk disease, and then lightning burned the house. The couple barely escaped and managed to get the children out - all their property was burned.
Talbey did not know what to do, where to lay his head. He had no choice but to look for work to feed himself and his family. He took his wife and children and trudged off wherever his eyes led them.
He walked around asking about work, but it was all in vain. And then one day he met some young people.
They began to look closely at Talbey’s beautiful wife, suddenly grabbed her and took her away with them.
Heartbroken, Talbey moved on with the children. He reached the river, found a ford, left one child under a tree, and carried the second to the other bank. He then returned and took the abandoned child. But when he reached the middle of the river, he saw how a wolf attacked the child, whom he had managed to carry earlier, grabbed him and carried him away.
- Woe is me! - Talbey exclaimed and rushed after the predator, but then the second child slipped out of his hands, and the fast current of the river immediately carried him away.
Talbey’s vision darkened, and with difficulty he came ashore and fell face down to the ground.
As soon as he woke up, in despair he grabbed a stone and began beating himself on the head to end his life. At this time, a horseman rode up to the river. He jumped off his horse, ran up to Talbego, took away the stone, washed Talbey’s bloody head and face and asked sympathetically:
- What's wrong with you? What's happened?
Having come to his senses, Talbey told him about all the failures and the grief he had just experienced.
- Yes, things are bad for you! — the horseman agreed. “But still, there’s no need to break your head over this.” This is unworthy of a man. You can't lose heart. Fate can still turn its face towards you.
Having encouraged Talbey, he jumped on his horse and rode off. Talbey with usi-
Liem stood up and walked along the road. Soon he came to the city, where he went to a merchant to clean his shop. Talbey was literate, but hid this from the owner, and he did not ask anything.
Once, a clerk working in a merchant’s shop made a mistake in counting. Talbey noticed the mistake and told the owner about it. The merchant checked, was convinced that the clerk had made a mistake, drove out the careless seller, and put Talbey in his place.
Some time passed. The merchant began to check the income of his shops, of which he had many. It turned out that all the shops were at a loss, only the shop where Talbey traded made a big profit.
- He sells well! - said the merchant and promoted Talbey to his position.
The time had come for the merchant to check his shops again, and again Talbey had a big profit.
The merchant guessed that Talbey was literate and at the same time honest. Feeling trust in him, the merchant made him manager of all his shops.
This merchant had no children; Having gotten used to Talbey, he adopted him. Talbey became the owner of half of the merchant’s entire property, but this did not console him—the grief he experienced was greater.
Just at this time the king of that country died. Before his death, he called together friends, military leaders and senior officials to inform them of his last will.
After my death,” said the king, “gather all the people and release my three tame pigeons.” They will choose someone who can reign after me. One of the doves landed on his head, the others on his shoulders.
When the king died, his friends notified the people that everyone should come to the palace square to elect a new king. At the appointed time, the people gathered. But Talbey did not come.
“There are enough people there without me,” he said.
So all the people gathered in the square, and the friends of the deceased king released three birds from the royal dovecote. The pigeons began to circle over the crowd, flew for a long time, but did not choose anyone and returned to the dovecote.
Then the friends of the deceased king decided:
“Let people gather again, but this time every single one, so that not a single person is left at home who can pick up a stick and hit a dog!”
The merchant, who was at the gathering, decided that next time he would take his adopted son with him.
When the appointed day arrived, he said to Talbey:
- This time you will come with me. You will see how the will of the late king will be carried out.
Talbey began to object:
“Somehow I became a shopkeeper, what else should I think about?”
The merchant insisted on his own, and Talbey went with him to the square. The pigeons were released again. They circled above the crowd, and suddenly one of them sat on Talbey’s head, and the other two sat on his shoulders. The crowd lifted Talbey in their arms. He was elevated to the royal throne, and began to rule the country wisely and carefully.
In the same city there lived a woman who constantly cried and was sad. One day her relatives went to the king, asking him to help their grief and somehow alleviate the woman’s grief.
“Bring her to me,” said Talbey.
Her relatives told her that the king was calling her. But she didn't go.
The woman's relatives returned to the king and reported that she did not want to go. The king sent three soldiers after her and ordered them to bring her. The woman refused to come to the king. The soldiers decided to take her by force, but her neighbors stood up for her:
“This woman has suffered a lot of grief. She is very unhappy, and that is why she is grieving. Don't touch her, otherwise her heart won't stand it!
Then the elder warrior said:
“Let her tell us about her troubles, and we will convey her complaints to the king.” He knows better how to help her and whether she is worth it.
After her story, two warriors, with tears in their eyes, rushed to her and began to hug her. At this time, the woman's husband returned. He saw his wife being hugged and kissed by some young warriors. Outraged by their action, but fearing a clash with armed men, he hurried to the king with a complaint. He sent his guards, ordering them to bring the woman and the offending soldiers.
When everyone had arrived, the king said to the woman:
- They said that you grieve all the time, but it turns out that you decided to hug young people?
“I grieved because misfortune followed on my heels until today,” the woman answered. “And the young men hugged me when they learned that I was their own mother.”
Then Talbey recognized his wife in the emaciated woman, ordered to take her to the palace, and asked the young men to tell how their lives turned out.
“We were still kids,” said the elder brother, “when our house burned down, and both of us, together with our father and mother, were walking somewhere along the road. Suddenly some people attacked us, kidnapped our mother, and offended our father. Insulted and unhappy, we reached the river. My father, having found a ford, carried me to the other bank, but when he followed his younger brother and reached the middle of the river, a wolf ran up, grabbed me and began to run away. Seeing this, my father rushed to save me, but tripped and dropped my brother from his hands, and he was carried away by the river. Luckily for me, the shepherd saw the wolf. With a well-aimed shot he killed the wolf and saved my life. The shepherd took me in and raised me. When I grew up, I was accepted into the royal army, and I ended up in the same detachment with my brother.
The river's current carried the younger brother to a flock of geese that belonged to a miller. The brother managed to grab hold of one of the geese, and the rest beat their wings and started cackling. The miller came running, saved his brother and left him in his family. Then, as I already said, our meeting took place. We became friends, and when we told each other about what we had experienced, we learned that we were brothers.
Excited and touched, Talbey immediately told the people about everything that he himself had experienced.
This is how Talbey and his wife enjoyed a happy old age.
Until I go and see with my own eyes how Talbey and his family live and fare, may none of you have a heart ache or a headache.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru