Once upon a time there lived an old woman, and she had a son; the woman was very weak and sick, and her son had to go to the barn to get flour.
So one day he went for flour, and just left the barn when, out of nowhere, the North Wind flew in, took the flour away from him and rushed away with it.
The boy went into the barn again and, as soon as he came out, the North Wind came again and took away the flour; the third time everything was exactly the same. The boy thought that the North Wind was doing something wrong and became angry. And he decided to find him and ask for his flour back.
Well, he set off on his journey, and the road was long. He walked and walked and finally came to the North Wind.
“Hello,” says the boy.
“Hello,” says the North Wind, but his voice is unfriendly. - Well, what do you want?
“Yes,” says the boy, “I want to ask you back for the flour that you took from me near the barn.” We are poor people, and if you take away even the last thing from us, we will have no choice but to die of hunger.
“I don’t have any flour,” the wind answers. - But since you are in such need, I will give you a tablecloth, and one that you only have to say: “Tablecloth, spread out and treat me to the most delicious things!” - and you will have everything your heart desires.
Well, the boy was happy and went home. But the road was long, it couldn’t be reached in a day, and he went to spend the night at an inn, and when they were going to have dinner there, he put his tablecloth on the table and said: “Tablecloth, spread out and treat me to the most delicious things!”
Before he had time to say this, the tablecloth fulfilled everything, and everyone began to praise it - praise cannot be praised enough. But no one liked her as much as the hostess of the inn: there is no need to fry or cook anything, or to set the table, or to clear the table, she thought. And then night came, everyone fell asleep, and the hostess took the tablecloth that the North Wind gave to the boy, and instead of it she put another one, which looked exactly the same, but this tablecloth couldn’t even treat anyone to a piece of black bread.
The boy woke up, took the tablecloth, hit the road and in the evening came home to his mother.
“Well,” he said, “I was at the North Wind; he paid me honestly: he gave me this tablecloth, but this tablecloth is not an ordinary one. Just tell her: “Spread out and treat me to the most delicious things!” - and you will have everything your heart desires.
“These are miracles,” said the mother, “until I see them with my own eyes, I won’t believe them.”
The boy quickly went to the table, put the tablecloth on it and said:
- Tablecloth, spread out and treat me to the most delicious things!
But the tablecloth remained as it was, and didn’t even treat him to a piece of black bread.
“Well, there’s nothing to do, we’ll have to go to the North Wind again,” said the boy and set off.
He walked and walked and came to the North Wind.
“Hello,” he says.
“Hello,” the wind answers.
“Give me back the flour that you took from me, but your tablecloth is no good.”
“I don’t have any flour,” answers the North Wind, “so, better take a goat, and he will give you gold ducats as soon as you tell him: “Goat, make money!”
Well, the boy was not averse to getting such a goat and immediately set off; but it was a long walk, he couldn’t reach it in one day, and again he stopped at an inn.
Before asking for food and drink, he tested his goat to see if the North Wind was telling the truth, and it turned out that everything was true. When the owner of the inn saw this, he decided that this goat had no value, and as soon as the boy fell asleep, the owner took the goat for himself, and instead of him slipped another one, which could not make any gold ducats.
The next morning the boy left the yard, came to his mother and said:
— The north wind is still good. So he gave me a goat, and such a one that just tell him: “Goat, make money!” - and he makes gold ducats.
“These are miracles,” said the mother, “I will never believe this until I see it with my own eyes.”
- Goat, make money! - said the boy.
But the goat did something completely different. The boy went to the wind again, said that the goat was no good, and asked him to pay for the flour.
“Well, I can’t give you anything else,” said the wind, “except for that old stick that stands at the entrance.” Maybe it will be useful to you too. Tell her: “Hit, my wand!” - and she will start hitting and fight until you say: “Stop, my wand!”
The way home was long, and the boy entered the inn again. Only he had already realized what had happened to the tablecloth and the goat, and therefore, as soon as he entered, he immediately lay down on the bench and began to snore as if he was sleeping soundly.
The owner thought that the stick would probably be good for something. He found exactly the same one and put it next to the boy and was about to take the stick for himself, but the boy screamed:
- Hit, my wand!
The stick is to hit and pound, and the owner jumps over tables and benches and screams and screams:
“Tell this stick to stop, otherwise it will beat me to death!” Oh, I’ll give you both the goat and the tablecloth!
The boy then decided that the owner had already received what he deserved:
- Stop, my wand!
And then he put the tablecloth in his pocket, took a stick in his hands, led the goat on a string and went to his home with all this wealth.
The North Wind has honestly paid for the torment!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru