Once upon a time there lived a brave man. One day he was wandering through the forest and got lost. Out of nowhere, the devil jumped out and let’s persuade him:
- Come join me as a worker!
- Why not go? We hit it off.
Immediately the devil took him into his hell and pointed to three cauldrons with lids:
– Keep the fire under them all day long. Just don’t throw in more than two logs, don’t lift the lid, and don’t even look inside.
So the first day - while the devil knows where he was - the man is doing his job and thinking: “Why not see what’s cooking in these cauldrons?”
I lifted the lid of the first boiler - what a miracle! - there his master is, crouching, crouched to death.
“Ah, it’s you, old dog!” the man thinks. “Well, a third log wouldn’t be too much for you!” - And he threw the third log under the cauldron.
The devil came rushing in the evening.
- Why are there three logs under the cauldron?
“Yes, there’s a creature I know in this cauldron, I have to please her, it’s not for nothing that she pleased me with a pitchfork handle at one time in the barn.”
The second day the man does his job, but he thinks:
“We should look into the second cauldron.” He lifted the lid - fathers! - and there is the master’s steward. He tossed four logs to this one. The devil came rushing:
– Why are you transferring firewood?
- Yes, I decided to treat the manager, as he treated me.
For the third day, a man looks after the fire. “Eh!” he thinks, “let me see, who’s in the third cauldron?” I lifted the lid and it took my breath away with joy: the elder himself was boiling in the cauldron. Immediately I threw six logs under this dog, and also turned it well so that it would burn better.
The devil has returned:
- Wow, you burned a lot of wood! We had no such agreement. Well, get to your headman!
- What am I doing - I'll do it in an instant. Just lift the lid. The devil began to lift the lid, and meanwhile the man managed to grab the devil by the heels, and threw him into the steward’s cauldron.
- Well, now let the two devils stew together! The man laughed and went home.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru