Once upon a time there lived a rich gentleman and a poor, frail little man. The master did not know what to do with the money, and the poor man was always racking his brains about where to get a piece of bread. One day the master announces a competition for his own amusement - who can tell the most fables. He promised a pour of gold to the one who would lie to him. The poor man also wanted to earn a pura of gold, so he came to the competition.
It was the poor man's turn to lie.
- Well, what do you say, tramp? - asks the master.
- Hello, master! - the poor man answered and began to lie. “I once found a spruce in the forest, on which, instead of cones, large, beautiful beans grew.
“It may be so,” agreed the rich man:
“I picked one bean, brought it home and planted it in front of the hut. So what do you think? Bob immediately began to grow. And how he grew - an inch per minute!
“This is quite possible,” the rich man agreed again.
“I thought and thought about what to do with it, until I finally climbed up the bean. I had already climbed high, when suddenly one branch broke off under me and I flew down.
“And this can be,” says the master.
“I fell and fell, I probably would have been completely hurt and no one would have known about it if I hadn’t fallen on a big cloud.” Here I am riding like an important gentleman on a cloud and looking at what other people on earth are doing.
“Well, I believe it,” said the rich man.
- Suddenly I saw a heavenly barn, and when a cloud passed over it, I jumped onto the roof! He made a hole in the roof and climbed into the barn.
“I believe,” says the rich man, who has already become tired of the poor man’s lies.
“And there are all the stars and months hung on the walls—you can’t count how many there are.” I began to think about how to get back to the ground, until I figured out how to tie all the months together and go down them.
- Maybe that too. “to be,” muttered the rich man.
- No sooner said than done. The rope of months is ready, I climbed down. Well, I look - it’s still a long way to the ground, but the rope has run out.
“It is, of course,” said the rich man and asks: “And how long did all this happen to you?” Because I don't have much time.
The poor man’s lies are also coming to an end, and therefore, knowing the arrogance of the rich man, he decided to play his last trump card:
“I hung around some more, let go of the end and fell into a large cave...
“I believe everything, just finish it quickly!” - the rich man is impatient.
- And what do you think: there my and your fathers graze pigs and fight over a piece of bread...
This is too much for a rich man to have his father abused like that.
- You're lying! You're lying! - he shouted. “My father never herded pigs and didn’t know your father!” You're lying!
And that’s all the poor man needed. He took the promised pura of gold and lived happily ever after.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru