Once upon a time there lived a peasant. He had a wayward wife. One day she pestered him: let’s go, let’s go to my family. The peasant really didn’t want to go, because he was poor, didn’t have decent clothes, and didn’t have a horse or even a saddle.
How to appear in front of your wife's relatives? How can you convince a cantankerous woman if she has something in her head? Reluctantly, the peasant began to get ready for the journey: he begged horses from his neighbors, but what kind of horses were they - half-dead nags, it was a shame to sit on them. What could he do, he saddled them and set off with his wife on the road.
The peasant wanted to smoke. He took out his clay pipe, filled it with tobacco, began looking for flint, searched all his pockets, but couldn’t find it. Forgot it at home. He sees smoke in the forest, and they say there is no smoke without fire. He turned off the path and went into the forest to find a fire. He drives up and sees: a walnut bush is burning, and a snake is sitting on one of the branches and is about to fall into the fire.
The peasant dismounted, took out a long pole and handed it to the snake. She wrapped herself around the pole, and thus he pulled her out of the fire.
“You did a good deed for me, this is how I will repay you, close your eyes,” said the snake. - From now on, let you understand the language of all living creatures that live on earth. The peasant closed his eyes and then opened them. And suddenly he began to understand all the languages in the world, and even the language of trees and birds...
It's interesting for him to listen to what they talk about. He drove out onto the road and went further with his wife. Suddenly a roe deer and a kid jumped out of the forest, followed by a wolf. It's about to catch up with them. The little goat began to shout:
-Mom, help, the wolf is catching up with me! He will eat me!
- How can I help you? - the mother roe deer answers. - Ask for help at your feet.
The peasant heard what the roe deer was talking about and drove the wolf away.
The roe deer thanked the savior and rushed off into the forest with the kid.
The peasant and his wife are traveling further. A foal ran behind the mare on which the wife was sitting.
“Oh, mom, wait a little, I’m tired,” said the foal.
- I see, son, that you are tired, but be patient. I'm sick without you. You see how overweight I am, because I’m a foal, it’s doubly heavier for me, and this insensitive woman keeps pushing me.
Hearing this, the old man felt sorry for the foal and stopped with his wife to rest.
They came to their wife's relatives and stayed there for a week. It's time to leave. The husband saddled the horses, and they set off on their way back.
As they were driving through the forest, the peasant suddenly heard a large beech tree moaning. “Why are you moaning?” - asked the tree standing nearby. “I’m filled with gold from the inside. It’s hard for me, I can’t breathe,” said the beech tree.
“Let’s see if this is true,” the peasant thought and hit the beech tree with his staff: gold fell out of it. The peasant collected a bag full of gold; and the wife was incredibly happy.
The peasant and his wife became rich, they built palaces and nice houses. They had many workers. Once the washed grain was dried on the table. A peasant and his wife were sitting on the balcony. Two sparrows flew in and sat on the table. One of them began to peck the grains, and the other began to scatter them. The one who pecked said: “Why are you scattering grains?” The second sparrow replied:
“What you eat, you take with you, and the grains that I scatter, I will fly back tomorrow and eat.” After all, the owners do not collect spilled grains. You only think about how to fill your belly today, but I also think about tomorrow.
When the husband heard what the sparrows were talking about, he involuntarily laughed. The wife asked her husband why he was laughing?
“It’s so simple,” he answered.
His wife pestered him: “Tell me and tell me what you laughed at!” He refused for a long time. But would a wife leave her husband if she wanted to extract something from him?
“If I tell you what I laughed at, you will die,” he tried to intimidate her.
- Let me die, but you have to say! she demanded.
“Nothing will happen to you, but as soon as I say about it, I’ll die,” he said.
“Even if you die, you still have to tell me the reason for your laughter,” she pestered him more than ever.
“Okay,” he gave in. - Tomorrow at noon I will tell you about it. Kill a lamb for me, prepare a good dinner. Tomorrow until noon I will have my last feast, and then I will die.
The wife prepared a sumptuous dinner, set the table and called her husband: “Go, dinner is ready.”
The husband sat down at the table and thought about it, he wasn’t eating. The dog came and sat down in front of the owner. He broke off a piece of hominy and gave it to the dog, but the dog didn’t eat either: she knew that the owner had to die and felt sorry for him; The hominy didn’t go down her throat.
Suddenly a rooster came running from the yard and began pecking at the hominy. The dog drove him away. The rooster was indignant: “You don’t eat it yourself and don’t give it to me, what’s the matter?”
-But the fact is that our master must die now and I feel sorry for him, and you have no other worries than filling your goiter.
- What happened, why does he have to die? - asked the rooster.
“He knows some important secret and now he must reveal it to his wife.” As soon as he opens it, he will die,” answered the dog.
-Who forces him to reveal the secret?
- My wife forces me, that’s who.
“Well, in that case, our master should have died earlier.”
- Why? - the dog was surprised.
“Is it worth living for a man in the world if he cannot get along with his wife,” answered the rooster. “Here I have twenty wives, and they are all obedient to me.” Now you can see this for yourself.
The rooster came out onto the threshold and crowed. The chickens rushed headlong towards him. He stood in front of them, stuck out his chest proudly and said: “You see how they listen to me!” But your master cannot cope with even one wife. The owner, of course, heard all this. He got up from the table and went out into the yard.
- Why don’t you eat? Where are you going? After all, I’m waiting for you to sing and tell me why you laughed.
“Wait, I’ll be back now and then I’ll tell you everything.” Soon the owner returned with a strong walnut stick in his hand.
“You wanted to know why I was laughing?” Well, now you'll find out. With these words, the husband began to beat his wife with a stick, saying:
- So much for your excessive curiosity, so much for your quarrelsome disposition.
And she became impatient: “Oh, don’t, oh, I won’t, oh, don’t tell me anything!” - she screamed.
This is how the peasant was saved. Now I ask you, friends, who saved this man from certain death?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru