One peasant had three sons: two were smart, and the third was a fool.
The father sent his smart sons to study pottery. And he left the fool at home - let him lie on the stove.
When the father died, the older potter brothers took over their father's farm and removed the fool from all matters. After all, he doesn’t understand anything!
“Well, I don’t understand, I still don’t understand,” the fool thinks. And he doesn't argue with them.
And the smart brothers got down to business. They crumpled and tore flax, fired pots - they didn’t refuse to work, as long as the money was good. And we agreed among ourselves not to give money to the fool. And he can work without money, for grub.
So the brothers made pots, the whole fence is hung with pots. It's time to take it to Riga. They put these pots on a cart and sent their younger brother to the market.
- Sell the pots, and make sure you bring all the money home. The more money you bring, the better. The fool began to argue:
- How will I bring all the money? I also need some expenses!
“Whoever doesn’t know how to earn money from grub, how dare he also spend money?” - the brothers answered him. - Don’t touch our money!
“Okay,” said the fool, “I won’t touch your money.” I won't even look at them!
And he left.
In Riga, at the market, buyers approach him:
- How much are you asking for the pots?
- What can I ask for? I was told not to touch money. And I don’t even want to look at them. Take pots for free!
- Oh, you empty head!
Buyers heard that the pots are free, so let’s carry them. They tore them right out of my hands. Evening is still far away, but the cart is already empty. And the fool, whistling, goes home.
He hadn’t even reached the gate yet, and the brothers were already coming towards him.
- Fool, where is the money?
- Where is the money? In Riga.
- Where did you put the pots if the money is in Riga?
— And pots in Riga. They take them there by the cartload. In great demand. But they won’t give us any money until we deliver all the pots.
The brothers heard that the residents of Riga were selling pots in great demand, so they didn’t ask anything more. They load the pots onto a cart and send the fool to Riga again. One cart will carry it, and they already have another one ready. And the fool goes and goes to Riga with pots. What's his business? The brothers order - he carries it.
So he carried and carried pots all summer and all autumn. Now winter has come, and the snow has piled up, and the fool went with the last cart.
“Oh, what a shame,” the fool thinks, “now I have to bring money for all the pots. If I don’t bring it, my brothers won’t let me live. But I want to live in the world!”
He is driving back home from Riga - he has no pots, no money.
And now - happiness, where are you from? - He hears some noise in the bushes. He drove closer and saw: robbers, robbers, or whoever they were - on the road you don’t recognize everyone! - they hide something in a snowdrift.
The fool thinks:
“Why should I get involved with such people? Let them hide. And when they leave, it will be my turn.”
The robbers buried something in the snow and left. And the fool rummaged in the snowdrift, looked - and there was a large box full of silver. So what? He put the box on the sleigh and went home.
The fool came home and poured caps full of silver for the brothers. And he left the rest of the money in the box, threw his straw mattress on the stove and slept again as he slept.
The smart brothers, seeing how much money the fool brought them, felt guilty before him. And they immediately allowed him something that they would never have agreed to before: to get married!
Well, if you get married, then get married. He wouldn't be a fool to contradict his older brothers!
And so the older brothers started a wedding. They steam, they cook, they prepare a feast. And the fact that there is no bride is not enough grief for them. And when should you look for a bride? We also need to go to the city of Cesis for oil. Maybe somewhere along the way they will find some stupid girl for this fool.
The brothers left. And the fool went to heat the bathhouse and brew beer. He heated and heated the bathhouse, and heated it so hot that the beer went wild, knocked the cap into the ceiling and spilled all over the floor. What would a wedding be without beer? The whole thing fell apart.
But the following fall the wedding no longer fell apart. The fool found himself a bride and celebrated the wedding himself. And then he lived so wisely that even smart brothers came to him for advice. This is what happens when you consider yourself stupider than someone else!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru