Once upon a time there lived a gypsy. He wandered a lot around the world and saw so many things that he was not afraid of anyone. His strength was heroic. One on one, he went up against the bear and won.
He thrusts a knife into the bear's throat up to the hilt - and the bear is ready! But the bears also left a lot of marks on him: the gypsy’s entire body was striped with scars from bear claws. He was a black gypsy, scary, look - damn! Only one thing - no horns. In his old age, the gypsy stopped wandering and settled in the village, on the very edge. The men were afraid of him, they didn’t go to his house, and his relatives rarely visited.
One day an old gypsy decided to heat the bathhouse. He fetched water from the river, lit a fire, sat on the shelf and began to steam. And the time was already approaching midnight. The gypsy is steaming, steaming, with a broom on his sides and a whip on his back, suddenly he hears: someone comes up to him and says:
- Come on, move over!
The gypsy moved forward, thinking that it was one of his relatives who had arrived. In the bathhouse there is a column of steam, you can’t see anything.
“Sit down,” suggested the old gypsy, “there’s a seat free for you.”
“No, move closer to the window,” the unknown voice continues to say.
- What do you mean, not enough space? – the old gypsy was surprised, but moved even closer to the window.
- Now it’s good. Come on, steam me! Oh, and I love swimming.
-Where are you? – asks the old gypsy, “For some reason I don’t see you as a couple.”
- Yes, here I am, here, lying on the shelf! The old man began to float and whip someone with a broom, but he didn’t know who he was whipping.
- Come on, old man, throw some coals, give it a couple. Stir in the cauldron! The old gypsy was offended:
- If you need it, get up.
And I no longer have the strength. And you are younger than me.
- Hehe! – the voice chuckled. - Younger? Yes, I'm on par with your years.
The old gypsy got angry:
- Where are you hiding?
Why can't I see your face?
- Why do you want to see my face?
I am your double!
“What a double you are,” the gypsy laughed and cursed. And the one sitting next to him laughed so hard that the whole bathhouse shook. Then the old gypsy realized that this was unclean. When the gypsy bent down to stir the coals, he saw someone sitting on the cauldron, and his legs were hanging in front of his nose, not legs, but hooves!
- Hush, hush, old man, don’t hurt my legs. As the gypsy raised his eyes upward, he saw the devil. He is sitting: small in stature, his tail curved and thrown over his shoulder, horns sticking out on his head. He stuck out his tongue and made faces. The most damned thing!
And the devil’s face is exactly like that of an old gypsy.
- They say that you are a strong man.
- What, do you want to test my strength? - asked the old gypsy.
And the devil answers him:
“Torture, not torture, but I really want to steam you.” You floated me, now let me float you.
- I know your damn steam room.
Well, to hell with you!
How the devil jumped from the cauldron onto the old man’s shoulders and started chasing him around the bathhouse. He dragged him everywhere: he drove him into a pipe, dragged him through a pipe, pushed him under a bench, almost dipped him into a cauldron. The old man wants to throw it off, but the devil has a hold on it and there’s no way to pull it off. Finally the devil got tired of riding a gypsy. Here he says:
- Come on, old man, fight!
After all, you are strong. Or are they lying about you, that you are like this?
The gypsy got angry. I really wanted to teach the devil a lesson.
- Well, let's fight.
It's just cramped here. Let's go out into the clearing.
The devil agreed. They came out of the bathhouse into the clearing and began to fight. At first it seemed like they were quietly, and then they parted ways in earnest. The devil scratched the gypsy's entire back with his claws, stripes and spots remained. In the morning the devil completely tortured the old man, and when he began to give up, the devil pulled out a tooth from the gypsy and said:
“Well, you’ll know how to fight me!” I take your tooth as a deposit. You will be my worker as long as you live.
The devil drilled a hole in the gypsy's tooth with his claw, threaded a horsehair through it and hung it around his neck.
And then the third rooster crowed.
“Well, be healthy, old man, we’ll meet soon,” said the devil and disappeared.
The old man lay unconscious for a long time, so the devil had worn him out, and when he woke up, he crawled to the river, to bring himself to his senses and take on a divine form.
The gypsy didn’t tell anyone what happened to him that night, but he swore off going into the bathhouse. But the devil didn’t leave him alone. Did the devil like the gypsy, or what? Or maybe they really are doubles? One way or another, as soon as night fell in the yard, the devil appeared in the old gypsy’s house. They will sit, drink tea, and play cards, so it seems that their enmity has faded away.
The devil once suggested to a gypsy:
- Why are you and I just playing cards? Let's talk about interest. If you win, I will fulfill your wish; if I win, you will fulfill my wish.
They played and played. Still, the devil outwitted the gypsy and beat him.
“Okay,” the old gypsy frowned, “say your wish.”
“Oh, you foolish gypsy, I’ll make you such a wish that you’ll thank me for the rest of your life.” So this means: take a shovel and get ready for the forest.
- What are we going to do? - asked the gypsy.
- Take it, take it, don’t ask questions. Since you lost to me, then do what you are told, and without talking.
There is nothing to do. The gypsy got dressed, took a shovel and followed the devil. They walk through the forest, cross a river, pass a ravine, and again end up in the forest. They go out into a forest clearing. And in the middle of the clearing there is a well. The devil stops and says:
- Get into the well, old man!
And dig there. Whatever you find is all yours!
The gypsy climbed into the well and began to dig. I just dug into the ground a little, and there were gold coins. The gypsies grabbed pockets full of these coins, and the devil laughs:
- Take it, take more, I don’t feel sorry for you... From then on, the gypsy lived richly. He built a new hut, got an expensive horse, in general, he lives and does not bother. And every night he goes with the devil to the treasured well and digs for money. He digs at night and sleeps during the day. One day, an old gypsy had a dream. He dreams of his devil, and next to him is his damn grandmother. They say to each other:
- Well, will the gypsy soon take your place? - asks the damn grandmother.
“Tonight he must get to the pipe,” the devil answers, “as soon as he takes the pipe and smokes from it, he will be chained to this well for the rest of his life.” And he will grow horns and hooves. And his face is so similar to me that it is impossible to distinguish us.
“I understand you, grandson, how tired you are of guarding this damned well!”
The gypsy jumped up in sweat and thought:
“Oh, you horned ones, who are you planning to deceive? Well, just wait, I’ll get to you!” Night has come. And again the devil came for the gypsy, and they went to the forest well. The gypsy began to climb down the rope. Not even a minute had passed before he crawled back out.
- What's happened? - asks the devil.
“Darling, I’ve been digging and digging for as long as I can, for almost a month now, the rope has become short!”
The devil thought:
- What should we do?
“It’s very simple: take the horsehair off your neck, we’ll tie it to a rope, that’s enough.”
The devil looked at the gypsy to see if he was up to some trick, but the gypsy stood there like a fool, chewing a blade of grass.
- Well, are we going to tie it up or are we going to go home? - asks the gypsy. “Otherwise we’ll get to the third rooster.”
“Okay, to hell with you, tie it up,” the devil said angrily and removed the horsehair from his neck.
The gypsy tied the horsehair to the rope and climbed into the well again. As soon as he dug, he looked - it was a pipe, but not a simple one, it was made in the shape of a devil. Instead of eyes, yachts are inserted and burn with fire. And it’s as if this devil is smiling slyly. The gypsy took the pipe and climbed back out.
- Look, damn what I found!
- Wow, wow, wow, that’s what we needed! – the devil was delighted. - I'm tired. Let's have a smoke break!
“Well, that’s possible,” the gypsy agreed. He lit a fire. They sat down next to each other. They filled the pipe with tobacco.
- Come on, gypsy, light a cigarette first. And the gypsy quietly sprinkled birch dust on top and set it on fire, so it burned and smouldered. And the gypsy only pretends to smoke.
- Oh, and strong tobacco! – the gypsy coughed. - Take it, damn it, otherwise something took my breath away. The devil picked up the phone and said:
- Well, gypsy, after you I can indulge in some tobacco!
The devil laughed and took a long drag.
“It’s too early to rejoice,” exclaimed the old gypsy, “you wanted to trick me, but it didn’t work out.”
He grabbed the gypsy devil, tied him with a rope to the well, and left him there. And he tore his tooth from a horsehair and threw it into the fire. The tooth flashed, and the well immediately disappeared, and the devil along with it. I looked around the gypsy, and he was in his house. From then on, he never saw the devil again.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru