One day three friends begged the merchant to give them a ride on a boat. When the boat set sail from the shore, one of the friends took a stick and started humming and fingering it, as if he had a sadieu in his hand. Another friend heard a cheerful song and began clapping his hands to the beat of the music. And the third could not stand it, jumped up and began to dance - they were doing it too wildly. The boat capsized and all the merchant's goods sank. The friends began to blame each other. One says to the other:
“It was hard to force you to jump up and dance.” So the boat capsized. It's up to you to pay.
And the dancer responded:
- Well, no, the boat capsized because he started clapping his hands. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even think about dancing. The one who clapped his hands says:
- How can that be? After all, I clapped my hands because he hummed and imitated playing the sadieu. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't clap my hands. It's all his fault. Let him pay for the goods.
They argued and argued and went to the judge. They began to accuse each other in front of the judge. The judge himself could not come to any decision and led everyone to the king. The king listened to them and said:
“The one who imitated the game of the sadieu will pay one-sixth of the value of the goods.” The one who clapped his hands is two-sixths. The one who danced is three-sixths.
The friends agreed with this wise decision, calmed down and stopped quarreling.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru