The old man had three daughters. He gave the eldest and middle ones in marriage to the Syutsai, and the youngest married a peasant. And then one day the old man decided to celebrate his birthday. All three daughters and their husbands came to wish him longevity, but the older sons-in-law did not look at the youngest. They all sat down to a festive meal, decided to show themselves off, to put their youngest son-in-law to shame, and ordered everyone to compose a poem. And whoever cannot do it will not be given meat and will not be allowed to drink wine.
The eldest son-in-law was the first to compose the verse:
Twice eight is sixteen
I'll eat a piece of meat first.
He said quietly and, very pleased, took a piece of fatter meat and drank a glass of aromatic wine. Following him, the second son-in-law composed a verse:
Twice nine is eighteen
I’ll pick up two pieces of meat in one fell swoop.
He said quietly and, very pleased, ate two pieces of meat at once and drank two glasses of wine. It was the turn of the third son-in-law, he first took the dish with the appetizer in his hands, and then began to speak in verse:
Fourteen is twice seven,
I keep the full dish and eat it.
He said a verse - he emptied the whole dish and a jug of wine - glug-glug - lapped it up. The learned sons-in-law are angry, but they can’t say anything. But they didn’t resign themselves, they waited until the appetizer was brought a second time, and when the guests took up their chopsticks, they said that they still had to compose a poem, and whoever couldn’t do it would not be allowed to eat.
The third son-in-law asks here:
- What should I write about?
The second son-in-law answers:
- About everything. And about the bird that flies in the sky, and about the beast that prowls the ground, and about the jewel that lies on the table, and about the man who stands at the table.
The first son-in-law began again:
A bird soars in the sky - it’s a phoenix, fenghuang,
The animal is running along the ground - it is a mountain goat.
The essay is on the table,
And on the sides there are beauties.
The second son-in-law picked up:
A bird soars in the sky - it’s a vulture, penjiu,
An animal walking on the ground is a rhinoceros, a blue one.
On the table "Spring and Autumn" lie,
Two maids stand on either side.
Then the third son-in-law began to speak in verse, calmly, slowly:
The feathered creature in the sky is afraid of a gun,
The beast is running along the ground - it’s a ferocious tiger,
There is a hot coal on the table,
Young men stand on the sides.
Before he had time to finish speaking, the learned sons-in-law burst into laughter, the verse, they say, is too rude, and there is no rhyme at all, so don’t give him snacks. And the third son-in-law answers:
“Wait, let me finish,” and he began to repeat everything from the beginning: “The feathered creature in the sky is afraid of a gun” - a gun can kill your vulture and phoenix. “The beast is running on the ground - it’s a ferocious tiger” - a tiger can kill your rhinoceros and mountain goat. “There is a hot coal on the table” - the coal can burn your “Spring and Autumn” and other writings. “Young men stand on the sides” - they can marry your maids and beauties.
The Xiutsai heard this, their mouths were wide open, they wiggled their tongues, but they couldn’t say anything. The pundits wanted to shame the peasant, but they got it from him themselves. No wonder they say: don’t keep a stone in your bosom - it will fall on your feet. Serves them right!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru