Once upon a time there lived a cruel and treacherous khan. He caused many troubles to the people with his oppression and extortions.
One day the khan ordered his new decree to be announced.
“The Great Khan,” the heralds shouted, “has compiled a list of all the inhabitants of the Khanate and will ask each of them three questions.” Whoever answers correctly will be released in peace, whoever answers incorrectly will be executed.
The people heard this and began to grumble. But the power was on the khan’s side, and everyone had to take turns going to the palace and answering. Many heads, they say, flew off their shoulders then.
And now it was the turn of one poor man who had an only daughter. The poor man became sad, and his daughter said to him:
“Stay at home, father, I’ll go to the khan myself and answer his questions.”
The poor man did not agree at first, but the girl insisted on her own and boldly went to the palace.
- How did you end up here, woman? - Khan was surprised.
- Oh khan! My father became seriously ill, and I dared to replace him. thread it.
Khan agreed and asked her:
-What is the most sensitive thing? What's the fastest? And what is most fair?
“The most sensitive thing is the ears, the quickest thing is the eyes, and the fairest thing—everyone knows it—is your anger, oh khan,” the girl answered with a grin.
Khan ordered to let her go, but before that he said:
“We will test your wisdom again.”
On the second day, the khan sent the poor man’s daughter a pair of old threshing boards, ordering her to sew elegant clothes from them:
“Tell the khan that I will carry out his order, but I don’t have any good threads.” Let him make me threads from these stones, and with these words the girl handed the messenger a pair of cobblestones.
The next time, the Khan's messenger brought fifteen eggs and ordered that fifteen chickens be hatched by tomorrow. The girl gave the messenger a handful of barley and said:
“Let the khan sow these grains and reap the harvest tomorrow, otherwise his chickens will die of hunger.”
The khan received her answer and realized that he had been left a fool. And he stopped killing people according to his evil whim, and soon, they say, he died. And the girl married the first Aul jigit and is still alive.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru