In former times, there lived two young men who did not know each other, Ki Satu and Ki Dua. And then one day their parents sent both of them to the country of Rum to study theology. They met on the road, Ki Satu and asked:
- Hey, friend, where are you going?
– I’m going to the country of Rum to study.
- Let's go together, I should go there too. And they moved on together.
Ki Satu had ten rupees for the journey, and Ki Dua had seven. The young men decided to pool their money and split the expenses in half. But when the ten rupees were spent, Ki Dua did not want to spend his money. Ki Satu, understandably, was angry, but immediately suppressed his anger and resentment - after all, he was going to study theology and had to learn to overcome any vain feelings.
They moved on. After a few days, Ki Satu felt very hungry because he received very little food - only what Ki Dua gave. Soon Ki Satu was no longer able to bear the hunger and said to his fellow traveler:
“Hey, Ki Dua, give me a little more, I’m really hungry.”
“Don’t beg like a little child, I don’t have anything else anyway,” answered Ki Dua.
But Ki Satu kept asking Ki Dua to share with him. Finally, he got tired of listening to his comrade’s requests, and he said angrily:
“Tell you what, friend, if you’re really that hungry, then I’ll give you half of my piece of bread.” But give me your left eye in return.
Ki Satu could no longer endure the pangs of hunger and agreed to give his eye for bread. Again they continued on their way. Several days passed, and Ki Satu again felt that he was exhausted from hunger. He began to beg Ki Dua to give him food, and he again gave him bread, but in exchange for his right eye. Now Ki Satu became completely blind and followed his friend as a guide. One day he was very thirsty and asked Ki Dua to give him something to drink. At that time they were just passing by a well, and Ki Dua thought: “If I push Ki Satu into this well, he will surely drown and I will be freed from him.” Using a long rope, he lowered Ki Satu into the well and went his way.
And Ki Satu, when he found himself in the well, began to feel the walls around him and found a large hole. He crawled into it and heard two voices, male and female. Ki Satu wanted to know what they were talking about. Both voices were very weak and barely audible - they belonged to two tiny people. The woman asked her husband:
– Why do we never suffer defeats in war?
“Because we have a secret that is passed down from generation to generation: when the war ends, we kill the black cat, and all the dead are resurrected,” answered the husband.
– Is it possible to restore sight to a blind person?
“Oh, it’s easy—you just have to crush a few leaves of the Singavereng tree and rub the blind man’s eye sockets.” He will immediately see the light.
Ki Satu was very happy and began to listen to what the little men would say next. The woman asked:
– What have you heard about the treasures that are kept in the city of Rum at the city gates? And how can you take possession of these treasures?
“The treasures have not yet been touched, they lie in the same place, and in order to take possession of them, you need to kill the black dog.”
Soon after this, a peasant came to the well where Ki Satu was sitting for water. He lowered the bucket into the well, and Ki Satu immediately grabbed onto it, and the peasant pulled him up. A peasant saw the blind Ki Satu, was surprised and asked:
- Hey, friend, who are you and where did you come from?
Ki Satu did not want to speak ill of his comrade, and he only said:
“I’m a very unhappy person, my eyes don’t see anything.” I wanted to drink water and fell into this well.
“Oh, unfortunate one,” said the old peasant, “come with me!” At home you will tell me about everything that happened to you and drink coffee.
But Ki Satu did not want to go to the peasant - after all, he needed to find the singavereng tree as soon as possible.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness, but don’t be offended if I don’t go to you.” I ask you only one thing - take me to the Singavereng tree.
The kind peasant led Ki Satu to the Singavereng tree and left, and Ki Satu began to feel the tree in search of leaves. It’s good that the tree was not tall, and he could easily pick off a few leaves. He kneaded them, rubbed his eye sockets - and began to see as well as before. Boundless joy overwhelmed him: now he could continue his journey to the country of Rum.
Having picked leaves from the magic tree in reserve, the young man tied them in a knot and moved on. He arrived safely in the country of Rum and settled there. And suddenly one day he met his former comrade, Ki Dua. Ki Dua was very surprised when he saw Ki Satu, because he thought that he died in the well. They separated again to seek happiness alone.
The Raja of the city of Rum had a daughter, beautiful, but blind. Her blindness greatly saddened the Raja and his wife, and they announced: the person who manages to restore the princess’s sight will become the Raja’s son-in-law and inherit his throne.
Ki Satu heard about this and decided to try his luck. He went to the Raja and said that he wanted to cure the princess.
– Do you know the conditions? If my daughter regains her sight, you will become my son-in-law and inherit the throne, but if not, you will lose your head,” the raj warned the young man.
Ki Satu agreed to these conditions and asked that the princess be brought to him. He crushed the leaves of the Singavereng tree, rubbed them on the eyes of the blind princess - and she regained her sight.
Everyone was amazed. The Raja was very happy that his daughter began to see him, and ordered his first minister:
“Hey, First Minister, prepare everything you need for the wedding and announce to the people that we will arrange a feast that will last seven days and seven nights.”
The First Minister did as he was ordered, and the country of Rum joyfully celebrated the wedding of the princess and Ki Satu. The fun ended, and the father-in-law invited Ki Satu to travel around the country with him, admire the beautiful places and examine the treasuries with the state treasury. Ki Satu saw them and said:
“I knew about these treasures before.” But there are others.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” said the Raja.
“Tomorrow, dear father-in-law, I will show you treasures that you don’t know about yet.”
The next day, Ki Satu ordered the black dog to be killed and found caches full of treasures. The Raja was amazed at his son-in-law's intelligence and fell in love with him even more.
A little time passed, and the Raja called Ki Satu to him.
“My son,” said the Raja, “I am already old, and the time has come for me to retire from business.” As I promised, you will inherit my throne.
So Ki Satu became the Rajah of the great country of Rum. He ruled wisely and fairly, and his state prospered. The people loved the new Rajah very much for his kindness.
One evening, sitting with his wife on the veranda of the palace, the young Raja saw a man bent under the weight of a bundle of firewood. Sweat was pouring off him.
The Raja took pity on the poor man and ordered one of his servants to call him. When the woodcutter appeared before the Raja, he asked:
- Hey, lumberjack, what's your name and where do you live?
“Sir, my name is Ki Dua, and I come from a distant country.”
Then the Raja said to the first minister:
“First Minister, give this man a good house and give him every month as much money as he needs, and if he wants to get married, find him a suitable wife.”
All the orders of the Raja were carried out.
Ki Dua lived happily, but could not understand why the Raja treated him so kindly. He began to question people and learned that the Rajah of the country Rum was none other than his former traveling companion Ki Satu. He wanted to know how Ki Satu managed to become a rajah, so he went to him and asked him this question directly. Raja willingly told him about everything that had happened to him.
The envious man was Ki Dua, and when he heard the story of Ki Satu, he also decided to become a Raja. He went to the well where the little people lived, to the very one where he wanted to drown Ki Satu, and went down. There he stood in the passage, not far from the dwellings of the little men, and began to listen to what they were talking about. And this is what he heard:
“I recently learned that a lot of treasures have disappeared in the country of Rum - apparently someone overheard us talking about them and stole our treasure. Ha, I just smelled a person - maybe someone is listening to us now? Let's see.
The little people took their weapons and went out. Ki Dua had nowhere to run and they killed him. This is how the greedy Ki Dua was punished, who already did not need anything, but wanted even more wealth and power.
As for Ki Satu, he ruled the country of Rum for a long time. He lived peacefully and happily, and so did all his people.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru