A long time ago, in the village of Maghabore, there lived an old man and an old woman. And they had nothing except four daughters. When the girls grew up and the time came to marry them off, the old man and old woman had no property to give them as a dowry. Therefore, the parents married the eldest daughter to a tiger, the second to a bear, the third to a snake, and the youngest to a kite.
The daughters got married and left their parents' home. For a long time the old people did not see their daughters and sons-in-law. How will you invite them to visit? You can even roll a ball in the house. So the old man decided to go to them himself.
First of all, he went to his eldest daughter, who lived with her tiger husband in a cave.
The old man showed up just when both were at home. The tiger saw his father-in-law, spread his fluffy tail in front of him instead of a carpet and invited the old man to rest on it. “We must treat our dear guest well,” thought the owner of the house and ordered his wife:
“Father and I will go hunting, while you boil the water.”
Night fell, the tiger and his father-in-law went hunting. They walked and walked and finally came to one village.
“You, father-in-law, stay here for now,” says the tiger to the old man. “I’ll sneak into the barn alone, grab the goat there and throw it to you.” You immediately grab the carcass and drag it away, into the nettle thickets.
He said and disappeared into the barn. After some time, a goat carcass fell at the old man’s feet, he grabbed it and dragged it into the nettles. Soon the tiger arrived in time, and the two of them carried the prey home.
The eldest daughter prepared such a delicious roast from goat meat, seasoning it with such delicious spices that the old man ate and ate and could not get enough. And when he returned home, he boasted for a long time to his old woman:
- Well, my daughter and son-in-law treated me to a delicious roast this day!
“It’s good for you, go and eat,” the hungry old woman reproached her husband. “And who will treat me, unfortunate thing, with something tasty?”
- Yes, I’ll feed you in an instant, do you think I’m worse than our tiger son-in-law?
That same night the old man took the old woman with him and went to the village where he and his son-in-law had gone. An old man and an old woman approached the barn, the old man whispered to his wife:
- Stay here! As soon as I kill the goat, I’ll throw it out of the barn, then you grab the carcass and drag it away into the nettles. Well, at home we’ll feast with you!
And the old man ducked into the barn. But there he ran into a huge goat with long horns. As soon as the old man approached him, he butted him and threw him out of the barn. In the darkness, the old woman mistook the old man for a goat, grabbed him tightly and dragged him into the nettles.
- Yes, it’s me, old woman! - the old man howled in pain. - Don’t you see who you’re sticking in the nettles? Oh, it stings! Oh, I'm dying!
The old woman looked closer and saw that she had indeed pushed her husband into the nettles. Somehow she pulled it out, walked away, and the old people had to return home empty-handed.
Several days passed, the old man went to visit his second daughter. The bear son-in-law also decided to give his father-in-law a nice treat and says:
“Come on, father-in-law, with me for butter and flour, and you, wife, put the frying pan on the fire for now!” Let it warm up.
They walked and walked and reached a place where people squeeze oil from mustard seeds. People saw the bear, got scared and ran away. And he rolled on the ground, soaked his skin with oil and went to the mill with his father-in-law. The miller saw the bear, got scared and ran from the mill, but the bear fell into the flour and let's roll around in it. Soon the bear began to resemble a big snowball. He stood up and said to the old man:
“Well, father-in-law, the supplies have been made, and now we can go back.”
They returned home, the bear sat down in the frying pan, oil flowed from it in a stream, and flour poured on top. My daughter has prepared delicious butter cakes and is serving them to her dear guest. The old man ate and ate until his mouth stopped closing. I rested a little and returned home.
I just entered the house, and my wife asks what the second daughter treated her father to.
“Today they fed me to my fill with delicious flatbreads,” answered the husband.
“Your lot can only be envied,” the old woman sighed, swallowing saliva. “Who will take care of me?”
- Well, put the frying pan on the fire! — the old man smiled. “Now I’ll bring you butter and flour.”
And the old man went to get oil. He waited until the people finished squeezing out the oil and went home, and let’s rub against the crushing stones that had residual oil on them, and then he ran home. Without wasting any time, the old man sat down on the hot frying pan and waited for the oil to drain from him. And the hot frying pan will grab it in one place! The old man jumped onto the floor, jumped like a madman and shouted at the top of his voice:
- Oh, old woman! Pour water on me! Hurry up, I have no strength!
No matter how much his wife took a leak, the old man became covered in blisters.
Some time passed, and the old man decided to visit his third daughter.
The son-in-law-snake wanted to please the guest, and he decided to show the old man the underworld.
The old man grabbed the snake's tail tighter, they crawled along the underground passage, and the old man saw enough miracles in the underground world that he returned home, not remembering himself with delight.
He wanted to show his wife the underground wonders. He ordered the old woman to hold on to his leg and climbed into the snake's hole. Only the snake passage turned out to be too narrow for him - the old man got stuck right there. It took the old woman a long time to drag him out, and with just abrasions and scratches, she barely brought him home.
All that remains for the old man to do is visit the house of his youngest daughter. Well, he soon showed up to his kite son-in-law. The kite joyfully met his father-in-law and, in order to respect him, put him on his back, flew high with him - showed the old man the whole world.
The old man returned home and told his wife about how interesting it was to fly high in the sky.
The old woman became excited; she wanted to take at least one glimpse of the earth from above. The old man immediately volunteered to fulfill her wish. He glued feather wings on himself, put his wife on his back and jumped down the mountain. But, alas, the poor old woman didn’t see anything, she just gave herself bruises and bumps.
No wonder they say: “It’s not enough to know, you have to be able to!”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru