Whether it happened or not, there lived one king. This king announced throughout the country: “If anyone comes up with such a fable that I say: “This is a lie,” I will give half of my kingdom to him.”
The shepherd arrives. He says: “Long life to the king!” My father had a club with which he reached to the sky and mixed the stars. “What’s so surprising about that?” - the king answers. “My grandfather had a pipe, so he used to take one end in his mouth and light it with the other from the sun.
The shepherd scratched his head and left. The tailor arrives. He says: “Forgive me, king, I was going to come earlier, but I was late.” Yesterday it rained heavily, a thunderstorm broke out, and the sky was torn apart by lightning. So I went to stitch it up. “I did a good job,” says the king. “You just sewed it up loosely—it was drizzling again this morning.”
The tailor left with nothing. A poor peasant comes in with a measure under his arm. “What do you want?” - asks the king. - You owe me a measure of gold, so I came for it. - A measure of gold? This is a lie! I don’t owe you any gold! “And since this is a lie, give me half of the kingdom!” “No, no, you’re telling the truth,” the king wanted to wriggle out. “If I’m telling the truth, pour out a measure of gold.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru