Hwee-phook!
Hwee-phook!
In the wide courtyard of the landowner's estate, barley was being threshed.
Hwee-phook!
Hwee-phook!
Check...
Something fell under Father Tok Sve's flail. He raked up the straw and there lay a crushed chicken. He probably climbed into the straw to taste the barley while the workers, straightening their backs, smoked their pipes.
Seeing the crushed chicken, the landowner lying on a mat near the house shouted angrily:
- Are you blind? Don't you see where you're hitting?! Pay for the chicken!
Papa Tok Sve was offended:
- Chicken is worth a pittance. Why are you, boss, making noise like I killed a man?
- Oh, you impudent one! Pay for the chicken now!
- How much should I pay for it?
— Nine liang
[Liang - ancient money]
— Nine liang???
Papa Tok Sve, and after him all the workers, their mouths dropped open in amazement.
“Master, of course you are laughing at the stupid peasant.” Where have you ever seen a chicken cost nine rubles? You won’t find anything like this in the whole world!
- Don't talk nonsense. My chicken is no match for others. The landowner and father Tok Swe argued furiously.
- A lot. You want too much! Don't you consider me a person? - the peasant was indignant.
All the workers were on the side of Father Tok Swe. And although they depended on the landowner, they could not be indifferent to his greedy claims.
— The owner demands nine lyaps for a chicken, the price of which is two or three phuna (P khun is equal to one hundredth of a lyang.)
What a robber!
Father Tok Sve refused to pay, and the landowner dragged him to trial before the ruler of the district.
- I'm listening to you. What's the matter? - the ruler turned to the landowner, receiving him with the respect that should be shown to a nobleman.
The landowner began to ask the judge to put in stocks Father Tok Swe, who killed the chicken and refuses to pay for it.
- Hey, do you admit that you killed the chicken?
The ruler said “you” to dad Tok Sve because he was a simple peasant.
— Yes, the chicken fell under the flail while threshing. And dad Tok Sve told everything as it happened.
- OK then. If that was the case, you should pay for the chicken.
- Right. I don’t refuse to pay for it what it’s worth. But they demand nine liang from me - where has this been seen?
- Hmm, nine liang...
The ruler turned to the landowner:
- Listen, sir. -Nine liang is really too much.
- Ha! “Too much”! - the landowner was indignant. - But if this chicken had not been killed, it would have become a big rooster. But losing a rooster is not profitable for me.
Papa Tok Swe did not give up.
- Okay, I’ll pay for the rooster too. But a rooster is also not worth nine liang. Three or four liang is the usual price.
- Oh, you rubbish! Your shameless throat! - the landowner roared and ran up to dad Tok Sve, eager to grab him by the throat. I feed them every day a hop (Hop-measure of bulk solids, equal to 0.81 liters) of expensive grain; each of my roosters weighs three times more than any peasant's rooster. By autumn they are almost bursting with fat. Yes, for such a rooster and nine liang are not enough!
After listening to the landowner, the ruler of the district nodded his head approvingly:
- Your words are fair. Papa Tok Sve, pay nine liang.
The peasants crowding into the court whispered:
—What kind of ruler? What a robber!
- No, just a fool.
- And such people are called “our wise judges”!
“Isn’t he ashamed to pass off black as white to please a nobleman?!”
But then, unexpectedly for everyone, dad Tok Swe announced that he agreed to pay nine liang for the killed chicken. He emptied all his pockets, somehow, little by little, he collected nine liang and laid them out in front of the judge. The landowner, grinning, grabbed the money.
- What a grabber! He won't give in for anything! Damn it! Nine liang for a chicken! — the indignant peasants became agitated.
- Hey, you! - the ruler shouted at them. “Why are you so noisy?” Or have you forgotten where you are?!
At this time, the calm voice of Father Tok Sve was heard:
- Mister Judge! I want to say a few more words.
- Well, what else is there?
The ruler, about to leave the court, sat down again.
“I killed a chicken, but I paid for a big rooster.” My owner himself said here that he would give the chicken hop chumiza every day [Chumiza is a type of millet]
How much grain would it take to feed him until he grows? Certainly no less than two smalls (Mal is a measure of bulk solids, equal to 18.4 liters).
This means that I paid the owner for a rooster, which would have to peck two small grains of grain. The chicken was killed, and two grains of grain remained with the owner. But they belong to me: I paid for a rooster, not a chicken. One malt of chumiza costs fifteen liang, which means I am owed thirty liang.
At these words of Papa Tok Sve, the ruler was dumbfounded, and the landowner even turned green with anger. But there was nothing to do, he had to shell out the money.
If you decide to deceive someone else, you yourself will get caught.
- Ho-ho-ho-ho! - The peasants laughed merrily, going home.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru