Once upon a time there lived a greedy old woman. And she kept lamenting that she would die and her cow would go to strangers. And she decided to slaughter and eat her cow before her death. But it’s not known when death will come to her?
The old woman began to walk around the neighbors and ask everyone for advice. And one joker take it and tell her:
- Go to the mountains, grandma. Climb higher, stand at the top and shout: “Live or die?” You will hear the answer right away.
That's what the old woman did. She climbed a high mountain and screamed at the top of her lungs: “To live or to die?” And the echo answers her:
- Die!..
The old woman returned home and slaughtered her cow. And then she lit a fire in the hearth and cooked a full cauldron of beef. She feasted on cow meat for many days until she ate the last piece and gnawed the last bone.
A week passed, then another, but the old woman still did not die. She got angry, went to the neighbors and attacked the joker who gave her advice with abuse:
- Oh, you such a rogue, your shameless eyes! Why did you deceive me?
And the joker asks her:
- How did you scream, grandma?
“Live or die,” answers the old woman.
- That’s wrong! You should have shouted: “To die or to live?”
The next day the old woman went to the mountains again, climbed to the highest peak and shouted:
- To die or to live? And the echo answers her:
- Live!..
This is how the old woman lives to this day and still laments that she ate her cow before her time.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru