Once on a holiday, peasants were sitting on a bench in front of the house and talking about their affairs. A village shopkeeper approached them and began to boast: I’m no stranger and I’ve been in a manor’s mansion before. And the poorest peasant sat and chuckled:
“You’ll think it’s a great thing that you’ve ever been in a master’s mansion.” If I want, I will dine with the master.
- Are you going to have dinner with the master? “Even if I see such a marvel with my own eyes, I still won’t believe it,” the shopkeeper got excited.
“You will see that I will have dinner with the master.”
- No, you won’t!
They argued and argued and, in the end, the poor peasant declared publicly:
- I bet that I will have dinner with the master. If things go my way, you will give me a black and bay horse, and if you turn out to be right, then I will work for you for three years for free.
The shopkeeper was delighted:
- I agree! I will give you a black and bay horse, and in addition I will give you a cow - I say this in front of witnesses.
The poor man went to the master:
- Your Grace, I want to ask you something, I just ask you, let it remain between us: how much does a gold bar the size of my fist cost?
The master didn’t answer, he just clapped his hands:
- Give me and the peasant a drink and a snack and bring lunch, quickly! Sit down, sit down, don’t be timid, eat, drink as much as your heart desires!
The master treats the peasant like a dear guest, but he himself trembles with greed, afraid that he might lose the ingot from his hands.
- Go, man, bring your gold bar. I’ll give you a pound of flour and five kopecks for it.
- Yes, master, I don’t have any ingot! I was just curious about how much a gold bar the size of my fist cost.
The master got angry:
- Get out of here, you idiot!
“What kind of fool am I, master, since you treated me like a dear guest, for this dinner I will also receive two horses and a cow from the shopkeeper?”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru