In one village there was a peasant, and here a gentleman lived not far away on his estate. The peasant happened to pass by the estate once. And the master’s dog was feisty. The dog attacked him, and he hit the dog with his staff and killed it.
The master filed a lawsuit. They called this peasant to sue the master. And when they came to court, the judges asked the master:
- What do you want from this peasant, what punishment should you give him?
“And this is what I want to do - deprive him of his human title and voice, and let him become a dog, guard my estate and live at my court.”
Well, of course, the court decided this. They deprived the peasant of his human title and forced him to live with the master and guard the master’s property.
The peasant had to come to the master and take the place of the dog: bark at night and guard his property.
And then one day he came to an agreement with the thieves:
“Come, thieves, on such and such a night, rob, and then we’ll divide it.”
And then one night the thieves arrived. When the master got up in the morning, he saw that a lot of his property had been taken away. And he takes the dog to court because it was poorly guarded: there were thieves and they robbed it. When they came to the trial, the judges began to ask the master:
“Well, master, tell me, did your dog bark that night?”
“She barked very well, she barked a lot that night when the theft took place.”
Then the judges answer the master:
- So what do you want from a dog? What else could she do, since she is deprived of a human voice?
And the judges decided that the dog was right, and gave him the right to speak in a human voice again.
Then the master was dissatisfied with the court and took this peasant to the city for a retrial. And they went with him together. We went into the forest. And it was already dark. The man says to the master:
- Look, master, the bear is standing on the road!
- Well, man, scare me!
- No, I won’t bark now - I got my human right. Bark yourself, master, otherwise the bear might eat us.
- Little man, bark a little, at least teach me. The little man barked a little and said:
“Now bark yourself, otherwise the bear will eat us.”
And then the master begins to bark. And the man says to him:
- Bark, master, bark, the bear has come closer! But he sits there and doesn’t laugh. And the master barked so loudly that it was dawn.
The guy says:
- Stop, master, stop, don’t bark! This is not a bear, we just saw a kokora.
Then the master spoke:
- Oh, so you deceived me! Now I will put you on trial.
“Okay, master, give it back, and I’ll tell everyone that you’ve been barking like a dog all night.”
“Listen, little man, I’ll let you go home and give you money and a cow.” Go and live with God, just don’t tell anyone that I barked like a dog!
And so they returned home. The master gave the peasant a cow and some money, and the peasant went home.
And he began to live, not knowing the need for anything, since he fooled the master.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru