Once upon a time there lived a poor peasant named Kim. Every spring he planted millet, tended the field in the summer, and harvested the crops in the fall. But then one day a disaster happened: Kim sowed the field and fell ill. The first weeding has already passed, then the second, the third has come, and he still lies sick. Finally the peasant recovered and went to his field. He walks, but before his eyes it is dark and dark, his hands are completely weak: he can barely hold the hoe. So he came to the field, looked - everything was overgrown with weeds and wormwood, and there was only one bush of millet, and even that one was weak, thin, and could barely stand. Kim cried with grief.
- What should I do now? How to survive the winter? Look at the grass that has grown - tall and thick, even a tiger will get lost in it.
A poor man is standing, crying, and suddenly he sees an old man walking, his white beard spreading in the wind, walking, leaning on his staff.
- Why are you crying? he asks Kim. -What are you sad about?
- How can I not cry! - Kim answers him. “I was sick throughout the spring, I was sick throughout the summer, and so I couldn’t weed the field.” Do you see how much grass has grown? And there is only one bush of millet...
The old peasant listened and said:
- Rather than lament in vain, you’d better weed the field. Grain will always thank a person. Who knows, maybe a whole tree will grow from a bush?
The wise old man said so and disappeared. And Kim took a hoe and let’s weed the field. Sweat is pouring off of him, his arms and legs are shaking, and he keeps flying and flying. He finished weeding, looked around the field and saw: in the very middle there was one single bush of millet standing, swaying in the wind. The peasant sighed heavily and returned home.
Autumn has come. The poor man took a sickle and went to the field. “Let me,” he thinks, “cut off my bush.”
He came to the field and gasped: standing in front of him was a huge tree, its branches covered the entire field, and on each branch, instead of leaves, millet grew. Where you can cut such a tree with a sickle, you can’t even cut it down with an ax!
Kim walks around the tree and can’t stop looking at it.
Suddenly he sees an old man walking, his white beard spreading in the wind, walking, leaning on his staff.
- Why are you walking around the tree? he asks. - Collect millet!
And Kim answers:
- How can I cut such a tree with a sickle? The old man shook his head:
- Oh, what a good-for-nothing you are! You don’t know how to do anything, you can’t guess anything... Well, so be it, I’ll help you this time too.
The old man said so and climbed up the tree. Climb to the very top and let's hit the branches with a staff. The millet began to fall, covering the peasant up to his knees.
- Well, is that enough? - asks the old man,
- Enough, enough! - Kim shouted. , And at that very moment the old man was gone. *
Kim ran home, grabbed the three largest bags, returned to the field and started pouring millet into the bags. He filled the bags full, brought the millet home and began to live for his own pleasure. Other peasants are preparing for spring: they drag manure to the fields, sharpen their hoes, and he just chuckles.
- Why should I try? - speaks. “I worked all my life and lived in poverty. But he was lucky and got rich. And again you have to be lucky...
Spring has come. Kim planted millet, but doesn’t even think about weeding. Everyone works from dawn to dusk, but he curls up under a tree and sleeps all day long. Moreover, he mocks his neighbors:
- Oh, you workers! Try, try. But for me, from one seed a whole tree will grow.
It's time for the third weeding. Kim took the hoe and went to the field. He looks, exactly as he did then: everything around is overgrown with weeds and wormwood, and in the middle of the field there is a millet bush standing, weak, thin, barely holding on. Kim was delighted: “Oh, I’m lucky! I wish the old man would come soon.”
Just when he thought so, lo and behold, the old man was walking, his white beard was spreading in the wind, he was walking, leaning on his staff. The old man approached Kim, looked around the field and asked:
-What are you? Were you sick again? Kim was confused:
- No... I’m just thinking about the best way to weed the field... The old man grinned:
- Well, work. If you weed it well, the millet tree will grow again. “He said so and disappeared, only he was seen.”
Kim stood there, scratching the back of his head—too lazy to weed the field. “And without weeding the tree will grow, because I’m lucky,” he decided and went home.
In the fall, Kim came to the field, looked - and there really was millet
tree, branches covered the entire field, and on each branch, instead of leaves, millet grows.
Kim was delighted.
“Well, old man, come quickly,” he says. - Why are you still not there? Come, it’s already evening.
The old man did not come for a long time, but Kim did not even think of climbing the tree. “I should come,” he thinks, “I’m lucky!”
Finally the old man appeared. Kim saw him and started yelling:
- How long can I wait for you? Come on, quickly climb the tree and knock down millet for me!
“Well,” the old man replies, “you’ll have to help, since you can’t even climb a tree yourself.”
The old man climbed to the very top, began to knock down the millet with a staff and stomp his feet - shaking the tree. Millet fell down, covering Kim up to his knees.
- Is that enough? - asks the old man. And he was overcome by greed.
“No, no,” he shouts, “I still need it!”
The peasant was already buried up to his waist, then up to his chest, and he kept demanding more. Finally Kim sighed heavily and said:
- Well, okay, now it seems that’s enough.
Lo and behold, there was no trace of the old man. Kim ran home as quickly as possible and began to call his relatives: he couldn’t take out so much millet alone.
The next day the whole village came running to see the wonderful tree. Kim led the peasants to the field and went to boast.
“Learn how to manage things,” he says. - Why work? You just need to be lucky!
So the peasants came to the field.
- Well, where is your tree? - they ask.
And the lazy man stands like a statue, his mouth open, his eyes bulging: the whole field is strewn with small stones and instead of a wonderful tree there is a whole heap of stones. Kim climbed onto the rocks, fell on his face and began to roar.
“It can’t be,” he says, “it’s millet... And people laugh:
- Completely crazy...
They laughed and went home.
This is how a person was punished for laziness and greed!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru