One day, my mind and heart began to argue. His heart insisted that people lived for him, but his mind insisted on the opposite. They did not resort to the help of a judge, but decided to act alone and not interfere in each other’s affairs. They decided to try their agreement on one peasant.
The peasant, as usual, took the plow and went into the field. When he started plowing, his plow got stuck in the furrow. Bending down, he saw a copper jug with gold in the ground. What should I do now? - he thought. “I can do great things with this money, I can become a rich man.”
At the same time, it occurred to him: What if the thieves find out about this and come after him? If I contradict, they will kill me. Busy with these thoughts, he suddenly noticed a judge from that country passing along the road. “I’d rather give the gold to the judge, and calmly continue my work,” the peasant decided and, running after the judge, brought him to his field.
But then reason returned to him. Having come to his senses, the peasant immediately hid the jug behind his back and said to the judge:
- Yeah, you are a judge and a scientist. Tell me: which of these two bulls of mine is better?
The judge, hearing these words, cursed him angrily and left. With his departure, the peasant’s reason also left. The peasant thought again: Why didn’t I give him the gold, what will I do with the gold, where will I keep it? .
Leaving work, he thought like this until the evening, until he noticed the judge returning from the village. He rushed to him and began to beg and beg him to come to him on the field one more time. The judge, deciding that there was something hidden here, went with him. But the peasant’s reason returned again, and he said to the judge:
“I beg you, don’t be angry, look at this field of mine, you are a learned man!” What is greater - my yesterday's smell or today's?
The judge, deciding that the plowman had gone crazy, laughed and left. Along with him, the peasant's reason also left him - and sat down on the edge of the field.
- Oh my God! - said the peasant, beside himself with rage. - Why didn’t I give the judge the gold, where and how will I keep it?
And without thinking twice, he hid the jug of gold in the bag in which lunch was delivered to him in the field, threw the bag behind his back and, returning home, said to his wife:
- Wife, quickly tie up the bulls, give them hay and remove the plow! I'm going to the judge.
The wife saw a bag over her husband's shoulder and decided to find out what was hidden in it.
“It’s not my woman’s business to tie up bulls—I only bother with sheep and cows.” Better tie it yourself and go wherever you want.
Leaving the bag in the room, the husband went to drive the bulls into the barn. The wife took a jug of gold from the bag and threw a stone into the bag. Coming out of the stable, the husband hastily picked up the bag and ran straight to the judge.
- Here's a gift for you, take it! - he told the judge.
When the judge untied the knot, the peasant was taken aback.
The judge was angry, but, deciding that something was wrong, he ordered the peasant to be put in prison and assigned two people to him, ordering them to report everything that he did and said. Sitting in prison, the peasant began to mutter something and show with his hands: the jug was of such and such size, the spout was such and such, the volume was such and such, the bottom was such and such, and there was so much gold in it.
The people assigned to him reported to the judge: this way and that, he waved his hands, but said nothing. The judge ordered him to be summoned.
- Tell me why you waved your hands and what you measured?
The peasant’s mind immediately returned, and he answered the judge:
“I measured you: your head is like this, your neck is like this, your belly is like this, your beard is like this, and I said to myself: who is bigger - you or our bearded goat?”
The judge lost his temper and ordered him to be hanged. They took him to hang him, but when they put a noose around his neck and wanted to tighten it, he begged:
“Don’t execute me, I’ll go to the judge and tell him the whole truth!”
They brought him before the judge.
“Tell me the truth, what did you measure in prison?” “There’s no need to tell me: if they hadn’t removed the noose from my neck, I would have died, that’s the whole truth,” answered the peasant.
The judge laughed at these words and released the peasant. The mind and heart repented of what they had done, and vowed to act together from now on, deciding that what makes a person a person is the mind and the heart, the heart and the mind.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru