In one village there lived a rich peasant. He was such a stingy and greedy man that it’s disgusting to even remember him.
Every week the miser appeared at the market, pushing a large wheelbarrow filled with fruit in front of him. He had a huge garden, and its fruits were famous throughout the province.
One day a miser brought a whole wheelbarrow of pears to the market. The pears were one to one: without a single spot, without a dent, not a single one was overripe, not a single one was green.
The peasant looked at the neighboring wheelbarrows and said to himself: “My pears are the best.” Today I will sell the goods at a good price!
And as soon as he uttered these words, he saw an old beggar in front of him.
The poor man must have walked from afar. His emaciated body was covered with rags, he was breathing heavily and leaning on a heavy spade.
The old man approached the seller and extended his hand. But the greedy merchant hummed some song in his nasty voice and pretended not to notice the beggar.
“Generous gentleman, you will not become poor if you give a poor man one pear,” said the old man.
He asked well, but from the wrong person! In his entire life, the miser never gave anyone even a wrinkled cherry for free. Even his wife and children did not know what apples, peaches, and pears tasted like. Judge for yourself: could such a person give a beautiful pear to some beggar without money!
The wanderer begged for alms for a long time, but the miser’s heart did not soften.
- Go beg from others! - he shouted angrily. - Why are you attached to me, like a bee to a flower!
But the beggar did not leave.
And then the merchant began to scold loudly: “Listen, you old cow!” Go away and don't scare my customers. I'll set the market dogs on you if you don't get out now!
The beggar said: “Sir!” There are many hundreds of pears in your car. I only ask for one. Is it worth getting angry over such a trifle? - Because of a trifle! - the miser yelled. - Yes, I’ll get money for every pear!
He shouted so loudly that people from all over the market came running to the noise.
And one of the onlookers who came running said to the merchant: “Give him the worst pear, and he will leave!” “I don’t have bad pears!” - the curmudgeon answered importantly. “Whoever wants to eat pears from my garden must pay money.” No one will get anything from me for nothing. “Okay,” said the onlooker. - Here's the money for you. Give the poor old man the best pear.
The merchant handed the largest pear to the beggar. The poor man bowed at the waist to the man who bought the desired fruit for him, and said, addressing the crowd: “Gentlemen!” I have several hundred excellent pears. I ask you to try them without hesitation.
Everyone was surprised by these words.
“Why did you beg for one pathetic pear if you yourself have several hundred of them?” “Now you will understand why I needed this pear,” answered the beggar.
And he quickly ate the pear, carefully collecting its seeds.
Then he dug a deep hole with a spade, threw seeds into it and covered it with earth. The poor man scooped up a mug of cold water from a nearby stream and watered the seeds.
The crowd gawked at the beggar and waited impatiently for what would happen next. Only the miser was still angry because everyone was watching the old man and no one was tempted by the beautiful pears on the wheelbarrow.
And suddenly there were surprised exclamations from the crowd: a small sprout appeared. Before everyone's eyes, this sprout grew higher and higher.
After one minute, the sprout turned into a large pear tree, after two minutes, the tree blossomed, after three minutes, it was covered with juicy, large fruits.
Then the wanderer began to pick pears and distribute them to the crowd. The pears turned out to be so sweet and tender that everyone who tasted one reached for another.
The miser, who never allowed himself to eat even a rotten pear from his own garden, greedily attacked the old man's fruit.
Soon there was not a single pear left on the tree, and the people began to disperse. Everyone went about their business.
The miser and the beggar were left alone. The merchant stood spellbound and waited to see what the old man would do next.
And then this happened. The Stranger again took up his heavy spade and began to hit the tree with it. And with each blow the tree became smaller and smaller. Now it has turned into a thin tree, the tree has become a tiny sprout, and now the sprout has disappeared. And in the place where a tree covered with fruits had recently stood, only a small hole remained.
When the pear seller came to his senses from amazement, the wanderer was no longer there. He disappeared around the nearest bend.
The miser stood for a long time without moving. He kept counting how much a beggar could get for his pears if he sold them instead of giving them away for free. But then the merchant approached his wheelbarrow, looked at it, and clutched his head in despair: there was not a single pear in the wheelbarrow.
Only then did the miser realize that the wanderer was a sorcerer and transferred the pears from the wheelbarrow to his magic tree.
Oh, how angry the merchant was with the beggar, how he screamed and howled! Lost with rage, the miser gave chase. He ran, kicking the ground heavily with his feet, as if the ground were to blame for his failures.
The merchant ran around many streets and alleys. But there was no beggar anywhere.
Only towards sunset the pear seller returned to the market. And here another trouble awaited him. While he was chasing the beggar, some thieves stole his car.
The miser returned home without pears, without a car, without money. That's what he, the greedy one, needs!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru