Once upon a time there lived a monkey and a turtle. The turtle had eleven children, but the monkey had no family and wandered. One day a turtle went to work. Having finished the work, she received money for it and bought a bag of rice with it. Returning home with rice, she stopped at the edge of the road, put the bag on the ground and went to collect dry wood. She returned with the dried fruit to the place where she left the bag and saw: a monkey sitting on the bag. The monkey told her:
- Hey, godfather, look - I found a bag of rice!
- This rice is not for you, godfather, I bought it for my children; I left it at the edge of the road because I went to collect dry wood. This rice is mine and you must give it to me.
But the monkey didn’t want to know anything. She said:
- What is found belongs to the finder! I won't give away the rice.
The turtle was very upset, but what can you do? She said to the monkey:
- Well, godfather, then at least sell me some rice - the children at home have nothing to eat.
- I can’t, godfather, my rice is not for sale; go to a Chinese shop and buy it.
“Okay, godfather, the day will come when you will remember me.”
And then one day a monkey was sitting on the lower branches of a tree, and its tail hung down to the ground. At this time, a turtle crawled past. She saw the monkey, grabbed its tail tightly and shouted:
- I found a monkey's tail! What is found belongs to the finder! I won't give it up for anything.
- Hey, godfather, are you kidding me? After all, this tail is mine!
“The rice on the road belongs to the one who found it, and the tail on the road also belongs to the one who found it.”
The monkey got angry and pulled his tail - the turtle did not let go, hanging on it. The monkey pulls - the turtle does not let go, hangs; and the monkey went to court with a complaint.
She told the judge:
- Judge that the turtle gives me my tail. The turtle said to the judge:
- Order that the monkey give me my rice.
The judge told them to tell them everything and, when he had listened to them, asked the monkey:
-Where is the rice?
The monkey laughed and patted his stomach:
- Here, judge!
The judge called the guard and told him to bring the deck. The guard brought it and, by order of the judge, placed the monkey's tail on it and cut it off. After this the judge said:
- What is found belongs to the finder!
The monkey found a bag of rice on the road - the rice belongs to the monkey; a turtle found a tail on the road - the tail belongs to a turtle. But if the monkey wants to buy his tail to stick to what he has left, he will have to give the turtle a bag of rice for it. Now go.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru