Once upon a time there lived a Needlewoman and a Sloth, and a nanny with them. The needlewoman got up early and immediately got to work. Meanwhile, Sloth was lying in bed, turning from side to side.
One day, trouble happened to the Needlewoman: she accidentally dropped a bucket into the well. The strict nanny says: “You drowned the bucket yourself, get it out yourself!”
The Needlewoman went again to the well, grabbed the rope and went to the very bottom and sank. She looks at the stove in front of her, and looks at the pie from the stove and says: “Whoever takes me will go with me.” The needlewoman took it out and put it in her bosom.
He goes further and looks - there is a tree in the garden, and on the tree golden apples say to each other: -? Whoever shakes us off the tree will take it for himself. The needlewoman shook the apples into her apron.
He goes further and looks at old Moroz Ivanovich sitting on an ice bench. “Great,” he says, “The needlewoman!” Thank you, girl, for bringing me the pie - I haven’t eaten a hot one for a long time.
They had breakfast together with a pie and some apples, and then the old man said: “I know, you came for the bucket, I’ll give it to you, only you serve me for three days.”
And so they went into the house, and that house was all made of ice, and the walls were decorated with shiny snow stars, and on the bed instead of a feather bed there was snow. The Needlewoman began to whip up the snow so that the old man could sleep more softly, and her hands, the poor thing, became numb, but she rubbed them with a snowball, and her hands moved away. And Moroz Ivanovich lifted the feather bed, and under it there was green grass. The needlewoman was surprised: why doesn’t the old man release the grass into the light of God, and he answered: “The grass has not yet come into force.” Now spring will come, the feather bed will melt, the grass will sprout, the grain will appear, the peasant will sweep it away at the mill, and there will be flour, and from the flour you will bake bread.
Then the old man lay down to sleep on the fluffed feather bed, and the Needlewoman began to bother about the housework. They lived like that for three days, and when she had to leave, Moroz Ivanovich said: “Thank you, she consoled the old man.” Here is your bucket, I poured silver coins into it, and also a diamond for pinning a scarf.
The needlewoman thanked Moroz Ivanovich, went home and told her what had happened to her. The nanny says to Lenivitsa: “You see what people get for their work!” Go down into the well, find the old man and serve him. Sloth went to the well, and the thump went straight to the bottom. I saw a stove with a pie, a tree with apples in bulk - I didn’t take anything, I was too lazy. I came to Moroz Ivanovich empty-handed: —? I want to serve and get paid for my work! —? You speak sensibly. Make me a feather bed, tidy the house clean, and prepare something to eat. The sloth thought: “I won’t tire myself out,” and she didn’t do what Moroz Ivanovich told her.
The old man prepared the food himself, cleaned the house and fed Lenivitsa. They lived for three days, and the girl asked for a reward. —? What was your job? — the old man was surprised. - It is you who must pay me, because I served you. Come on, what is the work - such is the reward. Moroz Ivanovich gave Lenivitsa a huge silver bar in one hand, and a big, big diamond in the other.
The sloth didn’t even thank the old man; she ran home joyfully. She came and boasted. “Here,” she says, “I’m no match for my sister, I haven’t earned a handful of coins... Before she had time to finish speaking, the silver ingot and the diamond melted and poured onto the floor... And you, kids, think and guess what’s true here, what’s not true, what’s said for fun, and what’s for instruction...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru