In a small mountain village there once lived a very cruel landowner. For the slightest offense, he took away the peasants' livestock and executed those who disobeyed. Everyone hated him, but they were afraid to even utter a word and, in order to ease their souls, they only quietly complained to each other about the oppression and insults.
In the same village lived a young man named Toy. He was an orphan and had neither home nor property. As a boy, he wandered from village to village, and then returned to his native village and began to work as a laborer for the owner.
Toy worked well, and his character was so cheerful that everyone who met him forgot about their sorrows and rejoiced with him. Even the birds chirped louder, and the trees and grass turned greener when Toy passed by. Only the cruel landowner Lang could not stand Toya. When meeting a young man, the smile on his face gave way to a grimace, his mood deteriorated, his words got stuck in his throat. Many times the landowner tried to annoy Toya, but he could not do anything, because the young man had neither property nor relatives. And then he, together with his manager Au Uye, decided to drive Toy, whom he hated, out of the world.
One day Toy caught a boar in the forest, slaughtered it and arranged a feast for all the inhabitants of the village. Only Lang did not receive a single piece from him, although according to the law the best share of the spoils should have been presented to the landowner. Lang sent his servants to bring Toi.
He appeared before the landowner as if nothing had happened and calmly listened as he announced his death sentence. And the landowner began to think about how to make sure that Toy’s soul, after his death, did not move into some predatory animal that would come to avenge the murdered man. He argued with the manager for a long time, but even the two of them couldn’t come up with anything. Then Toy, who was sitting calmly in his corner, raised his voice:
- Mister Lang, sew me into a bag of white cloth and throw me into the river!
The landowner thought the advice was good, but still he hesitated:
– What if matter cannot hold the soul? – he asked. “After all, spirits are always driven away by burning white paper?”
“Well,” Toy picked up, “make a bag out of paper.” It will still be white.
Lang agreed. He ordered Toy to be put in a paper bag and thrown into the river.
The paper immediately became soaked in water. And while the landowner was rejoicing that he had gotten rid of his enemy, Toy freed himself from the bag and sailed down the river. Getting out to the shore. Toy saw a herd of buffaloes that belonged to Lang.
-Where are you going, Toy? - the shepherds asked him.
“I’m looking for my buffalos,” answered Toy. “Eh, here they are!”
The shepherds began to argue, to prove that the buffaloes belonged to the landowners. It ended with all of them appearing before Lang for trial.
They will see that Toy is alive and well and has even brought a whole herd of buffaloes, the landowner trembled with fear. Before he had time to utter a word, Toy quickly spoke:
“The Water King granted me these buffaloes, but the shepherd boys say that the buffaloes are yours.” I ask you to sort out the case fairly!
Both sides argued for a long time and eventually went to settle the matter at the altar of their ancestors.
Toy knew that the landowner himself had never dealt with buffaloes, so he asked him:
– If these buffaloes are yours, tell me where their teeth are: on the upper jaw or on the lower jaw?
- On both, of course! - exclaimed the landowner. - How could it be otherwise?
“The buffaloes that the water king gave me have teeth only on the lower jaw,” Toy announced. “The upper ones were torn out by the palace guard so that these buffaloes would be different from others.” Check it out for yourself!
Lang checked, and the entire herd went to Toy.
The disgruntled landowner began to question him:
- How did you manage to stay alive and even bring a whole herd?
“When they threw me into the water, I sank to the bottom,” Toy began to tell, “and almost fell straight into the palanquin of the water king, who was walking around his domain with his daughter.” He ordered me to be taken out of the bag. The daughter of the water king immediately fell in love with me and asked her father to invite me to the palace. Oh heaven! How rich the water king is and how many beautiful girls he has! He invited me to marry his daughter, but I refused because I was afraid that I would have to stay under water forever. Then the king invited me to take as much gold and silver as I wanted. But I didn’t take anything, because at home I don’t even have a chest to store money. You can’t carry too much in a paper bag! If only it were made of matter! And the water king gave me a herd of buffaloes and sent me away in peace.
- What a fool you are! - exclaimed the landowner. - I would take everything! And he would marry a princess and fill the whole house with money!
“That’s good,” Toy rejoiced, “the water king invited me to visit and he also invited you and the manager.” There are not enough men in the underwater kingdom, but you and the manager have become famous, you are welcome guests everywhere.
The satisfied landowner agreed with Toy that tomorrow they would go to the water king. Toy suggested that the landowner prepare a brocade bag for himself, a bag embroidered with flowers for the manager, and a paper one for him, as before.
“I’ll put three bags on myself - they’ll be useful for storing money,” said the landowner, “let the manager put on two.”
The next morning, Lang's family accompanied the three to the river bank. One by one they lowered the bags into the water.
The landowner and his manager immediately drowned. And Toy sailed further away and, after waiting a few days, came to the village.
“Your husband and the manager are having a blast,” he said to Lang’s wife. “Each took five wives.” Lang does not want to return to earth and sent me to manage all his lands, and ordered you to marry me! If you don't believe me, go to him yourself and ask.
Hearing this, Lang's wife completely lost her head from anger and jealousy. She rushed to the river bank, climbed into the bag and splashed into the water. This is where the end came for her.
The property of the evil rich man went to Toy, and he divided it all among the poor.
From then on, the peasants of his village began to live cheerfully and knew no need.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru