Once upon a time in the country of Andhra, in a village, there lived a poor old woman. She had two sons. Every morning the sons went into the forest to hunt and returned home only in the evening. They sold the meat of killed animals to their neighbors, bought salt, pepper, rice and millet - for flatbread - and took it home to their mothers. The mother baked cakes, cooked rice, fed her sons and did not forget herself. This is how they lived - day after day. One day the sons went into the forest in the morning, but did not return in the evening. It got dark, the stars lit up in the sky, but they were still gone. The old woman became afraid:
“Where have my sons gone? What am I going to do now? There is no drink, no food in the house, not even a dry grain.”
From fear and hunger, the old woman did not sleep a wink all night. At dawn, a wandering sorcerer, one of those who walk through villages, sing songs and predict the future, knocked on her hut. The old mother told him about her misfortune.
“Your business is bad, mother,” says the sorcerer. “Your sons were swallowed by a forest boar: now they are sitting in his belly and cannot get out.” But so be it, I will help your grief. Take these six peppercorns, put them in a clay jug, put the jug on the threshold, and sit next to it and wait. When six hours pass, call, and louder:
"Hey, Peppercorn!"
A little boy will jump out of the jug and do for you whatever you order. Just promise me that you will raise this boy as your son.
The old woman was delighted and began to thank:
- Oh, and thank you, father! For me, your words are like cold milk on a hot day! I will do everything as you say.
She brought a jug, placed it on the threshold, threw grain into the jug, and sat down next to it. The sorcerer whispered over the jug and went his way. After the allotted time, a boy climbed out of the jug - small, as tall as a jug, and black as a peppercorn. He bowed to the old woman and said:
- Here I am, mother! What do you want me to do?
“Go, son, into the forest,” says the old woman, “free your brothers.”
The boy Pepper Seed grabbed the sharp spear with which the brothers went hunting and went. He found a large hole in the forest and saw: a boar was sleeping in the hole, and its belly was swollen. Peppercorn ran up to the boar and pierced the boar's belly with a sharp spear. The old woman’s sons were released and thanked their brother for saving them. All three returned home to their old mother. They began to live together. The older brothers still go hunting, the old woman sits at home, and Pepper Seed works in the field from morning to evening: she plows, she sows, she harvests.
Little by little they lived richly: they built a new house instead of a hut, they rented good land from the headman, they bought a cow and a buffalo. Months passed, years passed. Peppercorn grew, became big and strong. But no matter how hard he tried to help his mother and brothers, he still could not please. The old woman didn’t like him, even though he was smart, hard-working, and a respectful son. She decided to marry her sons, but at first she didn’t want to prepare a wedding for her youngest son. Then I thought: “What are people going to say?” I got scared... Three weddings were celebrated at once. Three young daughters-in-law entered the house, and with them - as it happened - insults and reproaches entered. From small grievances big ones grew, and then, you see, quarrels started in the house.
The old woman separated her sons - let them each live in their own home, but even here she did not want to divide them equally. The eldest sons each received a large house, and Peppercorn received an old hut. The old woman gave bulls, cows, sheep, and goats to her eldest sons, and to her youngest son one old buffalo.
Peppercorn was offended, but he did not grieve for long. He sent his wife to his father-in-law, in a neighboring village, sold the buffalo to the butcher, and he himself took a small drum made from rhinoceros skin, grabbed a couple of flat cakes and went to wander along the roads, seek his fortune. Peppercorn walked from city to city, from village to village, beating the drum and singing songs. People liked his songs, they fed him, let him spend the night, and some even gave him money.
One day he was walking from one village to another. The road passed through the forest, and it was already late. Night came, it became dark - neither the moon nor the stars were visible. Peppercorn got scared:
"What to do? If you go any further, you’ll lose your way and end up lost in the forest. Better yet, I’ll try to look for lodging somewhere nearby, I’ll sit until dawn, and then I’ll move on.”
Not far from the road, he noticed a large, spreading tree - a banyan tree. Without hesitation, Peppercorn climbed the tree, made a bed of leaves on a thick branch, lay down comfortably, and put his drum under his head. Peppercorn was very tired during the day, so he soon began to doze off, and then completely fell asleep.
Either he turned awkwardly in his sleep, or suddenly a strong wind blew, and only suddenly the drum slipped out from under his head and - dham-dham-dham! - he flew down, below, under the tree, a noise arose, a commotion began, shouts were heard: “Ay-yo, the devil is coming! Ay-yo, evil spirits. Let's run! Save yourself! Peppercorn woke up from the screaming and noise: he was sitting on a branch and couldn’t understand anything. Then he looked down carefully. He sees something strange going on there: a fire is burning under a tree, palm leaves are laid out around - plates, and on them there is food - rice, fish, mango, fresh tamarind fruits. But there were no people in sight - everyone had run away into the forest. Pepper Seed even squeaked in his stomach - he was so hungry. He quickly jumped to the ground, grabbed a leaf-plate and began to devour rice, fish, and mango by both cheeks. Having eaten my fill, I looked around. He sees his drum lying, and further away, near the tree, some bales and a small box.
Peppercorn picked up the drum, grabbed the box and climbed back onto the tree. Then he made himself more comfortable on his bitch and began to wait for what would happen next.
We didn't have to wait long. Two old men approached the fire, added wood, and looked around. They look: on one sheet all the food has been eaten and there is no box under the tree. The old men whispered and went back into the forest. Half an hour later the old men returned, and with them about twenty more people. Peppercorn looked at them and realized that he had ended up with the robbers. He hid in a tree and began to listen. The leader of the bandit gang spoke:
- Trouble, brothers, a great thing has happened. It was not the devil who prevented us, but the forest goddess Mohini. After all, how wrong we were to her: every night we hid under this tree, drank and ate, but we didn’t even give her a rotten banana, we didn’t donate a copper paise! So Mohini got angry with us and took from us the most expensive thing - the royal necklace that we managed to steal yesterday. I am afraid, brothers, that Mohini will punish us now: she will pretend to be a beautiful girl, she will beckon, call, and if you follow her, she will lead you to God knows where, right into a tiger’s den or into a snake swamp. Be careful, don't let yourself be deceived!
The robbers were frightened, they sat by the fire all night, one next to the other, no one dared to sleep. In the morning they got up and went their way. Peppercorn also did not sleep at night - he sat on a branch and was afraid to move. When the robbers left, he opened the box, looked into it and saw a golden necklace studded with precious stones. Peppercorn took the box under his arm, grabbed his drum, and went to the royal capital. In the capital, he found the royal palace and began to ask the guards to allow him to see the king himself, saying that there was an important matter. The guards just laugh.
- Well, why are you, a ragamuffin, talking to the Tsar himself!
What else have you come up with! We'll report to the advisor, and say thank you for that.
An adviser came out to him and asked:
- Why did you come here, young man? Tell me, what is your business?
Peppercorn showed the adviser the royal necklace and told how he met robbers in the forest. The adviser saw that the matter was really important, he took Pepper Seed to the king, and on the same day the king sent a detachment of soldiers into the forest. The royal soldiers had chased those robbers a lot before, but they couldn’t catch them, but then they immediately captured the whole gang. The Tsar generously rewarded Peppercorn, settled him in his palace, and made him his adviser. And Peppercorn began to rule the capital.
He ruled justly and wisely, and his fame spread throughout the country.
So the old mother heard about her youngest son. Her eldest sons lost their houses, livestock, and all their property at dice, and they themselves ran away and disappeared. The old woman was left alone, and her life was even worse than before.
She regretted that she had been unkind to her adopted son, but it was too late... The stupid old woman punished herself.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru