Once upon a time there lived a flock of rock pigeons with their khan. They lived together, not knowing grief. One day, several pigeons flew into foreign lands." They met a caravanserai on the way. People lived there for many years, and countless amounts of grain were scattered in the barns. But now there was no one.
“Now we could live in these barns,” the pigeons rejoiced. They flew home and came to their khan.
- Great Khan! We were in distant lands and brought good news. We found an abandoned caravanserai. There's a lot of grain there. And there are no people. I wish I could move there!
“Leave this talk,” the khan got angry. – We will live here, where we are used to. It’s not for nothing that they say: “Somewhere there is gold, but when you come, there is no bronze,” “In the pursuit of big things you will lose little things,” “In search of good, you don’t want to make a scandal.”
“Beloved Khan,” the doves began to chatter. – On behalf of all your subjects, we ask you. People abandoned the barn, it is completely empty. Now we have to live in that barn. The journey there takes three to four days.
– I don’t like your idea. But since you all decided to move, well, let’s move,” the khan agreed, and everyone headed to that caravanserai.
The pigeons flew for two days and encountered scattered grain on the way. The pigeons were delighted, landed and began to greedily peck the grains. The birds did not know that it was bait. The hunter set up his nets and scattered the grain. The pigeons were full, but could not get up. All of them, along with the khan, fell into the net.
The hunter was not there. The black raven saw that the pigeons were caught in the net, croaked and flew to inform the hunter. The hunter heard the croak of a raven, thought: “The raven is cawing, that means someone has fallen into the net,” and he ran to that place.
The Khan of Doves addressed his subjects:
- I stopped you - they didn’t listen, now you see what happened to us because of greed. Now a hunter will come and cut off our heads. They will eat the meat and make pillows from the feathers.
The pigeons began to cry and began to say goodbye to life.
“One thought came to me,” the Khan of the Pigeons spoke again. - Let's gather our strength and fly together. Perhaps we will break the network.
That's what the pigeons did. They rushed upward and rose into the air along with the net. We flew further to the caravanserai. The hunter saw the pigeons already in the air. The traitor black raven decided to find out where the pigeons were flying, so that he could then inform the hunter, and follow them.
The frightened pigeons did not stop on their way and landed only at the caravanserai. The raven also flew in and sat down on the square in front of the palace.
The pigeons flew into the palace. There were many mouse holes in the floor.
“Take me closer to the holes,” ordered the Khan of the pigeons.
The pigeons led him to the holes.
- Hey, elder of mice, come out of your hole! - exclaimed the Khan of Pigeons.
The Khan of Mice appeared from the hole. The kings bowed to each other, the dove said:
- O Khan of Mice, we are all caught in the net and are experiencing grief. Do us a favor, free us from the damned loops.
The Khan of the Mice gave orders to his army, and the mice gnawed through the loops and freed the pigeons from the net. The pigeons warmly thanked the Khan of the Mice.
- O Khan of Mice, there is no limit to our gratitude to you.
May Allah reward you with the riches of the world for your kindness. They say: “Good is answered with good.” “I want to serve you in any way I can,” said the Khan of the Doves.
“O Khan of Doves,” answered the Khan of Mice, “I do not want to consider you obligated to me for the good we have done.” But I don’t want to get close to you either. After all, there is another well-known proverb: “Good is answered with evil.”
- O Khan of Mice! You saved us from death. How can I repay evil for such good?! - said the dove.
- Oh, you pigeons, you probably haven’t heard how in the past good was answered with evil.
“What evil was done for good, tell me,” said the Khan of the Doves.
– Listen carefully, I will tell you how it happened. “In ancient times, a group of merchants set off on a journey,” the Khan of Mice began. “Among them was a poor man on a skinny horse. When the merchants began to pass through a large forest, the poor man's horse was tired and did not want to go. Then his fellow travelers-merchants turned to him:
“We won’t wait for you, feed your horse and you’ll catch up with us,” they said and rode off.
The poor man sat down and thought bitterly: “If I had wealth, would I lag behind them?” Suddenly he saw that the forest was burning, the fire was approaching him and some loud noise was heard. He turned in the direction from which the noise was heard and saw how a large snake, fleeing the fire, climbed a tree. The tree caught fire from below, and the flames gradually spread upward. The frightened snake wriggled and hissed in despair.
“This snake has fallen into the clutches of death. After all, she is also a creature of nature, she also wants to live. I’ll save her, maybe someone will do good for me too,” thought the traveler and took out the cake. It was impossible to approach the tree; he tied the basket to a long stick and held it out to the snake. The snake climbed into the basket, and the traveler lowered it to the ground. Then he took the cake away from the fire.
“Hey, snake, you are also a creature created by nature, and I decided to save you, now you can come out of the basket,” the man said to the snake.
The snake crawled out of the basket and wrapped itself around the neck of the unfortunate traveler.
- Hey, snake, why are you doing this? – the alarmed traveler turned to her.
- I will fulfill my custom - I will sting you. “You must know that good is answered with evil,” said the snake.
-Why do you have to sting me? After all, I saved you from certain death,” the traveler was surprised.
“I will bite you because you saved me from death.” They say: “Good is answered with evil,” answered the snake.
- No, snake, good must always be followed by good. “I have never heard of good being answered with evil,” said the poor traveler.
“It has never happened before that kindness was answered with kindness.” They always responded with anger. If you don't believe it, ask others. If they say that good is returned with good, then I will leave you alone. If they say that good is always answered with evil, then I will bite you,” the snake suggested, still not letting the traveler out of its coils.
The traveler agreed, took his basket, left his horse in place and, with a snake around his neck, wandered off to look for someone who would judge them.
The traveler came to an apricot tree, sat down in its shade and sighed sadly: “Because of my poverty and my skinny horse, I fell behind my companions. I decided to do a noble deed and got into trouble. All my fault is that I saved this snake from certain death.” Then he looked at the apricot tree.
- Hey, apricot tree, you are also a creature of nature, I am in trouble, judge us, which of us is right? – he begged in tears.
The tree became speechless and answered him:
“They can’t respond well to what you did.” I was also convinced that good is answered with evil. Listen to what I have to say. I produced a lot of fruit every year. My owner enjoyed them every year and vacationed with his family in my shade. Two years have passed since I have grown old, dried up and do not bear fruit. Yesterday the owner came, looked at me and said: “This tree no longer bears fruit, we need to cut it down and saw it for fuel.” I thought: “It turns out that good is answered with evil: for how many years I have given him my fruits, and now he wants to cut me off for fuel. Why not let me stand there a little longer until my end comes and I fall down on my own. This is the return of evil for good.”
“You said it wrong, good people shouldn’t respond with ale,” the traveler disagreed and moved on.
He wandered for a long time, and on the way he met an ox grazing in a meadow. He approached the ox and told him about his grief. The ox listened and replied that good is answered with evil.
“Listen to what happened to me,” the ox said to the traveler. “When I was born, from the first days I was taken away from my mother’s nipples, tied by the neck and not allowed to suck my mother’s milk to my heart’s content. And when I grew up, they pierced my nostrils, put a boy on me and harnessed me to work. Then I became an ox and plowed the land. In the summer, flocks of sheep were driven out on me. The transportation of firewood, water - everything was done on me, and I did not have a single day of rest. Wheat and millet were not cultivated without me, and no work was done without me. And so I grew old. I thought that I would be freed from torment. No, they kept chasing me for a long time. It's been a year since I've been fattened up. Yesterday my master came with a butcher and said: “Look how fat my ox has become, how many pounds of meat do you think it will yield?” “Only then did I find out that they were fattening me up to slaughter me.” Isn't this evil for good? How much I worked for him! Couldn’t it have been released in old age and allowed to live peacefully until death?
- Do you hear what the ox says? – the snake asked the traveler.
“No,” the traveler protested, “we’ll find someone else, a third.” If another third person says the same thing, I will agree with you.
The unfortunate traveler wandered on again. A fox meets him.
“Hey, fox, we have a favor to ask you,” said the traveler. The fox got scared of the man and jumped away onto a hill.
- What did you want?
- O fox, tell us: should good be answered with evil? – the man asked.
- For what occasion is this? - asked the fox. The man talked about his argument with the snake.
– Have you asked anyone about this before me?
- Yes, we turned to two. They said that good is answered with evil, and gave examples from their lives.
And the fox was already thinking about her clever deception.
- Will the snake fit into that basket you are talking about? - asked the fox.
“Of course, I was sitting in it,” answered the snake.
“I can’t believe it, get back into the basket,” said the fox.
The snake slid from the man’s neck, climbed into the basket and stuck out its head.
“You said that you fit into the basket, but your head is sticking out.”
“The head fits in too,” the snake answered and hid its head.
- Why are you standing there, slow-witted man, tie the basket tighter and crush the snake with that stone over there. “Get rid of her quickly,” the fox said to the traveler.
The traveler followed the advice of the fox and killed the snake with a stone. With the help of a cunning fox, a man got rid of death.
“If the fox had answered fairly, then good should have followed evil,” the Khan of Mice finished his story.
– You are right, wise khan of mice. Tell me why did its owners abandon this palace?
“There was an important reason for that,” answered the Khan of the Mice. – People once lived in this palace. When they ate, we did not give them rest, we took away their food. Sometimes they even remained hungry, their food was very dirty with mice.
One day a stranger came to visit them. Various treats were prepared for him. To prevent mice from getting into the food, the foreman of the caravan clapped his hands.
“Hey, caravan leader, clapping our hands is considered a bad habit.” Why are you doing this? - the guest addressed.
– There are a lot of mice in our palace. They even end up in food. I clap my hands and scare the mice.
“If there are so many mice here, then they must have a treasure.” Gather your people and dig up the treasure of mice, advised the stranger,
The foreman of the caravan gathered his people, they armed themselves with pickaxes and ketmen, destroyed our holes and took all the treasure. After that, we gave them no rest day or night: we spoiled food, bit the children’s noses and ears. People were convinced that we could not be defeated and decided to leave the palace.
The Khan of Doves and the Khan of Mice finished their conversation and went their separate ways.
The raven, who flew after the pigeons, saw how the mice freed the pigeons from their loops, and heard the conversation between the pigeon and the mouse from beginning to end.
“You need to make friends with these mice. If I accidentally fall into a snare, then they can save me too,” thought the black raven and approached the holes.
“Hey, mouse, come out of the hole,” he croaked, “What did you want?” - asked the mouse, looking out of the hole.
– I want to make friends with you!
“Listen, black raven, we pray to Allah not to let you get close to us.” There is no creature on all earth more black than you. Your insides are blacker than your outside. Don't let Allah get close to you.
“No, honey, I won’t hurt you.” You must always help us.
“Listen, raven, I have nothing more to talk to you about, Allah forbid I see you,” said the mouse and disappeared into the hole.
Raven stayed to live in the palace. The mice saw it in the early mornings and late evenings and gradually got used to it. One day the Khan of Mice turned to the raven.
- Hey, raven, I have one dream. If you help implement it, I will become friends with you,” he said.
- Tell me, Great Khan, I am ready to serve you.
- I have a friend. Once upon a time we could not part with her for more than an hour. But it’s been four years since I’ve seen her. Great grief befell us. By the will of Allah, a large river has formed in the middle of our settlements, and we cannot cross to each other. I ask you: if you take me to my friend, I will be friends with you.
“Okay, I’m ready to help you,” answered the raven.
He put the mouse on his back and flew across the river. The raven flew for several days and finally landed on an island to rest. Looking around, the Khan of Mice noticed his frog friend near the puddle. The friends met with joy and began vying with each other to ask each other about life. The frog asked how the Khan of the Mice got to her.
“I made friends with the raven and flew on his back.
- Oh, how could you become friends with a raven? After all, in the whole world there is no creature more insidious than him.
“You’re right, friend, but I really missed you and was forced to make friends with the raven.” It was only thanks to him that we met you.
“But you shouldn’t have done that.” This raven is one of those who repays good with evil. As soon as he gets hungry, he will peck you at that very moment. Haven't you heard how in the past four friends sacrificed their lives for one another?
“Tell me, I’ll listen,” the Khan asked the mice.
– In times past, there lived four friends. They were: a mouse, a frog, a gazelle and a duck. One day, the Khan's son and his nukers went hunting. For a long time he saw nothing. But suddenly a frog jumped out from somewhere. “Maybe we will be lucky in the hunt, let this frog be a sign for him, catch it and put it in the basket!” – he ordered the nukers. His companions caught the frog and put it in a basket. The duck saw this and quickly told the gazelle, and the gazelle told the mouse.
“A misfortune happened; our faithful friend, the frog, was caught by the khan’s son and taken away,” said the duck.
Then three friends thought about how to save the frog.
- Gazelle, pretend to be lame and run in front of the khan’s son. He will see you, throw the cake and chase you. The duck will try to take me to the basket, and I will gnaw through it and free the frog. Then the duck will tell you and you will run away from the khan,” the mouse suggested.
Everyone agreed. The gazelle pretended to be lame and ran in front of the khan's son.
- Look, a limping gazelle! - the khan’s son exclaimed and, leaving everything, rushed in pursuit of prey.
At this time, the duck brought the mouse to the basket, the mouse gnawed through the bag and rescued the frog. When they ran away, the duck flew and told the gazelle. The gazelle heard that the frog had been saved and happily ran away.
This is how they saved their friend. If you're going to be friends, you have to be friends like them. And the raven, as soon as he gets hungry, will do evil. He has no loyalty! – the frog finished the story.
At this time, the hungry raven looked around in search of some food, but found nothing. Suddenly he fixed his gaze on the Khan of Mice. He forgot his oath, grabbed the mouse and ate it. The frog jumped back and jumped into the water to escape.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru