In one village there lived a weaver. He had a wife - a simple and hard-working woman. Both of them worked without straightening their backs, and did not get out of poverty. This is what the wife says to her husband:
- Get ready to hit the road, see foreign lands. Maybe you'll have some luck there.
The weaver agreed and began to get ready for the journey. His wife gave him a large thick flatbread to take with him. With this flatbread the weaver set off to foreign lands. He walked and walked and went far. It was late in the evening. The weaver is tired. He thinks - where to relax? He looks and there is a well by the road. He went to the well, washed himself and sat down. He had been hungry for a long time. He took out his flatbread, broke it into four pieces and began to think out loud:
Should I eat one or two at once? Or three, or all four?
He said it once, twice – he couldn’t solve everything. And in that well lived four devils. They heard what the weaver was saying and thought: “Probably some great marvel has come to eat us. Bad luck for us!” The devils got scared and trembled. They climbed out of the well, submissively folded their hands and asked the weaver:
- Oh marvel! Don't eat, wait. We beg you. The weaver disagrees:
- No way! Look what you want! I left the house at dawn. Since then I haven't had poppy dew in my mouth. I'm tired and so hungry that I can't stand it any longer.
The devils were completely frightened, they were shaking with fear. They beg the weaver:
- Have mercy, marvel! We'll give you a pot. He will cook you as much food as your heart desires.
The weaver thought.
“Okay,” he says, “where is your bowler hat?” Bring him here.
The devils bring him a small pot:
“Just order him, and he’ll cook you a dozen different dishes.”
The weaver closed his eyes and said:
- Cauldron, cauldron, prepare me a dozen dishes. He opens his eyes, and the pot is already full of the most delicious food. The weaver was happy, ate to his heart’s content, then took the pot and went home. And it’s getting late – night is approaching. It's a long way from home. He began to think about where to spend the night. Looks like a hut by the road. I entered the hut, and only the old woman was sitting there. The weaver asks her:
- Let me, grandma, spend the night with you. I have a bowler hat. He will cook you a dozen delicious dishes.
The old woman heard this and was delighted. Says to the weaver:
- Okay, son, stay.
The weaver showed the old woman his pot and ordered him to prepare a dozen dishes. They ate, and the weaver began to go to bed. It was late. The weaver had worn himself out during the day. As soon as I lay down, I immediately fell asleep. But the old woman can’t sleep. She really liked the bowler hat. She decided to steal it. She pretends to be asleep, but she keeps thinking about the pot.
In the middle of the night, when the weaver was fast asleep, she quietly got up and took the pot. And so that the weaver would not notice, the cunning old woman replaced it with another one that looked exactly the same.
In the morning the weaver woke up cheerful. He quickly got up, took the bowler hat and began to get ready to go. He said goodbye to the old woman and thanked:
- Thank you, grandma, for taking me in. And now I'll go home.
The old woman saw him off, but she didn’t even show that she had changed the pot.
Soon the weaver returned home. He came cheerful and satisfied. Shows his wife the bowler hat:
- Look, this pot will feed us until we die.
But the wife doesn’t believe it:
A bowler is like a bowler. Where can he feed us until death!
“Go and clean up first,” says the weaver. “And then I’ll show you what kind of bowler hat it is.” He will prepare us a dozen different dishes.
The wife returned, the weaver closed his eyes and ordered the pot to prepare a dozen different dishes. He ordered it once, he ordered it again, but the pot still wouldn’t cook—let alone dozens of dishes, there was no dry crust in it.
The wife got angry with her husband for making a stupid joke. And the weaver himself did not know where to put his eyes from shame.
He thought that the devils had deceived him and became very angry. He took a thick cake and left the house.
The next day the weaver was again at the well. He broke the flatbread into four pieces and began to reason out loud:
Should I eat one or two at once? Or three, or all four?
The devils in the well heard this, became alarmed, climbed up and asked:
- Don't eat, div! We'll give you a goat. She sprinkles gold instead of manure.
“You won’t deceive me again,” says the weaver. “I won’t leave here until I eat.”
The devils began to bow at the weaver’s feet. Well, he took pity and said:
- Okay. Show off your goat.
The devils brought a goat and placed it in front of the weaver. The weaver looks - and indeed gold is pouring out of the goat! He was very happy, grabbed the goat and took it home. On the way, night overtook him. The old woman's hut was not far away. The weaver again asked to spend the night with her.
- Grandmother! - speaks. - I have a goat. Gold pours out of it. Let me spend the night - I'll give you gold.
The old woman rejoiced:
- Come in, son! What are you asking about! Make yourself at home.
The weaver showed the goat to the old woman. The goat nibbled grass and sprinkled gold. When the old woman saw this, her eyes lit up.
It was late. The weaver fell asleep this time too. And the cunning old woman seized the opportunity and replaced the goat. She supplied the weaver with another one, exactly the same.
In the morning the weaver got up, gave all his gold to the old woman and hurried with the goat to the house.
So he came home and called his wife:
- Look what a goat I brought. This is not an ordinary goat - gold pours out of it. Bring her some herbs quickly - It really didn’t work out with the pot. But the goat is reliable.
The wife didn’t believe it, but she brought herbs and put them in front of the goat. The goat is eating grass, and the weaver and his wife are waiting for the gold to fall. They didn’t have to wait long: the goat ate the grass - and then poured in ordinary black nuts. This time, the wife’s anger knew no end. The weaver was also seriously angry with the devils. He took the cake, the pot and the goat and went to the well. He goes and thinks: “Oh, they cheated me! This time I won’t let them trick me.”
In the evening the weaver reached the well. He broke the cake and began to think out loud:
Shall I eat one or two? Or three, or all four?
The devils immediately jumped out of the well, threw themselves at the weaver’s feet and began to beg for him to spare them. Only this time the weaver didn’t want to listen to anything:
– You deceive me all the time! You promise God knows what, just to get away with it. They gave me a bowler hat, they gave me a goat - but what's the use? As soon as you move away from here, you won’t get anything from them. There is a pot, but it doesn’t cook. And the goat does not give gold. See for yourself.
The devils looked at the pot and the goat.
- No, marvel! No! - they shout. - This is not our bowler! This is not our goat! Apparently they were replaced.
Here the weaver himself suspected something was wrong. He told the devils that he spent two nights with the old woman. They immediately realized what had happened. They tell him:
- Div! It's all the old woman's fault - her tricks. We will give you a rope and a stick, and you go to her with them. They will pay for you. After all, our rope and stick are not simple. If someone offends you, just say: “This is my enemy. Ask him." The rope will instantly tie up the offender, and the stick will go to beat him and will not stop until you forgive him.
The weaver no longer believed the devils. But they persuaded him so much that he took a rope and a stick and went to the old woman.
And the old woman now lived happily ever after. The pot fed her delicious food, and the goat gave her gold. The old woman got rich.
She saw that the weaver was coming to her again, and pretended to be very happy. She welcomes him as a welcome guest.
“Come in, son, come in,” he says. - Why are you late? I've been waiting for you for a long time.
But that didn't help. The weaver was so angry with her that he immediately said to the rope and stick:
- This old woman is my enemy. Give her a good time! Make her give me back the pot and the goat.
Then the rope attacked the old woman and entangled her from head to toe, and the stick began to beat her. The old woman fights and screams:
- Save! Save! Help! The weaver approached her and said:
- Grandma! It's your own fault. Why did you take my bowler hat? Why did you change the goat? Now the rope and stick will not leave you until you return my property to me.
There is nothing to do, the old woman folded her hands and began to ask for forgiveness. Then she gave the weaver the bowler hat and the goat. The weaver took his goods and returned home happy.
From then on he became poorer.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru