Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a small house behind the mountain there lived a lonely woodcutter. He was very poor, he cut down trees in the forest and thus survived from day to day.
One evening, a tired wanderer walked past his shack, barely dragging his feet and leaning on a stick.
- Excuse me, please. I’m very embarrassed to ask you, but I’m lost and don’t know what to do. Would you let me spend the night? - the wanderer asked the woodcutter.
The woodcutter looked at him and saw that the wanderer had apparently come from afar - he was covered in dust, exhausted and could barely stand on his feet. The woodcutter took pity on him and said:
- Yes, yes, I see that you are very tired. If my poor shack doesn’t scare you and you like it here, please stay with me without any hesitation.
The wanderer rejoiced and entered the house. The woodcutter emptied the remaining rice from the box, prepared dinner and offered it to the wanderer. The only seasoning for the rice was miso (miso is a thick mass of soybeans; it serves as a seasoning), but the guest filled his cup several times and cheerfully said:
- Oh, how delicious! How delicious! So he ate all the rice that was in the pot. The woodcutter only drank water furtively, since there was nothing left for him in the pot.
- I am very obliged to you. You helped me regain my strength. Thank you! “I will never forget your kindness,” said the wanderer to the woodcutter the next morning. “There is a pond here in the mountains; If you ever find yourself in a tough time, come to this pond and clap your hands three times: clap, clap, clap! And every time you will receive a festive treat. Just be sure to return the table and dishes. In fact, I am an old carp and I live in this pond.
And, having uttered these amazing words, the wanderer immediately disappeared somewhere. Such unusual things happen!
The woodcutter felt so strange, as if he had been bewitched by a werefox.
- How did he say: “Near the pond, clap your hands three times. Then a festive treat will appear”? Is it really true?!
The woodcutter pinched his cheek to make sure it wasn't all soybeans. “Besides talking, I’ll go and try it once,” he finally decided and went to the mountain pond.
The water in the pond was, as always, blue and clear; trees and clouds were reflected in it. There was nothing unusual here.
“Did the guest play a joke on me?” - thought the woodcutter, but decided to check the old man’s words and loudly clapped his hands three times: clap, clap, clap!
Ah-ah-ah! To his unspeakable surprise, the water in the pond began to bubble, and a beautiful lacquered table appeared on its surface. A magnificent treat was laid out on the table, and he swam straight to the woodcutter standing on the shore.
- Is it true! Is it true! What miracles! What miracles! The woodcutter even jumped for joy. He took the table home and ate delicious food. And then, as he was instructed, he carried the table back to the pond. The table immediately sank to the bottom.
They say that since then the poor woodcutter from the mountains became rich, like a prince. Whenever he got hungry, he clapped his hands three times and always received a wonderful treat.
- Why should I work tirelessly? “This is stupid,” he said and did nothing but sleep.
After sleeping, he ate his fill, and when satisfied, he fell asleep again. And he became very, very fat.
“Oh, nice, nice!” And this time the woodcutter happily ate the treat he brought from the mountain pond and looked at the excellent cups made of red lacquer.
Suddenly he thought: “It would be nice to have at least one such magnificent cup at home! True, I was told to be sure to return them... Eh, whatever, I’ll take one cup. No one will notice. Everything will be fine, it’ll do!”
He stole one beautiful cup and hid it in the closet. Then, deftly arranging everything on the table in a different way, he returned the table as if nothing had happened.
The next day, hungry, the woodcutter, as usual, went to the pond and clapped his hands: clap, clap, clap!
“That’s the thing!” The water in the pond remained completely calm, and nothing floated to the surface.
Clap! Clap! Clap! The woodcutter, getting angry, began to hit his hands with all his might, again and again, so that even his hands hurt, but still not a single bubble appeared on the water.
- Damn it! He finally found out that I stole the cup! The woodcutter stamped his feet in frustration, but couldn’t change anything. “Well, okay! I stole one cup after all. I’ll sell it to a junk dealer. It’s probably worth money,” he decided.
But that evening in the woodcutter’s house, a flame suddenly burst out of a closet, and the whole house burned to the ground in an instant. Of course, the red cup also burned. Not even a trace of her remained.
- Oh, have you seen the fool? - the woodcutter sighed, rummaging in the ashes of the fire.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru