Once upon a time there lived a poor fisherman. He had a wife and two children - a daughter and a son. No matter how many times he casts the net, nothing but roaches fall into it.
One day, when there was nothing to eat in the house, not even corn soup left, the fisherman said to his wife:
– I’ll go cast the net again. Maybe I'll catch some fish. Then you won't have to eat just corn chowder.
The fisherman went to the river, cast his net, sat on the bank, and waited.
The fisherman began to pull the net, and he felt it was going hard.
“It looks like a big fish has been caught,” the fisherman thought, pulled as hard as he could, and pulled out the net.
Looks, it’s not a fish that’s caught in the net, but a golden mortar. The fisherman was delighted and quickly ran home. He called his wife, son and daughter.
- Look what I caught!
“And his daughter says to him:
- What will you do with the golden mortar? Fish is a much better relief from hunger.
– You don’t understand anything! – the fisherman got angry. “I will give this mortar to the king, and he will reward me generously.”
“Go,” the daughter answers, “but only the king will tell you: “What will I do with a mortar if there is no pestle?”
The fisherman went to the king’s palace and brought him a golden mortar as a gift.
The king got angry and said to the fisherman:
- Fool, what will I do with your mortar if there is no pestle?
The poor fellow does not know what to answer, he stands at a loss in the middle of the royal courtyard, scratches behind his ear and mutters:
- Apparently, my daughter was right.
The king heard the fisherman muttering something under his breath, frowned and asked menacingly:
-What are you muttering there, ignoramus?
– I say that my daughter was right, she warned me: “You’re going in vain, father. She guessed exactly how you would answer me.
“Your daughter must be smart if she’s so good at guessing other people’s thoughts.”
Tell her to bring me a salad tomorrow “Oh! Ouch! . If he does not carry out my orders, I will order you both to be executed.
The unfortunate fisherman trudged back to his native village, hanging his head low and cursing himself for his carelessness.
At home, with tears in his eyes, he told his daughter:
- What a fool I was for not listening to you! Now you and I cannot avoid execution.
And he told his daughter about the king’s whim.
Large tears rolled down his face one after another. But the girl was not afraid and calmly said:
- Don't be afraid, father, everything will be fine.
She went to the garden, picked more lettuce, put it in a basket, and scattered needles between the lettuce leaves.
The next day the girl went with the basket to the king. Arriving at the royal hall, the girl handed the king a closed basket and said to him:
- Here's the salad “Oh! Ouch! .
The king opened the basket, touched the salad and painfully pricked himself on the needle.
The king pulled his hand away and involuntarily cried out: “Oh! Ouch!"
When the pain in his hand subsided, the king said to the girl:
- And you really are cunning. This is a real salad “Oh! Ouch!". You won't get rid of me that easily. Tomorrow you must come to me neither dressed nor undressed, without touching the road or path, neither on foot nor on horseback, and you will stay neither inside nor outside my palace.
The girl returned home and told her father about the king’s orders. The poor father almost went crazy with grief. He ran around the room and shouted like crazy:
- Now my daughter is dead, now my daughter is dead!
“Don’t be sad, father,” his daughter reassured him. “You will see how well I will carry out all the king’s orders.”
She borrowed a sheep from her neighbors, undressed, threw a fishing net over herself and rode on the sheep to the king’s palace.
Arriving at the palace, she stopped the sheep so much that it only half crossed the threshold of the royal hall. When the king saw the girl, he asked in surprise what it all meant.
The girl answered him:
- And the fact that I carried out all your orders. You see, I’m not dressed and you can’t even say I’m undressed, I didn’t touch the road or path with my foot, I came here neither on foot nor on horseback, and my sheep is standing neither inside nor outside your hall.
The king was even more surprised by the girl’s resourcefulness. But this time he did not give up. He ordered the servants to call the girl’s father, mother and brother. Then he ordered a roast rooster to be served to him. The king cut the rooster and gave the head to the girl's father, the back to the girl's mother, the legs to the girl's brother, and gave her wings.
“Now tell me why I divided the rooster like that?” – the king asked with a mocking smile.
The girl was not at all embarrassed and boldly answered the king:
– You gave your head to your father, because he is the head of the family; you gave the backrest to your mother, because all the household chores fall on her shoulders; the legs were given to my younger brother, because he must quickly carry out his parents’ orders, and the wings were given to me, because I would soon have to fly away from home.
Then the king, delighted with the girl’s answers, said:
- I admit, you won.
So a simple girl turned out to be smarter and more resourceful than the powerful king.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru