Once upon a time there lived two brothers.
One lived richly. Tupa - a log hut with a flat roof - is spacious, there is always a fire in the fireplace, deer roam in herds.
But for the other one it’s not like that. One day he failed to keep an eye on his fireplace and the coals in it went out. No matter how much I blew, or added birch bark, I couldn’t get any more fire. “I’ll go,” he thinks, “to my brother. Will he really regret the coals? He took a clay pot and went to his rich brother, and he was eating soup, putting the meat on a board, cutting it off with a knife, and putting it in his mouth. Throws gnawed bones to dogs. The poor brother is standing at the threshold, afraid to go any further. But the rich man eats for himself as if he doesn’t even see his poor brother. Only when he has eaten, he asks:
- What do you want, jerk?
“I would like a pot of coals,” the poor man replies, “to light a fireplace, it’s cold in the tulip.”
“Look for what you want,” his brother answers. “I need my coals myself.” Go away!
The poor brother walks and thinks: “Apparently, what they say about stingy people is true, that you can’t get coals from their stove. This is also said about my brother. There’s nothing to do, we have to look for coals from others, we can’t return without coals.”
And the Sami went wherever his eyes looked. I walked for a long time through the forest hills - barakas and through the swamps, I got tired. He sat down to rest on a fallen tree and took out a piece of dried fish to refresh himself. Suddenly he sees a chakli standing in front of him, so small, he has no clothes on. Requests:
- Give me, Sami, a piece of fish.
The Sami looked at his fish. He has such a small piece that he is just wasting away and can be fed. Gave everything.
And Chakli asks:
- Why are you so sad?
The poor brother told how he did not beg coal from the rich man.
- What's your brother's name? – Chakli asks.
“I won’t tell you his name,” says the poor man, “I’m ashamed of him, he’s my brother.”
“Okay,” says chakli, “don’t talk, he’ll come to me himself.” give me the pot.
He took the pot, disappeared into a crevice between the stones, and brought it out full of coals.
“Carry it in your hands,” the chakli says to the poor brother, “all the way home.” It will be hot - be patient.
Chakhkli's younger brother thanked him. He covered the pot with a hat to keep the coals warm and quickly ran home. The closer to home, the pot becomes warmer. It’s hot for the Sami to hold him, but he tolerates it. As soon as I stepped over the threshold of my stupid building, I stumbled. He let go of the pot and it broke into many pieces. The poor Sami almost cried. I rushed to pick up the coals with my bare hands, but they weren’t hot at all.
He looks, and these are not coals at all, but pieces of gold. And the shards from the pot turned into silver ingots.
The poor brother became rich. I installed a new tupa and bought a lot of deer.
Every day he has a fire burning in his fireplace, soup with meat is being cooked in a cauldron.
The rich brother heard that the poor brother had become rich and stopped sleeping. He keeps thinking about how to find out from his brother where the goodness came from. but it’s just a shame that he drove his brother away and regretted the coals.
The rich man did not suffer for long; greed took its toll. He went to visit his brother.
And he does not remember evil. He seats his brother in a place of honor and treats him. The rich man began to ask where the poor man got so much wealth. His brother told him how he met Chakhkli and gave him the fish. And how he carried the pot of coals home. And what happened then.
The rich man returned home. Doesn't sleep, doesn't eat. All he can think about is how to find him. I took a larger pot and put smaller dried fish in it. He runs along the path along which his brother walked. And she cries at her fate. I ran to a fallen tree, Chakhkli was calling.
Chakhkli came out of the crevice and the Sami thrust a fish at him.
“Hurry up,” he says, “give me some coals, and put them in the pot as tightly as possible.”
Chakli grinned.
“Let it be,” he says, “as you ask.”
He brought out a pot of coals to the rich man. He grabbed that pot and didn’t even say thank you.
A heavy pot and it bakes your hands. The rich brother is running, he can’t feel his feet under him.
If only he could convey it quickly, he’s thinking about one thing.
He ran home, crossed the threshold, threw the pot on the floor, it broke into many pieces. The coals scattered all over the place. The rich man is waiting for them to turn into gold. And the coals lie to themselves. I've already started to make fire on the floor in the cul-de-sac. The rich man is sitting, afraid to move. The walls began to burn. The fire is already burning on four sides. They forced him out of the fire.
Everything burned down: both the building and the barns. The deer were frightened by the fire and scattered across the tundra.
The rich brother sits and cries. Now there is no one poorer than him. Where to go? There was nothing to do, the rich brother with his wife and children wandered to his brother, for whom he regretted a pot of coals. But it’s hard to walk: what if his brother, who has become rich, drives him away?
That's not how it turned out.
His brother didn’t ask him anything. He fed everyone, gave them something to drink and put them to bed. he lives with his family for a day, a second, a third, but he still can’t tell what happened to him. Shame on him. And my brother already knows everything himself. Bad news has long legs and carries it quickly around the world. Trouble can happen to anyone. And the host brother suggested to the guest brother:
– Live with me, there’s enough room for everyone. We will work and we will live. So they began to live together. We raised good guys. They worked, drank, and ate equally.
Most likely, they are still alive today.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru