This happened a long time ago. There lived an elder in one village. He loved to buy various outlandish things. He had vessels of unprecedented beauty, plates shimmering with silver, and there were countless paintings and scrolls. In a word, rich.
One day an overseas merchant came to that village. He came from afar and brought the goods, apparently or invisibly. The rich man invited him to visit. Here they are sitting, having a conversation.
“I heard,” says the merchant, “that you are very rich, and you keep many different miracles.”
- What are you talking about! - The elder waved his hand. - What kind of miracles are these? You've probably seen so much around the world that nothing will surprise you.
“What’s true is true,” agreed the merchant. - There are a lot of unprecedented things in the world. Well, at least this. He took out a small box and handed it to the rich man. The rich man opened it and saw that there was a fishing hook in the box.
- What is this? - he was surprised. “This is not an ordinary hook,” the merchant explained, “but the same one that the gods held in their hands - after all, it helps to descend into the underwater kingdom.”
- These are miracles! - exclaimed the rich man. - Is it really the same one? - Do you have anything unusual? — the merchant asked him. “Yes,” the rich man nodded. — I bought an amazing scroll. There is a rooster on it. Look, it’s a given, it’s alive! But what a miracle it is - every morning, just before dawn, the rooster crows and starts crowing!
- That can’t be true! — the merchant didn’t believe it. - Where have you seen painted roosters crow?
- This doesn’t happen in the world! — the rich man laughed. “Wow,” the merchant never ceased to be surprised, “as long as I’ve lived in the world, I’ve never heard anything like this.” Somehow I don't believe it. Let's argue. If your rooster really crows at dawn, I will give you all my goods, and if not, then you will give me as much goods as my horses can carry.
- Why argue? - the rich man did not understand. - You will lose anyway - the rooster crows every morning.
- I don’t believe it! — the merchant became stubborn. “Let’s argue!” “Okay,” the rich man agreed, “let’s do it.” And it won’t be long until dawn. As soon as dawn began to break, the rooster raised his head on the scroll, and when he began to cry: kokkeko! kokkeko! kokkeko!
What can happen in the world! - Sings! Singing! - exclaimed the merchant. - What a miracle! He gave his goods to the rich man and went home that same day. He returned and told everyone in his region about the rooster from the scroll.
- What kind of fool are you? - they began to laugh at him. — For one “kokkeko” I gave away all the goods! “And that’s true,” thought the merchant, “it’s unfair.”
The merchant felt sorry for his goods and really wanted to return them at any cost.
“The rooster, of course, is a wonderful treasure,” he thinks, “but the product is better, you can get a lot of money for it.”
He got ready for the road and again went to the village where the elder lived. The rich man was happy when he saw him:
“Come in,” he invites, “I’m very glad to see you.” “I liked your rooster,” says the merchant. “I told everyone in my region about him.” But people just don’t believe it! “This doesn’t happen!” - They say.
- How can it not happen? - the rich man was surprised. “You saw my rooster with your own eyes, and you heard his singing!”
“That’s it,” the merchant shook his head. “You see, doubt crept into me: I thought I heard your rooster, but I didn’t.” I don’t know if I dreamed about his singing or something...
- How did you dream? - the rich man did not understand. “We listened to the rooster together.” “I don’t know... I don’t know...” the merchant hesitated and suggested: “Let’s listen to it again at dawn.” Only now we will have to argue again. If the rooster crows, you can keep my product, and if it doesn’t crow, I’ll take it home. Is it coming?
“It’s all strange,” the rich man shrugged. - But you are my guest, let it be as you want. Agree!
He went to bed and fell soundly asleep. But the merchant is not sleeping: he has planned an evil deed. He stood up quietly, walked over to the scroll, stood for a while, and then took something out of his bosom and touched the rooster with his hand.
Soon it began to get light. The first roosters crowed in the village, followed by the rest. Only the rooster on the rich man's scroll is silent.
The rich man approached the scroll and couldn’t understand why his rooster wasn’t crowing.
- What's happened? What kind of trouble happened? “That’s what I thought,” the merchant yawned, “I dreamed then that your rooster was crowing.” What people said was true: a painted rooster cannot crow at the top of his lungs.
- How can he not? - the rich man cried. “How many days did he make me happy with his singing?”
“Since the rooster didn’t crow in the morning, you lost our argument,” said the merchant, “Give me my goods quickly.”
The rich man did not answer him. The merchant loaded his bags onto the horses and set off. But the rich man finds no room for himself: “Is my cockerel sick?” - thinks. He came closer to the scroll, and lo and behold, the same hook that the merchant had shown him was sticking out in the rooster’s throat! - This is what greed leads to! - the rich man got angry. “The miracle cockerel didn’t regret it for the sake of his bags.” He took out the hook and began to treat the cockerel. But his voice did not return. No one else heard the painted rooster crow.
And the merchant rode home joyfully. “Serves you right,” he thinks, “let no one have such a rooster!” He rode and rode, but did not notice how the horse stumbled. The merchant's bags fell into a puddle, and he himself fell with them. So he remained sitting in the mud.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru