Once upon a time there lived an old woman. She was very greedy and stupid, like a sheep. She had two sons, but one of them died, and the other lived with her and worked in the field.
One day, when the son was in the field, a soldier approached their house and knocked on the door. He was very tired from the road and hungry as a wolf. The old woman let the soldier into the house and asked:
- What do you want?
- Grandma, let me spend the night with you! - answered the soldier.
- Oh, son, I have nowhere to put you.
- Grandma, give me at least something to eat then.
- Oh, son, what can I give you if I have nothing to eat myself?
The soldier shook his head and prepared to leave. Then the old woman asked him:
- Soldier, where are you coming from?
- From the other world! - answered the soldier.
- From the other world? And my son there died last year, haven’t you seen him?
- How come you didn’t see it? He's my best friend. They slept on the same bunks with him.
- What is my son doing?
- He, grandma, grazes cranes in the next world.
- Oh, poor thing! - the old woman sighed.
“Your son is out of luck, grandma, because the cranes keep getting into the thorn bushes, and he runs after them, gathers them in one place and tore all his clothes on the thorns.”
- Oh, poor thing!
“Your son has become a complete ragamuffin.”
- Listen, soldier, I have a piece of wool. Do me a favor: take it to the next world and give it to my son so that he can sew himself a new thing.
- Okay, grandma! - said the soldier, took the cut and left the village.
In the evening the old woman's son returned from the field.
“Oh, son,” she began to tell, “I just had a good fellow from the other world.” I sent a large section with it to your late brother.’
- Mother, what have you done? So I’ll take it and leave you! I'll walk around the world
I'll see if there's a woman dumber than you. If you find it, I will come back and feed and water you for the rest of my life, and if not, don’t wait for me, because I won’t come back again.
The old woman's son walked out onto the road and soon disappeared from view.
The good fellow walked and walked and approached a rich house. He looked into the yard: a pig with twelve piglets was walking there. The good fellow entered the yard and began to bow to the pig.
And the owner of the house was standing on the porch. Seeing what the guy was doing, she laughed and ordered her maid:
- Run, Mariyka, ask why that fool is bowing to our pig.
Mariyka ran out into the yard and asked the boy:
- Hey, fools, why are you bowing to the pig?
“Please,” he replied, “tell your mistress that I have come to invite your pig to the wedding.” She is our pig's sister, and our pig is getting married. That's what it's all about. I ask your mistress to agree and let the pig go to the wedding along with the piglets.
Having found out why the guy came, the hostess burst out laughing.
“For the first time in my life I see such a fool,” she said through tears. - Okay, I’ll let the pig go to the wedding so that people will make fun of him. Listen, Mariyka, quickly dress up the pig: put on my hat for her, give her my beads and tell the farmhand to harness the cart. Let the neighbors see that my pig doesn’t walk to the wedding.
Mariyka dressed up the pig and, when the farmhand put her and twelve piglets in a cart, our guy grabbed the bridles and whipped the horses.
At this time, the owner of the house was hunting. By evening he returned home. His wife met him on the porch and burst into laughter:
- Oh, hubby, what a pity that you weren’t at home and couldn’t see what happened here! One guy came into our yard and let’s bow to the pig. Your pig, he says, is our sister. Let me invite her to our wedding because our pig is getting married.
- And you agreed? - asked the husband.
- Well, of course! I gave him a pig along with piglets, and even ordered him to put it in a cart. What a laugh it was!
-Where is this guy?
- I don’t know, hubby!
- Oh, little wife, you turned out to be even stupider than this fool. Where should I look for him now?
And, jumping on his horse, the angry owner galloped in the tracks of the cart. After two or three hours he began to catch up with her. The good fellow, realizing what was happening, jumped to the ground, unharnessed the horses and hid them in the bushes. Then he returned to the road and took it off his head. cap and covered the rotten place with it. The horseman rode up to him and shouted:
- Hey, good fellow, didn’t a sly guy pass by on a cart with a pig and piglets?
- Why didn’t you pass by? Was he the only one passing by? far away, three hours ago, rushed past me.
- Which direction did he go? Will I be able to catch up with him?
- Hardly. There are many roads ahead, but you don’t know this region. The owner thought.
“Listen, good fellow,” he begged, “catch up with the thief instead of me.” If you catch up with him, I will reward you.
- I can’t, brother. I guard the master's falcon.
-Where is this falcon?
- Under my hood. . - Well, great, I'll watch over him.
- No, brother, you will miss him, and this bird is expensive. My master is a man with a tough temper, he will skin me seven times.
- How much does this bird cost?
- A thousand leva.
“Let’s agree that if I miss it, I’ll pay you a thousand leva.”
- You just say that, and then I’ll answer.
- How incredulous you are! Here's a thousand leva for you, take my horse and catch up with this scoundrel, and I'll guard the falcon, because I have no more strength - I can't take another step.
The cunning guy took the money, jumped on his horse and disappeared into the forest, and the owner sat down on a tree stump and stared at the cap. The sun set, it began to get dark, but the good fellow still did not return.
- Let me see, what kind of precious falcon is this? - thought the owner.
He lifted the cap and saw a rotten place.
- Oh, swindler! This is probably the same guy who deceived my wife and took away a pig with piglets, and a cart to boot.
Late at night, the deceived owner returned home. - He smiled at his wife and said:
- Listen, little wife, your pig is also my pig. Let him have fun at the wedding. Stop arguing for us!
And the cunning fellow brought home horses and a pig with piglets, and how he shouted:
- Mother, I will feed and water you for another hundred years. There are people in this world who are stupider than you. And they all live in rich houses. So they gave me three horses, a cart, a thousand leva and a pig with twelve piglets.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru