In ancient times, the Shah ruled a country. His cruelty knew no bounds. Not a day passed without him killing two or three people. But it seemed to him that this was not enough. He got himself wolfhounds so wild that as soon as a person appeared, they tore him to pieces. Those with whom the Shah was especially angry were thrown to the dogs. One day the Shah issued a decree that whoever showed him the prophet Khazret would receive a thousand tumens. Ahmed-kishi, a poor cripple who worked hard to earn dry bread for his family, heard this decree. He came to the Shah and said:
- May the great Shah be healthy, I will show you the prophet Khazret, but I have one condition. The Shah became interested:
- Which one?
“And this,” answered Ahmed-kishi, “you must give me half of the promised money in advance.” And in forty days I will bring a prophet to you. Then you will give the rest of the money.
The Shah thought and agreed. He decided: “I’ll give him this money, and if he doesn’t find the prophet, I’ll skin him three times.”
Ahmed-kishi took the money, bought clothes and grain for his wife and children, and lived for thirty-nine days for his own pleasure. And on the fortieth day he said goodbye to his wife and children and trudged dejectedly to the Shah. He saw the cripple and asked:
- Where is Khazret?
“I couldn’t find it,” answered Ahmed-kishi. The Shah shouted in anger:
- Where is the money you received from me?
“My family was dying of hunger. I had no other choice, I took the money and fed my wife and children at least for a while. And now, O Shah, it is your will.
The Shah had three viziers. He turned to the first:
- Vizier, how can I punish him?
“May the Shah be healthy,” replied the vizier, “we must cut him into two parts.”
- To my father! - said Ahmed-kishi. The Shah turned to the second vizier:
— Vizier, how to punish this man?
“If you ask my advice, O wise Shah, I would tie him to the tail of a mule and let him go down the mountain.” Ahmed-kishi said to him:
-In the father!
Then the Shah asked the Chief Vizier:
- What do you say?
“Oh Shah,” answered the chief vizier, “if I were in your place, I would free this man, because he boldly and honestly admitted that he had committed deception to save his family.” People say correctly: the hungry are not afraid of death. And what do five thousand tumens mean to you? This is a drop in your coffers. Imagine that there is one drop in the sea. Is this why someone gets killed?
And again Ahmed-kishi shouted:
- And you look like your father! The Shah was surprised.
- Listen, old man, what you keep repeating every time: “like your father, yes like your father!” Explain what you mean by this? Ahmed-kishi replied:
“The first vizier said that I should be cut in half, and I decided that he was the son of a butcher.” And like a true butcher’s son, he offered to chop. I said the same words to the second vizier: he advised me to be tied to the tail of a mule. And I thought that he was the groom’s son. What the Grand Vizier proposed proves that he is the son of a noble Vizier. After Ahmed Kishi’s words, the Shah turned to his viziers and asked who their fathers were. Everyone confirmed that Ahmed was right.
The Shah liked Akhmed-kishi’s intelligence, but his anger at the cripple who dared to deceive him was too great. Therefore, he ordered the chief vizier to put Akhmed-kishi in prison, and the next day throw him to the dogs.
The vizier obediently obeyed, led Akhmed-kishi to the servants, and ordered him to be thrown into prison.
In the dungeon, Ahmed-kishi saw two more prisoners.
- Who are you, brothers? he asked. - Why did the Shah put you in prison?
One replied:
“This year there was a drought, my wheat did not grow, I could not pay tribute to the Shah, so they threw me into prison.
“At the bazaar,” said the second, “some troublemaker was talking about the cruelty of the Shah.” I was passing by and stopped for a minute to listen. The guards were passing by and wanted to catch him, but he ran away, and they grabbed me and threw me here. No matter how I tried to explain that I had nothing to do with it, they didn’t believe me. They slept all night, early in the morning the guards came and took all three out. First they threw those two to the dogs, and a second later there was nothing left of them. When they wanted to throw Ahmed-kishi, he fell to his knees and prayed:
“Oh, vizier, don’t kill me, you’ll still need me.”
- How can you help me? - asked the vizier.
“I understand the language of birds and animals,” answered Ahmed-kishi. The vizier thought for a moment, looked around to see if anyone was nearby and said:
- Okay, today I will postpone your execution, and then I will tell the Shah. If he agrees, I won't kill you.
The vizier conveyed Ahmed's words to the Shah. He says:
- Let him teach you the language of birds, then you will kill him. The vizier returned and said:
“I saved you from death, now teach me the language of birds.”
- O vizier, you are a smart man, you have seen a lot in your time. Does anyone know the language of birds so that I can too?
- Why did you deceive me? - The vizier got angry.
“When the dogs tore those two men into pieces before my eyes,” Ahmed-kishi sighed, “I thought: if we can delay the execution for even one day, it will be a great thing.” That's why I lied to you.
The vizier was amazed by the intelligence and courage of Ahmed-kisha and freed him. The cripple fell to his knees in a burst of gratitude and said:
— Vizier, you serve a cruel and evil Shah. The day will come, he will order you to be thrown to these dogs. Make the dogs know you and be friends with you. “This is wise advice,” thought the vizier, and from that day he began to feed the dogs. After a month, they got used to him and only fawned when he came. One fine day, the Shah realized that a prisoner who knew the language of birds was languishing in his dungeon. He called the vizier and said:
- Vizier, bring me a man who knows the bird's language. Let him talk to you, I want to know how you mastered this language.
The vizier wanted to deceive the Shah, but then he realized that it was impossible, and honestly admitted everything. The Shah became furious and ordered the vizier to be thrown to the dogs. The guards hastened to carry out the order. But to the surprise of the Shah, the dogs not only did not touch him, but, on the contrary, began to lick his hands and face.
“Why didn’t the dogs tear you to pieces?” - the Shah cried.
“Even the dogs know that I am not guilty, so they did not torment me,” answered the vizier.
Then the Shah forgave him, but warned:
“Just remember, if you do this again, I’ll have you hanged!”
A little time passed. One day the Shah called the vizier and said:
- Get ready, let's go hunting.
The vizier gathered the guards and saddled the horses. With the Shah and the Vizier at their head, the detachment set off on the road. They walked for a long time, stopped a little, walked a little, stopped often, crossed mountains, crossed a ravine and rivers, shot a lot of deer and goitered gazelles. Finally we stopped in front of two collapsed houses. And on each roof there is an owl. Shah said:
- Vizier, you once studied the language of birds, you must understand what these birds are talking about among themselves.
“Yes, I understand, O Great Shah,” the vizier lied.
“Then tell me what they’re talking about.” The vizier pretended to be afraid:
- May the Shah be healthy, I'm afraid to say, you will be angry. The Shah promised to be merciful. Then the vizier said:
- One owl says: “Give your daughter for my son.” And the second set the condition: “I will give my daughter away if you give me seven ruins.” Maybe she thought that the owl would not be able to produce so many ruins. But the first one laughed again and answered: “Listen, dear, if the Shah continues to rule us like this, I will give you not only seven, but seventy-seven ruins.”
The conversation of the owls made a strong impression on the Shah. It was as if he had woken up from a long sleep.
“Am I really that cruel?” he asked. The vizier replied:
- Yes, my Shah, if you want to find out what the people think of you, change your clothes, walk around the country, then you will find out the whole truth about yourself.
The Shah returned from the hunt, left the vizier in his place, dressed as a dervish and went through the cities and villages. I walked around for a long time, asking people. One told him that his family was starving to death. Another complained that the Shah imposed such huge taxes that no one was able to pay. The third cried: the Shah had killed his son for no reason. In a word, everyone complained about the cruelty of the Shah. The Shah realized that he had indeed turned his country into ruins and his people into beggars. And when I understood, I decided to return and start living in a new way.
On the way, he met an old man who had tears in his eyes. The Shah approached him and quietly asked:
- What happened to you, good man, what is your grief?
“Oh dervish, why do you need to know about my grief?” the old man sighed. “You still can’t help me.” But the Shah pestered him with questions until the old man said:
- O good dervish, I had an only son, the light of my eyes. When he was descending from the mountain, a snowstorm overtook him on Eilagh. He had nowhere to hide and died from the cold. And I don’t even have the money to bury him.
The Shah gave him a handful of gold and moved on.
Returning to the palace, he ordered the construction of caravanserais on all roads, the construction of bridges over all major rivers, and the distribution of money and bread to the poor, orphans, cripples and old people. From that day on, he himself listened to all complaints and fairly judged the right and wrong.
“Several years passed, and the whole country fell in love with the Shah. Singers sang songs about him, old people told tales.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru