It was a sultry afternoon. People working in the fields went home to rest.
At this time, a crowd of horsemen was riding along the road. Approaching Shardyn’s house, the leader reined in his horse, rose in the stirrups, turned to his companions and said:
- Let's play a joke on Shardyn - let's eat his fat sheep, with which he is fussing so much.
- Fine! - the riders answered.
Turning off the road, they drove into Shardyn’s yard, pretending to be sad and preoccupied.
- Welcome, get off your horses! - Shardyn greeted them as he ran up and began to seat the guests under a shady walnut tree.
“Eh, Shardyn, why should we sit down when kaamet awaits us all tomorrow,” the leader said in a sad voice.
- How so - kaamet? It can’t be!..” said the amazed Shardyn, looking at the guests in confusion.
- No later than tomorrow there will be kaamet... Is it worth you to nurse a ram if we all die tomorrow? Better kill me
[Kaamet - light show,]
“We will eat it today and while we are alive,” the deceiver began to convince the owner.
- In fact, if there is kaamet, then what do I need a ram for? “We’ll eat it, organizing our own wake,” Shardyn agreed, lowering his eyes. “But while I slaughter it and cook it, lie down and rest.” “And I will unsaddle your horses and let them graze in an enclosed area,” added the caring owner.
The guests, exchanging winks, unbuttoned their Circassian caps, took off their belts and pistols and went to bed under a shady tree. While they were sleeping, Shardyn slaughtered a ram, put the meat in a cauldron, hung it over the fire, collected the saddles and clothes of the guests and threw it all into the fire. Then, having hidden the guests' weapons, he approached the horses and began to shoot at them.
The guests, who were sleeping soundly, woke up from shots. They grabbed the clothes, but they disappeared just like the weapons and saddles. They rushed to the horses and were dumbfounded - Shardyn was shooting them point-blank.
-Are you crazy?! Enraged?! - the guests screamed.
“I’m not the one who’s mad, it’s you!” - You told me that tomorrow there will be kaamet. So what do you need clothes, saddles, horses? We will all die tomorrow anyway! — Shardyn answered with a malicious smile.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru