One day a shepherd was driving his flock through a beautiful green valley. He was very tired and stopped to rest at a hillock overgrown with thick grass. And then, right under my feet, I saw a small silver bell.
The shepherd picked it up and shook it lightly. The bell rang. The shepherd had never heard anything more pleasant - like silver rain, even more pleasant. But the most amazing thing in all this was that although the shepherd’s sore feet ached, although he was very tired, now he suddenly felt as if there was no fatigue in the world at all.
“Yes, this bell is just a treasure!” - said the Shepherd. And having called to his heart’s content, he hid it in his pocket.
And now I will tell you what kind of bell it was. It belonged to one of the dwarves who lived in this valley under the hill. They were just dancing on the lawn when the shepherd passed by with his flock, but when they saw him they immediately ran away and hid. And each dwarf had this silver bell on his hat. The last gnome, running away, caught his hat in a bush, and the bell came off. It was a terrible loss - after all, dwarves, as you probably know, fall asleep only to the sound of a silver ringing. So our gnome couldn’t fall asleep without a bell, and soon he was completely exhausted from insomnia. Of course, he would give anything to return the bell that the shepherd put in his pocket.
The dwarf searched for him for a long time, taking on a variety of guises. Then he became an ant and examined every blade of grass. Either as a dog, trying to find his loss by smell. Either as a little girl walking along the path and asking everyone she meets if anyone has seen the bell. But the shepherd boy never came to meet him - he drove the herd over the hills in search of better pastures.
The poor gnome was losing weight, turning pale and suffering terribly from insomnia. Finally, this is what came to his mind. What if it was a crow or a jackdaw that tore the bell from his hat? These birds love to steal anything shiny. And he, too, turned into a bird - a very small one - and began to fly everywhere in search of his bell. But I couldn't find him.
One evening, flying here and there, he himself did not notice how he flew over the hills. And then I came across a shepherdess. He was lying lazily on the grass. His dog lay nearby. And the sheep wandered around, and the bells jingled on their necks. Then the bird thought about its loss and sadly sang a song:
"Sheep, little sheep, my bell is gone! If you have it, you're just rich!"
The shepherd boy heard this. “Hey, bird!” he shouted. “Don’t you see, the sun is already setting. It’s time to sleep, not sing. Yes, why are my sheep so rich? True, they have bells, but they are made of simple metal and can only jingle. But I really have one that is worth listening to!” Oh, how joyfully the bird sang! She immediately flew into the bushes, where she took off her feather outfit and turned into an old woman in a blue coat and a red shawl.
The shepherd kept ringing the bell, surprised by the bird’s words. And then an unfamiliar old woman approached him.
She could barely walk and limped.
“My legs have become very old and sore,” she complained to the shepherdess. “What are you doing here?” the old woman asked him. “Oh, what a wonderful bell you have! I have never seen such beauty in my life. Listen, dear, I have a sixpence in my pocket. And I have a granddaughter at home who needs to give something - his birthday is tomorrow. Would you sell me this wonderful bell - then I won’t have to work your old legs harder, look for a gift for him.”
“Well, no,” said the shepherd boy, “the bell is not for sale. There’s probably nothing like it in the world anymore. I’ll ring it, and the sheep will come running to the ringing, wherever they are. And what a pleasant sound it has! Listen, mother!” and he rang the bell again. “This ringing helps with fatigue. And even, I think, it can relieve the pain in your legs and cure your sore back.”
“Can it really?” exclaimed the old woman. “Please, dear, sell it to me! I won’t give it to my grandson, I’ll keep it with myself. I need it more than you. I’ll give five silver shillings for it.”
“No,” said the shepherd boy, “I won’t part with him.”
“Ten silver shillings!” said the old woman.
“No,” the shepherd insisted.
“Then golden, golden!” - The old woman was already screaming. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of gold.
“What do I need gold for?” said the shepherd boy, “It won’t ring like that.”
“Oh, what a stubborn person!” the old lady sighed. But you still don’t know who I am! So, my dear, I am a kind sorceress and I can do a lot of good to those who like me. Do you want me to make sure that your sheep have the whitest, softest and thickest wool in the area, and they themselves will be the largest and healthiest?”
“This is probably what I would like,” the shepherd thought.
“And your small herd will become the largest,” the old woman said. “And you will become the richest shepherd in the area, even in the whole country!” Here I have a shepherd’s crook, dear, do you want me to give it to you in exchange for a bell? Come on, take a look!”
The shepherd took the staff in his hands. It was made of fine ivory and had pictures from the Bible carved on it, with Adam and Eve in paradise among the lambs on one side, and David and Goliath on the other.
“This is truly a beautiful staff,” said the shepherd boy. “And while you are driving your sheep with it,” said the old woman, “not one of them will get lost. And not one will get sick.”
The shepherd could no longer resist. Whether she was a witch or not, he was now completely at her will. He felt that he simply could not live without this staff and had to get it, no matter what the cost.
“It’s decided!” he exclaimed. “Staff for the bell!”
The old woman gave up the staff and grabbed the bell tightly. And here are miracles - she was just here, and now she is no longer there. Only the receding sound of the bell could still be heard from nowhere.
“It seems I’ve made a fool,” thought the shepherd, looking at his new staff.
And the gnome returned to the green valley, under the hill where all the gnomes live. Here he again turned into a little man in a green hat. Jumping for joy, he attached a bell to it.
“And now to sleep. Finally, I’ll get some real sleep!” he said and went to bed under the hill. But the shepherd boy, it turns out, wasn’t playing the fool at all. The dwarf kept his word. The shepherd boy’s flock kept growing, and the sheep changed before his eyes. And soon no one in the whole country had such beautiful, big and healthy sheep.
The shepherd boy became a rich man. And since he was always kind and never looked down on his less fortunate neighbors, everyone around him respected him. And when the king himself once knighted him, everyone said that he fully deserved it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru