Once upon a time there lived a rich moneylender, and in the same district there lived a poor, very poor family. She was always in debt and could not return thirty kuans to that moneylender. How many times did the moneylender come, demanding the debt, but the poor had nothing to pay, and therefore every time they asked and begged him for a deferment.
And then one day the moneylender came to collect the debt, but the owners of the house were not there, only the poor man’s little son was playing in the yard.
-Where did your parents go? - asks the moneylender.
The kid pretended not to hear the question and remained silent.
The moneylender got angry and started asking:
-Where is your father? Where is your mother? Or are they hiding from me? Well, tell me the truth.
The kid looked at the uninvited guest and said:
“My father went to chop off heads alive and imprison the headless ones.” My mother went to buy sticks and trade in wind.
The moneylender listened to him, did not understand anything and began to ask again, but the kid only laughed in response. The moneylender decided to appease the baby and said:
“If you tell me what your parents are really doing, I’ll forgive them all their debts.”
“You’re joking with me, sir,” says the boy, “it’s not good to laugh at a little one.”
“No, I’m telling the honest truth,” the moneylender insists.
- The truth? – the kid was surprised. “Then I’ll call a witness now and tell him in front of him.”
“And the baby, apparently, is not so stupid,” thought the moneylender.
Just at this time, a termite ant caught his eye, crawling on a chopstick. The rich man decided to deceive the baby.
- Look: an ant is crawling. He will be our witness. Tell me soon.
- Well, since there is a witness, so be it, listen. When I said: my father went to chop off the heads alive and plant the headless ones, I meant that my father was planting rice seedlings. When I said: mother went to buy sticks and sell wind, I meant that mother was selling fans.
The moneylender heard this, did not wait for his parents and went home.
A few days later, the moneylender again came to the poor man and began to demand debts from him. The father begged and asked for a delay, but the rich man did not want to listen. Then the kid runs in and says:
- Don't worry about anything, father. This gentleman forgave us our debts, he told me so himself.
- Hey, baby, stop lying! – the moneylender got angry. “Who could tell you that?”
- It’s not good to refuse your own words, sir! After all, we also had a witness,” the kid answers him.
In a rage, the moneylender jumped out of the poor man's house, walked, muttered threateningly:
- It’s okay, you’ll still pay me. All the same, the debts will have to be repaid. I will ask the judge for help.
- Where do you get your witnesses, son, where are they? - the frightened parents ask their son. “How can you prove that the master has forgiven us our debts?”
“Don’t worry, father,” the son answers. “Don’t pay back your debts, rely on me.” When we appear before the judge, you will see for yourself that the gentleman will confess.
Three days have not passed, the poor man is summoned to the judge.
“O official gentleman,” says the poor man to the judge, “I owe this man thirty kuans.” At first he asked for a deferment, but now he intends to give the money. But my son tells me not to pay it back, because the usurer, with a witness, forgave us our debts.
- The boy is lying! - says the moneylender. - I did not forgive any debts, and there were no witnesses. Order the boy to be called, Mr. Judge, let him tell everything himself.
The judge ordered to call the poor man's son. A boy came in, bowed politely and told everything as it happened.
“Tell me,” says the judge, “do you really have a witness who can confirm this man’s promise?”
“Of course, oh official gentleman,” the kid answers, “the moneylender himself pointed to the ant that was crawling along the pillar and said that the ant would be a witness.”
- There was an ant crawling on the chopstick! - the moneylender shouted. - And there was no ant on the pole!
The judge heard these words, laughed and said:
- It turns out that you really forgave the debt. It turns out that you also had a witness. So you have nothing to complain about. You thought to deceive the baby, but he outsmarted you.
And the judge ordered not to repay the debts to the usurer. The rich man had to obey. No matter how angry he was with the kid, he could not help but admit that the boy turned out to be smarter and more resourceful than him.
No wonder they say: now children are smarter than wise old people.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru