Once upon a time there lived a young man named Salam. Salam had a kind heart; he only disliked evil and low people. His uncle was known as a big miser, and although he was already a rich man, he wanted to get even richer.
One day Salama's uncle killed a cow. He sold some of the meat, ate some, but did not give his nephew a single piece. He also decided to sell the cow's skin and hung it to dry in front of the house. At night, Salam quietly took the skin and climbed the tree. As soon as he managed to climb there, thieves settled down under a tree to divide the loot during the night. Without hesitation, Salam threw a cow skin on their heads, and they scattered in fear. All the goods went to Salam. “Ha, now I’m rich,” thought the young man. Satisfied, Salam went to sell his booty and got three hundred rupees for it. Well, he was happy! And then he went to his uncle’s house and put half of the money in front of the door. “This will be payment for the skin,” he thought.
Getting up early in the morning and seeing money at his doorstep, my uncle rejoiced. He knew that Salam, his own nephew, had taken the skin, but he had never expected to get so much for it. However, his greed was so great that even now he was dissatisfied. He decided to get even more money, went to the barn and began to slaughter all his cows one by one. “If for one skin they give one hundred and fifty rupees, then for eleven they will give one thousand six hundred... no, one thousand six hundred and fifty rupees!” The greedy uncle could not get enough of the enormous wealth that would now be in his hands. He took the skins and went with them to the market - but what happened? Not one hundred and fifty rupees were given at the market for a skin, but only one rupee! So he got only eleven rupees for the skins of all his cows. Salama's uncle became angry, hurried to his nephew's house and burned it to the ground.
Salam didn’t say anything, he just collected ashes from the ashes and climbed up the tree again. And again, as on the previous night, thieves came to this place to divide the spoils. Salam began to pour ash from above, and it got into the thieves' eyes. They decided that a spirit had settled on the tree, and they ran as fast as they could, and Salam descended to the ground and took possession of the enormous wealth that they had left behind.
The uncle was jealous that his nephew had become rich again, and began to ask Salam how he managed it.
Salam told everything without concealment. Then Salama’s uncle, in order to quickly get rich, burned down his own house, collected all the ashes in a bag and took it to the market to sell. But again he was unlucky: for everything they gave only a few coppers and they bought his ash only as a remedy for red ants. Uncle Salama went mad with anger.
“That’s who is the culprit of my misfortune!” he exclaimed and went in search of his nephew.
And Salam at that time was at home with his wife and old mother-in-law. Seeing his uncle, he immediately realized that his uncle was not heading towards him with good intentions. Salam immediately figured out what he needed to do. He ordered his young wife to hide under the mattress, and when Salama's uncle entered, he saw only his nephew and his old mother-in-law in the house. He decided that the old woman was Salam’s wife, and asked his nephew:
- Hey, Salam, why do you have such an old wife?
- Eh, uncle, this is nothing! - Salam smiled. “In an instant, I can restore her youth.”
- I don’t believe it! Try it, I want to see what you can do!” the uncle told Salam.
Salam quietly signaled to his wife, then took a stick, hit the springs of the mattress several times - and everyone saw the young woman.
Salama's uncle was amazed to see what his nephew was capable of. Returning home, he called his old wife and also ordered her to hide under the mattress, and then began to hit it with all his might - he thought that the harder he hit, the sooner she would rejuvenate. The wife screamed in pain. And when her uncle released her, he saw that her face was as old and ugly as before, but now it was also bruised.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru