Once upon a time there lived a poor man, and his name was Kostakis. All days he worked from sunrise to sunset, and on Sundays he went out to his garden, sat under an apple tree, ate a good dinner, and then played the pipe until evening and thus spent his day in pleasure. And Costa-kis had a kind heart: he was never angry with anyone, he never quarreled with anyone.
One Sunday, when he was playing his pipe and humming a song, a snake crawled out from a secluded corner and, swaying and bowing, began to dance in front of him to the beat of the music. At first Kostakis was scared, but then he calmed down. So that's how it was - he played, and the snake danced. Finally, the snake bowed for the last time and disappeared, and where it danced, the poor man saw a bag of gold coins. The poor guy almost started dancing with joy, and then he said to his wife:
“Next Sunday I’ll play the pipe again, then we’ll see if she comes crawling again.” Just look, don’t say a word to anyone! After all, this is not an ordinary snake - this is the good spirit of our home!
- What are you talking about! Have I lost my mind to talk about such things? Of course, this is the good spirit of our house; it is not for nothing that legends talk about it. I heard that snakes love music, maybe they like the way you play?
- And you, stupid, mocked me and ran away every Sunday to the neighbors so as not to hear me play! Now you see what happened! So a week passed in conversation, and on Sunday they saw a snake. This went on for a whole year, and each time the snake left Kostakis a bag of gold. The people marveled that the poor began to live in abundance. Gossip and gossip began, this and that. All we can talk about is how to find out Kostakis’s secret! And suddenly the snake disappeared!
The poor man waited, waited, played the pipe, played - all in vain: the snake did not crawl out!
Then Kostakis decided to find the snake's hole. And when I found it, I saw a snake curled up in a ball, dead. The poor man became sad, cried bitterly and buried it in the garden, near the fence.
And a few days later, a strange tree grew in that very place, unlike any other in the world. Kostakis dug up the root a little and saw that the tree had grown on snake bones. Then he covered the roots with earth, and silently called the tree a snake tree. Everyone marveled at that tree, but no one knew its secret name, snake. Even Kostakis’s wife did not know: he did not reveal to her that a tree had grown on the bones of a snake.
And so on Sundays people began to gather and place bets. But they always lost: after all, they did not know the secret name of the tree. One came, made a bet and asked:
- Is this an apple tree? Is this a pear? Is this mirabelle? Another one came up and began: “Is this a pomegranate?” Is this a peach? Is this currant? A third approached: “Is this an apricot?” Is this a fig? Is this an orange?
No one could guess, and the poor man won many bets. And there lived in that village one cunning and greedy merchant, and he decided to find out the secret from the poor man’s wife. He collected embroideries, trinkets, and jewelry made of fake gold for her, brought them and sold them to her cheaply. They became friends. Once the merchant says:
“Do you really, my love, not know what kind of tree is growing in your garden by the fence?” “I don’t know the secret, dear friend.” My husband is hiding from me too! - And you beg, persuade him. Then I will give you slippers, embroidered in gold, with silk tassels. Look, say it’s not to me, but name the tree loudly twice in your bedroom. I'll hide under the window and hear. So you won’t grieve that you gave away the secret.
So he persuaded her, and the next day the sly man hid under a window in the alley and became all ears. And the woman began to torture her husband:
- Tell me, hubby, what is the name of our tree near the fence? - Why do you need to know this? Is it bad for us to win in arguments? - What are you worried about, my Kostakis, am I going to blab! Don't you know me? Or do you not love me at all?!
The poor man thought for a while and discovered the secret.
- It would have been like this a long time ago! So it's a snake tree! And it grew on the bones of our snake! Ah, our dear snake, you help us even if you’re dead! “And so that the merchant under the window could hear her, she shouted with all her might: “Snake tree!” Snake tree!
On Sunday, people gathered to argue again. A merchant in a colorful vest also came. So two lost, three lost, then the merchant came forward and said:
- I bet all my property on a bet! Bet everything you have, Kostakis!
The poor man was confused; he did not expect such a large deposit, but, confident that no one knew the secret, he agreed:
- Hands down! I'll bet everything I've earned! - Agreed! Is this a poplar? - No! Lost the first time! - Is it a linden tree? - No! I lost the second time too! “This... this...,” The merchant pretended to be thinking, holding his head tightly in his hands, about to guess the name. - Or maybe this is a snake tree?!
Kostakis froze with his mouth open, as if struck by thunder. Everything went dark in his eyes: he had just been prosperous, but now he had lost everything and became poorer than before!
He had to get out of his own house: when his wife found out about what had happened, she completely quarreled with him. Here the poor fellow wanders along the road and is killed:
“That’s right for me, a fool, if I believed an evil woman!” He met an old woman. - Hello, son! - Hello, grandmother! - What are you looking for here, where no birds fly? - I go looking for my destiny! - Your destiny lives in the house of the Sun. - How can you get there, grandma? - That, son, is far from here. First you will pass a rock that hangs in the air and sways, but does not fall to the ground, and then a river in which there is just a little water, and then the Sun is just a stone’s throw away! The old woman said this and disappeared. And Kostakis wandered on. He walked and walked for a long time.
And then, finally, the house appeared, red, red, and burning! And a woman sits at the door, neither young nor old. Kostakis understood - this is his destiny!
“Why did you come here, Kostakis?” “I came to ask for your help,” he answers. “I can’t stand this life anymore!” I surrender to your will - do whatever you want with me! “Okay,” says fate, “I’ll try to help you.” Let's wait for the Sun and ask him for advice.
So they sat down to wait. As it got dark, the sun went down to sleep and rest, so that early in the morning we could go into the sky again. The woman gave him lunch, showed Kostakis and asked:
- Help, Sunny, this poor man! After all, it was he who played the pipe for my child, the snake!
Then the Sun said:
- Go back to your village and argue with the merchant. Let him
Now he is mortgaging all his property. And the argument will be about this: ask him where the Sun rises from. He will answer without thinking twice: from the east, and you say - from the north, and don’t be afraid of anything!
“How can I argue, I don’t even have anything for a mortgage!” “And you look at the roots of the snake tree - maybe you’ll find something!” Finally the poor man reached his village. He waited until nightfall, went up to his house, climbed over the fence into the garden, dug under the snake tree
and took out a bag of gold coins. He grabbed the bag, jumped over the fence and hid behind the village, waiting for Sunday. On Sunday, just before dawn, he came to the merchant.
- Hey, why are you here? - the merchant was surprised. - I want to make a bet with you! - What will you put as collateral? You're a beggar! Without collateral there is no dispute! - I’m not exactly a beggar. Here's my deposit! Or is he not to your liking?
With these words, Kostakis shook the bag of gold. He knew that for the sake of gold the merchant would agree to any dispute. And so it happened. When the merchant saw the money, his head became clouded with greed, and, forgetting all caution, he shouted:
- So what will the argument be about? - Let's argue where the Sun rises from! - Ha!.. Ha! Where else - from the east, of course! - We bet it's from the north?!
The merchant thought that Kostakis was not right in the head due to grief, and exclaimed:
“Yes, I’m ready to argue about this at least a thousand times, for any collateral!” “If you are so sure,” the poor man answers, “bet all your property!” And I am this little bag, I have nothing else! The greedy merchant laughed: soon this gold will pour into his pocket!
The next day, before dawn, they both and all the neighbors climbed onto the roof of the house and began to wait for the sun to rise. The poor man’s heart was pounding with fear that fate had deceived him, and the merchant’s heart was pounding with joy that he would soon have his gold. So some looked to the east, and others to the north. Suddenly the sky lit up, and red rays of the sun appeared in the north! The people gasped in surprise, and the merchant fell unconscious. Like it or not, he had to give all his property to the poor man. And Kostakis healed well, and you and I are even better!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru