There lived two sisters - Anna-Maria and Victoria. Anna Maria married a rich shopkeeper, Victoria married a coal miner. Burning coal is not like selling goods in a shop and counting profits. A coal miner works a lot and earns little. But in the small house that stood on the edge of the forest, it was always fun, because the coal miner got up with a song and went to bed with a song, and not with the same one, but with different ones. And where did he get them from! Victoria's children - two girls and three boys - grew up rosy-cheeked, obedient and cheerful.
And Anna Maria had only one son, and he was angry and whiny. No matter how much his mother pleased him, no matter how much she spoiled him, he only grew thin and turned pale with anger. So rich Anna-Maria was jealous of poor Victoria.
The year came when in the area where the sisters lived, black fever appeared with its friend - bony death. They looked first into one house, then into another. The terrible guests of the coal miner's hut did not pass by, and they also knocked on the shopkeeper's house. One day the sisters got married, one day they became widows.
Victoria was left with five small children. Burning coal is not a woman’s job, and Victoria, no matter how she looked, could not find any other job. Then she decided to go to her sister Anna Maria.
“Help me, sister,” Victoria asked. “Give me at least a little bread to feed the children.”
- Parasites have attached themselves to my head! - Anna Maria shouted. “Well, so be it, you slacker, clean up the house, clean out the barn, feed the cattle, weed the garden, then you’ll beg.”
Victoria cleaned the house, cleaned the barn, fed the cows, milked them, and pulled out all the weeds in the garden.
“Now bake some bread,” Anna-Maria ordered. When the bread was baked, she chose the smallest loaf of bread and gave it to her sister.
“You can come again tomorrow,” said the shopkeeper, and thought to herself: “It won’t be long before your children are rosy-cheeked if you divide such a loaf of bread among five!” Victoria came the next day. Her sister gave her even harder work, and in the evening she placed in front of her a loaf of bread smaller than yesterday’s. Only this time Victoria turned out to be cunning - she kneaded the dough, but did not wash her hands. I came home, put the pot on the fire and shook out all the flour that had stuck to my palms into the water. The result was a delicious flour stew. The children ate it and went to bed almost full.
This is what Victoria began to do. And the blush on her children’s cheeks spread even brighter than before.
One day Victoria was grinding grain in a hand mill in her sister’s yard. Suddenly an old beggar entered the gate.
“Give me a piece of bread, good woman,” he said, “I’m hungry.”
Victoria replied:
“And I would be glad to feed you, but I’m not the mistress here.” Ask my sister.
Then Anna-Maria ran out of the house and began to scold:
- Get out, tramp, before I set the dog on you!
And her son ran out behind Anna-Maria. He collected pebbles from under his feet and started throwing them at the old man.
The beggar turned to leave, but Victoria managed to whisper to him:
- In the evening, wait for me at the bend in the road where large olive trees grow.
Victoria finished work and went home. A beggar sat on a stone at a bend in the road and waited for Victoria. She took her loaf of bread out of the basket, broke it into six equal parts and handed one to the old man. The old man took the bread and asked:
“Whose share did you give me, woman?”
“I have five children,” Victoria answered, “I’m the sixth myself.” So I gave my share. Don't worry, I worked a lot today and will soon fall asleep. And in a dream a person does not want to eat.
- Well, thank you. Maybe I’ll help you someday,” said the old man.
A little more time passed. One day, Anna Maria’s son saw an eagle soaring in the sky and wanted to play with it. Anna Maria loved her son so much that if she had wings, she would certainly fly after the eagle. However, she did not have wings, and she began to persuade her dear son to play with other toys. But the dear son only wanted an eagle. He opened his big mouth and began to scream. So much so that by evening everyone in the house was deaf from his screams, and he himself fell ill.
“Well, are your children,” Anna-Maria asked Victoria, “are they healthy?”
“Healthy,” Victoria answered.
And then Anna-Maria began to be gnawed by black envy. She sent her sister to work in the field, and she ran to her house. When Anna-Maria saw how rosy and cheerful Victoria’s children were, she almost cried with grief.
- Eh, dear nephews, it would be good for you to see what your mother feeds you, why do you have such round cheeks? “And she pinched the younger boy painfully.
“We are eating flour soup,” answered the elder.
- Flour soup? Where does the mother get flour?
“As soon as mother comes home, she shakes off the flour that has stuck to her palms over the cauldron,” said the girl.
Oh, that’s it, Anna-Maria thought.
That same evening she told her sister to wash her hands thoroughly before leaving and sent her away without giving her a piece of bread.
Victoria went home with an empty basket. At a bend in the road she stopped and thought. What will she tell hungry children, what will she feed them?
Then Victoria saw three stones by the side of the road. She picked them up, put them in a basket and covered them with her apron.
When she returned, the children, as always, brought water, washed the cauldron and lit a fire in the hearth. When Victoria arrived, the water in the cauldron was already boiling.
“Well, children,” she said, “today we will have stew, not flour stew, but from good meat.”
With these words, Victoria lowered three stones into the cauldron.
— Does the meat take long to cook? - the children asked.
“It’s been a long time, kids, you see how hard it is,” and Victoria tapped the stones in the cauldron with a wooden spoon. — When it becomes soft, the stew will be ready. In the meantime, play.
The children ran to play. The mother sat down by the cauldron in which the stones were boiled and wept bitterly.
The hour is already late, she thought, the children will play and fall asleep, forgetting about food. Today I deceived them, but what will happen to us tomorrow? Will I be able to find a job?
But then the doors opened and children ran into the room. They brought with them - who do you think? - the same old beggar whom Victoria had recently fed with bread.
“Mom, mom,” cried the eldest son, “grandfather said that he is hungry too!” Feed him our meat stew too.
- Why not feed? - Victoria said. - But the meat is still hard. Let grandpa warm himself by the fire and wait, and you run around a little.
The children ran away. Then the woman said to the old man:
- Don't be angry, good man. Last time I gave you my share. And today I have nothing.
- What is being cooked in the cauldron? - asked the old man.
“Stones,” Victoria answered sadly.
- Why are you deceiving me? I smell meat.
“I swear to you, there is nothing there but stones,” said the poor woman and, running up to the cauldron, she scooped out of it with a large wooden spoon.
How surprised she was to see a large piece of boiled meat in the spoon!
“I told you it smells like meat,” said the old man. — Call the children for dinner.
“But the stew still needs to be salted, and I don’t have salt.”
-Your eyes are red. So you cried. Maybe one tear fell into the cauldron. There is nothing saltier than a mother's tears.
Victoria tried the stew. Indeed, it was salted in moderation.
- Kids, go eat! - she shouted joyfully and poured the stew into a large bowl.
“Give the children a piece of bread for the stew,” said the old man.
Victoria shook her head.
— There is no bread in the house.
“You’re deceiving me again,” the old man answered, grinning. - Look on the shelf in the closet.
Victoria obediently opened the cabinet door and saw that on the shelf there were seven panyola - small round breads.
Everyone ate heartily. Then the old man said:
“Now it would be nice to have a glass of good wine and a slice of broccio.” Come down, woman, to the cellar.
Victoria, without saying a word, went down to the cellar, although she knew that it was completely empty, even the mice had nothing to eat.
But the miracles did not end there. There was a barrel of wine in the cellar, and nearby there were heads of broccio - salted sheep's cheese, and smoked hams and bunches of sausages hung from a thick hook on the ceiling. After dinner the kids fell asleep.
“Oh, beggar sir,” Victoria exclaimed, “you must be a wizard!”
“So it is,” answered the old man. - To do everything that I did is mere trifles for me. You see, I've been pretty tired over the past thousand years. In the forest in the mountains there stands an old oak tree, the same age as me; I always rest in his hollow whenever I want. Now I decided to take a little nap, maybe a hundred years or so. And before heading to the mountains, I want to pay off all my debts. Everything that I gave will remain with you. There is no shortage of meat in the cauldron, bread in the cupboard, wine, cheeses and sausages in the cellar. Now I'll go. I have one more debt - to your sister and her son. Paying it is not so pleasant, but what can you do!
And the old man, groaning, rose from the bench. Victoria caught up with him at the door and grabbed the hem of his clothes.
“Ah, good sir wizard, I beg you, have mercy on my sister!”
- I would be glad to, but I can’t. We, wizards, also have our own law - to pay for everything according to what it deserves. Whoever deserves what will receive it.
The old man left.
But Victoria never fell asleep until light. Even though her sister is evil, she is still a sister. In the morning she ran to Anna Maria.
She looks - Anna-Maria, safe and sound, came out to meet her on the porch.
- Trouble, sister! - she screamed. “Last night that same damned hundred came to see me. . . Oh, oh, oh! - and Anna-Maria grabbed her cheek. “That same kind old man said that every time I start swearing, my teeth will hurt.” How can one not scold so that the devils will carry him away? Oh, oh, oh! Blessed Madonna bless him!
Then Anna Maria’s son ran into the yard with a stick in his hand. A dog was sitting calmly by the porch. The dear son wanted to swing a stick at the dog, but the stick twisted like a snake and hit him on the forehead.
“My golden peach,” Anna-Maria began to wail when she saw this, “and the old fool didn’t spare you.” Oh, oh, oh! Just think, sister, now the poor child can’t even play! If you throw a stone, it will hit you. Every now and then I apply lotions to his bruises and scratches.
Victoria laughed and turned home.
The story could end here, but here’s what else needs to be said.
Almost a hundred years have passed since this story happened. Soon the old wizard will wake up in his hollow and again go wandering around the world. Maybe you guys will meet him too. Don't be afraid of him. He's a good old man. Just don’t forget that he pays for everything according to what he deserves: whoever deserves what will receive it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru