Once upon a time there lived a tailor; he had a wife. Usually tailors' wives are lazy, and this one matched the others. Her name was Jeanne, and her husband's name was Jean Crooked Foot. In the morning, as soon as Jean left for work, Zhanna went to bed again, at about eleven or twelve she got out of bed and began walking from house to house, visiting gossips and chatting like a magpie. When Jean returned home in the evening, she always sat at the spinning wheel; so he imagined that Zhanna did not leave her side all day.
One morning Jean said to his wife:
“Today I won’t work, the two of us will go to the market to sell yarn, because you probably already have a lot of it accumulated.”
Zhanna was very frightened; how to be here? She didn't even have three skeins of yarn. She ran to the gossip, the closest neighbor, and told her about her misfortune.
“Tell your husband,” the gossip advised her, “that you washed the yarn, took it to the bakery to dry and put it in the oven, and the baker, not knowing anything about it, flooded it, as always, and all the yarn burned up.”
Returning home, Zhanna repeated to her husband word for word what her gossip had taught her.
- Stupid! - Jean shouted angrily. “Apparently, you have lost even that grain of reason that you had, and as long as I live with you, I will not get out of poverty.” Now, as punishment, you will sow half a measure of flaxseed here in the yard - here it is - and so that by the time I return the flax will ripen and be grated, soaked, dried, tied into bunches and taken to the attic!
“Come on, hubby,” Zhanna replied, “how can you say such things?” No one in the world can do this; How do you want me to handle this?
“Do as you please,” answered Jean, “but in the evening, when I arrive, everything must be ready, otherwise you will be in trouble.”
With these words the tailor left. Zhanna became alarmed and ran to the gossip.
- If only you knew, godfather, what my husband came up with! Apparently he's completely crazy.
- What does he, godfather, want?
-What does he want? He wants me to sow half a measure of flax seed in our yard and that by evening this flax will ripen, and in addition, that I will pick it, soak it, dry it, tie it into bunches and put it in the attic! Tell me, please, would he bother me with such nonsense if he were in his right mind? “Here she even burst into tears.
“Don’t be sad, godfather,” the neighbor said to her. “Can’t we find a way this time to fool your Jean, who considers himself a smart guy, but in fact is a fool, of which there are few?” Here's what you need to do: I've had some flax lying in the attic since last year. You will take two or three bunches, untie them, scatter the stems over the surrounding fields and meadows, throw them on hedges and bushes, and in the evening, when Jean returns, you will tell him that you did everything as he ordered, but that while the flax was drying in the meadow, a whirlwind flew in and scattered everything. And as proof, you will show him the stems scattered across the bushes and trees.
Zhanna liked this advice. She took three bunches of dry flax from the gossip and scattered it across the fields and meadows, threw it on bushes and tree branches.
In the evening, coming home, Jean immediately asked:
- Well, wife, did you do everything that I punished you this morning?
- Of course, I followed all your orders exactly, but we have no luck, hubby, and that’s all!
- What happened?
- What's happened? Just think: the flax was drying in the meadow near the pond where I wet it, and I had already begun to collect it to tie it into bundles and take it to the attic, when suddenly a Whirlwind flew in and scattered everything.
- Te-te-te! “I don’t believe such fairy tales,” answered Jean.
“This is not a fairy tale at all, hubby, come with me and you will see that this is the real truth.”
Jeanne immediately took her husband to the meadow, where, according to her, she was laying out flax to dry, and showed him the stalks scattered across the surrounding fields and meadows, caught on bushes and tree branches.
Willy-nilly, the tailor had to believe his wife, and he cried out:
- That's it! Since it was the Whirlwind that caused me such losses, he will pay me for them. I’ll go complain to the Lord of the Winds right now!
Jean returned home and, taking with him his gnarled stick, a barley flour pie and some flat cakes, he set off.
He walked for a long time. He walked forward and forward and finally found himself at the foot of a hill on which sat an old woman as tall as a tower. Her gray hair fluttered in the wind, and a large black tooth protruded from her mouth, the only one she had left.
“Hello, grandma,” the tailor told her.
“Hello,” answered the old woman. “What are you looking for?”
“I’m looking for the home of the Winds.”
“In that case, son, you are at the end of the road: the home of the Winds is here, and I am their mother.” What do you need from them?
“I came to demand money from them for the losses they caused me.”
— What kind of losses? Tell me and I will reimburse you if you really suffered.
- Your son Whirlwind ruined me completely...
And Jean told the old woman how it happened. She said:
- Enter our house, son, and when my son Whirlwind returns, I will make him pay you for the losses.
The old woman came down the hill and led Jean to her house, which stood in a hollow. It was a hut built from branches and clods of earth; it was blown from all sides. The old woman gave Jean something to eat and told him not to be afraid when her son returned, since she would be able to cope with him, even though the Whirlwind would threaten to eat the stranger. Soon a terrible noise was heard: trees cracked, stones were torn from their places, wolves howled protractedly.
“This is my son Whirlwind hurrying home,” said the old woman.
Jean was so scared that he crawled under the table. The whirlwind entered, growling, sniffed and shouted:
- I smell the human spirit! There's a man hidden here, I'll eat him!
“Do not hope, my son, that I will allow you to eat this nice little man, but rather think about how to compensate for the losses you caused him,” said the old woman.
She took Jean's hand and pulled him out from under the table. Seeing Jean, the Whirlwind opened its mouth and was about to grab him and eat him, but the mother pointed her finger at the bag suspended from a beam near the ceiling and asked:
- Apparently you want to sit in that bag?
The whirlwind immediately calmed down. And the tailor became bolder and said to him:
- Good afternoon, your lordship. You ruined me.
- How so, buddy? - Whirlwind asked affectionately.
“You scattered all the flax across the meadow that my wife laid out to dry.”
- This is not true, your wife is a liar and a lazy person. But you yourself are an honest guy, a good worker and work hard. With such a wife, despite all your efforts, you will remain poor forever, and I want to reward you for your long journey and for believing in my justice. Here is a donkey for you, and when you need silver and gold, you just spread a white napkin on the ground under its very tail and say: “Donkey, do your duty!” And he will immediately give you as much gold and silver as
you wish. But take care of him! If it is stolen from you, you will become as poor as before.
And Whirlwind gave him a donkey standing in the corner of the hut, no different from any lop-eared one. The tailor thanked him for the generous gift, said goodbye to Whirlwind and his mother and went home, accompanied by the precious animal.
Having walked some distance from the hut, Jean found himself in the middle of a vast wasteland. To quickly find out whether his donkey had the property that was attributed to him, Jean spread his handkerchief on the ground right under his tail and said:
- Donkey, do your duty!
At the same moment, gold and silver coins rained down, quickly covering the scarf. Jean filled all his pockets with them, and then continued on his way, singing, laughing, dancing with joy and jumping up and down like a madman.
When it was getting dark for the herd, he decided to spend the night at an inn near the road.
He strictly ordered the servant to whom Jean entrusted his donkey to take the best possible care of him, and most importantly, not to ask him to fulfill his duty. Apparently, poor Jean was not one of the smart ones. Having eaten heartily and treated himself to the best wine that was found in the inn, Jean went to bed and fell asleep, without worrying about the next day.
The servant was surprised that Jean told him not to ask the donkey to do his duty - none of the guests had ever told him such things. “Something is wrong here,” he thought.
This thought did not let the servant sleep, and he went to share it with his master.
When everyone in the house had gone to bed, the owner, his wife and servant went to the stable. The servant approached the donkey and said to him:
- Donkey, do your duty!
And at the same moment, silver and gold coins fell with a cheerful ringing. All three could not recover from amazement. Having filled their pockets with gold, they replaced one lop-eared one with another and locked the magic donkey in a secluded closet, far from the stable.
The next morning, Jean had a delicious breakfast, paid, and, taking the donkey that the servant brought him, continued on his way, not realizing how he had been deceived. His pockets were still full of gold and silver, mined the day before, and therefore until the very end of the journey he did not need to order the donkey to fulfill his duty.
Returning home, he saw that his wife and children were almost dying of hunger. Jeanne, seeing her husband, began to shower him with abuse:
“Finally you have appeared, you cruel, unscrupulous man!” You stagger around in an unknown place, leaving your wife and children to starve! - And she shook her fist at him.
“Shut up, wife,” said Jean calmly, as befits a man confident in his business, “you will never again suffer a shortage of bread or anything else; Now we will be rich, you will see this now. Take off your apron and spread it on the ground right under my donkey’s tail.
Jeanne spread out her apron, and Jean, without hesitation, said:
- Donkey, do your duty.
But nothing fell on the apron. Жан сильно этому удивился. Thinking that perhaps the donkey had not heard, he said a second time:
- Donkey, do your duty!
Nothing again! He shouted for the third time, even louder than before:
- Donkey, do your duty!
This time something fell on the apron, but it was not gold or silver.
Seeing all this, Zhanna decided that her husband was mocking her. She screamed even louder and then grabbed the stick. Poor Jean ran away at breakneck speed.
Where was he supposed to go? He didn’t even really know where his donkey was stolen; so he decided to go to the Whirlwind again.
When Whirlwind saw the saddened Jean, he said:
“I know why you came again: you didn’t take care of your donkey, it was stolen from you at the first inn where you spent the night on the way home.” Now here's a napkin for you. As soon as you spread it on the table, or even on the bare ground, and say: “Napkin, do your duty!” - she will immediately feed and drink you with everything you want. But keep your eyes open so that it doesn’t get stolen either.
“Be calm,” answered Jean, “I’ll give up my life as soon as possible.”
Jean said goodbye to Whirlwind and his mother and set off again. When it got dark, he spent the night in the same inn as the first time. And there they celebrated a wedding. He was given a warm welcome and asked to sit at the table with the newlyweds, which he willingly did. Whether because the treat seemed meager to him, or perhaps because he wanted to show off to the guests and be known to them as a great sage and sorcerer, Jean took a napkin from his pocket, spread it on the table and proudly said: “Napkin, do your duty!” - at that same moment a luxurious treat appeared on the table: exquisite dishes that are served only at the royal table, and the finest wines from all countries.
Intoxicated with praise and wine, Jean did not notice this time that he was robbed and his napkin was stolen. Morning found him in his former poverty, and he again did not know what to do. However, now he did not dare to come to his wife empty-handed, but decided that his only salvation was to go to the Mother of the Winds again.
And so he went the same way again, but this time very ashamed and embarrassed.
Seeing him, Whirlwind said:
- You've been robbed again, poor fellow! They stole your napkin!
“Have mercy on me, your lordship,” begged the unfortunate tailor, “my wife and children are dying of hunger, I cannot return home empty-handed!”
“I agree to help you, because you are a good person, but this is the last time,” Whirlwind answered. Then he handed the truncheon to the tailor, saying:
- Here's a club for you. One has only to say to the one who has it in his hands: “Baton, do your duty!” - and she will begin to tirelessly beat her master’s enemies. Nothing can stop her until he tells her: “Enough!” With this club you will get back both the donkey and the napkin.
Jean thanked him and set off on his way back. He spent the night at the same inn. Hoping to steal some more treasure from him, the owners gave him the warmest welcome. Jean invited the owner, his wife and servant to dine with him. Towards the end of the meal, he said to his club, which he now never parted with for a minute:
- Bludgeon, do your duty!
The club immediately spun in the air and began to beat the master, the mistress and the servant in turn. No matter how they tried to stop her, it was all in vain; they crawled under the table, hid wherever possible, but the club overtook them everywhere, and the tailor laughed and made fun of them.
- Have mercy! Have mercy! - they screamed.
And Jean responded:
- Serves you right, you'll know how to carry donkeys and napkins!
- Have mercy! Have mercy! We will return everything to you! After all, just look at it, the end will come for us!
This fun lasted about half an hour, until Jean commanded:
- Enough!
Then the club calmed down, and Jean returned home with the donkey, the napkin and the club.
If he managed to save them, then he probably lives happily ever after. And since then I haven't heard anything more about him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru