In the old days, there lived a father, two sons and a daughter-in-law in a small village on the slope of a mountain. When the youngest son was born, his father was nearly fifty. The boy was named Er-xiao. He grew up savvy, eager to work, and everyone loved him. And his father simply doted on him.
When Er-xiao was thirteen years old, his father fell ill and died. And Er-xiao began to live with his older brother and daughter-in-law. The brother is lazy, and the daughter-in-law is evil and harmful. They had an old cow, a cow. Er-xiao grazes her from morning to evening. The cow was eaten away and became fat and fat. One day an evil wife says to her lazy husband:
“We need to get the potion and ruin Er-xiao—then we won’t have to divide the household!”
The lazy brother was dozing on the canoe at that time. He answers his wife, barely moving his tongue:
- Okay!
The evil daughter-in-law made dumplings from white and black flour. She put it in white poisons and was about to treat her younger brother. And she left the black ones for herself and her husband.
Er-xiao is grazing a cow on the river bank; it’s already noon. The cow has eaten enough and its belly is swollen. Moreover, Er-xiao cut a full basket of grass to take home.
And the boy says to the cow:
- Let's go home, little brownie. It’s midday outside, the sun is burning with fire.
The little cow stands there, not moving, but tears are dripping from her eyes.
The boy marveled and asked:
- What, little brownie, haven’t you eaten or gotten drunk?
The cow opened her mouth and spoke in a human voice:
- Good boy! When you come home, eat the black dumplings, don’t eat the white ones.
Er-xiao didn’t really understand what was going on. He returned home, and the evil daughter-in-law smiled and said affectionately:
- You, brother, were tending the cow, mowing the grass - apparently you were tired. I made some white dumplings for you. Eat quickly!
Er-xiao answers her:
- Leave the white dumplings for yourself and your older brother, daughter-in-law, but the black ones are good for me too!
He said this, pulled the black flour dumplings towards him and let’s eat. The daughter-in-law is standing nearby, her eyes bulging. She waited until Er-xiao left, took the white dumplings, threw them away, and again plotted evil. "OK! - thinks. “If you want to eat black dumplings, I’ll put some black poison in you too.” So she did. The next day she made black dumplings, put poison in them, and left the white ones for herself and her husband to enjoy.
Er-xiao is grazing a cow on the mountainside; it’s already noon. The cow had eaten enough, its belly was already swollen, and Er-xiao also cut a basket full of grass to take home.
The boy says to the cow:
- Let's go home, little brownie! It’s midday outside, the sun is burning with fire.
The little cow stands there, not moving, but tears are dripping from her eyes.
The boy marveled and asked:
- What, little brownie, haven’t you eaten or gotten drunk?
The little brownie opened her mouth and spoke in a human voice:
- Good boy! When you return home, eat white dumplings, don’t eat black ones.
This time Er-xiao realized what was going on. He returned home, and the evil daughter-in-law smiled and said affectionately:
- You, brother, were herding a cow, you were tired. You said yesterday that you liked black dumplings, so I cooked some black ones for you. Eat quickly!
And Er-xiao did not raise an eyebrow, did not blink an eye, and answered:
- Sister-in-law, how did your father die, you and your brother eat all the white dumplings, let me have some today!
He said so and began to eat white dumplings. The daughter-in-law is standing next to her, she is angry. Yesterday I wanted to ruin the boy, today I tried, but it doesn’t work. Then she decided to tell Er-xiao differently and said to her lazy husband:
- Winter is coming, snow will fall, there is no place to graze a cow, why feed Er-xiao in vain? Let's share. We'll give Er-xiao a current with a small barn and two mu of skinny pieces of land. For us it’s a cow that we can plow with, for him it’s a big red dog. We get a laying hen, he gets a big rooster. For us - a whole plow and a strong clamp, for him - a broken plow and a worthless clamp.
The lazy older brother yawned and agreed: “Okay, they say!”
So they split up and didn’t even listen to their younger brother. Winter has come. Er-xiao goes to the mountains, collects grass and brushwood, the rooster helps him, picks up grains, the dog carries branches. Er-xiao fed the rooster and fed the dog. And the lazy elder brother, until the evening, the cow shed is not prohibited, he will not add more hay. The brownie is cold, hungry, she is emaciated - a dry thin twig. If Er-xiao looks at her, her heart will ache with pity.
Spring has come, it's time to plow. The boy began to spin. The red dog saw that his owner was walking sadly and barked:
- Van-wan-wan! Harness me - I'll pass for a cow! Van-wan-wan! Harness me - I'll pass for a cow!
The big rooster saw that his owner was walking sadly and cried:
- Gua-gu-gu, I can plow! Harness me! Gua-gu-gu, I can plow! Harness me!
Er-xiao harnessed the red dog, harnessed the big rooster, and went to plow the field. The rooster flaps his wings, pulls the plow, tries. The dog wags his tail, drags the plow, strains himself. Er-xiao walks behind, holding the plow. This is how the plow cuts raw clay, this is how it cuts.
Soon Er-xiao plowed all the land. The evil daughter-in-law found out about this, again planned evil things, and said to her lazy husband:
“Our cow has become completely weak; she can’t pull a cart.” Go to Er-xiao, take a red dog and a big rooster, maybe we can carry them?
The elder brother was delighted and thought: “If you harness an old cow, if you don’t push it, you won’t go!” You’ll take a red dog and a big rooster, harness them to a cart, they’ll take you, and you’ll rest!” The older brother almost ran to the younger one. He came running and said:
“Our cow has become weak, she can’t pull the cart, lend me your dog and rooster, maybe they’ll pull it?”
Er-xiao is silent, as if he doesn’t see his older brother. Then the elder brother straightened up, straightened his lazy back and said:
“If you don’t let me, I’ll go home and starve the old cow to death.”
Er-xiao took pity on the little cow and gave his older brother a dog and a rooster. The lazy man harnessed them, piled up a full cart of manure, lashed them with a whip and said:
- Well, lie down, serve your older brother!
He doesn’t push the cart himself, he just pretends to, and the next thing he knows, he’ll tip over on his back; he’s annoyed that the rooster and the dog aren’t carrying him. A little time passed, the rooster and the dog were exhausted, then they left, barely dragging themselves, and the lazy man whipped them with a whip. The unfortunates got angry, stopped, and didn’t want to go. The lazy guy beat them, beat them, and beat them to death. I was tired, returned home, climbed onto the canal and fell asleep.
The younger brother came from the field, didn’t even think about lunch, and went straight to his older brother.
He saw his evil daughter-in-law in the yard and asked:
- Where is my red dog and big rooster? I'll take them home to feed them!
The daughter-in-law waved her hand and said:
- Oh, don’t even remember, your elder brother killed a dog and a rooster, they are lying on the road.
Er-xiao heard this, his heart sank, and he ran towards the road. He looks and sees a big red dog lying on the road, with a rooster lying nearby. And Er-xiao became angry, and he felt bitter. He cried and cried, then he picked up the rooster and the dog, hugged him close, and carried him home. He buried them on the current in front of the hut. As soon as he returns from the field, he immediately runs to the grave to look. Several days passed, and an elm tree grew on the grave, the leaves were tender, light green, and glittered—precious stones sparkled. Er-xiao waters it every day. In a year the elm grew taller than Er-xiao himself. The crown is thick, leaf by leaf, well, just like a green umbrella. Spring has come, buds appeared on the elm - round coins. The young man raises his head and admires it. Suddenly he inadvertently shook the trunk with his hand. Sha-sha-sha - it rustled, rustled, and buds rained down from the tree. Er-xiao bent down, wanted to pick it up, looked - he couldn’t believe his eyes: and these weren’t kidneys at all - gold and silver coins sparkled and shimmered. Er-xiao collected them, bought a brown cow, and from then on began to work even more diligently.
My brother's evil wife found out about this. And then one day, when Er-xiao went into the field, she climbed over the wall into his yard, grabbed the trunk of an elm tree and began to shake it. Hua-la-la - the buds rained down from the tree. Peng-pen-pen - the evil daughter-in-law is hit on the head. She let go of the trunk and grabbed her head with both hands.
- Ay-yay! - shouts.
She bent down and looked - there were no coins on the ground, neither gold nor silver, only round stones were lying around. The daughter-in-law felt her head - her head was all covered in bumps. She became furious and found the axe. Han-ha - cut down an elm. Just then Er-xiao returned from the field. He saw: he was both annoyed and bitter. He asks his evil daughter-in-law:
- Why did you cut down my elm tree?
And she rolled her eyes and said with offense:
“And you better not remember about your tree, it hurt my whole head.”
She said this, waved her hand and left.
Er-xiao spun around, stroked the tree with his hand, then took out a knife, cut branches, wove a basket, and hung it under the eaves. Birds flew in from the south, flew in from the north, and laid eggs in a basket. Swallows flew in from the south, flew in from the north, and laid eggs in a basket. By evening the basket was filled to the brim.
The evil daughter-in-law found out about this and said to her lazy husband:
- Apparently you don’t like eating eggs! Look how many of them the younger brother has in the basket under the eaves!
The elder brother heard this, his eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet.
- I’ll run and ask for a few pieces.
And the wife answers:
- Don’t ask for eggs, but a basket. Let the swallows and other birds themselves lay eggs for us, there will be so many of them, let alone in the house or in the yard.
The older brother went to the younger one. He walks and thinks to himself: what if Er-xiao doesn’t give him the magic basket? He came in with a pitiful face and said, almost crying:
- Let me use your basket, brother, otherwise I’ll soon die of hunger. This is the last time, then I will work diligently myself.
Er-xiao has a kind heart, he heard that his elder brother was dying of hunger, and lent him a basket. The evil daughter-in-law saw this and her mouth opened with joy. She hung the basket under the eaves, sat down at the gate, and shouted:
- Birds, fly from the east, birds, fly from the west, quickly put your eggs in my basket! Swallows, fly from the north, swallows, fly from the south, quickly put your eggs in my basket!
Birds flew in from the south and left droppings in a basket; birds flew in from the north and left droppings in a basket. Swallows flew in from the south, swallows flew in from the north, they also left their droppings in a basket and flew on. The evil daughter-in-law got angry, grabbed a stick and hit the basket!
Small birds chirp:
- Chir-chir-chir! The daughter-in-law is evil, the heart is evil, the liver is evil, Chir-raz! Let's peck you in the eye! Let's peck you in the eye! Chir-raz!
And the swallows echo them:
- Fuit, fuit, fuit! The daughter-in-law is evil, the heart is evil, the liver is evil. Whoops! Let's peck in the eye, peck in the eye!
Small birds and swallows rushed at the evil daughter-in-law at once, the evil daughter-in-law spun and whirled, it hurt her, yelling, screaming, and the lazy husband lay on the canoe, muttering in his sleep:
- Why are you yelling, won’t let me sleep?
The birds pecked out the eyes of the evil daughter-in-law, and she died a few days later from frustration. The lazy brother soon died of hunger. And the hardworking Er-xiao lived in happiness and contentment.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru