The old man had three sons. The middle one and the eldest are already married. The time has come to marry my youngest son. We looked for a bride in a neighboring village. The girl herself is the Beauty of beauties, but she grew up in a lazy, careless family. She’s not a huntress to work, she’d rather dress up and show off. The groom liked Plagi (that was the beauty’s name).
“Don’t look for other brides,” the groom said to his parents, “I don’t need anyone except Plaga.”
They thought, the father and mother thought, they figured this and that. Finally the old man spoke:
“Apparently, there’s nothing to do, we’ll start wooing Plaga if my son likes her.” Not his wife for a day, but for the rest of his life. We have such an order that, you see, even Plagi will be eager to work.
They wooed the beautiful Plagi, played a wedding, and celebrated a feast.
Early in the morning, all three sons and older daughters-in-law went to work. The old father-in-law went to the apiary, and the mother-in-law began to manage the house.
Plagi dressed herself up, preened herself, went out into the garden and sat in the shade all day.
In the evening, when everyone returned home, the old man began to ask:
- Sons, what did you do today?
— The stumps were uprooted as you ordered.
“We weeded the flax,” answered the older daughters-in-law.
“I was at the apiary, the old woman was taking care of the house, and you, bitch, what were you doing?” - the old man asked the young woman.
“It was hot today,” Plagi muttered, “I was sitting in the garden, embroidering a scarf.”
The old man said nothing to this, but when they sat down to dinner, they gave their sons and eldest daughters-in-law plenty of bread, meat and fish. Only a plate of thin soup was placed in front of Plagi. Everyone ate their fill, and the young woman left the table hungry.
The next day, when everyone went to work again, Plagi began helping her mother-in-law manage the house. She washed the floors, tidied up the dishes, and covered the table with a clean tablecloth.
In the evening the old man again began asking everyone:
- What did you do today, sons?
— The road was repaired and the bridge was repaired.
- And you, my dears, what were you doing?
“They weeded the millet,” answered the middle and eldest.
- Well, what were you doing, Plagi?
“I was cleaning the house and helping my mother,” answered the young woman.
At dinner everyone was fed to their fill. This time, in addition to a bowl of soup, the plagi were given a loaf of bread.
On the morning of the third day, Plagi went to work with her older daughters-in-law. In the evening, when the whole family had gathered, the old man asked:
- What did you guys do today?
“The couples were plowed as you ordered,” the sons answered.
- And you, my dears, what can you boast about?
— We sorted the seeds.
- Well, what have you been doing, young lady?
“Well, she worked with us,” said the eldest daughter-in-law, “and she tried so hard that we couldn’t keep up with her.”
When we sat down to dinner, there was steaming fat cabbage soup in front of us, and a pie, like everyone else’s, and a full plate of porridge.
Since then, Plagi was the first to go to work, and the last to come home.
The autumn harvest was excellent. All the bread was removed on time, threshed - the bins are bursting. Plagi changed her mind about many things over the summer, and learned a lot from her husband’s family.
At that time, Plaga’s father came to visit them and visit his daughter. At that time, the old father-in-law was knitting brooms and preparing brooms for the winter in the barn. And Plagi saw her father through the window, ran out to meet him and said:
- Father! If you want to be received with honor, help your father-in-law knit a broom, and you will be a dear guest in our family.
The father was surprised, but did not contradict his daughter. He went to the barn to see the matchmaker, and he said to him:
- You should go to the hut, matchmaker, I can handle it alone
“You can handle it, and together we’ll finish the job as soon as possible.” Besides, it’s almost time for dinner, and in your house, as I heard, those who are in business are honored.
“That’s true, that’s true, that’s the order we have, matchmaker,” answered the owner.
The two of them soon got the job done. Then Plaga's father was treated to a great meal. The matchmaker went home cheerfully and repeated all the way:
- Such is the order, such is the order!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru