Once upon a time there lived a shoemaker with a big, big hump. He had seven sons. Their names were Perrotto, Gianotto, Rinaldotto, Erminotto, Arrigotto, Ambrogiolotto and little Peppino. And seven more daughters. Their names were Ninetta Giletta, Jovanetta, Ermellinetta, Lauretta, Gelisetta and little Catellina.
Just count - seven and seven, that's fourteen children. How many legs do these children have? Wow, a whole twenty-eight. How many shoes do you need? Do you think twenty-eight? No matter how it is. Have you counted the shoemaker and his wife? The whole family needs thirty-two shoes. That's how much!
The shoemaker had to make so many shoes for his family that he barely had time to make custom ones. Therefore, the family ate bread and water one day, water and bread another day.
But the shoemaker did not lose heart. He was a very cheerful shoemaker. He works - he sings, he rests - he dances. He also came up with a song about himself:
I knock with a hammer - knock-knock - tirelessly. I’ll finish my work and immediately start a merry dance.
One day, a cheerful shoemaker sewed three pairs of shoes and decided to sell them in a neighboring town at a fair. He threw his shoes behind his back and walked along the road. He walks, and the shoes click-clack on the hump, knock-clack on the hump.
“Everything would be fine,” the shoemaker thinks, “but I don’t need a hump.”
I came to the fair, talked to one, laughed with another. And I forgot about the hump.
His shoes were immediately snatched up. With the money, the shoemaker bought a bunch of gifts for his family, put them all in a bag, threw them behind his back and set off on his way back. He walks along, and the bag of gifts hits the hump, hits the hump.
“No,” the shoemaker thinks, “after all, I don’t need a hump.”
Meanwhile, it began to get dark. And it’s still a long way from home. The shoemaker decided to turn into the forest and go straight to his village. While walking through the forest, it became completely dark. It’s good that the moon has risen. And then, in the light of the moon, the shoemaker saw... Who do you think? Forest fairy. She was small, small. The fairy sat on a stump and cried.
- Why are you crying? – the shoemaker asked her.
“I’m bored,” answered the fairy.
- Boring? But I’m never bored. And he sang:
I knock with a hammer - knock-knock - tirelessly. I’ll finish my work and immediately start a merry dance.
The fairy wiped away her tears and smiled.
“But that’s not all,” said the shoemaker. - Listen further:
I work, I dance - there’s so much to do. That there is no time to be bored...
Whoever puts on my shoes will dance forever.
- So hurry up and sew me some shoes! - exclaimed the fairy.
“I’ll sew it in a minute,” answered the shoemaker.
He picked two plantain leaves, used a dry stalk instead of grit, and a pine needle instead of a needle. Soon the shoes were ready. The fairy began to try them on. The shoemaker looked, but there was no fairy.
- Oh! - a voice was heard from the left shoe. - They seem to be too big for me.
“Yes, a little big,” said the shoemaker. - Well, nothing. I'll sew you some others now.
He bent down, picked two small clover leaves and sewed the shoes exactly to fit the fairy's feet. As soon as she put them on, the shoemaker began to sing his song, and the fairy began to dance.
The fairy and the shoemaker danced all night. And when dawn broke, the fairy said:
- Oh, and I danced! You made me happy. Tell me, what should I give you for this?
- Should I give it? – the shoemaker was surprised. - Yes, I don’t need anything.
Then he thought a little and said:
– Can’t you take it from me? I'd love to get rid of my hump.
- So what happened? - answered the fairy.
She jumped up on a tree stump and touched the cobbler's hump with her magic wand. The hump instantly disappeared, as if it had never existed.
- Thank you! - exclaimed the shoemaker, kissed the fairy and went home.
As soon as he entered the village, an old woman neighbor came across him. She also had a hump. Just not from the back, but from the front. She saw the shoemaker, and her eyes lit up with envy.
- Eh, kumanek! Is it you or isn't it you? Where is your hump? Then the shoemaker told the old woman how it all happened. The next night the old woman went into the forest.
- It’s so good that you came! - the fairy shouted when she saw the old woman. “I have no one to dance with today.”
“The only thing I care about is dancing with you,” the old woman answered angrily. .
“And the shoemaker danced with me,” said the fairy. - But if you don’t want to, let’s sing a song.
- What else did you come up with! - the old woman grumbled.
“And the shoemaker sang with me,” said the fairy.
“Your shoemaker is a slacker, and you’re a slacker too.” You should all sing and dance. Work better with your magic wand.
“Okay,” the fairy agreed. “Just know this: my wand can give and it can take.” So what - give or take?
“I’ll tell you to take it!” - thought the old woman. She opened her mouth and shouted:
- Give it! Give! “It was not for nothing that she was known as the most greedy woman in the village.”
- Well then! “Get it,” the fairy grinned.
She jumped up on a tree stump and touched the old woman with her magic wand. A hump instantly grew on the old woman’s back.
The old woman screamed and scolded, but nothing helped.
So the old woman was left to live with two humps - one in front, the other in back.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru