Once upon a time there lived an old man, and he had three goats. And with the goats there was a goat, horned and bearded. The old man took care of his flock, tended goats from dawn to dusk, gave them spring water to drink and guarded them from wolves.
As the years passed, the old man’s strength diminished. He called his three daughters and said:
“It’s time for me, daughters, to rest.” It's your time to herd the goats. The eldest says:
- I'll go.
- Go, dear, and make sure you graze well and eat on time.
“Don’t worry, father, I’ll do everything.”
The next morning she went into the forest with the goats, grazed them as best she could, gave them plenty to drink, and then sat down next to the goat and combed it with her comb. If the old man had seen it, he would have been speechless with joy.
In the evening she leads the herd home, and the old man comes out of the yard and questions the goat:
- How did your daughter please you? How did you feed and drink?
“Eh, master, I didn’t give you water at all, I didn’t feed you at all,” the goat answers. We passed through a small forest, I picked a withered leaf, We came to a swamp sedge - I drank cold water.
The old man heard such words, became angry and drove his daughter out of the house. The next day he sends the middle one:
- Go into the forest with the goats, and be sure to graze well, otherwise the same will happen to you.
- Don’t worry, father.
The poor girl went with fear in her heart, still looking for greener grass and cleaner water, lest the same thing happen to her as to the eldest.
She led the goats through the clearings and through the open woods, gave them water at the springs of the stream, combed each goat hair by hair so that the wool was clean and soft. When the sun went down, she drove the herd towards the house. And the old man came out of the yard and asked the goat:
—Are you happy today? was the grass good? Is the water clean?
- Oh, master, we didn’t eat or drink.
We passed through a small forest, I picked a withered leaf, We came to a swamp sedge - I drank cold water.
The old man was even more angry than yesterday. The middle daughter also had to leave home.
- You will know how to disobey!
On the third day the youngest went with the goats.
She thought that maybe the sisters really had fallen asleep somewhere by accident and had not looked after the goats properly, but she would feed them and give them water.
I lost all my legs in the morning and didn’t sit down for a minute.
“Let them now try to say that I didn’t care about them.” But that was not the case.
In the evening, an old man came out of the yard and asked the goat:
— Are you full? Are you drunk? - Ah, master! She brought us to the grove, tied us to a snag, and we suffered from thirst until sunset.
We passed through a small forest, I picked a withered leaf, We came to a swamp sedge - I drank cold water.
- Oh, lazy girl! - the old man became furious. - The example of your elders did not serve you well. Go after them.
And he kicked his youngest daughter out of the house. It was the old woman's turn. Grandfather says:
- Look, old lady, don’t joke with me, keep an eye on the goats.
“Come on,” says the woman, “become a scientist!” I didn't herd goats, or what? The old woman led them to a clearing with silky grass and thick shade, cherished them and groomed them from morning to evening. and at sunset an old man came out of the yard and asked the goat:
- How did your grandmother take care of you?
- Trouble, master! She brought her to the pasture, tied her to a pole, and she sat next to her and, until the sun set, mourned her daughters. We are unfortunate, unfortunate! We passed through a small forest, I picked a withered leaf, We came to a swamp sedge - I drank cold water.
“Well, old man, I didn’t expect this,” the grandfather gasped. - Get out of here completely, I don’t want to see you. They don’t even know how to herd goats, what’s the use of you all! The next morning the grandfather himself went with the goats. Let them, he thinks, feel the owner’s affection. He fed them fresh grass, gave them spring water to drink, and brushed them like little children.
“At least they will remember me kindly, since they had no share from the old woman and daughters.” Let me ask the goat how it was like being grazed today.
The old man began to daydream, he wanted to hear a word of praise even from a bearded goat. He led the goats home, and he hurried along a roundabout path, put on a city dress, put a mask on his face so that they would not be recognized, went out onto the road and questioned the goat:
- How do you live with your grandfather? Probably better than before?
- No matter how it is! - the goat answers. - Even worse than with the woman and the girls.
In the morning he tied us by the horns to a gnarled stump, and we stood all day under the scorching sun.
We walked through the ribbon. I picked a withered leaf.
We came to the marsh sedge - I drank cold water. The old man even turned black. It hit me right to the heart that the damned brute had been leading him by the nose all this time. He grabbed the knife and rushed to skin the goat alive. As soon as he tore off his head, the goat broke free, bleated in a bad voice and ran away.
He ran and ran until he tripped over a fox hole. Out of pain and fear, he stuck his head into it and fell silent there.
After a short time, the fox comes, smells the goat’s spirit, and asks outside:
- What kind of uninvited guest is this? The goat put out its horns and answered:
I am a skinned goat, In anger I am terrible and angry, And I raise any enemy to the horns.
The fox got scared and went to the hedgehog.
- Go, kumanek, drive the evil spirits out of my hole. I got into the house and you can’t get me out. And you and your thorns will somehow get rid of the devil. The hedgehog ran to the hole and asked:
- Who is this strange guy there? And the goat from the inside:
I am a skinned goat, In anger I am terrible and angry, And I raise any enemy to the horns Well, the hedgehog is not one of the timid. He poked his head into the hole and started stabbing the goat with needles - even if you pulled a sieve out of goat skin. The goat began to fight back with his horns, but the hedgehog curled up into a ball and was pestering him right to the bone with his spears.
The goat, seeing that he was about to be made into minced meat, jumped out of the hole and ran without looking back. The flayed skin got into his eyes and so, blindly, he ran to the edge of the abyss. He jumped, kicked his hooves in the air and crashed to the bottom.
Only traces of him remained here and there, and even those were wetted by water, dried up by the sun, swept away by the wind, covered in dust.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru