There was, or maybe not, a very poor widow, and she had a little boy. Even though she worked every day, she lived in poverty - she fed her son with bitter orphan bread, and watered him with salty tears.
The boy grew up and said to his mother:
“It’s enough for you to suffer alone, I’ll go to work as a farm laborer!”
- Okay, son, go, but don’t forget me!
“When I have time, I’ll visit, but if not, I’ll send news about myself,” the boy answered and set off on his way.
The boy came to the king:
- Take me as a shepherd, great sir! For many years I was fed by a miserable mother. Now it's my turn to feed her.
- How can you not take someone so intelligent? If you appreciate your mother's care, you will be of some use. Feed my sheep for three years.
The boy tends the sheep, never takes his eyes off them, protects them from heat and cold.
Three months have passed. The boy went to visit his mother and brought her sheep cheese, butter, and flour.
A boy is walking and sees a small snake on the road. He took it into the bushes and said:
“Don’t crawl out onto the road, stupid, they’ll trample you!”
And the baby snake crawls onto the road again - still ignorant, doesn’t understand anything.
The boy again took him further into the bushes and did not let him die.
The boy served his time, it was time to return to his mother. The king gave the shepherd sheep for his work and sent him home.
A boy walks along the road, plays the pipe, drives sheep. And suddenly he sees a snake on the road!
“Hello, man, do you recognize me?” says the snake in a human voice. “I haven’t forgotten that you saved my life.” I will reward you for your kindness - you will understand the language of plants and the language of all creatures. A sheep will bleat, a horse will neigh, a dog will bark, a bird will chirp, a tree will rustle - you will understand everything. Just remember: if you talk about your skill, you’ll turn to stone,” the snake said and slid into the bushes.
The shepherd stands rooted to the spot. He thinks it’s his imagination. He walked up to an old tree and tapped the trunk with a dagger, as if he was going to cut it down.
- No, no, it’s hard to knock me down. I have a hard barrel, you’ll break the dagger! “It’s better to cut a young tree,” said the old tree.
The shepherd approached the young tree, and it began to cry:
- I want to grow up big. Don't ruin me! The boy smiled. I drove the flock further. One sheep tripped over a stone and grumbled angrily:
- May you turn to stone!
The shepherd felt funny and smiled. He goes further, chasing the sheep. Behind everyone, an old lame sheep hobbled, and a lamb ran nearby. The boy hears a lamb bleating:
- I feel so sorry for you, mom. You limp and always lag behind others.
“Hey, son, do you think I’m really lame?” the old sheep said to the lamb. “I’m carrying the profit of the whole flock, that’s why I’m lame.”
The boy thought: “We must take care of this sheep. Without it, the whole flock will be of no use.”
The boy goes further. He sees a house standing on the edge of the road. Grain is drying in the yard, and a little girl guards it and drives away the birds.
She noticed a shepherd on the road, got scared and ran into the house. As soon as she disappeared, the birds flew in noisily and began to peck the grain.
- Thank you, shepherd! May you have as many sheep as there is grain! Let's eat our fill while your flock passes! - the birds chirp.
The boy laughed and drove the birds away. A girl ran out into the yard and asked:
- Why are you laughing?
The shepherd did not answer - you cannot break the snake’s order - he silently walked on. And the girl is behind him. He goes and keeps asking why he was laughing. The boy is tired of the curious girl. He stopped in a field under an old oak tree and lay down as if he wanted to sleep. “Maybe he’ll leave,” he thinks, “get rid of me.”
And a crow and a crow were sitting on a tree.
“I’ll peck this man’s eyes out now!” croaked the little crow.
“Wait, baby,” says the mother. “The man is cunning, maybe he’s not sleeping. He’ll grab you and kill you.”
The little crow did not listen. He flew out of the oak tree and was just about to peck the boy in the eye when he got caught! The boy caught a crow!
- Mommy, help! Mommy, help! - the crow shouted.
- Well, how can I help you, stupid? If a person understood our language, I would tell him that a jug of gold is buried under the oak tree, he would let you go in gratitude for this, the mother crow responded.
The boy released the crow, picked up the ground with a stick and found a jug of gold.
The curious girl saw all this and was very surprised.
- Tell me, why were you laughing? Tell me, how did you know that gold was buried here? — pestered him with questions.
- I won’t tell you anything! Get off me!
The curious girl did not lag behind him. She followed the shepherd all the way to the village and kept repeating - say yes, say! The boy got angry:
“If I tell you, I’ll turn to stone!” And I want to see my mother! Still, the girl did not lag behind him: she was very curious and stubborn.
The boy came home, but the girl wouldn’t let him talk to his mother. Got mine right:
- Tell me quickly what you were laughing at! I need to go home, the birds will peck the grain!
The boy went out into the yard and heard the rooster say to the cat:
- Why are you sitting there boring? Get up and run!
“It’s good for you to run around the yard, chasing chickens, but I’m in such grief!” - Why do you need to grieve?
- How - what? The boy will now reveal his secret to this girl and turn to stone! Who will feed us then?
- Is the boy really that stupid? “I would take a twig and discourage the girl from being curious,” said the rooster.
The boy marveled at the rooster's prudence. He grabbed a twig and forever weaned the curious girl from asking about things that did not concern her.
The viziers liked the resourceful, smart boy, and they liked his sensible words.
“Such a smart boy deserves to be the heir,” they said and took him to the king.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru