One day a man came to church. He hears the pastor preaching: "Give your last to the Church. For that the Lord will reward you tenfold."
A man came home and told his wife what kind of sermon he heard. Then he says:
“I think we should take our last little cow to the pastor tomorrow.” And his wife answered him:
“Either you’ve become too wise today, or you’ve gone completely crazy, but I see that your mind has gone beyond your mind.” Husband says:
- Neither wiser nor stupid. The pastor said that God would reward him tenfold for what was given to him. Therefore, if I give one cow, then God will send ten instead.
Wife says:
“Do as you want, just make sure the kids don’t have to die of hunger.”
The man thought and thought, and in the morning he finally took the last cow to the pastor. He came home and can’t wait for the Lord to reward him tenfold.
One fine day a man looks at him and sees that eleven cows have wandered into his pen. The man ran out, closed the gate of the pen and began to look at the cows. Among them, he noticed his motley cat - the one he brought to the pastor. The man was delighted and told his wife about his happiness:
- Look, little wife, the pastor’s words have come true.
A little later, the pastor's workers come running and tell the man to give away the cows. The guy doesn't give it back:
“After all, on Sunday the pastor himself said that God is tenfold.” will repay. I gave the pastor one cow, and now I have ten new ones, and the eleventh is my old one. There is not a single one that is superfluous.
The workers see that kindness can’t get anything out of a man.
They went and told the pastor that the man wouldn’t give away the cows. So the pastor himself comes to the man and asks:
-Will you give up my cows or not?
The man answers:
- I don’t have your cows. There are only those whom God sent. On Sunday you yourself said that God will reward you tenfold. I gave you one cow, and now instead of it I have eleven. Pastor asks:
-Will you give me the cows or not?
The man answers:
– You want me to give you my cows, right?
- OK. Then I will sue you,” and with these words the pastor left.
And in the old days, in court it was like this: whoever comes first to the magistrate wins the case.
So the pastor takes the man to court. The man is thinking about how he can get to the magistrate first. He knows that simply because the judge won’t let him in first. He will wait until the pastor arrives.
I thought and thought and came up with an idea. He put on rags, weighed himself down with bags and walked like a beggar. The World Warden, not suspecting anything, allowed him into the house to spend the night. The man was delighted and thought to himself: “Now I can compete with you!”
The man lies down, but does not fall asleep. He listens to everything that is said around him. Towards midnight a man hears a knock on the door. The World War One himself comes out and lets the alien in. The man recognized by his voice that the pastor had arrived. The man overheard everything they were talking about.
In the morning the man gets up and goes out into the yard. The time is approaching for the trial to begin. The pastor says to the man sarcastically:
“Now you have to give me the cows.” I came to the judge first.
The man answers:
- No, I was the first. I've been here since evening. I heard what the magistrate and his wife were talking about, I heard when you arrived, and what you talked about.
So the pastor lost his ten cows, and the man, satisfied, went home.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru