Once upon a time there lived two brothers. When their father died, the younger brother went to bury him, and the older brother stayed at home. He collected everything that was in the house and hid it.
The younger brother returned, looked around and saw that there was nothing in the house. He asked:
- Tell me, elder brother, where did all our goods go?
But the elder brother replied:
“I myself don’t know where our property is.”
And the younger brother didn’t say anything to him.
Then the elder brother grew bolder and said:
“Now we have neither father nor mother.” They left us their home. But I am a married man, and you are still young, you don’t have a wife. That's why you must leave home.
This is what the older brother said to the younger one. He took the house, all the property, all the rice fields and all the buffalos, and left his younger brother only a small maize field far from the village, at the foot of a large mountain. And he also left him an old dog and an old cat.
And again the younger brother said nothing. Because the younger must honor the elder.
The younger brother went to the foot of the big mountain to his maize field. It was sowing time, and the younger brother began to think: How can I plow my field? He thought for a long time, but could not come up with anything.
Then he decided:
Apart from an old dog and an old cat, I don’t have any livestock. I'll have to work on them. Let them at least help me!
He harnessed the dog and cat to the plow and began to plow his field. He chased the dog, and the dog barked loudly; he chased the cat, and the cat meowed loudly. And the plow doesn’t move!
The big mountain saw how the younger brother was plowing with a dog and a cat, and it became so funny to her that she burst out laughing. The stone mouth of the mountain opened wide!
And then the younger brother saw a treasure in the depths of the dark cave - piles of gold and silver. The younger brother rushed into the cave, took a handful of gold and went outside.
Here the big mountain stopped laughing and closed its stone mouth. And the younger brother untied the dog and cat from the plow and went with them to the village.
In the village, the younger brother called together skilled craftsmen and built a strong, spacious house. He bought two strong buffaloes and a large rice field. Now the younger brother did not need anything and was happy.
But when the elder brother found out that the younger brother had lived happily, his heart was filled with envy and malice. He came to his younger brother and asked:
- Where did you get so much goodness: a house, buffaloes, and a rice field?
The younger brother revealed everything to him without concealment. He said:
“I wanted to plow my maize field at the foot of a big mountain. But I didn't have buffalos. Then I harnessed the dog and cat and began to plow for them. The big mountain saw this and laughed loudly. She opened her stone mouth wide and showed me a treasure in the depths of the cave. There I took a handful of gold, with which I built a house and bought everything else.
- Why didn’t you call me when you found the treasure? - asked the older brother.
“You live too far,” answered the younger one. “I wouldn’t have time to reach you anyway.”
Then the older brother hit the younger one in anger. He took away his old dog and old cat and left.
And again the younger brother did not say anything to him.
But I thought to myself: The younger should honor the elder, this is the truth. But the elder must also be fair to the younger - this is also true. Woe to him who forgets her?
Meanwhile, the elder brother called his wife and went with her to the maize field, to the foot of a large mountain. They brought behind them two pairs of buffaloes harnessed to carts to load gold and silver onto them. They placed these carts in a field next to the mountain.
Then the elder brother harnessed the dog and cat to the plow and began to drive them. He beat the dog - and the dog squealed pitifully; he beat the cat - and the cat meowed pitifully. And the plow doesn’t move.
The mountain saw how the elder brother was plowing on a dog and a cat, when two pairs of buffaloes stood nearby, and laughed angrily at the stupidity of this man. Her stone mouth opened wide, and gold sparkled in the depths of the cave. Forgetting about everything, the elder brother and his wife rushed into the cave to pick up gold. They pour sack after sack, and it’s not enough for them!
Then the big mountain became completely angry when it saw such greed. She furrowed her eyebrows angrily, flashed her eyes and pressed her stone lips tightly together. The cave has slammed shut! But the greedy brother and his wife remained inside the mountain.
The next morning the younger brother came to the big mountain. At its foot he found a dog and a cat, found two carts drawn by buffaloes, but nothing else!
And again the younger brother said nothing. And what was he supposed to say? And so everything is said.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru