In ancient times, in a mountainous region there lived a greedy and evil elder. And he had no children. For a long time the elder offered prayers to the gods, made generous offerings to them, and finally his son was born. But the elder’s happiness did not increase, because his son turned out to be too wonderful. People said that this child was sent to the elder as punishment for his ferocious temper.
The boy was strong, grew quickly, but the problem was: he couldn’t do anything. Whatever business he takes on, everything turns out wrong. That’s why they nicknamed the guy in the village Ngoc, which means “Fool.”
Time passed, and the parents married their son. But his mind did not increase. Once he saw hunters on the street, they were carrying rich prey - a tiger, wild boar, deer. The Fool returned home and asked his wife:
- Tell me, little wife, how do hunters manage to get so much game?
The wife, not knowing how to answer her stupid husband more appropriately, twirled her fingers in the air in thought. The fool stared at her hand and decided that she was pointing to the roof.
“You see,” the wife finally said, “hunters set traps there... high... where the animals are found.” “And she twirled her fingers in the air again.
The fool did not understand that his wife meant high mountains, and not a roof at all. The next day, as soon as his wife left the house on business, he climbed onto the roof, set a trap there, then went down, sat under a tree and began to wait for tigers, wild boars and deer to fall into it. He waited and waited, looked with all his eyes, but did not receive anything. Out of impatience, the Fool jumped up from his seat, then sat down again. In the end he climbed onto the roof and settled down right next to the trap.
In the evening, when the sun went to rest in its lair, the wife returned home, lit a fire in the hearth and began to cook rice for dinner. There was a whiff of smoke, and the Fool’s eyes began to water, and he coughed. I couldn’t resist, I shouted loudly:
– Where does such acrid smoke come from? He ate all my eyes out!
The wife heard her husband's voice, looked up and saw that he had set a trap on the roof, and he was sitting, waiting for the prey to appear. The wife is angry at such a fool and feels sorry for him, but most of all she laughs.
“Oh, what an absurd hubby I have,” she said through laughter. “Where have you seen this - setting traps on the roof?!” They must be placed high in the mountains. And not in a visible place, but under trees and bushes. But here you won’t catch anything until the end of time. And remember: the best place for a trap is a deep hole, like the one behind our house.
The Fool wanted to argue with his wife, because, like all fools, he was an inveterate debater, but he considered it best to remain silent this time. He even nodded his head.
The next morning, when his wife went on business again, the Fool set about building a trap again. Remembering which place his wife called the best for a trap, he no longer began to climb onto the roof, but settled down in a hole behind the house. Soon he was truly lucky! A loud-mouthed rooster fell into a trap and raised a cry throughout the area. Oh, the Fool was happy! He grabbed the loot and dragged it home. All day, until sunset, either chickens or pigs were caught in the trap. Almost all the living creatures, his own and those of his neighbors, were caught by the would-be hunter.
The people of the village, of course, heard the alarming cackling and desperate pig squealing coming from the Fool’s house, but it never occurred to anyone to suspect evil. Only in the evening did the neighbors become alarmed: many pigs and chickens were missing. People began to run from house to house, asking each other. At this time, Durnya’s wife was returning home and wondered why people were screaming and swearing so much that they were looking all over the village? However, upon entering my house and seeing a pile of dead chickens and pigs, I immediately understood what was going on. Without saying a word, the poor thing sat down on the floor, covered her face with her hands and cried bitterly. But the Fool will never understand why his wife is not happy about such rich spoils.
- Oh-oh-oh! – he said in confusion. “We are happy, but for some reason you are crying.” I don’t understand you... You better admire how many chickens and pigs I got! Thank you, little wife, you taught me how to set good traps. Dry your tears, boil and fry us a lot of meat for dinner. You see what a good earner your husband is!
The wife heard these speeches and burst into tears more than ever:
- What a fool you really are! I'd better think about how. Now we have to pay people back. After all, you killed almost all the chickens and pigs in our village.
The Fool's eyes widened, he was frightened, and trembled with fear. He dug a huge hole in the yard, threw all the loot there and covered it with earth.
The wife slowly calmed down and stayed up late explaining to her unreasonable husband where and how to set traps. The next morning he went to the mountains, set a trap as his wife taught him, and by noon a deer landed there. The fool jumped for joy, freed the deer and, holding it tightly, began to punish:
- You, deer, are now not just a deer, but my prey! Please remember this! Go to my house and tell my wife to make you different dishes - rich soup, meat sauce for rice, and roast. And also tell my wife that I will only be back in the evening, I want to sit here a little longer, maybe a couple more deer will fall into my trap. Understood?
With these words, the Fool released the deer. Sensing the will, the deer ran as fast as he could into the forest, and the Fool shouted after him:
“Be careful not to play around with me, otherwise my wife is strict and doesn’t tolerate mischief!”
Meanwhile, the Fool's wife was busy with the housework: she poured out a whole cup of hot capsicum for seasoning, put a pot of chicken chaff on the fireplace to steam, and went to give food to the hungry piglets. Just at this moment, the Fool runs into the house, having been dreaming all day about luxurious venison dishes. I saw a cup on the table and decided that it was meat gravy. He threw it into his mouth in one fell swoop. It’s not enough, he thinks, what else should he eat? He sees a pot of brew standing on the fireplace, and let’s slurp over the edge. That's when he got the hang of it! The hot pepper and steamed chaff made his mouth and throat constrict. He sits, his eyes bulging, his tongue sticking out, and he can’t catch his breath, like a cat that accidentally swallowed ginger. Tears are streaming from my eyes. Everything inside is on fire. Then the wife returned, the Fool attacked her with abuse:
“And how did you manage to cook such a nasty thing out of excellent venison?!” If you don't know how to cook, don't bother!
The wife did not even immediately understand what the clueless husband was talking about and began to question him. Word by word, he told her about his adventure. She listened to him, shook her head: she felt sorry that her husband had missed out on such prey, she felt sorry for him himself - just as he suffered from the mixture of hot pepper with chaff, but she felt even more sorry for herself that she got such a blockhead as her husband. She stamped her foot in frustration and said:
- Woe is mine with you! Don't take on any business again! Stay at home.
From then on, the Fool began to toil around with idleness, wandering around the house every day with a sad look, looking at his wife warily. She, seeing that her husband’s idleness was not making him smarter, once said:
– On our field there is absolutely no place to hide from the sun. You should go and set up a hut there. I don’t need a big one, you’ll put on, as they say, a crab shell – and thank you for that.
The Fool was glad that he had finally found something to do, grabbed a cutting knife and stomped off to the mountain field. I found a convenient place for a hut and thought for a long time: where can I catch a crab now? And since crabs are very rare in mountainous regions, the Fool went to look for some river or at least a stream. Perhaps, he thinks, he will be lucky and manage to catch a crab. He wandered for a long time through the mountains and gorges, searched all the streams and rivulets, but in vain. Finally, at the very bottom, the Fool came across a very shallow river. He began to move stones. Suddenly a crab jumped out from under one stone and began to run away as fast as it could.
- You're being naughty! You won't leave me! – the Fool yelled. “It’s you that I need!”
He contrived and caught a crab. Satisfied, he returned to the field, lit a fire, fried and ate the crab, and placed the shell in the place that he had noticed under the hut. “This is exactly what my wife asked for,” he muttered under his breath. “She asked me to make a hut from a crab shell, so I did it. Although, the gods see, it wasn’t easy for me...” The Fool returned home, his wife asked:
- Why are you so late? I hope you built a hut?
- But of course! - the Fool answered smugly. “You gave me a difficult task, but for you, little wife, I’ll do whatever you want.” After all, as you said: “If you put on a crab shell, thank you for that!” So you'll thank me tomorrow.
The next morning, the couple, having eaten some rice, went to their field, followed by a dog. The closer to the field, the more often the Fool looked back at the dog and finally said:
“I need to put the dog on a leash, otherwise, in no time, she will eat my hut.”
Before he had time to say this, the dog rushed forward, and the crab shell crunched on its teeth.
- You see! - cried the Fool. - I warned you! My work is gone! Where can we hide from the sun now? And you also promised to thank me if I supplied the crab shell.
The poor woman didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. You won’t find another fool like him! From now on, she decided not to let him go anywhere. Let him stay at home. Sometimes she only allowed him to give the pigs food, and the rest of the time he wandered from corner to corner and looked touchingly at his wife.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru