As it happened in this world, two mule drivers lived in the same village. Each had seven mules, and they had plenty of work to do. Peasants hired mules to carry goods to market. So the drivers went back and forth: from the village to the market, from the market to the village. And so all year round.
The day came when two drivers - Petiri and Sokur - argued so hard that they decided: whoever loses will give their mules to the other. Petiri bet against Sokura. It's just a shame that the dispute was not fair. But can you prove it... Sokur won, and that’s it.
Petiri was left with nothing. There is only enough hunger and cold. Petiri is afraid to go home: how can he tell his wife and children that he has lost the mules? There are no mules, which means there is no money, no bread, and no firewood. He doesn’t know what to do.
But Petiri still wandered into the village. And along the road there is a bridge. He decided to spend the night under it: it was already evening. Ayog, but he can’t sleep, the resentment doesn’t give him peace.
Midnight struck. Petiri hears voices. The voices are louder, their feet are stomping on the bridge, as if they are dancing. Then Petiri realized that it was the witches who had gathered for their midnight celebration. Petiri was completely huddled under the bridge, but he pricked up his ears and listened.
The witch's drum began to hum, sang its song, and the witches began to spin. And Petiri hears one another say:
“There’s a woman who lives not far from here. She hasn’t gotten out of bed for seven years.” No one can cure her, no matter who they call. And no one will heal until the stone is lifted in front of the church threshold, until the toad is pulled out from under it and a piece of bread is taken out of its mouth. Seven years ago this woman threw bread on the ground, seven years now she has been toiling. The sick woman will eat the bread and get better.
Petiri remembered everything, waited until the sorceresses left, slept a little and went home. He didn’t say anything to his wife about the mules, changed his clothes and left the house again.
He goes, he goes, he found the house that the witches spoke about, the house where the sick woman lives. He enters the house and asks for a place to stay for the night: they say, how many days has he been on the road, and he has never spent a night under the roof. Very tired. They gave Petiri shelter, and not even for one night, but longer.
Well, then - word by word, conversation by conversation, Petiri learned. that the owner has not gotten out of bed for seven years and not a single doctor - and whoever was called to her - can cure her.
- Or maybe I can help? – asks Petiri. No one knows that he is a simple mule driver, and not some kind of doctor or traveler. - Allow me to examine the patient too!
They let Petiri into the sick room. He examined her and asked:
“Didn’t it happen to you, mistress, that you threw bread on the ground?”
“It was,” the woman sighed.
– Can you remember when this was?
- Yes, it was about seven years ago, good sir...
- So here it is! – Petiri exclaimed. - For seven years since then, this bread has been kept in the mouth of the toad that sits under a stone at the threshold of the church, and until she lets it out of her mouth and you eat this bread, you will not recover, mistress!
The woman's relatives heard what Petiri said, lifted the stone, and found a toad under it. The toad sits, moves his sides, his eyes bulging, and holds bread in his mouth. The woman’s husband took the bread from her mouth, brought it home, washed it with well water and gave it to his wife. She immediately recovered.
And these people, I must say, were very rich. And of course they didn’t feel sorry for anything for Petiri now.
“Ask whatever you want,” said owner Petiri, “I’ll give you everything I have.”
“I don’t need someone else’s,” says the driver. I had seven mules, and I lost them, it would be nice if I could get them back...
“You can’t bring back what you lost,” says the owner, “but I’ll give you new mules.”
And he gave Petiri seven fat mules and so much money in addition that he could buy seven more mules.
Petiri was delighted and thanked the owners. And since he was not a lazy and honest person, he loved his work, Petiri began to transport goods to the market again. He walks back and forth: from the village to the market, from the market to the village, he walks and looks at the world. Where new people appeared, where big trees grew, and where they danced a new dance in the square. Our driver became happy, and his family did not know his troubles.
But here’s the thing: the other driver, Sokur, who then won the mules from Petiri, was not lucky at all. As soon as he had fourteen mules, the pestilence attacked them. Thirteen mules died. There was only one mule left.
Sokur came to Petiri and asked:
- How is it, brother, that you bought mules for yourself again and live without any trouble, while I just suffer, counting my grief?
Petiri didn’t hide anything, but he didn’t tell everything either: I, he says, found out under such and such a bridge how to get my mules back, go there, maybe it will help you too.
Sokur left, found a bridge, climbed under it, and sat down to wait. Evening has come, midnight!" it struck, voices began to be heard above. The witches flocked, made noise, beat the drum, "started dancing.
These witches are so cheerful, they sing loudly and talk loudly. One says to the other:
“And the mistress of that house, about whom I told you here, has recovered.” Someone overheard you and me. Let's see under the bridge if there is anyone today...
The witches crawled under the bridge and found Sokur. He had nowhere to hide, the witches pulled him out from under the bridge, beat him properly and threw him into the water.
So it turns out that witches can sometimes do a good deed. The deceiver Sokur was punished. And rightly so: envy and evil intent never sow good. And whoever sows evil will also reap evil.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru