There was, and there was nothing - there lived one very powerful, but evil and heartless king. He was very greedy: whatever he saw in his kingdom that was good and worthy, he would immediately take it away and appropriate it. He only enriched and pampered his close associates, and robbed everyone else.
All the royal servants, encouraged by the king, robbed and tortured the people so that no one could live. Maybe even half of the loot did not reach the king, but who could say about that? Who would dare to shout to the king’s people: “Hey, what are you doing?” or complain to the king? And if anyone dared, he was immediately beheaded or imprisoned in shackles forever.
Everyone was suffering and did not know how to get rid of the evil misfortune. Out of nowhere, one finch appeared in that kingdom. A finch flew to the palace, sat down on a branch in the garden and sang:
The bad king robs the poor, He only enriches his own, the evil one! The bad king robs the poor, He only enriches his own, the evil one!..
And then he sings differently:
Our Tsar is destroying everyone who is right, He beats both women and men! Our Tsar is destroying everyone who is Right, He beats both women and men!
The king is angry, angry with the finch. The king strictly ordered to catch him. Everyone rushed, caught, caught, and finally caught the finch. They grabbed him and brought him to the king. When the finch saw the king, he began to scold and revile him even worse.
The king got angry and ordered: “Take him, slaughter him, gut him, wash him, fry him and serve him on the table.” They immediately carried out the king’s order - they took the finch, slaughtered it, washed it, put it on a spit, fried it and served it to the king. The fried finch lies on the table and sings:
I decorated the table for the king, But I did not give him peace! I decorated the table for the king, But I did not give him peace!
The king got angry, grabbed the finch, tore it into pieces and swallowed it. After dinner, the king, as always, went out for a walk in the garden with all his courtiers, and the finch suddenly began to sing in the king’s stomach:
He fed the evil king, he cursed him according to his deserts! He fed him the evil king, he cursed him according to his deserts!
The king was frightened: “Lest he does something to me!” He called all his doctors. The doctors gave the king all sorts of medicines to rid him of the finch. Only the king is afraid that the finch will escape alive. He gathered all his advisers, all the courtiers and said:
“Surround me on all sides, guard me, pull out sabers and swords, and as soon as the finch appears, chop it down so that it doesn’t leave alive, otherwise I’ll chop you all into pieces!”
Everyone was scared and trembling. And the finch sings to itself, blasphemes both the king and all his servants.
All the courtiers grabbed their sabers and swords, surrounded the king, and were waiting. In this commotion, a finch suddenly jumps out. All the courtiers swung their swords and sabers, and they killed the king. The king fell and died.
And the finch chirped, flapped its wings, took off, sat on a branch and sang:
The evil king was hacked to death! The evil king was ruined!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru