Do not seek justice from the king and masters. I'll tell you a fairy tale, there will be neither truth nor lies in it.
One day a poor man was plowing the land. He went through ten furrows and turned the plow to the eleventh. Suddenly the opener got caught on something. The man stopped the bulls. He looks: a golden stupa lies in the ground. The poor man rubs his eyes - is he imagining things? He cleaned the earth from the mortar with a hollow chaff, and it shone even brighter. The poor man almost lost his mind with joy. He quit plowing and ran home.
- Why did you come back so early, father? — his daughter was surprised. - There’s no time for plowing, daughter, happiness has come to us! I found a golden mortar in the ground! “What do we need it for?” asks the girl. “What are we going to do with it?” - How - what? I will present it to the king, and in return I will ask for three strips of land. - What are you saying, come to your senses, father! The king will take the mortar and even demand a golden pestle!
The daughter tried to dissuade her father for a long time, but he became stubborn, as they say, threw a stone and put his forehead on the line!
The poor man took the mortar to the king.
“Great sovereign,” said the poor man, “accept this golden mortar from me and give me three strips of land in return.” “Where is the pestle for it?” asks the king. “There was nothing in the ground except a mortar.” - What are you saying, fool! Where you found a mortar, look for a pestle! If you don’t bring the golden pestle, I’ll order you to tear out your lying tongue.
The man was sad. I remembered how his daughter dissuaded him from going to the king.
“Serves me right, old fool,” he said angrily. “Why didn’t you listen to her?” -Who didn’t you listen to? - the king began to ask. - My daughter tried to persuade me not to go to you. “The king,” he says, “will demand a golden pestle.” And so it happened. - How did she know that I would demand the pestle? “Whoever has a mind always knows what will lead to what.” It’s me, the brainless one, who doesn’t understand anything. “If your daughter is so intelligent, send her to me immediately.”
The poor man goes home and scolds himself: “You are my stupid head, you are bringing trouble upon yourself! And I lost the golden mortar and ruined my daughter.”
The poor man returned home and told his daughter everything that happened.
“I can’t send you to the king.” He will ruin you! - Don't worry, father! The king probably wants to test my mind. I'll go, maybe I'll get you out of trouble.
The girl came to the king:
- What do you order, great sir? - Let's see if you're smart! Return home, and tomorrow come to me neither dressed nor undressed, not on foot, not on horseback, not on wheels. If you complete the task, I will return the mortar to your father; if you fail, I will order your tongue to be torn out.
The next day, the girl took off her dress, wrapped herself in fishing nets, tied them to a donkey and got to the king.
The king was surprised at the girl’s intelligence. He gave the golden mortar to the poor man, and left the girl in the palace - if necessary, he would give reasonable advice.
One day, on the outskirts of the city, shepherds stopped for the night, driving cattle to mountain pastures. They unharnessed the horses, took off their heavy khurjins, ate and went to bed.
At night, the mare of one of the shepherds foaled. Another shepherd woke up and tied the foal to the leg of his bull.
The next morning, the owner of the mare saw the foal near the bull, marveled and went to untie it.
- This is my foal, my bull has foaled! - shouted the shepherd who stole the foal.
They argued, almost came to blows, but were unable to resolve the dispute. They went to the king and asked him to judge them in truth and justice. The king listened to both of them and said:
- Since the foal was near the bull, it means the bull brought it.
The shepherd, the owner of the mare, was speechless with surprise. I couldn’t say the words. He left the palace angry, biting his lips out of resentment.
The peasant's daughter followed him and said quietly:
- Don’t be sad, your truth will not be lost. Go get the nets and throw them into the royal courtyard. The king will marvel and say, “Have you ever heard of fishing on earth?” You shut up, I’ll answer him myself.
The shepherd did just that. The king saw the shepherd throwing nets in the yard and couldn’t believe his eyes.
—Where do fish come from on dry land? “Why are you surprised, king?” the girl laughs. “The bull has foaled, why can’t a fish swim on dry land?”
The king guessed that the peasant's daughter had put the shepherd's mind to it. He got angry with the girl and sent her home before she made him famous throughout the world. And that’s all the girl needed.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru