Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife in the same village. And they had an only son. They were engaged in growing vegetables. This is how they got their food. And although they worked tirelessly, they almost always lived from hand to mouth. They barely had enough food until the new harvest, and sometimes they even went hungry.
One day a peasant called his wife and said:
“Even though we work from dawn to dusk, we still can’t get out of need!” You stay at home, I’ll go look for a better job.
The peasant gave his wife all sorts of orders and got ready for the journey. And his wife admonished him with these words:
- Come back to the Tinjan holiday and don’t forget to buy your son a new shirt as a gift!
The peasant really didn’t want to leave home: his son was still very small, he had barely begun to babble. It would be nice not to separate, to live together. But he had to feed his wife and child, and it was difficult to find work in his village. Taking one last look at his family, he waved goodbye to them, took a small bundle under his arm and set off.
On the way, he wandered into a village and hired out to work as a farmhand for a landowner. Summer passed, then winter, and again summer. So sixteen years passed. All this time, the peasant lived very frugally, saving every coin for his family. And yet, over the course of sixteen long years, he had accumulated only three visas. The peasant was very homesick for his family. Day and night he thought about his wife and son: were they alive and well? Have you forgotten him? They must be delighted when they see that he has returned safe and sound! Finally, he couldn’t bear it any longer, and he decided to return home immediately.
And the peasant began to get ready for the journey. He counted carefully and hid the money he had earned, and set off on the road early in the morning. He hoped to get home before dark. He walked all day without rest. Several villages were already left behind, but the native village was still not visible. The peasant got tired and began to think about where he could spend the night. But there was no housing around, only forest. Suddenly the peasant sees a monk come out of the forest and head straight towards him. The peasant bowed low to the monk and asked if he was lost in the forest. The monk smiled back and invited the peasant to visit him. They arrived at the monastery, and all kinds of dishes were already prepared there.
The peasant was amazed that the monk lived all alone. He marveled even more at the monastery, which stood in the thicket of the forest! “Apparently, this is not an ordinary monk,” thought the peasant. “No other than a nat or a wizard.”
After the meal, the monk says to the peasant:
- It's quite late now. Stay the night with me. And tomorrow you’ll set off further at first light. I'll show you the way.
“Okay,” the peasant agreed and remained in the monastery.
Waking up at dawn, the peasant respectfully bowed to the monk and addressed him with these words:
- Let me hit the road, teacher, and kindly show me the way.
“Okay,” the monk answered him. “But you must buy three commandments from me and pay one vis for each.”
“I only have three hangs,” thought the peasant. “But if I don’t buy the commandments, the monk won’t show me the way, I’ll die in the forest from hunger or some terrible beast will kill me.” In the end, the most important thing now is to get home. And if I’m alive, I’ll earn money.”
The peasant agreed, took out the money and asked the monk to tell him the three commandments.
“Listen, layman, remember well,” the monk began. – The first commandment: do not set off on a journey without a friend. The second commandment: before settling down for the night, take a good look around. The third commandment: do not give vent to anger in vain. Always follow my commandments. And this straight road will take you where you need to go.
The peasant thanked the monk and went on his way. How long or short did he walk through the forest, the monastery was completely out of sight, and the first commandment came to his mind: “Do not set off on a journey without a friend.” And the peasant felt how true the monk’s words were. How good it would be for him to be with his friend now! The peasant began to look around, looking for someone to choose as a friend, and lo and behold, there was a spider lying on the road. The peasant picked it up, put it in his pocket and walked on. The sun had already set and it felt damp. It became completely dark. The peasant walked and walked, completely exhausted and decided to rest. He climbed a tree, made himself comfortable and dozed off, and meanwhile the spider crawled out of his pocket and crawled down.
The peasant woke up in the morning and saw a huge dead snake lying under a tree, and a spider on its head. “What a wise commandment,” thought the peasant, “if I didn’t have a spider friend, if he didn’t bite a terrible snake, I wouldn’t live in this world!” I will never travel alone again."
The peasant went further and saw: on his way there was a wide, wide river. He began to call the boatman to take him to the other side. A beautiful girl answered the call.
“It’s already dark now,” she said affectionately, “spend the night with me, and in the morning I will take you to the other side.” - And she began to prepare dinner. - I'm all alone here. My parents live in the village. I think you won't regret it.
And she began to make the bed.
The peasant was very tired from the road, he was just about to fall asleep, but then the second commandment came to his mind: “before settling down for the night, take a good look around.” “The first commandment served me well,” the peasant thought again, “let’s see how the second one works.”
Overcoming fatigue, the peasant got out of bed, lit the lamp, looked around and then noticed that someone hastily slipped under the floor.
The peasant was scared. “This must be a cannibal,” he thought, “she will probably try to eat me at night. What to do?" "I will say prayers!" - he decided and began to continuously repeat one prayer after another.
“Shut up,” begged the cannibal, who had again taken the form of a girl.
Here the peasant was finally convinced that his guesses were correct. He became more frightened than before and began to repeat even more diligently the prayers that he had known since childhood.
“Just stop it,” the cannibal lost patience. - If you stop saying your prayers, I will give you the gold hidden under these stairs!
But the peasant stood his ground. He fell silent only when the ogress swore that not even a hair would fall from his head.
However, the peasant was very worried and could not close his eyes the whole night. In the morning the cannibal gave him the promised gold, and the peasant thought: “The monk’s commandment helped me out again. It’s good that I followed it and carefully looked around before going to bed!” Happy and satisfied, the peasant went on. He walked a day, walked another, and on the third day he reached his native village. The house was dark. Apparently everyone was asleep. “Where is my wife?” – the peasant suddenly became worried.
He quietly approached the house, lit a lamp and, looking out the window, saw that a young and handsome young man was sleeping next to his wife. The peasant, having forgotten that he had wandered around the world for many years and his son had already become quite an adult, decided that his wife had found herself another husband. The peasant was furious: “I spent my whole life in a foreign land, constantly bent my back to please my wife, and here she is having fun with someone else and has completely forgotten me. Well, it’s okay, today I will remind her of myself! I will finish them both off!” He leaned on the door as hard as he could, but it did not give in. Then he began to chop it with an ax. Then mother and son jumped out of bed. Not understanding what had happened, the wife attacked her husband with abuse:
-Are you crazy? Why are you cutting down your own house? For sixteen years my son and I took care of it, waiting for you, and you want to destroy it at once!
Then the peasant remembered the third commandment of the monk: “do not give vent to anger in vain!” “Thank God, I came to my senses in time,” he rejoiced, “now I see that I was wrong. And this time the monk’s commandment served me well!” And he asked his wife and son for forgiveness for his ardor and frivolity.
And his wife and son were very happy about his return. Then the peasant told them about everything that had happened to him, gave his wife the gold and finally said:
“I will never forget the monk’s mercy.” A truly wise man met me on the way!
From that time on, they lived amicably and happily, and lived like that until their death.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru