In ancient times, one man had three sons. Before his death, the father told them:
- My sons! I'm dying, I have a chest buried in one place, the key to it is hidden. Five or six days after my death, open the chest together and look into it.
Soon the father died. The youngest of the brothers sneaked in secretly from the elders and opened the chest. Looking inside, he saw three precious pearls. He stole one of them, locked the chest and put the key in its original place. Five or six days later, the older brother said to the younger ones:
“Now take the key that father spoke about and let’s look into the chest.” Having opened the chest, they saw only two pearls in it. The elder brother said:
“There must have been three pearls lying here.” One of us stole one pearl, because our father was a smart man, he could only put one pearl for each of us. He knew that we would not be able to divide the two pearls between ourselves and that we might quarrel. So I think there were three pearls in the chest.
One way or another, the brothers, unable to divide the two pearls between themselves and having heard that in the same country there lived a wise man who could fairly resolve the dispute, they went in search of this man.
They walked a long way, and the elder brother said:
— A camel was walking along this road; it fell behind its owner. The middle brother agreed:
— Indeed, a camel was walking and limping on its left leg. The youngest said:
“That’s right, the camel you’re talking about passed along this road, and he didn’t have his right eye.”
On the way they met the camel's owner. The elder brother asked him:
-Are you looking for the camel you lost?
“Yes, I’m looking,” he replied.
— Was he limping on your left hind leg? - asked the middle brother. The owner confirmed.
- Yes, he was limping. The younger one asked:
— Was he missing his right eye?
“That’s right,” the owner agreed. Then they said to him:
- We didn't see your camel.
But the camel's owner did not believe them.
“You met my camel and you must return it to me.” The brothers objected:
“We haven’t even seen your camel.” How can we return it to you? They began to argue, and the brothers said to him:
- Come with us, in one village there lives a man who knows how to resolve disputes. We ourselves are going there on one controversial matter. If he does us this favor and says that we took the camel, then we will compensate you for the loss.
The camel's owner went with them.
Finally they arrived there. A man who knew how to reason asked them:
-What business brought you to me?
“We three brothers were coming to you on our own business.” This man met us on the way and accused us of stealing a camel. First, sort out his case, and then we will tell you about ours.
A man who knows how to reason asked the camel owner:
- By what right do you want to oblige these people to return the camel to you?
“Having lost my camel, I was looking for it. Having met them on the way, I didn’t have time to ask them anything, the elder brother said: “Aren’t you looking for a camel?” The middle brother said: “Did he limp on his back leg?” The youngest said: “He was missing his right eye?” Since they know my camel better than me, I think that they met my camel.
Then the sensible man asked the three brothers.
- What do you say to this? The elder brother replied:
“I didn’t see his camel, but if you want to know how I guessed that he had lost his camel, it was evident from the fact that the camel did not go its own way, but was nibbling grass to the side of the road.” So I realized that he was without an owner.
Second brother said:
“I didn’t even see the camel, but I found out that it was limping on its left leg, because I noticed traces of only two front legs and one hind leg. That's how I found out that he was limping on his left hind leg.
The third brother said:
“I never even saw this camel, but here’s the reason why I found out that he didn’t have a right eye: he was nibbling the grass on the left, which means he was missing his right eye.”
The prudent man said to the camel owner:
“They didn’t steal your camel, look for your camel elsewhere, these people are just sharp-witted, smart, that’s why they found out everything about your camel.”
The camel owner left.
After this, the man who was to judge the three brothers said to them:
— Now tell us about your business.
The elder brother spoke about his father's will and that they found only two pearls in the chest, and that each of them suspected one of the two of the theft. After hearing this, the prudent man said to them:
“I will tell you one story, after which you will answer one question, and only then will I be able to resolve your dispute.”
This is what he told them:
“One young man and one girl loved each other with great love for a long time. Despite this, her relatives married her to a young man from another country. After the wedding and festivities ended, the groom, coming to the bride at night, found her sad and asked her:
- Why are you so sad? If I have become a grief for you, then I will take you to your mother to rejoice.
The girl told him:
“You didn’t become a grief for me, that’s not why I’m crying.” In one village there lives a young man whom I loved and who loves me. I promised myself that I would not allow anyone but him to untie my belt, I remembered this and became sad.
The young man promised:
“I will be faithful to you as a brother born to your mother, and I will take you to that young man.”
“Let you be a sin for me, but for him you will be honest,” he said and took her to where the young man lived, dropped her off at his house and left.
The girl entered the house of her lover. Having learned that his beloved was married, the young man sat and sang a sad song on the dechig-pondar (a three-stringed musical instrument). Seeing the girl, he was surprised and asked her:
- How did you end up here?
The girl replied:
— My relatives gave me in marriage. When that young man came to me and saw me sad, he asked: “Why are you sad?” Then I told about the word I had given. He told me: “I am faithful to you like a brother born of your mother, even if you are a sin for me, but be honest for him,” he brought me to you and left. That's how I ended up here.
Hearing this, the young man put aside the dechig-pondar, without touching her body, untied her belt, fulfilling the word given by her and him, and said to the girl:
“If he, loving you so much, turned out to be so noble, then I shouldn’t be worse than him.” I have to take you to him.
Taking the girl with him, he set off. Finally they reached one city, the girl said to the guy:
- This is the city where I got married. The guy told her:
- If you can walk there yourself, I would go home.
The girl said she could, and the young man drove back. Returning home on a dark night, the girl met a well-known villain and thief in that city, who said:
- What god sent you to me?!
The girl told him about her marriage, about her vow to allow only her lover to untie the belt, and about what her groom did when she told him about it, and about what the second guy did when the groom brought him home.
Then the thief said:
“Shame on me if I turn out to be worse than these two horsemen.”
Having become a faithful brother to her, putting her on a horse behind him, he took her to the yard of the young man to whom she was married.
The sensible man said:
“You, three brothers, answer me, each according to seniority, who is the best of these three men who turned out to be so faithful to her.” Then I will answer your question.
The elder said:
“It seems to me that the best is the one who, loving her, married, spent a lot of cattle, but returned her to another, although he did not know whether he would marry her or not.” Middle said:
“It seems to me that the second one is better, because, having loved her since childhood, he still returned her to her husband.”
The youngest said:
“These two each disputed their dignity, but it seems to me that the third, the thief, is better, because he had nothing to lose, he could do anything, and yet on a dark night he became her devoted brother and took her to her husband.” Therefore, the best of them seems to me to be a thief.
Then the man who undertook to judge them said:
“Elder brothers, take one pearl for yourself, you’re the youngest, you’ve already taken possession of yours, that’s why you supported the thief.” You have discovered that you are a thief.
This is how this wise man resolved the dispute.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru