The father and mother had three sons: Josef, Vaclav and Jan. Now the guys have grown up, finished school, it’s time to go learn a craft. One was apprenticed to a butcher, another to a saddler, and the third became a tailor. We learned.
- Well, what now, guys? Go among the people, look for a place for yourself.
They each received ten for the trip, and their mother baked them pies. We hit the road. They weren’t looking for work - they had money, did they feel bad? But now all the money is gone. What should we do now? I don't feel like begging!
They approached some kind of tavern and stopped.
“We don’t have money, but we have a hunt, and night is coming.”
- Yes, here’s the tavern, let’s go in, guys: maybe we’ll arrange something.
The elder looked around and saw a sign on the wall:
You can't fool me! I have never been a fool since birth.
Read it. The brothers were scared.
- Look! We ran into a smart guy. What to do?
- I don’t care, let’s go. He won’t take our knapsacks, but there’s nothing else he can take from us.
They boldly entered the tavern: come what may. Shinkar asks:
- Well, guys, what should I serve you?
- What! Something to eat and drink. We ate and got drunk. Now, they say, it's time to sleep. Shinkar asks:
- Well, guys, where should you put the straw? Do you want it in the barn?
“No,” they say, “it’s better to go to the attic, it’s cooler there!”
- As you wish.
He took them to the attic, locked everything around and went to bed.
But the guys don’t sleep, they toss and turn: the owner of the money will ask in the morning, what are we going to do?
- It’s okay, let’s poke around the house, maybe something turns up.
From the attic we went straight down to the barn. The butcher says:
- Guys, let's kill this goat.
- It's coming!
The butcher slaughtered the goat, skinned it, and put the meat in a bag. The saddler stuffed the skin with hay, the tailor sewed it up, and the goat turned out to be alive. They put him in his place, with a rope around his neck near the feeder, everything as it should be.
In the morning they come to the upper room and ask for the best for breakfast. We've eaten. Here's one of them saying:
- Listen, master shinkar, we don’t have money with us, but we have fresh lamb. They were cutting valukha in one village, and we passed by and bought it. If you want, we can sell it to you.
- Why not buy it if the lamb is good? I'll buy it. Where is she?
- They left it outside, in a bag: the weather is warm, it would stink in the upper room.
The butcher brought it and proves that the meat is excellent.
- How much for it?
- Yes, as far as the price goes, we won’t haggle over a penny.
Shinkar swung and paid. The brothers were about to leave, but he stopped them:
- What is your name, gentlemen? I’m the boss here, I have to find out what your name is, otherwise I’ll get in big trouble.
“My name is too bad,” says the butcher, “I won’t tell you.”
- Nothing, tell me, what is there to be ashamed of?
- Well, so be it: Killed the goat.
“No matter what, it can be worse.” What's the second one's name?
“My name is even worse.”
- What are you afraid of? Speak!
- I bought my own.
- Well, that's nothing yet. What's the third one's name?
“My name is really stupid, I don’t even want to say it.”
- Since those two said so, you should say so.
- You really don’t-understand. Shinkar wrote everything down and released them.
The cowgirl got up and went to give the cattle food. She put some hay for everyone and thought: I’ll give the goat the best. A little later he goes back to the barn - he looks, they ate everything they had, but the goat didn’t even touch it. The girl runs to the owner in the upper room.
- Master, master! Everyone’s feeders are empty, everyone has licked up, but the goat doesn’t eat, it stands like a stump.
- The devil knows what you gave him!
She went back and chose the most fragrant hay for him, but he again didn’t take it.
- First of all, give him some drink, he’s a stubborn goat, and some salt.
The girl mixed bran on the goat, poured a handful of salt, but still didn’t take it.
“If he doesn’t want to eat anything, kick him, you bastard.”
She went and kicked him - he fell down and didn’t move. Lies like he's puffed up. Shinkar came, took the goat in his arms, - Lord Jesus! - legs on sticks! I felt it and the hay rustled. Scratching the back of his head:
- These are the damned ones! Nobody could fool me, but they did! That's right, that means one of them told me: “Killed a goat.”
He clasped his hands:
- And I, you idiot, didn’t understand!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru