There lived a poor woman. She had three sons. The sons have grown up. They became strong, strong, and the mother grew old. A mother once said to her sons:
“Now it’s time for you to seek happiness for yourself.” He who does not search finds nothing.
The eldest son was the first to set off. His mother baked cakes for him on the way and said:
- Eat these cakes. They will give you more strength. The eldest son went. I walked and walked and got hungry. He took out the cakes, but did not eat them: the cakes turned out to be completely stale and hard. The son got angry with his mother, threw away the cakes and moved on.
A small tent appeared ahead of him. He came closer and the dog barked. When the dog barked, a hunched old woman came out of the chum. She saw the young man and said:
- Come into my tent. You probably got hungry on the way, the old woman fed the young man and said:
“Here you can find happiness, but just listen to me carefully.” Not far from my tent there is a deep hole. When night falls, go to this pit. You will see many stars in it. If you can scoop out all the stars, you will find your happiness.
“Well, it’s quite simple,” said the young man. — This is a very easy job for me.
When night fell, the eldest son took a bucket with a rope, went to the pit and set to work.
He spent a long time scooping stars from the pit and became tired. I looked into the hole, and the stars were still burning there, there weren’t even fewer of them.
The young man got angry and thought: “The old woman laughed at me. Is it possible to scoop so many stars out of the hole?”
The young man threw the bucket and returned home. His mother didn’t say anything to him, she just shook her head.
The middle son went in search of happiness. He walked for a long time and was hungry. He took out his mother's cakes. The middle son didn't like the cakes either. They were hard and callous. He threw away the cakes and moved on. Soon he saw a small tent and came to the same old woman. The old woman led the young man into her tent. She fed him and said:
- Here you can find your happiness. Just don't do like your older brother. Work hard.
At night a young man approached the pit. I saw a lot of stars there. He lowered a bucket into the hole and began scooping out the stars. He worked for a long time, got tired, and his back hurt. The young man looked into the pit, and there were still a lot of stars there.
The young man got angry and thought: “Like my brother, the old woman laughed at me. Can anyone scoop up so many stars in one night?”
The young man threw the bucket and returned home.
And his mother didn’t tell him anything. She just shook her head, and tears appeared in her eyes.
It was the turn of the youngest son to go in search of happiness.
- Be. persistent and hardworking, son,” his mother told him. “Don’t do like your older brothers.”
The young man walked for a long time and became hungry. He took out the cakes baked by his mother. The cakes turned out to be very stale, completely hard, but the young man did not throw them away, but began to eat them. Then he moved on.
The sun had already dropped low when he reached the small tent. A dog barked, and a hunched old woman came out of the tent to meet the young man. She took the young man to her tent and began to treat him. But the young man took out his cakes and said:
- I have some scones. They are the tastiest for me: my mother baked them for me on the road.
And he began to eat the cakes his mother had prepared.
As soon as evening came, the younger brother set to work. Many times he lowered the bucket into the hole. He was still sweating, but the stars still shone in the pit.
The young man worked for a very long time. His hands hurt and his back hurt, but he didn’t give up work and continued to scoop out stars.
Suddenly his bucket hit something hard. The young man looked into the hole. He sees: all the water has been scooped up, and along with the water, the stars have disappeared from the pit.
At this time the morning has come. The sun appeared in the sky. It brightly illuminated the whole earth.
A tired young man stood near the pit. But he was happy: the job was done.
“You have done a great job, young man,” the old woman told him. - At the bottom of this hole under water, Nyleka hid his heart. Now the sun has burned his heart, and there is no more evil Nylek. Now all his camps, all his reindeer herds are yours.
The youngest son was very happy when he heard such words. He called all the poor people and gave them pastures and herds of deer.
His mother was among the poor. The youngest son looked at her with love. After all, it was she who gave him powerful strength and love for work.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru