Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had a small hut with a stork's nest on the thatched roof, two oxen: one blind and the other lame; and a field that had been empty for three years. Only they didn’t have children and the old people were very sad about it.
One day the old man said to his wife:
“Old woman, I’ll go plow the field today.” I'll sow a little millet. As soon as it ripens, the birds will fly in to peck at it. And just like that, I’ll throw a fishing net over them, catch ten or fifteen birds, make cages for them, and take them to the market to sell. Well, what do you say, did I come up with this cleverly?
“I came up with an idea, but I have nothing to cook for lunch.” You better go catch some fish first, and then plow.
The old man went to the river and threw his net into a deep pool. I pulled out a net full of rudd. He cast the net a second time, looked, and gasped: a tiny boy, about an inch tall, wearing little shoes and a mustache, was floundering in the net.
- Good morning, father! - the boy greeted.
- Who are you? - asked the old man.
- Your son. I sat under a stone and kept waiting for some kind grandmother to pull me out of there and take me to you. I waited and waited, my mustache had already grown, but no one came. I decided to look into the world, and you caught me in your net. Now take me home, I don’t know the way.
The old man bent down, took the mustachioed boy from the net, put him in a bag of fish and went home. When the old woman saw him, she was very happy:
“Oh, you, my child,” she exclaimed, “you’ve already grown a mustache!” We'll call him Thumb Boy!
The old man also could not get enough of his son, he stroked him on the head and went back to the field. At noon, Little Thumb brought some stew to his father in a tinned pot. He came to the field, when his father saw him, he stopped the oxen, sat down in a furrow and began to slurp the still warm stew. Little Thumb twirled around him, then grabbed one ox by the tail, climbed onto his back, crawled to his ear, climbed there and shouted loudly:
- Well, let's go!
The ox set off, and the other followed. Little Thumb began to plow instead of his father. He drew one furrow, straight as an arrow, drew a second one and began whistling cheerfully.
“Father,” he shouted to the old man, “you lie down under the pear tree, and I will plow the field.” If some passer-by wants to buy me, you sell me, don’t be afraid. Take the money, and I will come back to you again.
The old man lay down and dozed off. And at that time a rich merchant was passing by. He saw that the plowman was sleeping under a pear tree, and the oxen were plowing themselves and was surprised: what a miracle!
- Hey! - he shouted, “What kind of miracle is this?” The old man stood up and asked:
- What's the matter?
“But I just can’t figure out how the oxen plow themselves!” - answered the merchant.
- Open your eyes wider, and you will see that the oxen do not plow themselves, but my son controls them.
- Where is he? - The merchant was even more surprised.
- And over there, in the ox’s ear. The merchant approached the ox and, seeing the boy, widened his eyes in amazement.
- Sell it to me! - he began to beg.
- How much do you give? - asked the old man.
- One hundred gold.
- So be it, take it!
The merchant counted out the money and took Little Thumb away. He shoved it into his pocket and went home. Along the way, Little Thumb gnawed a hole in the merchant's pocket like a mouse, quietly descended to the ground and darted into the bushes. And the merchant walks on as if nothing had happened. Little Thumb crossed the forest and reached the bridge. There he decided to spend the night and continue his journey the next day. He closed his eyes, and at that time three robbers gathered under the same bridge.
“Tonight,” said one, “we will take away one of the two oxen of that grandfather who lives on the outskirts of the village.” All agree?
- We agree! - his partners confirmed.
- Take me too, brothers! - Little Thumb shouted in the darkness.
-Who are you? - the thieves froze, but peering into the darkness and seeing the Boy-Thumb, they clasped their hands and said in one voice:
- You are exactly what we need! We are looking for someone like you every day. You will crawl through the keyhole into the stable of the grandfather who lives on the outskirts of the village, open the gate and take the ox out, and we will wait for you on the street.
No sooner said than done. The robbers went to the house that stood on the outskirts of the village, helped Little Thumb crawl through the keyhole and hid in the darkness. After a while, Little Thumb will scream out of the barn:
- Brother robbers, which ox should we take away: white or black?
“Hush, hush, short mustache,” whispered the robbers, “bring out the black one!”
Little Thumb brought out the black ox. The thieves drove him into the forest, stabbed him, skinned him and divided the meat. Little Thumb got the rennet. The thieves quickly collected their belongings and disappeared, and Little Thumb went down to the nearest hollow, washed the rennet thoroughly, hid in it, warmed himself there and fell asleep. At night a hungry wolf came into the hollow. Seeing the rennet, he jumped for joy and immediately swallowed it. Little Thumb woke up already in the wolf's belly. He rubbed his eyes, stood up and began to walk around in the wolf’s stomach, and then made his way into its mouth and looked out through the wolf’s teeth. It was already noon. Opposite, in the shade of a walnut tree, a whole flock of sheep was resting, and the shepherd and dogs were sleeping. The wolf quietly crept up to the lamb. And just as he was about to pounce on him, Little Thumb screamed:
- Get up, shepherd, the wolf killed your lamb!
The shepherd jumped up and set the dogs on the wolf. The wolf rushed into the forest and barely dragged his feet away from the chase. Hiding in the bushes, he decided to watch for the hare, but as soon as he sneaked up on him, Thumb Boy screamed again:
- Run, little bunny, otherwise you’ll be left without a fur coat!
The hare immediately took off running. Then the wolf could not stand it and howled:
-Who dares to walk around in my stomach and scare my prey?
- I, Boy-Thumb.
- What do you want from me?
“I want you to take me to my mother and father.”
-Where do they live?
- Over there in that village.
Nothing to do. The wolf tucked his tail and began to trot into the village. Having reached the old man's house, he jumped over the fence and found himself in the yard.
Little Thumb looked out of the wolf's mouth and shouted:
- Father, mother, beat the wolf! Just don’t hit me in the stomach, otherwise you’ll break all my bones!
The old man grabbed an ax and rushed into the yard. An old woman with a yoke jumped out after him. They killed the wolf, ripped open its belly and pulled out Little Thumb.
- How are you doing? - asked Little Thumb and twirled his mustache.
“Okay,” the old men answered, “we’re waiting for you.”
“It’s good for you,” said Little Thumb, “but not quite for me: winter is approaching, and I don’t have a warm fur coat.”
- No problem! - the old man calmed him down and tore the skin off the wolf.
And the old woman took a large needle and sewed a warm fur coat for her son.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru