In a certain kingdom there lived an old man and an old woman in great poverty.
No more or less time passed - the old woman died. It was a bitter, frosty winter outside.
The old man went to his neighbors and friends to ask them to help him dig a grave for the old woman. Only his neighbors and acquaintances, knowing his great poverty, all completely refused.
The old man went to the priest. And in their village there was a priest who was much greedy and unscrupulous.
“Take the trouble,” the father says, “to bury the old woman.”
- Do you have money to pay for the funeral? Come on, light, go ahead...
“There’s nothing to hide from you: I don’t have a single penny in my house.” Wait a little, I’ll earn money - I’ll pay it with interest. I really will pay.
The priest didn’t even want to listen to the old people’s speeches:
- If you don’t have money, don’t you dare come here!
“What should I do?” the old man thinks, “I’ll go to the cemetery, somehow dig a grave and bury the old woman myself.”
So he grabbed an ax and a shovel and went to the cemetery. He came and began to prepare the grave: he cut down the frozen ground from above with an ax, and then took up the shovel. He dug and dug and dug up a pot. I looked - and it was filled with a lot of gold coins, they sparkled like heat!
The old man was very happy:
- Glory to you, Lord! There will be something to bury and remember the old woman!
He didn’t dig the grave anymore, he took the pot of gold and took it home.
Well, with money, of course, everything went like clockwork! Good people were immediately found: they dug a grave and made a coffin. The old man sent his daughter-in-law to buy wine and various food and snacks - everything that should be at a wake. And he took the chervonets in his hand and dragged himself back to the priest.
Only at the door, and pop at him:
“I told you, old devil, not to come without money, but you’re meddling again!”
“Don’t be angry, father,” the old man asks, “here’s a gold piece for you—bury my old woman.” I will never forget your mercy.
The priest took the money and doesn’t know how to receive the old man, where to put him in prison, what speeches to touch:
- Well, old man, be hopeful, everything will be done. The old man bowed and went home, and the priest and priest began to talk about him:
- Look, old devil! - They say. - Poor, poor, but he threw away the gold. I have buried many famous dead people in my time, but I have never received so many from anyone.
The priest got ready with all his might and buried the old woman properly.
After the funeral, the old man asks him to come and remember the deceased.
So they came to the hut, sat down at the table, and where did that come from! - wine, food, various snacks, plenty of everything.
The guest sits, eats for three, and gloats at other people's goods.
The guests had dinner and began to go home. So the priest got up. The old man went to accompany him, and as soon as they came out into the yard, the priest saw that there was no one else on the side, and began to interrogate the old man:
- Listen, light, repent to me, do not leave a single sin on your soul - it doesn’t matter, both before God and before me: why did you manage to recover so quickly? You were a meager man, but now you wonder where everything came from! Repent, O light, whose soul you have ruined, whom you have robbed?
- What are you talking about, father! In truth, I confess to you: I did not steal, I did not rob, I did not kill anyone. The treasure came into my own hands.
And he told how it all happened.
When the priest heard these speeches, he even began to shake with greed. He returned home, did nothing, thought day and night:
"Such a smart little man got such a power of money! How can we now manage to get rid of his pot of gold?"
He told me about that priest. The two of them began to hold advice. And they advised:
- Listen, mother, we have a goat, don’t we?
- Eat.
- OK! We'll wait until nightfall to process the matter properly.
Late in the evening, the priest brought a goat into the hut, killed it and tore off its skin completely: with horns and a beard. He immediately pulled the goatskin over himself and said to the priest:
- Take a needle and thread, mother, and secure the skin around it so it doesn’t fall off.
The priest took a thick needle and a harsh thread and sheathed it with goatskin.
So, in the dead of midnight, the priest went straight to the old man’s hut. He went under the window and started knocking and scratching.
The old man heard the noise, jumped up and asked:
-Who's there?
- Crap.
- Our place is sacred! - the man screamed and began to make the cross and read prayers.
“Listen, old man,” says the priest, “even if you pray, even if you get baptized, you won’t get rid of me.” You better give me my pot of money, otherwise I’ll deal with you. Look, I took pity on your grief, I showed you the treasure, I thought you’d take a little for the funeral, but you robbed it all.
The old man looked out the window - goat horns and a beard were sticking out; as is unclean.
“Well, he really doesn’t have enough money,” the old man thinks. “I lived without money before, and now I’ll live without it!”
He took out a pot of gold, took it outside, threw it on the ground, and quickly went into the hut.
The priest picked up the bowler hat and rushed home.
Came back.
“Well,” he says, “the money is in our hands.” Here, mother, hide it away and take a sharp knife, cut the threads and take the goat skin off me before no one sees.
The priest took a knife and began to cut the thread along the seam - how the blood flowed, how the priest screamed:
- Uterus, it hurts, don’t cut it! Uterus, it hurts, don’t cut!..
If she starts flogging in another place - the same thing. All around the body there was a goat skin attached to it.
What they didn’t do, what they didn’t try, and they took the money back to the old man - no, nothing helped. So the goat skin remained on the butt.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru