Once upon a time I lived in a rich village. His house stood by the road, and in front of the house grew a mulberry tree with a spreading crown. In the summer, when the rooms were stuffy, the landowner sat down in the shade of a tree and fanned himself.
One day a poor man was walking along the road, sat down in the shade of a mulberry tree, and then lay down and fell asleep.
Hey you! - the rich man shouted. -Who gave you the right to sleep here? Well, get out!
Why is this? - asked the poor man, waking up.
The tree is mine and its shadow is also mine.
Oh, yes. Then sell me this shadow. I'll pay, I won't offend you.
Sensing money, the rich man immediately agreed:
- Okay, give me the money and your shadow.
The poor man invited several witnesses, and the deal took place. Now the shade from the mulberry tree belonged to the poor man, and every day in the heat he came here and rested. Sometimes the shadow of a tree fell
to the rich man's yard, then the poor man moved into the yard, and when the shadow moved to the kitchen or fell into the guest room, the poor man went to the kitchen or hall and lay down there.
“I bought a shadow, and it no longer belongs to the rich man,” he told his friends. “Why don’t I invite my comrades to enjoy the coolness of the shade?” Well, let's go relax in the shade with me!
And no matter how angry the rich man was, he had to endure it.
One day a rich man was receiving guests. When the shadow of the tree fell into the hall, the poor man came with his friends, and they sat in the shade in the hall. The guests were surprised and asked the rich man what was the matter. The rich man bit his lip and did not want to answer, but the poor man said:
- So the shadow is mine! Your friend sold it to me. Now I can rest in the shade at any time.
The guests laughed at the rich man for a long time, and then left. A few days later the whole neighborhood was laughing at him, and the children, meeting him on the street, ran after him and shouted:
- Greedy, he sold the shadow! Greedy, he sold his shadow!
The rich man could no longer live in this village, so he left everything and moved to another district. Not only the shadow of the mulberry tree, but also the tree itself and the rich man's house became the property of the poor man.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru