Once upon a time there was a girl. One day her mother sent her to the forest to dig wild yams. The girl took a shovel and a wicker fence, went into the forest and climbed into a deep thicket. In the thicket there was a nest of white termites, and in it there was a deep hole. The girl began to look for sweet potatoes near this nest; her shovel jumped off the handle and landed right in the hole.
The girl ran and ran around, but couldn’t get a shovel, so she started calling for help.
Suddenly, an old, old tiger crawled out of the dense thickets, his head covered in abscesses.
- Girl, I heard you calling for help. I’m ready to help you - I’ll get a shovel. But you must clean my boils. I don't need any other thanks.
- Oh, grandfather! Just get me a shovel, I’ll do everything for you.
The tiger took out a shovel and began to wait to see if the girl would fulfill her promise. The girl took a sharp stick and began to clean the boils. Tiger asks:
“My skin probably smells disgusting?”
And it’s true that the abscesses gave off such a stench that it took your breath away, but the girl answered:
- No, no, grandfather, nothing like that.
The tiger asked again several times, but the girl kept answering the same thing.
As soon as she finished her work, the tiger suddenly changed, his fur began to shine. All the boils are gone! The tiger says to the girl:
“Give me your bamboo wicker, I’ll pour you some good yam.”
The girl handed over a bamboo wicker, and the tiger secretly filled it to the top with pure gold and silver, then closed it tightly and said:
- Well, take your wicker and go home. When you return, call your parents, brothers and sisters, close the door properly, and then open the wicker.
The girl thanked the tiger, said goodbye to him, came home, called her parents, sisters and brothers, closed the door and opened the wickerwork. Look, gold and silver sparkle in it!
Less than a few days later, a neighbor, who also had a daughter, found out about this incident. She began to scold and shame her daughter:
- Look at the others! They carry gold and silver from the forest with braids and give gifts to sisters and brothers. And you find nothing but wild sweet potatoes. Take a shovel, go to the white termite nest and do everything like the girl next door.
The neighbor's daughter went into the forest. She threw the shovel into the hole and began to beg the tiger to help her - she promised to thank her in good conscience and to fulfill any of his wishes.
The tiger took out a shovel, and in gratitude asked him to clean his boils. The neighbor's daughter began to do this, and the tiger asked:
“My skin probably smells disgusting?”
- Oh, grandfather, how disgusting!
- OK. That's enough for you. Give me your bamboo wicker, I'll give you something.
She rather handed him the braided rope. The tiger put a full net of poisonous vipers and said:
- Go home, call your mother, close the door properly, and then open the wicker.
The neighbor's daughter did just that. I came home, called my mother, they opened the wickerwork and thought about dividing the gold and silver. And terrible vipers began to crawl out of there! Both mother and daughter had to run away.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru