A long time ago, there lived in a certain village a young man nicknamed Unlucky. They called him that because he was very awkward. If he sits on a horse, he falls, the flock starts to graze, and he loses the sheep. In a word, no matter what you take on, everything is wrong. The old people, looking at him, just shook their heads.
“He loses a needle in the house, but is looking all over the street,” some said about him.
Others laughed:
“Our Unlucky is so dexterous that he can scratch his leg through the chabyr!” But the young man did not lose heart:
“You’re not lucky here, but you’ll be lucky somewhere else,” he said. And he went to seek his happiness.
[Chabyr – shoes made of rawhide.]
He wandered around the villages for a long time, but could not find either work or shelter. Finally, one woman took him on as a worker - to take care of the livestock and the garden. Soon the woman’s father, who lived in a distant village, fell ill. And she had to go visit him. Before leaving, the hostess said:
“I’m leaving for a few days to visit my father, and you keep an eye on everything here properly.”
Her farm was small: a barn with wheat, a cow, a donkey, and even a hen with chickens. The owner left, and after her departure the worker inspected the entire house, yard, and livestock.
“Well, everything is in order,” he decided. “There’s nothing to do for now, I’ll sleep for an hour or two.”
But then he remembered that, when leaving, the hostess told him:
“Be careful that the kite doesn’t carry away the hen or chickens!” And he decided: “I’ll tie the chickens by the legs with a thread, and I’ll tie the thread to the chicken’s leg. This will make me feel safer."
The guy did this, lay down and immediately fell asleep. Suddenly he was awakened by some noise and screams. It turned out that the kite grabbed the trigger and rose into the air. And the chickens tied to it followed the hen.
The neighbors ran out and made a terrible noise. The young man chased the kite, ran, shouted, and threw stones at it. But he couldn’t do anything, so he returned home with nothing. And at home another misfortune awaited him. The cow climbed into the barn where the wheat was stored, ate too much and lay motionless. Paren wanted to kill her to save at least the meat. But he asked: “What if she gets better?” He drove the donkey into the barn and decided to spend the night there to keep an eye on the cow. For sun; Just in case, he prepared a knife and went to bed. The guy woke up from a terrible wheezing.
“The cow is probably dying,” he thought. “We need to slaughter it quickly!” He was sure that he had slaughtered the cow, and went to bed. And in the morning he saw that in the dark he had cut off the head of a sleeping donkey. And the cow lies dead in the corner of the barn.
The guy was upset.
“What have I done,” he thought. “How can I now show myself to the mistress?!” He went into the house and then saw that while he was sleeping in the barn, thieves broke into the house and stole all the things.
The young man was completely tanned.
“What should I do now?! What should I do?” he thought in fear. “After all, the mistress will kick me out!” In the evening, a guest came to the house - an old man with gray hair and a gray beard. The guy fed him what he found in the house and put him to sleep in the yard. And he decided to run away before the hostess returned.
On one of the shelves he noticed a small jug (it was apparently stolen by thieves!). The hostess usually threw small money into it.
“I’ll take some money for the trip,” the young man decided.
He stuck his hand into the jug, squeezed the change in his fist and wanted to pull his hand out. But she didn’t get through with the money. He went out into the yard and hit the jug on a stone, but it turned out that instead of a stone in the dark, he grabbed the old man’s leg with all his might, and he screamed in pain. The guy got scared and ran wherever he could. He ran and ran and saw a haystack.
“I’ll climb,” he thought, “into a haystack. No one will find me here."
But as soon as he climbed into the haystack and fell asleep, a man rode up on a large cart and loaded all the hay onto the cart.
But the young man did not hear anything, he was fast asleep. And he slept until the owner put a pole on the hay and began to tighten the hay with a rope. When the guy was heavily pressed by the pole, he screamed in pain. And the owner of the hay was so frightened that he cried out in fear:
- The hay screamed!.. The hay screamed!.. He threw the hay and ran away.
The young man got out from under the pole and went to the nearest village.
There he saw that people had gathered near one of the houses. He approached them and asked:
-What happened? Why did so many people gather?
“Well,” they answered him, “the owner of this house went out for hay last night, but returned on foot and apparently went crazy.” He keeps repeating: “The hay screamed!.. The hay screamed!..” Soon people from other villages began to approach. The famous effendi also came to treat the “madman.” They talked with the patient for a long time, but could not help him.
[Efendi – here: Muslim priest.]
Then the young man thought and thought and said to the people:
– I am also a famous effendi. If they let me into the house, I will cure the sick person.
- Of course, we’ll let you in!.. Come in, come in! – the relatives of the “madman” invited him.
Entering the house, he asked to be left alone with the patient.
Everyone came out, and the imaginary effendi began to tell the sick man about himself, how he once hid in the hay, then fell asleep, and how he screamed when the owner of the hay crushed him with a pole.
Then the patient realized what was the matter and immediately recovered. He was ashamed of his cowardice. He fell on his knees in front of the young man and asked him:
“Don’t tell anyone why I got so sick.” I'm already an old man. People will find out that I was afraid, that I was afraid of nothing, and they will laugh at me. Please, swear that you won't tell anyone anything.
And the young man swore. But he himself also asked the old man not to tell anyone that he was not an effendi at all. And the old man replied:
“Not only will I not hand you over, but, on the contrary, I will say that you are the best effendi and that you need to be asked to stay and live in our village.”
Then the old man came out to the people and announced:
“I have never seen such an intelligent and knowledgeable effendi.” As you can see, he cured me immediately.
People gasped and were surprised: “This effendi was able to cure a madman so quickly!” They hugged and thanked the effendi. And they brought gifts as a sign of gratitude. Some gave money, some gave bull or sheep.
And the young man immediately became rich.
But the effendi who came from other villages complained to the khan about him.
- Some stranger is deceiving the people!
And the khan ordered to seize the guy. When he was brought to the khan, he asked:
- Tell me, are you an effendi?
“Yes,” answered the young man. - I am an effendi. Just not like other effendi. They deceive the people, and I always say only what I know!..
“But you,” the khan continued, “don’t look like an effendi at all, and most likely you’re lying.” However, we will be able to check you. Tell fortunes on the stones and tell me where my father-in-law is and why he has not returned home for so long. If you tell the truth, I will give you half of my wealth. But if you lie, they will cut off your head.
Out of fear, the young man did not know what to say. He ordered to bring gold stones for fortune-telling, and said to the khan:
– Tell me what your father-in-law is like. If you don't do this, the stones may tell lies...
Khan agreed and said:
– His hair and beard are white-white. He was supposed to return home yesterday, but he still hasn’t. And my wife grieves so much for him that she even got sick from grief!
At these words of the khan, the young man remembered the old man who had spent the night with him, whom he accidentally hit on the leg with a jug.
“Of course, his leg hurts and he can’t get home,” the young man thought.
“My Khan,” he said, looking at the stones and whispering something, “the stones show bad things.” I don't know whether to tell you...
“Speak, speak!..” exclaimed the khan. Then the young man replied:
“The stones show that your father-in-law is lying with a broken leg in the most distant village, in the house of a lonely woman who went to visit her sick father.
The Khan immediately sent servants to this village. And the servants actually found his father-in-law and brought him home.
The khan's wife was happy. She cried with joy that she saw her father alive.
Khan fulfilled his promise and generously rewarded the young man.
And the khan’s daughter and the young man fell in love with each other. Soon the wedding took place. There was a rich feast, and I was there, but I forgot what I saw. I only remember that from that time on, no one called the guy Unlucky anymore.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru