There lived a husband and wife, and they had a pair of oxen, and their neighbors had a cart. When Sunday or some holiday came up, one of them would take oxen and a cart and go to church or on a visit, and the next Sunday another would take it, and so they shared among themselves.
So one day the woman said to the old man whose oxen were:
“Take the oxen to the market and sell them, and we’ll buy ourselves horses and a cart, and we’ll go to church on Sundays and visit our relatives.” And even then, the neighbor doesn’t feed his cart, but we have to feed it.
The old man threw a rope over the oxen's horns and led them. He leads along the road and a man on horseback catches up with him.
- Great! - Great! - Where are you taking the oxen? - To sell. - Trade me the oxen for a horse. - Come on!
He exchanged oxen for a horse, and rides on a horse. And then a man meets him and leads a cow to the fair.
- Great! - Great! - Where are you going? - I told you to sell oxen at a fair, but exchanged them for a horse. - Trade me a horse for a cow. - Go ahead!
Changed. He is leading a cow, and here a man is chasing a pig.
- Great! - Great! - Where are you taking the cow? - Yes, I took the oxen to the fair, and exchanged them for a horse, and the horse for a cow. - Trade me a cow for a pig. - Come on!
He is chasing a pig, and here a man is leading a sheep.
We asked each other.
- Trade the pig for a sheep. - Come on!
Is it driving already? Grandfather brings a sheep, and here a man is carrying a goose to sell.
We asked each other.
- Trade the sheep for a goose. - Come on!
The grandfather walked a little with the goose, and the man was carrying a rooster. We started talking.
- Trade the goose for a rooster. - Come on!
The grandfather was carrying a rooster, and then a man found an empty wallet on the road. We started talking.
- I found a wallet, trade the rooster for the wallet! - Come on!
Grandfather hid his wallet and went to the fair. He approaches the city - he has to cross the river by ferry, but he has nothing to pay for the transportation. The carriers tell him:
- If you give me at least this wallet, we’ll move it.
He gave it.
And there was a Chumatsky convoy standing there. When the Chumaks found out from him what he exchanged his wallet for, they began to laugh at him.
“What,” they say, “will the woman do to you for this?” “Nothing!” He will say: “Thank God that at least he returned alive.”
So they made a bet: if his wife said so, the Chumaks would give him all twelve loaded carts, and with batogs in addition. They chose one from the convoy and sent him to his old woman.
Here he comes.
- Hello! - Have you heard about your old man? - No, I haven’t. - Yes, he exchanged oxen for a horse. - That’s good! Oxen aren’t cheap, we’ll get around to buying one someday.” “Yes, and I traded a horse for a cow.” “That’s even better: we’ll have milk.” “Yes, and I traded a cow for a pig.” “And that’s good: we’ll have little pigs, otherwise when we break our fast or break our fast, we have to buy everything.” “Yes, and we traded a pig for a sheep.” “And that’s good: we’ll have lambs and wool, I’ll have something.” to spin a sparrow. - Yes, and exchanged the sheep for a goose. - And that’s good: we will have dyes and feathers. - Yes, and exchanged the goose for a rooster. - Oh, that’s even better! The rooster will crow in the morning, waking us up for work. - And he exchanged the rooster for a wallet. - And that’s good. As someone earns something - he, or I, or the children - we will put it in the wallet. - Yes, he even gave the wallet for transportation. - Well, thank God that at least he came back alive.
So the Chumaks had nothing to do - they had to give up all twelve carts.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru