While the news of the wisdom of the Shieldburgers spread throughout the world, a lot of time passed. But the rumor about their buffoonery and stupidity spread like lightning across all countries, and very soon there was no one left on earth who had not heard a lot about their tricks. But in truth, this is not surprising. After all, since we humans have lost wisdom and become jesters, we most often ask about the tricks of the jester, but we have no use for wisdom. This is how it happened with the Schildburgers. It took many years for people to hear about their intelligence and wisdom, but word of their buffoonery spread around everyone and everything before they became real fools.
Once upon a time, the emperor of the country where the Schildburgers lived arrived on his imperial business in the town neighboring Schilda. Local residents began to tell him about the unheard-of clownish tricks of the shieldburgers. The Emperor was very surprised - in previous years he himself had more than once resorted to the wise advice of Schildburgers. Well, since he still had to wait until all his vassals arrived in the town, he ordered to be taken to Shilda in order to see for himself whether everything was as he was told, or if it was just empty chatter.
Here he acted like one good apprentice. He also wanted to see everything for himself, and one day, having secured a promise that his wife would keep her mouth shut and not tell anyone anything, he whispered to her in confidence that their neighbor had laid an egg. Less than half an hour had passed before the wife, of course, also in confidence, told her neighbor about it, but, of course, they were already talking about a couple of eggs. She also secretly told her daughter-in-law about this, although she added one more egg. And so it went: the further, the more. Before night had fallen, the whole village knew that the apprentice’s neighbor had laid a dozen eggs in one day. But at first they talked about only one egg.
The wise emperor first sent a messenger to Shilda with the news of his imminent arrival. At the same time, he ordered to tell the Schildburgers (he must have wanted to check whether they were real jesters or just pretending) that he not only confirmed the long-standing rights and liberties of the city of Schilda, but would grant them even greater freedom if the townspeople responded to his welcoming speech, with which he would be the first to address them, with a saying and in harmony. Let them, they say, reflect on this lesson for now, and when he arrives in Shilda, they will meet him half on horseback and half on foot.
The poor Schildburgers' stomachs trembled at this news—they were more frightened than a cat that had spotted the flayer from afar. Most of all, they were afraid that the emperor would figure out their trick: it’s a well-known fact that gentlemen see much further than mere mortals, and they have long arms, and no matter how far you are, they will definitely grab you. And who knows, maybe the emperor, angry, will force the Schildburgers to throw off their jester caps and they will have to start all over again.
But they had a reason for such concern: is it a joke - they themselves, of their own free will, without asking the highest permission, become jesters and seriously play the fool!
Frightened, the Schildburgers remembered their former insight and very soon found a way out of trouble.
First of all, they put things in order in the stable and in the kitchen - this is so that they could meet the emperor in the most dignified manner.
in a dignified manner. Then they thought about what to do with the mayor. The old one played the jester so famously that he was no longer suitable for reasonable townspeople - it was necessary to choose a new one. Well, in order not to offend anyone, the Schildburgers made the following decision: since the emperor will have to answer with a saying and in harmony, then they will appoint as city mayor the one who will come up with the most harmonious saying by morning.
With that we went home. And it must be said that there was not a single one among them who, that night in his dreams, did not see himself as the mayor of the city.
Most of all, this thought of the swineherd overwhelmed everyone. “I’ve long been accustomed to commanding a herd of pigs. Am I really not going to be able to deal with the Schildburgers?” All night he tossed and turned from side to side, completely pushing his wife. And she was a thrifty woman and from her old mind she saved something for a rainy day. So she asks her husband why he is supposedly so worried. The swineherd remained silent for a long time, finally he could not stand it and told her about his dream.
Having learned why her husband was so upset, the swineherd's wife dreamed of becoming the wife of the city mayor.
“My dear hubby!” she said. “Don’t torment yourself in vain, but rather tell me, what will you give me if I tell you the most coherent of the coherent sayings?”
“I’ll give you a fur coat!” blurted out the swineherd.
My wife had been longing for a fur coat for a long time. She leaned towards his ear and began to whisper:
Everyone says, my lords, that there is no cattle dirtier than a pig, but I will say, my lords, that there is no cattle tastier than a pig!
And so that her husband would not forget this saying, she repeated it exactly ninety-nine times.
Meanwhile, it was dawn and it was time to go to the town hall.
And there were so many inhabitants of Shilda, they brought so many sayings with them! And I only regret that not all of them were preserved in my memory.
The oldest Schildburger spoke first. He said:
Even though I'm a simple man,
And I also know how to say sayings.
“Couldn’t you think of anything better?” - another Schildburger shouted at him. “Get lost!” I want to be the head! Listen to my saying!
Since childhood they called me Hans,
But I will not give offense... to my children.
- And that’s all? — the third Schildburger curled his lips. “That way, I’ll probably outdo you.” Well, listen to what I wrote:
If you want to reap a rich harvest, carry manure in the spring and don’t... be lazy.
But the fourth did not like this saying. He pushed the third one away and said his thing:
How will it come back to haunt you?
And so... you will get the answer.
As soon as he finished speaking, the fifth man spoke:
Whoever tells fairy tales out of tune, I would be... ready to hang.
They lay out their tales one after another, and the swineherd stands neither alive nor dead. He is afraid that someone will say his poem. But now it’s his turn. And even though he repeated his wife’s saying to himself almost a thousand times, what he came out with was a little different:
Everyone says, my lords, that there is no cattle tastier than a pig, but I will say, my lords, that there is no one smarter than my wife!
Hearing this, the advisers exclaimed with one voice:
- Look! But he really did it well!
They immediately started voting and, of course, chose the swineherd as the city mayor.
At the same time, the Schildburgers reasoned like this: this one will be able to please His Majesty and keep him company.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru