Once upon a time, they say, in the same village there lived a widow with her son, daughter and daughter-in-law.
They did not live richly, but they did not know poverty either; they had a small farm.
Both mother, sister, and wife loved their Mashuko very much. When he would go somewhere, they couldn’t wait to see him, they would come out to meet him at the gate... And there was a reason to love him. He was a brave, smart and cheerful guy.
One day Mashuko went to buy hay. It was almost time for dinner, and the mother said:
- Oh, my good daughter-in-law! We have no water, and your husband should be back soon. It's time to put on lunch.
The daughter-in-law hung the buckets on the yoke and went to the river for water. I scooped up one and was just about to fill the second bucket when I heard a voice singing and pronouncing, like a bell was ringing. It was a shepherd boy on the other side, tending sheep and singing a sad song.
“If this shepherd were my husband and if he died, I would mourn him only with such a song,” the daughter-in-law said to herself. And as she said, let’s tear out our hair, cry and condemn.
The mother-in-law is waiting at home for her daughter-in-law, she can’t wait, every now and then she goes out onto the road to see if she’s coming back? Dinner is not ready, and my son is about to return. “Did something happen to our daughter-in-law?” - thought the mother and sent her daughter for her. The girl ran to the river and saw her daughter-in-law sitting on the bank, tearing out her hair, crying, and dying.
- What's happened? Why are you crying? - the girl was scared.
- “If my husband died, wouldn’t I cry?” - so I asked myself, and so
“I’m crying,” the daughter-in-law answered her sister-in-law through tears.
- Well, if my only brother died, wouldn’t I cry? - the girl exclaimed, sat down on the bank and also began to cry at the top of her voice.
And my mother can’t wait at home. There is neither the one who walked on the water, nor the one who was sent after her! And dinner is not ready, but my son is about to return! What should a mother do? There was no one else to send, so I went to the river myself.
When she saw her daughter-in-law and daughter sitting on the shore, sobbing bitterly, she was dumbfounded with fear.
- What happened, my daughter-in-law? What happened, my daughter? - she screamed from afar. And they told her what you've already heard...
“Oh, Allah, if this were my only son and if he died, I would cry just the same!” And, having said this, the mother began to sob loudly.
All three are sitting by the river, tearing out their hair, mourning the living Mashuko. And it was already noon... Mashuko went for hay, returned, unharnessed the oxen, wanted to bring the whip into the hut and saw a lock on the door... There was no one at home, no one met him, as always happened...
“I’ll drive the bulls to water,” Mashuko thinks, “and in the meantime my wife or mother will return.” He drove the bulls to the river, and there his whole family was sitting on the bank, shedding tears.
- What's wrong with you? — Mashuko was alarmed. “What grief is there in our house?”
They told him what you had already heard. Mashuko was deeply offended: how is it possible that they are mourning him alive?! And he became even more vexed...
“I’ll leave,” he told them, “and won’t return until I meet someone stupider than you.” ‘
Mashuko grabbed a clay jug, knocked out the bottom, pulled a rope through it, hung it on his shoulder and set off, shouting:
— I’m selling a leaky jug! How long did he walk, how short did he leave behind many roads traveled, you never know, but he had been walking for seven whole days.
He came to an aul, which, like his native village, stood on the bank of a river. Not far from this village there was a large hill, and people were swarming around the hill... Mashuko met an old shepherd with a flock of sheep on the road.
- Salaam alaikum!
- Oh, alaikum salaam, be our guest.
- Allah send you the best guests, venerable one! Will you tell me: why are people crowding around the hill? What are they doing there?
“You see, my son, our prince ordered the hill to be dragged and placed next to the village. From this hill, the prince says, it will be convenient to call people.
Mashuko marveled to himself at both this prince and these people.
- Don’t judge me, good man, don’t think:
“Here is a slacker, sticking his nose into someone else’s business!... - but your prince’s order is unreasonable... You will not move the hill from its place. It would be easier for you to move the whole village to the hill, if the prince really wants the hill to stand closer.
“Hey, you’re right!.. It never occurred to us,” the old man rejoiced. He abandoned the flock and ran to his fellow countrymen.
What about Mashuko? Mashuko went further and shouted:
— I’m selling a leaky jug! Selling a leaky jug!
He walked a long way, you never know, but he reached another village and saw a woman at the outermost saklya.
- What are you selling, son? she asked.
- Jug. It can be washed from all sides.
- Allah! This is exactly what I need! How much does it cost?
- I don't ask for much. As much as will fit in it.
- Come on, be our guest! I can't miss this jug.
The woman called Mashuko into the barn and began pouring millet into the jug. And Mashuko held the jug over the open bag. When he had filled all the bags he could find, he placed a jug in the last one, filled to the brim with grain, and said:
- Now that's enough!
- Please come into our house. I have to treat the person for such a bargain.
She fed Mashuko everything that she had prepared for her son, who went to collect firewood.
“Where are you from?” he asks.
“I’m from the other world,” Mashuko answers.
- In the next world, my only daughter... Haven't you heard of her?
- What's her name?
— Surat.
- Oh, may your home be full of goodness! Why! We are neighbors there, after all. Our fences converge. Now I’ll tell her that I was your guest!
- Oh, Allah, oh, Allah, what a miracle! — the woman hit herself on the knees with her hands. “A year has passed since my daughter was taken into the next world, and still there has been no news from her.” Please, take and give her several dresses.
- Of course, I will! — Mashuko agreed. “Don’t worry.” Consider that you did it yourself.
- For your service I will give you a cart and bulls. You will take your millet to the next world, and at the same time your chest
my daughter. I wouldn’t spare you even the horses, but my son rode them to get firewood.
-: I’ll get there even better on bulls. In the next world, the roads are more suitable for them.
So they agreed on everything, and Mashuko was already beginning to say goodbye, when suddenly a donkey screamed loudly at the very threshold.
“Why did he shout?” says Mashuko.
“This is my daughter’s favorite donkey,” the woman answered. “He probably heard our conversation and is asking to see her.”
“Well, I’ll take him with me too, let him see the owner.”
- May I be your victim! — the woman was happy. She tied a donkey to the cart and escorted Mashuko to the next world.
Mashuko is driving home, singing songs and urging the bulls on... And that woman can’t wait to see her son so she can show off her purchase as soon as possible.
Her son finally returned from the forest with firewood.
- O my son, the light of my eyes! — she ran out to meet him. “Look at what a wonderful jug I bought.” It's easy to wash from all sides! - And she thrust a leaky jug into his hands.
The son jumped off the cart and asked:
- How much did you pay for this jug?
“I gave away all the millet that was in the bins, that’s all!”
- Where are the carts and bulls? — the son looked around, already guessing that his mother had done something bad.
“The man who sold the jug came to us from the other world,” explained the mother. “He lives there next to our Surat.” I allowed him to harness the bulls, and gave our girl’s chest... And I sent the donkey along with him. Let Surat see you.
- How long has he left? - says the son, and he himself saddles the horse.
- I just left the village.
Here he sees Mashuko, a horseman catches up with him, and gallops at full speed along the road. He turned to the side, led the bulls and donkey into the wolfberry bushes, and went back out. A horseman rode up to him and asked:
-Have you seen a man on bulls? He also has a donkey tied to the cart.
- How can I not see it, I saw it! He took a side road. You can't catch him on horseback, it's better to walk. And I will hold your horse.
This guy gave him the reins and ran, kicking up dust with his feet and wiping away sweat with his sleeve. Meanwhile, Mashuko cut off the tip of the horse's tail and stuck it into a crack in the road. He drove the horse into the bushes, and he himself shouted:
- Hey, come back! Your horse has fallen through the ground!
The guy returned, looked - only the tail was sticking out of the crack - and waved his hand:
- I'm unlucky! The oxen were taken away, the donkey was taken away, and now the horse has fallen through the ground!
Mashuko arrived in his village with a lot of goods and even brought a horse.
Which of them is more stupid? Mashuko's wife? Or sister? Or mother? Or that prince? Or maybe his people? Or that woman? Or the woman's son?
How do you think?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru