Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. They had a donkey. Once the couple agreed that whoever said the word first would go and water the donkey.
They sat silently opposite each other: they sat for an hour, two, three, without opening their mouths. Finally, the woman got up and went to her father, as she felt the need to talk, while her husband remained at home.
After some time, a stranger entered the house and asked for a piece of bread. The owner of the house remained silent so as not to lose the bet and not to water the donkey. What did the beggar think of him? He thought that the owner was dumb and stupid.
And this beggar entered the house, collected all the utensils, put them in a bag, led the donkey out of the barn, but the owner did not utter a word. Then he became completely bold: he put the sack on the donkey and went his way. The owner continued to remain silent.
After some time, the wife returned and saw that there were neither things nor the donkey. She asked her husband: “Where are all our utensils?” And where did the donkey go?
- You were the first to speak! – her husband exclaimed joyfully. -You'll have to water the donkey!
- But can you tell me where the donkey is that I have to water? – the wife continued to ask. - If there is no donkey, then who should I give water to? Oh you jackal! - she scolded her husband.
And then he told her:
— A beggar came here and asked for a piece of bread. I didn’t answer him. He addressed me several times, but I did not say a word, I remained silent so as not to have to water the donkey. Seeing that I was silent, he entered our house, collected all the utensils, put them in a bag, put the bag on a donkey - and he was gone. But even then I didn’t speak, so that it was not for me, but for you, to water the donkey.
-Where did he go? - asked the wife.
“I don’t know,” the husband answered.
“You are a match for the Tiarians,” the wife thought and went to look for the unknown person who had robbed her house.
She met him on the road.
- Woman, where are you going? - the beggar asked her.
“My husband beat me, I got angry and decided to look for another husband,” she answered.
“If you want, I can marry you,” he said.
“I probably won’t find anyone better than you,” the woman answered. - Apparently, God himself took care of our meeting and destined us for each other. Let's go together.
They drove until dark. Late in the evening, the beggar and this woman stopped in a village.
When dinner was brought to them, the woman said:
— My husband won’t eat; he just had dinner.
But the owners of the house insisted:
- Please eat with us.
“I won’t eat,” he answered, although he was hungry.
He said this, not wanting to embarrass the woman he had just taken as his wife.
Then a bed was prepared for them to sleep.
When they were alone, he said to this woman:
- What have you done? By your grace I was left without dinner.
“Dinner is under the basket,” she answered.
He quickly stood up, walked towards the basket, lifted it, sat down next to it and began to eat greedily. The woman quietly rose from her seat and hid in a secluded corner.
In the dark, lifting the basket and removing food from the vessels, the man involuntarily made a noise that woke up the residents of the house. They thought that a cat had gotten close to the groceries covered by the basket and began calling her:
- Kitty, kitty!
The man, meanwhile, returned to bed and, not finding his wife, began to look for her. Hearing footsteps, people turned on the light and saw this man walking around someone else's house. They attacked him and began to beat him.
- What kind of husband do you have? - they asked the woman.
“Reverends, this is not my husband, but a thief,” she answered. “Yesterday, in my absence, he came to us and took away all the utensils and took away the donkey. I rushed after him, overtook him on the road, but was afraid to demand my things back. Now I declare publicly: the bag with things is my bag and the donkey belongs to me.
They beat the thief and drove him away. The woman took her donkey and her things and returned home. And her husband said to her:
“You were the first to speak, which means you’ll have to water the donkey.”
“With such intelligence and prudence, you should only be a vizier,” answered the wife.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru