In one parish there lived a poor man, Husman, which is what landless tenants are called in Denmark. And he had three sons: the eldest was named Per, the middle was Pale, and the youngest was Esben, nicknamed the Simpleton. Esben was reputed to be narrow-minded, and no one took him seriously.
Now the sons have grown up - and the time has come for them to set off on the road and seek happiness. The old people's household is small, there is nothing to put their hands to, and it is no longer appropriate for them to be at the neighbors' errands - they have grown too big.
- Well, they got away! - the father told them. “Instead of lounging around at home with nothing to do, it’s better to go and earn your bread.”
The eldest son, Per, was the first to go to the other side. They equipped Per for the journey, gave him a canvas shirt, homespun trousers and a loaf of bread. He said goodbye to his family and went to wander around the world.
He walked and walked and saw a traveler coming towards him, his team was rich. He held his horses and shouted to Peru:
- Hey, kid, where are you going?
“I’m going to the other side to seek happiness.”
-Won't you join me as a worker? - asks the traveler.
- What kind of payment will you pay? - asked Per.
“If you serve for six months, you’ll receive four pieces of silver,” answers the traveler.
- Any payment! - says Per.
“Only a persuasion,” the traveler continues. - Rise before dawn and do whatever work I order. This is my custom. I like the workers on my estate to serve for a long time, but at first I test everyone and only hire them for six months. Remember: when spring comes and the cuckoo flies, our agreement will end. And one more thing: I myself am a cheerful person and I can’t stand sour roles. Let's do this: whoever of us gets angry first, let him blame himself! If I’m the first to get angry, well, no matter how long you serve, get paid in full for six months. And if you are the first to get angry, then don’t blame me. I’ll cut you into stripes from your back and belly, sprinkle the wounds with pepper and salt - and get out of here on all fours.
It was a wonderful agreement, and Per did not immediately shake hands. I thought about it at first. And that man was scary. Mouth to ears, and Per had never seen such an ugly long nose in his life. But the piggy eyes of the passer-by were so affectionate, so touching, that Per thought: “He must be joking. And the payment, really, is good. Eh, it wasn’t!”
- OK! - said Per. - Hands down!
So Per signed up for the service. He got into the owner’s cart and didn’t have time to look back - they were already home. It was late, Per went to bed and slept all night until dawn in his closet.
At six o'clock in the morning the rooster crowed. Per jumped up, got dressed, and ran to the threshing floor, where the owner told him to go in the evening.
Per began to thresh the wheat with all his might, as ordered. He threshes for an hour, threshes for another, and everything around seems to have died out. Nobody comes and invites him to breakfast. Then Per threw away the flail and went to the upper room. He came and saw: the owner was lounging on the bench, and there was no trace of breakfast on the table. Right there in the upper room is the mistress - cross-eyed, with two huge fangs sticking out of her mouth. “What an ugly thing!” thought Per. “Worse than the owner!” And a horde of grimy children is still spinning under our feet: howling, squealing, scratching. Apparently everyone has already had breakfast. Only they didn’t have anything in store for him.
The owner grins:
- No way, do you want to eat, Per?
- Sure, I want to! - says Per. “They didn’t give me dinner yesterday, and even today there wasn’t a drop of poppy dew in my mouth.” Try grinding for two hours without eating!
- And look what is written above the lintel! - said the mountain troll.
Per hired himself not to a person at all, but to a troll! Only he didn’t know it.
Per raised his head and saw: written above the ceiling in large letters: “Don’t expect food today, wait until tomorrow!”
Per's face fell with annoyance.
- No way, are you angry, Per? - asks the owner. Per sees that this is a serious matter and answers:
- What are you, what are you, not at all!
He wandered like a beaten dog back to the threshing floor. Luckily, he had a loaf of bread lying around in his pocket, something else he had stored at home. It was useful to him now.
“I’ll get by for a day,” thought Per, “maybe the owner wants to test me. Otherwise, why such quirks! It’s written above the lintel: wait until tomorrow!”
Per thrashed without rest all day until the evening, and then, without having dinner, he went to bed.
The next day the rooster crowed at four o'clock.
“I’ll have breakfast early,” thought Per.
He jumped up, got dressed, and ran to the threshing floor. He came running and let’s thresh as hard as we can. But every now and then, lowering the flail, he listened: was they calling for breakfast? But no one called him. When the time approached six, Per threw away the flail and went to the upper room. And there it was exactly like yesterday: there was no trace of breakfast, the owner was lounging on a bench at the table, and he still looked as well-fed and satisfied. The hostess is busy with a horde of angry, loud-mouthed children. Well, it looks like they had a hearty breakfast!
The owner looked at the worker and grinned:
- No way, do you want to eat, Per?
- I wouldn’t want to! - Per said angrily. “Yesterday I didn’t have a drop of poppy dew in my mouth, but I worked hard all day long on the threshing floor, and today I threshed for two solid hours.” You'll be as hungry as a dog here!
“And look what is written above the lintel these days!” says the troll.
Per looked and saw: the same thing was written there as yesterday: “Don’t expect food today, wait until tomorrow!”
- Yesterday you also promised “tomorrow”! - Per shouted. -There will be jokes! The worker must be fed!
- No way, are you angry, Per? - asks the troll owner.
- Of course, he got angry, you damn bloodsucker! - Per swears. “There’s no point in mocking people or treating them to ‘breakfasts’.”
- What?! Do you know the agreement? - The troll jumped up from the bench.
The troll apparently had a fair amount of skill! He grabbed a knife, instantly pulled off Per's shirt, cut belts from the worker's back and stomach, skillfully sprinkled him with pepper, added salt, and threw him out of the gate.
Per screamed and groaned and trudged home. Many days passed before he returned to his old parents.
Per had been ill for a long time, and at home they were still poisoning his soul - everyone repeated with one voice: it was all his fault, he was obstinate, and the owner only wanted to test the new worker. They do not disdain service for four rubles of silver a year!
Then the middle brother, Palle, got ready to set off. He stocked up on all sorts of food for future use and set off along the same road as Per.
Palle was lucky: in the evening the same owner was driving towards him. He held his horses and shouted:
- Hey, kid, where are you going?
- I’m going to the other side to seek happiness! - Palle responded.
The troll began to invite him to his service. Palle accepted the terms of the agreement. They shook hands and went home to the owner.
Palle lived with the troll for three whole days; all this time he worked for the owner: he did not feed him, did not give him water, he only treated him to “breakfast”. And when Palle saw the same inscription above the lintel on the fourth day: “Don’t expect food today, wait until tomorrow!” - His patience ran out, he gave himself free rein and scolded the troll to his heart's content.
They trimmed him, like Pera, cut belts from his back and stomach, sprinkled pepper on the wounds and added salt.
He walked for a long time to get home, and he looked pitiful!
When the old Khusmans saw their son, they began to lament and began to heal his wounds with various drugs; They cursed the villainous owner for mutilating their children like that.
Esben the Simpleton, meanwhile, wanders around the yard and is silent, as if he had filled his mouth with water. And in the morning he completely disappeared from the yard. He himself knew where he needed to go: Esben went the same road as his brothers.
In the evening a troll rolls towards him. He held his horses and shouted to Esben:
- Hey, kid, where are you going?
- I’m going to the other side to seek happiness! - Esben responded.
-Won't you join me as a worker? - asks the troll.
- What kind of payment will you pay? - asked Esben.
“A quarter of pure silver for six months of service,” the troll answers. “Pay anywhere!” Just remember: I myself am a cheerful person and give me the same workers! That’s why I agree in advance: whoever of us gets angry first, let him blame himself! If I get angry first, well, no matter how long you serve, get paid in full for six months. And if you are the first to get angry, then don’t blame me. I’ll cut you with belts from your back and belly, sprinkle your wounds with pepper and salt - and get out of here on all fours.
- I guess we'll get together! - said Esben.
They shook hands, and the troll said:
“You will serve me until spring, and when the cuckoo flies, our agreement will end.” Or maybe we’ll come to an agreement after that in a new way.
- OK! Esben agrees.
He got into the cart, and they drove to the troll's estate. They took Esben to the very closet where his brothers lived, and he slept there soundlessly all night.
At six o'clock the rooster crowed. Esben got up and went to the threshing floor to thresh rye, as ordered. An hour threshes, another hour threshes, and everything around seems to have died out. Nobody comes and invites him to breakfast. Then Esben threw away the flail and went to the upper room. He came and saw that the whole troll family was assembled: the troll was lounging at the table, the troll was sitting right there, the troll cubs were fighting and scratching on the floor.
- Good day! - Esben greets. - Is it time for breakfast?
“The agreement doesn’t say anything about that,” says the troll. “Better look at what’s written above the lintel.”
Even though Esben was not very literate, he still read it out loud: “Don’t wait until tomorrow.”
- Every day has its own worries! I wish I could eat today!
“And you thresh rye, so feed on rye,” the troll grinned.
Esben did not answer him a word and went back to the threshing floor. There he threshed the rye as hard as he could, winnowed it, and at noon he filled a bag of grain and carried it to the nearest inn.
“My master and I agreed: I won’t eat at his house.” He doesn’t give me money for food, but he allows me to eat rye. Will you take me for bread if I give you a bag of rye? - Esben asks the owner of the inn.
- Why not take it! - he answers.
Esben ate to his fill, they filled his knapsack with all kinds of food, and filled his flask to the top with beer. He went back to the threshing floor and started threshing.
The first day passed, followed by another and a third. Esben's owner does not feed or water him; above the lintel are the same words: “Don’t expect food today, wait until tomorrow.” And at least Esben is happy and happy.
The troll is amazed and Esbena asks every morning:
“Aren’t you angry, Esben?”
And Esben responded:
- No, master! Why should I be angry? Isn’t it possible for me to live with you?
The troll has no idea what he’s talking about.
On the fourth morning, Esben enters the upper room, and the troll, as before, shows him the inscription above the lintel: “Don’t expect food today, wait until tomorrow.”
At least Esben is getting ready to go to work again.
“Would you like something to eat, Esben?” - asks the owner.
- Not really! What is not is not true! - Esben answers.
“So you haven’t put anything in your mouth for three days?” - the owner asks.
“Well, of course,” Esben answers. - I ate what I wanted. I fed on rye, as you, master, ordered. There was one kind man in the neighborhood: for a bag of rye a day he wouldn’t give me anything: beer, and plenty of food of all kinds.
- How dare you? - the owner yells in his hearts.
-Are you angry? Eh, master? - Esben asks calmly.
- No! No... not at all! - the troll answers. “But it’s better for you to do something else: you need to plow the field.” Take the plow and follow my dog. The dog knows the way. Where he lies down on the ground, start plowing there! Look, don’t quit work until the dog runs home!
- Okay, master! Esben agrees.
He harnessed the horses to the plow and rode into the field. And the dog runs ahead. The dog lay down on the ground. Esben began to plow there. He plowed the field and plowed, but the dog still lay there and didn’t move. It’s already noon, the neighbors have all gone home to have lunch, but the dog hasn’t moved. “Apparently, he stays like this until evening,” thought Esben.
Esben's stomach gave out from hunger. He grabbed a stick and lightly pulled the dog along the back. The dog yelped and went home at full speed.
Esben cut the lines, jumped on the horse and followed the dog, and held the other horse on the lead.
He caught up with the dog right at the troll’s estate and saw that the dog had jumped over the fence. Esben rushed after him, could not hold back the horses, and they fell to the ground. One even broke her leg.
A troll ran out to the noise, looked: at the porch the dog was waving its tail and then Esben stood there as if nothing had happened.
- As you are the owner, you ordered, so I did! - says Esben. “The dog ran home, and I followed him!” Aren't you angry, master?
- No, I’m not angry! - the troll answers. - Go to the boarding house and refresh yourself.
The owner did not know what to do with such a worker: Esben carried out all his orders and was always cheerful and satisfied. The troll even began to be afraid of Esben. And then something unheard of and unprecedented in those parts happened: the troll fed the worker lunch and dinner. And when Esben got up in the morning and entered the upper room, he saw: the inscriptions above the lintel - “Don’t wait for food today, wait until tomorrow” - were as if they had never happened.
Esben had breakfast that day at the appointed time, grabbed a basket of food that his hostess gave him, and went to work. He was ordered to herd troll pigs. There were about fifty of those pigs, all selected, fat.
“Let them graze where they want,” says the troll, “it doesn’t matter if they bury themselves in the ground.”
“Okay, master,” says Esben.
As soon as he left the estate, two butchers met him. They are just going to buy cattle. Butchers liked fat pigs, so they asked:
— Do you sell pigs?
- Otherwise, no! - Esben answers. -I was just about to sell them. Take everyone except the old hog. He will go to the pastor.
The butchers agreed with Esben on the price, gave him a whole bunch of dalers and drove the troll herd away. Esben had only one old hog left. Esben saw that the hog was sick, just look, he would stretch his legs.
And rightly so. When Esben and the hog came to the peat bog, the hog immediately died. The worker stuck the hog's muzzle into the swamp slurry; I left one tail sticking out, and even that one was cut slightly at the root.
Esben took his basket and went to the troll yard.
-Where are the pigs? - asks the owner.
- Buried in the swamp! - Esben answers. “And the old hog too.” Even though his tail was sticking out, I held it back a little. And there are no others in sight.
The troll and Esben rushed to the peat bog. He grabbed the pig's tail, pulled, and splashed into the swamp slurry. Only the tail remained in his hands. The troll jumped to his feet and began to run through the swamp, clicking on the pigs. Yes, there is no trace of them.
- No way, are you angry, master? - asks Esben.
- No, why should I be angry? - the troll answers, and he himself shakes with anger.
Time is ticking. The troll feeds Esben enough, does not burden him with work, and is afraid to contact the employee. And Esben lives like cheese rolling around in butter.
Once they invited a troll and his wife to a wedding with other trolls. And we had to go far. Here in the morning the troll orders Esben:
- Prepare a richer trip, but don’t forget to tar it where it’s supposed to, and make sure it’s respectable!
- OK! says Esben.
He took a barrel of tar, coated the entire cart, went to the troll and reported:
- It is thoroughly lubricated everywhere, and best of all is where you, father-owner, are sitting.
-Are you crazy?! - the troll yelled, but came to his senses in time and said: - What is it I! And it wasn’t in my mind to be angry with you. Only the wheel axles needed to be lubricated! Wipe the seat thoroughly.
- That's it! - Esben drawled. “I would have said that before!”
He wiped the seat, the troll and the trollwoman climbed into the cart, and Esben sat on the box. On the way, the owner punishes the worker:
“When you take us and come back, fill the well with everything you can get your hands on.” Otherwise, there’s no way one of the troll kids will fall in there.
- Okay, master! says Esben.
- Look, be gentle with the small fry! - says the troll. - So that she is not denied anything.
And he called his troll spawn small fry.
- Okay, master! Esben agrees.
“And one more thing: light a fire in the yard before our arrival, so that it’s as bright as day, otherwise you’ll lose your way.”
- Okay, master! - Esben promises.
They arrived at the estate where the wedding feast was taking place. The troll and trollwoman got out of the cart, and Esben turned home. He had a lot of trouble that day.
He remembered that he had promised the troll to be more kind to the small fry, and ordered all the small fry in the parish, all the poor Husmans, to appear at noon with bags and ropes at the troll's estate.
At noon the Husmans arrived; Esben opened the doors of the barns, barns, sheds and stables and said:
- Take whatever you want. The owner ordered to be kind to you and not to refuse you anything.
The poor people were amazed: no one in the parish had ever seen anything good from the bloodsucking troll. But they didn’t force themselves to ask. They grabbed the rye and wheat, took out the cows, horses, and sheep and went home.
It was time to fill up the old well. Esben was about to throw a shovel or two of earth into the well, but it seemed to him not enough. He went into the house and began dragging everything he could get his hands on: tables, benches, feather beds, supplies, and beds. He threw everything into the well, covered it with earth, and threw stones at it. Lovely to watch!
In the end all that remained was for Esben to light a fire in the yard so that it would be as bright as day.
Esben did a great job, and then went after the owner.
A huge number of guests came to the wedding feast! There were trolls with tails and trolls without tails; those who knew better wore two tails. For the sake of the wedding, they let out their tails over their festive clothes. And how self-important they were! The trolls thought that tails suited them very well.
The guests and hosts got pretty drunk and had so much fun - they sang and danced, and the youngest even walked on their heads.
In such a crowd, Esben did not immediately see the owner and mistress. And when he saw it, he began to give them signs. The troll noticed the worker, went out with his wife into the yard, they got into the cart and drove home. They drive up to the estate and see: the edge of the sky is blazing, as if the sun is rising. And as we got closer, we realized: the fire was rising to the sky, the estate was blazing with a bright flame!
- What is this?! - the troll yelled. - No way, the estate is on fire?!
- Yeah! - Esben answers. “You yourself ordered a fire to be lit in the yard for your arrival, so that it would be as light as during the day.” Otherwise, you won’t even be able to enter the estate in the dark, and you won’t be able to warm yourself up with hot food. So I set fire to the left wing. You're not angry, are you, master?
- To hell! - the troll shouts. - Drive faster, Satan will take you!
They drove up to the estate, and in the courtyard it was, in fact, as bright as day, the left wing was already burning down.
The house and services are still intact - the weather is calm, and the fire has not spread to them.
The troll entered the house and howled:
- What is it? Where did all the utensils go? Who cleaned the tables and benches?
“And I threw them into the well,” says Esben. “You ordered to throw it with whatever came to hand.” Aren't you angry, master?
- No... No! I'm not angry! - the troll answers. “Don’t you know that a well is filled with sand, earth and turf?”
“I should have said so before!” says Esben.
The troll went out into the yard and saw that the doors in all the barns, barns, sheds, and stables were open. I ran up - everything was empty: no rye, no wheat, no horses, no cows, no sheep.
The troll grabbed his head and couldn’t say a word. And Esben is right there:
“You yourself ordered to be kind to the small fry and not to refuse her anything.” So I distributed everything to the poor Khusmans. You're not angry, are you, master?
- No, I’m not angry! - the troll answers. - But you are very simple. No wonder they call you Esben the Simpleton. Now I have no use for the worker anymore. I have neither grain nor cattle; there is nothing to thresh and sow, no one to graze. Go home now, here's your pay!
- Eh, no! - says Esben. - I feel good here too! And it’s not time to quit the service yet: spring has not yet come, the cuckoo has not yet arrived. After all, we agreed with you like that!
- That's right! - the troll agrees.
The troll was left face to face with the troll woman. It was then that he became enraged, and then he gave himself free rein:
- What a damn rogue! Soon he will let me around the world! What should I do?—The damned agreement has tied me hand and foot! No stubborn worker can survive from here. Maybe kill him?!
- It seems to me that I know Esben’s lime remedy! - says the troll woman. - You can always kill him. Wait until tomorrow! Maybe we can wrap him around our finger after all. When the cuckoo flies in the spring, your agreement is over, right? Spring is still coming! And in the morning, smear me with tar, roll me in feathers, and plant me on a big apple tree. I’ll start cuckooing there, and Esben will think that the cuckoo has arrived. So he'll go home.
- You are so smart! - says the troll. -Have it your way!
That's what they decided on.
The next morning the troll and Esben are sitting at the table, having breakfast. Suddenly they hear from the apple orchard: “Kuk-ku! Kuk-ku! Kuk-ku!” - spreads throughout the entire estate.
- Do you hear? - asks the troll. - The cuckoo has arrived!
- Cuckoo? says Esben. - Isn't it early? I'll go have a look and scare her away.
He jumps out into the apple orchard, grabs a stone and throws it right at the troll’s forehead. The troll fell from a tree and broke her neck. Serves her right! She could not destroy Esben.
- Come here, master! - Esben shouts. - What a wonderful cuckoo!
The troll rushed in, and lo and behold, the troll was lying under the apple tree, not breathing. The troll's eyes began to sparkle with anger. He began to curse Esben.
“You’re not angry, are you, master?” - asks Esben.
The troll couldn't stand it here.
- Oh, you little firebrand from hell! - he yelled. - How angry I was! I just made up my mind! I'm about to burst! Oh damn you! He ruined my estate and almost burned down my estate! What did you do with the troll?! Woohoo!
The troll reviled the employee as best he could.
- That's how you spoke, that's how dissatisfied you are! - said Esben. - And remember how you bullied people, my brothers, Per and Pale, and me too. Did you think the poor couldn’t stand up for themselves?
How Esben will swing here, how he will give the troll! The troll is out of breath.
Esben returned home to his father and mother and his brothers. And from that time on, no one else saw trolls in the area until the end of their days.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru