Once, several men and priests were crossing in a boat, either across a river or across a lake.
Suddenly a strong wind rose, the boat overturned, and they fell into the water. Fortunately, everyone except the priest knew how to swim, they grabbed the boat and got to the shore. They returned home and began to tell the priest that the priest had drowned. Popadya burst into tears and asked:
- How did he drown?
“The boat turned over,” they answered, “we all fell into the water and let’s shout to the priest: “Pop, give me your hand! Pop, give me your hand!” It was easy for him to extend his hand, but for some reason he didn’t want to, so he drowned.
“Poor me, unfortunate cuckoo,” the priest wailed. - You should shout to him: “Pop, on your hand!” After all, he is used to taking, not giving.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru