There lived a poor peasant family in the Vensyssel district. The owner died, and a widow was left with a bunch of children, small or small. It’s not for nothing that they say: “The rich man has money, the poor man has children.” And before, they somehow managed to get by, but when the owner passed away, they became completely impoverished. So one day the widow said to her eldest son Pelle:
- Go, son, to the pastor. Perhaps he will give us something for our poverty.
And the pastor in that district was at enmity with the landowner and did not want to concede to him in anything. Pelle came to the pastor, and he asked him:
-Have you been to the landowner?
“It was,” answers Pelle.
- Well, what did he give you for your poverty? And Pelle, don’t be a fool and say:
- The landowner gave me a sack of rye and a pork ham.
- That's it! - says the pastor. “Well, it’s no good for me to keep up with him.” And he ordered Pella to be given two bags of rye and two hams in addition.
Pelle returned home and fed his mother and children to their fill. There are just a lot of mouths in the house! Soon all their supplies were gone, and again the need came for Pelle to go for alms. He now appeared to the landowner, and he asked him:
-Have you been to the pastor?
“It was,” Pelle answers.
- Well, what did the miser give you? I suppose it's shish with butter?
“No,” says Pelle, “the pastor gave me two bags of rye and two hams.”
- Look how generous you are! — the landowner was surprised. “Well, we’re no worse than him.” - And he ordered Pella to be given four bags of rye and four hams.
Although they now had enough food for a long time, they still consumed these supplies. Then Pelle says to his mother:
“I’m tired of begging, mother.” And that’s not the point.
I’d better go around the world to seek happiness. Maybe I’ll become the owner. I’ll warm you up in your old age, I’ll bring you brothers and sisters into the world.
The widow baked him some cakes, he put the knapsack on his back, picked up a stick and set off on his way. He walked through the forest all day, and in the evening he got hungry and sat down on a tree stump to eat. Suddenly he sees an old woman walking along the path with a stick. She came closer to him and said:
- Good evening, boy! Would you mind giving me something for dinner?
“How can I not,” Pelle replies, “sit down, grandma, we’ll divide everything we have in half.”
They are having dinner, and the old woman asks him:
- How far are you going, son? Where are you going?
“I wander around the world, looking for happiness,” says Pelle. “My mother and my sisters and brothers are sitting at home hungry. And now we need to ask for somewhere to stay for the night. It's time for night!
“I see you have a good heart,” the old woman tells him. “You care deeply about the mother and children; you shared the last piece with me.” And for this you won’t have to go far to find happiness. When you come out of the forest, turn onto the road, knock on the first house on your left. Just before you enter, look for a gray pebble under the door and put it in your pocket. And when you enter the upper room, strive to repay the owners for their evil with affection. No matter what they say to you, you answer them: “Thank you” - and that’s all! And when everyone has gone to bed, quietly make your way to the fireplace, rake away the ashes and hide the pebble in the heat.
“Thank you, grandmother,” says Pelle. “I’ll do everything as you told me.”
He came out of the forest, turned onto the road and saw a large red house on his left. He went up to the porch, picked up a gray pebble from under the door, put it in his pocket and knocked.
And in this house lived a rich peasant and his wife. And they were such greedy and tight-fisted people that it was simply a disaster. You can't beg them for snow in winter. And to shelter or feed a passing person - that’s a no-no! And the rich men had an marriageable daughter. The girl is beautiful, efficient and the heiress to all her father’s goodness.
So Pelle entered the rich man’s room and saw: the hostess was cooking dinner by the fireplace. Pelle bowed to her and said:
- Good evening, hostess, is it possible to spend the night at your house?
- What else! - the hostess shouted. “There are a lot of you wandering around here!” Get out where you came from!
- Thank you for your kind words! - answered Pelle.
- You're definitely deaf! - the hostess screamed again. “I say, get out of here!”
“Thank you for your kind words,” Pelle replies. He sat down. I threw it onto the woodshed and threw the knapsack on the floor.
The hostess just threw up her hands. You can’t force a guy out of the house!
The hostess cleaned herself up, and then her husband arrived home in time. He saw Pelle and asked his wife:
-Who is this guy?
“Who knows,” says the hostess. - Either deaf or stupid. I tell him: “Get out of here,” and he tells me: “Thank you for your kind words.”
The hostess gathered the table and said to her husband:
“Sit down to dinner, and whatever you don’t finish, I’ll hide it for tomorrow.”
And Pelle quickly sat down at the table and said:
- Thank you, hostess! “He put in some porridge, butter, and meat for himself—and let’s gobble it up on both cheeks.”
The owner and hostess just widened their eyes. Everyone had dinner, the hostess made the bed and said to her husband:
- Go to bed.
And Pelle answers instead:
- Thank you! “He undressed quickly and lay down. The owners didn’t have time to look back, and he was already snoring with all his might. What are you going to do here? That night they had to lie down on the floor. Pelle waited until everyone was asleep, crept up to the fireplace, raked up the ashes and hid the pebble in the heat.
The next morning the owner's daughter was the first to get up. It was so customary in their house that she got up before everyone else, lit the fire in the hearth and made coffee. She took a poker, raked up the ashes and put brushwood on the coals. He waits and waits, but the fire still doesn’t flare up. Then the girl got down on her knees, puffed out her cheeks and wanted to fan the coals. Only suddenly, she doesn’t know how, she screamed at the top of her lungs:
- Wow-wow-wow-wow!..
And she can’t fan the fire, and she can’t stop the screaming. Here the girl burst into tears, and she kept repeating: “Wow-wow-wow-wow!..”
Mother woke up and asked:
- What's wrong with you?
- Wow-wow... - the girl sobs, - the fire... wow-wow... doesn’t flare up!.. Wow-wow-wow-wow...
“Well, what’s the problem - the fire doesn’t flare up,” says the mother. - Why kill yourself like that?
The housewife jumped up from the floor, took the poker, stirred the coals and was about to blow on them. Only suddenly she screams:
- Wow-wow-wow-wow-wow-wow!..
At this point the mother and daughter howled in two voices. The father woke up and asked:
-Are you crazy? Why are you so noisy? And mother and daughter scream:
- Wow-wow-wow-wow-wow!..
The owner got up and saw that they couldn’t light a fire in the hearth.
“It’s true what people say, that a woman’s hair is long and her mind is short,” he says, “because of such nonsense they raised a cry!”
The owner took a poker, stirred the coals and was about to blow on them. Only suddenly he screams at the top of his lungs:
- Wow-wow-wow-wow-wow-wow!..
And then all three of them began to shout: “Wow-wow-wow-wow!..” Then the owner sent his daughter for the sexton. Let him come quickly and read a prayer over the hearth. Apparently, the evil spirit got in there.
The girl rushed as fast as she could towards the sexton. He comes running and says:
- Wow-wow-wow... Father bows to you... wow-wow... and mother... wow... wow... and they ask you to come... wow-wow... read a prayer over the fireplace... wow-wow... he is with us... wow-wow... bewitched... wow-wow-wow-wow-wow! The sexton realized that something was wrong with the girl, and rushed after her to the rich man’s house. He came running and saw: the owners were stomping around the fireplace and screaming with all their might: “Wow wow-wow-wow-wow-wow...”
The sexton took a poker to cross the hearth and drive away the unclean, touched the coals and started it too:
- Wow-wow-wow-wow-wow-wow!..
Then they sent the girl to fetch the pastor. He ran to him and said:
- Wow-wow-wow... unclean... wow-wow... climbed into the hearth... wow-wow... and cast a spell on everyone... wow-wow... and on the priest... wow-wow... and on the mother... wow-wow... and on the sexton... wow-wow...
Read, your reverence... wow-wow... prayer over the hearth... wow-wow-wow-wow.
The pastor put his glasses on his nose, took the prayer book under his arm and walked after the girl. He came to the house of a rich man and saw: everyone was trampling around the fireplace, shouting vyingly: “Wow-wow,” but the fire still did not flare up.
The pastor took the poker and touched the coals with it. He opens the prayer book, and instead of “Our Father” he comes up with one thing: “Wow-wow-wow-wow-wow...
Here the owner completely lost his head from fear. He promised that whoever freed his house from the spell would give his only daughter as a wife and would give up all his property after death.
But Pelle woke up a long time ago and saw all this commotion. Then he realized that now was the time for him to intervene. He jumped out of bed, pulled out a pebble from the fireplace and threw it out the door. And he turned to the owners and said,
- Thank you, good people, for taking me as your son-in-law.
Here the witchcraft spell fell off from everyone at once, and they began to hug Pella and shout:
- Thank you, thank you!
Like it or not, the rich man had to give his daughter in marriage to Pelle. To celebrate, the pastor married them for free, and the sexton sang psalms for them for free. Soon the rich man and his wife died, and Pelle became the complete master of the estate. He brought his mother with his sisters and brothers to live with him, and they all lived happily ever after. This is how Pelle found his happiness. Pelle's wife, fortunately, was not born like her father or mother. She was a kind woman and a hospitable hostess. And Pelle always remembered how hard it was for him from a young age. And therefore, everyone who passed by their house always found a place by the fire, a hearty dinner and shelter for the night.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru