Chico

Once upon a time, there lived a brother and sister. They were very poor. Near the market, they had a small clay house. The sister took care of the household, while the brother went into the forest, gathered firewood, sold it, and somehow they managed to scrape by.

One day, the brother went to a nearby forest, chopped some firewood, loaded it onto his back, and reached a familiar clearing when he suddenly heard a strange voice: "Whoever takes me will regret it, and whoever leaves me will also regret it." He looked around and saw an empty skull lying on the ground. He thought to himself, "What should I do? I can't take it, and I can't leave it either." He decided to burn the firewood on top of the skull. The skull burned along with the firewood and turned to ash.

When he returned home, his sister asked, "Why didn’t you bring any firewood? We’ll have nothing to eat tomorrow." The brother replied, "I fell ill, sister. I couldn’t carry the firewood home." The next day, he went back to the forest, chopped more firewood, and when he reached the clearing, he thought, "Let me see what’s happening where the skull was." He stirred the ashes with the end of a stick and found a green bead in the ashes. He put it in his shirt pocket, loaded the firewood onto his back, and went home.

Many days passed. One day, the brother said to his sister, "Wash my shirt. I’m going to the city to find work. Maybe I’ll earn some grain. We’ll sow it and have something to eat." While washing his shirt, the sister found the beautiful green bead in his pocket. Having nowhere to put it, she tucked it into her cheek and accidentally swallowed it. The brother went off to work. Whether a long or short time passed, only he knew. He earned half a sack of grain and returned home. To his surprise, he saw that his sister was soon to have a child.

"What is this, sister? We can barely feed ourselves, and now there’s a child?" he said angrily. "It’s not my fault," the sister replied. "I found a bead in your pocket and accidentally swallowed it. That’s why I’m going to have a child." The brother remembered the bead but said nothing to his sister. He borrowed a pair of oxen from a neighbor, hitched them to a plow, and went to plow the field to sow the grain he had earned in the city. While he was plowing, his sister gave birth to a son. As soon as the boy was born, he spoke: "Mother, give me a piece of bread. I’ll take it to my uncle."

The mother was surprised but said nothing. She tied the bread in a bundle and gave it to him. The boy reached the field and called out, "Uncle, I’ve brought you food! Rest and eat." The brother thought, "What is this? Are devils tormenting me?" He looked around but saw no one. He said, "Where are you? Throw something up from the ground so I can see you." The boy threw a clump of dirt, and the uncle saw him. "Whose boy are you?" he asked. The boy replied, "I’m your nephew, your sister’s son." The brother realized what had happened, took the bread from the boy, ate it, and was about to start plowing again. The boy said, "Uncle, let me drive the oxen." He climbed onto the yoke and began driving the oxen. He did it so skillfully that the oxen quickly plowed the entire field.

"You’re a good boy, Chiko," the uncle said. From then on, they called the boy Chiko. Together, they sowed the entire field. The uncle went home, and Chiko stayed by the gate to play with the other boys. Suddenly, two black horsemen rode by. Chiko approached them and said, "I know where you’re going. The king had a dream but doesn’t know what it means. You’re going to fetch a fortune-teller to interpret it for him, but he won’t be able to. Only I can interpret the king’s dream." The black horsemen asked, "What’s your name?" The boy replied, "They call me Chiko." They laughed at the boy and went to fetch the fortune-teller. They brought the fortune-teller to the king, but he couldn’t interpret the dream.

Then the servants said to the king, "Long live the king! On one of the streets, a boy named Chiko boasted that he could interpret your dream." The king, intrigued, said, "Go and bring the boy." The black horsemen rode off and brought Chiko to the king. The king wanted to tell him the dream, but Chiko said, "No need. I already know what you dreamed. You saw red and green shadows passing over your palace, and tall trees grew around your courtyard."

Chiko asked the king for a spit, a shovel, and a worker. He went into the courtyard, stuck the spit into the ground, and said to the worker, "Dig." The worker dug and soon unearthed a jug of gold. Chiko went to the other side, stuck the spit into the ground again, and told the worker to dig once more. This time, the worker found a second jug of gold. Chiko gave all the gold to the king, and the king paid him as much as he would have paid the fortune-teller. The fortune-teller, hiding behind a tree, watched Chiko. When Chiko was on his way home, the fortune-teller ambushed him and said, "My son, come live with me. You’ll be like a son to me."

Chiko replied, "I can’t be your son. I have a mother, and I am her son. But I’m willing to serve you. Pay my mother, and I’ll serve you faithfully." The fortune-teller asked, "How much should I pay her?" Chiko said, "Give her as much gold as I weigh." The fortune-teller gave him the gold. Chiko took it to his mother and uncle and then settled in the fortune-teller’s house. One day, the fortune-teller said to his daughter, "I’m going to the bathhouse. By the time I return, slaughter this boy, cook his brains with pilaf, and I’ll eat them to become as clever as he is."

The girl became sad and began sharpening the knives to kill Chiko, crying bitterly. Chiko said to her, "Shall I tell you why you’re sharpening the knife?" She replied, "Tell me." He said, "You’re sharpening the knife to kill me. Your father wants to eat my brains, thinking he’ll become smarter, but that’s not possible." The girl asked...
— What should we do? If father comes and sees that I disobeyed him, he will kill me.
Chico says to her:
— Go buy a calf. We’ll slaughter it, take out its brains, and feed them to your father. He won’t suspect a thing.
And so they did.

Meanwhile, Chico climbed into a chest and said:
— Close the lid and hide the key in your pocket. The fortune-teller returned home, saw that the pilaf was ready and the brains were cooked in it. He ate the pilaf and didn’t suspect anything.

Two days passed. The king had another strange dream. He dreamed that the Black Sea and the White Sea had mixed together. They sent for the fortune-teller, but how could he decipher such a dream? He returned home sad. His daughter asked:
— Why are you sighing, father?
— I’ve lost a lot of gold,— he replied. — I couldn’t interpret the king’s dream. How wonderful it would have been if Chico were with us.
And Chico spoke from the chest: — Don’t be sad, I’m here.

The girl lifted the lid, and Chico stepped out. The fortune-teller was surprised at how Chico had come back to life but didn’t show it. He began to ask him:
— Listen, Chico, the king had a dream and gave me three days to interpret it. If I don’t, he’ll have my head.
Chico said:
— Well, let’s go to the king.
They gathered and went to the palace. They reached the king’s chambers.
— Long live the king,— said Chico. — Make me king for a few minutes, and then I’ll interpret your dream.
— Very well,— said the king,— be king.
Chico put on the king’s shoes, tied on his saber, and said:
— Bring me a watermelon; I’m tired. Once I eat the watermelon, I’ll explain the dream.

Chico took out a knife to cut the watermelon, secretly slipped it into the watermelon, and said:
— Long live the king. My knife is missing; someone here must have stolen it.
The king said:
— Search for it. You are the king; you have the right to search everyone.
Chico stood up, searched the king’s wife, pretended to find the knife, then sat down and ate the watermelon. The king asked:
— What was the dream? Tell me!
Chico said:
— You dreamed, king, that the Black Sea and the White Sea had mixed. This means that your wife has become like a servant, for she has been feasting with the vizier.
The king asked:
— How should I understand this?

Chico stood up, drew the king’s saber from its sheath, and beheaded the fortune-teller. The king asked:
— Why did you do that?
— I punished my enemy, and now you punish yours.
Chico took off the shoes, unbuckled the saber, returned everything to the king with a bow, and the king rewarded him with gold for revealing the truth.

The vizier learned that Chico had hinted about him to the king and decided to kill him. The vizier fled from the king, kidnapped the king’s wife, and took her to another city. There, he built luxurious palaces, stripped the peasants of everything they had, and lived in luxury.

One day, Chico asked his mother:
— Mother, do we have any poor relatives? I’d like to help them somehow.
— In a distant village, we have a cousin grandmother,— his mother said. — If you can, go and help her.

Chico went to the distant village, found his grandmother, greeted her, and said:
— Grandmother, your cousin’s grandson has come to visit you for the first time. What will you treat him with?
— May my head be covered with earth and ashes, my child, I have nothing. I had one goat and one goose. The vizier took the goat, and now I only have a lame goose left.
Chico said:
— That’s fine, grandmother, let’s sell your goose. We’ll get through today, and then we’ll see.
— Very well,— the old woman replied,— I won’t get rich from one goose anyway. Do as you see fit.

Chico took the goose under his arm and went to the market. On the way, he saw the vizier feasting with his friends.
He smeared his face with soot, approached the vizier, and offered him the goose.
— How much is your goose? — asked the vizier.
— Three rubles,— replied Chico.
— Be quiet,— said the vizier,— your goose isn’t worth more than one ruble.

He took the goose from him, threw him a paper ruble, and then took the goose home, ordered it to be slaughtered, and told his wife:
— Roast it and send it to me at the feast.
Chico hid behind the door at that time and heard everything. The wife asked the vizier: — Who should I send it with?
The vizier said:
— A man will come to you and show you his little finger. Send the goose with him.
When the goose was roasted, its delicious aroma filled the neighborhood...
Then Chiko came out from behind the door, showed his little finger to the overseer's wife, and said:
— The overseer sent for the goose.
He took the goose, closed the door behind him, and wrote on the door: "I am Chiko, and you are the overseer. This is a small trouble, but a bigger one is coming." He took the goose home and ate his fill with his grandmother.
The overseer sent one of his friends to fetch the goose. His wife said:
— I had only one goose. I already sent it to the overseer.

Furious, the overseer ran home and suddenly saw Chiko's inscription on the door.
Meanwhile, Chiko gave his grandmother some money and asked her:
— Please go and buy me a maiden's outfit, then walk around town and say, "I am giving her away as a servant." No matter how much money they offer you, do not agree, but when I give you a sign, then agree.

The grandmother led Chiko through the streets. No matter how much money people offered, she did not agree. As soon as the overseer came to hire a servant, Chiko gave his grandmother a sign, and she gave him to the overseer as a servant for ten rubles a month. The overseer brought him home, and his wife was in the bathhouse at the time. The overseer brought the keys, handed them to the servant, and began opening doors, showing everything in the house. He opened the last door, and behind it was a small room with a heavy press in the middle.

The overseer said to the new servant:
— Do you see this press? It has crushed as many people as you have hairs on your head. If you don't work, I will strangle you too.
— How do you do it? — asked Chiko. The overseer said:
— Put your head in the hole, and I'll show you. The overseer began pressing with the press, and Chiko shouted:
— Oh, I'm suffocating!
The overseer pulled him out from under the press.
— Now you put your head in. Let's see if I can press? — said Chiko.
The overseer laughed.
— Why,— he said,— is this necessary?

But he put his head in anyway. Chiko pressed so hard that the overseer couldn't escape. He left him half-dead under the press and went out of the house, writing on the door: "I am Chiko, you are the overseer. This is a small trouble, but a bigger one is coming."
Chiko returned home to his grandmother, gave her some gold, and said:
— Go and distribute this money to the poor, and buy me a doctor's outfit, a razor, cloth, soap, some salt, and a basket.

The grandmother went and brought everything he asked for. Chiko dressed up, took the basket in his hands, and left the house. As he approached the overseer's house, he began to shout:
— I am a good doctor, I am a good doctor!
The overseer, who had lain under the press, was feeling very ill. They called the doctor to the overseer. The overseer asked:
— Can you cure me? Chiko said:
— I can, but you must do as I say.
— Fine, I will.
— Then,— said Chiko,— go to the bathhouse.

He went with the overseer to the bathhouse, soaped his back with soap, sat on him, began cutting with the razor, and sprinkled salt. The overseer screamed in pain. And Chiko said:
— It's nothing, endure it. You have tormented the bodies of peasants many times.
He went out and wrote on the bathhouse door: "I am Chiko, you are the overseer. This is a small trouble, but a bigger one is coming." And he went back home to his mother.

Some time passed, and the king had another dream and again sent for Chiko. The king said to Chiko:
— If you interpret this dream, I will give you whatever you desire.
— I don't need your gifts,— replied Chiko. — You dreamed that a snake died at your doorstep.
— And what does that mean? — asked the king. — Your enemy will come to your doorstep on his own.
— How will he come?
— You'll find out later.
Chiko went to the overseer's house, wrapped himself in a goat's skin, and attached silkworm cocoons to the fur. He entered the overseer's house exactly at midnight, squeezed the throats of the overseer and his wife, and began shaking the skin, making the cocoons jingle softly.
The overseer asked in horror:
— Who is here?
And Chiko replied:
— You have spilled so much innocent blood, deprived peasants of even a piece of bread, taken their last piece of land, and now heaven has sent me to take your soul. Both of you, follow me.
Chiko brought a black carriage to the overseer's house, with a large black coffin inside. He forced the overseer and his wife into the black coffin, closed the lid, and drove to the king's house. When he arrived, he called the king and opened the coffin lid.
— Now do you understand, king, how your enemy came to your gates on his own?

The people gathered at the palace. They began to shout and make noise:
— What kind of overseer is this, who deceives his master? What kind of wife is this, who runs away from her husband? What kind of king is this, who cannot control his wife?
The people drove the king from his throne and threw all three into the river.
After this, Chiko said:
— Distribute the property of the king and the overseer to the people. Return the land to the peasants. Let them plow, sow, and live in health.

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Chico

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