The Beggar's Handkerchief

Many, many years ago, there lived a rich man in China. It has long been known that all rich people are greedy and cruel, but this rich man was so greedy, so cruel, that there was no one worse than him in all of China. His wife was just as cruel and greedy. And if a beggar approached the gates of their house, they would set their chained dog on him.

One day, these people bought themselves a slave girl. Of course, they were looking for the cheapest slave, and the cheapest turned out to be the ugliest girl. The cruel rich couple nicknamed their servant "Monkey."

In the house, one could constantly hear:
"Monkey, clean this up!"
"Monkey, bring that!"
"Monkey, run there!"
"Monkey, fetch this!"

And if the girl wasn't quick enough, her masters would beat her with sticks and starve her.

One day, when the rich couple went out to visit friends, a poor man approached their house. He raised his hands to the sky and groaned:
"I am dying of hunger. Save me!"

The servant heard his plea and let the beggar into the house.

She had long since gathered a small bag of rice. She handed the bag to the poor man and said:
"I collected this rice grain by grain from the straw I use to heat the stove. But if the master finds out that I gave you alms, he will beat us both. Please, leave quickly."

The beggar quickly hid the rice in his bag and, bidding farewell to the kind servant, handed her a small pink handkerchief.
"Wipe your face with this handkerchief at dawn," he said, and then he left the house.

But at that moment, the rich couple returned from their visit. Seeing the beggar, the master began to shout at the servant:
"How dare you bring beggars to our house, you filthy monkey! I will beat both you and this ragged man!"

The rich man turned to grab the beggar, but the poor man had disappeared. No one noticed when he managed to escape. The rich miser became even angrier. He grabbed the whip he used to punish the chained dogs and began to lash the servant. In vain, the girl pleaded for mercy. The rich man mercilessly beat her.

Only at dawn did the poor girl regain consciousness. She remembered the handkerchief the beggar had given her and wiped her face with it.

For three days in a row, she wiped her ugly face with the pink handkerchief.

On the fourth day, when the servant approached the mirror in the morning, she couldn't help but cry out: in the mirror, she saw a true beauty. The beggar's pink handkerchief had worked a miracle: the ugly girl had turned into an extraordinary beauty.

When the master and his wife saw their servant, they were speechless with rage and envy.
"Tell us your secret, and you will gain your freedom," the cunning rich man said.

Oh, how the servant's heart raced! For freedom, she was ready to give everything. What could be more desirable than freedom! And she obediently handed her tormentors the pink handkerchief, explaining how to use it.

This was exactly what the rich couple wanted. They sent the servant to the kitchen, and to ensure she wouldn't escape, they unleashed their ferocious dogs.

At dawn, the rich man and his wife wiped their faces with the pink handkerchief and fell into a deep sleep. They opened their eyes when the sun was already high in the sky, and upon seeing each other, they roared and rushed to the mirror. In the mirror, they saw two ugly, hairy monkeys.

"That slave girl deceived us!" the rich man screamed. "Let's run to the kitchen: I'll tear her to pieces! I'll throw her to the dogs!"

And both monkeys rushed to the kitchen. But as soon as the dogs saw the monkeys, they barked and growled loudly, attacking them. Terrified, the monkeys jumped out the window and leaped over the fence of their house. Then all the dogs in the street began to bark and chase the monkeys. The rich couple ran in terror, seeing nothing ahead of them. The barking of the dogs had long since faded, but they kept running and running, fleeing from a terrible death.

Finally, they found themselves in a dense forest, among a pack of other monkeys. There they had to remain for the rest of their days.

You may ask: what happened to the servant girl?

Everything turned out as well as it could. The girl married a kind, hardworking peasant and lived happily with him until a ripe old age.

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The Beggar's Handkerchief

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