A Dispute Over Nothing

Once, two poor friends lay down on the soft grass in a field and started chatting about this and that. It grew dark, and the sky became densely dotted with stars. One of the poor men glanced around the field and said:

"Ah, if only this field were mine, I'd raise donkeys!"

"And I'd have as many sheep as there are stars in the sky!" the other one daydreamed.

"Where would you graze such a multitude of sheep? On my field, perhaps? Would you leave my donkeys without grass?" asked the first.

"So, your donkeys need to graze, but my sheep don't?!" the second one took offense.

"I won't let you graze your sheep on my field!" shouted the first.

"If you don't let me, I'll drive you and your donkeys away by force!"

Word by word, the argument flared up. They started throwing punches, beating each other mercilessly.

A passerby walked by and asked:

"Why are you fighting? What are you arguing about?" The friends told him what they were quarreling over.

"You've got plenty of wit!" the traveler laughed. "You've bruised each other for no reason at all."

More fairy tales

• Goldilocks
• The Tsar and His Servant
• The Fox and the Quail
• The Tale of Tsar Nesmeyan
• Three Brothers - Three Kings