How the Servant Comforted the Master

A certain prince spent many years in foreign lands and had no news from home.

Now he returns to his native place, and a servant comes to meet him.

"How are things at home, Isako?" asks the prince.

"Everything is fine, batono, everything is in order, only your dog has died."

"How you've saddened me, Isako! Why did he die?"

"I don't know, batono! Probably ate too much meat."

"Why did you give him so much meat?"

"No one gave him any. When your beloved steed died, the poor dog ate his fill."

"What are you saying, Isako! Why did my steed die?"

"They rode him to fetch a doctor—poor Vardiko was on the verge of death. They were in a great hurry, pushing the horse to its limit. They drove the horse to death for nothing, as they couldn't save your daughter anyway."

"Are you drunk, Isako? What nonsense are you spouting? Why did my daughter die?"

"She died of grief when her mother, our lady, burned to death."

"What kind of madness are you talking? How could the lady have burned?"

"Not just her, your entire estate burned down—the house and all the outbuildings."

"Woe is me, woe!" the prince cried out and began beating his head.

"Don't grieve, batono. You're lucky you weren't there, or you surely would have taken your own life!" the servant consoled his master.

More fairy tales

• The Daughter of the Sun
• Three Words - Three Questions
• The Shepherd and the Snake
• The Three Lazy Ones
• The Orphan Chakuche