The Greedy Merchant and the Poor Man

Once upon a time, there lived a poor man. He had a cow. As time passed, the cow stopped calving. The owner decided to sell her.

He sent his son to the market to sell the cow for thirty rubles.

The boy tied a rope around the cow's horns and led her to the city.

He walked the cow around the market, looking for a buyer. A merchant approached and said:

— Sell me the calf, and I'll give you three rubles.

— This is not a calf, it's a cow,— the boy objected.— How can I give it to you for three rubles?

A second merchant approached:

— Listen, boy, where are you taking this goat? Sell it to me for two rubles. The boy got offended and led the cow further.

A third merchant approached:

— Boy, sell me the lamb for one ruble. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes from the insult.

— Are you blind? What lamb? This is a cow, and it's worth thirty rubles.

The merchant laughed:

— You must be the blind one. You don't even see what you're selling!

"Probably, everyone here is like that. Either they can't see, or they don't believe I have a cow," thought the boy. "I'll give it to the first buyer for three rubles, before they offer me a penny!"

He gave the cow to the merchant for three rubles.

The boy got a severe scolding at home and was sent back to the merchant.

— Go and tell him that we only sold the cow, but we kept the tail for ourselves,— his father ordered.— Let him return the tail or give back the cow.

"The merchant won't cut off the cow's tail, he'll return her," thought the poor man.

But the merchant wasn't the type to spare the cow. He cut off its tail and gave it to the boy.

The poor man realized that it wasn't easy to outsmart a deceitful merchant.

The poor man had three gold coins hidden away for a rainy day. He mounted his donkey and went to the market. He passed by the deceitful merchant's shop and dropped two gold coins one after another. The merchant saw the coins and shouted to the poor man:

— Hey, you dropped some coins!

— No big deal. A dozen fall out of my donkey every day! The greedy merchant ran out of his shop and examined the donkey.

— Where did you get such a donkey?— he asked the poor man.

— Everyone in our village has donkeys like this.

— Then sell it to me, you can get another one there!

— It's not within your means.

— Maybe it is, how much do you want for it?

— Will you give me enough money to bury the donkey up to its ears?

— Alright, I'll give it!— the merchant agreed.

The poor man took the money, gave the donkey, and instructed:

— Lock it up in the barn for a week, and see what wealth it brings— the barn will be filled with gold.

The poor man returned home satisfied, and the greedy merchant locked the donkey in the barn.

A week passed. The merchant went to open the barn door, but it wouldn't open—something was blocking it. The merchant was delighted, thinking the barn was filled with gold coins. He called his wife and children. They all pushed the door together, and it swung open, sending the merchant flying right onto the dead donkey. It had starved to death.

The merchant realized he had been tricked and rushed headlong to the village to deal with the poor man. But the poor man was already waiting for him.

He told his wife to prepare pilaf, shashlik, and roast a chicken. He buried all of this in three different places in the yard.

The merchant arrived, shouting and threatening to kill the poor man's entire family.

The poor man didn't bat an eye.

— Have you ever heard of killing people over a donkey?— he said calmly.— No big deal if it died, I'll bring you another one! Sit down and have a meal with me, we'll talk and sort everything out calmly.

With these words, he plunged the shovel into the ground where the pilaf was buried and pulled out the pot. He plunged the shovel into another spot and retrieved the shashlik. The third time he plunged the shovel, he turned over a clump of earth and pulled out the roasted chicken.

The merchant was dumbfounded, his eyes wide with amazement: what kind of miracle was this, how could food come from the ground?

Meanwhile, the poor man's wife spread out a tablecloth. She invited the guest to taste how deliciously the shovel could cook.

— Why the shovel?— the merchant asked in astonishment.

— It's magical! It can fetch any dish from the ground.

— Sell me the shovel,— the merchant begged the poor man.

— I'm reluctant to part with it, it feeds us. But alright, I'll let you have it— take it for a hundred rubles.

The merchant brought the shovel home, called his wife to the yard, wanting to surprise and delight her. He dug up the entire yard—no food anywhere!

— That peasant tricked me again!— the merchant wailed.— Alright, I'll show him!

He ran to the poor man, attacked him, knocked him down, tied his hands and feet, and carried him off to drown in the sea. He dragged him to the shore and went to find a boat to take the poor man further out and drown him where it was deeper.

As soon as the merchant was out of sight, a shepherd approached the unfortunate poor man. He had been grazing his sheep nearby and had seen everything.

— Why have they tied you up?— the shepherd asked.

— I bought a lamb from you, invited the merchant over, and treated him to shashlik. Now the merchant claims I fed him dog meat! Untie me, help me, or I'll tell the merchant I bought the meat from you— he'll have your head.

The shepherd freed the poor man from his bonds, and he ran off faster than the wind. The shepherd stood for a moment and then went back to his sheep.

The merchant returned, but the poor man was gone, only the rope remained. He looked around, saw the shepherd, and realized he had helped the poor man. The merchant ran to the shepherd, grabbed him, and dragged him to the boat. He threw the shepherd into the boat and started rowing away from the shore.

Once they were far enough out, the shepherd jumped to his feet and pushed the merchant into the sea. He wasn't going to wait for the merchant to drown him!

Whether the greedy merchant drowned or not, he never came back to the poor man.

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The Greedy Merchant and the Poor Man

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