Two Beardless Deceivers

There were two beardless tricksters: one was Datua, and the other was Petrikela. One day, Datua, the beardless trickster, took a large sack, stuffed it with moss, put some wool on top, and carried it to Imereti to sell. Just as he reached the Surami Pass and was admiring the beautiful view of Imereti, Petrikela, the beardless trickster, appeared before him, dragging a large sack full of walnut shells, with only a few walnuts sprinkled on top.

"Hello," said Datua, the beardless trickster.

"Be well!" replied Petrikela, the beardless trickster.

"Where are you coming from, and where are you headed?"

"From Imereti to Kartli; I'm carrying walnuts to sell. And where are you heading?"

"Well, brother, I'm coming from Kartli to Imereti, carrying wool to sell. But here's what I propose, if you agree. What's the point of us going back and forth, wearing out our shoes and tiring ourselves out? Let's exchange goods: you take my wool, return to Imereti, and sell it there, and I'll take your walnuts, return to Kartli, and sell them there."

"Very well, brother. It's better to return home—what's the use of wandering around aimlessly? Come on, take off your sack."

And so, the two beardless tricksters exchanged their sacks and went their separate ways.

As soon as the mountain separated them, they immediately began untying their sacks. What did they find? That they had tricked each other.

After some time, they met again, exchanged greetings, and Datua said:

"I thought only I knew how to deceive, but you, by the sun, are no worse."

"Why are you surprised? If you know something, why shouldn't I know it too?"

"Then let's become brothers."

"Let's!"

"You know what? Let's hire ourselves out as laborers somewhere together."

"Be it as you say, brother. Let's hire ourselves out together."

The beardless tricksters agreed and set off to find a place. After searching for a while, they finally heard that a woman was looking for two laborers. They went to her. The woman told them:

"I have a cow and this house. One of you will take the cow to pasture and bring along a flute, a chonguri, and a daira, because my cow loves to dance. The other will stay here and clean. Sweep, tidy up, and throw the trash into the neighbor's yard. If you agree and can do all this, stay and work."

"How could we not agree? We can do it!" they replied.

The next day, Petrikela, the beardless trickster, stayed home to work, while Datua took bread, a daira, a flute, and a chonguri and went to pasture the cow.

Petrikela swept the yard and started throwing trash into the neighbor's yard. But the neighbors saw him, rushed over, and mercilessly beat him: "This is what happens when you throw trash into our yard."

Beaten and covered in bruises, Petrikela, the beardless trickster, dragged himself to the barn and collapsed on the bed, barely alive.

Datua, the beardless trickster, didn't fare any better. As soon as the cow went out into the field, it started running and didn't stop all day, hopping around. By evening, it ran back home, followed by Datua, who was barely alive. He was so exhausted from the running that he didn't even eat his bread. When Datua entered the barn, he saw Petrikela lying there, groaning.

"What's wrong, brother? Are you sick?"

"Sick? Why would I be sick?"

"Then why are you lying down?"

"Well, I swept the yard and started throwing trash into the neighbor's yard when they saw me, rushed over, invited me inside, and treated me so warmly—they fed and watered me so much that my head is spinning from the Kakhetian wine. I'm barely alive. How was your day?"

"I also had a great time, brother. I played the daira, strummed the chonguri, and whistled on the flute. The cow started dancing, performing a wonderful, light Kartuli dance! People gathered—men and women. They surrounded us, and everyone had so much fun! I was so merry that I even forgot to eat, so I brought the bread back untouched."

"Well, if that's the case, brother, tomorrow I'll take the cow, and you can have a good time with the neighbors."

"Be it as you say!" replied Datua, the beardless trickster.

The next day, the same thing happened to Petrikela that had happened to Datua—he ran after the cow all day until he was out of his mind. Meanwhile, the neighbors beat Datua so badly that he barely made it back to the barn.

That night, they held a council: "If we don't run away from here, we'll either starve to death or die from running around, not to mention the beatings."

They decided to flee, but the old woman locked the barn from the outside at night, which made their plan difficult to execute.

"Let's kill the cursed cow," said Petrikela. "We'll put it in a sack, then one of us will lift the other up, he'll climb out through the chimney, and lower a rope. The other will first pass up the meat in the sack, then climb up the rope himself."

"Very well," said Datua.

They decided, knocked down the cow, slaughtered it, skinned it, and cut it into pieces.

"Go on, Petrikela, give me your back and help me climb up. I'll pull up the meat and then get you out."

Petrikela offered his back. Datua, the beardless trickster, climbed onto the roof and lowered a rope into the barn. Petrikela tied the rope securely to the edge of the sack, put a couple of pieces of meat inside, climbed in himself, and shouted:

"Take the meat and lower the rope back quickly."

Datua, the beardless trickster, pulled the sack up, slung it over his back, and ran off. After running for a while, he got tired and wanted to rest. He threw the sack on the ground.

"Careful, you lazy bum, don't hurt me!" shouted Petrikela, the beardless trickster, climbing out of the sack.

"You're the lazy bum—you nearly broke my back."

"Judge for yourself, brother. Can you blame me? Let's not betray each other in sorrow or in joy, and then our affairs will go well, and neither our backs nor our hearts will ache," said Petrikela, the beardless trickster.

After that, they stopped deceiving each other and lived like brothers, in love and friendship.

↑ To the top

Two Beardless Deceivers

More fairy tales