How the Shark Saved the Old Man

Once upon a time, there lived an old man. He had two daughters and three sons. He married off his daughters, and they flew away from their family nest. The old man was left to live with his sons. But there was a problem: he had gone completely blind and couldn’t do anything without his sons’ help. One day, the brothers gathered to go to the field and said to their father:

"We’re going to plow, and you sit in the yard and guard the wheat so the birds don’t peck at it."

"I can’t handle such work," replied the old man. "I won’t be able to keep an eye on the birds, being blind."

"Just listen carefully," the sons instructed him. "You’re not deaf: when the birds come, they’ll flap their wings against the sacks, and you’ll hear them."

They gave their father a long bamboo stick to scare the birds away, sat him in the middle of the yard, and left.

When they returned in the evening, they saw the old man sitting there, waving the stick in all directions, but the birds were still pecking at the wheat.

The sons got angry:

"Why did we leave you to guard it? What good are you?" The old man began to cry but said nothing in response. Meanwhile, the sons started discussing among themselves.

"Our father is nothing but a burden!" said the eldest.

"There’s no use in him!" echoed the middle one.

"He’s lived too long in this world!" agreed the youngest. "If only he would die," the brothers began to dream, "we’d divide his wealth among ourselves and live carefree." And so they plotted something evil.

One morning, the sons came to their father and said:

"Father, we’ve decided to go to a distant island today to do some fishing. Come with us. The fresh air and fish soup will do you good."

The old man was delighted:

"I’ve been wanting to eat some fragrant fish soup for a long time!"

They got into a boat and sailed to a rocky island. They caught fish there, and the soup turned out delicious. As it began to get dark, the sons said to their father:

"You must be tired. Lie down and rest a bit, and we’ll wake you when it’s time to go back."

The old man trusted his sons, lay down, and fell asleep. When he woke up in the morning, he called for them, but no one answered. The father realized that his children had abandoned him on the wild island to await a hungry death. Just then, the sea began to churn, high waves rose, and a cold wind blew. The waves crashed against the rocks, and one rose so high it swept the old man into the sea.

At that very moment, the old man’s daughters arrived from the city to visit their father. They had brought him all kinds of gifts. They knocked on the door—no answer. Surprised, the daughters went to a neighbor.

"Has something happened to our father?" they asked. "He promised to wait for us at home."

The neighbor shrugged:

"I don’t know, I’m not sure what happened to your father. But I saw him yesterday preparing to go fishing with his sons, and in the evening, the children returned without him. Maybe he fell ill on the way?"

The daughters ran to the sea. They decided that their father had perished in the watery depths. If so, the sea would wash his body ashore. They searched all the coastal rocks but found nothing. They sat by the water and wept. Suddenly, they saw a lone rock sticking out of the sea not far from the island, and on that rock... sat their father, looking sorrowful.

"Father, father!" the daughters cried. "He’s alive! He’s alive!" They hired a boat and brought their father home.

"How did you end up on the rock?" the daughters asked. "What happened to you?"

The old man sighed and said:

"I never thought my sons would plot to kill me. They lured me to a wild island and left me there, sailing back home without me. A storm rose in the sea, and a big wave swept me off the rock—I almost died."

"How did you manage to survive?" the daughters asked in amazement.

"Just as I fell into the sea and began to drown," the old man recounted, "a large shark swam up to me, placed me on its back, and carried me to the lone rock."

"Thank you, shark," the daughters said gratefully, "for saving our father."

They went to the shore and saw, in the distance, a large shark swimming.

"We should thank it," said the old man. The daughters brought a young calf to the shore. The shark swam up, took the calf, and disappeared into the depths. At that very moment, the old man’s sight was restored, and he could see as well as before. Their joy knew no bounds! The daughters took their father by the hands and led him home.

Meanwhile, the sons hadn’t even thought to look for their father. They divided his wealth and decided to celebrate their unexpected fortune. They loaded all kinds of treats into a boat and sailed out to sea to fish. They ventured into the open sea, but as soon as they cast their net, darkness fell, and the wind rose. The boat rocked from side to side and then capsized. The brothers flailed in the water, calling for help, but who would hear them? And so the wicked sons perished in the depths of the sea. The old man’s daughters took him to live in the city. And they lived together happily ever after.

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How the Shark Saved the Old Man

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