Shemyaka's Court

There lived two brothers. One was poor, and the other was rich. The poor brother ran out of firewood. He had nothing to heat the stove with. It was cold in his hut. He went to the forest, chopped some wood, but he didn’t have a horse. How could he bring the firewood home?
— I’ll go to my brother and ask for a horse.

The rich brother received him unkindly.
— Take the horse if you must, but don’t overload it, and don’t count on me in the future: today I give, tomorrow I give, and then you’ll be left to beg.

The poor man brought the horse home and remembered:
— Oh, I don’t have a collar! I didn’t ask for it right away, and now there’s no point in going back—my brother won’t give it to me.
Somehow he tied the sleigh tightly to the horse’s tail and set off.

On the way back, the sleigh caught on a stump, but the poor man didn’t notice and whipped the horse. The horse, being spirited, jerked forward and tore off its tail. When the rich brother saw that the horse had no tail, he cursed and shouted:
— You’ve ruined my horse! I won’t let this go!
And he took the poor man to court.

After some time had passed, the brothers were summoned to the city for the trial. They walked and walked. The poor man thought:
“I’ve never been to court before, but I’ve heard the saying: the weak shouldn’t fight the strong, and the poor shouldn’t sue the rich. They’ll surely convict me.”

They were crossing a bridge with no railings. The poor man slipped and fell off the bridge. At that moment, a merchant was driving below on the ice, taking his elderly father to a healer. The poor man fell right into the sleigh and fatally injured the old man, but he himself remained unharmed.

The merchant grabbed the poor man:
— Let’s go to the judge!
And so the three of them went to the city: the poor man, the rich brother, and the merchant.

The poor man was utterly dejected: “Now I’ll surely be convicted.” Then he saw a heavy stone on the road. He grabbed the stone, wrapped it in a cloth, and tucked it under his coat: “Seven troubles, one answer: if the judge rules against me, I’ll kill the judge too.”

They came before the judge. The old case was joined by a new one. The judge began to hear the case and question them.
The poor brother kept glancing at the judge, pulling out the stone wrapped in cloth, and whispering:
— Judge, but keep an eye on this.

Once, twice, three times. The judge noticed and thought: “Is the peasant showing me gold?”
He looked again—it seemed like a big bribe. “Even if it’s silver, it’s a lot of money.”

And so the judge ruled that the poor brother should keep the tailless horse until its tail grew back.
To the merchant, he said:
— Since this man killed your father, let him stand on the ice under the same bridge, and you jump from the bridge to crush him to death, just as he crushed your father.
With that, the trial ended.

The rich brother said:
— Fine, I’ll take the tailless horse from you.
— What are you saying, brother? — the poor man replied. — Let it be as the judge ruled: I’ll keep your horse until its tail grows back.

The rich brother began to persuade him:
— I’ll give you thirty rubles, just return the horse.
— Alright, give me the money.
The rich brother counted out thirty rubles, and they settled the matter.

Then the merchant also pleaded:
— Listen, my good man, I forgive your guilt. After all, my father can’t be brought back.
— No, let’s go, as the judge ruled. Jump on me from the bridge.
— I don’t want your death. Let’s make peace, and I’ll give you a hundred rubles, — the merchant begged.

The poor man took a hundred rubles from the merchant. Just as he was about to leave, the judge called him over:
— Well, give me what you promised.
The poor man took out the bundle from under his coat, unwrapped the cloth, and showed the judge the stone.
— This is what I was showing you and saying: “Judge, but keep an eye on this.” If you had ruled against me, I would have killed you.

“That’s good,” thought the judge, “that I ruled in this peasant’s favor, or I wouldn’t be alive.”
And the poor man returned home cheerful, singing songs.

↑ To the top

Shemyaka's Court

More fairy tales