The Healer

Once upon a time, there was a poor peasant who went out to hire himself as a laborer. No matter where he went or how much he was offered, he wouldn’t take the job.

"Teach me," he said, "to understand what the birds and animals are saying, and then I’ll hire myself out."

Of course, no one knew how to do that. One day, he met an old man.

"Hire yourself out to me," the old man said.
"Will you teach me to understand what the birds and animals are saying?"
"Alright," the old man replied, "I’ll teach you, but you must work for me for a full year, doing whatever tasks I assign. If you complete the work, I’ll teach you. If not, I won’t."

So the peasant began working. His task was to keep an eternal flame burning in a furnace. The old man gave him two horses and said:

"You’ll use these horses to haul firewood, but you must feed them coal. Be careful—if the furnace goes out even a little, all your work will be for nothing."

With that, the old man disappeared. The peasant started hauling firewood for the furnace, but no matter how much he brought, it was never enough. As soon as he threw the wood in, it was gone. One day, as he was feeding the horses, they spoke to him:

"Don’t give us coal. Give us a little hay instead, and we’ll manage just fine."

He gave them hay, and from then on, his work became easier. He hauled less and rested more, but the furnace never went out. After a year of service, the peasant went to collect his payment.

"Alright," the old man said, "go now. You’ll know everything."

The peasant left and walked for a long time until he saw an inn by the road.

"I’ll spend the night there," he thought. Suddenly, he heard a crow cawing:

"This inn will burn down tonight, and anyone who stays there will be in trouble!"

He understood and didn’t enter the inn. He kept walking and soon met a wagon driver.

"Hello!"
"Hello!"

They exchanged greetings and asked each other where they were from. The wagon driver said:

"Hire yourself out to me."
"Alright," the peasant agreed.
"Where should we spend the night?" he asked.
"Well, over there at the inn, I suppose."
"No, master, let’s stop in the field instead."

They stopped and lay down to sleep. The peasant heard the dog that had been following the wagon driver barking:

"Hey, get up! The inn is on fire!"

He woke the driver, who thanked him for advising against staying at the inn. The driver began to trust him even more. Shortly before reaching home, the peasant overheard some sparrows chirping and said to the driver:

"Your gold and silver shops at home have been robbed, and your wife is so distraught that she carries a knife with her. If she sees you, she’ll kill herself. Let’s leave the wagons a few miles back and enter the house on foot. When she comes out, we’ll take the knife from behind."

They did just that. As soon as the wife appeared, they grabbed her hands.

"Don’t worry," the peasant said, "as long as the family is safe, everything will be fine."

Later, the workers sat down to eat, and the peasant—now a wise man—was among them. They threw bones under the table, and the dog that had traveled with the driver started arguing with the yard dog.

"You didn’t guard the master’s property, and now you’re after the bones!"
"How could I guard against my own thief?" the yard dog replied. "All the gold and silver is buried in the dung heap over there."

The peasant understood and after dinner went to the driver:

"Your treasure is buried over there," he said. From then on, the driver held him in such high regard that he soon gave him his daughter’s hand in marriage and made him part of the family.

They lived happily, but other merchants began to criticize the young wife:

"Why did you marry a laborer? Find out how he knows all this, and we’ll destroy him." She started pestering him:

"Tell me, how do you know all this?"
"If I tell you, I’ll die right away."
But she wouldn’t let up.
"Fine, prepare me for death. Give me a clean shirt."

He got dressed and was about to lie down on the bench when he said:

"I’ll go feed the chickens first."

He took a scoop of millet and went out to the yard. The hens came running, but the rooster was late. When he finally arrived, he scolded the hens:

"You ungrateful things! Whenever I find a grain, I call you instead of eating it myself, and now you didn’t even call me. Don’t trust your wife, like our foolish master does. You need to be dragged by your hair!"

The peasant understood and rushed back inside. He grabbed his wife by the hair.

"This is how I know!" he said. After giving her a good scolding, they began to live peacefully.

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The Healer

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