Good and evil
Centuries ago, Before the old ones there lived an old man. He was very poor, because apart from his wife and his lazy ass, he had nothing in this world. He was collecting wood in the forest, he sold them at the fair and supported himself from them, wife and donkey.
Once he waded through the sands, when suddenly he saw two winds: White and black, that almost reached the sky. The poor man came closer, to take a closer look at them, and here the white wind turns into a viper. A white viper crawls up to him and speaks in a human voice:
– old man! I can switch, in what I want. I'm about to become a needle, and you quickly put me in your pocket. The black adder is my fierce enemy. When she flies past you, take the needle out of your pocket, and I will fulfill your every wish.
The old man agreed to help the runaway.
– On the white viper, on the black viper, let me be a needle – the white viper uttered a spell and instantly turned into a needle.
The old man picked it up quickly and put it in his pocket. And here already the black wind flies towards him, turns into a viper and asks:
– Ej, senile! Was there a white viper here??
– No – replied the poor man.
– Just tell the truth, because it will be bad for you! – she hissed menacingly.
The old man waved his hand and said, to get rid of her:
– I do not know, what was that, of o, for that, a white wind blew by.
The black adder instantly turned into a black wind and gave chase.
The old man took out the needle and says:
– Your enemy has already left.
The needle became a viper again.
– O, know, demand, whatever you want.
– I don't need anything. Or maybe – let the wood load itself onto the donkey, and let the donkey go before me like this, I wouldn't have to rush him.
– On the white viper, on the black viper, let the old man's wish come true! -commanded the white viper.
And actually. The wood loaded itself onto the donkey, and the latter cheerfully and briskly clapping his hooves trotted home.
As they entered the city, they met the tsarevna; she sat in a white palanquin* on the back of a camel. Upon seeing the donkey, who trotted and unhurriedly walked before his master, the tsarevna ordered the servants to stop the old man and spoke to him:
– Can be seen, that this ass of science was taking. Say, senile, who trained him?
– And who are you? – asked the poor man.
– I am the daughter of the Tsar – she replied.
– if so, I won't say it. You won't like my answer and you'll have me hanged.
– Answer without fear – said the Tsarevna.
– Okay. If you want, know that, that hunger taught him that.
Karevna went on, but the spies reported to the tsar:
– Your daughter was talking to the old man, who sells wood.
The tsar was cruelly infuriated and ordered the poor man to be captured. dragged
old to the palace, a car, without even considering the case, he recommended:
– Give this wicked man twenty lashes and banish him from the city!
The old man's tormentors have beaten him, The hut was blown up with smoke, and he and the old woman were banished from the city.
The poor wander through the sands, they weep over their cruel fate, until a white viper appears before them.
– old man, what happened to you?
– The tsar ordered me to be beaten and driven out of the city. Build me a palace. Let it be marble, and on its four towers let the golden roosters crow – the old man asked.
– On the white viper, on the black viper, let the old man's wish come true, the white viper commanded.
And a marble palace grew in the desert, and the old man and his wife dwelt in it, rejoicing greatly.
Once the Tsar went hunting and saw a marble palace in the sand.
– Go and capture it, who dared to build a palace for himself without my consent, and set it before me. And if he resists, bring me his head.
With a menacing hum and the crunch of armor, the Tsar's servants approached the marble palace. In an instant, a white viper appears before the old man and asks:
– What should I do with them?
– You know better – replied.
– On the white viper, on the black viper, with the old man's consent, let these knights return to the tsar's rooms backwards.
As she said, so it happened. The tsar's servants fell backwards in front of the tsar's face in his imperial chambers, and the commander of the guard whimpered piteously:
– God, guard against such an enemy! Don't fight him, my tsar! We didn't even see him, to oto, What happened to us.
– freeloaders! – the tsar became angry and hit the commander of the guard with his fists on the back. And then, accompanied by the vizier, he set off for the marble palace.
The old man saw them walking and said to the white adder:
– Here is the tsar with the vizier.
– What should I do with them? – asked the white viper.
– You know better – replied the old man again.
– On the white viper, on the black viper, with the consent of the old man, let the tsar turn into a donkey, and the vizier in a colt. And let them run seven times around the palace of marble, roaring, like donkeys.
And in an instant the tsar and the vizier turned into donkeys and began to roar around the palace.
The old man's wife was baking bread at that time. As the donkeys ran past her, old woman without knowing, that it is a tsar with a vizier, she even hit them with a stick. And the donkeys circled the palace seven times and stopped.
– On the white viper, on the black viper, with the consent of the old man, become yourselves! -commanded the white viper.
And donkeys turned into viziers and tsars.
– O venerable, white viper! – the old man asked – give them the meager food and let them wander the earth henceforth, finding no shelter anywhere, as they wanted it for others. Let them feel it for themselves, what is good, and what evil.
* I'll be back – a covered litter used as a means of locomotion, especially in India and China.