The Story of the Wind · page 21 2 3101Here we are with all these little children, and yet thou dost go away and drink."--Then the wife opened the door, and the husband walked into the hut and said, "Good health to thee, dear wife!"--But the wife cried, "Why dost thou bring that ram inside the hut, can't it stay outside the walls?"--"Wife, wife!" said the man, "speak, but don't screech.102Now we shall have all manner of good things, and the children will have a fine time of it."--"What!" said the wife, "what good can we get from that wretched ram?103Where shall we get the money to find food for it?104Why, we've nothing to eat ourselves, and thou dost saddle us with a ram besides.105Stuff and nonsense!106I say."--"Silence, wife," replied the husband; "that ram is not like other rams, I tell thee."--"What sort is it, then?" asked his wife.--"Don't ask questions, but spread a cloth on the floor and keep thine eyes open."--"Why spread a cloth?" asked the wife.--"Why?" shrieked the man in a rage; "do what I tell thee, and hold thy tongue."--But the wife said, "Alas, alas!107I have an evil time of it.108Thou dost nothing at all but go away and drink, and then thou comest home and dost talk nonsense, and bringest sacks and rams with thee, and knockest down our little hut."--At this the husband could control his rage no longer, but shrieked at the ram, "Little ram, little ram, scatter money!"--But the ram only stood there and stared at him.109Then he cried again, "Little ram, little ram, scatter money!"--But the ram stood there stock-still and did nothing.110Then the man in his anger caught up a piece of wood and struck the ram on the head, but the poor ram only uttered a feeble baa! and fell to the earth dead.111The man was now very much offended and said, "I'll go to the Wind again, and I'll tell him what a fool he has made of me."112Then he took up his hat and went, leaving everything behind him.113And the poor wife put everything to rights, and reproached and railed at her husband.114So the man came to the Wind for the third time and said, "Wilt thou tell me, please, if thou art really the Wind or no?"--"What's the matter with thee?" asked the Wind.--"I'll tell thee what's the matter," said the man; "why hast thou laughed at and mocked me and made such a fool of me?"--"I laugh at _thee_!" thundered the old father as he lay there on the floor and turned round on the other ear; "why didst thou not hold fast what I gave thee?115Why didst thou not listen to me when I told thee not to go into the tavern, eh?"--"What tavern dost thou mean?" asked the man proudly; "as for the sack and the ram thou didst give me, they only did me a mischief; give me something else."--"What's the use of giving thee anything?" said the Wind; "thou wilt only take it to the tavern.116Out of the drum, my twelve henchmen!" cried the Wind, "and just give this accursed drunkard a good lesson that he may keep his throat dry and listen a little more to old people!"--Immediately twelve henchmen leaped out of his drum and began giving the man a sound thrashing.117Then the man saw that it was no joke and begged for mercy. "118Dear old father Wind," cried he, "be merciful, and let me get off alive.119I'll not come to thee again though I should have to wait till the Judgment Day, and I'll do all thy behests."--"Into the drum, my henchmen!" cried the Wind.--"And now, O man!" said the Wind, "thou mayst have this drum with the twelve henchmen, and go to those accursed Jews, and if they will not give thee back thy sack and thy ram, thou wilt know what to say."120So the man thanked the Wind for his good advice, and went on his way.121He came to the inn, and when the Jews saw that he brought nothing with him they said, "Hearken, O man! don't come here, for we have no brandy."--"What do I want with your brandy?" cried the man in a rage.--"Then for what hast thou come hither?"--"I have come for my own."--"Thy own," said the Jews; "what dost thou mean?"--"What do I mean?" roared the man; "why, my sack and my ram, which you must give up to me."--"What ram?122What sack?" said the Jews; "why, thou didst take them away from here thyself."--"Yes, but you changed them," said the man.--"What dost thou mean by changed?" whined the Jews; "we will go before the magistrate, and thou shalt hear from us about this."--"You will have an evil time of it if you go before the magistrate," said the man; "but at any rate, give me back my own."123And he sat down upon a bench.124Then the Jews caught him by the shoulders to cast him out and cried, "Be off, thou rascal!125Does any one know where this man comes from?126No doubt he is an evil-doer."127The man could not stand this, so he cried, "Out of the drum, my henchmen! and give the accursed Jews a sound drubbing, that they may know better than to take in honest folk!" and immediately the twelve henchmen leaped out of the drum and began thwacking the Jews finely.--"Oh, oh!" roared the Jews; "oh, dear, darling, good man, we'll give thee whatever thou dost want, only leave off beating us!128Let us live a bit longer in the world, and we will give thee back everything."--"Good!" said the man, "and another time you'll know better than to deceive people."129Then he cried, "Into the drum, my henchmen!" and the henchmen disappeared, leaving the Jews more dead than alive.130Then they gave the man his sack and his ram, and he went home, but it was a long, long time before the Jews forgot those henchmen.131So the man went home, and his wife and children saw him coming from afar. "132Daddy is coming home now with a sack and a ram!" said she; "what shall we do?133We shall have a bad time of it, we shall have nothing left at all.134God defend us poor wretches!135Go and hide everything, children."136So the children hastened away, but the husband came to the door and said, "Open the door!"--"Open the door thyself," replied the wife.--Again the husband bade her open the door, but she paid no heed to him.137The man was astonished.138This was carrying a joke too far, so he cried to his henchmen, "Henchmen, henchmen! out of the drum, and teach my wife to respect her husband!"139Then the henchmen leaped out of the drum, laid the good wife by the heels, and began to give her a sound drubbing. "140Oh, my dear, darling husband!" shrieked the wife, "never to the end of my days will I be sulky with thee again.141I'll do whatever thou tellest me, only leave off beating me."--"Then I have taught thee sense, eh?" said the man.--"Oh, yes, yes, good husband!" cried she.142Then the man said: "Henchmen, henchmen! into the drum!" and the henchmen leaped into it again, leaving the poor wife more dead than alive.143Then the husband said to her, "Wife, spread a cloth upon the floor."144The wife scudded about as nimbly as a fly, and spread a cloth out on the floor without a word.145Then the husband said, "Little ram, little ram, scatter money!"146And the little ram scattered money till there were piles and piles of it. "147Pick it up, my children," said the man, "and thou too, wife, take what thou wilt!"--And they didn't wait to be asked twice.148Then the man hung up his sack on a peg and said, "Sack, sack, meat and drink!"149Then he caught hold of it and shook it, and immediately the table was as full as it could hold with all manner of victuals and drink. "150Sit down, my children, and thou too, dear wife, and eat thy fill.151Thank God, we shall now have no lack of food, and shall not have to work for it either."152So the man and his wife were very happy together, and were never tired of thanking the Wind.153They had not had the sack and the ram very long when they grew very rich, and then the husband said to the wife, "I tell thee what, wife!"--"What?" said she.--"Let us invite my brother to come and see us."--"Very good," she replied; "invite him, but dost thou think he'll come?"--"Why shouldn't he?" asked her husband. "154Now, thank God, we have everything we want.155He wouldn't come to us when we were poor and he was rich, because then he was ashamed to say that I was his brother, but now even he hasn't got so much as we have."156So they made ready, and the man went to invite his brother.157The poor man came to his rich brother and said, "Hail to thee, brother; God help thee!"--Now the rich brother was threshing wheat on his threshing-floor, and, raising his head, was surprised to see his brother there, and said to him haughtily, "I thank thee.158Hail to thee also!159Sit down, my brother, and tell us why thou hast come hither."--"Thanks, my brother, I do not want to sit down.160I have come hither to invite thee to us, thee and thy wife."--"Wherefore?" asked the rich brother.--The poor man said, "My wife prays thee, and I pray thee also, to come and dine with us of thy courtesy."--"Good!" replied the rich brother, smiling secretly. "161I will come whatever thy dinner may be."162So the rich man went with his wife to the poor man, and already from afar they perceived that the poor man had grown rich.163And the poor man rejoiced greatly when he saw his rich brother in his house.164And his tongue was loosened, and he began to show him everything, whatsoever he possessed.165The rich man was amazed that things were going so well with his brother, and asked him how he had managed to get on so.166But the poor man answered, "Don't ask me, brother.167I have more to show thee yet."168Then he took him to his copper money, and said, "There are my oats, brother!"169Then he took and showed him his silver money, and said, "That's the sort of barley I thresh on my threshing-floor!"170And, last of all, he took him to his gold money, and said, "There, my dear brother, is the best wheat I've got."--Then the rich brother shook his head, not once nor twice, and marvelled at the sight of so many good things, and he said, "Wherever didst thou pick up all this, my brother?"--"Oh!171I've more than that to show thee yet.172Just be so good as to sit down on that chair, and I'll show and tell thee everything."173Then they sat them down, and the poor man hung up his sack upon a peg. "174Sack, sack, meat and drink!" he cried, and immediately the table was covered with all manner of dishes.175So they ate and ate, till they were full up to the ears.176When they had eaten and drunken their fill, the poor man called to his son to bring the little ram into the hut.177So the lad brought in the ram, and the rich brother wondered what they were going to do with it.178Then the poor man said, "Little ram, scatter money!"179And the little ram scattered money, till there were piles and piles of it on the floor. "180Pick it up!" said the poor man to the rich man and his wife.181So they picked it up, and the rich brother and his wife marvelled, and the brother said, "Thou hast a very nice piece of goods there, brother.182If I had only something like that I should lack nothing;" then, after thinking a long time, he said, "Sell it to me, my brother."--"No," said the poor man, "I will not sell it."--After a little time, however, the rich brother said again, "Come now!183I'll give thee for it six yoke of oxen, and a plough, and a harrow, and a hay-fork, and I'll give thee besides, lots of corn to sow, thus thou wilt have plenty, but give me the ram and the sack."184So at last they exchanged.185The rich man took the sack and the ram, and the poor man took the oxen and went out to the plough.186Then the poor brother went out ploughing all day, but he neither watered his oxen nor gave them anything to eat.187And next day the poor brother again went out to his oxen, but found them rolling on their sides on the ground.checked by a teacher188He began to pull and tug at them, but they didn't get up.189Then he began to beat them with a stick, but they uttered not a sound.190The man was surprised to find them fit for nothing, and off he ran to his brother, not forgetting to take with him his drum with the henchmen.191When the poor brother came to the rich brother's, he lost no time in crossing his threshold, and said, "Hail, my brother!"--"Good health to thee also!" replied the rich man, "why hast thou come hither?192Has thy plough broken, or thy oxen failed thee?193Perchance thou hast watered them with foul water, so that their blood is stagnant, and their flesh inflamed?"--"The murrain take 'em if I know thy meaning!" cried the poor brother. "194All that I know is that I thwacked 'em till my arms ached, and they wouldn't stir, and not a single grunt did they give; till I was so angry that I spat at them, and came to tell thee.195Give me back my sack and my ram, I say, and take back thy oxen, for they won't listen to me!"--"What! take them back!" roared the rich brother. "196Dost think I only made the exchange for a single day?197No, I gave them to thee once and for all, and now thou wouldst rip the whole thing up like a goat at the fair.198I have no doubt thou hast neither watered them nor fed them, and that is why they won't stand up."--"I didn't know," said the poor man, "that oxen needed water and food."--"Didn't know!" screeched the rich man, in a mighty rage, and taking the poor brother by the hand, he led him away from the hut. "199Go away," said he, "and never come back here again, or I'll have thee hanged on a gallows!"--"Ah! what a big gentleman we are!" said the poor brother; "just thou give me back my own, and then I will go away."--"Thou hadst better not stop here," said the rich brother; "come, stir thy stumps, thou pagan!200Go home ere I beat thee!"--"Don't say that," replied the poor man, "but give me back my ram and my sack, and then I _will_ go."--At this the rich brother quite lost his temper, and cried to his wife and children, "Why do you stand staring like that?1 2 3← previousOh: the Tsar of the Forestnext →The Voices At the Window, part 1↑ back to Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/3/page/2/