The wise girl 

Ukrainian Folk Tale

Once upon a time, two neighbors lived side by side — one rich, the other poor.
The rich man owned four cows, while the poor man had only one. Yet the poor man’s cow gave more milk than all four of the rich man’s cows together.

The rich man’s children noticed this and ran home, saying:
“Father, that poor man’s cow gives more milk than all of ours combined!”
“I’ll take that cow from him,” the rich man said.
“But how will you do it, Father?”
“Watch when the poor man drives his cow to the river to drink. Then drive ours there too.”

So the next day, when the poor man led his cow to the river, the rich man’s children drove theirs as well. When the cattle returned, the rich man came out with his whole family, herded all his cows — and the poor man’s cow too — into his yard, locked the iron gates, and fastened the bars.

The poor man’s children wept and ran home.
“Father, the rich man took our cow!” they cried.

Their parents went to the rich man’s house, but he wouldn’t even listen — he refused to give the cow back.
The wife said, “Go to the village elder. Tell him the rich man took our cow and won’t return it.”

But the elder himself was wealthy and took the rich man’s side. He called the man in and said:
“Give him back his cow.”

When they returned home, the rich man brought not the poor man’s cow, but his own scrawniest one. When the poor man refused to take it, the rich man struck him on the head.
“If you won’t take it,” he shouted, “then you’ll get nothing at all!”

The poor man went home crying.
“What should I do? He gave me a miserable cow, I refused it, and he beat me.”
His wife said, “Go to the lord. It can’t be that our cow will be lost forever.”

They went to the lord and told him everything. The lord sent servants to summon the rich man.
“What’s the matter?” the lord asked.
The rich man said, “He had some cow. His children let it wander among mine, and it came into my yard. I offered to give it back, but he refused to take it.”
The lord turned to the poor man. “Why didn’t you take it?”
“Because he offered me not my cow, but his weakest one.”
The lord said, “Go home, both of you. Come back after lunch. I’ll give you three riddles — whoever solves them wins the cow.”

The poor man returned home in tears. But he had a daughter who hadn’t spoken until she was seven and was said to be unusually wise.
“Father,” she said, “the lord will ask three riddles. The first will be: What is the fattest thing in the world? You must answer: The holy earth — for it feeds all living things.
The second will be: What is the sweetest thing in the world? Answer: Sleep — for when one grows sleepy, he’d drop even honey from his hands.
The third will be: What is the fastest thing in the world? Say: Thought — because nothing moves faster than the mind.
Go, Father, and don’t forget what I’ve told you.”

The poor man went back to the lord. The rich man was already there.
“What is the fattest thing in the world?” asked the lord.
“My lord,” said the rich man, “I have three pigs, and one is pure fat — that’s the fattest.”
“Wrong,” said the lord.

He asked the poor man.
“The holy earth, my lord,” said the poor man. “It feeds the whole world.”
“Right,” said the lord.

“What is the sweetest thing in the world?” he asked the rich man.
“May honey. Nothing sweeter exists.”
“Wrong,” said the lord.

He asked the poor man.
“Sleep, my lord,” said the poor man. “When a man grows sleepy, he’ll let honey fall from his hands.”
“True,” said the lord.

“And what is the fastest thing in the world?” asked the lord.
“My horse, my lord,” said the rich man. “He doesn’t run — he flies!”
“Wrong,” said the lord.

“And you?” he asked the poor man.
“My lord, the fastest thing in the world is thought. You may walk your whole life, but in a moment, your thoughts can reach everywhere.”
“That’s right,” said the lord. “Go home, and you — give him back his cow.”

The lord then told the poor man to return in two hours. The poor man grew anxious — he didn’t know why he’d been called back.

When he came, the lord said:
“How did you know those riddles? Who told you? Men far wiser than you couldn’t answer so well.”
“My lord,” said the poor man, “I have a daughter. She didn’t speak until she was seven — but when she did, she spoke wisely. It was she who told me.”

The lord took two eggs from a bowl, wrapped them in paper, and handed them to the poor man.
“Take these to your daughter. Tell her to put them under a hen tonight and raise two roosters for tomorrow’s soup.”

The man returned home and gave the eggs to his daughter.
The girl laughed. “Put them down,” she said, taking a pinch of millet and wrapping it in paper.
“Tell the lord,” she said, “that there’s nothing to feed the chicks with. Let him sow this millet, harvest it, grind it into grain, and bring it by morning.”

The poor man brought the millet to the lord and repeated her words.
The lord tore two threads from an old sack.
“Take these to your clever daughter,” he said. “Tell her to spin yarn from them and weave sacks for the millet.”

The girl broke three twigs off a broom and told her father,
“Tell the lord to make a loom from these twigs — then I’ll weave.”

When the poor man brought the twigs, the lord said,
“Tell her to come here herself — walking and not walking, riding and not riding, with a gift and without a gift.”

The poor man came home and told his daughter.
“Don’t worry, Father,” she said. “We’ll go.”

She asked for the goat, a sparrow (for a gift), and a cat in a sack. Then she set out.
She walked with one foot on the ground and the other on the goat’s back — so she went walking and not walking, riding and not riding. In one hand she held the sparrow, on her shoulder she carried the cat in a sack.

When the lord saw her, he told his servants to release five or six dogs to tear her apart. But she let the cat out of the sack, and the dogs chased after it, leaving nothing but dust behind.

She rode up to the lord.
“My lord, I bring you a gift,” she said.
He held out his hand, and she placed the sparrow on his palm — and the sparrow flew away.

The lord laughed. “You’re clever indeed,” he said. “Stay here. You’ll help me judge the village disputes.”

And so she did. She judged wisely and fairly.

Once, three poor men came with a quarrel.
One had a mare but no harness or cart. The second had only a harness. The third had only a cart.

They decided to work together — to haul their grain to the mill before the river froze. They hitched the mare to the cart using the harness, loaded their grain, and set off.

They had to wait long at the mill, and night overtook them. They fell asleep — and during the night, the mare gave birth to a foal.

When they awoke, the man with the harness said:
“My harness foaled a colt!”
The man with the cart said:
“My cart gave birth!”
And the man who owned the mare said:
“You fools — it’s my mare who gave birth!”

They argued so fiercely that they began pulling each other’s hair. Finally, people told them,
“Go to the lord — his wise girl will judge you.”

They went, but the lord was away. The girl met them and asked,
“What’s the matter?”
The man with the harness said,
“My harness foaled a colt!”

“Let’s see,” she said. “Pull your harness to the side. Does the foal follow?”
They pulled — the foal didn’t move.
“Now pull the cart.”
The foal didn’t move.
“Now lead the mare.”
The foal followed her at once.

“There,” said the girl, “now you know whose foal it is.”

But the other two still argued.

She said, “Wait, let me tell you something. Yesterday I sowed millet by the river — and the fish came out of the water and ate it all.”
“That’s impossible!” they cried. “Fish can’t eat millet from the ground!”
“And yet,” she said, smiling, “you think a leather harness or a wooden cart could give birth to a foal?”

And that was the end of the quarrel.