I
ONCE upon a time, in a certain province of a certain country, there lived a
rich peasant, who had three sons: Simon the Soldier, Tarás the Stout,
and Iván the Fool, besides an unmarried daughter, Martha, who was deaf
and dumb. Simon the Soldier went to the wars to serve the king; Tarás
the Stout went to a merchant's in town to trade, and Iván the Fool
stayed at home with the lass, to till the ground till his back bent.
Simon the Soldier obtained high rank and an estate, and married a nobleman's
daughter. His pay was large and his estate was large, but yet he could not make
ends meet. What the husband earned his lady wife squandered, and they never had
money enough.
So Simon the Soldier went to his estate to collect the income, but his steward
said, 'where is any income to come from? We have neither cattle, nor tools, nor
horse, nor plough, nor harrow. We must first get all these, and then the money
will come.'
Then Simon the Soldier went to his father and said: 'You, father, are rich, but
have given me
nothing. Divide what you have, and give me a third part, that I
may improve my estate.'
But the old man said: 'You brought nothing into my house; why should I give you
a third part? It would be unfair to Iván and to the girl.'
But Simon answered, 'He is a fool; and she is an old maid, and deaf and dumb
besides; what's the good of property to them?'
The old man said, 'We will see what Iván says about it.'
And Iván said, 'Let him take what he wants.'
So Simon the Soldier took his share of his father's goods and removed them to
his estate, and went off again to serve the king.
Tarás the Stout also gathered much money, and married into a merchant's
family, but still he wanted more. So he, also, came to his father and said,
'Give me my portion.'
But the old man did not wish to give Tarás a share either, and said,
'You brought nothing here. Iván has earned all we have in the house, and
why should we wrong him and the girl?'
But Tarás said, 'What does he need? He is a fool! He cannot marry, no
one would have him; and the dumb lass does not need anything either. Look here,
Iván!' said he, 'give me half the corn; I don't want the tools, and of
the live stock I will take only the grey stallion, which is of no use to you
for the plough.'
Iván laughed and said, 'Take what you want. I will work to earn some
more.'
So they gave a share to Tarás also, and he carted the corn away to town,
and took the grey stallion. And Iván was left with one old mare, to lead
his peasant life as before, and to support his father and mother.
