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The Old Garden

This strange and weird story happened in ancient times somewhere in the East. In one country there lived a sultan, and he had a charming daughter. She was famous for her intelligence and perfect manners. When time came for her to marry, three noble princes arrived at the sultan’s palace to ask for the young beauty’s hand. They were all young, attractive, and deserved to become the princess’ husband.

The sultan started to think of how to choose the best fiancé for his beloved daughter, for she was his only child. What is more, he gave half of his kingdom as dowry. And after the sultan’s death, the prince would rule the whole country on his own. So, the father had to decide not only his daughter’s fate, but also the destiny of his kingdom. And he did not want to make a mistake and give it all into unreliable hands.

The sultan thought and thought, but he could not find a solution. Then he had his wisest and oldest counselor called to him; he addressed him very rarely, in the most important cases. Usually, this wise man spoke less than others, so he was listened to more attentively than others. His wise advice was always on time, like a friend’s helping hand.

The old man came, and the sultan told him about his doubts. The counselor listened to the ruler attentively and said:

«You have a large, withered garden. Divide it into three parts and instruct the fiancés to restore it, so that it would be green and blossoming.»

The sultan was surprised at this advice but took it. He called the fiancés, gave them a hoe and a bucket each. He ordered them each to cultivate a third of the old garden on the outskirts of the palace.

The youths were also astonished at the task. But they all wanted to marry the beautiful young princess. So, they obeyed and set about the sultan’s task from an early morning.

When the princes left, the old wise man came to the ruler again. He sat down on the silky cushions near the bride’s father and looked at him attentively. Then he smiled and advised the sultan to change into plain clothes, so that nobody would recognize him. Then he instructed him to leave the palace, go to the youths and ask them what they were doing.

The sultan dressed as a commoner, and nobody would recognize a great a powerful ruler in this man. He left his chamber on the quiet and headed for the abandoned garden.

First of all, the disguised sultan saw a fiancé from the western kingdom. He was very educated and had good manners, a real scholar. He was standing near a tree thoughtfully and pottering about dismally.

«Who are you, oh wonderful youth? And what are you doing here?» the sultan asked innocently, as if he did not know who he was talking to.

«I am a prince of the neighboring country!» the youth said proudly. «I was taught by the best teachers and tutors of the west. I speak a lot of languages and I have mastered different sciences. My knowledge and good education are known far beyond my kingdom. Here I am obeying the sultan’s will – I am doing silly and useless work. I have to do it because I want to be the one to marry the beautiful princess and get half a kingdom as dowry.»

The youth sighed bitterly, looked around and added:

«What a stupidity! I am trying pointlessly to bring life to these old snags. Otherwise, I could write a good book on philosophy or make a discovery. I would like to surprise the world with new knowledge, but I have to water withered roots and fertilize the soil with dung! As soon as I marry the sultan’s daughter, I will rule this country sensibly. I will develop sciences. Only the most educated people will rule in my kingdom. And I will be known as the cleverest and the most educated monarch in all the nearest lands! Meanwhile, I am stupidly carrying water and loosening the soil. It is offensive and humiliating, but such is the price of the princess’ hand and the throne.»

«You said a lot about your scholarly merits, but not a word about love. Or it’s not important to you?» the bride’s disguised father said.

«My intelligence and education will win the love of any girl. I read hundreds of books about love; I know all secrets of sensuous pleasures for the body. So, I am sure that I will get the princess’ love easily.»

Upon hearing this answer, the sultan went on, thinking on his way: «It’s good to have a clever son-in-law. It would be reasonable to let such an intelligent and educated youth rule the country!»

The sultan imagined that sciences and education were prospering in his country. He imagined people discussing different problems, having endless arguments on the porches of their houses. Everybody, young and old, know the position of stars in the sky and basics of geometry. They draw circles and squares on the ground. They prove each other the reason for thunder and lightning. But one thought preyed upon the ruler’s mind: who will grow wheat and graze sheep in this wonderful world of scholars and philosophers? Who will forge metal and mould plates out of clay? The ruler had no answer to these questions, and it puzzled him very much. Moreover, a really wise man is not the one who knows more than others, but the one who does not boast about his knowledge everywhere.

Thinking about it, the sultan came to the second fiancé. It was a prince from southern lands. He was swarthy, strong, and hot, like all natives of those countries. The disguised ruler bowed to him politely and asked the same question as to the first fiancé:

«Who are you, oh manly fellow? And what are you doing in these hours of heat?»

The prince waved his hoe harshly, like a sword, and replied discontentedly:

«I am your princess’ fiancé, a prince of the southern land! I studied martial arts with the best teachers. I know how to use the bow perfectly and I can hit a grain of barley from one hundred steps. I have mastered sword fighting perfectly. There is no one in the world who can throw a javelin as well as I do! I am a real warrior, and I was made to potter about the garden and dig the dung! What a disgrace! I have to spend my time and efforts pointlessly to get the princess and half a kingdom as dowry!»

The youth was very disappointed and got too excited. He kicked the bole of the withered apple tree and continued:

«It would have been better if the ruler ordered me to perform some great exploit or beat a monster. But he told me to mess around with trees. When I marry the princess and become a sultan myself, I will surely gather the most powerful army and expand the country’s borders to reach the sea. I will be famous for my warrior’s strength and victories over weaker countries. And now I have to fight against old snags and stumps. It is offensive and humiliating!»

«Oh, noble knight, I would like to ask you one more thing. If you marry the sultan’s daughter, will you have time for love and family besides victories in battles?» the bride’s father wondered carefully.

«Sure! The princess must give birth to sons, and I will bring them up to be just as manly warriors as me. And I don’t worry at all about feelings and love. The girls love strong and brave ones. I will surely win the love of the sultan’s daughter for my bravery and heroism. There is no other way!»

Having heard this fiancé’s answer, the sultan turned and went on. He liked this prince’s bravery and decisiveness. The monarch imagined what would happen to the country if he let this fiancé rule. The prince will make all the men in the kingdom put on battle armor. He will teach them to be soldiers and immediately start war with the neighboring countries. He is a strong and able knight, so he will surely win many battles. He will conquer new lands and new kingdoms. He may create a new empire and become an emperor. But there are so many of those whose great strength is of little use! The sultan was in big doubts. «Many people will be killed in these battles,» the monarch thought. «He will have to take all men to war. Children will be left without fathers; women will be left without husbands. Who will be a father to their new children? Who will work on the fields and in workshops if best craftsmen and grain farmers go to war? And how much sorrow will be brought to the houses of country dwellers when many of those who went to war perish or become crippled? It is easy to start a war, but it is difficult to finish it. Moreover, war is an expensive thing that only wealthy countries may afford.» The absence of answer to new questions confused the sultan again.

At this moment he came up to the third fiancé, the prince of eastern lands. He was ecstatically digging the soil around withered trees. It seemed that hard work gave him real pleasure and joy.

«Who are you? And what are you doing with this land?» the disguised ruler asked.

«I am the youth who wants to marry the most beautiful and wonderful girl of your country – the young princess!» the young man answered with a kind and modest smile. «I am trying to restore this wonderful garden. I am very lucky, because I am making new life, creating, and reproducing it. I am not very good at sciences, and I am bad at weapons. But I am good at writing songs and poems. It’s probably for this reason that I like to create. There is nothing better in the world than to work on restoring something destroyed or create something new. The sultan will hardly choose me as a fiancé for his daughter. I have no education or military valor, like the other princes have. They are stronger and more intelligent than me. But even if I fail to get the princess’ hand, I will be glad to accomplish this task anyway. For I will be able to leave a memory about myself. When I restore this garden, it will be my gift for her. Later, when she comes here, the rustling leaves will remind her about me and my feelings. When she gives birth to children, they will also run here, play, and have fun in this garden. They will hide in the shade of branches from sun or rain. And the fruit that will ripen here every year will bring joy to everybody with their taste and aroma. The sultan gave me a wonderful task, and I am very glad and thankful to him.»

«Does it mean that you don’t think you will be able to get princess’ love before you even try to do it?» the disguised bride’s father asked in surprise.

«I think that you cannot get true love, you can only give it to another one. I can give my love to the charming princess and have no right to demand and expect something back. I don’t know who she will give her love to. My love for the princess is my gift to her, not a deal or an exchange. True feeling is always disinterested…»

The youth caressed the withered boles of trees gently and diligently continued digging the soil, carrying water, and fertilizing the soil.

«That’s a worthless fiancé!» the sultan thought sadly. «He has no education, like the first one. No strength, like the second one. What is the point in such a useless husband? If I leave the country to him, he will turn it into gardens and parterres. Can it be right?!»

The monarch turned around and staggered to the palace thoughtfully. Then he called the old wise man again. The sultan complained the counselor that he had met the princes and talked to them, but he could not decide who was the worthiest husband of them. Whom should he choose as a husband for his beloved daughter, so that she would be happy all her life and so that the country would get a reliable ruler? In the end of the story, he exclaimed helplessly:

«Why is it that the good is always doubtful and relative, while the evil is apparent and definite?»

The old man sneered. He knew quite enough to learn to doubt his infallibility, so he said evasively:

«Try to ask the bride’s opinion. Tell her everything you heard from the three fiancés when you talked in the garden. But don’t call their names. And let her appreciate their answers.»

The sultan called the daughter and told her about his conversations with fiancés in the garden. The princess thought just a little bit; she looked into her father’s eyes honestly and confessed:

«If the decision depended on me, I would choose the third one. The most worthless one, in your opinion. The one who does not believe that I will be his wife but continues to work and restore the garden. Because he did not seek joy in sciences or war, but in creation. Because he did not feel happy with discoveries and winning battles, but with his ability to give his work and love to other people. Because when he is working, he is not thinking about himself or his glory, but about his love, his bride, her future, and the future of her children! You can rely on such a person in family life. And it means that you can also rely on him in ruling the country.»

The wise man smiled and said to the sultan:

«I think you don’t need my advice anymore. I could not have said better.»

GreediBerry

Once there lived a man in a village. His name was Frol. Everything was fine with him: he had a nice house, a milk-cow, laying hens, a fertile field. But once he decided to go to the forest and pick sweet berries. He was about to leave when his neighbor, an old woman, told him:

«Frolushka, pick some berries in the forest and bring a handful to me. I am too old to go to the forest alone.»

«All right,» the kind Frol agreed. «Don’t worry, I’ll bring a whole basket of berries for you, so that you could eat as much as you like.»

«Thank you, dear! But I’ll give you one important piece of advice. Don’t go to the huge cliff above the river,» the old woman warned.

«Why not?» the curious man asked.

«There is a bad berry there. GreediBerry! If you eat it, you will become greedy. And great trouble may happen to you then.»

Frol laughed at the old woman’s words and went to the forest. He was walking along the road and thinking: «That’s stupid. There is no GreediBerry. And even if it existed, what is the trouble with greediness? Nobody has ever died of it. Greedy people just become richer than others.» thought Frol and headed for the huge cliff.

Near the edge of the cliff there was a wonderful meadow. He saw a marvelous bush there with unusual red berries that grew in clusters. Frol could not help picking one berry and trying it. He liked it very much! The berry tasted so delicious that the man threw at it and ate almost everything at once.

He was picking it and putting handfuls into his mouth so violently that he was covered in berries all over. He ate his full of juicy berries, felt heavy and flopped to the ground. He sat down and felt that he was too weak to go home.

Frol had a little rest and thought: «The nasty old woman! She knew that the berry here was very tasty. That’s why she forbade going here. It’s good that I disobeyed. I have never tried such juicy berries in my life! And I won’t bring this disgusting old woman anything, I won’t appease her. I will keep for myself everything I will pick in the forest. I don’t have enough for myself!»

The man picked the rest of berries from this wonderful bush and went home. But he did not notice and did not understand that he had become greedy. And now he was not his own master but gain and greediness were his masters.

The man came to the village, and the neighbor was waiting for him:

«So, Frolushka? Have you brought me some berries as you promised?»

«I have not, and I will not bring anything to you!» the man answered angrily. «The berries I have picked are not enough for me. If you need berries, go to the forest and look for them yourself.»

The old woman got angry with his rudeness, but decided to ask:

«Tell me the truth, my dear neighbor: have you been to the huge cliff? Have you tasted the GreediBerry?»

«Yes, I have!» Frol laughed. «And I understood why you forbade me to pick the berries there. I have never seen or tasted anything better than those berries. If I had obeyed you, I would have never known their wonderful taste. That’s why I am offended, and I don’t want to see you anymore! Off you go from my yard!»

Frol drove the kind old woman away. She shook her head with regret, sighed heavily, turned around and went to her hut. And the man’s life was going its way, he did his usual duties. But his life started to change from day to day somehow. His interest in other people’s wealth was greater than the interest in his own fortune.

It happened so that Frol’s cow ate several Greediberries. In some time, it stopped giving milk. The cow became too greedy to give its milk to the owner. Like Frol, it became greedy.

The man spilt several berries in the yard by chance. The hens picked them and stopped laying eggs. They did not want to give Frol their eggs. They became greedy, too.

Time came to gather harvest. Frol came to his field, looked at it and felt glad. The wheat was very good: ripe and magnificent heads with large grains. At this moment he had a worrying thought:

«I have a good harvest, but if I reap it now, my neighbors will see it and come to borrow some. And if I refuse, they will be angry with me and complain to tax collectors about me. They will come, see my good harvest and ask to pay bigger toll than last year.»

Frol felt greedy. He did not want to share his harvest with anybody and decided not to reap it at all. He did not want anybody to get anything. So, his wheat rotted on the field.

Winter was approaching. He needed to chop some wood to heat the house when frost comes. Frol was about to go to the forest, but then he stopped and thought: «Now I will chop some wood for myself, and what if somebody comes at night and steals it?! I may die of offence then. I can’t share my wood with anybody.»

He threw his axe to the fence and decided not to go to the forest.

Frol’s house was old – he got it from his parents. It required a lot of repairs. He wanted to set about repairing his house a long time ago. One of the walls nodded and was about to fall and crumble. But now the owner looked at it with different eyes. He gave it a little thinking and got scared: «If I renovate the house and rebuild it, somebody may want to visit me. Or relatives will come to see me. I will have to give them something to eat and drink. No, I don’t need it. I don’t want to waste my food on guests. I’d better leave the house in ruins. Then nobody will visit me or stay in it.»

That’s the way Frol was living. With one thought in his head – he did not want to do anything that might be good or beneficial for other people. And when it came to sharing anything with anybody, it was death-like for Frol.

Winter came, it became frosty. The cow gave no milk. And the man did not feed it – he grudged hay for the cow. It was hungry, became weaker and weaker and then died. The hens did not lay eggs. Frol was starving them as well. He was too greedy to give any millet to his hens. They died, too.

Frol was cold as he had no wood. He had nothing to eat, his harvest rotted in the field. The man had a quarrel with his neighbors, he became wicked and unsociable. He did not believe anybody and suspected everybody of stealing. And he was so greedy that he never put another word in.

And once, when it snowed heavily, his leaning and ruined house gave way, crackled heavily, and crumbled. The roof and the walls fell on the owner, and that was how he died.

His fellow villagers thought that Frol died because the house fell down on him. And only the old woman, his neighbor, knew that Frol died because of his greediness, not because the roof fell down. Because he did not follow the elder people’s advice and ate too much GreediBerry in the forest. He was too nosy. In reality, the poor Frol lost in this controversy between greediness and stupidity. And only his death cured him of greediness.

Scales of Life

It happened so that a caravan with goods from far-away countries was walking on the road. It was led by three brothers.

The elder brother was the caravan’s owner. Their father left him all his wealth in his will, because he was grown-up and was better versed in trading. His business was going well, he was sly and enterprising. He successfully made others work for himself and did not overstrain himself. He did not blow off his father’s fortune, but he increased it and managed to accumulate a lot of money. He became a rich and notable merchant in his town.

He was dressed smartly and looked neat. He was used to luxury and magnificence. He became fat because of easy life, and prosperity made him arrogant and presumptuous. A real self-complacent nobleman and master.

The middle brother was strong and nimble. He had a lot of heroics daring and brave agility. However, he did not like to work himself, either. He did not learn any good craft. He could not trade for this you should have intelligence and trickery, while nature gave him nothing but strength and dexterity. What he really liked was drunken parties and fights. That’s why he helped his elder brother in protecting goods and accompanied him in travels to defend him from highwaymen. He had beautiful shining armor on, a sword attached to his belt, and a beautiful shining helmet on his head. A real bully of a warrior.

The younger brother had nothing out of the ordinary. No skills of a merchant, no trickery, no strength, no military skills. But he was a kind, modest, easy-going, and hard-working youth. That’s why elder brothers always sent him on errands and let him do all hard and dirty work. He had to make a fire, put up a tent, cook some food and then clean up afterwards – that’s how they used him and ordered him about as they wished. And he did not mind. He did everything he was told well and with a smile. The elder brothers often sneered at the younger one, but he took no offence as he was peaceful and kind-hearted. And he loved his brothers, even though they were sometimes unjust to him. They gave him a lot of work to do, but never thanked him. He wore rags, ate what was left after his brothers and slept where he could. It was like he was not their brother, but a stranger whom they did not know. And he had to serve them like a slave – free of charge, at their first demand. Sometimes the middle brother, using his great strength, could give the younger one a cuff or offend him in another way. And he did that for no reason, just for fun.

The caravan had been returning home for many days. They passed the dry desert and dense forests, overcame high mountains. And once they stopped near a cave and decided to stay a night there. But this cave was not an ordinary one. The inscription on it said that there is a magic wishing rock inside. The elder and the middle brothers read it and got excited. They wanted to enter the cave at once to get what they dreamed of.

The younger brother tried to dissuade them:

«Don’t go there! What if there is something terrible there? It’s impossible to get something without giving anything back!»

«You are young and silly!» the elder brother retorted. «While I was trading, I learnt to dodge and trick so well that I can easily drive anyone crazy. If I have profit, I will wrap around my fingers any devil or Satan himself.»

«And I am so strong that I fear nobody. If need be, I will beat anybody and take away what I like,» the middle brother boasted. «Nobody will contest my power!»

And they hurried to the cave. The younger brother could not leave them and dragged behind.

When the travelers entered the cave, they saw a big flat rock. It was lying in the middle of the cave. It was half black and half white. On this unusual rock there were huge scales. One scale was light, bright and shining. It hurt to look at it – so blinding it was. The second scale was dark, and it emanated terrible cold. It was so powerful that fear reached your bones.

«Who will fulfill our wishes?» the elder brother shouted menacingly.

He liked to command and order everybody about. He was a rich owner and a noble merchant and did not want to rely upon somebody’s mercy. He was used to taking everything he needed using strength, money, slyness, or tricks.

As soon as he said that a huge rock closed the entrance to the cave. The walls and the vaulting started shaking, and the travelers found themselves in a trap. A column of fire water appeared above the black and white rock lying in the middle of the cave. It was not clear whether it was flowing fire or burning water. Then the Wish Fulfillment Spirit appeared out of this unusual column. It was strange, huge, and black and white, like the rock.

The Spirit rolled in a thunderous voice:

«Welcome, strangers! The one who comes to me always has his wish fulfilled. I can do anything you want. But just one wish each and with a condition.»

«What condition?» the middle brother asked, fearlessly stepping forward.

He wanted to show his bravery and courage to his brothers very much. Moreover, he was a bully and liked all kinds of brawls and skirmishes.

«The condition is simple,» the Spirit roared. «Each of you will get what you deserve. All years and affairs in your life will lie on these scales. The time you lived perfectly, and your good deeds will fall on the light scale. And all the years lived in vain and unworthily and your bad deeds will be gathered on the black scale. If most of your life was good and kind and the light scale is heavier, your wish will be fulfilled to this extent. And if the lesser part of your life was good and kind and the black scale is heavier, you will lose even what you have. If you have more bad things than good things in your life and affairs, you may lose everything».

The elder and middle brothers agreed at once without much thinking. Each person considers himself to be good and kind. Everybody thinks highly of himself and is ready to blame others for bad deeds, but not himself. A person is more likely to justify himself than to admit his guilt.

The brothers decided that they have nothing to fear. They thought they had done many perfect things in their life. And even if they did something not quite good, there was not much of it. Their good deeds will cover over and above all the mistakes, minor faults, and bad deeds.

The elder brother was the first to approach the scales. Like most people, he was convinced of other people’s depravity and his innocence. He did not think much; he said that he wanted to have an enormous wealth. I wish to be richer than overseas merchants with whom I met and traded some time ago. He started to describe how much gold and semiprecious stones he wanted and what house he wished to have. He said in detail how many doors, windows, and rooms he would like it to have. He also remembered to describe the shops and goods he wanted to have. He wanted very much to be richer than all the merchants he knew. In a nutshell, he took explaining his wish seriously. It was quite understandable: he was a merchant, so he was used to counting and recounting everything. He counted every coin, every trifle.

The middle brother was not very modest, either. Confidence in his rightness and impunity replaced his conscience and shame a long time ago. He stepped forward and wished to be the strongest man on earth, so that nobody could ever beat him, and so that the story of his great strength would be spread all over the world. He said what swords, spears, armor and boots he needed for that.

Then he said how many kilos he wanted to lift with each arm and how accurately he wanted to shoot. And in the end, he ordered his favorite wine which sustained his power in revelries.

The younger brother smiled and said that he did not need anything. He had no great wishes, and as for those he has, he will fulfill them himself. And he started to persuade his brothers to leave the cave as soon as possible. He did not like it here; his heart felt that something was wrong.

This elder brother’s life was the first to fall on the scales. Wonderful balloons started to fly down from the sky. Each balloon contained a story from his life. The white balloons which fell on the light scale contained a good story from life, some good deed, or a well-meant initiative. And the dark balloons that fell on the black scale displayed bad deeds and evil thoughts of the elder brother.

He had few kind and good deeds in his life. Several times he donated some money to the temple. But during the next three years he mentioned how much he was donating to church. He wanted to convince everybody that it is only thanks to him that there is holiness and faith in their town. He gave a few coins to the poor, but he boasted everybody long after that and claimed to have spent a whole fortune on the poor and the needy.

As for evil deeds, he had ten times more of them. He cheated people while selling, replaced good products with bad ones. He dismissed a servant who had five children, and she nearly avoided starvation to death. He scolded his workers for no reason or fault. He told lies and cheated every day. In the end, the scales lopsided to the side of sins and evil ten times more than to the side of good.

And the brothers saw through the walls, in a magic mist, that their caravan and all the goods disappeared. They looked on the other side and were terrified: the elder brother’s house and the shop with all his possessions were burning in the town where they lived. In an instant, all his wealth disappeared. And even his clothes turned into rags. He was standing in the middle of the cave in wretched rags, poor and penniless. The elder brother burst into tears, started to yell, and tremble. He sniveled and fell to the ground, helpless and paralyzed.

The middle brother came to the scales and started to enumerate his good deeds. Brave and impudent though he was, he became more tense and serious when he saw what happened to his elder brother. But there was no backing space. And he really wanted to become the strongest person in the world.

It was difficult for him to remember good deeds. He remembered that once he defended an old lady from a drunkard. He helped a girl to carry a heavy pitcher to the house. He liked the young beauty and wanted to get acquainted with her, so he helped her. He hardly remembered a couple of other good deeds, and he could recollect no more. But he had four times as many evil deeds. He fought, stirred up trouble wishing to make a parade of his strength, and offended people who were weaker than him. And he spoiled so many other people’s things when he was drunk that it would take long to enumerate them. Dark balloons were falling and falling from the sky. In the end, the scale with bad deeds became much heavier than the light scale.