A wise woman
Once upon a time there lived a chaban. The bay sent him to the sands with his flock. And he had some money. “Why do I need money in the sand? - he thought. – I'll lose it again. They must be deposited for safekeeping. They say that the most honest and decent people are dervishes*. I'll ask one of them.”
As he thought, so he did. He gave the money to the dervish and set off into the desert. A long time passed, or maybe not, until the chaban returned to the village. He comes to the dervish and says:
– I would like to take my money.
“But, good man,” said the dervish in surprise. - I do not know you. I never took any money from you. Can a poor man like you have money?
A poor man came to his neighbor and shared his sorrow with him. And the neighbor's wife, having heard the whole story, says:
– If you follow my advice, your money will come back to you.
The woman taught the chabana where, how and what to do, and she went to see him
dervish.
– It's been three years since my husband left for Khiva and he still hasn't come back. I decided to go to him myself, but I can't trust my children with money. I heard that you are an honest, helpful and reliable person. I came to ask you to take my money for safekeeping.
The dervish was very happy:
– My little dove! You did the right thing by coming to me. Can you trust your children with money? Times are not good today. And you can rely on me.
– God grant you health! – said the woman and started counting the money she wanted to leave.
At that moment the chaban entered.
“I came for my money,” he said.
The dervish had already noticed that the woman had a lot of money, and he was sorry to lose such a client. So he opened the chest and gave the chaban his due.
And the woman is still counting and counting the money when suddenly her son bursts into the room and calls out:
– Mom! Mom! Dad has arrived! Let's go home quickly!
“Now that my hubby is back,” the woman says, “I won't bother you anymore.”
She wrapped the money in a bundle and laughed. Czaban and the woman's son, who was also in cahoots, couldn't stand it and started giggling too. And the dervish clutched his stomach with laughter. They finally laughed and the woman asks:
– My husband, my son's father, has returned from his journey; Czaban got his money back, so we have reasons to be happy, but why are you laughing?
And the dervish replied:
– I'm laughing at myself. I thought I was the cunningest man in the world, but I forgot that if a woman decides to do something, no one will stop her or prevent her from doing so.
* Dervish – a Muslim monk leading an ascetic lifestyle.
