FAIRY TALES (text) - 57. THREE HUNDRED PENNIES FOR A WOLF

THREE HUNDRED PENNIES FOR A WOLF

Once upon a time there were three brothers who had no land, no house, no cattle. One day, the youngest brother told to his brothers:

– I am leaving to find my destiny, I can’t live like this anymore.

– So, where is your fate? –asked the oldest brother, – you don’t know anything, you’re good for nothing.

– Whatever, I am leaving, – the youngest brother said and set off. 

On his way, he saw a hundred men with axes into the woods, cutting the oaks down and making wood. The boy greeted them, and they welcomed him. Then he asked:

– Would you let me cut the trees with you?

– Go away, – one of the men said, – you can‘t do anything 

He begged and begged and they accepted, but they gave him too much work to do and little money. He began to work instantly, but he realized he the money wasn’t enough even for the food. And what did he do then! He looked around to see where the other men left the bread. All of them left the food and the wine at the oak. So the boy cut the oak down, like he didn’t know the food was there. The food fell down on the ground and the boy said:

Lucky me, lucky me! – said the boy, – the oak gave me bread.

Then he went to another oak and did the same thing, and a bottle of wine fell down. 

Lucky me, lucky me! – said the boy, – the oak gave me wine.

When the other men noticed who had done that, they wanted to catch and beat him to death, but the boy had run away and got trackless in the mountain. But a wolf was chasing him.

– What the hell is haunting me? – was thinking the boy.

When he turned his head, he saw it was a big wolf. He set a trap, caught the wolf and tied him like a dog. He took the wolf with him and on his way encountered a hundred men that were clipping the sheep, and said:

– Can you lend me some wool? I am a poor man!

So the men who clipped the sheep gave him some wool. The boy took the wool and put it on the wolf, all over his body, so that he could look like a goat. He took the wolf and after it got dark, they went to the house of a rich man and he said out loud:

– Can you host us tonight, sir?

– Come on in – replied the man of the house and went to open the door.

I have a goat with me and I’m afraid it’ll bother you. – said the boy to the householder.

The rich man saw the goat and said:

– What a good goat that it is! I’ll take it to the sheep, perhaps it brings me good luck. 

He took the wolf that looked like a goat to the sheep, then went to the guest. 

He offered tobacco, coffee, rakia and eat after they finished eating and drinking, they went to bed. At midnight, the rich man delta felt that the sheep were scared and thought:

– Lucky me, lucky me! That ram will bring me luck with the sheep.

Then he fell asleep again thinking so. When he got up in the morning and went to take a look at the livestock, he found them all drowned in blood.

– Someone has entered here and killed my sheep, – the rich man shouted.

And the truth was that the wolf had strangled all of them and then he had found a hole to escape.  The rich man went to the boy and told him what had happened.

– And what can I do, – said the boy – the ram was the only thing I had!

The man felt so sorry when he saw the boy was very sad and said:

– Since this happened in my house, I would not let you go empty-handed, tell me how much do you want for the ram.

– Three hundred pennies – said the boy.

Then the host gave him the bag with the pennies and the boy left happy. On his way, he went to a place where a wedding was being celebrated. Then he went closer to the lord of the house and said to him:

– Are you happy that your daughter is going away?

– No my friend, – responded the man, – I’m not happy, but I have nothing to do because I have given the word a few days earlier.

– If you gave me three hundred pennies, I will help you, – said the boy. – I will dress as a bride and will go there instead of your daughter. The man accepted and gave the boy three hundred pennies. The boy dressed as a bride and went to the groom and nobody recognized him. When the night came, and the bride and the groom went to bed, the boy lied the groom and asked for permission to go outside and do his things. 

– No, I can’t. I ‘m afraid you’ll go away. –the groom said.

– How can I go? – said the boy. – If you think so, tie me with a rope and let me go down from the window, and I won’t go.

Groom was convinced and tied the boy with a rope and let him get down the window. When the boy fell into the yard, he saw a big goat nearby. He untied himself and tied the goat from its leg, then ran away to his brothers. The groom waited for too long, then he pulled the rope. When he saw the goat, he shouted so much that everyone at the house went to his room. Then he told them what had happened. When the rumors that the bride had turned into a goat came out, the wedding was off.