The Ungrateful Children And The Old Father Who Went To School Again

: Cossack Fairy Tales And Folk Tales

Once upon a time there was an old man. He lived to a great age, and

God gave him children whom he brought up to man's estate, and he

divided all his goods amongst them. "I will pass my remaining days

among my children," thought he.



So the old man went to live with his eldest son, and at first the

eldest son treated him properly, and did reverence to his old

father. "'Tis but meet and right that we should ive our father to

eat and drink, and see that he has wherewithal to clothe him, and take

care to patch up his things from time to time, and let him have

clean new shirts on festivals," said the eldest son. So they did so,

and at festivals also the old father had his own glass beside him.

Thus the eldest son was a good son to his old father. But when the

eldest son had been keeping his father for some time he began to

regret his hospitality, and was rough to his father, and sometimes

even shouted at him. The old man no longer had his own set place

in the house as heretofore, and there was none to cut up his food

for him. So the eldest son repented him that he had said he would

keep his father, and he began to grudge him every morsel of bread

that he put in his mouth. The old man had nothing for it but to go to

his second son. It might be better for him there or worse, but stay

with his eldest son any longer he could not. So the father went to

his second son. But here the old man soon discovered that he had only

exchanged wheat for straw. Whenever he began to eat, his second son

and his daughter-in-law looked sour and murmured something between

their teeth. The woman scolded the old man. "We had as much as we

could do before to make both ends meet," cried she, "and now we

have old men to keep into the bargain." The old man soon had enough

of it there also, and went on to his next son. So one after

another all four sons took their father to live with them, and he was

glad to leave them all. Each of the four sons, one after the other,

cast the burden of supporting him on one of the other brothers. "It is

for him to keep thee, daddy!" said they; and then the other would

say, "Nay, dad, but it is as much as we can do to keep ourselves."

Thus between his four sons he knew not what to do. There was quite

a battle among them as to which of them should not keep their old

father. One had one good excuse and another had another, and so none

of them would keep him. This one had a lot of little children, and

that one had a scold for a wife, and this house was too small, and

that house was too poor. "Go where thou wilt, old man," said they,

"only don't come to us." And the old man, grey, grey, grey as a

dove was he, wept before his sons, and knew not whither to turn.

What could he do? Entreaty was in vain. Not one of the sons would take

the old man in, and yet he had to be put somewhere. Then the old

man strove with them no more, but let them do with him even as

they would.



So all four sons met and took counsel. Time after time they laid their

heads together, and at last they agreed among themselves that the

best thing the old man could do was to go to school. "There will be a

bench for him to sit upon there," said they; "and he can take

something to eat in his knapsack." Then they told the old man about

it; but the old man did not want to go to school. He begged his

children not to send him there, and wept before them. "Now that I

cannot see the white world," said he, "how can I see a black book?

Moreover, from my youth upward I have never learnt my letters; how

shall I begin to do so now? A clerk cannot be fashioned out of an old

man on the point of death!" But there was no use talking, his children

said he must go to school, and the voices of his children prevailed

against his feeble old voice. So to school he had to go. Now there was

no church in that village, so he had to go to the village beyond it to

school. A forest lay along the road, and in this forest the old man

met a nobleman driving along. When the old man came near to the

nobleman's carriage, he stepped out of the road to let it pass, took

off his hat respectfully, and then would have gone on farther. But he

heard some one calling, and, looking back, saw the nobleman beckoning

to him; he wanted to ask him something. The nobleman then got out of

his carriage and asked the old man whither he was going. The old man

took off his hat to the nobleman and told him all his misery, and the

tears ran down the old man's cheeks. "Woe is me, gracious sir! If the

Lord had left me without kith and kin, I should not complain; but

strange indeed is the woe that has befallen me! I have four sons,

thank God, and all four have houses of their own, and yet they send

their poor old father to school to learn! Was ever the like of it

known before?" So the old man told the nobleman his whole story, and

the nobleman was full of compassion for the old man. "Well, old man,"

said he, "'tis no use for thee to go to school, that's plain. Return

home. I'll tell thee what to do so that thy children shall never send

thee to school again. Fear not, old man, weep no more, and let not thy

soul be troubled! God shall bless thee, and all will be well. I know

well what ought to be done here." So the nobleman comforted the old

man, and the old man began to be merry. Then the nobleman took out his

purse, it was a real nobleman's purse, with a little sack in the

middle of it to hold small change. Lord! what a lovely thing it was!

The more he looked at it, the more the old man marvelled at it. The

nobleman took this purse and began filling it full with something.

When he had well filled it, he gave it to the old man. "Take this and

go home to thy children," said he, "and when thou hast got home, call

together all thy four sons and say to them, 'My dear children, long

long ago, when I was younger than I am now, and knocked about in the

world a bit, I made a little money. "I won't spend it," I said to

myself, "for one never knows what may happen." So I went into a

forest, my children, and dug a hole beneath an oak, and there I hid my

little store of money. I did not bother much about the money

afterward, because I had such good children; but when you sent me to

school I came to this self-same oak, and I said to myself, "I wonder

if these few silver pieces have been waiting for their master all

this time! Let us dig and see." So I dug and found them, and have

brought them home to you, my children. I shall keep them till I die;

but after my death consult together, and whosoever shall be found to

have cherished me most and taken care of me and not grudged me a clean

shirt now and then, or a crust of bread when I'm hungry, to him shall

be given the greater part of my money. So now, my dear children,

receive me back again, and my thanks shall be yours. You can manage it

amongst you, and surely 'tis not right that I should seek a home among

strangers! Which of you will be kind to your old father--for money?'"



So the old man returned to his children with the purse in a casket,

and when he came to the village with the casket under his arm, one

could see at once that he had been in a good forest.[25] When one

comes home with a heavy casket under one's arm, depend upon it there's

something in it! So, no sooner did the old man appear than his eldest

daughter-in-law came running out to meet him, and bade him welcome in

God's name. "Things don't seem to get on at all without thee, dad!"

cried she, "and the house is quite dreary. Come in and rest, dad," she

went on; "thou hast gone a long way and must be weary." Then all the

brothers came together, and the old man told them what God had done

for him. All their faces brightened as they looked at the casket, and

they thought to themselves, "If we keep him we shall have the money."

Then the four brothers could not make too much of their dear old

father. They took care of him and the old man was happy, but he took

heed to the counsel of the nobleman, and never let the casket out of

his hand. "After my death you shall have everything, but I won't give

it you now, for who knows what may happen? I have seen already how you

treated your old father when he had nothing. It shall all be yours, I

say, only wait; and when I die, take it and divide it as I have said."

So the brothers tended their father, and the old man lived in clover,

and was somebody. He had his own way and did nothing.



[25] I.e. a forest where treasure is hidden.



So the old man was no longer ill-treated by his children, but lived

among them like an emperor in his own empire, but no sooner did he die

than his children made what haste they could to lay hands upon the

casket. All the people were called together and bore witness that they

had treated their father well since he came back to them, so it was

adjudged that they should divide the treasure amongst them. But first

they took the old man's body to church and the casket along with it.

They buried him as God commands. They made a rich banquet of funeral

meats that all might know how much they mourned the old man; it was a

splendid funeral. When the priest got up from the table, the people

all began to thank their hosts, and the eldest son begged the priest

to say the sorokoust[26] in the church for the repose of the dead

man's soul. "Such a dear old fellow as he was!" said he; "was there

ever any one like him? Take this money for the sorokoust, reverend

father!" so horribly grieved was that eldest son. So the eldest son

gave the priest money, and the second son gave him the like. Nay,

each one gave him money for an extra half sorokoust, all four gave

him requiem money. "We'll have prayers in church for our father though

we sell our last sheep to pay for them," cried they. Then, when all

was over, they hastened as fast as they could to the money. The coffer

was brought forth. They shook it. There was a fine rattling inside it.

Every one of them felt and handled the coffer. That was something like

a treasure! Then they unsealed it and opened it and scattered the

contents--and it was full of nothing but glass! They wouldn't believe

their eyes. They rummaged among the glass, but there was no money. It

was horrible! Surely it could not be that their father had dug up a

coffer from beneath an oak of the forest and it was full of nothing

but glass! "Why!" cried the brothers, "our father has left us nothing

but glass!" But for the crowds of people there, the brothers would

have fallen upon and beaten each other in their wrath. So the children

of the old man saw that their father had made fools of them. Then all

the people mocked them: "You see what you have gained by sending your

father to school! You see he learned something at school after all! He

was a long time before he began learning, but better late than

never. It appears to us 'twas a right good school you sent him to. No

doubt they whipped him into learning so much. Never mind, you can keep

the money and the casket!" Then the brothers were full of lamentation

and rage. But what could they do? Their father was already dead and

buried.



[26] Prayers lasting forty days.