Once upon a time, there lived a khan. One day he decided to test his viziers: — My viziers, — said the khan, — answer me, who is more generous: the one who has a lot of livestock, or the poor peasant?
— Only a rich man with fat herds, — replied the viziers, — can be generous; what can you take from a beggar?
The khan remembered that conversation and decided to test his servants through action. Disguised as a beggar, he went to the first vizier.
— Hey, get out of here, you ragamuffin! — shouted the vizier.
The "beggar" lamented:
— Help me, sir! I haven't had a crumb in my mouth for three days.
— Hey, servants, throw him the bones left from yesterday's dinner, and may Allah bless you...
The khan left his vizier's house, bitterly smiling. He went to the second one.
— Hey, servants, — shouted the second vizier, — give this ragamuffin a piece of stale bread, and let him get lost...
The khan went to the third vizier. That one didn't even want to talk to him and ordered his servants to throw him out...
The khan walked along the dusty road and saw: there stood a crooked yurt in the middle of a field, and around a miserable hearth, an old woman in torn clothes was bustling, while a teenage boy was throwing bundles of straw into the fire.
The sun had set behind the mountains, and a fresh breeze blew.
— Where are you headed, man? — asked the old woman.
— I am a beggar. I am looking for a place to spend the night...
— Uncle, come into the yurt, — invited the boy.
— Stay with us, — said the old woman.
— Mother, shall we slaughter a ram to treat the beggar? — said the boy.
— But do you have many rams? — the guest wondered.
— I graze the herd of a rich man, and for that, he gave me five rams. Mother didn't even go to sleep, watching them and rejoicing in our wealth.
— Thank you, boy, — the beggar thanked. — It's a pity that I only eat ram's heart, and I can't stand meat.
One heart won't fill you up; you'll have to go to bed hungry.
— Mother, — the boy turned to his mother, — the guest eats only ram's heart. You can't feed him with just one heart; we will have to slaughter all the rams so that the poor man can eat his fill, and we will either eat the meat ourselves or sell it at the market.
— As you wish, my son, — the woman agreed. — We can't let our guest go to bed hungry...
They slaughtered all the rams, the old woman cooked five ram's hearts, and served them to the guest. The guest ate one heart and said:
— I can't eat my fill; my heart aches for the hungry children. With your permission, I will take the remaining hearts to my children and eat with them.
— As you wish, uncle, as long as you are satisfied, — the mother and son replied.
That night, the khan secretly returned home and hid the ram's hearts that the boy and his mother had given him in a chest. He also put a piece of dry bread and the bones that his viziers had "treated" him with there. The next day, he invited his viziers and the poor boy to his home.
The guests arrived.
— Well, my viziers, answer once more, who is more generous: the one with fat herds, or the poor peasant?
— Oh our ruler, — the viziers replied, — generosity is in wealth.
— And do you have wealth? — asked the khan.
— Our wealth is enough for ourselves and our children, — the viziers lowered their eyes.
In anger, the khan opened the chest:
— Then look at your generosity: you gifted me stale bread and bones from yesterday's dinner when I was disguised as a beggar. But this young man did not spare his last rams to feed his guest. Kindness is not in wealth, but in the human soul.
Thus spoke the khan, dismissed his viziers, and took the good young man into his service.
Kyrgyz Tales
