Once, a peasant was sowing seeds in a field. The King came riding along, and asked the peasant, “How much do you earn from this field?” The peasant replied, “Some eighty rubles if the harvest is good.” The King, then, asked him what he did with the money. The peasant said, “I give twenty rubles in taxes, twenty to repay a debt, twenty as a loan, and throw twenty out of the window.” The King asked him to explain. “Supporting my father is repaying a debt, sustaining my son is giving a loan, and keeping my daughter is throwing money out of the window.” “Well said!” exclaimed the King and he gave the peasant a handful of silver. He ordered the peasant not to tell about this conversation to anyone without his approval. On reaching his palace, the King called together his generals. “Solve this riddle,” he said, “I saw a peasant. I asked him how much he earns and how he spends it. The man replied that he got eighty rubles.”
The King’s Approval
The King continued, “He gave twenty in taxes, twenty to repay a debt, twenty as a loan and threw twenty out of the window. Whoever solves this riddle will be richly rewarded.” The generals could not find the answer. Then, one of the generals went to the peasant, offered him money and asked him how to solve the King’s riddle. The peasant was tempted by the money and told the general everything. The general returned to the King and gave the answer to his riddle. The King was angry that the peasant had not kept his word and ordered him to be brought. He came before the King and confessed that it was he who had told the general the answer. The King ordered him to be executed. “But I have committed no offence,” the peasant said. Saying so, the peasant took out a silver ruble with the King’s head upon it from his pocket. He showed it to the King. “That is indeed my approval,” said the King and he rewarded the peasant.
