Shemyák the Judge

Once upon a time, in a certain kingdom, there lived two brothers: one rich and one poor. One day, the poor brother came to the rich one and asked for a horse to fetch wood from the forest. The rich man lent him the horse. Then the poor man also asked for a horse-collar, but the rich brother refused and grew angry. So the poor man decided to tie the wood to the horse's tail instead. He drove into the woods, cut down so much wood that the horse could barely drag it, and when he got home, he opened the gate but forgot to remove the crossbar. The horse jumped over it and tore out its tail.

The poor brother brought the horse back without its tail. When the rich man saw the animal in that condition, he refused to take it and marched the poor man off to Judge Shemyák. The poor man went along, knowing he would fare badly, for the judge would surely exile him; the poor are always the butt of misfortune, having nothing to give.

On the way, the brothers stopped at a rich peasant's house for the night. The peasant gave the rich man good food and drink, but nothing to the poor man. The poor man lay on the oven, watching the others feast, and in his misery he fell onto the cradle and killed the baby sleeping there.

The peasant then decided to join the brothers and bring a further complaint against the poor man. They set off together, the peasant and the rich brother in front, the poor man trailing behind. When they crossed a bridge, the poor man thought he would never escape the court with his life, so he jumped off the bridge to kill himself. But below, a son was bathing his sick father, and the poor man landed right on the old man and drowned him. The son also went to court to bring a complaint against the poor man.

The rich man presented his plea that the poor brother had torn off the horse's tail. Meanwhile, the poor man had wrapped a stone in a cloth and was brandishing it at the judge behind his brother's back, thinking, "If the judge rules against me, I'll kill him." The judge believed the poor man was offering him a hundred roubles to win the case, so he ruled that the rich man must keep the horse in the poor man's possession until the tail grew back.

Then the peasant came forward and complained that the poor man had killed his son. The poor man again lifted the stone menacingly at the judge, behind the peasant's back. The judge was now certain of getting another hundred roubles, and commanded the peasant to give his wife to the poor man until she bore another child, after which he could take both wife and child back.

Next came the son, who complained that the poor man had killed his father. Once more, the poor man produced the stone from his pocket and showed it to the judge. The judge, now sure he would receive three hundred roubles in total, commanded the son to stand on the bridge, and the poor man to stand beneath it, and the son was to jump onto the poor man and kill him.

Judge Shemyák sent his servant to collect the three hundred roubles from the poor man. But the poor man showed the servant the stone he had used to threaten the judge, saying, "If the judge had not ruled in my favor, I would have killed him with this stone!" When the judge heard this, he crossed himself piously and said, "Thank God I judged for the right party."

The poor brother went to his rich brother to fetch the horse, as the judge had ordered, until the tail grew again. The rich man did not want to give it up, so he gave him five roubles, three quarters of corn, and a milch-goat, and made peace with him forever.

Then the poor man went to the peasant and, according to the judgment, asked for the wife, to keep her until another child arrived. The peasant made a compromise, giving him fifty roubles, a cow and a calf, a mare with a foal, and four quarters of corn, and settled matters.

Finally, the poor man went to the son whose father he had killed and read the judgment aloud: the son was to jump from the bridge and kill him. The son pondered, "If I jump, I might kill him or not, but either way I'll be ruined." So he made terms with the poor man, giving him two hundred roubles, a horse, and five quarters of corn, and they lived in peace forever after.