THE POTTER
Once a potter was journeying on his road with his goods and dozed off. The Tsar Iván Vasílgevich came driving by in his carriage and said, "Peace be to you!"
The potter looked up and said, "I thank you very much and wish you the same."
"Have you been asleep?"
"Yes, my lord. Do not fear a man who sings songs; but fear a man who slumbers!"
"You are a bold fellow, potter: I have seen very few such, and I like them. Coachman, slower! Potter, tell me, have you been long at your trade?"
"Ever since my youth, and I am now middle-aged."
"Can you keep your children with it?"
"Yes, I do not sow, nor plough, nor mow, nor reap, and no frosts can do me any harm."
"Right, potter; but there are still misfortunes left in the world."
"Yes, I know three of them."
"What are the three?"
"The first is an evil neighbour, the second an evil wife, and the third a weak understanding."
"Yet now, tell me which is the worst of these evils?"
"The evil neighbour can be escaped; So can the evil wife if one has children enough, but the weak intellect can never be got rid of."
"Yes, that is true, potter; you are a sensible fellow. Listen! You suit me and I suit you. When there are geese flying over Russia, will you pluck a feather out of them or let them fly by in peace?"
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