Reading Notes: The Three Precepts (Georgian Folktale, Part A)

The red snake that the orphan found and then threw into his yard, following the lesson of the man. (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

The Three Precepts 

There once was an orphan from a poor and desolated village, who could no longer grow enough food to eat or find enough water to drink. He knew that he could no longer sustain himself unless he went and found a livelihood, so he set out west from his village. He came across a man who asked the orphan why he looked so troubled. “I am on a strenuous journey to seek a livelihood with no leads yet”, the orphan said. The man said “Be my servant for three years and I will teach you three things that will change your life for the better”. With no other hope, the orphan agreed and went to go live with the man. 

After one year of being his servant, the man gave the orphan his first lesson. “When you see something outside of your yard, throw it into the yard”, the man said. After the orphan’s next year of service, the man told him, “don’t ever lend anything to anybody unless you are really pressed to do so.” After his last year of being a servant, the orphan received his last lesson. “Never tell a secret to a woman”, the man said. After this, the orphan set off to return back home. 

When the orphan got home, he made a fence around his yard and started throwing everything that he found outside of his yard, onto the inside of his fence. After spending days throwing junk into the inside of his fence, one day the boy found a red snake which he placed in his yard. The next day, he went to go see if the snake was still there and to his surprise, the snake had laid six different precious stones. Knowing that this would change his life and end his struggles, the boy took the snake inside his home and every day, the snake would lay more stones. Everyday, the boy would go sell these stones, eventually ending up as a wealthy mansion owner with a beautiful wife and everything he ever dreamed of. 

One day, his wife asked him where he was getting his riches from, because she knew that he used to be very poor. He said, “God gave me this wealth”, but she was just not buying it. Everyday she would ask again and again about his source of wealth so he finally told her about the snake. After showing her the snake, the snake stopped laying precious stones and his wealth became stagnant and then began to decline. 

The next day, a man arrived at the door of the orphaned man, asking to borrow a knife. The orphan lent him a knife and the man lunged towards him, stabbing him, and as the man pulled the knife out of his rib cage, the orphan remembered the third lesson that the man taught him and he fell to the ground, wriggling around until he died, as the thief entered his home and pillaged everything that he owned. 

From Georgian Folktales unit. Story source: Georgian Folk Tales, by Marjory Wardrop (1894).