grey fairy tale book

Chapter 40 Bobino

Once upon a time there was a rich merchant who had only one son named Bobino.Because the boy was very clever by nature and had a strong thirst for knowledge, his father sent him to a teacher, thinking that his son could learn various foreign languages ​​there.After studying with this teacher for several years, Bobino returned home.

One evening, as Bobino and his father were walking together in the garden, the sparrows above their heads twittered so loudly that they could not hear what the other was saying.The noise made the businessman very upset.To comfort his father, Bobino said: "Would you like me to explain what these sparrows are talking about?"

The merchant looked at his son in astonishment, and then asked, "What do you mean? How can you explain the conversation between the sparrows? Do you think you are a fortune teller, or a wizard?"

"I am neither a fortune-teller nor a wizard," replied Bobino, "but my teacher has taught me all the languages ​​of the animals."

"Alas! what a pity for my large sum of money!" lamented the merchant. "The teacher must have misunderstood my intentions. Of course I expected you to learn the language of man, and not of any animal."

"Don't worry," replied the son, "my teacher thinks that it is better to learn the language of animals first, and then the language of man."

When they returned to the house, the family dog ​​barked and ran to meet the father and son.

"What's the matter with this beast?" asked the businessman, "You know me so well, but why are you barking at me so vigorously?"

Bobino asked, "Shall I explain to you what it's saying?"

"Let me be quiet, and don't bother me with your nonsense," said the merchant, very annoyed. "Look how my money is wasted!"

Presently, as they sat down to their supper, some frogs near the pond croaked strangely.The noise disturbed the merchant so much that he lost his temper, and exclaimed, "It's quite disturbing and disappointing to me."

Bobino began to ask again: "Shall I explain it for you?".
"Can you shut up and not explain?" the businessman yelled, "Sleep and don't let me see you again!"

So Bobinot went to bed, and slept soundly.But his father couldn't escape the disappointment he had bought.He was very angry, and called two servants, and gave them orders which were to be carried out the next day.

The next day a servant woke Bobino early and put him into a waiting carriage.The servant made him sit next to him, while another escorted him on horseback.Bobino did not understand what the two servants were going to do to him, or where they were taking him, but he noticed that the servant next to him looked very sad, and his eyes were swollen from crying.

Eager to know why, he asked the servant, "Why are you so sad? Where are you taking me?"

But the servant was unwilling to say anything.Finally, under Bobino's constant intercession, the servant was moved and said, "I'm sending you to your death, poor boy. Worse, I'm doing this on your father's orders."

"But," asked Bobino, "why should I die? Did I hurt him, or did I do something that made it necessary for him to kill me?"

"You didn't hurt him," replied the servant, "and you didn't do anything wrong, but he was almost mad because in all these years of study, you only learned the language of animals, and he expected nothing from you." It's something else. That's why he wants you dead."

"If so, kill me at once," said Bobino, "and what is the use of waiting, since it must be done?"

"I can't bear to do it," replied the servant, "but I can think of a way to save your life and at the same time make sure that we two servants don't offend your father. Fortunately the dog followed us. We Just kill it, take out its heart, and bring it back to your father. He will believe that the heart is yours, and in the meantime, you will escape."

When they came to the thickest part of the forest, Bobino got out of the carriage, said goodbye to the two servants, and set off on the wandering road.

He walked and walked until night, when he came to a house where some herdsmen lived.He knocked on the door and begged to come in and spend the night.Seeing that he was a gentle young man, the herdsmen welcomed him in and asked him to sit down and have dinner.

While they were eating, the dog in the yard started barking.Bobino went to the window, listened carefully for a minute, then turned to the nomads and said, "Send your wives and daughters to bed at once, armed as much as possible, because a band of robbers is going to raid the house in the middle of the night. "

The herdsmen were taken aback, thinking that the young man must have some neurological problems.

"How do you know," they asked, "that a gang of brigands is planning to attack us? Who told you that?"

"I know it from the barking of the dog," replied Bobino, "and I understand its language. If I do not come here, the barking of the poor animal will do nothing." It worked. If you want to save your lives and your property, you'd better take my advice."

The herdsmen became more and more surprised, but decided to follow Bobino's suggestion.They sent their wives and daughters upstairs, and took their places behind the hedge, armed, to wait for the robbers at midnight.

Just as the clock struck midnight, they heard footsteps.A gang of robbers approached the house on tiptoe.But the shepherds were watching, and they jumped on the robber from behind the fence, and with a stick, they quickly beat the robber to flee.

It is conceivable how grateful they were to Bobino for his timely reminder to save their lives.They begged him to stay and settle down, but he wanted to see more of the world, so after being grateful for the hospitality of the herdsmen, he set off on the road of wandering again.He walked all day, and in the evening he came to a farmhouse.When he was thinking whether he should knock on the door for lodging, he suddenly heard a few frogs croaking from the ditch behind the house.He went to the back of the house and saw a strange sight: four frogs were squawking loudly while passing a vial back and forth.Bobino listened for a few minutes, then knocked at the farmhouse door.The farmer opened the door and invited him in for supper.

Just after dinner, the master told him that he was in trouble at home.Because my eldest daughter is seriously ill, I am afraid it is hopeless.A doctor had passed by here before and promised to bring the medicine that would cure her, but the servant he entrusted lost the medicine on the way, so the daughter seemed hopeless.

Then Bobino told the farmer the vial in which he had seen the frogs playing, and said he knew that it was the medicine the doctor intended to give the girl.The farmer asked him how he was so sure, and Bobino explained to him that he understood the language of the animals and had heard the frogs talking when they threw the bottle.So the farmer picked up the bottle from the ditch and brought it home, and gave the medicine to his daughter.By morning the girl was much better.Her father did not know how to thank Bobino, but Bobino would not take anything he offered, said "thank you," and set off again to wander.

One day after this incident, he came across two people hiding from the sun under a tree.Because he was too tired, he also lay down not far from these two people, and the three chatted quickly.During the chat, Bobino asked the two where they were going, and the other said that they planned to go to a nearby city.There, a new mayor will be elected by the people.

As they were talking, some sparrows landed on the tree where they hid from the sun.Bobino stopped talking and listened carefully.After a few minutes, he said to his two companions: "Do you know what those sparrows are saying? They are saying that one of us will be elected mayor of that city today."

The three of them didn't say anything, just looked at each other.A few minutes later, seeing that Bobino was asleep, the two stole away and headed straight for the city where the elections were about to be held.

A large crowd gathered in the market place, and waited for an eagle to be released from its cage, because it had been agreed in advance that if the eagle landed on any house, the owner of that house would be the mayor of the city.The moment came when the eagle was released and all eyes were wide open to see where it would land.The eagle circled over the heads of the group, and finally flew directly in the direction of a young man who was entering the city.The young man was none other than Bobino.He woke up after the two companions walked for a while, so he rushed over after them.All the people cheered and admitted that he was the future mayor. After that, he was surrounded by a group of people and went to the mayor's mansion, which was his future home.While living happily there, he led the local people wisely.

(End of this chapter)