The Greedy Kazi

A hardworking poor man saves a thousand tanga after years of toil and entrusts it to a seemingly honest judge, the kazi. The kazi deceitfully denies receiving the money. With a clever woman’s help, the man exposes the kazi’s dishonesty through a ruse involving a fake treasure. The man regains his savings, while the kazi is left humiliated and furious over his failed scheme.

Source
Folk Tales from the Soviet Union
Central Asia & Kazakhstan
compiled by R. Babloyan and M. Shumskaya
Raduga Publishers, Moscow, 1986

► Themes of the story

Revenge and Justice: The man seeks justice for the kazi’s deceit, ultimately regaining his savings and leaving the kazi humiliated.

Trickster: The clever woman acts as a trickster figure, using her wit to outsmart the greedy kazi.

Conflict with Authority: The story depicts a struggle against an authority figure, the kazi, who abuses his position for personal gain.

► From the same Region or People

Central Asia
- Tajik Lore

Learn more about the Tajik people

Retold by Mikhail Bulatov
Translated by Irina Zheleznova

Believe it or not, but once lived a poor man who worked very, very hard yet remained just as poor as ever he was. So he decided to leave his native parts and go to a distant city to earn his living. He said goodbye to his family and set off from home. Whether he was long on the way or not no one knows, but at last he reached the city he was bound for and at once began going from house to house, looking for work. And he did anything that came his way, never refusing any kind of work, however hard, setting about it willingly and always doing everything thoroughly and well.

As for the money he earned, he spent only as much as he needed to buy food for himself and put away the rest in a small bag, saying to himself:

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“I will work a little more, save up more money and then go back to my family.”

In this way he toiled unsparingly for several years and was able to put aside a whole thousand tanga. And since that, for a poor man, is a large sum of money, he began brooding about it and said to himself:

“What if through some mischance my money is lost?.. To carry it on me is folly, for I may lose it; also, a thief might learn about it and might then kill and rob me. Nor will it do to hide the money at my lodgings, for someone might see me hiding it, and there being many sly and evil people in the world, I will be deprived of it and return home empty-handed.”

So his thoughts ran and he did not know what to do. But at last he decided to give his thousand tanga to the kazi [the judge] for safekeeping.

“Everyone says the kazi is as honest as he is pious,” said he to himself, “so my money will be safe with him. I will take it back from him when I decide to go home.”

And off he went to see the kazi. The kazi greeted him politely and asked what he wanted.

“I should like to leave my money with you for safekeeping, O most honourable kazi,” the man said. “Please keep it for me while I am living and working in this town.”

The kazi took the bag of money and said gravely:

“I shall do as you ask with the greatest pleasure. You could not have found a safer place to keep your money.”

The poor man left, and the kazi counted the money and put it away in a large chest.

Some time passed, and the owner of the money prepared to go back to his family. He came to the kazi and said to him:

“Give me back my money, O most honourable kazi, for tomorrow I leave this town.”

The kazi looked at him.

“What money do you mean?” he asked.

“The thousand tanga that I gave you to keep for me, most honourable kazi.”

“You must be mad!” the kazi shouted. “When did you ever give me any money? One thousand tanga indeed! What an idea! Why, neither you nor any of your kin ever laid eyes on so much as a hundred tanga! Where would you get a whole thousand?”

The poor man tried to remind the kazi when it was he had brought him the money and what had been said between them. But the kazi would not listen to him. He stamped his feet and called for his servants.

“This man is a swindler!” he shouted. ‘Thrash him soundly and turn him out of my house!”

The kazi’s servants fell on the poor man, beat him up and threw him out of the house.

The poor man stumbled off down the street with tears and lamentations.

“All my hard work has been in vain! My money is lost he kept repeating sorrowfully. “The kazi has taken it all!”

Now, a woman who happened to be passing by just then overheard the poor man’s lamentations and said to him reproachfully:

“What has happened, my brother? Why are you, a grownup man, crying like a child?”

Said the poor man sadly:

“O my sister, if only you knew how I have been tricked you would not reproach me! By working beyond my strength for years and never eating my fill I succeeded in putting aside a thousand tanga. Now I have. lost them.”

“Tell me how it happened,” the woman said.

The poor man told her the whole story.

“And people say that the kazi is as honest as he is pious!” he added bitterly.

The woman listened to his story with sympathy.

“Do not be sad, not all is lost,” said she. “Come with me, I will think of something.”

They went to her house, and the woman took a large box that stood there and said to her little son:

“I am going with this man to see the kazi. Follow us at a distance and try not to be seen by anyone. When we reach the kazi’s house, hide yourself and wait till the kazi has handed this man his money. When you see him stretch out his hands to take this box, run into the house and say: “Father has come back with his camels and goods.”

“Very well, I will do as you say,” said the boy.

The woman placed the box on her head, and she and the poor man made their way to the kazi’s house, the woman’s son following them at a distance.

They came there, and the woman said to the poor man:

“I will go in first, and you come in after me.”

She stepped into the house, and the kazi looked at her and at the large box on her head and said:

“What business brings you here, my sister?”

Said the woman:

“Perhaps you have heard of me, O most honourable kazi. I am the wife of Rahim, the rich merchant. My husband has taken his caravan to distant lands, and no one knows when he will return. For many nights now I have been unable to sleep peacefully. Thieves are prowling round our house, and I am sure they plan to rob us. This box contains all the money we have, as well as all our gold and precious stones. t was with difficulty that I carried it here, it is so heavy. I should like to leave it with you for safekeeping. When my husband returns he will come for it himself.”

The kazi lifted the box and his hands shook.

“There must be at least forty or fifty thousand tanga in money in this box, and many precious stones besides, it is so heavy,” thought he. “I have heard this Rahim is a very rich merchant.” And turning to the woman, he said:

“Very well, my sister, I shall keep your treasures for you. They will be safe with me, you may be sure. And you will get everything back, to the last tanga.”

But the woman took the box from the kazi’s hands.

“Will I truly get all of it back?” said she.

“Do not doubt it, my sister!” the kazi exclaimed. “All the people in the town know me for an honest man.”

Just as he said this, the poor man, for so it had been agreed between him and the woman, came into the kazi’s house. The kazi saw him and was overjoyed.

“Heaven itself has brought this man here,” said he to himself. “There could be no better opportunity of proving my honesty to this woman. I shall give back to that beggar his thousand tanga and get a box full of money and jewels instead. It will be worth it, ha-ha!”

And the kazi turned to the woman, saying:

“I repeat to you, my sister, that there is no better place for you to leave your money than my house. Your box will be far safer here than if you keep it in your own house. And you can have it back any time you want.”

The kazi’s servants and all who were present in the house nodded their heads as if to say that the kazi was indeed speaking the truth and that his every word could be trusted.

And the kazi, pretending to have only just noticed the poor man’s presence, exclaimed:

“Why, here is the man who gave me all his savings, one thousand tanga, to keep! He came to me this morning and asked for his money, but I did not recognise him, I mistook him for a thief and refused to give it back. If someone here knows him and will vouch for him I will give it him at once.”

Said the woman:

“O most honourable kazi, I have known this poor man for almost two years. He came to this town from afar and he has been working very hard ever since. He worked for me, too, for a time. Believe me when I tell you that he has more than earned his money, for never was there a more hard-working man.”

“What, you know this man!” the kazi exclaimed. “Then we need not delay. Come up here, my brother, and take your thousand tanga.”

And the kazi reached into his chest, counted out a thousand tanga and gave them to their owner.

“Well, my sister, now you have seen for yourself how safe other people’s money is with me and that I can be trusted to return it to its owner,” said the kazi hurriedly. “Leave your box here and go home in peace.”

And he stretched out his hands for the box.

But before the woman could hand it to him, her son burst into the house.

“Mother! Mother!” he called. “Come home quickly! Father has come back with his camels and goods and is waiting for you.”

“Oh well, now that my husband has returned, I need no longer fear thieves,” said the woman with a smile. “He will be able to look after our treasures without the help of the honourable kazi.”

And with these words the woman took her box, placed it on her head and left the kazi’s house in the company of the poor man.

“One must never despair, my brother,” said she. “Remember that there is no knave alive whose scurvy tricks work every time. Go back to your family and live in peace. You have wandered in alien parts long enough. Spend your hard- earned money and enjoy it.”

And taking leave of one another, they parted.

As for the kazi, now that he was left alone, he flew into a terrible. rage. He tugged at his beard, stamped his feet and was so distressed that he did not know what to do with himself.

“Unhappy man that I am! ” he said over and over again. “What a terrible misfortune! May the merchant Rahim be cursed! Why couldn’t he have arrived an hour later! It would all have been over and done with by then, the box of treasures would have been mine. My riches would have multiplied. My large chest would have been filled to the top. I shall never get over it, never!”

And he wept and cried and could not stop.

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The Padishah’s Daughter and the Young Slave

A conceited princess rejects all suitors, leading her father, the Padishah, to consult an old sage, who foretells her marriage to a slave. Despite challenges, the slave accomplishes impossible tasks, gaining immense strength and valor. Refusing to marry the princess, he rejects the Padishah’s tyranny, defeating his oppressors. Embracing freedom, the former slave dedicates his life to protecting the weak and fighting for justice.

Source
Folk Tales from the Soviet Union
Central Asia & Kazakhstan
compiled by R. Babloyan and M. Shumskaya
Raduga Publishers, Moscow, 1986

► Themes of the story

Prophecy and Fate: The narrative centers on a prophecy foretelling that the Padishah’s proud daughter will marry a slave, highlighting the inescapable nature of destiny.

Conflict with Authority: The young slave challenges the Padishah’s authority, especially when he refuses to marry the princess and later opposes the Padishah’s tyranny, symbolizing a struggle against oppressive power.

Revenge and Justice: The story concludes with the slave defeating his oppressors and dedicating his life to protecting the weak and fighting for justice, emphasizing the restoration of moral order.

► From the same Region or People

Central Asia
- Tajik Lore

Learn more about the Tajik people

Retold by Klavdia Ulug-zadeh
Translated by Olga Shartse

The Padishah had a grownup daughter who was so proud and conceited that she sent away all the match- makers who came to seek her hand in marriage. None of the suitors was good enough for this Princess. And then her father held counsel with his viziers and said to them:

“Is it not time the Princess got married?” – “It is time,” replied the viziers. “Only let us ask her what sort of man she wants for a husband.”

And the Princess told them: “I’ll only marry the strongest and most handsome young man in the world, who alone deserves to be my husband.”

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The viziers tried to find a man like that in their own city, but no one measured up to the Princess’s demands.

The Padishah himself then set off on a journey to other towns. He rode for a long time and finally came to a wide river. On the bank squatted an old man with a beard that was long and green like sea-weed, he had on a green robe, and had a green staff in his hand. He was writing something with a black pebble on white pebbles which he then threw into the river.

The Padishah rode right up to the old man and asked him what he was writing on those pebbles and why he threw them into the water.

“I foretell people’s future. Whatever I write on a white pebble which I then throw into the river will come to pass.”

“Could you foretell my daughter’s future? Who is destined to become her husband?” asked the Padishah, and told the old man about his proud, conceited daughter who refused to marry anyone but the handsomest and strongest young man in the world.

The old man smiled, wrote something on a white pebble, threw it into the river, and said:

“Your daughter will marry neither a pauper nor a labourer, she’ll marry a slave.”

“Oh no! It cannot be!” cried the Padishah in alarm because he remembered that he did have a slave working in his household, he was a young man and the best worker in town, but a slave he was!

The Padishah hurried back home, and all the way he was thinking how to avert that terrible disaster from his daughter. The moment he returned to his palace, he called his viziers together and told them what fate had in store for the Princess.

“Woe unto us, woe! That wretched slave intends to marry my daughter! What am I to do!”

“Chop off his head,” replied the viziers promptly.

When the poor young slave heard that he was to die, he pleaded and swore that he did not have the slightest desire to marry the Princess.

“What, he has the impudence to refuse the Padishah’s daughter?” cried the sly viziers. ‘Off with his head for such impudence!”

And the Padishah agreed with them.

A very, very old and very, very wise man lived in a small hut not far from the palace. He was so old that he could no longer walk. When he heard about Padishah’s cruel order, he begged his neighbours:

“Please, put me on a white felt rug, pick it up by the four corners, and carry me to the Padishah.”

They did so, and when they brought him to the palace the Padishah asked the wise man:

“What advice have you come to give me, old sage?” asked the Padishah.

“Oh Padishah, you are free to do what you will with your servants,” replied the old man. “Send your young slave to the end of the world, give him any order you can think of, only don’t execute that innocent youth.”

The Padishah ordered the young slave to be brought into his presence.

“Hey you, wretched slave!” he said to the young man. “Go and find for me two precious pearls the size of walnuts with a moonglow inside them. If you find them I’ll grant you your life, and give you your freedom besides. If you don’t find them, I’ll order your head to be chopped off.”

The poor young slave merely dropped his head in agreement, and set off to find those unheard-of pearls, the size of walnuts and with a moonglow inside them.

He wandered about the land for many a day, he suffered cold and hunger, people laughed at him, and he all but collapsed from weariness. And then, one day, he came to the river on the bank of which squatted an old man in a green robe, with a long green beard and a green staff in his hand.

The young man bowed to him and asked:

“Can you tell me where I can find two precious pearls the size of walnuts with a moonglow inside them?”

“You are as trusting as a child, I see,” replied the old man. “I know who sent you and why. Oh well, I’ve got to help you. Stay here on the bank, and wait for me.”

Saying this, the old man in the green robe stepped into the river and vanished from sight. Suddenly the green weeds, floating on the surface of the water, parted and out came the old man. He climbed on to the bank and from the skirt of his robe poured a whole heap of large pearls on to the ground. All of them had a moonglow inside them.

“Take them and return to the Padishah,” said the old man. ‘Only mind you don’t show him all the pearls at once. First give him the two he asked for.”

The young slave thanked the old man from the bottom of his heart and started back for the palace at once.

When the Padishah saw the young slave and the fabulous pearls, he knew that he would have to grant him his life and give him his freedom, which did not suit him at all. And so, being very shrewd and wily, he shouted angrily:

“Aha, I’ve caught you out at last! These two pearls were in my treasure-box and then someone stole them. So now we know who stole them! You’re a thief and a liar, pretending that you got them at the other end of the world!”

“My lord, did you say that you had two such pearls in your treasure-box?” asked the brave young man.

“Yes, two, exactly two such pearls,” replied the Padishah.

At this, the young man undid his bundle and poured out onto the carpet before the Padishah a whole heap of beautiful pearls.

The sight of that wealth so startled the Padishah that he was struck speechless. He did not know what to do next, and so he called his viziers together again and asked their advice.

“Since this slave. managed to find a whole heap of pearls and not just the two I sent him to find, it means that he really intends to marry my daughter. But I don’t want her to marry a slave, and so I’ll have his head chopped off,” the Padishah told them.

The viziers did not know what to advise him and, fearing his anger, they thought it safest to say:

“Oh the greatest of the great! You followed the advice of that oldest and wisest of sages about your young slave, and so he should be sent for this time too.”

Once again the old sage was brought to the palace on a white felt. He heard out the viziers and said:

“A promise must not be broken. The Padishah must keep his word.”

“But he’s my slave, his life is in my hands!” cried the Padishah angrily.

“And your word? You can’t go back on your word,” sald the sage.

“Very well then,” said the Padishah. ‘Let him go to the end of the world, see how the sun and the moon rise, and tell us all about it when he comes back. Only then I shall grant him his life and give him his freedom!”

Poor, poor young slave! Without saying a word, he set off to find the end of the world where the sun and the moon rose.

In the meantime, the Padishah tried his best to find a husband for his conceited daughter.

The young slave wandered for days, weeks, months, climbing over high mountains, all but dying of thirst in the dry deserts, and still plodding on. His sandals were worn out, his clothes torn to shreds, and his staff became as thin as a needle. He walked on in rain and wind, in heat and frost. Hunger drove him to beg for bread. Sometimes, he fell asleep at someone’s gate with no strength to go, and the owners beat him up for a tramp.

At long last he came to a mountain so tall that it reached the sky. He tried to climb it but he could not find a foothold anywhere, for the steep sides were smooth rock. Helplessly, he sat on the ground and gazed in despair at the mountain before him.

Suddenly, a peri in white appeared on the top of the mountain.

“Who are you and what do you seek?” he heard her voice.

“I am the Padishah’s slave,” replied the youth. “Under threat of death the Padishah ordered me to go and see where the sun and moon rise in the sky. And I haven’t even discovered where that place is!”

“Shut your eyes,” the girl told him.

He shut his eyes, and when he opened them in a moment he found himself standing on top of the mountain beside the girl.

“Come, I’ll show you what you want,” the peri told him, and started across a green meadow, covered with beautiful white flowers, and made for some tall trees whose branches drooped to the very ground.

When the youth came nearer to these trees he saw that they were weeping willows growing round a large, still lake. That lake was so lovely that he stood there spellbound, unable to tear his eyes away.

“It’s so wonderful here!” he exclaimed, and went down to the water.

“The sun and the moon bathe in this lake,” the fairy-girl told him. “This lake does magic things. If you bathe in it right after the moon has taken a dip, you’ll become even more handsome than you are now and the Padishah’s daughter will gladly marry you.”

“But I don’t want to marry the Padishah’s daughter!” said the youth. “Would I have come all this way just for that?”

“Then wait until after the sun has had its swim. If you enter the water just after, you’ll feel enormous strength flowing into your body,” the fairy-girl told him, and disappeared.

The youth was very thirsty, but he stood on the shore and did not touch the water. He very much wanted to refresh his weary body in the lovely lake, but he waited patiently for the moon or the sun to bathe in it first.

The day waned, and dusk gathered quickly. Golden sunlight gave way to a silvery mist. And then darkness fell all at once, and the mountain trembled. Something very large and heavy rolled into the water, causing a wave to dash against the shore. In the next moment, a round, shining moon emerged from the lake, soared up, and sailed across the sky. And in the moonlight everything turned silver and began to shine and sparkle.

All night long the youth sat on the shore of the lovely lake, gazing at the beauty that surrounded him.

Little by little the moon lost its sparkle and melted away, the sky turned a pale grey, and suddenly the mountain trembled again, and something very large and heavy rolled into the lake. And in the next moment he saw the radiant, brilliant sun rise from the water higher and higher into the sky, and in the dazzling light it shed down on earth everything glowed with light and warmth.

Thus the brave youth saw how the sun rose. Happily, he threw off his rags, drank his fill of water and bathed in the lake. And instantly he felt his strength increasing tenfold. As he climbed on to the shore he clutched at a branch of a weeping willow, pulling down the whole tree, and as the roots were bared he saw between them a round shield, a sharp sword, a tall helmet and clothes worthy of a knight. And then he saw a beautiful horse with strong, slender legs standing there ready for him to mount.

Quickly, he put on the fine clothes, leapt into the saddle and rode off to look for the peri. He found her where he saw her for the first time, and thanked her for everything.

“But I only helped you to rise to the top of the mountain,” she said. “The rest you did yourself. You yourself found. the place where the sun and the moon rise. And you saw them rise. You bathed in the lake after the sun. You drank the water of life and joy and your strength increased tenfold. Only mind that your strength does not do people harm.”

“I promise I shall be kind to people,” the youth cried.

“But first I’ve got to settle up with my master, the Padishah, and obtain my freedom.”

And he went back to the Padishah whose slave he had been for so many years. On the way back he performed many feats, and his fame ran ahead of him.

In the meantime the Padishah had still been trying to find a husband for his daughter.

When he heard that a strange young knight had come to his city, he ordered him brought into his presence at once.

“Quickly, bring the visitor to my palace!” he ordered his servants. “And tell the young Princess. Maybe she’ll agree to marry him, because we’ve quite run out of suitors.”

The Princess peeped through the curtains at the newcomer, and whispered to her father:

“I’ll marry him. He’s the strongest and most handsome man in the world!”

The Padishah was overjoyed that at long last a worthy suitor had been found. He ordered the finest delicacies and wines to be served, seated the guest in the place of honour, and asked him to relate where he had been in the world and what he had seen.

“I travelled to the place where the sun and the moon rise,” replied the guest. “I saw the moon and the sun bathing in a mountain lake. I, too, bathed in that lake and it gave me the fabulous strength of a powerful knight.”

The Padishah knew then that his grand visitor was, in fact, his slave. But he did not let on that he had recognised him. To himself he was saying: “If he marries my daughter hell go on serving me as my son-in-law. As a warrior he’ll win glory for me and multiply my wealth.”

Now, the visitor said in conclusion of his story:

“Well, I’ve done everything I was ordered to do, and now I want to receive what was promised me. Do you remember your promise, Padishah?”

“Marry my daughter, and I’ll give you your freedom,” the Padishah told him.

But the young slave said:

“Then you don’t rightly know what freedom means if you want to give it to me in addition to your conceited daughter. When I wore the rags of a slave I did not seem a human being to you and your daughter!”

Enraged, the Padishah ordered his servants to seize the impudent slave, but he flung them off easily with his mighty strength and bared his sword… And the Padishah, being a cowardly, spiteful soul, scampered away in terror, like a rabbit from a great lion. The former slave left the Padishah’s palace forever, and as a free man rode off on his horse. He knew what he must do now: a man who was brave, strong and free must protect the weak from the strong, he must fight evil for the triumph of good on earth.