The Wise Old Man Fairy Tale

Long ago, on the throne of a certain city, sat a young and arrogant king. He thought he was cleverer than everyone else and would not listen to the advice of old people. One day he issued an order: "Old people are no use to the country any more. They only eat and do not work. Take everyone over sixty to the mountains and leave them there!"

The people were heartbroken, but everyone feared the king's anger, and no one dared to object. Weeping, the children led their old parents into the mountains.

In that city lived a young man named Zhasulan. His father was old, but his mind was still sharp and clear. Zhasulan set off with his father for the mountains. But halfway there he stopped, hugged the old man and burst into tears. "Father, I cannot leave you."

At midnight he secretly brought his father home and hid him in the cellar beneath the house. Every night Zhasulan went down to his father, brought him food and talked with him for a long time. The old man taught him many things: how to find the way by the stars, how to tell from the earth when rain was coming, and how to read a person's intentions in their face.

Several years passed. One day the cunning khan of a neighbouring country sent an envoy to the king. His letter said: "Send me a rope twisted out of ashes. If you cannot, it means you have no clever people. Then I will take your country for my own."

The king called his ministers together. They thought day and night, but none of them could work out how to twist a rope from ashes. One mixed ashes with water and got only mud. Another tried to stick the ashes together with glue, but they crumbled away. The king grew angry and had it announced: "Whoever solves this riddle shall have whatever he wishes!"

That evening Zhasulan told his father everything. The old man stroked his white beard and smiled. "My son, that is not hard. Twist a thick rope out of straw. Soak it in salty water and dry it in the sun. Then lay it out flat on a board and carefully set it alight. The rope will burn, but the salt will hold the ashes together, and the rope will keep its shape."

The next morning Zhasulan carried into the palace a board on which lay a rope made of ashes. The king leapt from his seat in amazement. The envoy looked at the rope, found nothing to say and went home. And the neighbouring khan never dared to make war on a country with such wise people.

"Ask for whatever you want! How did you solve the riddle?" said the king. Zhasulan knelt down. "Your Majesty, I will tell you the truth. It was not my wisdom. It was the wisdom of my old father, whom I did not leave in the mountains, in spite of your order, but hid at home. Punish me if you must, but spare my father."

The palace fell silent. The king sat without speaking for a long time. At last he bowed his head. "I was wrong. The wisdom of one old man has saved the whole country, and I called the old useless."

The king cancelled his order and had all the old people brought home from the mountains. He invited Zhasulan's father to the palace and made him his chief adviser.

From then on, old people were especially honoured in that land. And people there still say: "A home with an elder is a home with a treasure."