A BIG POT OF GOLD

I've heard this story from our elders, our elders heard it from their grandfathers, their grandfathers in their turn from theirs - that once upon a time there lived a poor peasant who had a small patch of land and a pair of oxen. 

One winter the poor peasant's oxen died. In spring when it was time to plough the soil he let his land to his neighbor as he had no oxen to do the work. While tilling the soil plough struck something hard and a pot of gold was unearthed. The neighbor left the oxen in the field and ran to the village to the landowner's house:

"Hey, God bless you, I found a big pot of gold in your land, come and take it home!"

"No, brother, it's not mine," answered the landowner.

"I've let the land to you, you've paid for it, so whatever conies out of it is yours, gold has come out, still better, it's yours." 

They began to argue as to whom the pot of gold belonged. The argument turned into a quarrel and they went to the king. When the king heard about the pot of gold, he was delighted and said

"It belongs to neither of you. ''The pot of gold has been discovered in my kingdom so it belongs to me."

The king, together with his men, went to fetch the gold. As they came to the field he ordered his men to open the cover of the pot. 

The king looked into it and what did he see! The pot was full of snakes. Frightened and furious he came back.

He ordered his men to punish the ignorant peasant who had dared to deceive him.

"Long live the king," cried the poor men, 

"why do you kill us? You haven't looked well, there aren't any snakes there, it's gold, the pot is full of gold coins... "

The king sent other men to find out who was right. The men came back and reported that it was gold indeed.

"How strange!" exclaimed the king. "It seems I didn't look well or maybe it was another pot," and he went to the field again. He looked into the pot as before it was full of snakes. "It must be a miracle! What does all this mean?"

The king summoned his wise men. "Explain to me, wise men, what miracle this is. These farmers have found a big pot of gold in their land. I go there to see it, the pot is full of snakes, they go, it's gold. What does this mean?"

"Sir, if you won't get angry, we'll tell you," spoke the wise men. 
"The pot of gold was bestowed upon the farmers, a gift for their honesty and righteous labor. When they go to the pot, they go to their rightful reward and find gold in it, when you go, you go to seize other people's fortune, so it turns into snakes." The king was dumbfounded. He couldn't find any answer.

"All right," groaned the king, "now decide to which of these two farmers the pot of gold belongs."

"Of course, to the landowner," cried the tiller of the soil.

"No, to the tiller," interfered the landowner and they began to argue again. 

"Well, well, stop arguing," the wise men calmed them down,
"What children have you,-sons or daughters?"

It turned out that one of them had a son and the other had a daughter. The wise men decided that they should marry them and give them the pot of gold as a wedding present.

The honest peasants consented to this and were delighted. The quarrel came to an end and the wedding festivities began. The wedding feast lasted seven days and seven nights, and they gave the pot of gold, sent to them as a reward for their honesty and righteousness, to their children as a wedding present.

Armenian Fairy Tales
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, Washington, D.C.