God grant that what you plant sprouts for you

Што садиш, да дај Господ, тоа да ти никне

There lived an old man and an old woman. They were alone. They had a garden beside a certain crossroad, and they supported themselves from this garden. All day the old man worked in the garden. Since the garden was by a crossroad, many people passed by and each person greeted the old man with, "Good morning," or "Good day," and they would then ask: "Hey, Granddad, what are you working on? How are you?" The old man answered to both the greeting and the questioning of all the people, whether he knew them or not.

One summer day, when it was very hot, the old man had considerable work to do in the garden. That day there were a large number of passers-by who greeted him and who asked, "What are you working on, granddad? How are you?" The old man had to stop work and answer each one of them, and it began to bother him. When he was about to finish working, the Lord, disguised as a peasant, passed by the old man's garden.

"Good day, granddad! How are you, what are you working on?" he asked.

The old man was already sick to death of questions and answers. As he was exhausted and angry that he hadn't yet finished his work. He answered the unknown peasant rudely:

"I'm planting pricks!"

"Oh, so that's it, you're planting pricks? Well, God grant that what you plant sprouts for you!" And he went on.

So the old man went home, and every day from then on he worked in the garden, he irrigated his crops with water. One morning, what should he see: pricks had sprouted from the ground instead of cucumbers. The old man became upset; he sat under a tree and began to cry. Along comes the Lord, this time dressed differently.

"Good morning, granddad! What's this, why are you so sad? What happened to you? What's your problem? Let me help you if I can," he said.

"Forget it, man! My problem is huge. There is nothing you can do to help me?"

"Tell me, come on! Perhaps there is some solution?"

"Well, I'll tell you. I have sinned against God. He has punished me. He heard the curse of an old man. I deserved it, since I answered the man's greeting uncivilly."

"What was that, granddad? What did you do? How have you sinned against the Lord?"

"Ah, brother, do you see those things in the garden? Do you know what's sprouting? Of course you don't know. I'll tell you just to get it off my chest. Well, one day I was working all day in the garden and I got utterly exhausted. All day people passed by, they greeted me and asked after my health, and how the work was going. I was bothered by all the greetings and questions, I had to stop work in order to answer them all. Last of all an old man passed and he began to ask after my health and my work. I was so worn out that I said to him: 'See, I'm planting pricks!' and he said to me, 'Oh, so that's it! Well then, God grant that what you plant sprouts for you!' Do you see in the garden? The Lord heard me, and he punished me. One should be civil to one's fellow man."

"Is that your worry, granddad? Don't worry a bit. You won't lose a thing, but you will make a lot of money. These sprouts are unusual. They're miraculous. When you say "Come on now!" they'll do it. You understand? But water them a little while longer so they'll grow. Then cut them and take them to the market. You'll see how much money you'll make."

The Lord said this to the old man, and he disappeared before the old man realized he should thank him.

The old man continued to water the garden. The sprouts grew, and one day the old man cut a few dozen with a sickle, arranged them in a basket, and set off for the market. He covered the basket with a cloth as one covers eggs that one sells at the market, and he sat down next to the women who were selling eggs.

When the women who were buying eggs came up to the old man, they lifted the cloth in order to see how big the eggs were in the basket. What should they see in the basket: instead of eggs the basket was filled with pricks. Every woman shrieked. And the old man calmed each one down, saying:

"Hey, woman, don't be afraid, these are unlike any other. These are magic. If you say to them, "Come on now!" they'll immediately get to it. You understand?"

As soon as they heard the old man's instructions, the women bought as they wished: one, two, three. They selected large ones, thick ones, crooked ones. After an hour the old man had sold them like halvah, he filled his pouch with money and returned home very pleased.

The next day was Sunday. The old woman said to her husband:

"Husband, I am preparing a spinach pie, you go fill a bottle with wine, and go to our son-in-law and see how things are with our daughter."

"That's fine," agreed the old man.

After a little while he set off for the village where his daughter was married, but he didn't know that the woman had put one of the sprouts in the basket for their daughter. She had thought: "Our son-in-law works all day, he can hardly have time for my daughter. She will have this for a rainy day."

Walking along the road, the old man grew tired and sat under a tree to rest. Sitting there he thought about something. After a while he decided it was time to continue his journey. He said aloud:

"Come on now!"

As soon as the old man said it, that damned thing jumped from the basket straight into his ass.

The old man moaned. And it was heard all the way up to God.