Once upon a time there was a poor man who worked hard from dawn to dusk and still got nowhere. Once - it was the middle of winter - the poor man heated his hut so that it was warm and cozy, brought in some soil and planted a melon seed. It didn't take long for the plant to start growing. After a short time, a large fruit was hanging from the stem. "I want to take it to the emperor," said the poor man to himself. "He will certainly pay me well for the melon." And so, he set off and dragged the melon to the emperor's palace. "Did you grow the melon yourself?" the emperor asked curiously. "Yes, Your Majesty," replied the poor man. "Excellent!" the emperor praised him. "Even in this cold weather?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Excellent!" praised the emperor again. "And you went to all this trouble just to bring me the melon as a gift?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," whispered the poor man.

"Excellent," exclaimed the emperor, bit into the melon so that the juice squirted from his mouth and dismissed the poor man without paying him for the fruit. The poor man stepped out of the palace. His stomach growled with hunger, and he would have liked to cry. Then he passed a tavern. "Hey, you there, don't you have an appetite for tügure, dumplings?" the taverner called out of the door. The poor man didn't need to be told twice. He was quickly in the tavern and even more quickly at the table. The taverner placed a bowl of steaming dumplings in front of him and, as the poor man hadn't eaten for a long time, he tucked in. "Did you make the dough yourself?" the poor man asked the taverner. "Of course," he replied.

"Excellent," the poor man praised him. "Did you cook it yourself too?"

"Of course!"

"Excellent," said the poor man. "Did you take the tügure out of the water yourself?"

"Of course!" replied the taverner, who was beginning to get annoyed at all the questions.

"Excellent!" exclaimed the poor man, rising and striding to the door. "You forgot to pay," shouted the taverner and ran after the poor man. And because he didn't have a penny on him, the taverner had him dragged before the emperor. "That's outrageous!" cried the emperor. "Eating dumplings and not paying! Do you think it's enough to say 'Excellent'? You don't get anything for that here."

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, I got it all mixed up. I brought you a melon that I had worked so hard to grow and you just said 'excellent' and sent me away. So I thought you could pay with that little word." The emperor was ashamed, paid the taverner his debt and rewarded the poor man, because a good lesson is worth its price.

Märchen der Uiguren, Xinjiang/China, aus: Pflanzenmärchen aus aller Welt © Mutabor Verlag 2020, englische Fassung Lysander Jaenike ©Mutabor Märchenstiftung