Clever Manka Summary

“Clever Manka” (published in 1920) is about a young women who helps her father win a heifer he was suppose to receive from his neighbor. Both peasants claimed the cow as their own, so they decided to take the case before the town burgomaster. The burgomaster gave the men three riddles, and the man who gave the best answers would win the heifer.
‘“Well, them, here is my riddle: What is the swiftest thing in the world? What is the sweetest thing? What is the richest? Think out your answers and bring them to me at this same hour tomorrow.”’
Going home angry, the rich farmer consulted with his wife. She laughed and cheered him up by saying:
‘“Why, husband,” said she, “our gray mare must be the swiftest thing in the world. … As for the sweetest, did you ever taste honey any sweeter than ours? And I’m sure there’s nothing richer than our chest of golden ducats that we’ve been laying by these forty years.”’ At the same time, the shepherd got home. Unlike the farmer, the shepherd knew that there was no way that he could defeat the farmer with this riddle. Concerned, his daughter told him what to say. The next day, the three men meet once again. The farmer gave his answer first. Unimpressed, the burgomaster turned to the shepherd to hear his answer. He gave the answer that his daughter told him:
‘“The swiftest thing in the world is thought, for thought can run any distance in the twinkling of an eye. The sweetest thing of all is sleep, for when a man is tired and sad, what can be sweeter? The richest thing is earth, for out of the earth come all the riches in the world.”’ The burgomaster was so impressed with the poor peasant’s answers that he asked the man who gave him his answers. When the peasant replied that his daughter Manka had helped him, Manka and her clever answers intrigued the burgomaster. The burgomaster gave the peasant ten eggs, and told him to tell Manka to have the eggs hatched by tomorrow. In response, Manka took the burgomaster a handful of millet the next day, and told him that if he could have the grain planted, grown, and harvested by the next day, then she would provide the ten chicks. Again, Manka impressed the burgomaster, who presented another riddle. If Manka would come to him “neither by day nor by night, neither riding nor walking, and neither dressed nor undressed”, then the burgomaster would marry her. On the appointed day, Manka arrived at the burgomaster’s home at dawn, wrapped in a fishnet, and straddling a goat. They were married later that day. The burgomaster made a request that Manka not interfere with his rulings. Manka agreed, and for a time they were happy.
One day, the burgomaster made an incorrect decision while solving a quarrel. One man’s mare had given birth to a foal overnight. In the morning, the foal was under another man’s cart. Both men claimed the horse. The burgomaster awarded the foal to the man who owned the cart. The foal’s rightful owner petitioned Manka, who helped him on the condition that he wouldn’t tell anyone. The peasant pretended to fish in the road, and when he told the burgomaster that he was as likely to catch a fish in the dry road as a cart to give birth to a foal, the burgomaster realized his mistake. However, he also forced the man to expose Manka’s role.
The burgomaster told Manka to return to her father’s house, but Manka asked to stay until after dinner and to take her favorite thing from the house. The burgomaster agreed, and returned that evening to eat the feast Manka had prepared. As soon as the burgomaster fell asleep, Manka took him to her father’s house. When the burgomaster woke, Manka told him what she had done, and the couple returned to their home. The burgomaster began to consult Manka in solving quarrels, and soon people came from across the country to have Manka and the burgomaster solve their fights.