Once there lived two brothers – rich and poor. The poor man died, and his son once asked his uncle how it was best to live, rightly or wrongly.
The uncle said that, of course, truth was the wrong choice, because only injustice remained in the world. The nephew and uncle argued a lot and decided to ask people.

They went on the road. Whoever they met — whether a worker or a gentleman, a priest or a robber — all of them said that it would be better to live a lie.

The nephew had to give the cattle to his rich uncle, as agreed, and remained naked, barefoot and hungry. The guy decided to hang himself out of grief. He went to the forest, and there a wolf frightened him. He climbed a tree, sat down, and there the devils ran the show – they bragged about the harm they did for people, shared their secrets and the ways of getting rid of any troubles.

The guy listened to all that and went to help people. In one city he dug a dam across the trees, as the devils said, and provided everyone with fresh water that had not been there for a long time. He received a reward – a hundred of golden coins and a couple of horses with a carriage and a coachman.

Then he planted a raspberry bush in another city. After gathering the ripe raspberries, the young man went to treat the royal daughter who suffered from some unknown illness. He did everything as he had overheard one of the devils saying, and the princess recovered. The King happily gave his daughter to that young man. After the death of the old king, the young man and the pretty princess took his place.

Once a merchant, his uncle, came to this kingdom. His nephew recognized him immediately, but his uncle did not. When the merchant finished trading, he was called to the royal palace. Then the young king confessed that he was the same nephew who had disappeared. He also said that it was better to live by the truth than by the lie and told his story.

The uncle was jealous — he wanted to become even richer. He went to the forest to the same place and met these devils, sharing their secrets. However, when they found out why the old man came there, they grabbed him and decided to punish him. And for the punishment they chose the following – they forced him to do all the mischief instead of them, day by day, night by night. Surely, once the uncle was caught red-handed by peasants. And after that he was executed.