One man had a wife - a feisty woman, worse than a snake. She ate her husband and was such a viper - she kept stinging him and stinging him. If he says something reasonable, she will immediately twist his words in such a way that what is smart becomes stupid. If he buys some food or something else for the house, his wife keeps groaning. Well, she swore every day and fought constantly.
It was not only her husband who suffered from it. And the neighbors, God knows, were brought to tears by the evil woman, who tormented everyone, young and old.
The poor husband was exhausted, he was ready to grab his hat and run to the ends of the world so that they could not find him.
Finally, things got to the point where the angry woman no longer had enough time for quarrels and screams - she spent the night screaming, cursing and swearing at her husband to the fullest extent.
Even the stone would not have survived. Once the poor husband waited until dawn and ran away. Runs without looking back. He found himself in the mountains in the morning, and caught his eye - for better or for worse, who knows! - deep well. “This is where salvation is,” thought the poor man. “I’ll throw myself into the well and get rid of the evil wife forever.”
He gathered his courage, went up to the well, and suddenly a thought came to his mind: “Isn’t it too early? (Life is still sweet even in grief!) What kind of stupidity? I’ll throw myself into the well, and the damned woman will live and live, get herself a new husband, and begin to torment him, as she tormented me. I’ll lure her here and throw her into the well. I’ll get rid of myself, and maybe I’ll help others, but I won’t let her.” tyrannize your new husband."
So he thought so and returned home. Says to his wife:
- Listen, wife, happiness has befallen us! I found a dry well in the mountains, and there nest a countless number of pigeons, well-fed, fat, just like you love. If you want, we’ll go and catch some pigeons, put them in bags, bring them home: we’ll eat the ones we eat, and let the ones live a little longer, and then we’ll slaughter them too.
The hated woman succumbed to the deception - this was apparently her destiny - and went with her husband to the well. And when there was only a short distance left to go, her husband told her to take the apron in her hands: stretch it out, and keep it ready, and as soon as we approach, immediately cover the well with the apron. The pigeons will be trapped. And he also told her to walk quietly, quietly, and bend over, otherwise you would scare away the pigeons ahead of time. He himself sneaked after her, and when she approached the edge of the well, he grabbed her by the legs and threw her down: “Get what you deserve, you underwater snake, damned woman, let your bones rot here.”
He went, satisfied, to his home. But he didn’t have a chance to rejoice for a long time: the children were screaming, give one some bread, another was asking for help, the third was calling his mother, the fourth wanted to sleep, the fifth... But there’s not enough trouble with the kids!
That's how things are! You will get rid of one trouble, and you will come to terms with another. The man has been toiling all night - the kids are not letting him sleep, and his wife is not losing her mind: what is it like for her in a dark well!
Well, he waited until morning, took more ropes and went to the mountains to rescue his wife. If she is alive, let her return home, because a father cannot replace a mother for children.
He went up to the well, tied the ropes so that one longer would come out, and lowered it into the depths. He waited a little and pulled the rope to check whether his wife grabbed it or not. He feels the rope stretch, which means his wife is holding on. He began to pull the rope, and when he pulled it almost to the end, he looked into the well and wanted to threaten his wife: promise, they say, that you will change your disposition, otherwise I will throw you into the well again. And what does he see! There is a snake on a rope, a huge, scary one! The poor man was frightened and wanted to let go of the rope. And the snake prayed:
“For God’s sake, brother, don’t throw me into the well again: there’s such an evil woman there - I’ve been fighting with her since yesterday, I barely escaped her claws.” If you pull it out, I’ll shower you with gold and I won’t skimp on honors.
When the unfortunate man heard the snake’s speeches, his heart sank: his wife turned out to be more evil than the snake! Well, he pulled the snake out of the well.
- Thank you! - the snake hissed. “Thank you for saving me from the damned villain, because she wanted to strangle me!” Listen to what I say: the well contains countless treasures. But I forbid you to go down there: there is this witch there, she will immediately strangle you. No, we’ll do it this way: I’ll crawl into the city this evening and wrap myself around the princess’s neck. And you come to the palace and promise the king that you will deliver the princess from the snake. You pet me and ask me to leave. I'll slide down right away. Just first negotiate with the king about a reward. And then I will crawl to another king and wrap myself around the prince’s neck. I hate kings, because one king threw me into the well, where I suffered for so many years. Don’t interfere here, don’t go into the palace, otherwise I’ll sting you. Well, go home, brother, I’ll take a little walk along this beautiful mountain, through the green forest, and in the evening I’ll slowly crawl to the king.
The poor fellow returned home and toiled all night: again the children gave him no rest. And the next morning I heard heralds shouting all over the city: a snake had wrapped itself around the princess’s neck. Well, the husband said - it would be a good reward, but it would be little work to save the princess from the misfortune.
And so, from one to another, from one to another, this news spread and reached the king. The king immediately ordered the deliverer to be brought to him.
He came to the king, they made a deal. A man approached the snake and stroked it. She slid off the princess’s neck and slowly made her way to the other king’s palace.
Well, when the first king saw that his daughter was spared death, he paid the guy twice as much as promised, and I can’t tell you how grateful he was!
And a little later, rumor spread throughout the capital: a snake crawled straight into the upper room of the son of another king and wrapped itself around the prince’s neck.
Famous doctors, healers and magicians gathered from everywhere to see the king. But the snake is not afraid of anyone - it sits and sits!
The good news reached the king: they say, in a neighboring state, a certain man removed the snake from the neck of the princess. The prince's father immediately ordered the man to be called.
What to do here! He wouldn’t mind going, but the snake said: “Don’t go to the second king, but if you come, I’ll bite you!”
What a problem! If you go, the snake will kill you. If you don’t go, they’ll drag you in by force! Does power really have justice? Whether you like it or not, go!
Well, he went, and he kept thinking and wondering how he could help the grief. Finally I came up with it. So he came to the king, bargained with him as expected, and then took off his shoes, took his hat in his arms and ran like a madman into the mansion, as if someone was chasing him. He ran up to the snake and whispered:
- Get away! The damned woman, my wife, crawled out of the well and instantly found out that you and I were here. She rushed after us, she wants to strangle you, and kill me from the world for helping you get out of the well, to get rid of her.
He said these words, turned back, widened his eyes, screamed at the top of his lungs and, well, run, but kept saying:
- Oh, save yourself, sister snake, otherwise the damned woman is very close! Get away quickly, otherwise it will be too late!
He screams, and runs around the house like a madman - as if he was really escaping from being chased. She heard those cries of the snake and believed it, succumbed to the deception, slid off the prince’s neck, and rushed away without looking back.
Well, the king didn’t know how to thank him for saving his beloved son, he paid good for good, gave him a lot of money and escorted him home with honor.
This is how the guy got rid of his evil wife, and even got rich, and then married another, brought into the house a good mistress with a kind heart.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru