Once upon a time there lived two friends. They were very poor and life was difficult for them. But they, like brothers, helped each other in everything, and this brightened up their lives.
One day, friends learned that a rich man needed workers to harvest rice. Both immediately went to the rich man. The rich man explained to them how much they had to clean per day. It turned out to be a lot, a lot. And the rich man promised a very insignificant payment. My friends were upset, but there was nothing to do: I had to agree.
Friends came to the field, chose a site to work on and got to work. They worked in silence for a long time and were very tired. Finally one said to the other:
- You know, brother, I don’t want to press anymore. You stay here, but I’d better leave.
- What are you thinking? The owner will be angry when he finds out that you left.
“But I’ll never meet this rich man again, and he won’t be able to tell me anything,” answered the first.
He laid his sickle at the edge of the field, said goodbye to his comrade and set off on his way.
“I’ll definitely come back for you if I’m lucky!”
And the poor man headed into the forest. The forest was big. For two days he wandered through the forest, looked at the trees, smelled the flowers that grew on them.
And at the end of the second day he came to a strange tree; it was unlike any he had seen before. And this tree had a special smell: as soon as the poor man inhaled the aroma of strange flowers and leaves, his nose began to grow and within a few moments became four cubits long.
The poor man saw what had happened to his nose, tore off one branch, one leaf from the tree, cut off a piece of bark and root and, taking it all, moved on. Now the poor man walked with great difficulty, because his long nose interfered with his walking. But, as before, he examined and sniffed all the trees that he met on his way.
And on the seventh day, the poor man with the long nose again saw the unusual tree. As soon as he sniffed it, his long nose shrank to its previous size. The poor man was very happy and, taking a leaf, branch, bark and root of this tree, continued on his way. Soon he came out of the forest and saw that an unfamiliar country lay before him.
On the outskirts of the main city, a small hut stood alone. The poor man approached this hut and asked to spend the night. The old housewife let him in, and he soon learned that the old woman was weaving wreaths for the king’s daughter. The poor man volunteered to help the old woman. And when the wreath was ready, he ground into powder the leaves, bark, roots and branch of the treasured tree, the smell of which makes the nose grow, and sprinkled the powder on the princess’s wreath.
At the appointed time, the old woman took the wreath to the king's daughter. And she smelled these flowers in the evening before going to bed. And immediately her nose stretched out and became four cubits long. The princess was horrified when she saw what happened to her nose. They immediately reported to the king. The king was very surprised and upset. Soon the whole country knew what happened to the princess. The most famous doctors were summoned to the palace, but none of them could help the princess. Then the king ordered all gongs to be struck. Throughout the country, messengers announced the will of the king: whoever can heal the princess from an unknown illness must come to the palace; if the king's daughter is cured by a woman, she will receive as a gift whatever she wishes; if the princess is cured by a man, he will become her husband.
The king's order reached the small hut where the old flower girl and the poor young man lived. The young man was delighted and immediately announced to the heralds that he could heal the princess.
The messengers brought the young man to the palace, and the king ordered him to immediately begin treating the princess. Then the young man let her smell the leaves, bark, root and branch of the tree under which he himself got rid of his deformity, and the princess’s illness disappeared as if by hand: her nose again became small and beautiful.
The king gave the princess in marriage to a poor young man and appointed him as his heir. As soon as the young man became a prince, he ordered his friend, whom he had left in the rice field of the rich man, to be called to the palace.
Everyone lived amicably and happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru