Once upon a time there lived a king. He had four sons. Three sons were married, but the youngest had not yet been married. That's when the king died. The eldest son sat on the throne. He loved his younger brothers more than life itself. And his wife was angry and envious. She cared little about the princes, and the youngest was in the care of the eldest - so she began to mock him every day. Whatever he asks, she answers him:
- Go, get yourself Anarzadi - a girl made of pomegranate. Let her dance to your tune.
The prince could not stand her treatment. He took it and left quietly, wherever his eyes were looking.
“If I find Anarzadi, then I’ll return home with her,” he thought. “And without that, no one will see me here.”
He walked and walked and came to a dense forest. There the hermit-sadhu mortified his flesh by the fire. At the sight of the hermit, the prince’s soul became calmer. He approached the sadhu and bowed deeply.
- Son, what brought you to this wilderness? – asked the sadhu.
“Father, I’m looking for Anarzadi,” the prince answered sadly.
“Is it worth it to be sad, my son,” the sadhu told him. “I will get stars from the sky for you.” Don't worry and stay with me. I'll help you.
The prince perked up. “Come what may,” he thought to himself. “After all, this is a real ascetic.” He fell at the feet of the sadhu and said:
- Father, I am in your power. If you want, you will destroy me, if you want, you will save me!
“Son, you’re tired,” said the sadhu. “Rest here, and I’ll go to the market and bring you something to eat.”
The sadhu left, and the prince looked - there was a bunch of keys on the ground. He picked it up. There were seven keys. The prince went to open closet after closet. One was full of bread, another of rice, the third of molasses. He opened another door - behind it stood a mountain of golden bricks; further - bricks made of silver. The closet is also filled with silks of unprecedented beauty. The seventh Door remains. The prince opened it, and his head went blank. Two did not fall, but managed to control himself. There were hundreds of skeletons locked in that closet. They saw the prince and burst out laughing. The prince did not hesitate and asked:
- Skeletons, skeletons, are you laughing at me? Skeletons answer:
“We, too, like you, were once princes.” And they also left home to look for Anarzadi. Aparzadi, we didn’t even see a shadow, and what misfortune befell us, you yourself are a witness. Soon you will be with us - that's why we laugh!
The prince got scared and asked:
– What should I do now? Is there a way to escape? Tell.
One skeleton tells him:
“This sadhu is a great villain. Whoever comes to him, he first courtes the guest. He will mess with his head and then kill him.
- In what way? - asks the prince.
“In the yard, in the far corner, there is a stove burning,” said the skeleton. “There is a cauldron with oil on the stove.” The sadhu will feed you and give you something to drink, and then send you to the stove to see if the oil is boiling in the cauldron. As soon as you approach the boiler, he will grab you from behind and throw you straight into the boiling oil. And there is no need to explain further - everything is before your eyes. If you want to be saved, do this. The sadhu will send you to the stove, and you answer: “I am a prince. I have never had to do such a thing. I don't know how this oil boils. Go yourself, and I’ll go with you.” When you approach the cauldron, throw it there.
The prince's breath was taken away from excitement. He quickly locked all the locks and sat down in his original place. Then the sadhu returned and began to treat the prince, and with such love and affection. Then he says:
- Son! Come take a look. There my oil heats up. Did it boil or not?
The prince immediately answered him:
- Father! I am a prince, I grew up in a palace. How do I know how the oil boils? Go yourself and show me. And I'm behind you.
The sadhu thought that the prince was a simpleton like everyone else. He smiled and went first. As soon as he approached the cauldron, the prince grabbed him and threw him straight into the boiling oil. The sadhu screamed:
- Oh, he killed me! Oh, I cooked it!
And the prince looked at how he was making a face and said:
“This, villain, is your reward for everything you have done.”
And no one will save you.
The prince sighed with relief and went his way. He didn’t walk that far and saw another sadhu sitting, completely immersed in contemplation. The prince had just suffered such fear. The first thing he thought was: “What if this one is a wolf in sheep’s clothing?” He carefully comes closer, and such a radiance emanates from the old man that it hurts his eyes to look at him. The prince bowed to the hermit. He was delighted and asked:
- Son, how did you get here?
“Father, I’m going to marry Anarzadi,” the prince answers.
The hermit was surprised:
- My son, how did you get here alive? On the road, a rakshasa came to me in the guise of a sadhu. How did you manage to get away from him?
The prince told about everything that had happened to him. The sadhu found out that the rakshasa was no longer alive, and was very happy.
– Praise be to you, my son, for your courage! - he said. - So listen! I'll tell you how to get Anarzadi. There is a lake not far from here. On the shore of that lake there grows a pomegranate tree. Every night after midnight a peri comes there to bathe. As soon as she enters the water, pick a flower from a pomegranate and hide it in her bosom. No matter how much Peri calls you, don’t answer and don’t look back. I’ll tell you what to do next tomorrow when you return.
At midnight the prince came to that lake and did as the sadhu told him - he picked a flower from a pomegranate and hid it in his bosom. Then Peri began to call him affectionately:
- O prince! Why don't you take me with you?! The prince forgot what the sadhu had told him and turned around.
As soon as he looked at the peri, he fell dead under the pomegranate tree.
The sadhu waited for the prince for several days, but he still did not come. The sadhu realized that the prince was in trouble. He went in search and came to that lake. He sees a lifeless body lying there. He was very angry with the prince for disobedience, but still read the spell and revived him. He then says to the prince:
- Son, I'm leaving. Stay here for the night. Just this time, be careful and don’t forget my words.
The prince asks him in response:
“Father, tell me right away what to do next.” Sadhu said:
– Pick a flower from a pomegranate, hide it in your bosom and go straight home, to your hometown. You'll get thirsty along the way. Drink something, but remember: don’t lie down to rest. If you fall asleep, all your efforts will be in vain.
The sadhu left, but the prince remained. At night he picked a flower and hid it in his bosom. Peri screamed and called, but the prince did not raise an eyebrow. On the way home he was overcome by thirst. He got water from the well and drank. And then I immediately felt how tired I was. “I’ll sit down,” he thinks, “under a tree in the shade. I’ll rest a little.” The wind blows with a chill, induces sleep, the prince did not notice how he started snoring. Then the flower fell out of his bosom and turned into a beautiful girl. That beauty was his desired Anarzadi! She lay down next to him, but sleep did not come to her. So she got up to wander around. He sees a woman standing at the well, suffering from thirst. She says to Anarzadi:
- Sister, you are so beautiful! May Rama protect you! Let me get drunk.
- The well is nearby. There is a bucket and a rope. Why don't you get the water yourself? - Anarzadi asks her.
“If I dared to get water myself, why would I ask you for it,” she answers. “I am from the Chamar caste.” My caste does not tell me to take water from this well—the nobles drink from it.
Anarzadi took pity on her and lowered the bucket into the well. And that woman tore off Anarzadi’s dress and jewelry, and pushed her into the well. She dressed herself up and lay down next to the prince. He woke up and asked:
- Who are you?
“I’m Anarzadi,” she answers.
The prince put his hand into his bosom, but there was no flower. He believed that she was Anarzadi - she came out of a flower. He looked at her and was saddened: where is that beautiful Anarzadi, about whom he had heard so much? A very ordinary woman appeared to him, and not a young one at that. “Okay,” he thinks. “Apparently, it’s my own fault that I fell asleep.” That’s why Anarzadi turned ugly.”
When the prince brought the Chamarca to the palace and said that she was Anarzadi, everyone began to laugh at him. And the real Anarzadi, having fallen into the well, turned into a lush rose.
Once the prince and his brothers came there. The elder brother was the first to see that a beautiful rose was floating in the well. He lowered the bucket, but no matter how hard he tried to catch the flower, it was all to no avail - the rose floated away from the bucket to the side, as if on purpose. One after another, the brothers tried to pull out the rose - and everything was unsuccessful. It was the turn of the younger brother. He lowered the bucket - and amazingly, the rose itself slid into it. The prince pinned the rose to his turban and went home. The impostor saw the flower and understood everything. She pretended that she felt bad - she had severe pain in her stomach. They called doctors and healers, but no medicine helps her. Then she says:
“I’ve had pain like this once before.” And I was healed by the juice of a rose - they got it for me from a well.
The prince was simple-minded. He says:
- Look! I have this rose. What does a flower mean when you suffer so much?
- No, sir! – the deceiver answers. “Keep the flower with you.” It suits you so well!
The prince did not listen and gave her the flower. She achieved what she wanted. She trampled the flower under her feet and threw it in the backyard. And in the place where the rose fell, a pomegranate tree grew. It blossomed and was covered with large, large fruits. The prince did not know about this. And the impostor was on her guard. When she saw the tree covered in fruit, she was breathless with anger. She ordered the tree to be uprooted so that no roots remained. As soon as she gave the order, axes began to knock on the wood. The prince heard that knock and came. And from the tree a voice comes:
- Chop slowly, chop everything along the edges, don’t chop the middle!
The Tsarevich, as he heard this, ordered to chop carefully, carefully. They cut down a tree, it fell, and a pomegranate flower fell out of the core. Chamarka did not notice it, but the prince took the flower and hid it in the grain barn. The next day he looked into the barn - and there was a beautiful princess. The prince took her out of there and celebrated her wedding. Then the Chamarka roared and came up with the idea of a young wife of lime. Every night she began killing horses in the stable and smearing the mouth of the sleeping Anarzadi with horse blood. Day by day there were fewer and fewer horses left. The prince was amazed. Once he mentioned this at home. Anarzadi remained silent in response, and the Chamarka took him aside and said:
– Maharaj, you have been entangled in lies. The youngest Rani is your beloved wife - a witch. If you don't believe me, tomorrow I will prove it to you. I’ve been noticing her for a long time, but I was afraid to tell you.
The prince got upset and left. At night, the impostor slaughtered a horse, took out the horse’s heart and put it to Anarzadi’s lips. She had blood smeared all over her face. Then she called the prince. The prince saw such an abomination and was speechless. He didn’t want to believe his eyes, but how can you not believe it! He called the executioners and commanded:
“Take this witch out of here, chop her into pieces and feed the meat to the kites and crows.”
This is the order the prince gave. Anarzadi cried, sobbed, fell at her husband’s feet, but his heart did not soften. The executioners took her into the forest and there they chopped her into pieces. The executioners returned to the palace, and the Chamarca generously rewarded them.
And in the forest, where Anarzadi’s blood was shed, a pomegranate tree also grew. Near this tree lived the son of a poor brahmana in a miserable shack. He began to dig clay under the tree to patch up his shack, and the tree fell down. A beautiful woman came out, put her hand on the young man’s shoulder and said:
- From now on, you are my brother, and I am your sister. We will live with you together.
The young man was embarrassed and answered:
“I work day and night, but I can’t really feed myself.” How can I support you?
“Brother, don’t worry about that,” says Anarzadi. “I know how to weave scarves of rare beauty.” So: I will weave nlatki, and you will take them to the king’s palace to sell them. Enough for both of us to live on.
From that day on, Anarzadi began to weave scarves, and the young man carried them to the palace.
The prince saw them, and he couldn’t bear to find out where the guy got the scarves of such beauty. Once he comes, and the prince asks him:
-Where do you get these scarves? The young man answered him:
- Sir, my sister makes them.
The young man goes home - and the prince follows him. He walks and thinks: “The one from whose hands handkerchiefs of such beauty come, must herself be even more beautiful.” He walked and walked and reached a shack. And what does he see? A girl sits at a loom, looking like two peas in a pod like Anarzadi. The prince looks at her and cannot take his eyes off her. “What is this,” he thinks, “a dream or reality?” Barely said:
- I need a scarf.
Anarzadi raised her eyes and recognized the prince.
- What about the scarf? – he says. “I’ll give you not one, but four.” Just listen to what I have to say first.
“Well, say what you want to say,” the prince answers.
Anarzadi asks him:
- Tsarevich, have you ever fallen into the clutches of a sadhu-villain? And weren’t you the one who finished him off—threw him into the boiling oil?
The prince was surprised.
- How do you know? - asks. Anarzadi tells him:
“You can’t get Anarzadi without killing him.” Anarzadi told him about everything that happened next and said:
- Ah, prince! Why are you living with your eyes closed if you believed the deceiver Chamarka and doomed Ayarzadi to death?
The earth disappeared from under the prince’s feet. Numb, he stared at Anarzadi.
And she, with eyes full of tears, says:
“I am that unfortunate Anarzadi.” For my sake, you once risked your life and then stained your hands with my blood.
The prince realized what he had done and began to repent. Anarzadi fell at his feet and asked for forgiveness.
- Anarzadi! Trust me, I won't cause you any more grief. I will pay with my blood for every tear you cry. Forgive me and return to my palace.
“I believe you, prince,” Anarzadi answered. “I know that you are innocent.” But first, order this Chamarca deceiver to be executed and buried at the palace gates, then I will go with you.
So the prince did. Then he sent a decorated palanquin for Anarzadi and took her to the palace. And there was a great holiday throughout the city.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru