There once lived a very worthy king in the world, and he had a beautiful daughter, you won’t find another like her. But the proud woman is worse than Lucifer: she did not agree to choose a single king or prince as her husband. The father was simply tired of her and decided to invite all the known and unknown kings, princes, dukes and counts to the palace for the last time. They all appeared as one and the next day after breakfast they lined up on the lawn so that the princess could walk in front of them and finally make her choice.
One was fat, and she said:
– Why do I need this Beer Keg! The other was thin and scrawny. She told him:
– I don’t need a ramrod! She said to the pale-faced man:
– Why do I need Pale Sickness? And she said to the red-cheeked one:
- Why do I need this Cockerel?
Only before the last one did she pause for a moment: he was too handsome in both face and posture. She wanted to find at least some flaw in him, but she found nothing noticeable except a semicircle of curly brown hair under his chin. She admired him, but didn’t show it.
– I don’t need sideburns!
Well, everyone left with nothing, and the king got very angry and said:
- Here I will teach you a lesson, you picky one! I’ll give it to the first beggar or wandering singer! I'll give it to whoever comes in first!
And that’s exactly what happened. The next morning, a guy appeared near the palace - all in rags, with shoulder-length hair, with a thick red beard that covered almost his entire face, and began to sing under the windows.
When he had finished, the doors of the reception room opened, the singer was invited to enter, the priest was called, and the princess was married to Beard. She screamed and threatened, but her father did not pay attention to her.
“Here are five guineas for you,” he said to the groom. - Take your wife out of my sight, and so that I never see you both again!
And the groom took the princess away, heartbroken. Her only consolation was the gentle voice and noble manners of her husband.
-Whose forest is this? – she asked as they drove through the forest.
– The King whom you called Whiskers yesterday.
She heard the same answer about meadows, and fields, and, finally, about the beautiful city.
“How stupid I was,” the princess thought to herself. “He was quite good-looking, and I could have married him.”
Finally they reached a squalid hut.
- Why did you bring me here? – asked the poor princess.
“This house used to be just mine, but now it’s yours!”
She burst into tears, but entered the house because she was very tired and wanted to eat.
Oh my God! There was no set table, no blazing fire in the hut. She had to help her husband light the fire and cook dinner, and then clear the table.
And the next day he ordered her to put on a rough dress and a simple scarf. When she had tidied the house and completed the rest of her chores, he brought in an armful of willow twigs, stripped the bark from them and showed her how to weave baskets. The hard branches hurt her tender fingers, and she began to cry. Well, then he asked her to mend his clothes, but the needle pricked her finger, the blood began to flow, and she burst into tears again.
He could not see her tears, so he brought her a basket of pottery and sent her to the market to sell. This turned out to be the most difficult test. But she looked so pretty and sad - in a word, she seemed so cute that all the bowls, jugs and plates were sold out before noon.
The only sign of her former pride was the slap she gave to some dandy when he invited her to come in and share a bottle with him.
Well, her husband was very pleased and sent her the next day with another basket of dishes. But, alas! Luck changed her. Some drunken huntsman ran over the basket, his horse walked right over the dishes and smashed them all to smithereens. The princess returned home crying, and this time her husband was completely unhappy.
“Apparently, you are not fit for business,” he said. “Come on, I’ll get you a job as a scullery maid at the palace.” The cook is my friend.
The poor thing had to sacrifice her pride once again. She worked tirelessly. The senior footman shamelessly started to kiss her, but she screamed so loudly that the cook hit him hard with a broom so that he wouldn’t be dissuaded next time.
Every evening the princess returned home to her husband and brought leftovers from the kitchen wrapped in paper in her pockets.
A week after she started working in the kitchen, there was a terrible commotion there. The king's wedding was being prepared, but no one knew who the bride was. And so in the evening the cook filled the princess’s pockets with cold meat and pieces of pudding and said:
“Wait to leave, let’s first look at the magnificent preparations in the great hall.”
And as soon as she crept up to the door of the hall to look through the crack, suddenly the king himself came out of there - a handsome man, you couldn’t take your eyes off it - and none other than King Whiskers himself.
“Your pretty assistant will have to pay for her curiosity,” he says to the cook. - Let him dance a jig with me!
And without asking whether she wanted it or not, the king took the princess by the hand and led her into the hall. The violins began to play, and so did he. started dancing with her. Before they had time to make a few steps, meat and chunks of pudding flew out of her pockets. Everyone laughed loudly, and the princess, with tears in her eyes, rushed to the door. But the king immediately caught up with her and took her to a small living room.
“Don’t you recognize me, darling?” he asked. - After all, King Whiskers, and your husband is a street singer, and a drunken huntsman is me. Your father knew everything about me when he gave you to me. He just wanted to tame your pride!
Oh, she didn’t know what to do with fear, shame and joy. But love won, the princess bowed her head to her husband’s chest and cried like a child. Then the maids took her away and helped her dress with all the perfection of which a woman's hands and pins are capable. And then her parents arrived. And while everyone was burning with curiosity about how it would end with the king and the pretty girl, he himself and his queen, whom they did not recognize at first in an elegant dress, and another king and queen, her parents, entered the hall, and then such fun and rejoicing began that you are unlikely to be lucky enough to ever see.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru