Once upon a time there lived a girl named Zukhra. She was pretty, smart, and had a reputation for being a great craftswoman. Everyone around her admired her skill, efficiency and respect. They also loved Zukhra because she was not proud of her beauty and hard work.
Zukhra lived with her father and stepmother, who envied her stepdaughter, scolded her for every trifle, and burdened the girl with the most difficult housework. In front of her father, the evil woman held her tongue, but as soon as he crossed the threshold, she began to harass her adopted daughter. The stepmother sent Zukhra for brushwood into a terrible dense forest, where there were many snakes and ferocious animals. But they never touched the kind and meek girl.
Zukhra worked from dawn to dusk, trying to do everything she was ordered, trying to please her father's wife. Where is it? The stepdaughter's humility and patience completely infuriated her stepmother.
And then one evening, when Zukhra was especially tired from incessant work, her stepmother ordered her to fetch water from the river into a bottomless vessel. Yes she threatened:
“If you don’t fill it to the brim before dawn, you won’t be able to set foot in the house!”
Not daring to contradict, Zukhra took the buckets with the rocker and set off into the water. She was so tired of sleep during the day that her legs could barely carry her, her arms were taken away, and her shoulders bent even under the weight of empty buckets.
On the shore, Zukhra decided to rest at least a little. She took the buckets off the yoke, straightened her shoulders, and looked around.
It was a wonderful night. The moon poured silvery rays onto the earth, and everything around basked in sweet peace, illuminated by its rays. The stars twinkled in the mirror of the water, connecting with their round dance in the heavenly ocean. Everything was full of mysterious captivating beauty, and for some moments Zukhra forgot, her sorrows and hardships went away.
A fish splashed in the reeds, and a light wave rolled onto the shore. Memories of her sweet childhood came flooding back with her, as if the affectionate words of her beloved mother were heard again. And this made the unfortunate girl, who woke up from a moment of oblivion, even more bitter. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, falling like large diamonds to the ground.
Sighing heavily, Zukhra filled the buckets, and the yoke laid an unbearable weight on the girl’s shoulders. And the stone lay even heavier on my heart. Zukhra looked at the moon again - she still floated freely along the heavenly path, shining and beckoning. And so Zukhra wanted to forget herself again, like a heavenly wanderer, to know neither grief nor worries and give kindness and affection...
At this time, a star fell from the sky. And as she fell to the ground, it became lighter and lighter. Zukhra’s soul suddenly felt lighter, the heavy stone stopped pressing on the girl’s heart. A sweet languor overcame her, she felt joyful and at peace. Zukhra felt the buckets of water become almost weightless. Her eyes closed of their own accord. And when Zukhra opened her long eyelashes again, she saw herself on the moon, which she had been peering at for so long. She was surrounded by a dance of many stars, one of which shone especially brightly.
It turns out that this star has always been watching Zukhra. She saw her suffering, which did not embitter the girl against her evil stepmother. This same star embraced Zukhra with its rays and lifted her up, right up to the moon. No one on earth saw this, nothing disturbed her nightly peace. Only the surface of the river near the shore began to ripple and again became clear, like a mirror. And with the morning dawn both the moon and the stars disappeared.
Zukhra's father came to the shore, searched for his daughter for a long time, called and called her beloved and beloved. But I saw only two buckets filled to the brim with water. And either it was his imagination, or it really was - as if a small clear star flashed and disappeared in the clear water.
It got dark and clouded my father’s eyes. He touched the buckets with his hand - the water stirred, sparkled, and began to play. As if the buckets were not full of her, but with many precious diamonds...
If you look closely at the moon on a clear night, you will see the silhouette of a girl with a rocker on her shoulders. And next to the moon you will notice a brightly shining star. This is the same little star that carried the good soul to heaven. It is called the star of Zukhra.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru