Once upon a time there lived a peasant. One day he went out into the field and saw a chicken running around in the middle of the road, trying to escape from a cobra. The peasant grabbed a stick and hit the cobra. The snake spun around and turned into a rat with bald spots all over its back. And the chicken says:
- I am a good fairy, and she is an evil witch. You took pity on me, now ask for what you want.
The peasant answers:
— My wife and I will soon have a child. Do yourself a favor and take the baby under your protection.
“Okay,” said the hen. “You will have a daughter.” She will be both beautiful and intelligent...
- And very curious! - the rat witch squeaked.
The chicken got angry, pecked the rat, and it ran away.
“Even though I’m a fairy, I can’t control the evil spell of the witch,” said the hen. “Don’t worry.” Catch the bald rat. She's hiding under that big rock over there. Lock her in the closet and take care of the key. Make sure your daughter doesn't go in there. Three times she will be in danger: at twelve, fifteen and eighteen years old.
The peasant did just that: he caught the rat, locked it, and when his daughter grew up, he strictly forbade her to even approach the closet door. No matter how the girl asked, her father did not give in, and always carried the key with him.
But then his daughter turned twelve years old, and it turned out that the peasant left the key to the house and did not take it with him. And the curious girl snuck into her father’s room, grabbed the key and ran to the forbidden door. As soon as she opened it, the bald rat rushed at her! The girl was not taken aback and hit the rat with a broom. The rat scurries through the door, and the girl follows. She ran and ran until she tripped over a stone and fell exhausted among the dense bushes. And I immediately fell asleep.
The prince was walking in those places, saw that a very pretty girl was sleeping on the ground, and woke her up, and then took her to the palace to his parents, the king and queen.
The girl remained in the palace. She was allowed to walk everywhere, only she was forbidden to look into one room. She lived like this until she was fifteen years old.
On that very day, she passed under the window of a secret room, her curiosity got the better of her, and she looked into the open window. And the girl sees a large pomegranate, so close that she could not resist and reached for it. A pomegranate fell and broke the dishes into pieces. The girl felt ashamed and ran away from the palace.
She wandered for a long time until she came to the house where a kind old woman lived. She sheltered her, the girl began to live with her, did not go anywhere, only sat under a large tree in the yard and dreamed.
Three years passed like this. One day the old lady says:
“Tomorrow at noon you will be eighteen years old.” Here is a glass box as a gift for you. Just make sure you don’t open it before noon tomorrow.
The birthday girl got up early in the morning, took the box and ran to her favorite tree. And she wanted to open the box so badly that she couldn’t stand it. Still, she resisted, did not open, but sat down under a tree and began to wait.
There's very little left until noon. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bumblebee and let’s buzz:
- Z-zhu-zhu, z-zhu-zhu, z-zhu-zhu! Open the box!
And it wasn’t a bumblebee at all, but that same bald witch. The girl clutched the box to herself and is silent. And as soon as the bumblebee swooped in and knocked, the box broke. Yes, the witch was late: a second before, the clock struck noon.
Then elegant carriages began to emerge from the broken box, and in them were the king and queen, ladies and gentlemen, the prince and the girl’s father, who had been looking for her all over the world for many years.
Father and daughter hugged, kissed and went to the palace, where they had a glorious wedding. The prince and princess lived happily and happily, and many children were born to them.
I was invited to visit, they treated me to lentils, but these lentils turned into fables.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru