The girl lived with her father and stepmother.
The girl's name was Farimata. She was so beautiful, so kind and friendly that it was impossible not to love her.
Whoever came to her father's house, everyone admired her beauty. Everyone wanted to talk to her, sit near her during the evening conversation, everyone had some kind of gift for her.
Only the stepmother disliked her stepdaughter. The stepmother also had a daughter, but she was so angry and ugly that no one even looked at her. That's why the stepmother decided to get rid of her husband's daughter.
“Kill her,” she told her husband. -As long as she is alive, we will not be happy.
The father did not agree for a long time, but the stepmother took such power over him that the unfortunate man had to kill his daughter.
And in the place where Farimata was buried, a green bavolnik grew. It was so beautiful that all travelers passing by stopped to rest near this tree. They admired every branch of it and said:
“There is no such beautiful bavolnik anywhere in the whole world!” And they decorated its branches with bright beads to make the tree even more beautiful, even more elegant.
Then the stepmother ordered her husband to cut off all the branches of the bavolnik. The husband cut off the green branches, leaving only the trunk. But this trunk was so slender and tender that travelers who passed by stopped to admire it.
“Even though this tree dried up, it still remained as beautiful as it was,” they said.
And they still hung their necklaces and beads on the cut branches so that the beauty of this tree would become even more noticeable.
Then the stepmother told her husband to burn the tree to the ground.
My husband obeyed this time too.
All that was left of the bavolnik was a small handful of ashes, but so white and pure, as if it were rice flour.
And travelers who walked from country to country stopped to admire these wonderful ashes and put their jewelry on it.
“Even a handful of ashes can be beautiful!” - they said.
Then the stepmother told her husband to throw the ashes into the source.
So he did. The ashes disappeared into the water, and the water became sweet, like fresh milk.
And when the tired travelers passed through the village, they refused the drink that was brought out to meet them and went to this wonderful spring. They quenched their thirst here, found rest here and said:
“Is there anything more beautiful than this clear water?” Then the stepmother told her husband to fill up the source. And in the place where it flowed, a dense forest grew. Funny gazelles lived in this forest.
Every day they all gathered together. They circled around the clearing and called each other in a ringing song:
Let's go, ghazals, dance,
Funny gazelles,
We'll sing and dance
Funny gazelles.
And later than everyone else, the youngest and most beautiful gazelle came out of the thicket. She also danced in the green meadow and sang this song:
I was a girl once,
Funny gazelles,
My father killed the girl
Funny gazelles.
Bavolnik has become green,
Funny gazelles,
My father cut off my branches,
Funny gazelles.
I stood like a withered tree,
Funny gazelles,
My father burned down the tree
Funny gazelles.
I turned to white ashes,
Funny gazelles
My father drowned my ashes,
Funny gazelles.
The cool stream began to gurgle,
Funny gazelles,
My father drowned out the source,
Funny gazelles.
Now I live among gazelles,
Cheerful, young gazelles,
Now she herself has become a gazelle,
She became a forest gazelle.
Let's go, ghazals, dance,
Funny gazelles,
We'll sing and dance
Funny gazelles.
One day a hunter was making his way through the forest thickets and heard the song of a small gazelle.
He came to the village and told everyone about what he saw and heard.
The father of the deceased Farimata immediately realized that the little gazelle was his daughter.
The next day he himself went into the thickets and hid in the bushes not far from the clearing.
At noon, gazelles came to the clearing.
They sang, jumped and frolicked, and later than everyone else a little gazelle came and sang its sad song again:
I was a girl once,
Funny gazelles,
My father killed the girl
Funny gazelles.
Bavolnik has become green,
Funny gazelles,
My father cut off my branches,
Funny gazelles.
I stood like a withered tree,
Funny gazelles,
My father burned down the tree
Funny gazelles.
I turned to white ashes,
Funny gazelles,
My father drowned my ashes,
Funny gazelles.
The cool stream began to gurgle,
Funny gazelles,
My father drowned out the source,
Funny gazelles.
Now I live among gazelles,
Cheerful, young gazelles,
Now she herself has become a gazelle,
She became a forest gazelle.
Let's go, ghazals, dance,
Funny gazelles,
We'll sing and dance
Funny gazelles.
When she finished, the father jumped out of the bushes and rushed to his poor daughter to hug her and press her to his chest.
But the gazelles surrounded their sister in a tight circle.
- No, we won’t give it to you! - they said. “If you just touch her, you won’t leave here alive!” You killed her when she was a kind, cheerful girl. You did not spare her when she was a green bavolnik. You didn’t feel sorry for her even when she stood like a dry, thin tree. You destroyed it when it lay in a handful of white ash. You covered it with earth when it became a cool stream. Now we won't let you destroy her again! She will remain with us forever, and you get away from here!
The father listened to them silently. Out of shame, he didn’t even dare look at them. Only tears streamed down his cheeks.
He cried so bitterly that the gazelles finally took pity on him. They parted, and when the father looked up, his girl stood in front of him again - just as beautiful, just as friendly as she was before.
The father could not utter a word with joy.
And the gazelles danced around them, circled around the clearing, sang, and one after another went into the depths of the forest.
Their song was heard for a long time:
- Let's go, gazelles, dance,
Funny gazelles,
We'll sing and dance
Happy gazelles! ..
The happy father returned home with his daughter and never let anyone hurt her. And he kicked the evil stepmother and her evil daughter out of the house.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru