Once upon a time there lived a girl, an orphan gypsy.
She lived with an old witch in a hut on chicken legs. The witch couldn’t be happier with her: the girl had a kind soul, she did everything that the old woman asked her to do. The only thing that saddened the sorceress was that the orphan was ugly, like an inconspicuous flower. And the witch saw how the girl was suffering because of this, and decided to help her. She read witchcraft spells, inserted two emeralds instead of the orphan’s eyes, and corals instead of lips, and then said:
- Well, turn around, honey.
The orphan turned around and immediately became such a beauty that neither a fairy tale nor a pen could describe it.
And the sorceress liked the orphan so much that she secretly thought of teaching her the craft of witchcraft. The witch was only waiting for the girl to grow up.
At that time it so happened that a prince rode past the hut on chicken legs. He sees a girl standing near the porch, and she’s so beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off her.
“Go into the house, beauty, bring some water,” the prince asked, “otherwise I’m thirsty.”
The orphan ran into the house, scooped up some water with a ladle and brought it to the prince. Then the prince noticed that the girl was dressed poorly, like a beggar: she was wearing such rags that no matter what, they would fall apart.
- Girl, my dear, do you want me to dress and shoe you?
“Thank you, kind person,” said the girl, “thank you for your kindness and for your concern, but I don’t need anything.”
But the prince does not let up.
- Or maybe you want to ride in my troika? The girl looked at the prince's carriage and could not resist.
“Only not for long, good man,” she asked, “or else soon my aunt will come and start looking for me and worrying about me.”
The coachman struck with his whip, the horses rose up and rushed straight to the princely mansions. When the girl saw such wealth and luxury, she immediately forgot about the witch aunt, and about the hut on chicken legs, and about the life she had lived until now. Servants, mothers and nannies surrounded the orphan and began to look after her. They washed, combed her hair, dressed the girl in expensive clothes, and she became more beautiful than ever.
“She will be my favorite daughter,” exclaimed the prince.
The witch was missing - no girl, no gypsy orphan. She called, she called, she called - nothing. The witch began to cast a spell and learned that without her, the prince had visited the hut on chicken legs and taken the gypsy girl to his house. The sorceress was offended and decided to go to the prince. Is. He knocks on the gate, but the gate is locked. The witch calls the servants, but they do not let her into the mansion:
-Where are you going, old witch?
Have you ever heard of beggars going to the prince...
- Yes, he has my orphan.
He stole her from me.
- You've gone crazy, old woman!
Yes, you can be hanged for such words. Get out of here while you're still alive.
So the witch left with nothing. She left and harbored a grudge.
Time passes. The orphan blossomed like a tulip in spring. She turned into a beautiful girl. The prince looks and can’t stop looking at it. And the prince took her as his wife. He loved her deeply for her beauty and her kindness. They lived together, in harmony, in joy and tranquility.
A year passed, and the orphan gave birth to a son. The prince decided to throw a feast to celebrate.
He invited guests from all over the area, the noble and the rich. I wanted to show the prince my heir.
The witch also learned about the feast.
And so, as soon as evening came, she, having cast a spell, turned around herself and turned into an overseas beauty. The witch came out of the hut on chicken legs, whistled, and three black miracle horses harnessed to a carriage rolled up... The witch rolled up to the feast, and it was already in full swing. The guests drink, have fun, admire the hostess, and cannot stop admiring the prince’s son.
The feast was already coming to an end.
The orphan was tired of the noise and the fun, she left the mansion and went to the pond, where she loved to be in the evenings. The witch comes up to her and says:
- Are you hot, beauty?
Go take a dip, it will become easier.
The orphan listened to the witch, took out her emerald eyes so as not to lose them, and rushed into the water.
And that’s all the witch needed. She snatched away her emerald eyes and coral sponges, turned around and again turned into an old witch. An orphan emerges from the water, and lo and behold, there are no emerald eyes or coral sponges. The orphan looked into the pond and recoiled: an ugly face was looking at her from the water. The orphan cried:
- How can I show myself to the prince now? He won’t recognize me, and if he does, he’ll stop loving me.
“Don’t be sad, my little orphan,” the old witch tells her, “come with me.”
And then the orphan remembered that she had already seen this old woman somewhere. And she followed her, and the witch led her to a hut on chicken legs.
The prince grabbed it - his wife was nowhere to be found. She disappeared as if she had fallen through the ground. He raised the servants. They began to run all over the area and look for the prince’s wife, but they could not find her. The prince sent messengers to all ends, promising a huge reward to the one who found his wife. But the messengers returned with nothing. Then the prince went to the famous sorcerer and told him about his grief.
“If you help me, I will reward you generously: there will be enough for your children and grandchildren.”
“I’ll give you, prince, a ball of wool,” answered the sorcerer, “throw it in front of you, the thread will unwind, and you follow it.” The ball will lead you to the very place where your wife is.
The prince took the ball from the hands of the sorcerer and set off on his way. The ball rolls, rolls, and the woolen thread unwinds, and the prince follows behind, not far behind. A tangle across the field - and the prince follows it, a tangle through the forest - and the prince goes there, a tangle across the river - the prince starts swimming. The prince wore out his boots, walked barefoot, already tore his feet bloody, and the ball kept rolling and rolling. And when the ball had completely unwound, the prince ran out into the clearing and saw in front of him a hut on chicken legs. Then the prince fell dead from fatigue.
The witch and the orphan run out of the hut. When the orphan saw the prince, she burst into bitter tears and realized that he was looking for her. The orphan fell to her knees in front of the witch and began to beg her:
- Grandma, give me back my husband, I love him more than life itself, make me what I was before, so that he loves me too. I will never forget you.
The witch felt sorry for the girl.
She tied an apron for her, put emerald eyes and coral lips in it, whispered spells and said: - Well, put it on!
The orphan put on her eyes and lips.
- Now turn around twice.
The orphan turned around and became such a beauty, even more beautiful than she was. Her clothes shine with gold, there are bracelets on her hands, and precious earrings in her ears.
The witch splashed living water on the prince, and he stood up alive and unharmed. He looked around and saw his wife standing. They threw themselves on each other's necks and immediately forgot about everything in the world. So they went home to the prince, hugging each other and not saying a word to the witch. The witch was offended by them and harbored a black grudge.
The prince lives with his wife in joy and merriment. Their son is growing up little by little. Everything is fine, but one day the prince’s wife fell ill. The prince convened the best doctors from all over the world - nothing helped. The sorceress bewitched the orphan with evil spells - and so she died.
“You didn’t want to live with me alive,” said the sorceress, “so at least I’ll come to you when I’m dead.”
The prince grieved for a long time, but tears could not help his grief. He built a crystal chapel for his wife, hung the coffin there on golden chains, and when he was overcome by melancholy, he came to her, sat for a long time near his dead wife and looked at her. And she lay there dead, as if alive, as if she had fallen asleep for a short time and now she would get up, and everything would be the same. But time passed, and the orphan did not get up.
While the son of the prince and the orphan was little, the prince did not allow him to go to the chapel and look at his mother, but the time came, and the prince could no longer restrain the boy, who wanted to at least take a look at his mother. And the boy in the princely house was not denied anything. The prince ordered the servants not to contradict his son; let him take it.
One day the prince’s son went into the kitchen and saw a basket of eggs standing there. He began to play with them, and beat them all up. There's only one left. The prince's son looked at this egg, and it was all glowing, as if it were made of crystal. And grief and melancholy took the boy.
- Let's go to mom, dad, I want to see her! There was nothing to be done, the prince had to agree. He ordered to harness a couple of horses. He and his son are traveling, traveling. The sentries arrive. They open the crystal door, and the boy goes straight to his mother. And she lies there as if alive. The prince's son began to roll a crystal egg over his mother's face: roll it over one eye - the eye opens, roll it over the other - the other opens. It rolls over your hand like an egg - the hand rises, and then it touches your heart - your heart beats, and the orphan stood up from the coffin, as if those years had never happened that she had been lying dead in the coffin.
The spell of the old witch was broken. Then the witch herself appeared:
- Okay, my girl, I won’t torture you anymore, live as you lived, since your son found you.
Here the orphan fell to her knees in front of the witch:
- Forgive me, grandma, because it was my own fault that I forgot about you all the time, rejoicing in my happiness. Now this will no longer happen!
The prince threw a feast for the whole world to celebrate.
Princes and kings were summoned from all over the earth, and the sorceress was seated in the most honorable place. And she, so as not to frighten the people with her appearance, turned around herself twice and turned into an overseas beauty, so much so that the king himself courted her at the ball.
They feasted and feasted and went their separate ways, and the prince, his wife and son began to live happily ever after.
And they left the old witch in their mansion and did not let her go back to the hut on chicken legs.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru