Once upon a time there lived a widow with a son whose name was Juanin. When he turned thirteen years old, he wanted to wander around the world and seek happiness.
“You are still young to wander around the world,” his mother told him. “When you mature and kick down the pine tree that grows behind our house, then go.”
From that day on, every morning, as soon as he got out of bed, Juanin ran to the tree and hit the trunk with all his might with both feet. But the tree remained motionless, and the boy flew away from it and landed on his back. Juanin got up, shook off the earth from his back and went home. Finally, one fine morning, he gathered his strength, struck - the tree trembled, bent and fell to the ground, exposing the roots torn out of the ground.
Juanin called his mother. She looked at the fallen tree and said:
“Now, my son, go wherever you please.” Juanin said goodbye to his mother and went on his way. He walked for a long time and finally reached one city. The king in this city had a horse named Rondello. Nobody could curb him. Everyone managed to ride only a few steps: the horse threw everyone to the ground. Juanin noticed that he was afraid of his shadow and volunteered to ride around Rondello. Near the stable, he began to stroke the horse, affectionately calling him by name, and suddenly suddenly jumped into the saddle and led Rondello out into the street, trying to ride towards the sun: Rondello did not see his shadow and walked calmly. Juanin pulled on the reins, spurred his horse and galloped off. After a quarter of an hour, the horse was humble and obedient, like a lamb, but did not allow anyone to mount him, except Juanin. The king took Juanin into his service that same day and fell in love with him so much that other courtiers began to be jealous and angry. And they began to think about how to get rid of him.
And the king had a daughter, who was kidnapped by the magician Body-Without-Soul several years ago. Since then, no one knew where she was or what happened to her.
So the servants came to the king and said that Juanin had boasted that he could free his daughter. The king ordered to call Juanin. This news hit poor Juanin like a bolt from the blue - it was the first time he had heard about it. But at the mere thought that someone could joke about his misfortune, the king’s eyes darkened with anger.
“Either you free her,” he said, “or I will order your head to be cut off!”
Seeing that the king would not believe him anyway, Juanin ordered to bring the rusty sword that was hanging on his wall, saddled Rondello and set off. A lion met him in the forest and ordered him to stop. Juanin was scared, but it was a shame to run. He got off his horse and asked what the lion wanted.
“Juanin,” said the lion, “there are four of us: me, the dog, the eagle and the ant.” We need to divide the slain donkey; You have a sword, cut the carcass into pieces and divide it between us.
Juanin cut off the donkey's head and gave it to the ant.
“Take it,” said Juanin, it will be a good home for you, and inside you will find as much food as your heart desires.
Then he cut off the donkey's legs and gave them to the dog:
- Gnawing for your health.
Then he cut out the insides and gave them to the eagle:
- This is profit for you. Take her to the top of the tree.
Juanin gave the carcass of the donkey to the lion, who was the largest and was waiting for his share. Then Juanin jumped on his horse and was about to ride on, when he suddenly heard the lion calling him again. “Eh! - he thinks, “I must have divided the donkey incorrectly.” But the lion said:
– You judged the dispute well. And served us well. We want to thank you. Take this claw here. Put it on your finger and you will become the most formidable lion on earth.
“Here’s my whisker for you,” said the dog. “If you insert it into your mustache, you will immediately become the fastest dog in the world.”
“Take a feather from my wing,” said the eagle. “With it you will become the largest and strongest eagle that has ever flown under the clouds.”
“And I’ll give you one of my legs,” said the ant. “Put it on your body and you will become a tiny ant that cannot be seen even with a magnifying glass.”
Juanin thanked all four, took the gifts and left. But he didn’t know whether to believe in their magical power or not. After all, they could make fun of him. Juanin drove further away and decided to try. First he turned into a lion, a dog, an eagle and an ant, then into an ant, an eagle, a dog and a lion, then into an eagle, an ant, a lion and a dog, and again into a dog, an ant, a lion and an eagle - so he became convinced of the magical power of gifts, and, very pleased, rode on.
As soon as the forest ended, he saw a lake and a castle in the middle of it. It was the castle of the magician Body-Without-Soul. Juanin turned into an eagle and flew up onto the ledge in front of the closed window. Then he turned into an ant and crawled through a small crack into the palace. There he found himself in a beautiful bedroom, where the princess was sleeping on a bed under a canopy. The Juanin ant began to calmly walk along her cheek until she woke up. Then he took the ant's foot from his body, and the king's daughter saw a beautiful young man in front of her.
“Don’t be afraid,” Juanin whispered, signaling for her to remain silent. “I have come to free you!” Find out from the magician what his death is.
When the magician appeared in the bedroom, Juanin became an ant again. The princess greeted the magician with kind words, sat him down at her feet and laid his head on her lap.
– My dear magician, I know that your body is without a soul and you cannot die. But I’m afraid of the thought that someone might find out where your soul is hidden and kill you. That's what worries me.
“I’ll tell you where my soul is,” answered the magician. “You are behind seven locks, and you will never reveal the secret to anyone.”
To kill me, a lion is needed to defeat the black lion in my forest. If a black lion is killed, a black dog will jump out of it, and only the fastest-footed dog in the world will be able to catch it. A black eagle will fly out of a killed black dog. I don’t know if there is an eagle in the world that would dare to fight him! The black eagle contains a black egg. Whoever breaks this egg on my forehead will release my soul from it, and I will die. Do you think it's easy to do? Will you now worry about my life?
Juanin heard the whole conversation with his little ant ears and crawled through the crack back onto the ledge. There he became an eagle again and flew into the forest. In the forest, he turned into a lion and began to scour the thickets until he found a black lion. The black lion charged at Juanin's lion. Juanin was the strongest lion in the world and tore the black lion to pieces.
The magician, who had been in the castle all this time, became dizzy.
A black dog jumped out of the black lion and rushed headlong away, but Juanin turned into the fastest-footed dog in the world and caught up with the black dog. They grabbed each other with their teeth, rolled on the ground, and the black dog gave up the ghost.
In the castle at this time the magician went to bed.
An eagle flew out of the dog, but then Juanin turned into the strongest eagle in the world. They circled in the sky, striking each other with their beaks and tearing at each other with their claws, until the black eagle fell to the ground like a stone. The magician in the castle at that time was shaking with a fever, and he was shivering under a pile of blankets. And Juanin turned into a man again, gutted the eagle and took out a black egg. He then went to the castle and gave the egg to the king's daughter, to her great joy.
- How did you get it? - she exclaimed.
“It’s not difficult,” said Juanin. “And now everything depends on you.”
The king's daughter entered the magician's room.
- How do you feel?
“Ah,” the magician groaned. “Someone is seeking my death.” Woe is me!
- I brought you a cup of broth. Have a drink. The magician rose and leaned over the cup.
- Wait, I’ll put an egg in the broth. This is very useful.” With these words, the princess broke a black egg on his forehead. Immediately the magician Body-Without-Soul lost his life.
Juanin brought his daughter to the king. Everyone was happy, and the king immediately gave her to Juanin as his wife.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru