Not in our days, but not in ancient times, at the foot of the Black Mountain, near the Black River, lived three childless fishermen.
One day they were fishing, and when they cast a net, it was full of fish. The boat was filled to the brim with fish. The last time they pulled out the net empty - not a single fish, they only found a tightly nailed barrel in it.
They began to divide the catch.
“Give me this barrel and I don’t need anything else,” said one old man. And when they gave him the barrel, he took it home and carefully opened it. There was a child in the barrel.
The old man raised the boy found in the barrel like his own son. The boy grew by leaps and bounds. A little time passed, and he grew into a strong young man. The old man began to take it with him to work. Once an old man hired himself out to fish for the king and took the young man with him.
And so it happened that the king saw the young man and began to demand him from the old man. The king offered a lot of bread, livestock and goods in return, but the old man refused everything: he fell in love with the young man very much, and became closer to his own.
The king took the young man by force, brought him to his palace and assigned him to do all the work; He kept me at my beck and call and rewarded me with cuffs for no reason. Meanwhile, the king saw that the young man was smart and intelligent.
One day in that land the moon and the sun disappeared. The entire kingdom became dark. The king called the young man and ordered him:
- Go look for the moon and the sun. Be careful, don’t return to earth without them.
The young man cried and left. A roan foal ran up to him and asked:
-What are you crying about?..
The young man told what kind of service the king assigned him. The foal reassured him:
- If we don’t find the moon and the sun, then who will find them? Go ask for five fathoms of red material. On the way we will meet a lake. Near the lake there is a small hut. The mother of the sun lives in that hut. She will tell us everything we need.
The young man took five fathoms of red material from the king, sat astride a roan foal and rode off. He doesn’t drive the whip, he doesn’t control the reins, but the foal runs where it needs to go.
How long, how short, but we reached a large lake and a small hut. The young man entered the hut and saw an old woman lying on a bench with one ear under her head and covered with the other ear. The old woman saw the young man and asked:
- Where are you coming from and where are you going?
“The moon and sun have disappeared in our land, I’m looking for them,” answered the boy.
- Go spread red cloth on the shore of the lake: geese with golden feathers on their wings will sit on it. You catch a goose, pull out its golden feather, make a ring and put it on your finger. At home, throw the ring on the ground, then the moon and the sun will return to your kingdom, said the old woman.
No sooner said than done. The young man spread the cloth on the shore and hid under it, lying there and waiting. The geese have arrived.
The young man got creative, caught one goose and pulled out the feather. He put the feather on his finger, and it became a ring in itself. A young man went to the mother of the sun to say goodbye.
“Well, did you pull out the pen?” she asked.
“He pulled it out,” answered the young man. He said goodbye, mounted the roan stallion and rode back.
They didn't travel long and soon arrived home.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” asked the king. The young man took the ring off his finger and threw it on the floor.
Before the ring had time to fall, the moon and the sun appeared in the sky, it became warm and light.
The king praised the young man, the people rejoiced. The young man did not even have time to eat on the way - the king calls him to his place and assigns him a new service.
“Go, find me a wife, and make sure she’s good, I like her.” If you bring a bad one, I’ll kill you!
A young man came out to the royal courtyard and stood crying. A roan stallion came running and asked:
-What are you crying about?
- How can you not cry? The king sent him to find a wife, beautiful and to his liking.
“Don’t cry,” the stallion reassured. “If we don’t find it, who will find it?” Go ask for five fathoms of red matter.
The young man took the cloth, sat on the roan stallion and set off. We drove and drove and arrived at the same hut. The young man crossed the threshold, the mother of the sun lay on the bench.
We said hello.
“For what business?” asked the old woman. The young man told about everything.
“Go to the same place,” says the old woman, “get a golden feather.”
No sooner said than done. The young man spread the cloth on the shore of the lake and hid under it, lying there and waiting. The geese have arrived. The young man snatched a golden feather from one, wrapped it around his finger, and the feather turned into a ring.
The young man thanked the old woman, said goodbye to her and went home.
I arrived home, went to the palace and threw the ring on the floor. A beauty more beautiful than the moon and the sun rose from the floor. I walked around the hall. She stopped at the door and said to the king:
“If you bring me my golden comb, I will become your wife.”
The king again gave the young man a service - he sent him to look for the golden comb. A young man came out to the royal courtyard and stood crying. The stallion came running and asked:
-What are you crying about?
The young man said. The stallion sent him to the king for a skein of blue and white thread. The young man brought the threads, and they set off on their journey. The stallion gallops and teaches the young man:
- We will meet a larch in the desert steppe, its top has grown to the sky. You can’t climb on it without the lucky blue and white threads. There is a white goose's nest on this larch. You will watch for him and pull out a golden feather from his wing, this will be the maiden comb.
They reached the larch tree. The young man tied himself with a thread and climbed. He reached the nest, hid and waited. He sat for a short time and saw a white goose flying into the nest, and he was crying and lamenting:
“If they took my daughter, why didn’t they take her golden comb?” Now she walks and has nothing to comb her head with.
The goose sat down in the nest, and the young man pulled out a golden feather from his wing and began to go down...
- May the branch you step on be strong, may the place where you rest your foot be as hard as iron. “You may live to see white hair and yellow teeth!” cried the delighted goose.
Before the young man had time to return home, the king called him to him and shouted in anger:
— Did you find the comb?
“I found it,” answered the young man. He threw the ring on the table, and lo and behold, there was a comb in that place. The king grabbed it and brought it to the beauty.
She took the comb and said to the king:
“If you managed to find the comb, then fulfill one more request: find living and dead water, then I will marry you.”
The king sent a young man to look for living and dead water. A young man came out to the royal courtyard and stood crying. A roan stallion came running and asked:
-What are you grieving about? Why are you crying bitter tears?
The young man told what was the matter. The stallion thought and said:
- A difficult task. Forty hungry wolves guard living and dead water. No one can pass them by; few can defeat them. Well, there’s nothing to do, let’s go... Just take two bottles: one white, the other black.
They went to the place where living and dead water was stored.
The stallion unleashed such frost for three days that the rocks on the tops of the mountains crackled, the blizzard swept all around, and fog rose through the hollows. Forty wolves ran in, but couldn’t find a place for themselves. And then the stallion let in such heat for three days that the wolves hid in the shade and went silent. The young man filled a white bottle with living water and dead water into a black bottle and went home.
The wolves woke up, and the young man was already far away, only he heard a wolf howl from afar.
We arrived at the palace. The young man gave a bottle of water to the king, and the king gave it to the beauty. She took the bottles. She sprinkled living water on the young man, and dead water on the king. The king died without leaving the spot, and the young man became even stronger, even more beautiful than before.
The beauty married him, and they began to live and get along well.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru