Once upon a time there lived a king. He became so proud of himself, so proud of his thoughts and his deeds, that his subjects began to say about the proud:
- Arrogant, like our king. Self-satisfied as our ruler!
The viziers and other court nobility were tired of listening to his boasting, flattering him and assenting to him.
“Is there another country in the world where the lands would be so fertile, where there would be so many beautiful canals, where the same abundance would reign as mine?” – the king used to ask.
- There is no such country, O lord! - the courtiers answered.
- Is there a country in the world where the law would be so wise and fair, where the subjects would prosper as much as mine?
- There is no such country, O lord!
– Is there a palace in the world as magnificent as mine?
- No, oh my lord! No other palace can compare to yours!
The king stroked his beard importantly and sighed heavily—it was evident that it was not easy for him to bear the burden of greatness. Every time at the royal receptions the same thing was repeated, and in the end the patience of those close to him ran out: after all, in fact, neither the king himself, nor his lands, nor his subjects were anything special. So the viziers decided to tell the whole truth frankly at the first opportunity. And the opportunity did not take long to arrive.
“Tell me,” the king once said, “is there a ruler more powerful than me in the world, is there anywhere in the world a kingdom as strong and beautiful as mine?”
- Yes, oh lord! - said the viziers. The king heard such an unexpected answer and became very angry.
– Where is this ruler and his lands? - he cried. - Speak quickly, I will go and crush him!
- Do not rush, oh lord, we beg you. Beware lest he overpower you and ruin our country,” answered the viziers.
But the king became even more angry, ordered the gathering of a large army, led it himself and immediately set out on a campaign. The king sent messengers to all corners to challenge neighboring rulers to battle.
At first no one accepted his challenge, and it seemed to the king that all countries and all peoples trembled before his power. But the point was that no one wanted to shed blood in vain - for the sake of the whim of an arrogant neighbor. And yet a ruler was found with a mighty army. He defeated the vain king and took away all his possessions, and with them all his glory and power. Here came the end of the royal pride and arrogance.
The king had to save his life. In someone else's dress - so as not to be recognized - he took off running and soon reached the seashore. Only the queen and his two little sons were with him. Near the shore they saw a ship with sails, ready to sail to distant lands. The unfortunate king began to beg the shipowner to take him and his family on board. The shipman agreed, but as soon as he saw the queen, he immediately decided that he would only fulfill his promise halfway and take this beauty with him. “What a wonderful friend I will have,” he thought. “And if you sell it, you can get a lot of money!”
It's time to set sail. The queen was the first to board the ship, and then, out of nowhere, robbers swooped in. These robbers were bribed by the shipowner. They grabbed the king and his sons, tied them up and released them only after the ship was out of sight.
The queen saw that she was separated from her husband and children, and she wept bitterly. In great grief, she tore her clothes and sobbed until she fell unconscious on the deck. She lay there as if dead for a long time, and only with great difficulty was it possible to bring her to her senses. The shipowner treated her kindly, consoled her, gave her a comfortable bed and the best food. But it's all in vain. She did not want to look at him or say a word. The shipowner realized that he could not achieve her love, and decided to sell his captive.
A rich merchant sailed on that ship. The queen captivated him with her incomparable beauty. Moreover, he noticed how day after day she rejected the shipman’s advances. And so the merchant bought this beauty for a lot of money. The merchant tried his best to please her and touch her heart and, apparently, succeeded in this. Once he admitted to her that he had given a lot of money for her and therefore she should become his wife. And she answered:
-You entered into a dishonest deal. The shipowner is not free to dispose of me - after all, I do not belong to him. But I like you, and I will marry you, but not earlier than in two years, if during this period I do not find a husband and children.
In the meantime, this is what happened. As soon as the ship disappeared, the robbers released the king and his sons. The king sees that what was lost cannot be returned and that he is also unable to repay the deceiver. He turned his back to the sea and walked wherever his eyes led him. The poor boys cried bitterly and could hardly keep up with him. They walked and walked and reached a fast river. Neither the bridge nor the boat was visible, so we had to look for a ford. The king found a smaller place, carried one son across the river and went back for the other, when suddenly a fast current overwhelmed him, knocked him off his feet and carried him away.
When the boys realized that they were left alone, their grief knew no bounds. How could one not grieve - they lost both their mother and father, and they themselves were separated by a river. One on one bank, the other on the other, how can they connect? They screamed and rushed about near the water for a long time until they were exhausted. Then, luckily for them, a fisherman swam by. He saw the unfortunate boys and took them into his boat.
- How did you get here? he asked. -Where are your parents?
The boys told him everything that happened. He listened to their woeful story and said:
“Now you have neither father nor mother, and I have no children.” Apparently, fate itself sent you to me. Be my sons. I will take you in and teach you my craft.
It’s impossible to say how happy the brothers were. The boat sailed to the shore, and the fisherman led them to his house. The fisherman's wife accepted them as family. The boys were happier than ever.
They lived happily in their new place. They went to study and easily mastered all the wisdom that their teacher knew. They diligently helped the named father and soon became skilled fishermen.
Once in those parts a large fish was thrown ashore by a wave, but it could not get back. The whole village gathered to look at the wonder, and everyone cut off a piece of it to feast on. People from other villages flocked to the river. There was one potter there - his wife heard about the huge fish and sent her husband to get his share. It was late. He comes to the shore and sees that there is no one there anymore - everyone has gone home. And the potter took an ax with him to chop thick fish bones. He hit the ax once and heard what sounded like a groan. The potter was surprised: “Maybe an evil spirit has settled in the fish. I’ll try again.”
He struck a second time and clearly heard a voice:
- Oh woe is me, woe!
- Yes, this is not a spirit at all, but a person! - the potter decided. - I’ll chop it slowly. How can I rescue the poor fellow?
He began to chop more carefully. And he sees: legs, a back, and then the whole man appeared.
– Thank God he’s still alive! - exclaimed the potter. Without hesitation, he put the man on his shoulders and brought him to his house. He lit a fire in the stove and prepared food and drink. He did everything he could to bring the unfortunate man to his senses. And how happy he and his wife were when he woke up!
The stranger stayed to live with these kind people, learned to sculpt pots, bowls and all kinds of utensils, and began to help the potter. And then it happened that a king died in this country - after all, kings are mortal! And there was such a custom: whoever the elephant and falcon of the late king point to will be the new ruler. Throughout the country they drove an elephant and carried a falcon. Before whom the elephant kneels, on whose hand the falcon sits, that lucky one, by the will of fate, will be the king. And so the elephant and the falcon found themselves at the house of the potter, who gave shelter to the stranger found in the belly of the fish. The stranger stood at the gate. Suddenly the elephant approached him and knelt before him, and the falcon flew up and landed on his hand.
- Be your king! Be your king! - the people shouted and fell to their knees in front of him. They took the stranger by the hands and led him to the palace.
The courtiers rejoiced when they learned about the new Tsar and greeted him with great honors. As expected, they organized a holiday for the whole country, and when the feast and fun ended, the new king took over to rule the country. First of all, he ordered the potter and his wife to be brought to him and richly presented them with land and money. Soon the fame of the king's mercy and justice spread around, about how he honors the wise and righteous. His kingdom flourished and his subjects prospered.
The new king was so diligently involved in state affairs that the court doctors began to worry about his health. The doctors prescribed horseback riding, hunting and fishing for the king. Of all these pastimes, the king liked fishing the most. One fisherman found out about this, came to the palace and said:
- Accept, sir, a gift of fish from me. I caught her today.
Never before had the king seen such a big fish.
- How did you catch her? - he exclaimed.
The fisherman told how it happened, and he told it so intelligently that the king really liked it. And the king decided that from now on the fisherman would go fishing with him and teach him all the intricacies of his craft. The king really wanted to catch the same fish!
Only the fisherman says to him:
- Every word you say, lord, is true and fair, but don’t get angry, listen to me! I have two sons - both of them are smarter and stronger than me. Take them with you, they will teach you.
The king agreed and every time from then on he took the fisherman’s sons with him fishing. The boys, indeed, were surprisingly handsome and amiable, savvy and dexterous. Soon the king became so attached to them that he did not part with them for a single day.
And just at that time a merchant arrived in the country, the one who once bought the wife of the arrogant king. He came to the palace and laid out marvelous overseas fabrics and precious stones before the king. The king was delighted with these rare riches and kept asking the merchant about the distant countries from which the merchant took his goods. With great pleasure the king listened to the merchant's story, and when he released him, he offered him his protection and allowed him to trade freely throughout the country.
The merchant stayed in the best house, and the royal guards guarded his wealth day and night. The sons of the fisherman also settled in the same house by order of the king.
One day the brothers couldn’t sleep for a long time at night. The younger one asked the older one to tell him something interesting. And he began his story:
– Listen, I’ll tell you something about you and me.
Once upon a time there lived a great, rich and learned king, but he was very proud. This pride brought terrible troubles upon the king and led to his death. He decided to challenge all the other kings to battle, but a mighty and strong ruler was found and defeated his army. The king fled with his wife and two sons to the seashore to find some ship, sail to foreign lands and forget their misfortunes there. They reached the sea and saw a ship with raised sails. Only the shipowner turned out to be a villain. He took the queen on board, and the king and sons were captured by robbers on his orders and kept on the shore until the ship was out of sight. An evil time has come for the poor king. In anguish and sadness, he and his sons wandered wherever they looked. So they reached the river. But there was no bridge, no boat, the king had to ford the river. He took one son on his shoulders and carried him to the other bank, went after the other, but slipped, fell, and was carried away by the stream. Since then nothing has been heard about him.
What could the boys do? Night fell, they had neither food nor shelter, they did not know where they were, they did not know how to connect with each other. Fortunately, a fisherman was passing by, he saw the brothers, took them into a boat and brought them to his home. He and his wife fell deeply in love with the boys and became like their own father and mother. This was not so long ago, but now everyone considers boys to be truly the sons of a fisherman. And these boys, brother, we are with you! That's my whole story.
The story was so interesting, and its ending so amazing, that the younger brother forgot to even think about the dream. Only he was not the only one listening to this story. Behind the wall, a woman heard him, the one who had been in agreement with the merchant. “But these are my sons!” - she said to herself.
She immediately rushed to her brothers and began asking them about everything. Her sons had changed a lot in the years that she had not seen them. But a mother will recognize her children even after a hundred years! As soon as I looked at them, I just exchanged a word with them, and I already realized that I had found my dear sons. She cried with joy, pressed the boys to her chest and revealed to them the whole truth about herself - that she was the queen, their mother, who was taken away by the treacherous shipowner. She told her sons everything: about how the shipman sold her to the merchant, and about how kind the merchant was and how kindly he treated her, and about how she gave the merchant her word to become his wife if she did not find her sons and husband. And at the end she added that there were only three days left before the scheduled wedding.
“I don’t love the merchant,” the queen said sadly, “I don’t want to be his wife.” And this is what I came up with to get rid of it. I will complain to him that you wanted to rob me, and I will send him to the king to ask the king to punish you. The king will call you and begin to question you. And you will tell him that this is supposedly a slander and that you honor me as your own mother. Yes, ask the king to send for me, so that I can confirm your words. It is then that I will reveal to him that you are my sons, I will fall at the king’s feet and beg to free me from the word that I gave to the merchant. And I will live with you until the end of my days.
So they decided, as the queen said. The next night the merchant was sleeping in the courtyard, and the woman raised such a cry that everyone jumped to their feet.
-What's going on here? - the merchant shouted sleepily.
“Yes, the boys who guard your shop wanted to rob me,” answered the woman. “I’m screaming to call for help.”
The merchant heard this and became very angry. He immediately tied up the brothers, and just before dawn came to the king with a complaint and brought them with him.
-What can you say in your defense? – the king asked sternly. “If all this is true, I will put you to immediate execution.” This is how you pay for my kindness and affection! Speak up if you have something to say!
- O our benefactor! We are not afraid of your words and your angry gaze, because we are your honest servants. We did not betray the royal trust, but we tried our best to fulfill all your commands. We were wrongly slandered. We didn’t want to rob the merchant’s wife at all, because we honor her as our own mother. Tell them to send for her and ask how it was.
The king sent for the woman, and she was brought to the palace.
– Is it true what the merchant says? - the king asks her.
- O lord! - she answered. “The boys you sent to help the merchant regularly carried out your orders. But the night before I heard them talking. The elder told the younger their own story. He spoke about a vain king, how this king was defeated in battle and fled with his wife and two sons to the seashore. There, the villainous shipbuilder stole the queen and took her to distant lands, where a rich merchant wooed her. The unfortunate king drowned in the river, and a fisherman found the brothers and took them as his sons.
Both of these brothers, lord, are before you. And I'm their mother. It was me who was stolen and sold to a merchant, and in two days I should become his wife. After all, I gave my word that I would marry him if I did not find my beloved husband and sons at the appointed time. But now I beg you, O lord, release me from my word. I don’t want to get married, because now I have found my sons. As for my complaint, this is just a ploy to get us into the palace.
The woman fell silent. And the king’s face was wet with tears, he could not utter a word from excitement. He got up from the path, walked up to the woman and the boys and hugged them warmly.
- O my wife and my children! - he exclaimed. - The Almighty returned you to me. I, the king, your husband and father, did not drown, as you thought. A large fish swallowed me, and I was in its belly for several days. But suddenly the waves threw this monster ashore, and I was saved. A potter found me, took me in, taught me his craft. I made clay pots and made a living by doing so. Then the king died in this country, and the elephant and falcon chose me as king - and now I am before you.
The king ordered the merchant to be sent out of sight, and the queen and both sons to be taken to the palace, and announced this throughout the country. When the sons grew up and were able to rule the country, the king gave them the throne, and he and his wife retired to the monastery and spent the rest of their days peacefully.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru