Once upon a time there lived a young girl in the mountains in an old castle. She was a beauty, but she was too proud. No matter how many suitors approached her, she refused them all. And besides, with mockery.
One fine summer day a young man came to the castle. The girl liked him, but her pride did not allow her to admit it. Whatever he did - he showered her with precious gifts, told her fairy tales, and sang songs - she refused him her hand every time. No matter how he begged her, no matter how he asked, she did not want to become his bride, every time she repeated only one word:
- No!
One evening they went into the forest to a spring - the spring flowed from under a rock. And the girl said:
“I know that you can give me a princely throne on my wedding day.” But this is not enough. I want you to build me a well of precious stones instead of a rock near a spring. Then I will become your bride. But the stones must be clean, transparent, like spring water.
That's where we parted.
And that young man’s mother was a powerful sorceress. He told her what the girl required of him. She waved her magic wand, and that same night a well of precious stones appeared near the rock. The well shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow. And the people called it Crystal.
The next morning the girl says to the boy:
- You can’t say anything, you erected a good well at my command. I just have one more wish. I don’t need a well without a garden, so you’ll have to plant a garden in the mountains instead of a forest and thorny thorns. Then I will marry you.
The young man told his mother what the girl required of him. The sorceress waved her wand - and everything around blossomed!
As evening came, the girl came to the spring. She sat down at the Crystal Well, looked around - violets and scarlet roses were blooming all around, the dense forest turned into a blooming garden. The ground was covered with flowers, the birds began to sing in the bushes. That's beauty!
The girl's heart began to flutter with joy. A young man approached her, and she wanted to call herself his bride, but then suddenly she saw her castle, and it seemed so old to her, so unsightly next to the marvelous garden and precious well.
Here she says:
- This garden is good. Only I have one more desire: instead of the old castle, I want a new one, and not just a simple one, but all made of rubies and pearls. Then I will marry you.
The young man told his mother what the girl required of him. The sorceress got angry, waved her wand, and in an instant the beautiful garden seemed to fall through the ground. And the well again became a forest spring.
Every evening a beautiful girl came to the forest spring, waiting in anguish for her betrothed. But he never returned. She understood: whims do not lead to good!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru