The blacksmith lived happily and knew no hard times.
“What is this,” says the blacksmith, “I have never seen any dashing thing in my life!” At least I’d like to see how dashing it is in the world.
So the blacksmith went to look for the dashing one. He walked and walked and entered a dense forest; Night is approaching, but there is nowhere to spend the night and I want to eat. He looks around and sees: there is a huge hut nearby. I knocked and no one answered; opened the door, walked in - empty, not good! The blacksmith climbed onto the stove and went to bed without having supper.
The blacksmith was just about to fall asleep when the door opened, and a whole flock of sheep entered the hut, and behind them Likho, a huge, scary woman with only one eye. Likho sniffed around and said:
- Eh, yes, I definitely have guests; I, Likha, will have something to eat for breakfast: it’s been a while since I’ve eaten human meat.
Dashingly blew up the splinter and pulled the blacksmith off the stove like a small child.
- Welcome, unexpected guest! Thanks for stopping by; tea, you’re hungry and thin,” and Dashing touches the blacksmith to see if he’s fat, but he’s all sick in his stomach from fear.
“Well, there’s nothing to do, let’s have dinner first,” says Likho; brought a large load of wood, lit the stove, slaughtered a ram, cleaned it up and fried it.
We sat down to dinner. He famously puts a quarter of a sheep in his mouth at a time, but the blacksmith doesn’t take a piece down his throat, even though he hasn’t eaten anything all day. Likho asks the blacksmith:
-Who are you, good man?
- Blacksmith.
-What can you forge?
- Yes, I can do everything.
- Bite my eye!
“If you please,” says the blacksmith, “do you have a rope?” We need to tie you up, otherwise you won’t give in: I would forge your eye.
Dashingly brought two ropes - one thick and the other thinner. The blacksmith took a thinner rope, tied Likho, and said:
- Come on, grandma, turn around! Dashingly turned and broke the rope. Now the blacksmith took a thick rope and twisted the grandmother well.
- Now turn around!
Dashingly turned around and did not break the ropes.
Then the blacksmith found an iron pin in the hut, lit it white in the oven, placed it right on Likha’s eye, right on his good eye, and then hit the pin. Dashingly turned around, broke all the ropes, jumped up like mad, sat down on the threshold and shouted:
- Okay, villain! Now you won't leave me.
The blacksmith was more frightened than ever; he sat in the corner neither alive nor dead; I sat like that all night - even though I wanted to sleep. In the morning, Kho began to famously release the rams into the arable land, but one at a time: he would feel if it was really a ram, grab it by the back, and throw it out the door. The blacksmith turned his sheepskin coat with the wool side up, put it in his sleeves and walked on all fours. Dashingly he felt: he smelled a ram, grabbed the blacksmith by the back and threw him out of the hut.
The blacksmith jumped up, crossed himself and God bless his legs. Ran home; his friends ask him:
- Why did you turn gray?
“I spent the night at Likha’s,” says the blacksmith, “now I know what dashing is: you want to eat, but you don’t eat, and you want to sleep, but you don’t sleep.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru