Once upon a time there lived a poor orphan named Aslan. They called him that because he had extraordinary strength. Aslan was a shepherd, but one day he caught a wolf and strangled it with his own hands. And the owner made him his chief shepherd.
Aslan was never afraid of anything. At night he drove the herd far from the village, entrusted it to the dogs, and went to bed himself. He placed his khurjin with breakfast on a large stone. One day it seemed to him that someone was taking food from his khurjin at night.
When he went to bed, there were four eggs and two flatbreads in the khurjin, and by morning there were only two eggs and one flatbread left. The next night he decided to watch for the one who was sharing his bread with him without an invitation. He put the khurjin on a stone, lay down and pretended to be asleep.
At midnight a rustling sound was heard. Aslan looked through his eyelashes and saw: a girl of unearthly beauty was taking food out of his khurjin. She broke off some bread, washed it down with a sip of water and got ready to leave. The mountain in front of her opened up like a gate, and she was ready to hide when Aslan jumped up and managed to grab the girl by the clothes. The girl says: “Let me go, I will only bring you grief.” “I’m not afraid of anything,” says Aslan. “You are so good that I would even be glad to die for you.” “Thank you for your words,” says the girl, “since you are so good and fearless, I will tell you my story.”
Behind seven high mountains lies the kingdom of the formidable king Zarzand. This is my father. A year ago, enemies attacked our country, and my father and his army went to the battlefield. While he was not at home, a three-headed deva flew over seven mountains and dragged me to his palace. For forty days he begged me to become his wife, but I didn’t want to. On the fortieth day, the deva fell ill and said to his mother: “I will probably die and will not be able to marry her.” Take this girl away and hide her. May no one ever become her fiancé, And so I found myself inside the mountain, in a dark cave. The mother of the deva said to the stone rock: “Stone, stone, shelter the daughter of King Zarzand, let her sit here until a young man with a myrtle branch comes for her, whom the swallows will help.” When he touches you three times with this branch, let it go. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled and open only for one hour a day - exactly at midnight. If at night she does not want to return, strike her with death. That's it. Now goodbye. I must return to my stone grave. “I will save you, beauty,” said Aslan.
He immediately took the owner’s account and went to look for swallows. He walked from house to house, from village to village, but did not meet swallows anywhere. Suddenly, at the end of the village, he saw a small house, two swallows scurried under its roof. He entered the house. He sees an old woman lighting a candle. “Hello, mother,” he says. “Welcome,” she answers. “Mother, I’m a stranger here, I don’t have a roof for the night.” Will you shelter me? “Heaven sends the guest,” she answers. - Come in. She fed him something and made his bed.
At dawn Aslan woke up, left the house, and heard swallows chirping. He began to listen, listen, and suddenly began to understand their language. “Little wife,” says one swallow. “What?” - another responds. “Isn’t this the same Aslan who fed us with bread crumbs?” “That one, that one.” “Why is he here?” “Looking for how to free his captive.” “Well, let him, when leaving, kiss the old woman’s hand three times and say three times: “Thank you, good mother.” She will teach him.
Aslan went to the old woman and saw that she had already gotten up. “I’m in a hurry, mother,” he tells her. Saying goodbye, he kissed her hand three times and repeated three times: “Thank you, kind mother.” “You’re a nice guy,” the old woman tells him. - Go and don’t be afraid of anything. -You need to defeat the three-headed deva in order to free the daughter of King Zarzand. Here are fourteen acorns for you. It will take you fourteen days to reach the deva’s fortress, you will eat an acorn a day, and from them you will become even stronger. Here are two nuts for you. Move a little away from the village, hide so that no one sees you, and split them. Here's another jug of water and a bag of flour. The fortress is guarded by the deva's mother. Splash water on her face and she will fall asleep for three days. There is a green myrtle branch in a vase next to her. Take it and hurry to the cave.
Aslan thanked the old woman and set off. He found a secluded place and broke the nuts. From one came a fiery horse, and from the other there was a sword, a shield and luxurious clothes. Aslan did everything as the old woman taught him. He put the deva's mother to sleep, grabbed a green branch and galloped away on his horse.
For three days he galloped without stopping, on the fourth he heard: the deva and his mother were rushing after him, they were about to catch up. Then the horse said to him in a human voice: “Scatter the flour to the wind.”
Aslan scattered and dispelled the flour and an impenetrable forest grew before the deva. Aslan galloped further. A day later he hears: he is being chased again. “What can we do,” says the horse. - We'll have to fight the deva.
Aslan turned his horse and rushed towards the dev. With a blow of his sword, he cut off one of the deva’s three heads. An enraged deva rushed at him, but the horse twisted and kicked him so hard that the deva jumped back, and the young man managed to cut off his other head. Dev broke off a rock from the mountain, crushed it and began throwing stones at Aslan, but he covered himself with a shield, and all the stones bounced off him. The dev began to break off a new rock, but before he had time, Aslan flew up to him on a fiery horse and blew off his third head. Aslan turned his horse and rushed to the cave. He sees a huge lake appear on his way. The horse says: “The deva’s mother did this.” You pluck three hairs from my mane and throw them on the water.
Aslan pulled out three hairs from his mane, threw them on the water, and they became a strong bridge. Aslan galloped to the cave, hit the stone three times with a green branch and said: “Stone, open, let out the daughter of King Zarzand.” The princess came out and joyfully rushed to Aslan. And he says: “Daughter of King Zarzand, I didn’t help you as much as one poor old woman.” Shame on us if we forget about her and don’t take your father with us to the palace. The two of them mounted a horse and rode off to the old woman. She was glad to see them, quickly packed her things and said: “You are riding a horse, and I won’t leave you alone.” She took the scarf off her head, spread it on the ground, stood on it and flew after them.
At the borders of the kingdom of the formidable Zarzand, reliable guards were placed in front of the seven mountains. She did not let her daughter and her companions cross the border. “Well,” said the old woman. - Let's fly through the air. She spread out her large shawl, everyone fit on it, and the shawl flew into the air and carried them over all seven mountains. Aslan wanted to go to the king, but the girl stopped him: “Don’t go, all the Nazir-viziers wanted me to marry their sons.” If they find out that you are my fiancé, they will harm you. The old woman said: “You wait, I’ll go to the king myself.” The girl gave her a medallion with a portrait of her mother. “If they don’t believe you,” she said, “then show this medallion and say: “My father is the most powerful, my mother is the most tender.” That’s what I liked to say as a child, and then no one will doubt it.
The old woman went to the palace and sat down on the stone on which matchmakers sit. A servant comes and asks: “What do you want, old woman?” “I came to woo the daughter of King Zarzand.” “But the king doesn’t have a daughter.” “How can that not be?” Take me to the king. They informed the king. The king says: “Who is this crazy woman who decided to laugh at my grief?” He looked at her from afar and wanted to go back to the royal chambers. And the old woman shouted: “My father is the most powerful, my mother is the most tender!” The king heard these words and ordered the old woman to be let through. “An old woman,” the king tells her. “My daughter was carried away by a dev, I don’t have a daughter.” But how do you know the words that she loved to say as a child? “She taught me herself,” the old woman said and showed the medallion.
Everything became clear here. King Zarzand and the queen almost went crazy with joy and immediately arranged a wedding feast. At the feast, the royal groom approached Aslan and said: “A gadfly has flown into the stable, he is pestering the horses so much that we are afraid that they will go mad.” The old woman heard this and said: “I’ll go to the stable myself.”
She went into the stable, lit two dry twigs and smoked the annoying gadfly. And I thought to myself that this was no ordinary gadfly. And she decided that Aslan must be protected from the machinations of the deva’s mother. At night, when everyone had fallen asleep, the old woman quietly entered the room of Aslan and the princess and stood in their heads. At midnight she heard something rustling. He sees a huge snake crawling. She grabbed a sharp trident and plunged it straight into the snake's head. The snake screeched and died. It turns out that the deva’s mother turned into a snake and wanted to destroy Aslan. The king and queen paid great honor to the old woman. For seven days and seven nights everyone feasted and had fun. They achieved their goal. You too will achieve yours.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru