There were and lived, or maybe not, three brothers. They lived poorly. One day, the mother was cleaning the bread chest and found three grains lying around. The brothers plowed three fields and sowed three grains. The older brothers were in the outer fields, and the younger brothers were in the middle. The shoots sprang up, heavy ears of corn began to sprout, and the hearts of the brothers were filled with joy at the sight of the rich harvest. But then the thunderer Elia raged in the sky, overtook heavy black clouds and struck the middle field with hail. The entire crop was lost.
The younger brother was sad - he was the only one unlucky! But what happened
bark? He took a sickle and set off on his way to see if he was really unlucky.
He walked a lot, or maybe a little, and he came to the rich man's wheat field
And the field is huge - you will reap bread for a hundred days, but you will not burn it.
“What will you give me,” the poor man asks the owner of the field, “if I harvest all the grain in your field in one day?”
“I’ll give you half the harvest,” says the rich man.
The guy waved his sickle and went to reap bread and knit sheaves. The last sheaf remains to be tied, and the Sun is already setting. The guy took off his hat, bowed to the luminary and prayed:
- Don’t come, Sun, wait a little! The sun did not wait, it set. The owner came, but the last sheaf was not tied. The guy threw the sickle to the ground and said to the rich man:
- Apparently, I really am unlucky. Stay in peace, I will go my way.
Unlucky went further. He came to one village and hired himself out to a rich man to tend sheep for three years, with the following agreement: in three years he would not let a sheep perish, nor would a hair fall from a sheep. For this, the owner promised the guy half the flock.
Three years have passed. The sheep are all intact, the flock has grown so large that it is hard for the earth to carry it.
On the last day, Unlucky began to drive the sheep into the sheepfold, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared. He grabbed the sheep and he was gone.
The guy became sad, threw the staff on the ground and went on to torture his happiness.
Unlucky walks without a path, without a road. The Sun burns him with its rays. The guy was tired, he sat down to rest by the river. I refreshed myself with cold water, ate what was in the bundle, drank some water and stretched out on the grass, in the shade of a large nut tree.
Suddenly three girls, three daughters of the Sun, flew from the sky, took off their dresses, and began to swim. The water sparkled from their beauty. The girls splashed in the river and went ashore, got dressed and just about to take off, Unlucky grabbed the youngest and did not let go. She had to stay on the ground.
The poor man built a hut on the edge of the forest, and they began to live there.
The daughter of the Sun had a ring, but not a simple one - whatever you wish, it will come true. If you put a ring on the ground, the tablecloth will spread out; if you put it on the tablecloth, food and drink will appear.
One day a king was hunting in that forest. He only shot one pheasant all day. The king got hungry and ordered the vizier to fry a pheasant. The vizier noticed a hut at the edge of the forest and sent a servant there.
The servant greeted the owner - it was Unlucky - and asked permission to prepare dinner for the king. The Unlucky fire was lit, the servant put the bird on a spit and began to fry.
Then the daughter of the Sun came out into the yard. Her servant was struck by her beauty. He stared at the beauty - he couldn’t take his eyes off: he had never seen anyone more beautiful than her! He opened his mouth and forgot about the pheasant. The pheasant was burnt on all sides, almost charred.
The servant returned to the king empty-handed. The king was angry and wanted to punish the careless servant.
“Listen to me, oh great sovereign,” the servant begged. “It’s not my fault, there is a woman of unprecedented beauty!” You won’t find anyone more beautiful between heaven and earth than her! I looked at it and didn’t notice how the pheasant was charred.
The king decided to check whether the servant was telling the truth, and went with his nazir-viziers to the hut of the Unlucky One.
The owner came out to meet the guests.
The king and viziers dismounted.
The unlucky man first took care of the horses: he ran a ring, and each
A bag of barley appeared on the horse’s neck. Then he invited the guests to sit on the lawn in front of the hut. He put a ring in front of them, and a tablecloth was spread out, full of various dishes.
The king marvels. He won't understand where it all came from.
Unlucky could not resist, he called his wife: he wanted to show off her beauty to the king. The daughter of the Sun came out and almost blinded everyone with her radiance.
And it’s painful to look at her, and it’s impossible to take your eyes off her! Black envy filled the king's soul. And the simpleton Unlucky still boasts of a magic ring.
The king returned to the palace and locked himself in with the Nazir-viziers to think about how to take away the magic ring from the Unlucky One, how to take away his beautiful wife. We thought about it for three days and finally came up with an idea. They sent servants and brought Unlucky to the palace.
“You see, you can do anything,” the king says to Unlucky. “Bring me milk from the buffalo who lives behind the highest mountain.” If you don’t bring it, I’ll take your head off your shoulders!
And no one in the world could approach that fierce buffalo.
Unlucky asked the king for a rope and went to the highest mountain.
He crossed nine mountains nine times and still reached the highest mountain. He sees a huge buffalo grazing on the slope.
She noticed a man and spoke to him in human language:
- Take care of your skin, fool, mine is two spans thick - you can’t pierce it, little man!
“But I’m not going to kill you, I came to have a look!” They tell a lot of wonderful things about you,” Unlucky answers.
He came closer and as soon as he threw the rope on the buffalo, he instantly said, “Here is the buffalo for you, sir.” Tell the servants to milk her, I don’t know how much milk you need!
The king did not hope to see the guy alive, he was angry with the viziers that they had not come up with a more difficult task. The king did not know what to answer to Unlucky, and said out of anger:
“Take a jug of buffalo milk, go up the plane tree and go down, and have time to ferment the milk.” If you don’t leaven, I’ll have you strangled like a kitten.
Unlucky realized that nothing could be done here with strength and dexterity alone, and he went to consult with his wife on how to cope with such a difficult task.
- What's the ring for? Dip it into a jug and the milk will immediately ferment, the daughter of the Sun tells him.
They gave Unlucky a jug of milk filled to the brim. He climbed to the very top of a tall plane tree. There he dipped the ring in milk and deftly went downstairs. He brought a jug to the king, and in the jug there was already thick yogurt - you could even cut it with a knife!
The king almost burst with frustration, but did not show it. He guessed that there was some magic involved.
“Tell me how miraculously you managed to ferment milk so quickly!” - the king demanded.
“And such as you don’t understand!” Unlucky grins.
“Okay, since you are so smart and skillful, you will bring me the eldest daughter of the Sun as my wife!” I give you a sentence of three years, three months, three weeks and three days. If you don't bring it on time, I'll take your wife.
Unlucky sunbathed, returned home, and told his wife about the new misfortune.
“Don’t worry,” the daughter of the Sun tells him. “Take the ring.” It will roll and take you to my father's domain.
Unlucky got ready for a long journey. The ring rolls, and Unlucky follows behind it.
The ring rolled to the blue sea and stopped.
Unlucky sees: a fish lies near the shore, barely breathing, it is so swollen.
“Help me, man,” the fish prays, “I can’t move.”
“I would be glad to help, but I don’t know how,” says Unlucky.
- You are going to the Sun, man. Find out from the luminary how to Help my grief!
The ring rolled on. It reached a wide field. And in the field the peasants are plowing the land. Their opener breaks every now and then.
The plowmen asked Unlucky where he was going. We were happy when we learned that it was coming towards the Sun.
“Find out from the luminary how to help our misfortune,” they ask Unlucky. The ring rolled further, reaching the slope of a high mountain. On the slope, shepherds graze sheep. The shepherds found out where Unlucky was going and were happy.
“Find out from the luminary why our sheep die in the summer,” they ask Unlucky.
The ring rolled up the slope and stopped at the very top at the deer’s hooves. A poplar tree grows on the deer’s head - very tall, the top of its head is hidden in the clouds.
“Where are you going, man?” asks the deer.
“I’m going to heaven, for the eldest daughter of the Sun.”
- Climb the poplar. From there, golden steps will lead you to the Tower of the Sun. But first give me at least some grass - I haven’t eaten anything for three years.
Unlucky thanked the deer, picked him some lush green grass - he laid three armfuls in front of him - and climbed up the poplar tree.
The Sun descends lower and lower in the sky, and the Unlucky One rises higher and higher in the tree. Here are the golden steps. Unlucky reached the tower. One half of it is gold, the other is silver. In the golden half the Sun rests, in the silver half the Moon rests.
The sun was still illuminating the earth, and the Moon came out to meet the Unlucky One. She asked the man what business he had come for. Unlucky told what need sent him on a difficult journey.
“The sun will return soon,” says the Moon. “It wouldn’t burn you, it wouldn’t incinerate you.”
Luna turned Unlucky into a needle and stuck it into a pillar. The Sun returned and immediately sensed the human spirit.
-Who came to our domain? Why does the human spirit stand? - the luminary grumbled.
“Maybe it smells like a person, maybe it seems like it,” Luna answers. “What if my son-in-law comes to us, will you incinerate him?”
- No, I won’t touch you, I swear by my light! Eh, if only I could look at him out of the corner of my eye!
Then the Moon, without hesitation, turned Unlucky back into a man.
The sun warmly greeted his son-in-law and affectionately asked why he came.
Unlucky told what the envious king demanded of him, and at the same time told about himself: how he suffered from the thunderer Elia, from the wolf, and even from the Sun himself.
“What happened was,” the Sun grinned. “Take a break from the road in my garden.” I'll have my say later.
The Sun led the Unlucky One into his heavenly garden.
A poor man walks, looks around, and is amazed: some trees are blooming, others are turning green with delicate foliage, and on others, strange fruits are filled with juice.
__Sit down. They will bring you food. And you will see that wolf, and the thunderer Elia,” said the Sun and left the Unlucky One.
The wolf came and spread a tablecloth in front of Unlucky. The Thunderer Elia came and brought food and drink.
Unlucky attacked the thunderer Elia:
__ Why did you hit my field with hail? Why did you destroy the harvest? What do I tell you
did you do anything bad?
The Unlucky Thunderer beat him with his hefty club, beat him until he lost his soul.
Then the guy attacked the wolf:
- Why did you steal a sheep from my flock? For three years I didn’t close my eyes, I didn’t let a hair fall from a sheep, and because of you, at the last moment I didn’t keep my agreement.
He asked, but didn’t wait for an answer - he beat the wolf and almost skinned him.
Unlucky settled accounts with both of them and sat down to dinner. A little later the Sun came to him.
- Well, son, are you happy? “Did you pay tribute to your offenders?” it asks Unlucky. “And I am guilty before you.” And in order to atone for my guilt, I will deliver you from the evil king. Return to earth and tell him: “You will not be the son-in-law of the Sun. You will become a hare, and your Nazir-viziers will become wolves.”
The Unlucky Sun thanked him and told him about the fish, plowmen and shepherds.
- Help them, bright light! You know everything, you can do everything.
“Hit the fish hard on the belly, it swallowed the bag of money, that’s why it’s bloated.” The plowmen were told to replace the wooden coulter with an iron one, then it would not break. And sheep need to be sheared in the spring. It's hot for them in the summer, that's why they die.
Unlucky said goodbye to the Sun and went down the golden steps to the ground.
The ring rolls ahead, and Unlucky follows. The ring rolled to the mountainside where the shepherds were grazing their sheep. Unlucky approached them and said:
“I haven’t forgotten about you, I learned from the Sun how to help your trouble.” Shear your sheep in the spring; they are hot in the summer, which is why they die.
The ring rolled further, reaching a wide field where the plowmen were working. Unlucky approached them and said:
- And I didn’t forget about you, I learned from the Sun how to help your trouble. Replace wooden coulters with iron ones; then they won’t break.
The ring rolled further and brought Unlucky to the seashore. The fish lies near the shore, swollen, barely breathing.
“Have you forgotten about me, man, have you found out how to help my trouble?” - she asks Unlucky.
- No, I haven’t forgotten and I will help your trouble.
He hit the fish on the belly, and a bag of money fell out of it. The ring rolled further - straight to the royal palace. The envious king did not expect Unlucky, did not think that he would return alive. The king turned black with anger.
- You, king, will not be the son-in-law of the Sun. You will become a hare, and your viziers will become wolves!
As soon as Unlucky said this, the king turned into a hare, and the Nazir-viziers turned into wolves. The wolves tore the hare to pieces.
Unlucky returned home to his beautiful wife and told about everything that had happened to him. The wife was glad that her husband returned safe and sound and managed to save her from the envious king.
That's the end of the fairy tale.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru