In one ancient village there lived three brothers - deaf, blind and legless. They lived poorly, and then one day they decided to go into the forest to hunt. It didn’t take them long to get ready: there was nothing in their sakla. The blind man put the legless man on his shoulders, the deaf man took the blind man by the arm, and they went into the forest. The brothers built a hut, made a bow from dogwood wood, and arrows from reeds and began to hunt.
One day, in a dark, damp thicket, the brothers came across a small hut, knocked on the door, and a girl came out to answer the knock. The brothers told her about themselves and suggested:
- Be our sister. We will go hunting, and you will look after us.
The girl agreed, and they began to live together.
One day the brothers went hunting, and their sister stayed in the hut to prepare dinner. That day the brothers forgot to leave a fire at home, and the girl had nothing to light it with.
hearth Then she climbed a tall oak tree and began to look to see if they were burning a fire somewhere nearby. Soon she noticed a stream of smoke in the distance, climbed down from the tree and hurried to that place. She made her way for a long time through the dense thicket of the forest and finally came to a lonely dilapidated sakla. The girl knocked, and the door of the saklya was opened by old, old Aeneas. Her eyes burned like those of a wolf who had seen its prey, her hair was gray and disheveled, two fangs protruded from her mouth, and her fingernails resembled the claws of a leopard. They either shortened or lengthened.
- Why did you come? - Aeneas asked in a deep voice. “How did you find your way here?”
“I came to ask for fire,” the girl answered and told about herself.
“So we’re neighbors, okay, come in and be a guest,” Aeneas said and grinned. She led the girl into the hut, removed the sieve from the nail, poured ashes into it and scooped up burning coals from the hearth.
The girl took the sieve with coals, thanked the old woman and left. Returning home, she began to light the fire, but at that time there was a knock on the door. The girl opened the door and saw: Aeneas standing on the threshold.
“I was bored alone, that’s why I came to visit,” the old woman said right from the threshold.
- Well, come into the house.
Aeneas went into the hut, sat down on the carpet spread on the floor, and said:
- Neighbor, do you want me to look in your head?
The girl agreed, sat down next to the guest and put her head on her lap. The old woman searched and searched in her head and put the girl to sleep. When she fell asleep, Aeneas pierced her head with a needle and began to suck out her brain. Then the old woman blew into the girl’s nose, and she woke up. Aeneas thanked her for the hospitality and left. And the girl felt that she did not even have the strength to get up, and remained lying down.
In the evening the brothers returned with rich booty. They entered the hut and saw: their sister was lying on the floor. The alarmed brothers began to question their sister, and she told them everything. The brothers guessed that this was the work of Aeneas.
“Now she’ll get into the habit of coming here,” said the legless man. “But I’ve come up with this: tomorrow you go hunting, and my sister and I will stay in the hut.” As soon as you sit me on the ceiling, I will remain sitting there. When Aeneas crosses the threshold, I will jump on her and strangle her.
And the next day, as soon as Aeneas crossed the threshold, the legless man jumped on her and began to strangle her. But the old woman calmly spread the arms of the legless man, knocked him down, pierced his head and began to suck out his brain. The legless man weakened and remained lying on the floor, and Aeneas left.
When the brothers returned from the hunt, the legless man and the girl told them what had happened.
“Tomorrow I’ll stay at home,” said the blind man, “and you go hunting.” Just sit me on the ceiling.
The next day Aeneas also came. As soon as she crossed the threshold, the blind man jumped at her from the ceiling. They fought for a long time, but Aeneas overpowered him, knocked him to the floor and began to suck out his brain. Having sucked enough, the old woman left.
The brothers returned from hunting, and the sister told them about what had happened.
“Tomorrow it’s my turn to stay at home,” said the deaf man.
The next day, as soon as Aeneas entered the hut, the deaf man jumped on her and began to strangle her. The old woman begged:
- Do you hear, deaf man, have mercy on me, I will do whatever you order!
“Okay,” answered the deaf man, and he began to tie her up. A blind and legless man came from hunting and saw: lying
Aeneas is tied up on the floor.
“Ask me whatever you want, just have mercy,” says Aeneas.
“Okay,” says the deaf man. “Make my legless brother walk.”
Aeneas swallowed the legless man, and when she spat him out, he had legs.
- Now make my blind brother sighted! - ordered the deaf man.
The old woman swallowed the blind man and spat him out to the sighted.
- Now cure the deaf! - the healed brothers said to the old woman.
Aeneas swallowed the deaf man and did not spit it out.
- Where is he? - asks her brothers, but the old woman is silent. Meanwhile, her left little finger began to grow. Aeneas bit it off and threw it out the window.
-Where is our brother? - those two ask again. And the wise one laughs and says:
- Now you don’t have a brother!
But then the sister looked out the window and saw a flock of sparrows fly into the bushes.
— There’s something in the bushes! - she says.
One of the brothers jumped out into the yard and saw: the old woman’s huge, enormous finger was lying around. He grabbed the dagger and cut his finger, and his brother came out, who was no longer deaf.
Three brothers and sister consulted and decided to kill and bury the evil old woman. So they did and got rid of the harmful and cruel aeneas.
And after a few years, they say, the brothers became rich, built good houses for themselves, got married, and married off their sister. And they all began to live and live for the joy of each other.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru