Once upon a time, they say, there was a poor man, and he had three sons. I don’t remember what the older ones were called, but the younger one was called Toader or simply Toderash.
The sons grew up, matured, began to go hunting, but became so addicted that you couldn’t keep them at home; they disappeared into the forests day after day.
One day they happened to spend the night in the forest. They left the road, lit a fire under a large tree, began to have dinner and hold advice.
And they decided that two would go to bed, and one would stand guard along the road.
Otherwise, the hour is never right: an unkind person will pass by, attack them, the sleeping ones, and take away their guns.
No sooner said than done.
The two younger ones went to bed, and the older one loaded his gun and went on patrol. He stands there and stands, and at exactly midnight he hears the wheels knocking. The moon is shining brightly, and you can see that four blacks are driving, pulling a chaise.
- Wait, who's there? - shouts the older brother.
Only no one from the chaise answers him.
The second time he shouts, there is no answer again. The elder brother shouts for the third time:
- Stop, or I’ll pull the trigger! And in response he hears:
- Wait, don't shoot. Let's get there and stop. He didn't shoot.
The chaise caught up with him and stopped.
Two people are sitting in it. One handed the guy a hunting horn with these words:
- Take this horn. If you have a bad time, blow it, and a countless army will gather around you, the earth will tremble. And you blow at the other end - and there is no one.
He said, he whipped the horses, and the chaise rolled away.
And the elder brother decided to test the horn: he blew at one end - out of nowhere, a countless army appeared. He blew into the other - as if no one was there.
When it began to get light, he woke up the brothers and asked:
“Did you sleep soundly, brothers?”
- Sleep soundly, brother. Have you seen or heard anything? Or did the dream overtake you too?
“Where have you ever seen a watchman fall asleep?” I didn’t close my eyes, I didn’t see anything, I didn’t hear anything.
We lit a fire, fried hare meat, had a snack and hit the road.
We were lost the whole day, thinking about getting out of the forest. And by evening - what a miracle - we found ourselves in the same place where we had left in the morning.
There was nothing to do, I had to settle down for the night again.
They lit a fire, had dinner and decided to set up a patrol again. It was the turn of the middle brother.
He loaded the gun, filled his pipe with tobacco to ward off sleep, and stood by the road.
The moon is shining from the sky - at least count the money, if you can find it. Everything was quiet until midnight.
And exactly at midnight the wheels began to rumble and a britzka pulled by four blacks appeared.
- Wait, who's there? - shouts the middle brother. But he doesn’t hear the answer.
The second time he shouted, they were silent. He shouts for the third time:
- Wait, I'll pull the trigger!
- Wait, don't shoot! - they answer from the britzka. “We’ll drive up and stop.”
He didn't shoot. Two people drove up in a chaise, and one handed the guy a tight wallet.
“Take this,” he says. “This wallet is not simple.” No matter how much you take from it, you can’t get everything out of it.
They gave me a wallet and were off.
And the middle brother thinks - is there some deception here? He shook out a handful of gold pieces and looked, and his wallet was again full to the top. That was the guy's joy.
As it began to dawn, he woke up his brothers and ordered them to prepare breakfast: he hadn’t slept all night, his stomach was sick from hunger.
- Maybe you saw something? - the brothers ask.
- No, it didn’t happen. Even though I was wide-eyed all night, I was afraid to fall asleep. It's time to eat and hit the road. Maybe we can get out of the thicket today.
No sooner said than done.
They lit a fire, baked the meat on the coals, ate their fill and went straight through the forest to look for a light.
They walk and walk, and everything around them gets darker and darker. And in the evening they again found themselves in the same enchanted place.
The fire was lit again and dinner started. Afterwards, the older brothers went to bed, and the youngest, Toderash, went on guard, his turn came.
Until midnight I stood by the road, puffing on my pipe.
At exactly midnight there was a knock. Toderash took his gun at the ready, raised his eyes, and saw: a chaise pulled by four blacks was driving.
- Wait, who's there? - Toderash calls out.
And, without waiting for an answer, he raises his voice again.
And the britzka is getting closer.
Toderash cocked the gun and shouted for the last time:
- Stop, or I’ll pull the trigger! And in response:
- Wait, don't shoot. Let's get there and stop.
Toderash did not shoot. And the chaise actually drove up to him and stopped.
There are two people sitting in the chaise. One hands Toderash a hat and says:
- Because you listened to us and didn’t shoot, take this hat for yourself. It’s not simple: put it on, say “Gop! Gop!”, and she will make you invisible and take you wherever you want, even to the royal table. You can sit next to the king and the nobles, drink, eat, and no one will notice you.
He said - and whipped the horses.
And Toderash stands there and can’t believe his eyes. So he pulled his hat on his head and said:
- Hop! Hop! I want to go to the king for a treat!
Before he could blink an eye, he was already in the royal refectory.
The feast is going on: matchmakers have come to the king to woo his daughter. Toderash also sat down at the table, began drinking, eating and looking around, fortunately not a single soul had seen him.
The guy liked the princess, she was a real beauty.
Just painfully obstinate. Go ahead and tell the matchmakers: the only one she will marry is the one who sits down to play cards with her and doesn’t lose.
Toderash listened and shook his head.
He ate, got drunk and said:
- Hop! Hop! I want to go back to my brothers!
And immediately I found myself in the forest. When it dawned, Toderash woke up the brothers.
- No
did you see anything at night r1
they ask him.
“No, everything was quiet and calm,” Toderash answers. The brothers went through the forest, got lost and got lost, and finally at some point
the village left.
There the older brothers found brides for themselves, got married, and began to live as their home. Only Toderash remained single.
And the brothers decided to open up to each other: to show what each of them received as a gift from unknown passers-by. They boasted, and Toderash said to the middle brother:
- You, brother, have a wife, but I don’t. And the Tsar’s daughter, I heard, will marry the one who will play cards with her for money and will not lose. Let's trade: you give me a wallet, I give you a hat. It's hard to go broke with your wallet. I'll marry the princess and make you both generals.
They shook hands.
Toderash gave his hat, took his wallet and went to the city to the king.
I bought myself a dress in a shop, the kind befitting a rich man, and went to woo the Tsar’s daughter.
The princess looked at Toderash and said:
“You took it all, good fellow, as I can see, but I only made a vow to marry someone who would play cards with me and not lose.”
“He’s coming,” agreed Toderash.
They sat down to play. We didn’t get up for three days and three nights. The princess won three barrels of gold coins from Toderash, but his wallet did not decrease.
The princess looks at the wallet and is amazed. They're both tired. The princess says:
- That's it, Toderash, that's enough, we've played enough. I liked you, I’ll marry you anyway.
They threw down their cards and began to feast.
Toderash tasted expensive wines, got drunk out of habit and fell asleep.
And the princess pulled out his magic wallet and replaced it with a simple one.
Toderash woke up, and she offered him:
“We’ll play again, Toderash, maybe you’ll win back your gold.”
They sat down to play, Toderash, and lost completely: how much can fit in a simple wallet? And the princess kicked him out of the palace.
Toderash trudged to his older brother, told him what was going on, and asked for a horn so that he could threaten the king and return his wallet.
His older brother lent him a magic horn.
Toderash came to the royal palace, blew the horn - out of nowhere, a countless army gathered and started a battle with the king’s army.
The king got scared and said:
“You know what, Toderash, let’s make peace: you will lead your army away, take my daughter as your wife.”
Toderash took the king at his word. He blew on the horn from the other end, and the army disappeared.
They brought Toderash into the palace as a dear guest. Now, they say, we’ll bring the priest and arrange a wedding.
And Toderash was dumbfounded.
He sits, eats, drinks, and waits for the priest. Well, he drank more than the groom was supposed to, and he fell asleep.
Meanwhile, the king replaced the magic horn with a simple one. He woke up Toderash and said:
- Look, what a son-in-law I found. Get out while you're still alive.
Toderash got angry, grabbed the horn and blew it. But it was all in vain: the horn was replaced.
Then Toderash began to beg and beg the king: there is no need, they say, for him to marry the king’s daughter, just let them return his horn and wallet.
But they didn’t even listen to him, they kicked him out of the palace, and even set the dogs on him; he barely carried off his legs.
Toderash walks along the road, he is overcome by resentment, he walks and racks his brains about how to teach the offenders a lesson. And he comes to the middle brother.
He told his brother everything about how it happened, and begged for his hat: I’ll go, he says, and try my luck, maybe I’ll get your gifts back.
He received the hat, put it on his head and said:
- Hop! Hop! I want to be in the royal chambers, with the king and the princess at a meal.
And in the blink of an eye he found himself at the king’s table. He eats and drinks invisible, and then he pulls off his hat. Everyone looks at Toderash - who else is this and where is he from?
And Toderash put his hat on his head and became invisible again. He sat next to the princess, tasted various dishes, and then hugged the princess tightly and said:
- Hop! Hop! I want to be with the king’s daughter in the dense forest where my brothers and I got lost.
The princess didn’t even have time to shout when they found themselves in a forest clearing, on grassy grass.
Toderash pulled off his hat, the princess recognized him and pretended to be glad.
- You are wonderful, Toderash! — he says. “Why didn’t you take me away right away?” I wanted to marry you, but my father and mother opposed it. Now let them cry. We'll live in the forest, I'll teach you how to return your wallet and horn, how to teach offenders a lesson.
The princess fawns over him and says:
- What a disaster, what a good fellow, he managed to achieve his goal! And Toderash went soft.
“I would have kidnapped you long ago,” he says, “if I had this hat.” If you put it on, you will become invisible. And it’s worth saying:
“Gop! Hop! I want to be there and there!” - You’ll be transported wherever you want in an instant.
He said - and that’s all the princess needs. She began to undead and love him until Toderash fell asleep. Then she put his hat on herself and said:
- Hop! Hop! I want to be in my father's chambers!
And indeed she found herself in her palace, and Toderash remained sleeping in the clearing.
He woke up and was surprised - there was neither the princess nor the hat. What to do here?
It’s a shame to show up to my brothers, since I let their gifts slip out of my hands.
And Toderash walked through the forest wherever his eyes looked. It’s time to give yourself up to be torn to pieces by a predatory beast - so the light has become distasteful to him.
So he wanders, wanders through the forest, thirst bothers him, hunger torments him, and he comes out to a spreading apple tree, the apples on it are the size of a fist, rosy, plump, just asking to be put into his mouth.
Toderash picked two apples at once, ate them, and suddenly horns grew on his head, heavy, twisted, like those of an ox.
“Well, well! - thinks Toderash. - That’s what I need. Wonderful gifts came to me, but I let them go and chased after the king’s daughter. Butt now, you foolish head, here’s the Tsar’s daughter!”
He stopped picking the enchanted apples and wandered away.
As soon as he walked away, he looked - a pear tree, on the branches there were pears the size of a goose egg, golden, with ruddy barrels. Toderash wants to eat and drink, but he’s afraid to try a pear. Then he waved his hand. “Eh, what happens, cannot be avoided.” He picked a pear and ate it.
He looks: one of his horns has fallen off.
He thanked fate, ate the second one, and he lost his second horn.
Toderash began to think about it. And I thought about it.
He returned to the apple tree, picked as many apples as he could carry, and did not forget about the pears.
Then he began to look for the road and soon came out of the forest.
I got to the city, and people were just coming from the church. Toderash laid out the apples, and people crowded around him, as if at a fair. No one has ever seen such marvelous apples.
People ask him what he is asking for them, and Toderash answers:
- Four hundred for an apple.
People were amazed: for such a price you could buy a pair of oxen.
Word of the wonderful, expensive apples reached the royal palace.
The princess could not resist, gave the maid money and ordered her to buy four apples: one for her father and mother, and a couple for herself.
The maid brought apples to the princess.
She gave an apple to her father and mother, took two for herself and went to her half.
The king ate the apple and a horn grew on his forehead.
The queen ate the apple and also received a horn on her forehead.
And the princess - a gourmet, like all girls - crushed two apples at once, and real ox horns grew on her.
Only neither the king, nor the queen, nor the princess immediately noticed what had become of them.
So they all gathered for dinner, looked at each other and froze.
“Daddy,” says the princess, “what is that horn on your forehead?” And mommy too.
So the king and queen gasped.
- And you, daughter, have not one, but two! - They say. They called doctors from all over the world, all kinds of medicines.
We tried it, it doesn’t take anything.
And Toderash, using the money he got for the apples, bought a doctor’s dress in the shop, a hat as big as a bucket, and black glasses.
He put everything on himself and waddled away - a pure healer.
He comes to the royal palace.
- Who are you? - the gatekeeper asks him. “And why did you come?”
- I am a healer, I treat horns. I want to introduce myself to the king.
“It was a good time to bring you,” says the gatekeeper. “The king just grew a horn.”
And he let Toderash into the palace. The king was delighted.
“It’s good that you came,” he says. “You see what a problem: my horn grew out of nowhere.” And the queen too. And our daughter has two at once. What do we do with the queen, we have lived our own life.
I feel sorry for my daughter. They stopped sending matchmakers to her. If you undertake to heal us, I will not regret anything for you.
“I’ll take it, but of course,” Toderash answers. He took out a bottle of ointment and a pear.
“Taste the pear, Tsar-Sovereign, while I work on the horn!”
The king eats a pear, and Toderash pretends that he is applying ointment to the horn.
The king ate the pear, Toderash took the horn, and it remained in his hands.
The king does not remember himself with joy, awarded Toderash with a purse of gold and took him to the queen. Toderash also cured the queen and received another wallet.
It was the princess's turn.
Toderash says:
- With the young lady, my dears, things will be more serious, there are a couple of horns, and such weighty ones at that. I will heal her, but I won’t be able to do it so soon. Leave us alone and don’t come in before an hour. The horns will have to be filed off first, it will hurt the princess, she will start screaming and calling you, but listen to me, don’t come in if you want your daughter to become the same again.
“You know better,” the king and queen answer.
And the princess sits - very glad that such a learned doctor was found, healed her parents and will cure her in an hour.
Now they were left alone, Toderash took a rope out of his pocket, tied the princess to the bench and, well, treated her with a whip. She screams and breaks down, and he heals her with a whip. The hour has passed, the king and queen enter.
- What are you doing, Mister Doctor? This way you will hurt her!
- No, Tsar-Sovereign, this is science for her. Where is my hunting horn, wallet and hat that you tricked me into defrauding? Give back kindly, otherwise you will get the same.
“Untie her, heal her, we will return everything to you,” the king and queen prayed.
Toderash untied the rope.
The princess immediately took out a horn, wallet and hat from the chest. And in return I received two pears.
Toderash took his goods and, without saying goodbye, pulled his hat down and said:
- Hop! Hop! I want to see my brothers!
And instantly he found himself with his brothers. He returned the magical gifts to them and told them about all his misadventures - just like I am telling you now.
What happened to him next—whether he got married or not—I don’t know. I only know that he no longer set his sights on the royal daughters.
That’s right, he still lives, even if he didn’t die.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru