Once upon a time there lived a king. He had three sons. One day the eldest son went hunting. As soon as he drove away from the city, a hare jumped out of the bushes. The prince followed him - this way, that way, and the hare jumped and disappeared into the water mill. The prince rushed there. And the hare was not a hare, but a dragon! He grabbed the prince and swallowed him.
Several days have passed, and the prince still does not return home. The middle son went hunting. But as soon as he drove away from the city, the hare jumped out of the bushes again. The prince followed him - this way, that way, and the hare disappeared into the water mill. The prince rushed there. And the hare would not be a hare, but a dragon! He grabbed the prince and swallowed him.
Again, several days passed, the prince did not return.
The whole yard became worried.
The third prince went hunting and decided to find his brothers. As soon as he drove away from the city, the hare jumped out of the bush again. The prince chased him until the hare disappeared into the same mill, but he did not pursue him further, but went to look for other prey. “I’ll come back and catch you!” - he thought.
The prince wandered through the mountains for a long time, but found nothing and returned to the mill. And there is an old woman standing there.
- God help you, grandma! - says the prince.
- God help you, son!
- Grandma, where did my hare go?
- This is not a hare, son, but a dragon! How many people he harassed and killed! - said the old lady.
The prince became alarmed:
- What should we do now? This is where my two brothers probably died too!
- Here! Hey, here! But there’s nothing to be done, son, go home before the same fate befalls you,” the kind old lady advised him.
- Grandma, don’t you think you wouldn’t mind getting rid of this misfortune yourself? - asked the prince.
- Oh, son! How could you please! After all, he caught me just like that, but what can you do now!
“Listen carefully to what I tell you,” the prince then tells her. - When the dragon comes, find out where he goes and what his strength is. As soon as you find out where his strength is, you kiss this place, kiss it until you know everything. And then you can tell me.
The prince returned to the palace, but the old woman remained at the mill. The dragon came, she began to question him:
- Well, where have you been? Where are you going so far? And you will never tell me anything.
- Eh, grandma! “I walk far,” answered the dragon.
Then the old woman began to speak to him kindly and kindly:
- Why do you walk so far? What is your strength? If I found out, everyone would kiss this place.
“My strength is in that hearth,” said the dragon.
The old woman began to kiss the hearth, and the dragon, when he saw this, roared with laughter and said:
- You stupid woman! My strength is not here, but in that tree that stands in front of the mill.
The old woman rushed to hug and kiss the tree, and the dragon laughed again and said:
- Come on, stupid woman, my strength is not here.
- So where? - asked the old woman.
The dragon told her:
“My power is far away, you can’t get there.” In the distant kingdom, near the city where the king lives, there is a lake, and in that lake there is a dragon, and in the dragon there is a boar, and in the boar there is a hare, and in the hare there is a dove, and in that dove there is a sparrow, and in that sparrow is my strength.
“What you say is true, your strength is far away, I cannot kiss her,” said the old woman.
The next day, when the dragon flew away, the prince came to the mill again, and the old woman told him everything she had learned.
The prince disguised himself as a shepherd, took a stick and went to wander around the world. He walked for a long time from village to village, from city to city, and finally reached the distant kingdom and the city adjacent to the lake where the dragon lived. Arriving in the city, he began to ask who needed a shepherd. It turned out that the king needed a shepherd. The prince went to the palace. The king let him in and asked:
-Are you going to take care of my sheep?
- Yes, a bright crown!
The king took him as a shepherd and began to instruct him:
- There is a lake here, and around it there is beautiful pasture. But as soon as the sheep are driven there, they will scatter. No matter how many shepherds went to collect them, none of them returned. So, son, don’t give the sheep free rein, don’t let them go wherever they want, but drive them wherever you want.
The prince thanked the king and prepared to graze the sheep. He took with him two greyhounds, so fleet-footed that they could overtake any hare in the field, he took a falcon that could grab any bird in the air, and he took bagpipes. So he drove out the sheep and let them go to the lake. They immediately scattered along the shores. The prince put the falcon on a block, hid the dogs and bagpipes under the block, rolled up his pants and sleeves, climbed into the lake and started shouting:
- Hey, dragon, dragon! Come out to fight, let's measure our strength, if you're not a woman!
“I’m coming now, prince, I’m coming,” the dragon responded and appeared - huge, nasty, scary!
The dragon grappled with the prince, and they fought until noon. And when it got hot, the dragon said:
“Let me go, prince, let me soak my wild little head in the lake, and then I’ll throw you into the heavenly heights!”
- Let him boast, dragon! - the prince answers. “If only the princess were here and kissed me on the forehead, I would throw you even higher!”
Then the dragon released the prince and dived into the lake. And in the evening the prince washed himself, rested, put the falcon on his shoulder, called the dogs, gathered the sheep and went into the city. He goes and plays the bagpipes. Everyone is looking at him, what a miracle, he came from the lake, but not a single shepherd has ever returned from there.
The next morning the prince got ready and again drove the sheep to the lake. And the king sent two horsemen after him and ordered them to spy on what the shepherd would do. The riders climbed a high mountain, from where everything was visible. And the shepherd, coming to the lake, hid the dogs and bagpipes under the block, and put the falcon on the block, rolled up his pants and sleeves, climbed into the lake and started shouting:
- Hey, dragon, dragon! Come out to fight, let’s measure our strength again, if you’re not a woman!
“I’m coming now, prince, I’m coming,” the dragon responded and soon appeared - huge, nasty, scary!
The dragon grappled with the prince, and they fought until noon. And when it got hot, the dragon said:
“Let me go, prince, let me wet my wild little head in the lake, and then I’ll throw you into the heavenly heights!”
- Let him boast, dragon! - the prince answers. “If only the princess had been here and kissed me on the forehead, I would have thrown you even higher.”
Then the dragon released the prince and dived into the lake.
In the evening, as the day before, the prince gathered the sheep and went home, walking and playing the bagpipes. Everyone in the city is excited, waiting for him. Everyone was surprised that the second evening the shepherd came safe and sound from where no one had returned before. And the two horsemen sent ahead of the prince, galloped into the palace and told the king everything they saw and heard. The king immediately called his daughter, told her what and how, and ordered:
“Tomorrow you will go with the shepherd to the lake and kiss him on the forehead.”
Hearing this, the princess began to cry and began to beg her father:
“You have no one but me.” Aren't you afraid that I might die!
Then her father began to console her:
- Don't be afraid, daughter! How many shepherds we have changed, and not one has returned from the lake, but this one has been fighting the dragon for two days already! With God's help he will defeat the monster. Just go with him tomorrow, and maybe he will save us from the scourge that has killed so many people.
Then a white day came, the sun shone, the shepherd stood up, the princess also stood up, and they began to gather for the lake. The shepherd is cheerful, more cheerful than before, but the princess is sad and shedding tears.
“Sister princess, please don’t cry,” the shepherd consoled her. “Don’t be afraid of anything, just do what I said: run up and kiss me when I give you a sign.”
They went out and drove the sheep. The shepherd played the bagpipes cheerfully all the way, and the princess walked next to him and kept crying. And the shepherd, no, no, lowers his bagpipes, leans over to the girl and says:
- Don’t cry, my gold, don’t be afraid of anything!
So they came to the lake. The sheep immediately scattered. The prince put the falcon on the block, hid the dogs and bagpipes under the block, rolled up his pants and sleeves, climbed into the lake and started shouting:
- Hey, dragon, dragon! Come out to fight, let's measure our strength again, unless you're a woman!
“I’m coming, prince, I’m coming,” the dragon responded and soon appeared - huge, nasty, scary!
The dragon grappled with the prince, and they fought until noon. And when it got hot, the dragon said:
“Let me go, prince, let me soak my wild little head in the lake, and then I’ll throw you into the heavenly heights!”
- May you boast, dragon! - the prince answers. “If only the princess were here and kissed me on the forehead, I would throw you even higher!”
As soon as he said this, the princess ran up and kissed him on the cheek, eyes and forehead. Then the prince swung and threw the dragon into the heavenly heights. The dragon fell from there, hit the ground and broke into pieces. Then a wild boar jumped out of it and ran, but the prince shouted to the dogs: “Hold, don’t let go!” The dogs rushed after the boar, caught up and tore it to pieces. A hare jumped out of the boar and started running across the field. The greyhounds chased him, caught him and tore him to pieces. A dove flew out of the hare, but the prince released a falcon at it. The falcon caught the dove and brought it into the hands of the prince. The prince cut the dove and found a sparrow there. The prince clutched it in his fist and ordered:
- Tell me now where my brothers are.
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you,” the sparrow answers, “but don’t do anything bad to me!” Near your father's town there is a mill, with three willow trees near it. You cut them down. And as soon as you hit the roots, a large iron door will immediately open. She will lead you to a huge dungeon. There are so many people languishing in it - old and young, rich and poor, noble and ignorant, women and girls, that you could populate an entire kingdom with them. Your brothers are there too.
As soon as the sparrow said all this, the prince took it and twisted its neck.
And that day the king himself climbed the mountain and saw everything from there.
It was already getting dark when the shepherd killed the dragon. He washed himself, put the falcon on his shoulder, called the dogs, gathered the sheep and, playing the bagpipes, went straight to the king's palace, and the princess, still trembling with fear, walked next to him. So they came to the city. All the people gathered to look at them as if they were a miracle. And the king saw how a shepherd fought with a dragon in a duel, he called the shepherd to him, gave his daughter to him, immediately married them and threw a feast for a whole week.
The prince told who he was and where he came from, and everyone was even more happy. When he decided to return home, the king gave him many guides and equipped him for the journey. They arrived at the mill. The prince cut down the willows and hit the roots. The iron door immediately opened, and behind it, in the dungeon, people from different kingdoms languished. The prince ordered everyone to leave one by one and go wherever they wanted, and he himself stood at the door. His brothers came out along with everyone else. He hugged and kissed them. The prisoners thanked him for saving him, and everyone went their separate ways. And the prince, with his brothers and his young wife, went to his father and lived and reigned in his land until the end of his life.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru