A long time ago, in a remote mountain village there lived a poor young man. And he had an old mother whom he loved very much. Every day the young man went to the mountains to get firewood, and his mother sat at home, waiting for his return and busying herself with the housework. That's how they lived.
One day a young man chopped wood and sat down on the chige to rest. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a deer ran out of the thicket, ran, and fell on one leg. He ran up to the young man, bowed and said:
- Hide me, good man. The hunter is chasing me. The young man took pity on the deer and hid it between the fagots. And the hunter is already here.
- Hey, guy! - shouts. -Have you seen a lame deer?
“Of course, I saw it,” the young man answers. “He ran over that mountain over there.”
The hunter believed and moved on. And the young man says:
- Well, deer, come out, the hunter has left. The deer came out of hiding and began to thank the young man:
- Thank you, good man! You saved me from death. For this I will fulfill any of your wishes.
The young man laughed - what could some deer do? - and said jokingly:
- Since you can fulfill any desire, find me a beautiful bride. Otherwise I can’t get married.
The deer thought and said:
– Do you see the green mountain? Behind that mountain is a large lake. On the thirtieth day of the fifth moon, beautiful fairies descend to the lake on a seven-colored rainbow. Look at them more closely, choose the one you like, and hide her dress when she enters the water. Without a dress, the fairy will not be able to return to heaven and will remain with you. But remember: until she gives you four sons, do not give her the dress.
[Fifth moon – fifth month (May).]
The deer said so and ran away into the mountains.
The young man waited for the appointed day and set off. He found a lake that was behind a green mountain, hid better and began to wait. A seven-color rainbow hung over the water, and eight beautiful fairies descended along it to the shore. They are all amazingly beautiful, and one is more beautiful than all of them. The young man looks at her and cannot stop looking at her.
The fairies threw off their dresses, ran into the water and let’s play and have fun: they jump, laugh, splash water at each other. But the young man did not waste time - he crept up to the dresses, grabbed one and hid again.
The fairies bathed, had enough of playing, and began to get ready to head back. They look: seven dresses are lying on the shore, and what the most beautiful one was wearing has disappeared. The rainbow is already melting in the sky, we must hurry.
The beautiful fairy began to cry, and her friends said to her:
– Don’t cry, we’ll come back tomorrow and look for your dress. And now we have to go: soon the rainbow will melt, and then we will not be able to return home.
The fairies said so, stood on the rainbow and melted into the sky.
The beauty was left alone, crying, dying. Suddenly a young man comes out from behind the bushes, takes her hand and says:
- Don't cry, beautiful fairy. Be my wife and I will give you the dress.
There was nothing to do, the fairy had to agree. She soon fell in love with the young man and no longer regretted leaving heaven.
A year passed, another, a third... Three sons, with faces as beautiful as jade, were already born to the fairy.
The fairy began to ask her husband:
- Give me the dress, I won’t fly away from you. Can I leave my children?
The young man remembered the deer’s order not to give the fairy’s dresses until she gave birth to four sons, and therefore for a long time resisted her persuasion. Finally he couldn’t stand it: he really loved his wife. He took out a dress from a secluded place and gave it to his wife. The fairy put on a magical outfit, and she was overcome with longing for her native sky. She tied one son behind her back, took two in her arms and flew away like a light cloud.
Again the young man was left alone with his old mother. He often remembered the fairy, remembered how he met her at the mountain lake, how they later lived in happiness and joy, how she flew away from him into the blue sky.
One day he chopped wood and began to get ready to go home. Suddenly a deer came out of the thicket, bowed and said:
- Why are you sad, good man? Tell me about your trouble. The young man looks - in front of him is the very deer that he saved from death. He told him about his misfortune, and the deer said:
– Don’t be sad, I’ll help you. Since the day you stole the dress, the fairies no longer come down to the lake. But you yourself can go to heaven. Once a month they now lower the tub, fill it with water and lift it up. Today is just such a day, so hurry up!
The young man was delighted and ran to the lake.
He came running and saw: a seven-colored cloud hanging over the lake, and from it a tub was lowered on a long rope. The young man quickly ran to the tub, climbed into it, and the tub immediately crawled up.
The fairies pull the bucket and are surprised. “Why is the water so heavy today?” - they think.
Finally, the fairies lifted the tub and looked inside - and there was a man sitting there. The beautiful fairy saw her husband and was delighted. Even though she flew away to heaven, she often thought about him and missed him. And his sons were even more happy with him, they even started dancing.
They dressed the young man in a wonderful dress, fed him wonderful dishes, and he lived in the beautiful Land of Heaven, not knowing worries and anxieties. Magic music plays there day and night, the inhabitants of the heavenly kingdom sing and have fun.
Everything would be fine, but the young man misses his old mother: somehow she lives there alone?
So one day he says to the fairy:
“I’ve been living in heaven for so many days, but my mother doesn’t know anything: I went to the mountains and never came back.” It would be nice to see her.
The fairy began to persuade her husband:
– Forget about people, don’t remember them. After all, if you go down, you will no longer be able to ascend to heaven.
She persuaded and persuaded, but he sees that it doesn’t help. Then the fairy thought and said:
- So be it, I’ll give you a magic horse. He will take you to the ground. But remember, don’t get off your horse: once you touch the ground, you’ll stay there forever!
The young man jumped onto the magic horse. In an instant, the horse flew through the black clouds, through the land of sparkling stars and stopped at the young man’s house.
- Mom, mom! - the young man shouts. - I'm back! “But he doesn’t get off the horse, he just sits on it.”
The mother heard her son’s voice and ran out into the yard.
- My dear son, where have you been? And I thought that you were devoured by ferocious tigers.
He said, while tears were flowing, the young man told her everything that had happened to him: how he met a deer, and how he managed to rise to heaven, and how the fairy gave him a magic horse from which he could not descend to earth.
They talked like this, and the time came to part.
“Wait, son, don’t leave,” says the mother. - Let me at least feed you goodbye. Don’t get off your horse if you can’t, now I’ll bring you your favorite soup.
The mother ran into the house, brought out a bowl of soy soup and handed it to the young man. He took the bowl, and it was hot as fire. The young man pulled his hand back, dropped the bowl, and the soup spilled right onto the horse’s back. The horse rushed from its place, threw the young man to the ground, neighed loudly and soared into the distant sky.
The young man cried bitterly: he would no longer see the beautiful fairy, he would not ascend to the Land of the Sky.
He began to walk around for firewood again. And every time he climbed the mountains, he waited for his deer to ask him for advice.
Yes, I didn’t wait.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru