As they say and retell, the narrator does not add, those who listen do not forget, those who retell do not shorten, there lived a beautiful girl, her name was Faruza. Her mother died, and her father took another wife.
The stepmother had her own daughter, who was nothing like Faruza - neither in beauty nor in character. Both stepmother and daughter were equally greedy, envious, and rude. Nobody in the village liked them.
Faruza was kind, flexible, and neat. She was a skilled seamstress, she sewed faster and more beautifully than anyone in the village - it was not without reason that they said that if she sewed millet grain, no one would see traces of the threads. Good rumors about this girl spread through other villages.
The stepmother hated Faruza because she was superior to her daughter in everything. That's why she forced her to work from morning to night - lighting the stove, cooking, washing and washing.
She dressed up her own daughter like a princess, and if she went on a visit, she would certainly take her with her.
One day, the stepmother and daughter went to visit a neighboring village, and left Faruz to guard the house. When leaving, the stepmother ordered her stepdaughter:
– Don’t leave home and don’t stay in it. If I find you here or don’t find you, even if you have seven souls, I will not leave a single one.
The mother and daughter left, leaving Faruza alone. She didn’t know what to do: she couldn’t leave and wasn’t ordered to be at home.
Suddenly a bird landed on a tree that stood near the porch.
- Qi-qi, what are you crying about, little beauty Faruza? – she asked.
“My stepmother and her daughter went to visit, and she ordered me not to leave the house or stay in it. “So I don’t know what to do,” the girl answered.
– Isn’t it difficult to do this – it’s the easiest way! - said the little bird. - When your stepmother returns, stand so that one of your feet is outside the threshold, and the other is in the house.
Having said these words, the bird fluttered and flew away. And by the time her stepmother was supposed to return, Faruza stood up so that one of her legs was outside the threshold and the other was in the house.
The stepmother returned with her daughter. She saw that her stepdaughter had carried out her order, got angry and shouted:
- Why are you standing at the threshold, don’t you have anything to do? The stepdaughter answered her:
– When you were leaving for a visit, you told me: “Don’t leave home and don’t stay in it. If I find you here or don’t find you, even if you have seven souls, I won’t leave a single one.” So I did as you ordered.
What was the stepmother to do? She realized that her stepdaughter was smarter than her, and she hated her even more.
The next day she again got ready to visit with her daughter. Before leaving, the stepmother poured the millet and barley into one basket and said to Faruza:
– Before my arrival, separate the millet from the barley. If you can’t cope, even if you have seven souls, I won’t leave a single one.
The stepmother left, and Faruza sat down with tears at the sapetka: she knew that she would never manage anything until her stepmother returned. She began to sort through the grains and suddenly saw a crow that had landed on a tree.
“What are you crying about, little beauty Faruza?” – she asked.
“My stepmother and her daughter went to visit, and she ordered me to separate the millet from the barley.
– Isn’t it difficult to do this – it’s the easiest way! - said the crow, cawed and flew away.
Soon she returned with a whole flock of crows. They sank to the ground and quickly separated the millet from the barley.
When the stepmother returned, she saw two sapets in the yard - one had only millet, the other only barley.
The stepmother became even more angry and shouted:
“You couldn’t do it alone so quickly, tell me, who helped you?!” You can’t tell, even if you have seven souls, I won’t leave a single one!
Faruza was scared and said that the birds helped her.
The next day, the stepmother sent Faruza to the forest to get firewood. And she herself poured the millet and barley into one sapet and told her daughter to separate the millet from the barley while she was visiting.
The stepmother's daughter sat down in the yard and began to sort through the grains, cursing. At this time, a crow descended onto the tree. “What are you doing, girl?” – she asked.
The stepmother’s daughter did not answer - she grabbed a stone and threw it at the bird. The crow flew away and soon returned with a whole flock of crows. They went down to the sapet and instantly pecked everything that was in it, down to the grain.
When the stepmother returned and found out that the birds had eaten the grain, she did not say a word to her daughter, and severely beat Faruza.
The next day, the stepmother called Faruza and gave her raw wool.
- Wash this wool, dry it, pick it, spin it and weave it into cloth. And if you don’t manage before my arrival, even if you have seven souls, I won’t leave a single one! - she told her stepdaughter. And she and her daughter went for a walk around the village.
Faruza sat down, laid the wool on the porch and cried bitterly. At this time a cow came up to her and asked:
– Why are you crying, beautiful Faruza?
“My stepmother told me to wash this wool, dry it, sort it, spin it and weave cloth out of it. And if I don’t manage it when she arrives, she’ll beat me again.
– Is it possible to cry because of this? - said the cow and began to eat wool. She ate all the wool and went into the barn.
Faruza didn’t say anything, she cried even more bitterly, because she knew that her stepmother would beat her painfully. But soon she saw that the cow was coming back to her. The cow came up to the girl and said:
- Come on, Faruza, put your hands up.
The girl extended her hands, and the cow spat out the finished cloth.
Faruza was delighted and began to calmly wait for her stepmother.
Soon she and her daughter returned. When the stepmother saw the finished cloth, she shouted:
– You couldn’t manage it alone so quickly, tell me, who helped you? You can’t tell me if you have seven souls, I won’t leave a single one!
Faruza was scared and said that a cow helped her.
“Can’t my daughter do that?” - thought the stepmother.
The next day she sent Faruza into the forest, and gave her daughter raw wool and said:
- Wash this wool, dry it, pick it, spin it and weave it into cloth.
The daughter got to work and began picking at the hairs, swearing. A cow approached her.
– Why are you grumbling, girl?
“Mother told me to wash this wool, dry it, sort it, spin it and weave cloth out of it. How can I manage?
“I’ll help you,” the cow said and began to eat the wool.
Seeing this, the girl grabbed a stick and began to beat the cow with it. But she ate all the wool and went into the barn.
When the mother returned, her daughter told her about what had happened. The stepmother attacked Faruza and beat her, and decided to slaughter the cow.
Faruza heard this, cried and went to the cow to warn that they wanted to slaughter her.
“Listen, beauty, to what I tell you,” said the cow. “When they kill me and eat me, you collect my bones and bury them under the feeding trough - they will be useful to you someday.”
Faruza did just that, collected every single bone of the cow and buried them under the feeding trough.
A lot of time passed after that. Once there was a big wedding in the village, it lasted seven days - seven nights.
When the stepmother and daughter dressed up and got ready for that wedding, Faruza asked:
- Take me with you too!
– Who would let such a ragged woman attend a wedding?! Sit guard at home! - they said and left.
Faruza sat sadly and suddenly remembered what the cow told her. She went to the barn and began to dig the ground under the feeding trough. She dug once - and out of nowhere a golden phaeton came out, and in it lay a golden dress, as if it had been sewn especially for Faruza, and golden shoes.
Faruza put on a golden dress, put on golden shoes, sat in a golden phaeton and went to the wedding.
When she arrived, everyone began to ask each other:
- Allah, Allah, what a beauty, like a thawhud*! Where is she from, whose daughter?
Everyone wanted to dance with her, but she behaved very modestly.
Late in the evening, when the guests began to go home, Faruza, accompanied by the entire village, got into the phaeton and left. The horses ran so fast that no one could catch up with her and no one knew where she had gone.
Faruza returned home, took off her golden dress and golden shoes, put everything in a phaeton and placed it under a cow trough. She put on her usual rags and began to wait for her stepmother to return.
Soon the mother and daughter returned. They vied with each other to talk about the wonderful guest they saw at the wedding.
- Oh, how happy you are! Take me with you tomorrow, maybe I’ll see that beauty,” Faruza asked.
- Who would let such a ragged woman attend a wedding! Sit guard at home! - they said.
The next day they went to the wedding again, leaving Faruz to guard the house.
Faruza went to the barn again, rolled out a golden chaise, put on a golden dress, put on golden shoes, got into the chaise and went to the wedding. Just like on the first day, she was at the wedding for a long time, and then quickly left. And this time no one could catch up with her and no one knew where she had gone.
The only talk in the village was about the mysterious guest at the wedding. Some even said that she was one of the jinn, but others insisted that she was an ordinary person. Several horsemen argued and agreed to detain her on the third day.
And Faruza went to the wedding on the third day. When the fun was coming to an end and Faruza was about to leave, horsemen blocked her path. But the girl managed to jump into the phaeton and drive away - only the golden shoe fell from her foot and remained on the road.
He was raised by the bravest and most beautiful of all the horsemen of the village.
“I will find the beauty who owns this shoe and take her as my wife,” he said.
The next day he walked around the village, entered every yard and asked all the girls to try on the golden shoe - but it didn’t fit anyone.
The horseman came to the house of Faruzin's stepmother. She washed her daughter’s foot, thought that the shoe would fit better on a wet foot, she fiddled with it for a long time, but it was too small.
At this time, the horseman saw Faruza in the yard.
“Let that girl wear the shoe too,” he said.
- No, it won’t suit her anyway. Besides, she’s never been to a wedding before,” answered the stepmother.
But the horseman insisted on his own, and Faruza was given a shoe. She put it on, everyone gasped - as if it had been tailored for her.
- How good it is that the glorious horseman found himself a worthy bride! - they began to talk in the village and rejoice.
When the time came for Faruza to go to the groom, she rolled out a golden phaeton, put on a golden dress, put on golden shoes and, accompanied by the entire village, drove off.
And the stepmother and daughter almost died of envy.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru