Once upon a time there lived a king. One day a big misfortune happened to him. Some invisible spirits flew at him, gouged out his eyes and took him away with them. The poor king was completely blind. One day the eldest son says to his father: “Listen, father, give me khurjin1 gold, a good horse and a saber: I’ll go look for a cure for your eyes.”
The father sighs: “Oh, son!” Where will you find medicine for my eyes? However, as you wish. Take yourself a load of gold, go into the stable, take any horse you like, sit down and ride.
The next morning the son got ready and went. Whether it took a long time to travel or not, he knows better. I reached a deep gorge, and flowers of unprecedented beauty bloom in the gorge. He thinks to himself: “If these flowers don’t cure my father, then nothing will!”
He returned to his father’s house and said to his father: “Light to your eyes, I brought medicine.” The son mixed flower petals. I boiled them and moistened my father’s eyes with the flower infusion, but nothing came of it. The father asks: “Listen, son!” Where did you pick these flowers? The son says: “I went to the country of India.” In a deep gorge I found flowers of unprecedented beauty, collected them and brought them back.
The father shook his head: “Oh, son!” In that gorge twenty years ago I fought with the king of India in koh (Armenian national wrestling). We tied our horses into the gorge. They fertilized the land there with manure. So these flowers bloomed. How can these flowers help me see the light!
Time passed, the middle son grew up. “Father,” he says, “give me a khurjin of gold, a good horse, I’ll go look for a cure for your eyes.”
The father says: “Oh, son!” All this is empty, but whatever you want. Take a khurjin of gold, a good horse, and let's see what comes of this idea.
The middle son Khurjin took the gold, took the horse out of the stable and rode to distant lands. He travels from country to country, from city to city, but finds nothing at all. He reached one place in the steppe and saw: seven springs of unprecedented beauty were flowing, throwing out multi-colored water. He thought: “If these waters don’t help my father, then nothing will help.” He took a ladle of water from each spring and went back to his father’s house. The servants say to the king: “Light to your eyes!” Your son has arrived. The father calls his son, kisses his forehead and asks: “Did you bring medicine for my eyes?” “Yes, I did.”
The son took water and washed his father’s eyes, but again nothing happened. The father asks: “My son!” Where did you bring this water from? “I went,” he says, “to the country of Msir, and in the steppe I saw seven multi-colored springs.” I thought: “If this water does not heal my father, then nothing will help him.” “Nonsense,” says the father. “These springs, son, used to belong to me.” Thirty years ago I fought with the devas, they took them from me. The water in each spring was enchanted. Whoever drinks from one spring will be a man. From the other - a doe. Whoever drinks from the third will become a wolf. The fourth spring is the elephant spring. Whoever drinks from it will turn into an elephant. The fifth is a rhinoceros, and the last is a bird. Well, son, will this kind of water help my eyes?
Quite a long time has passed. The youngest son grew up, he approached his mother and said: “Mother, I must find a cure for my father.” Either I’ll get it, or I’ll lay down my head.
And the mother loved her youngest son most of all. She began to ask him: “My son, give up this idea.” You won’t be able to find a cure. But the son insists: “No, I’ll go and find it.”
His mother sees that she cannot dissuade him. “Son,” she turns to him. “Since you have decided to go, I will give you advice, but be careful not to let your father know that I taught you.” Go to your father, get his word that he will give you what you ask for. When he promises, you will say: “Give me the Fire Horse and the Fire Sword, which with each blow lengthens by seventy arshins.” If he gives, then go without fear. As soon as the son heard this, he went to his father and said: “Father, I’m going to get medicine for your eyes, but promise to fulfill one of my requests.” The father says: “My son, whatever you want, I’m ready to do for you.” Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. “Okay,” says the son, “since you gave your word, you won’t refuse it.” Give me the Fire Horse and the Fire Sword. - Oh, son! Let the one who advised you break his neck. Who advised you that, probably your mother? “No, father, your mother didn’t say anything.” “How did you know?” “I,” says the son, “saw a dream that you had such a Horse and such a Sword.” One old man told me in a dream yesterday: “Your father has a Fire Horse and a Fire Sword. If he gives them to you, you can go get medicine for his eyes.” “Well,” says the king, “I’ll give it to you, but come back quickly.”
The son asks: “Why are you rushing me?” And the father replies: “If other kings find out that my Fire Horse has left the city, they will attack me, take away my kingdom, and kill me.”
The king went to the stable. And the stable of the Fire Horse is cleaner than the royal palace. There are raisins in his manger. The Tsar strokes the Horse’s steep sides and says in his ear: “Dear Horse, faithful friend, I entrust my son to you.” Take care of him and bring him back safe and sound. Then he kissed the Horse on the forehead and left.
The Tsarevich led the Horse into the yard and suddenly remembered that he had not taken the Sword. He called one of the servants and sent him to tell his father: “The son is already on the Horse, give him the Fiery Sword. What should the king do?” He was afraid to part with the Sword, but he gave his word. He unlocked the pantry door, took out the Fire Sword, handed it to his son and said: “For God’s sake, come back quickly!”
The son said goodbye to his father and left. Whether the journey is long or short, he knows best. He arrived in one gloomy, deserted place. There is impenetrable darkness all around, it is impossible to see anything, only something lies on the ground and glitters. He urges the Horse to approach the shiny object, and the Horse tells him: “Don’t go there, this shine threatens us with trouble.” The young man did not listen to him. “No, let’s go see what it is.”
He came up and saw: a feather lying on the ground. He took it, put it in his bosom and drove on. It started to rain. The Tsarevich directed the Horse towards the cliff that rose ahead. The horse says: “Listen, master, this gorge is not a good place, don’t go there.” No matter how much the Horse tried to convince him, the king’s son did not listen. They reached the cliff.
Suddenly five robbers jumped out from behind the rock and said: “Welcome, guy.” They took the Horse aside, tied it, and dragged the king’s son into a cave and sat him by the fire. They took away the khurjin of gold that his father gave him for the journey, and said to the ataman: “Look, ataman, good booty has fallen into our hands.”
At night, when it was completely dark, the king’s son saw that the robbers did not turn on the light, and he remembered the feather he had found. He pulled it out from his bosom, and everything around was lit up, as if not one, but ten candles had been lit. “Who’s playing around there?” - the chieftain was indignant. And suddenly he sees a feather that shines like a fire. The ataman says to his robbers: “Look, don’t kill this guy, he will be useful to us.” In the evening, the robbers brought three sheep, sat around the fire, put the whole sheep on a spit and began to roast them. They ate themselves and gave some to the king’s son.
While eating, the ataman asks: “Guy, where did you get this feather?” The king's son replies: “I found it on the road.” The chieftain orders: “Now find a whole bird with such feathers.” The young man says: “Ataman, where can I get this bird?” “Get it where you want and bring it.” If you don't get it, I'll blow your head off.
The young man asked for three days. In the evening he went to bed, but could not sleep; and when it dawned a little, he went to the Fire Horse and cried bitterly. “Well, what happened, why are you crying bitterly?” - asks the Horse. And the young man answers: - Damn the day when we came here, we got into big trouble here! The chieftain told me to bring a bird with fiery feathers, otherwise he would blow my head off. “And when I warned you, why didn’t you listen to me?” - exclaimed the Horse. “I would throw you under your feet for this, trample you, but I gave my word to your father to take care of you.” For twenty-five years I ate your father’s bread, I cannot forget it. Since this has happened, nothing can be done. Go and tell the chieftain this: “Take forty forties of wheat to the island in the thirtieth sea. Pour all the grain into a pile, and I’ll go catch the bird.”
The king's son went to the ataman and said everything as the Horse advised him. The robbers came out onto the road. They began to stop passers-by, stole wheat and took it to an island in the thirtieth sea. They poured a huge pile there. They came and said to the ataman: “It’s ready.” The ataman called the king’s son and said to him: “Boy, what you asked has been done.” Go get the bird. The king’s son got up, brought out the Fire Horse, saddled him and rode away. He rode, rode, and reached the thirtieth sea. Sailed on a horse to the island. The horse tells him: “Get off.” The young man came down to the ground. The horse punishes him:
- Go hide in a pile of grain so that you can’t be seen. Raise your hands up and stand. After two hours, the birds will find out that there is wheat on the sea island and will fly in to peck. When they start pecking, their queen will fly in, stand at the very top, flap her wings and say: “We grabbed a piece.” When the birds begin to peck the grain, it will fall, and as it falls, the paws of the queen of the birds will fall into your palms. Then you grab her by the paws. The queen of the birds will flap her wings - all the birds will fly away, and you hold her tightly. She will flap her wings once and lift you a yard off the ground. Another time it swings, it will lift you three arshins, but the third time it swings, if you manage to hold it, it is yours, and if not, it will lift you into the heavens, carry you away, throw you into the sea, and you will die. Look, be careful.
As the Fire Horse punished the king’s son, so he did. He hid in the grain and suddenly saw: hundreds of thousands of birds flew in, pounced on the grain, began to peck at it, and the grain began to sink. Suddenly the paws of the queen of birds fell directly into the palms of the king’s son. The young man grabbed them tightly. The bird flaps its wings and wants to fly away, but the young man does not let go of his paws. All the other birds flew away, only the queen of the birds remained. Once she flapped her wings and lifted the young man an arshin; another time she swung it three arshins; She waved it a third time and wanted to lift it into the sky, but he pulled its paws with such force that the bird could no longer fly into the sky. The young man threw the queen of birds to the ground, and immediately the Fire Horse ran up to him. - Well done, my young master. Now get on my back and let’s go without wasting a second. Hold the bird, don't let go.
The young man jumped on his horse, whipped him, and rode off to the robber's den. The chieftain came out to meet him. He sees that the guy has returned, calls the robbers and says: “Take the Horse, tie it, and give the guy something to eat.” The ataman took the bird from the young man’s hands and couldn’t stop looking at it. And this bird was of extraordinary beauty, sparkling like the sun. The ataman took this bird away and planted it in the garden on a plane tree. He walks around her, looking at her and not seeing enough.
A few more days passed. One day the robbers say to the chieftain: “It’s a very beautiful bird, but what’s the use?” She might die. It would be nice to get her testicles. The chicks would hatch and we would get them. The chieftain asks: “Where can I get the testicles?” “For the guy who brought the bird, what a hassle it would be to get the testicles!” - the robbers answer. The ataman called the young man and said to him: “I am grateful to you for bringing me the bird.” But what good does it do? Get me her balls. If you bring it, it’s good, but if you don’t bring it, I’ll take your head off.
The young man asked for three days, came to the Horse and said: “What trouble we are in!” Now the chieftain demands from me the testicles of this bird. Where can I get them from? I don’t even know where to look. The Fire Horse says: “It’s my own fault.” I warned you. But what can I do, I wouldn’t leave you alive, but I can’t help but keep my word to your father. Clean me and feed me. The young man cleaned the horse thoroughly and poured raisins into it. The horse ate his fill. Then he brought the Horse out and saddled it. The horse says: “Close your eyes, but hold on to me tightly so as not to fall.” The Horse soared into the sky. He flew a little, then stopped and said: “Open your eyes.” The king’s son opened his eyes and saw: they were standing near a high mountain. The horse said: “Get off.” The prince descended to the ground, and the Fire Horse punished him:
— You go up to the top of the mountain, three Howts live there with their mother. Now these howts are probably sleeping. When lunchtime comes, they will wake up and begin to eat. A fire has been lit near the Khovts' house. On it is a large vat in which seven sheep are boiled. And the mother of the Khovts sits and chews a two-pound piece of resin. She has a spindle in her hands and is spinning yarn. Her tail is the size of a huge log, her head is the size of a large millstone weighing a hundred pounds. And a tree grows next to it. There is a nest of this bird on a tree, and there are four eggs in the nest. You climb a tree, take the eggs out of the nest, put them in your pocket and run back. If you don’t have time to get there, the Khovts will catch you and chew you alive. Be careful.
The Horse said all this to the king’s son. He climbed up the mountain, but the Horse remained under the mountain. The prince sees: at the top of the mountain there is a fire, and on it is a large vat. Seven rams are boiling in it, three howts are sleeping nearby, and an old woman is sitting at their head, chewing resin and spinning yarn.
The young man boldly approached the fire, lit a pipe, then climbed a tree, took the testicles out of the nest and ran back to the Horse. The old woman noticed him and exclaimed: “Look at this guy!” The snake did not crawl here on its belly. The bird did not fly here on its wings, but this one came here, and even stole the testicles. Hey, my sons, get up, we need to chew this guy alive!
With these words she clapped her hands. And when she slammed, the Khovts woke up and asked: “What, what happened, mother?” Should we build the world or destroy it? “Come on,” he says, “look there, there’s a guy running.” He climbed a tree and stole eggs from the nest. The Khovts rushed after the king’s son to catch him, and he threw himself into the saddle of the Fire Horse and immediately rose into the sky. The Khovts realized that they couldn’t keep up with the Fire Horse. “Well, well done, he got his testicles and saved his head,” the ataman said to the king’s son.
Twenty-one days have passed, the bird has hatched its chicks, and the chieftain of the robbers, with joy, does not know what he should do. One day he gathered all the robbers and arranged a big feast. During the feast, one of the robbers says: “We seem to have everything, but still something is missing.” The chieftain asks: “What are we missing?” The robbers say: “Ataman, if your wife were a Guri-Peri girl, then you would not lack anything in the world.”
The chieftain says: “It would be nice, of course, but where can we find a Guri-Peri girl?” “Uh-uh,” say the robbers, “for the guy who brought the bird and got the testicles, this won’t be much difficulty.”
The chieftain says: “If so, call the guy.” The robbers went and brought the king’s son. The chieftain tells him: “Boy, do you know why I called you?” The king's son asks: - Why? - You must go and bring the guri-peri girl. If you don’t bring it, I’ll cut off your head. The king’s son asked for three days. He went to the Fire Horse and recounted his conversation with the chieftain of the bandit gang. The horse says: “Okay, let’s go get the Guri-Peri girl.” Just go and tell the chieftain: let him order me a harness weighing thirty pounds.
The chieftain immediately went to the blacksmith and brought the harness. The king's son put the harness on the Fire Horse. The horse shook itself and the harness broke. The Horse says: “This is a bad harness.” Go get the forty-pound one. The young man went to the ataman and said to him: “Listen, ataman, my Horse tore this harness and demands a forty-pound harness.” The ataman brought a forty-pound harness. The Fire Horse shook himself again and said: “This harness is good, sit down, let’s go.”
The king's son jumped on his horse and set off. Whether the trip is long or short, they know better. We reached the sea, but the sea has no end or edge. The Horse says to the king’s son: “Get off and let’s say goodbye.” I need to go down to the seabed. Who knows, maybe I won’t return from there, I’ll jump into the sea, and you sit here and look at the water. A little later you will see: blood will appear on the surface of the water. But don’t be afraid, and then the medicine for your father’s eyes will float out in a small box. As soon as you see it, immediately take it and put it in your bosom. Just wait a little longer, I will come out of the sea and bring another horse. If I swim out, then you have nothing to fear, and if not, run away, save yourself.
The king's son sat down on the shore and looked at the water. He sees that there is some blood on the water. Time passed and the box floated out. He immediately reached out his hand, grabbed it, and put it in his bosom. He is waiting, the horse is late. Suddenly he sees: the Fire Horse comes out of the water and leads with him his sister the Fire Mare. She says to the Fire Horse: “My dear brother!” Since I couldn’t leave you at the bottom of the sea, but, on the contrary, you brought me to land, whatever you order, I will do. The Fire Horse says: “My dear sister!” Help us get guri-peri. “Okay, for your sake, I’ll do everything you need.”
The horse remained on the shore, and the king’s son sat on the Fire Mare, and she immediately lifted him into the sky. She carried him across the sea, sat down in front of the luxurious palace and said: “I’ll wait here, and you go into the palace.” The king’s son came to the palace and saw: standing in the palace was a girl of unprecedented beauty, and her eyes emitted such light that it hurt to look at her face. She stands on a marble platform, and in front of her are forty marble steps. “Come up to me,” she says to the young man. “No,” he replies, “you come down to me yourself.”
With these words he threw the apple onto the top step. The girl went down the step to pick up the apple, and he threw it onto the next step. And so he threw forty apples one after another, one apple on each step, and the girl, unnoticed by herself, went down to him. He grabbed the girl and rushed to the Fire Mare. And she instantly carried them across the sea to the Fire Horse. The Fire Horse says to the Mare: “Well done, sister.” My young master will sit on you, and I will take the beautiful Guri-Peri.
They came to the chieftain of the robbers. The girl says to the king’s son: “I know you want to give me to the ataman of the robbers, but I won’t go to him.” I will free you from the robbers and become your wife.
During the night she built two large fires and began to heat water in huge vats on them. She says to the ataman of the robbers: “Okay, I will be your wife, but first wash yourself with warm water.” She brought the king’s son to one of the vats and said: “Put your hand in the water.” The young man’s hand became white, white, even glowed with a dim light. “Here,” says Guri-peri to the ataman of the robbers, “see what his hand has become!” And in the second vat the water is even better. Climb into it, take a bath, and let's have a wedding.
The chieftain of the robbers climbed into the vat and immediately boiled in it. And the Guri-Peri girl bathed the king’s son in another vat, and he became as beautiful and bright as she herself. Here the young man and the Guri-Peri girl sat down on their Fire Horses and headed towards the city where the blind king lived. They reached the city and saw that it was surrounded on four sides by enemy troops. The young man grabbed the Fire Sword from its sheath, spurred the Fire Horse and rushed at the enemies. The Fire Horse neighed loudly. The king heard, recognized the voice of his horse and said: “Thank God, my son returned on the Fire Horse.” I won't give up the keys to the city.
In the morning, news was brought to the king that the army around the city had been defeated, that his son had returned with some girl and brought with him a small box. As soon as the son approached his father, he immediately opened the box, took out his father’s eyes, which had been stolen by evil spirits, inserted them, and the king immediately received his sight. The king put his crown on the head of his youngest son and made him king. He married him to a Guri-Peri girl. The wedding took place for forty days and forty nights. Everyone was having fun, rejoicing, they couldn’t be happier.
Three apples fell from the sky: one to the one who was telling the story; another - to the one who listened; and the third - to the one who wound it on his mustache.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru