The mother had five daughters. The eldest was nicknamed Ding-chzher - Thimble, the second Shou-chzhor - Bracelet, the third Tse-zhir - Ring, the fourth Er-chzhur - Earring, the fifth He-bor - Purse. Mother was widowed at an early age and married a peddler for the second time. He was an unkind man, and even more so, unfair. And besides, he's a miser. He did not order his stepdaughters to sew dresses from new material, nor did he order them to feed them good food. Anything he doesn’t like, he screams and swears:
- Hey! I shouldn’t waste white rice, I shouldn’t spoil first-class flour, I should feed five girls - it’s a cheap product!
Once a peddler went early to the villages, and before leaving he told his wife:
“Take half a shen of the best flour, pour half a jin of the best butter, bake multi-layer butter pancakes, come back in the evening, and eat your fill.”
The peddler said so, shouldered the yoke with the goods and left. The wife of all five daughters sent the grain to dry, locked herself in the kitchen, and got ready to bake pancakes. She took the best flour, kneaded the dough, lit a fire in the hearth, and began baking pancakes in the cauldron. Before she had time to bake the first pancake, she heard that her eldest daughter had arrived. Ban-ban-ban - knocks on the door, shouts:
- Mom, mom! Unlock it!
Mother answers:
- Why did you come, why don’t you dry the grain on the current?
- I came for the sieve.
The mother unlocked the door and let her daughter in. And in the hearth the fire is blazing, steam is pouring out of the boiler.
My daughter asks:
- Mom! What are you doing?
— I bake butter pancakes for my father.
- It smells delicious! Let me taste one.
Ding-zher said this, took the lid off the cauldron, looked - the pancake was browned, glowing with heat, grabbed it and began to eat.
Her mother tells her:
- You, daughter, so be it, eat, just watch, you come back to the current, don’t tell your sisters anything.
Ding-zher agreed, ate the pancake, took the sieve and left. Mother locked the door and began baking a second pancake. As soon as he began to brown, the second daughter came running. Ban-ban-ban - knocks on the door, shouts:
- Mom, mom! Unlock it!
- Why did you come? Why don’t you dry grain on a current?
- I came for the sieve.
The mother unlocked the door and let her daughter in. And in the hearth the fire is dying, steam is pouring out of the boiler.
My daughter asks:
- Mom! What are you doing?
— I bake butter pancakes for my father.
- It smells delicious! Let me taste one!
My daughter said so, took the lid off the cauldron, took a pancake and began to eat.
Her mother tells her:
- You, daughter, so be it, eat, just watch, you come back to the current, don’t tell your sisters anything.
The daughter laughed, finished the pancake, took the sieve and left. The mother closed the door and began baking the third pancake. As soon as he began to brown, the third daughter came running. Ban-ban-ban - he knocks on the door and shouts:
- Mom, mom! Unlock it!
- Why did you come! Why don't you blow grain on the current?
— I came for a broom.
The mother unlocked the door and let her daughter in. The fire is blazing in the hearth, steam is pouring out of the boiler.
My daughter asks:
- Mom! What are you doing?
— I bake butter pancakes for my father.
- It smells delicious! Let me taste one!
The daughter took the lid off the cauldron, took a pancake, and began to eat.
Her mother tells her:
- You. Daughter, so be it, eat. Just remember, when you come back, don’t tell your sisters anything.
The daughter nodded her head, finished the pancake, took a broom and left. The mother locked the door and stuck the fourth pancake on the wall of the cauldron. As soon as he began to brown, the fourth daughter arrived. Ban-ban-ban - he knocks on the door and shouts:
- Mom, mom! Unlock it!
- Why did you come? Why don't you sweep the grain on the current?
- I came for the bag.
The mother unlocked the door and let her daughter in. The fire is blazing in the hearth, steam is pouring out of the boiler.
My daughter asks:
- Mom! What are you doing?
— I bake butter pancakes for my father.
- It smells delicious! Let me taste one!
Er-chhur opened the cauldron, took out a pancake, and began to eat.
Her mother tells her:
- You, daughter, so be it, eat, just watch, you come back to the current, don’t tell your sisters anything.
Er-chur laughed, finished the pancake, took the bag and left. Mother locked the door, stuck the last pancake on the wall of the cauldron, threw in some brushwood, baked it, she thought, and hid it away. Suddenly he hears: bang-ban-ban - there’s a knock on the door. It was the fifth daughter who came running and shouted:
- Mom, mom! Unlock it!
Mother says:
- Why did you come? Why don’t you pour grain into the tags at the current?
- I came for the rocker.
The mother unlocked the door, let her daughter in, gave her a yoke and said:
- It’s already dark, quickly run to the sisters, help them carry grain!
And the daughter answers:
- Let me taste the pancake!
- I don’t have any pancakes, just eat some runny rice porridge!
“You gave your sisters pancakes to try, but you won’t let me!” It turns out that you love them, but not me!
Hae-bor said this and burst into tears.
The mother sighed, pulled out the last pancake from the cauldron, gave it to her youngest daughter and said:
“There’s only one left, eat it, daughter.”
She took the Hae-bor pancake, smiled cheerfully and began to eat. The motley dog saw that Hae-bor was eating a butter pancake, raised his head and looked. Hae-bor broke off a piece and threw it to the dog:
- Try it, little dog, and you’ll know how delicious butter pancakes are.
The girl finished the pancake, and then the sun hid behind the mountains. The peddler returned home, took the yoke off his shoulder and said:
“I walked up and down four villages and eight settlements, passed through eastern farmsteads, and visited western villages. I was tired and wanted to eat. Hurry up and serve me some butter pancakes.
The wife answers:
— My daughters ate the buttercream pancakes.
The merchant heard this, anger began to boil in him - the water began to boil. He didn’t say anything, but came up with a cunning plan. The next day, in the morning, he brought an ax to chop brushwood, threw a strong rope behind his back, took a thick stick, a dry lamb skin, laughed and said:
- Well, daughters, today I’ll go to the mountains for brushwood, flowers have bloomed in the mountains, moths are fluttering. And you come with me, you’ll get some exercise in a day.
The girls, trusting, heard that they would go to the mountains to play and frolic, and were delighted. The eldest, Ding-zher, took a basket of wild apples and said, I will collect them. The second one, Shou-zhor, grabbed a shovel and said: I’m going to dig up medicinal hydrangea roots. The third one, Tse-chzhir, has saved a small piece of fragrant herbs, she says, I’ll get it. The fourth one, Er-chzhur, hung a basket on her back and said, “I’m going to pick mushrooms.” The fifth - He-bor - took a small sickle, said that I will cut off thuja branches. They also took a friend - a motley dog, so that it would not be boring on the way. The peddler came out of the gate, followed by five sisters who ran out cheerfully.
Ninety-nine sandbars were passed, ninety-nine bends were rounded and they came to Bear Mountain.
The peddler says:
“Daughters, I’ll chop brush under the mountain, and you go up the mountain, play and frolic.” As soon as my ax falls silent, go down.
The sisters climbed the mountain, and there was such beauty that you can’t even describe it. The sky is multi-colored, the trees are green, the grass is lush, and there are all sorts of flowers, and birds of different feathers! There are so many mountain peaches and wild apples that the branches are bending. In lakes, the fry are green, red, yellow, and blue. The sisters held hands and went to pick flowers, pick apples, catch moths, and roll on the grass. They broke free - the birds flew out of the cage - they couldn’t be happier. The elder sister picked up a full basket of apples and said:
- Let's go back to father.
The sisters answer her:
- Wait! Do you hear your father still chopping brushwood?
They move on. The second sister dug up hydrangea roots and said:
- Stop playing, let's go back to father.
And the three younger sisters answered her:
- Don't be afraid! Do you hear your father still chopping brushwood?
They move on. The third sister chopped a whole armful of fragrant cattails and said:
“We’ve come far, let’s go back!”
And the two younger sisters answer her:
- Not far - close, not far - close! Do you hear your father still chopping brushwood?
They move on. Er-chhur picked a basket full of mushrooms and said:
- The sun will soon hide, it’s time to go home!
Hae-bor heard this, pouted her lips and said:
“You all have full baskets, I’m the only one with nothing!”
The sisters saw that Hae-bor was not happy, they chatted among themselves and said:
- If so, let's walk a little more. The fathers' ax has not yet ceased.
They want to go further, but the dog stands across the road and barks: van-wan-wan!
“Don’t bite us, my friend, we’ll play a little and come back.”
They went further and wandered into the very thicket of the forest. Hae-bor cuts the tender thuja branches, her sisters help her, they cut a whole bunch. The sun set behind the mountains, the birds hid in their nests, and it became dark. The sisters went back, they were afraid, they couldn’t make out the roads, and they got lost. They go forward - the mountains are steep, back - the forest is dense. Fireflies sparkle in the grass, animals roar in the gorges. Night birds fly through the forest, the wind whistles and howls in the trees, rustles in the grass. It’s scary in the mountains on a dark night, your heart skips a beat. The sisters on Bear Mountain got lost and lost their way, completely lost their way. The eldest, Ding-zher, speaks here:
- There is no need to be afraid, there is no need to rush from side to side. Do you hear? Father is still chopping brushwood!
The sisters listened, held hands and, together with the dog, slowly walked towards the sound of the ax. We crossed the mountain, passed two gorges, and suddenly they looked - the road was mountainous. You can hear an ax cutting down a tree:
Ban-ban-ban-ban! The sisters rejoiced and shouted at once:
- Father, father, we have arrived.
Only the echo answered them, but their stepfather’s voice could not be heard. They looked, looked in the light of the stars, and saw a dry lamb skin hanging on a high tree, with a thick stick tied nearby. The stick swings from the wind, hits the skin: bang-ban-ban-ban! But there is no ax.
Father, father, you have an evil heart, you did not spare your daughters, on a dark night in the remote mountains you threw them to be devoured by wolves and tigers. I would like to return home - the night is dark, the mountains are steep, the road is not visible. Where to go? Where to lay your head?
Suddenly, far, far away, in the thicket of a mountain forest, a light flashed. If the lamp is on, it means there are people.
The sisters were delighted, they all spoke at once:
“Let’s go and have a look, if only someone will shelter us for the night, and tomorrow we’ll find our way at light and return home.”
They overcame fear and began to climb the mountain. The little dog is spinning around under your feet, won’t let you go, barks at the top of your lungs.
The sisters tell her:
“Don’t bark, my friend, don’t be angry, we’ll come to the house now, we’ll find food, we’ll feed you to your fill!”
The sisters held hands, and together with the dog they went to the distant light. And this is not a lamp at all - the lantern at the entrance to the cave glows. The sisters climbed the stone steps and looked at the stone double doors, one half of which was open. We looked in and there was an old old woman sitting there. She looked at the sisters - what a wonderful wonder? - and asks:
- How did you kids wander here on a dark night?
The girls answer:
“We went to the mountains to collect brushwood, but got lost.” Allow me, kind grandmother, to stay with you for the night.
The old woman sighed and said:
- Apparently you don’t know what place you’ve wandered into. This mountain is called Bear and the cave too, because a werebear lives in it. He doesn't eat cooked food, he eats people. Whoever passes here will fall into his clutches. Do you see the white bones piled up like a mountain in the cave?
- And who will you be, grandma? Why didn't the bear eat you and spare you?
The old woman answers:
“He wanted to devour me too, he dragged me here in his paws.” Only I'm old and skinny. Bones and skin. So he didn’t eat me, he told me to look after the house.
- Where is he now, bear? Why haven't we seen him?
- You are stupid, my children! It's good that we didn't see it. Make sure he doesn't notice you.
The old woman came out of the cave, looked at the sky and said:
- The bear went hunting to catch people, and will soon return. Get out of here and have a good day!
The night is dark, the mountains are desolate, where can the girls lay their heads?
They ask:
- Grandma, grandma, the bear will come back, where will he go to sleep?
The old woman answers:
- If it’s hot, he’ll lie down on a cold canal; if it’s cold, he’ll climb onto a warm canal.
-Where is his warm water?
- In a deep cauldron.
- Where is his cold kan?
- On a flat stone.
The sisters consulted among themselves, talked quietly and said to the old woman:
- Don't be afraid, grandma! Hide us in five large trenches, the bear will come back - put him to sleep on a warm kan. We figured out how to get rid of it.
As soon as they said this, the wind whistled outside, a bear appeared on the mountain, there was no time for talking. The grandmother quickly opened five large pots made of clay and told the sisters to hide. And she buried the mottled dog in the firebox, nowhere else. As soon as they hid, the werebear showed up.
He entered, moved his nose, sniffed:
- Puff-puff, what kind of spirit?
The old woman answers him:
- Maybe it’s my feet that smell like that?
- Puff-puff, not legs.
“Maybe it’s your blood that smells fresh?”
- Puff-puff, not blood!
The bear is running around the cave, rummaging around in the corners. He approached the clay pots and wanted to open them and take a look. The old woman was frightened, her heart jumped, she didn’t have enough strength to hold him back, she didn’t have the courage to block the road: “It’s a bad thing! He will ruin the poor girls.” Suddenly a dog jumped out of the firebox, rushed forward, barked, and grabbed the bear by the leg. The bear turned around, kicked the little dog and said:
“I smell a foreign spirit, but this one smells like a mangy dog!”
The old woman tells him:
“I don’t even know what kind of stray dog this is, I chased it and chased it, but it won’t go away.”
- And you tie it up, if I don’t kill a person tomorrow, I’ll eat the dog.
- And that’s true. Now go to bed. It's late.
- It’s hot, I’ll go to the cold can and lie down.
“Look at the wind that’s blowing, it’s going to start getting colder from midnight, you’d better lie down on a warm bed.”
The bear listened to the old woman, climbed into the cauldron, and began to snore. Here the old woman quietly opened the clay pots and let the girls out. Din-chzher and Shou-chzhor brought heavy boulders and placed them on the lid of the cauldron; now you can’t move the lid from its place. Tse-chzhir and Er-chhur brought dry brushwood and began to light a fire in the stove. And He-bor stretches the bellows as hard as he can: good-for-nothing! Goodbye! The fur is puffing, the flames are licking the cauldron - hotter, hotter, hotter, hotter!
The bear woke up and howled:
- It's hot! Gr-gr-hot!
The sisters answer him:
- Don’t cry! Warmer - sleep sweeter!
- Ay-ya! Hot! They burned all my fur!
- Don't shout! Bear fur is like a fur coat. Take off the old one and put on a new one!
- Ay-ya! Hot! They burned all my skin!
- Don’t cry! Bearskin is like a dress! Throw off the old and put on the new!
So the evil werewolf bear was roasted alive in a cauldron.
Morning has come. The sisters are worried. Their heart is a stormy sea. When you return home, your stepfather is evil and you will suffer all your life. If you don’t return, your dear one will suffer from longing for your mother.
The old woman sees that the girls are sad and giddy, and says:
“There’s just so much on this mountain—pumpkins, apples, various vegetables, medicinal herbs, and grain—everything grows here.” I, too old, have nowhere to lay my head. Maybe you'll stay? We will live together.
And five sisters remained on the mountain to live. After they roasted the werebear, the mountain became calm. The girls and the old woman live in love and harmony, helping each other in everything.
They caught wild ducks, pheasants and hares, brought in wild cows, sheep and wild boars, fattened them up, and the animals became tame and domesticated. The sisters dug up all the soil on the slope with hoes and hoes, sowed wheat and millet. In virgin lands the soil is fat and fat; The girls dug ditches, from the top water flows through them like spring, clean. It flows and flows, flows and flows. There is plenty of manure, the weeds have been weeded out. The wheat sprouted, green and shiny, and panicles appeared on the millet. Everything turned out great!
The sisters began to collect mulberry leaves and feed the silkworms. They collected wild cotton and began to weave cloth. The apples were infused with delicious, aromatic wine, hemp was sown, and fragrant oils were pressed. Thin bamboo was cut and baskets were woven. Thick trees were cut down and a house was built. They have everything - food, clothing, housing, and various utensils - plenty of everything.
Winter gives way to summer, heat turns to cold, three years have passed unnoticed. Again red leaves strewn the ground, again the peach tree blossomed at the gate. The sisters remembered their dear mother and decided to send her a message. The eldest sister took off the copper thimble, the second sister took off the silver bracelet, the third sister took off the gilded ring, the fourth sister took off the green jade earrings. What should the youngest take off? She untied the purse from her belt, made of satin and embroidered with brocade. The sisters put all their decorations in it, covered it with silk and satin rags, and added a handful of grain. They tied the bag tightly, called the motley dog, and sent it to its home.
The sisters were not at home for three long years. For three long years there was a drought beyond the mountains, there was no rain. The peddler's trade had completely collapsed; he sold all the goods he had and ate the money. And I don’t have the strength to carry rocker arms with goods. There is not a grain in the chest, not a handful of flour in the box. The stove is cold and there is no smoke coming out of the chimney. A husband and wife are sitting, sighing and groaning. Suddenly they look - a motley dog is running, its tail is wagging, there is a bundle in its teeth. The wife took the bundle, untied it, and there was a copper thimble, a silver bracelet, a gilded ring, jade earrings, and even a purse made of satin and embroidered with brocade. The mother cried with joy and said:
— My daughters are alive, all five of them. They told me about the hairpins and barrettes in a satin bag. They have food, they have clothes. The shreds and grains told me about that! Quickly run forward, little motley dog, bring me to my little ones!
The evil stepfather heard this and does not know whether to believe him or not. Only at home you will all die of hunger. And he decided to go with his wife. The dog runs ahead, the husband and wife follow. We passed ninety-nine shallows, went around ninety-nine bends, came to the mountain - it is called Ten Thousand Treasures. They began to climb up. On the slopes and along the steeps the fields are green and well-groomed; cows moo, goats gallop, chickens, ducks, pigs, hares run around the mountain. In the middle of the mountain there is a tall house with a spacious yard. The mottled dog barked three times: wan-wan-wan!
Five girls, five sisters came out to the gate. They rejoice, marvel, and cannot utter words. They rushed to their poor mother and began to hug her. We haven’t seen each other for three years, but now we suddenly meet.
The stepfather stands aside, blushed all over, he is ashamed, ashamed. He sighed quietly and thought: “I am guilty before my daughters, I need to apologize.”
He apologized, asked for forgiveness, and that was the end of the fairy tale. And if you ask what the five sisters treated their mother and stepfather to, I will answer you: wine and meat, and even multi-layered butter pancakes, whole dishes were served.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru