I know in advance that you will ask: “Does this happen?” Everything happens in a fairy tale. Think, think about it, and you will understand the meaning of this fairy tale.
Once upon a time there lived a young man nicknamed Da-zhuang. He lived alone with his mother in a small house near the mountain. And in the cold and in the heat, he went to the mountains to chop brushwood, and that’s what he fed on. Da-zhuang grew up in poverty, but grew up powerful, broad-shouldered, tall and extremely simple-minded. In the old days, all father and mother decided: who to marry their daughter to, who to marry their son to - whether it was a wedding, or a trade, you won’t understand. They often brought their children to death. And they all had the same idea - whether the young people would love each other or not. If only he could sell his child to a rich house, that would be fine. A rich man has three women's chambers in his house, or even four concubines at once; the poor man lives as a bastard all his life.
I started talking about something, that’s not what we’re talking about. So, Da-zhuang has grown up, it’s time for him to get married, but he’s still alone. He understands that it’s not his mother’s fault, he won’t say a bad word to her, he won’t express his grievances. Heat gives way to cold, autumn to spring, year after year passes. Da-zhuang is silent, but he himself no longer hopes for anything, he is disgusted with life.
But then one day the spring sun warmed up, the flowers bloomed, and the whole mountain was covered with a colorful carpet. The pine trees became even greener, the water in the springs became even clearer. The streams began to ring in every possible way. A light breeze blew, birds began to sing and chirp. It’s almost noon, and Da-zhuang is chopping brushwood, he’s forgotten about everything in the world. Suddenly he hears someone laugh, loudly and cheerfully. I looked around - what a miracle! Two girls - two birds - are standing under a high stone cliff, bursting into laughter. They are standing almost next to the young man. And he can see everything. One girl is dressed in green; the face is an oval duck egg, narrow eyes, thin eyebrows. A beauty, and that's all! The other girl is dressed in red. The face is round, the eyes are large, the cheeks are rosy, the teeth are white.
A wild plum tree, strewn with red flowers, grew on the top of the rock. The girl in red jumped up, grabbed a pine tree, and easily climbed to the very top of her head. In an instant she reached the middle of the steep cliff, and so deftly, as if the wind had carried her there. Although Da-zhuang was used to climbing mountains, he was amazed. The girl climbed to the top of the rock, bent down, and picked up an armful of plum flowers. She straightened up, saw that the young man was not taking his eyes off her, laughed and threw a flower at the young man. And here’s the miracle: the flower did not fall to the right, nor to the left, nor forward, nor backward - it hit the young man straight on the head. The young man was confused and blushed. And the girl just rolls with laughter.
Her sister tells her:
- You are not joking, but evil. Let's better go home. If my father sees it, there will be no time for jokes.
The girls turned and disappeared behind a stone cliff. The young man began to think, began to guess. “Whose daughters accidentally ran in here?” And then he decided: “It’s none of my business,” and began chopping brushwood again.
The next day Da-zhuang, as always, went to the mountains. He was chopping brushwood, and suddenly - crack - a pebble fell right in front of him. The young man turned around - a red dress flashed between the pines. A ringing laugh scattered like beads. The young man’s heart began to pound and would not calm down.
On the third day, a girl in red with an armful of brushwood came out to meet Da-zhuang, bursting into laughter. Her eyes are even clearer, her cheeks are even pinker.
The young man says:
“You…” and he can’t say anything more.
The girl threw the brush, laughed and ran away. The young man was annoyed here. He scolds himself: “The mouth is wooden, the tongue is disobedient.” The young man forgot about everything, he only thinks about the girl. I barely lived through the day. In the morning he came and looked - a girl was sitting on the grass by the river. The young man got brave, let me think, I’ll go up to the beauty. And the beauty covered her mouth with her hand and burst out laughing. The young man became shy, stopped, and did not dare to go further. And the girl nods her head and calls the young man. He came up. He doesn’t know what to call the girl and asks:
- Where are you from?
And the girl laughs and answers:
- Does it matter where it comes from? Let me help you chop the brushwood. Let's see who can chop the most!
The girl will either climb a tree or jump down. The hands are nimble and she is light. She breaks brushwood, but she can’t keep up with the young man - she broke it a little smaller. The girl climbed onto a dry tree and broke off the top with a crash. Suddenly a voice was heard from the forest:
- Er-no! Stop playing pranks, little one! Go quickly, father has come!
A girl jumped from a tree, looked at one pile of brushwood, looked at another, shook her head and said:
- You got the upper hand, you broke more brushwood than I did. And now I have to go. The older sister calls.
The girl turned and ran towards the forest. She turned around, laughed and disappeared.
From then on, the girl often came running from the forest. He jokes, bursts into laughter, and helps the young man collect brushwood. She said that she was nicknamed Er-ni - Second Daughter, that she was from the Hu family, lived behind a high mountain, and the girl in green was her elder sister.
The young man is so happy when a girl comes to him that the sky rejoices with him, the earth rejoices. The birds chirp - the young man imagines a wondrous song. The leaves rustle in the wind - the young man hears ringing laughter. And the flowers seem to have become more beautiful and the streams are louder. I wish I could take such a girl as my wife. The young man thinks so, but they don’t say anything to the beauty, he’s afraid.
The mother noticed: her son leaves earlier and returns home later. It brings even more brushwood. The old woman is happy because she has a hardworking son, and she is worried because she senses something is wrong. Either the young man is having fun, then suddenly he begins to think about how lost he walks. The mother could not stand it and asked:
-What are you sad about, son?
And the son told her everything, as it was, in order.
Mother says:
- The mountains are desolate and deserted. Where does a girl come from? If you meet her again, bring her, I’ll take a look at her.
The next morning the young man came to the mountains, and the girl was sitting in the same place - at the very top of the stone cliff. The head is all decorated with flowers. Er-no took a single flower, stuck it in the young man’s hair, and she burst into laughter.
The young man says:
“We won’t chop brush today.”
- Why don’t we? - asks the girl.
The young man answers:
- My mother wants to look at you.
The girl was offended and said:
- Oh, you! Do you want your mother to choose a suitable wife for you?
The girl said this, shrugged her shoulders, turned and ran away.
The young man was confused, quickly caught up with the girl, said, and he himself stammered:
- I want to live with you forever, if you don’t disdain, agree.
The girl got shy and said:
- Yes, that’s me, I’m joking. — She said and burst into laughter again.
The young man looked at the girl and also laughed, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
The young man brought Er-ni to his house, and she became his wife. Er-ni was so hardworking! No matter what she undertakes, everything goes wrong for her. The girl did not at all disdain Da-zhuang’s poverty. It chirps and laughs all day long. With her, the old mother became more talkative. Only soon the old woman suddenly began to spin, her eyebrows furrowed. Er-ni began to ask her what and how. And the old woman answers her:
“I don’t want to deceive you, daughter, all our supplies have run out, there’s nothing more to put in the cauldron.”
The young daughter-in-law laughed and said:
- Don't worry, mother!
She said so and ran away somewhere. A little time has passed, the mother looks; the daughter-in-law returned with a whole basket of rice. The old woman can’t believe her eyes. She rejoices, but her heart aches. And she asks her daughter-in-law:
- Where did you get the rice, daughter?
Er-ni didn’t say anything, laughed and started cooking. The days are long, the nights are long. The old mother forgot to think about this incident.
A year has passed. Er-ni gave birth to a boy. The four of them live together and they couldn’t be happier. Before we knew it, the boy had learned to run. But then one day, when the sun had already set behind the mountain, Da-zhuang was walking home with a bundle of brushwood, and suddenly he saw Er-ni talking to some old man. He wanted to come up to see what kind of old man he was, but before he could come to his senses, the old man disappeared. Er-not one left. Da-zhuang ran up to her and looked, and Er-ni had pearly tears rolling down from her eyes. The young man was worried, he was trembling all over, he had never seen his wife cry. Before he even had time to open his mouth, Er-ni said to him:
“You and I, Da-zhuang, must part now.”
The young man looks at Er-ni, his eyes wide open. He couldn’t even dream of such a thing, he thinks: maybe he misheard. And his wife says to him again, but quietly:
“My father searched for me, searched for me, and finally found me.” And now he wants to take him with him.
Da-zhuang realized then what had happened, his heart ached, and asked:
- So, will you leave me?
“It’s not my will, my father won’t.” Forget about me, as if nothing happened between us. We will never see you again. “She said that and began to cry bitterly.
Da-zhuang could not stand it, shed a tear and said:
- We can’t part with you!
Er-ni didn’t answer anything to this. And then he says:
“My father decided to go to distant lands. You go home now. And then, if you don’t forget me, go southwest, you’ll walk a thousand miles, you’ll see an old acacia tree. She is ten thousand years old. Under that acacia tree there is a cave a hundred miles long, and there you will find me.
Da-zhuang nodded his head, I agree, they say. Suddenly Er-ni bowed her head, spat out something, red and shiny, put it into the young man’s fist and said:
- If you have nothing to eat, ask the pearl, say: “Pearl, pearl, give me food!”
Da-zhuang looked at the pearl, and it was the size of a bean. He raised his head - Er-ni was gone, a fiery red fox was sitting at his feet on his hind legs, tears were dripping from her eyes onto the ground. Da-zhuang squatted down and said:
- Take your treasure back, Er-ni. You have turned into a creature, and without you I cannot see happiness.
The fox shook her head. Da-zhuang wanted to take her in his arms, but suddenly he heard someone coughing behind him. He looked around - there was no one, and then he looked - and the fox disappeared. The young man almost lost his mind, he searches everywhere - there is not a trace of the fox anywhere, not a shadow. Then night came. There was nothing to do, I had to return home.
Day and night Da-zhuang thinks about Er-ni, the piece does not go down his throat. The son cries from morning to evening, his mother is looking for him. The old woman yearns for her daughter-in-law, the granddaughter feels sorry, she watches the little child cry, and she herself sheds tears. Those tears would be enough for a whole creek. Grief replaced joy. And time flies. And so Da-zhuang decided to go on a journey to look for Er-ni. The mother ordered her son to take the pearl with him. The old woman is ready to endure everything - hunger, need, if only her son Er-ni finds and returns home with her. The old woman got her son ready for the trip, gave him some dry cakes, but that’s not what we’re talking about.
The young man set off on his journey. The wind penetrates through it, frost, rain and dew, and a bucket of bad weather replaces it. I don’t even know how many days, how many nights he walked, a whole year has passed, or even more. And he finally saw that acacia tree. It’s not for nothing that she’s ten thousand years old—you can’t cover her with ten men. Under the acacia there is a cave, very deep, you can’t see the bottom. Da-zhuang is happy, but he is scared. Eh, he thinks, come what may. And he began to go down. And the road is a steep slope, and it’s dark. The young man had to grope his way.
He walks day, night goes, another day, another night, and suddenly he sees that it has become light. I walked a little more - a high arch and a large gate appeared in the distance. The gates are covered with black varnish. The young man approached the gate, pulled the ring - the gate swung open. And the young man saw a girl in a green dress, the same one whom Er-ni called her older sister. The girl looks at Da-zhuang, can’t believe her eyes, she’s overcome with anxiety, and asks:
- How did you get here? If your father returns, he won’t be happy for you.
“Whatever happens, I just need to see Er-ni.”
The girl sighed, locked the gate and said:
- Follow me.
The yard is spacious, there is a house in the yard, there are wings on each side of the house - all made of the same color brick, covered with tiles. The girl brought Da-zhuang to the eastern wing and pointed her finger at the kan:
- Here she is, Er-ni.
Da-zhuang looks - there is a fox lying there. His heart felt heavy. He instantly pulled out a magic pearl from the bag. And the fox, as soon as he saw the young man, rushed to him. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything. Here the young man put a pearl in the fox’s mouth, the fox somersaulted, the young man looked - again Er-ni was standing in front of him. At first Da-zhuang was happy, then his heart ached. Er-ni has lost weight and seems to be older. And Er-ni took his hand, laughing. She laughed and laughed and suddenly started crying! Then at the gate someone's voice was heard. The older sister got scared and said:
- Hide quickly! Father returned.
Da-zhuang even widened his eyes with anger. He rushed forward. And Er-ni’s sister lightly pushes him away with her hand. Then she left and locked the door.
Er-ni says:
“When your father starts treating you, don’t put any crumbs in your mouth.”
As soon as she said this, an old fox enters the yard, sniffs and sniffs:
- I feel the human spirit. I smell the human spirit!
And the eldest daughter answers him:
-Where does the human spirit come from here? It was you who walked and wandered, bringing someone else's land on your feet.
The old fox answers:
- I didn’t bring it. A stranger has arrived. I smell the human spirit! I smell the human spirit!
“It’s not a stranger who came, Er-ni’s husband came.”
And Da-zhuang had already figured everything out in advance. The old fox Er-ni will not give it to him, he will fight him to the death. Just then the laughter of the old fox was heard in the yard. He burst out laughing and shouted:
- Let Er-ni’s husband come to me alive! I want to look at him!
The eldest daughter unlocked the door. Da-zhuang came out and looked - a white-faced old man stood in front of him, wearing a satin jacket. He saw the young man and began to beckon him with his hand and call him:
- Go upstairs quickly, to the northern room. Are you hungry? I'll treat you to glory!
The young man followed the old man into the room. There is a table in the room, varnished and shiny. And on the table there is a plethora of dishes, apparently and invisible: ten dishes and eight more cups. And what not. Chicken, fish - the fragrant scent hits your nose. Da-zhuang’s stomach is rumbling, it’s almost like he hasn’t eaten all day. But he firmly remembered what Er-ni punished him. And so the white-faced old man begged him, and so he persuaded him - the young man did not take a crumb.
The elder says:
— If you don’t want vegetables, try some noodles.
But the young man stands his ground and doesn’t touch the food. The elder himself serves the young man a broth of noodles and says:
- If you don’t want noodles, at least drink some broth.
The young man’s mouth is dry, his heart is already burning with thirst, and he thinks: “Er, she didn’t tell me to eat, but she didn’t seem to say anything about drinking. I’ll drink a little, maybe it’ll be okay.” The young man took a cup of broth from the old man and began to drink. He drinks and drinks and doesn’t notice how a noodle slips into his mouth.
The young man returned to the outbuilding and began to suffer with his stomach.
Er-ni asks:
“Did you eat at your father’s when he treated you?”
“I didn’t eat, I just drank the noodle broth, but I didn’t notice how the noodle slipped into my mouth.”
Er-ni began to reproach him:
- Why did you drink the broth? It wasn’t a noodle that slipped into your mouth, it was a poisonous snake. She will harass you.
The young man jumped up in fright, and Er-ni said to him:
- To protect yourself from snake venom, you need to get a white pearl. And the old man holds that pearl in his mouth. I’ll give you a jug of wine, take it and let’s go to your father together.
They came to the northern room, and at that time the old man was just getting ready to sleep.
Er-ni tells him:
“Father, my husband came from distant lands, he didn’t bring anything with him, just a jug of excellent wine to show you respect.” This wine is infused with cinnamon flowers.
Er-ni said this and took the lid off the jug. Such an aroma spread throughout the room that it is impossible to describe. And as soon as the old man saw the wine, he forgot about everything, grabbed the jug with both hands and started drinking.
He drank every drop of it - he got tipsy and became pliable, like clay. Then Er-ni pulled the white pearl out of his mouth. The elder did not notice how he turned into a fox. Er-ni took the pearl, threw it into a cup of water and told Da-zhuang to drink it. The young man’s stomach began to gurgle and the pain stopped.
Er-ni pulled the pearl out of the cup, put it in her mouth, took Da-zhuang by the hand, and they ran. They run without feeling the ground beneath them. We jumped out of the cave. Less than a day had passed, and they had already returned. And the four of them began to live again in joy and contentment.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru