They tell and retell an amazing story that happened in ancient times.
There lived a king who did not have a single son, but had three daughters. The eldest was called Bianca, the middle one was Assuntina, and the youngest is worth talking about separately. As soon as she was born and opened her black, very black eyes, everyone gasped - she was such a beauty. And they decided to call her the most beautiful name that no one in the world had ever heard of - Fanta-Giro.
Besides his three daughters, the king had three thrones. One is blue, the other is black, and the third is purple. The king sat on a blue throne when he was cheerful, on a black one when he was dissatisfied with something, and never sat on a purple one.
One morning the daughters came running to greet their father and saw him sitting on a black throne and looking out the window.
-What are you unhappy with, father? - the daughters asked and also looked out the window.
They saw nothing new. In front of the palace lay a meadow, a little further away the river sparkled, then a grove rose, behind the grove stood a mountain. And behind the mountain the neighboring kingdom began, but it was not visible.
- What are you unhappy with, Your Majesty? - the daughters asked again.
“How can I be happy if in the neighboring kingdom the sun rises a full half hour earlier?” And all because of the damned mountain! I lived seventy years and never noticed it. But today I noticed it and now I will never leave the black throne.
The daughters were sad. They knew that there would be no balls or holidays in the palace until their father sat on the blue throne.
Therefore, the eldest, after thinking a little, said:
“If you drag the palace three hundred steps to the right, the mountain will not block the sun.”
The king silently shook his head.
Then the middle daughter said:
- If you don't want to drag the palace to the right, you can drag it to the left.
Here the king almost cried with grief.
- So it’s clear that you are girls! - he said. “Your brother, my son, who never existed, would not give such stupid advice.” He knows very well, that is, he would know, that the royal palace is not a doghouse that can be dragged from place to place. Where my great-great-grandfather, my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father lived, I should live too.
“There is something to be sad about, dear father,” Fanta-Giro said cheerfully. - Since it is impossible to move the palace, order the mountain to be demolished.
“Ah, my daughter,” cried the delighted king, “you are almost as smart as your brother... If only he were.”
The king immediately gave the order to tear down the mountain.
Of course, tearing down a mountain is not easy, but it is possible. Because, as the proverb says, you cannot destroy only the house that is drawn on paper. True, the mountain is not a home, but soon or not soon, the deed was done, and the daughters came to congratulate their father.
What did they see! The father was not sitting on a black throne, but not on a blue one either. The king sat on a purple throne. This had never happened to the king before.
- What happened, Signor Father? - asked the daughters.
“I am threatened with war,” he replied. — The neighboring king is unhappy that his echo has disappeared.
“Where did it go, dear father, and what does it have to do with you?” - the daughters exclaimed.
- Well, you see, the mountain that I ordered to be demolished stood on our land and belonged to us. And the echo that echoed from the mountain was the property of the neighboring king. When the mountain was razed, the echo disappeared somewhere. A neighboring king has gathered an army and demands that his royal echo be returned to him, otherwise he will declare war. So I sat on the purple throne - the throne of war.
- And you will fight? - asked the daughters.
“I don’t know what to do,” answered the king, sighing. - Firstly, I have never fought and I don’t know how it’s done. Secondly, I am old and frail. And thirdly, I don’t have a general. Now, if you had a brother, he would be a general.
“If you allow it,” said Bianca, the eldest daughter, “I will be the general.” Am I really not going to be able to command soldiers?
“This is not a woman’s business,” the king grumbled.
“Test me,” Bianca insisted.
“Perhaps we can test it,” agreed the king. “But remember, if you start chatting about various women’s trifles while on a hike, it means you are not a general, but simply a royal daughter.” Please then immediately return home along with the entire army.
So they decided. The king ordered his faithful squire Tonino not to leave a single step from the princess and listen to what she said.
So Bianca and Tonino rode off to war, and the whole army followed them. We passed a meadow and came to a river overgrown with reeds.
- What a wonderful reed! - Bianca exclaimed. “On the way back from the war, we’ll definitely cut it up more and make spinning wheels.”
“You’re too lazy to cut cane right now,” said Tonino, “because you’re already returning.”
He gave the command, and the whole army made a circle to the left. Bianca never managed to become a general.
“Now test me,” the middle daughter, Assuntina, told the king.
The army set out for the second time. Assuntina and the king's faithful squire galloped ahead.
We passed the reeds. Assuntina didn't say a word. We entered the grove. Assuntina spoke:
- What wonderful chestnuts! What kind of poles can be cut for spindles!
- Stop! - Tonino commanded the army. - Let's go home.
And the entire army - cavalry, artillery, infantry and convoy - set off on the return journey.
Then the youngest daughter, Fanta-Giro, came running to her father.
“No, no,” said the king, “you are too young.”
- Dear father, do you really love me less than your sisters?
The king could not resist. He issued a third decree and appointed Fant-Giro as general.
“If you’re going to be a general, then be a real one,” the girl said to herself.
She put on her armor, tucked her long braids under her helmet, girded herself with a sword, and even added two pistols. The general turned out well.
We set out on our hike for the third time. We passed the reeds - not a word from Fanta Giro; We drove through a chestnut grove - the Fanta Giro felt like it had filled its mouth with water. Here is the border, and on the other side of the border there is an enemy army. A young king, handsome and stately, rides in front of the army on a black horse.
Then Fanta-Giro stopped her shelves and said to Tonino:
- Before starting the battle, I will talk to my neighbor. And you jump to where the mountain stood and hide in the bushes. If I drive up to that place and speak, repeat after me every last word. Yes, louder, do you hear?
If Fanta-Giro had been the youngest royal daughter, as before, Tonino might have tried to argue with her. After all, he is not just anyone, but the faithful squire of the king himself. Should he, like a hare, hide in the bushes? But now Tonino stood in front of the general. So he made a left circle and went into the bushes.
And Fanta-Giro drove up to the enemy king and said.
“Your Royal Majesty, my army is ready for battle.” The horses are fed, the cannons are loaded, the guns are polished, the sabers are sharpened. But let's talk - what are we going to fight about? After all, the king, my lord, could do whatever he wanted with his mountain.
“Yes, with the mountain,” the young king objected, “but he encroached on someone else’s property—on my echo.”
“Ah, Your Majesty, I’m sure you imagined it. Let’s go to that place and you will see that the echo has not disappeared anywhere.”
“Let’s go,” agreed the king.
They spurred their horses and soon found themselves where the mountain had recently risen. Here they stopped, and General Fanta-Giro sang in a gentle voice:
A little echo lived for a long time
On a mountain high and steep.
Hearing a song, people enjoy it
Answered with a simple song...
-...Simple-oh-oh! - Tonino screamed from the bushes, so loudly that the king shuddered.
But he immediately forgot about the echo, because the general continued his song:
They say the echo is gone now
There are no more songs, no more laughter...
But there is not a bit of truth in that.
Just sing louder - the echo will give the answer.
- Wow! - the squire roared. - And how will it!
- Oh, Holy Madonna! - exclaimed the king, covering his ears. “And because of this, I, a madman, wanted to fight!”
“I can sing some more,” the general offered kindly.
“Not here,” the king said hastily. “I really like your singing, but I don’t want to hear the echo anymore.” Let's forget all our differences and become friends. Would you agree to stay in my castle?
“Willingly, Your Majesty,” said the general.
As soon as they arrived at the royal castle, the king ran to his mother's chambers.
- Mother, I brought an enemy general with me to visit. But he doesn’t look at all like a mustachioed warrior. Oh, what eyes, what a mouth, what a gentle voice! It seems to me that this is not a general, but a girl in disguise. You are a wise woman, advise me how to find out the truth.
“Take the general to the armory,” answered the queen. “If the general is really a girl, she won’t even pay attention to the weapon.”
The young king listened to his mother's advice. But as soon as the general crossed the threshold of the armory, he cried out in admiration. He praised the long-barreled arquebuses, tried to see if the swords were well sharpened, if the swords were sharpened. He grabbed the saber and began to wave it in front of the king's very nose.
Then the king hurried back to the queen.
“Mother,” he said, “the general behaves like a real man, but I am even more sure than before that this is a girl.” And I like the girl more and more every minute.
“Well, son,” answered the queen. - Take the general to the garden. If it is a girl, she will pick a rose or a violet and pin it to her chest. If it is a man, he will pick a sprig of jasmine and put it behind his ear.
The young king invited Fanta Giro to take a walk in the garden. He didn't take his eyes off the general. And he didn’t even glance at the lush roses or the shy violets. But, passing by a flowering jasmine bush, the general casually picked off a twig and stuck it behind his ear.
The king knocked on the old queen's chambers for the third time.
- Mother, according to all your signs, the general is a man, but my heart says that this is a girl. What should I do?
- Here's my last piece of advice. Invite the general to dinner. Yes, look more closely. The woman cuts the slices, pressing the bread to her chest, while the man cuts the bread in the air.
Lunch has begun. The general took a knife and cut off a large slice of bread.
And after lunch the mother said to her son:
“Now you are finally convinced that the general is a man.”
- No, mother, this is a girl. And I will experience it myself.
Approaching the Fanta Giro, the young king said:
“I’ve become such friends with you, general, that I want to introduce you to my fiancée.” Now we will rest a little, and in the evening, if you agree, we will saddle the horses and go to visit her.
Oh, what happened to the general! He turned pale, then blushed and answered in a trembling voice:
- Willingly, Your Majesty. Seeing your bride will be my greatest pleasure.
Then the king escorted the general to the chambers assigned to him. When he came again two hours later, there was no trace of the general. The young king, without hesitating for a minute, jumped on his horse and rode to the neighboring state.
And Fanta-Giro at this time was hugging her father, who was sitting again on the blue throne.
“Oh, dear father,” she said, crying bitterly, “I went to war, but brought peace with me.”
- So what are you crying about, dear daughter? - asked her father.
“I lost my heart there!” - she answered, crying even more pitifully.
Suddenly, the clatter of hooves was heard under the palace windows, and a minute later the young king ran into the throne room. He walked straight up to the Fanta Giro and said:
- General, I ask you to become my wife.
- And your bride? - the girl asked.
- Dear Fanta-Giro, when I told you about the bride, you were a general. But it’s really not a sin to deceive an enemy general. I don’t have any bride other than you, if you agree to that.
“I agree, she agrees,” answered the old king for his daughter.
The wedding took place soon. Fanta-Giro, having abandoned her battle armor, put on a dress with a long train and pinned a rose to her chest. The young king was beaming as he looked at his beautiful wife. And the old king and the old queen danced the tarantella so well that it was a delight to watch.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru