Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife, and they had no children. One evening a woman sighed:
- Well, at least have some kind of child, even a pot with a flower!
Lo and behold, there really is a flower pot on the windowsill.
Years pass - the basil grows, and with it the pot grows. And so the pot became the size of a cauldron, and the flower became the size of a walnut bush. It happened one day that a prince passed by. He saw basil on the window, and the prince fell in love with the wonderful flower. He knocked and a woman leaned out of the window. So the prince asks her:
- Give me the flower, auntie, I won’t regret anything, no matter how much you ask!
The woman thought: I feel sorry for the pot, and I want to get rich, but I still gave the flower for a thousand florins. The prince brought the pot to the palace, placed it on the window in his room and began to water it morning and evening.
And I need to tell you that the prince used to have dinner alone. And on the very day when he brought the basil, the servants set the table for him, as usual, filled him with various dishes, and then went away and left the prince alone. So the prince ate and drank, admired his flower, and then lay down and fell asleep. A candle burned at his head, and a lamp at his feet.
As soon as the prince fell asleep, a girl came out of the basilica - the most beautiful girl in the world, tasted the treats, and then took the lamp and put it at the head, took the candle and moved it to the feet.
The prince woke up in the morning and saw: all the food had been eaten, the lamp and candle had been rearranged! He doesn’t know what to think: the door is locked! The next evening the same thing happened again. Then the prince decided to stay awake and watch for the uninvited guest. He sees a girl come out of the basilica, the most beautiful girl in the world, she ate and drank and just started to change places between the candle and the lamp, he grabbed her by the hand:
- Why are you hiding, from whom are you hiding? “You saw me,” the girl answers, “and you should own me.” But be careful, don’t show me to anyone! “Okay, have it your way,” the prince agreed and ordered the servants to set the table for two from then on.
So several months passed, and it happened that the prince went to war with his father. Then he called his mother and gave her the following order:
- Water the flower in the evening and morning, leave the best dishes in the room, and always keep the door locked.
The prince said to the girl:
- Don’t be sad, honey, I won’t be late, I’ll be there soon.
So the prince left, and his mother regularly carried out his orders. In the evening and in the morning she watered the flower, left the best dishes in the room, and always kept the door locked.
It must be said that our prince was engaged to the vizier’s daughter. And since the girl from the flower pot appeared, the prince stopped liking his bride, he stopped visiting her and completely forgot, as if there was no bride at all!
The vizier's daughter was at a loss: it was as if the groom had been replaced! And so, when the prince left for war, the vizier’s wife and daughter went to the royal chambers to make friends with the queen, and at the same time to find out what happened in the palace, why the prince had changed so much.
They came, sat for a while, and then went for a walk around the palace and looked into the rooms. And as they approached the closed room, the vizier’s wife poked her daughter in the side, and she said in a sweet voice:
- Allow me, queen, to look at the groom’s room at least with one eye!
The queen unlocked the door, and the vizier’s daughter fluttered in! He looks: at the window that looked out at the sea, a girl is sitting, scratching her hair with a golden comb. And if a hair fell from the comb, it immediately turned into a goldfish in the sea.
Then the vizier’s daughter realized: “Hey, my fiancé is hiding his girlfriend in his room! So that’s why he doesn’t want to know me!”
She ran up to the girl and pushed her into the sea. Yes, the beauty did not drown: at that hour the sun was setting, it picked up the girl in its golden rays and carried the beauty straight to her mother’s house.
Now the time has come to water the flower, the queen unlocked the room, and the basil has withered! I came in the evening and the flower was completely dry! And the food was untouched! The queen finds no place for herself - she waters the flower with spring water, but all to no avail!
Here both father and son returned. The prince ran into the room, unlocked the door and what he saw: the basil had withered and dried up! He cried, wailed, and his mother reproached:
“Why, mother, didn’t you water my flower, but abandoned it, and it withered and withered?” “I watered it, child, I don’t understand what happened, why it withered and withered!” - Or someone else who came into the room? “No strangers, I swear to you, your fiancee and her mother came here only once.”
The prince realized what had happened and became seriously ill with grief. The vizier's daughter wanted to come and visit him, but the prince drove her away.
And the girl from the flower pot - you couldn’t find a more beautiful girl in the world - lives and lives by the sun and, every day, asks him:
- How is the prince doing there? Have you returned from the war yet? “No, he hasn’t returned yet, live in peace,” the sun answered every time, but one day he said differently: “Your prince has returned, but he was struck down by a serious illness.” The best doctors cannot understand what kind of disease is drying him out: he does not eat, does not drink, but lies and looks, without looking away, at the dried basil. I think he doesn't have long to live. “Dear sun,” the girl begged, “I ask you, tomorrow morning, when you get ready to shine from home to the whole world, take me with you.” If you shine the light on the prince through the window, the beam will fall on a flower pot, I will run along the beam and jump into the pot.
And everything the girl asked for, the sun fulfilled. As soon as the girl entered the flower, the basil turned green, blossomed and became more beautiful than before. As soon as the prince saw that the basil had come to life, he forgot his illness, jumped out of bed, rejoiced, laughed, and waited for the evening.
So the evening has come. The servants came, brought, as usual, a table with food, the prince quickly locked the door, then a girl from the basilica came out, the most beautiful in the world, sat down opposite the prince, and they began to talk and talk.
The night passed quickly, and the next morning the prince announced the wedding. And he lived happily with his beloved for many years. And the vizier’s evil daughter and her mother were sent away from the city.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru