Once upon a time there lived a man and a woman. And the woman had a stepdaughter. She was spinning by the well and dropped the spindle into the water. He goes home and cries. And the stepmother says:
—?Why are you crying?—?And I dropped the spindle into the water!
Well, she started scolding her, screamed, screamed and said: -? Go get the spindle, don’t come back!
The girl went and threw herself into the well. And she ended up in a meadow. She walks, walks, and meets her with sheep:—?Girl, plow under us, plow under us, we’ll give you a sheep with a ram.
She plowed under them, cleaned them up, and they said: “If you go home, we’ll give it to you.”
She bowed and left. He goes further - towards the cow: -? Girl, plow under us, plow under us, we’ll give you a cow and a heifer.
She plowed under them, waved them, and they said: “Thank you, girl, if you go back, we won’t forget the debt.”
She walks through a meadow, a long field, stallions meet her: —? Girl, plow under us, plow under us.
She did everything for them too. They say: “You’ll go back, we won’t hurt you!”
She went further and reached a hut, to an old man and an old woman. Here is her little spindle. The old woman says to her: “You must, girl, buy the little spindle and serve us faithfully for a year.”
She and let's serve. And she worked so well that her owners loved her. She lived with them for three years, but by the fourth she got bored. “Let me go,” she asks the owners, “to go home to my father.”
They let her in. They gave her a lot of things, and as soon as she began to go out through the gate, she was sprinkled with gold all over her.
She went home, shepherds met her and gave her a cow, a lamb, and a stallion. She went home with the goods and was all golden. She reached the gate, the dog barked: “Our daughter has come, tyaf, tyaf, she brought good things, tyaf, tyaf!”
And the grandmother shouts: “Be quiet, the devils ate her long ago!” Then she comes in, all covered in gold.
People found out about this, and they began to match her. She didn’t marry a peasant, she didn’t marry a sexton, she didn’t marry a master, she didn’t marry a nobleman, but Ivan Tsarevich wooed her and she married him.
Wow, grandma has become evil! She sent her own daughter to the well to get a spindle. She jumped and fell. She got up and went. He walks, walks, towards the sheep:—?Girl, girl, fall under us, sweep under us, we’ll give you a lamb!
And she was rude, angry, and said: -? That's what they are! I didn’t come here for that, I didn’t come for manure - I’m coming for good!
And he goes. She walked and walked towards the cow:—?Girl, girl, plow under us, plow under us, we’ll give you a heifer.—?That’s not what I came for—I’m going for gold!
She came to a hut - to an old man and an old woman. “Give me back,” she said, “my golden spindle!” (And how golden it is! Just wooden.)
And the old woman says to her: “You deserve service for the spindle!”
Well, she began to serve, and everything was not fine, she spoiled everything, was lazy and sloppy. She served for three days, and on the fourth she asked to go home. They let her go, gave her a basket of goods, and off she went. She reached the gate. “Let me,” he thinks, “I’ll look in the basket!”
And from the basket, toads, reptiles, and vile creatures climbed up and covered it all, and resin poured from the gate, filling it all. She ran home, ran to the gate, and the dog: “Tuff, knock, our daughter has arrived in tar!”
And the grandmother said to her: -? Tsits, our daughter will come in gold! She came in, covered in resin. Her mother rushed to her, clung to her, and they disappeared together.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru