In one kingdom there was a deep wooded swamp. It stretched for many miles, and there was an unkind rumor about it among the people. Whoever happens to wander there inadvertently - whether a person or an animal - will disappear without a trace, as if he had never existed in the world. And they called this place "Devil's Mire".
One day the king decided to find out who was hiding there in the swamp and destroying all living things. He equipped a large army and ordered his warriors to march up and down the swamp so that not a single living soul could hide from them. The warriors searched and searched and came across a swamp goblin. That goblin was a strange monster. He is similar in appearance to a man, only he is covered in hair from head to toe and has one eye sticking out in the middle of his forehead. The warriors attacked him while he was sleeping, entangled him with a strong iron chain and dragged him to the king. The king was delighted. He heard that goblins stored countless riches in the swamps; so he wasn’t averse to putting his hand into the lesh’s coffers. But no matter how they tortured the devil, no matter how much they asked him about the treasures, he didn’t utter a word.
Then the king ordered the devil to be put in an iron cage behind seven doors and not to take his eyes off him. Food and drink were pushed through the bars of his cage, and the king always kept the keys to the locks with him. And the king swore a terrible oath that he would immediately cut off the head of anyone who rescued the devil from the cage.
And then it happened that the king soon went on a campaign with an army - to help a foreign king. There were many kings in the world at that time! He then gave the keys to the cage to his wife and ordered her to take better care of them, or else not to blow her head off. The Queen hung these keys on her belt and did not part with them day or night.
And the king and queen had a son, a handsome seven-year-old boy. One day the prince was playing in the garden with a golden apple, and he took it and rolled into the devil’s cage. The boy began to ask the goblin to throw the apple back to him, and the goblin answered him:
“I won’t give you the apple until you come into my cage.”
- How can I get in to you when the cage is locked, and my mother always carries the keys with her?
Here the goblin taught the boy how to steal the keys from the queen’s belt by cunning. The boy ran to the queen, put his little head on her lap and said:
“My curls are disheveled, mother, comb my hair!”
Then the queen took the golden comb and began to comb her son’s curls. Meanwhile, the boy secretly took the keys from her belt and hid them in his pocket. The little prince returned to the prisoner, unlocked the first door and said:
- Now give me my apple. And the goblin answered him:
- Unlock the other door too!
The boy unlocked the other door, but the goblin wouldn’t give up the apple either, asking to open the third door. So the king's son unlocked all seven doors and took his apple. Only in the meantime did the goblin jump out of the cage. He handed the boy a silver pipe and said:
“If you ever find yourself in trouble, blow this pipe, and I will immediately appear to you.”
The goblin said so and ran back to his swamp.
The boy saw what he had done, and all the blood rushed to his face. He remembered how his father threatened the one who rescued the devil from the cage. Then the boy quickly closed all seven doors, ran to his mother, put his little head on her lap and said:
- Again, mother, my curls are disheveled. Comb my hair!
“There’s no need for you to tell a lie,” the queen replies, “your curls aren’t disheveled at all.”
However, she did not contradict her son, took the golden comb and again began to comb the boy’s curls. Meanwhile, he quietly placed the keys back in her belt.
The next morning the servants came to feed the devil, but there was no trace of him. There was a commotion here, everyone began to think and wonder how the goblin managed to escape from a locked cage. And the queen immediately realized that it was not without her son that this had happened. Only she didn’t say a word to anyone about it and calmly began to wait for her husband to return from the hike.
And when the king returned and they told him that the goblin had run away, he became extremely angry and shouted at the queen:
- Do you remember how I swore an oath? Speak without concealment, who let the devil out of the cage?
And the queen answers:
“I didn’t let the goblin out of the cage, I didn’t give the keys to anyone, and I don’t know anything about how he escaped.”
And then the king reasoned that since the keys were entrusted to the queen, but she did not save the devil, it means that she is in demand. He ordered the queen's head to be cut off, and they were about to lead her to execution.
But then the little prince stepped forward and blamed his father for everything. He told how his golden apple rolled into a cage, how the goblin taught him to steal his mother’s keys, and how he then ran away to the swamp.
Then the queen's servants were released, and the prince was taken into custody. But the king did not want his young son to be put to death before his eyes. He ordered to take the boy to the Devil's Mire and leave him in the swamp. There, they say, he won’t have long to wait for death, and it will turn out that the king kept his oath.
The guards brought the little prince to the swamp and threatened:
“If you decide to turn back, you’re not a kind lady!”
And the prince wandered through the swamp. He walks, jumps from hummock to hummock, looks for a path in the moss - he is afraid of getting stuck in a quagmire. And all around there is wilderness and swamp, tall marsh grasses, thorny bushes. The boy scratched his hands and knees bloody and tore his dress into shreds. By evening it got dark, and the path in the swamp was no longer visible. The boy was exhausted and decided to climb a tree and wait there until daylight. He began to climb the branches, and then something caught on a branch. The boy looked around, and this was a pipe sticking out of his pocket. He forgot to think about her. The boy started blowing the pipe as hard as he could and calling out to the devil:
- Goblin, goblin, help me!
I didn’t have time to look back, and the goblin was right there. She looks at him affectionately and says:
- Sit down, prince, on my back!
The boy climbed onto the goblin's shoulders, pinched his neck with his knees, and grabbed his shaggy mane with his fingers. At that same moment, the quagmire sucked them both in and they found themselves in an underground palace. The goblin brought the boy to luxurious chambers, smeared his wounds and abrasions with a healing potion. And then he fed and watered the prince and put him on a downy bed, under a silk coverlet.
The next morning the goblin took the prince to show him his underground possessions. The boy saw blooming gardens, water meadows, and fields with spikes. I also saw herds of horses - bay, black and white Arabian horses. And the goblin also showed him in his palaces the halls for knightly games, the armory chambers, and in them - armor made of gold and silver, sharp lances and rapiers, daggers made of blued steel. And then the goblin said to the prince:
You will spend seven years studying with me - And you will go around the world to seek happiness.
And from that day the goblin began to teach the boy the art of knighthood. He taught the prince everything: to ride on horseback, to strike with a sword, to stab with a spear, and to shoot with a bow. The boy began to run faster than a deer and swim better than a fish. And in courage and strength he had no equal in the whole world.
Seven years have passed - and he has grown into such a fine and handsome fellow that it is a pleasure to see.
Then the goblin brought him to the well and said:
- Wash your head with water from this well.
The prince did as the goblin ordered, and his hair became like pure gold.
And then the goblin put a simple dress on him and said:
- Now you will go around the world to seek happiness.
That same evening he put the prince on his back, and all night they rushed like a whirlwind through unknown lands. Whether they were flying over the seas or over the mountains, the prince did not even have time to discern. And when it dawned, the goblin lowered him to the ground in a distant kingdom and said goodbye:
- Do you see the royal castle over there? Go there and ask for service. Just make sure you don’t reveal to anyone who you are from. And as long as you walk in a simple rank, do not take off your hat from your head, so that no one sees your golden hair. You will see for yourself what you should do next. Just remember one thing: you will need horses from my herds or military armor from my palaces - just wish it - and immediately everything will appear before you. And whatever wish you make, it will come true at that very moment.
The goblin said goodbye to him and disappeared from sight, and the prince went to the royal palace. He asked to serve there, and they assigned him to help the royal gardener - digging the ground, planting trees, tending flowers. He came to the gardener, and he shouted at him:
- Take off your hat when you stand in front of the royal gardener!
“I can’t take off my hat,” the prince answers. - My head is all scabby.
- That's bad luck! - the gardener grimaced. - Well, then I won’t let you in the door. Spend the night, if you want, in the barn.
“Well, that’s enough for me,” the prince answers.
And from then on he began to work in the royal garden. He carried out his service regularly, and everyone was amazed at how much trouble he was having. No one knew that the goblin was helping him. The prince will put a shovel into the ground, wish that the bed be dug up, and lo and behold, it’s already ready. He sticks a twig into the ground, wishes for it to bloom, and lo and behold, a lush bush has already grown there. And everything seemed to rise by leaps and bounds for him. Sometimes the gardener couldn't praise them enough.
One day the prince got up early in the morning and went into the garden to wash himself at the well. He washed his face, looked around to see if anyone was nearby, and took off his hat to comb his golden curls. And then it happened that the king’s youngest daughter was walking in the garden at that time. The king had three beautiful daughters. Here the youngest princess is walking in the garden, and she sees some kind of radiance between the trees. At first she thought it was dawn. And she came closer and saw: the gardener’s assistant was combing his hair, and a golden glow was coming from it. Only at that moment did the guy put a hat on his head, and the radiance faded. And after that the princess never had a chance to admire his golden curls, because the gardener’s assistant never took off his hat to anyone - neither to the knights, nor to the princesses, nor to the king himself.
But from that day on, the princess began to take a closer look at the guy and saw that she had never met a more handsome guy. And she realized that the guy was not at all who he said he was.
And the older sisters noticed that she couldn’t take her eyes off the guy, and let’s mock her:
- Why are you staring at this mangy fellow? Couldn't you find someone more attractive?
One day the king and his daughters are walking in the garden and see: the gardener’s assistant is lying on the grass and sleeping in a sweet dream. The youngest princess could not resist, ran up to him, lifted her hat and looked at his curls. The king began to reprimand her:
- And how come you don’t disdain to touch his scab?
Only the princess doesn’t care about her father’s reproaches. At least briefly, she still admired the guy’s golden curls.
After a short time, the king decided to marry off his three daughters. A knightly tournament was appointed, and the heralds were ordered to announce throughout all the kingdoms: whoever defeats all the knights on the first day will become the groom for the eldest princess. And as a sign of this, he will receive a golden apple from her hands. Whoever wins on the second day will get the middle princess as his wife. And whoever wins over everyone on the third day will receive the youngest princess as his wife. And these princesses will also give their grooms a golden apple.
The first day of the tournament has arrived. Knights and princes came from all kingdoms to cross spears for the eldest princess. And the gardener’s assistant went further into the forest and wished for a black horse from the herds of the goblin and blued steel armor from his armory. He put on his armor, jumped on a hot pacer and galloped to the lists.
And there the battle broke out to the death. Swords ring, spears sparkle, rearing horses neigh. Some knights fall to the ground, while others lie completely dead. The steel knight went head to head with his rivals and, one after another, knocked them all out of the saddle. He received a golden apple from the hands of the eldest princess and rushed off to God knows where. And at full speed he threw the apple to the dressed-up dandy - the duke's son. He didn’t even think about getting involved in the battle, but simply came to the tournament to watch.
The next day, princes and knights came to exchange spears for the middle princess. Many fighters gathered that day. The middle princess was even more beautiful than her sister, and everyone wanted to try their luck.
And the gardener’s assistant went further into the forest and wished for a bay horse and silver battle armor. The silver knight drew his sword and rushed into battle. And now he has defeated all his rivals, and he got a golden apple from the hands of the middle princess. Only he didn’t keep this apple, but threw it to the count’s son, whom he had knocked out of the saddle at the beginning of the tournament.
On the third day, the battle for the youngest princess began. She was more beautiful than all the sisters, and many hunters came to get the golden apple.
And the gardener’s assistant wished on this day for a white Arabian horse and military armor made of pure gold. He put on his armor, chain mail and armor, let his golden curls fall over his shoulders, took a battle shield and sword in his hands and galloped onto the field. And everyone who saw him could not take their eyes off him. Never before have people had the opportunity to admire such a stately and handsome warrior. And the golden knight, on the fly, cuts with his sword, strikes with his spear, and no one can resist him. And on this day he prevailed over everyone and received a golden apple from the hands of the youngest princess. Only he didn’t give this apple to anyone, but held it tightly in his hand and rode off into the forest with it.
After the tournament, the king called everyone who had received the award from the hands of the princesses to a feast. And the duke and count’s sons also showed up at the palace. They proudly showed the golden apples and betrothed them to the two eldest princesses. But that golden knight is gone, and no one knows where he went. The older princesses are not overjoyed at their suitors, but they mock their younger sister:
- Where did your golden knight go? Apparently he ran away from you. Well, don't be sad! You have another groom - the mangy one who is the gardener’s assistant. Hey, call him here immediately!
The gardener's assistant appeared - all in rags, his cap was tattered, and in his hand was a golden apple.
Then the king attacked him:
- You picked this apple from the field! It's not yours!
And the gardener’s assistant answers:
- No, I got it in a fair fight. And the princess is now my bride.
Then the youngest princess stepped forward, took the boy by the hand and said:
“Since he has my golden apple, that means he should be my fiancé.”
- Shame and disgrace! - the king shouted. - The Golden Knight must have dropped an apple on the field! Now he's looking for him everywhere, that's why he doesn't show up in the palace. And this mangy one is a swindler and an impostor!
Here the older sisters laughed at the princess:
- Ha-ha-ha! What fun! You were deceived, sister! This mangy man is fooling you, but you believed him!
And they made fun of her, mocked and laughed, they didn’t know how to annoy her. But the princess stood firm on her position. She recognized the guy as the same golden knight who got the apple at the tournament.
The king drove the guy back to the barn and ordered him to wait until the golden knight showed up. And he invited the other suitors to the feast, and that evening they celebrated the betrothal of the two eldest princesses.
A day passed, then another, and the golden knight still did not appear.
The king walks around like a cloud, and the older sisters make fun of the princess:
“Apparently the golden knight didn’t like you.” He probably threw away the golden apple and fled to distant lands.
So now you should be married to this mangy one.
Only the princess doesn’t care about their mockery.
“And for me, he’s good too,” she answers the sisters.
The princess went out into the garden, found her betrothed there, and he took off his hat in front of her, and his golden curls scattered over his shoulders. He knelt down, kissed the princess’s hand and said:
“You don’t have to be ashamed of me, princess.” I am of the same royal blood as you. It was I who won all three tournaments and got all three apples. But I gave those two apples to others; they are of no use to me. I only want to call you my bride, because there is no truer and more devoted girl in the world than you. Soon the whole truth will be revealed, give it time - and I will sit with honor next to you at the royal table.
The next day, high-ranking suitors gathered to hunt. They dressed themselves to smithereens, mounted fast horses, and took bows and arrows. And for the sake of fun, the older sisters ordered the third groom to be equipped for hunting. They called the guy, put him on a gray donkey, and gave him a dung pitchfork. The older princesses looked at him and almost burst their stomachs with laughter.
The grooms blew their horns and galloped off. As soon as we drove a little away from the palace, they saw that the road went in two directions. On one side the forest is green, and on the other there is a shaky swamp with thorny bushes.
The noble suitors turned towards the forest, and the gardener's assistant trotted off towards the swamp on his donkey. There he wished for a bow and a quiver of arrows and wished that he would meet countless deer and hares, foxes and wild boars. The prince shot as much game as his donkey could carry, and turned back to the road.
And he sat down at the fork and began to wait for other suitors.
In the evening he sees them going back, hanging their noses. And they didn’t come across a skinny bunny in the forest. The noble suitors looked at how much game the guy had stuffed, and began to beg him to sell them the spoils.
“Okay,” says the guy, “just let’s change.”
I am game for you, and you give me the golden apples that the princesses gave you. Otherwise, you won’t even get a hare’s tail.
The suitors hesitated and hesitated, but in the end they agreed. They divided between; They were game and they arrived at the royal court with dignity. And the gardener’s assistant came up with nothing on his donkey. That’s why the older princesses laughed at him!
The next day, the noble suitors again gathered to hunt. The gardener's assistant took a pitchfork from the barn, sat on the donkey and trotted off after them. At the fork, the duke and count's sons turned back towards the forest. “Perhaps,” they think, “we’ll have better luck today.” But they had no luck that day either. And the gardener's assistant turned into the swamp, shot some game and soon returned to the fork.
In the evening he sees noble suitors riding along, slurping unsaltedly.
They looked at how much game the guy had shot, and started bargaining with him again.
“I’ll give you the game,” says the gardener’s assistant. “But first I’ll flog you with rods.” Otherwise, you won’t even get a fox’s tail from me.
For a long time this time the suitors resisted, but what are you going to do? It is very shameful for noble knights to go to the palace empty-handed. So they agreed. The guy took the rod and let's whip the suitors below the back! They screamed in a voice that was not their own. But they nevertheless endured the pain, somehow mounted their horses and rode to the palace with rich booty. Here they were all greeted with honor, and the king himself praised them for their successful hunt. And the gardener’s assistant trudged along behind him, carrying a pitchfork on his shoulder and dragging the donkey by the bridle.
The next day the king appointed a wedding feast in the palace. Only at night, before the wedding, messengers rode to the king with bad news. Sea robbers attacked the kingdom. People are being robbed, everyone is being burned with fire. Here all the royal warriors moved towards the enemy. The noble suitors also had to go on a campaign. And the gardener’s assistant took a pitchfork, sat on the donkey and trotted off after the army.
The army's road ran through the swamp. The duke and count's sons began to push the donkey to the very edge of the path. The donkey fell into a swamp and got stuck there up to its belly. He is floundering in the swamp, kicking. And the more it flounders, the more it gets stuck. The guy asked the noble suitors to help him get out on the road, and they answered him:
- We won’t even think about it! Take a breather here. The quagmire will suck you in, and then no one in the world will know how we gave you the golden apples and how you flogged us with rods.
The suitors laughed at the guy and rode off after the army. And as they disappeared from sight, the prince wished for the donkey to get out onto solid ground, and he wished for himself a white horse and armor made of pure gold, the same ones in which he fought for the youngest princess. The golden knight spurred his horse and rushed into the thick of the battle. He sees that things are bad. The royal army is being squeezed by robbers. In the end, the king’s warriors could not stand it, they trembled and ran. And the count's and the duke's sons, of course, were the first to ask for the trick. Then the golden knight swooped down on the enemies like a storm. It stabs and chops, only the enemy’s heads fly in all directions. The royal soldiers became emboldened, turned back and drove the robbers away. The enemies fled headlong all the way to the sea. A good half of them died on the field, and those who survived immediately boarded ships and sailed away.
Then all the warriors began to repeat with one voice that if it were not for the golden knight, they would not have been able to control the enemy. And they called him to the royal palace so that he could receive a reward for his bravery from the hands of the king himself. And the duke and count’s sons immediately recognized him as the same knight who had won the youngest princess’s golden apple at the tournament. They approached him, bowed politely and said:
“They’ve been waiting for you at the palace for a long time.” And the two eldest princesses and I are engaged, and therefore you are related to us. Your bride is a girl no matter what, but she’s a little less intelligent. She is far from her sisters. Well, judge for yourself: she got it into her head that some mangy ragamuffin won the tournament, so she went ahead and got engaged to him. And he apparently found the apple that you accidentally dropped. Well, nothing! Now the whole truth will come out and you will get the princess. And that guy has been dead for a long time. He drowned in the swamp.
The prince listened to their speeches in silence, and they went to the royal palace. Then the king himself came out to meet them. They already let him know about everything. The king took his youngest daughter by the hand, led her to the golden knight and seated them side by side at the wedding table, in the place of honor.
And during the meal, the prince takes out the golden apple that he got at the tournament, and another apple with the royal coat of arms that he took from his parents’ house, and serves them to his bride. The king is sitting, waiting for the duke and count's sons to take out their apples? And they feast as if nothing had happened. A little later the prince takes out two more apples, gives them to the bride and says:
- Gold to gold! And these apples are for you too! The king saw that the names of the senior princesses were written on the apples, and realized that these were the same apples that they gave to their suitors at the tournament.
- How did you get these apples? - he asks the golden knight.
Then the golden knight discovered that he was that same mangy ragamuffin that everyone in the palace was making fun of. And he told how he won all the tournaments and gave two apples to other suitors, and they then exchanged these apples with him for game. And the next day he also gave all the game to the suitors and flogged them for it with rods.
The king listened to his speeches and ordered the two deceiving grooms to get out of the palace and take their brides with them. And they were glad to escape - they did not know where to turn their eyes out of shame.
The prince received the youngest princess as his wife and half a kingdom in addition. And to this day they live happily and do not know grief.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru