The king and queen had one and only daughter, but the queen died and the king married again. Everything would be fine, but the new queen also had a daughter. Then the queen disliked her stepdaughter. Anything bad will happen to her. And the more the natural daughter grows up, the worse it is for the step-daughter. They keep her at her beck and call - either they’ll send her to do the laundry, or they’ll tell her to go to the stream for water, or they’ll come up with something else.
Make it, give it and bring it; do it, give it and bring it. And the queen’s own daughter sits at home doing nothing, not lifting a finger.
One day, the stepmother sends her stepdaughter to do the laundry. He gives her underwear, and the underwear is dirty, very dirty, he gives her a tiny, tiny piece of soap, and a pot of soup. And he orders:
- Look, wash the linen clean so it sparkles. And bring back two large pieces of soap and a pot full of soup.
The girl went sad and sad and met an old grandmother on the way. Her grandmother asks:
- Why are you so sad?
The girl answers her:
“My stepmother sent me to the river to wash my very dirty clothes.” She gave me a tiny piece of soap for washing and a pot of soup for lunch. And she herself punishes: so that the linen is clean, very clean, and that I bring back two large pieces of soap and a full pot of soup.
“Take my basket,” said the old woman, “put laundry and soap in it, sip some soup and then look at the sky.”
That's what the girl did. She looked at the sky, and a golden star fell from the sky onto her forehead. And the girl sees: the linen in the basket is clean and sparkling, and next to it are two pieces of soap. She ate plenty of soup, looked, and the pot was full again. Well, the girl took her things and went home.
Her stepmother saw a gold star on her forehead and asked how it was. The girl told her about her old grandmother, how her grandmother gave her a basket and told her to eat soup and look at the sky.
Here the stepmother - and she was envious - calls her daughter and tells her:
- Now you will go to the river to wash your clothes. Look, you too will return with a gold star on your forehead.
Her daughter went to do the laundry. I met an old grandmother and started complaining about my mother, as if she had tortured her with work. The old woman understood their envy and cunning, and they received their punishment. The old woman advised her to put the laundry and soap in a basket and look at the sky. She looked up at the sky, and a donkey’s tail fell right on her forehead. And the laundry in the basket turned black and black from dirt. And the pot of soup was empty - she didn’t even have time to eat. And the soap completely disappeared. So the queen's daughter went home with a donkey's tail on her forehead.
I came home. The stepmother got angry and furious. She really started torturing her stepdaughter: she sent her to the kitchen to clean the oven and rake out the ashes. And people nicknamed the girls Donkey's Tail and Golden Star.
Sunday came, the stepmother and her own daughter, Donkey Tail, went out in a carriage. The stepmother dressed her own daughter better so that she seemed beautiful. And the people laugh:
- What a joke this is! The golden star is raking the ashes, and the Donkey's tail is riding around in a carriage!
One day the king, their father, is going to go somewhere far away. He asks his daughters what they should bring as a gift. The Donkey Tail girl tells her father that she wants a dress, and a beautiful one, and also a hat made of feathers and more elegant shoes. And the Golden Star asked for a twig from the first tree that her father came across on the road.
The king set off on his journey and the first thing he saw was just a tree. He got off his horse and cut a branch from a tree for his daughter. And then I went to the city and bought a dress, a hat and shoes for my other daughter. He returned home and gives his daughters what they asked for and what they promised.
A few days later, the neighboring king threw a ball and announced that he was looking for a bride.
The stepmother is getting ready for the ball and takes her daughter Donkey's Tail with her. She dressed her, dressed her in everything beautiful and magnificent. And they left the Golden Star in the kitchen, they give her lentils, the lentils are all covered in ash: so that by the morning they will clear all of the ash. They got into a rich carriage and left for the ball.
The Golden Star took her twig and said:
- Birds, little birds! Fly to help me!
But the old grandmother sent her that magical twig. And birds flocked, apparently and invisibly. Almost in an instant, all the ash was cleared from the lentil grains. And the Golden Star asks her twig to give her a rich outfit in gold, silver and lace to go to the ball. She got dressed up, got out through the chimney and went to the ball - both the beauty herself and her carriage were rich.
Comes to the ball. The king saw her and danced only with her. Apparently, he immediately fell in love with her. And the king confessed to her that he wanted to marry her. Then the Golden Star told him that she would not give an answer right away, let him wait. And the stepmother and her daughter almost burst with envy that such a beauty showed up at the ball.
Late at night, the Golden Star was getting ready to return home. She got into her carriage, and the king also sat down with her and wanted to see her off. So I walked her home. And on the way, the Golden Star told him that she agreed to marry him. So they became the bride and groom, and the Golden Star promised to come to the ball again. And at home she dressed in her rags and gave her magnificent outfit to the magic branch.
Just then Donkey Tail and his mother are returning from the ball.
- Oh, what a beautiful girl she was at the ball, dancing! Who is this? Where did it come from? She kept dancing and dancing with the king, she danced the whole ball with him. Where did this come from?
And the Golden Star says:
- If I had gone to the ball, I would have been no worse! If I had gone to the ball, I would have been no worse!
The stepmother heard:
- Shut up, pig! What a beauty we found!
It's time to throw a new ball for the king.
The mother-queen again dressed her daughter more luxuriously and smartly, and the Golden Star again ordered the ash to be cleaned from the lentils. The Golden Star took her magic twig and said:
- Birds, little birds! Fly to help me!
The birds flew in and cleaned all the lentils. The golden star asks her twig to give her a rich outfit in gold, silver and fresh flowers - to go to the ball. She got dressed up, got out through the chimney and went to the ball - both the beauty herself and her carriage were rich.
And the king was already waiting for her, they are now the bride and groom. The Golden Star arrives, the king immediately took her to dance. And again everyone dances and dances with each other, but they just don’t get the hang of it.
Late at night, the Golden Star gets ready to go home and promises the king to come to the ball again. And again the king escorted her home. The Golden Star returned home, put on her old dress, and gave the rich one back to the magic branch.
The stepmother and daughter arrive home, and the Golden Star is sitting in the kitchen.
- Oh, what a beautiful girl she was at the ball, dancing! Where did this come from? And the Golden Star says:
- If I had gone to the ball, I would have been no worse! If I had gone to the ball, I would have been no worse!
The stepmother is angry and jealous:
- Shut up, pig! Should you brag?
The time has come to give the third ball to the king. The queen stepmother is going there again. She dressed up her daughter Donkey's tail even more magnificently than before, gave the Golden Star some ash from the lentils, and rushed off with her daughter to the ball in a rich carriage.
They left, and the Golden Star again called the little birds.
- Birds, little birds! Fly to help me!
The birds immediately flocked and cleaned the lentils.
And the girl asks the magic twig for the most beautiful dress, more elegant than ever. And that it should be hung with bells made of gold and silver, and that she should have golden shoes. She dressed in a wonderful dress and went to the ball in a carriage. And six white horses are harnessed to the carriage.
The king is waiting for her, waiting. His bride has arrived, he dances only with her, he doesn’t let go a step away from himself. And the bells ring like a miracle. The king took the bride to treat her to various treats. And the Queen and Donkey's Tail look and envy.
The Golden Star forgot, stayed in the palace for a long time, and when she remembered that it was time to return, she quickly ran to the carriage. Yes, on the way I dropped my shoe. The king picked up the shoe, and the Golden Star went home alone. She returned home, gave her entire outfit to the magic branch, and dressed in old rags.
Here the stepmother returns with her royal daughter.
- Oh, what a beautiful girl she was at the ball, dancing! Where did this come from? - And they themselves are jealous and angry. - And when she was leaving the ball, she lost a shoe from her foot, the king picked it up. And the king announced that whose shoe it was, he would marry her. And who is she? Where did it come from? Nobody knows.
And the Golden Star says:
- This shoe is mine, but I was in a hurry to get home! This shoe is mine, but I was in a hurry to go home!
- Shut up, you dirty pig! Should you boast about beauty? - the stepmother gets angry.
Meanwhile, the king has traveled all over the area, looking for his bride, trying a shoe on the foot of all the beauties. He doesn’t remember the road along which he saw her off. No matter what house he enters, his beauty is not there, and no one’s shoe fits. Now the king is approaching the house of that queen-stepmother. Princess Donkey's Tail sees that the king has arrived and runs to try on the shoe. No, it doesn't fit. The king asks, are there any more girls here? The queen stepmother replies:
“There’s only one left, and she’s in the kitchen cleaning out the ash from the stove, she’s so scary and dirty!”
The king asks:
- Let them call her!
The golden star has dressed up in a dress with gold and silver bells and comes out to them. They look, she has a golden shoe on her foot, and the other foot is bare. The king saw and recognized his beauty; tries on her shoe - it fits her perfectly. He took her to his palace and celebrated the wedding.
And the king forgave the stepmother and her own daughter.
And they lived, lived in happiness, chewed sweets, and gave some to me.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru