Once upon a time there lived a merchant, and he had three daughters. One day a merchant was going to India to trade. His daughters began asking for gifts: one wanted a dress, another a shawl, and the third a golden twig. And the daughters also said:
- Look, father, if you forget our orders, your ship will not move!
So a merchant came to India, sold all his goods, bought gifts for his two daughters, but forgot to find a golden twig for his youngest daughter. He prepared the ship for the return journey, and in good weather they raised the anchor, but the ship did not move.
Then the merchant sat down on the shore and thought. A peasant walked past and said:
“I see that the anchor is raised, but the ship is not moving.” Think, merchant, have you forgotten anything you promised?
The merchant remembered the request of his youngest daughter and replied:
- I must bring a golden twig. But where can I find it?
The peasant showed him the road and ordered him to walk along it for exactly three hours. The merchant did just that. He walked for three hours, began asking passers-by about the golden twig, but no one knew. Then one old woman pointed to the royal palace and said:
- Go, son, to the palace, there you will find what you are looking for! - and taught me how and what to do.
The merchant was frightened; he did not want to go to the king. What can you do if there is no other way home!
- What do you want, good man? - the king met him. - I want to talk to your son!
They took the merchant to the upper chambers, the king's son came out to meet him, greeted him kindly, sat him down, treated the stranger, and the merchant told him everything without hiding. Then the young man stood up and took the merchant to a room where many portraits of all kinds of girls hung.
- Is your daughter as beautiful as these? - asks. - Mine is a thousand times more beautiful! - exclaimed the merchant.
Then the royal son brought him to a room where a single portrait hung. A portrait of a girl who the prince dreamed of in a dream, and from then on he dreamed of finding her and marrying her.
- Is your daughter as good as she is? “That’s who she is,” the merchant rejoiced.
Then the prince gave the merchant a letter, a cup and a ring and ordered him to give them to his daughter.
- Here's everything she asked for!
The merchant was delighted and returned to the pier. As soon as I stepped on the deck, the ship immediately began to move and ran back to its homeland.
The merchant returned home and was greeted by his daughters:
- Did you bring us what you promised, father? - I brought it, how could I not bring it!
And the merchant gave each daughter a gift. He also gave the youngest a letter, a cup and a ring.
The girl took the gifts, went to her room and opened the letter. And there it is written: “Pour some water into a cup, beauty, throw a ring there and say three times: “Come, come, my golden twig!” Immediately the ceiling will open, a dove will fly in, plunge into the water and become a man!”
The girl quickly did as written. A dove flew in, swam in the water and turned into a man - the king's son. He and the girl talked enough, and when the time came, the prince plunged into the water again, turned into a dove and disappeared. And when he flew away, he left a walnut for his beloved.
The dove flew away, the girl became sad. She split a walnut, and there was a dress - all in the stars of heaven. The girl put on a dress - she’s a beauty! Her sisters saw her, were envious, began to question her and pry her out, but they didn’t learn anything from her sister.
The next day everything happened again. The youngest daughter poured water into a cup, threw a ring into it, and said three times: “Come, come, my golden twig!” The dove flew off again, plunged into the water, and turned into a king's son. And when they said goodbye, he left her a hazelnut.
The girl cracked the nut and found in it a dress, more wonderful than before - the sea with waves was embroidered along the hem. She put on a dress and her beauty shone! The sisters were even more jealous, but again they couldn’t find out anything.
On the third day, the envious women saw how the younger sister took out a cup, how she threw a ring into it and said three cherished words, how a dove flew off, plunged into the water, and turned into a handsome young man. As they talked, they talked, and left the dove to the fig girl, and in her dress, more beautiful than the previous two - all in meadow flowers.
The sisters were overcome by black envy, and they planned an evil deed. They agreed that they would invite their sister to swim at sea, one of them would fall behind on the way, run home, unlock her sister’s room with a stolen key, take out a cup and do everything necessary so that they too would receive rich outfits from the dove.
So in the morning the sisters went for a swim, the eldest took a bag of pearls and seemingly inadvertently scattered everything on the road.
“You, my dears, go ahead,” she said, “and I’ll collect the pearls and catch up with you.”
As soon as the girls disappeared from sight, they quickly swept everything away with a broom, threw it into a bag and ran home. She unlocked her sister’s room, took out a cup, filled it with water and threw in a ring.
And I need to tell you that the youngest daughter had a gold pin, it lay next to the cup. The elder sister didn’t know where to put the pin, so she put it on the cup. And so, before she had time to say: “Come, come, my golden twig!” - a dove flew in, wanted to plunge into the water, but came across a pin. Blood flowed from the wound, a dove flew up and disappeared. My sister was annoyed that she did not receive a dress. “But now the youngest won’t get anything!” - she thought and calmed down.
As if nothing had happened, the elder sister came to the sea and began swimming with the girls. When they returned from swimming, the youngest immediately rushed to her room.
“Come, come,” he says, “my golden twig, look what I look like after a bath!”
He takes the cup, and it’s covered in blood! The girl began to cry and lament:
- Woe to me, what did I do, why did I leave the room unattended! Apparently, I’ll have to go to a foreign land to look for the golden twig!
She came to her father and asked:
- Give me, father, a dress from overseas, fit out a ship, I will sail to India!
So the girl sailed to foreign lands and went to the city, to the royal palace. He sees an old mulberry tree growing by the road, and on its branches there are birds. Birds peck berries and say:
- Oh, what a pity for the poor prince! Nobody knows how to treat him, it looks like he will die soon. “The king’s son could have recovered if someone had prepared an ointment from mulberry berries and smeared it on the wound.”
The girl understood what the birds were chirping about; the golden twig had long ago taught her the bird’s language. She immediately picked some berries, prepared an ointment, and hurried to the city. She dressed up in a man's dress, approached the royal palace and called out:
- Good doctor, good doctor! Who needs a knowledgeable doctor?
The king heard her and shouted from the palace, from the upper chambers:
- Hey, doctor, can you cure my child? “We need to look at him first,” the doctor answers.
The girl went into the palace and, as soon as she saw the sick man, said:
- I undertake to cure this young man! In eight days he will be healthy and go hunting!
The king was happy, but the court doctors were angry:
- This is a deceiver, not a healer, drive him away!
The youngest daughter took out a wonderful ointment, smeared the young man’s wound - he immediately felt better. The next day the prince felt even better, and eight days later he went hunting!
The king rejoiced and said to the doctor:
- Ask for whatever you want, I won’t spare anything for you!
And he answers:
- I don’t need anything. You better arrange a feast for the whole world. “This is nothing for me,” says the king.
They convened a great feast here for the whole world. At the height of the fun, the doctor rose from the table and said:
- Your Majesty! I want to tell you a fairy tale.
The formidable ruler immediately clapped his hands, and the guests fell silent. The doctor began to tell a fairy tale: once upon a time there lived a merchant with three daughters. That merchant was going to India... He began to tell everything in order. And when he got to the place where the youngest daughter changed into a man’s dress and went to look for her lover, he took off his doctor’s outfit, and a girl of extraordinary beauty revealed herself to the guests. Then the king's son stood up, took the girl by the hand, led her to his father and said:
“This is the merchant’s youngest daughter, my beloved and bride!”
So a simple feast turned into a wedding.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru