Once upon a time there lived an orphan youth. He was very poor, hunger visited him every day. So he decided to wander around the world, maybe he could get some food. He walked and walked, and in the evening, hungry and tired, he found himself in a deep forest. Suddenly he sees a forest bird struggling in a snare. The young man rejoiced:
- I'll cook myself some roast. And the bird then spoke in a human voice:
-Don’t destroy me, dear traveler, set me free.
The young man had a kind heart, and he released the bird into the wild. She spread her wings and said:
-I’ll give you this advice as a thank you. Follow this path until you see a large oak tree, climb up it and sit on its branches all night. And then you will see what will happen.
The young man walked along the path, saw a tree, climbed up it, sat down on a strong branch, and sat. And the young man imagines that someone is talking under the oak tree. I listened - exactly, three dwarfs were talking.
- Did you hear? - says one. “The stream in the royal park has dried up; it used to have such pure water!” Whoever guesses to cut down the pine tree that grows next to the stream and undermine its roots will return the water again.
“And I know one secret,” said the other. “There used to be a lot of elk in the royal forest, but now there are not a single one.” But the king doesn’t know that the animals are afraid of the elk’s antlers at the park gates. If you take off these antlers, the moose will come back alive.
“I know something too,” said the third. “The king’s only daughter has been ill for many years. No doctor can cure the princess. But if you take her to the park before sunrise and sprinkle dew on her, the princess will immediately recover.
The dwarfs talked and left. The young man remembered everything, climbed down from the tree in the morning and went to the royal palace to hire a job.
“Do you want to work as a water carrier?” they suggested to the young man. “We now carry water from afar to the palace.” There used to be a stream in the park, but it dried up.
The young man looked at the place where the stream was located, saw a pine tree nearby and said:
“If you fell this pine tree and undermine its roots, water will appear again.”
They felled the tree, dug up the roots, and again there was crystal clear water in the stream.
The king called the young man to him and asked:
- Do you know how to return the moose to us? They used to walk here in whole herds, but now they have disappeared.
“Simply as simple as that, Your Majesty,” the young man smiled. “We just need to remove the moose antlers from the park gates.” That's it.
The king ordered to remove the horns, and here they are - moose. They're walking in the park again.
“You are a good adviser,” the king remarked graciously. “Won’t you help heal my daughter from a serious illness?” She has been sick for many years.
- Take the princess to the park before sunrise and sprinkle dew on her,
- the young man suggested, - she will recover.
The king took the princess to the park, sprinkled dew on her, and the girl immediately recovered.
The king wanted to thank the young man.
“Stay to live in the palace,” he says.
- You will be my first adviser.
From then on, the young man lived in the palace and was happy until the end of his days.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru