Once upon a time there lived a king. His name was Sukhpal, which means “guardian of happiness.” Sukhpal was very fond of construction, and he erected many beautiful houses and temples in his kingdom. “I’ll build a miracle palace for myself, so that there is no equal in the whole wide world,” Sukhpal decided. And he summoned famous overseas architects and skilled craftsmen from many kingdoms, from different countries, showered them with gifts, showed them honors, gave them everything they demanded, and soon they built a palace - a palace for all the palaces, of unprecedented beauty. Its domes hovered like white clouds above the earth. Its tall towers and minarets soared upward, as if they wanted to fly up and merge with the blue sky.
The king ordered a large garden to be laid out in front of the palace. He built a marble fountain in the middle of the garden, and the water flowed high, high in it.
And then one day the king was walking through his garden and saw a snort-snort - some small bird fluttering every now and then from the fountain to a nest hidden in the thick foliage of a spreading fig tree. A bird flew over the fountain and dropped either a straw, a dry leaf or a piece of hay into the water. The king was indignant, called the gardener and ordered him to knock down the nest from the tree. And in that nest there were little chicks. The poor bird darted over the king's head, chirped, and beat its wings, begging the king to spare her chicks. But the king did not pay any attention to the chattering and moaning of the bird. He ordered not only to destroy the nest, but also to cut off a large branch that hung over the fountain and cast a black shadow on the sparkling water.
In the morning the king woke up - his eyes could not see anything: everything was black and black around him.
The cheerful rays of the rising sun no longer greeted the king’s awakening, and the gentle morning breeze no longer fanned him with its coolness. There was impenetrable darkness in the palace, as if in the dead of night. The king was frightened and could not understand what had happened. Then the head gardener comes to him and says:
- O venerable lord, a miracle happened at night! The trees around moved, surrounded the palace in a tight ring, the doors and windows were closed with thick foliage, so much so that neither light nor air could get in. Garden wells, always overflowing with water, suddenly dried up.
Then the king remembered yesterday and began to bitterly repent of what he had done. He ordered to cut down all the trees and uproot the stumps, but no matter how hard the woodcutters tried, it was all in vain. Trees are cut down, the ax bounces off, the branches are cut off, and they grow back! The king learned that the woodcutters could not cope with the trees, and he felt even more bitter. He ordered to dig new wells, but no matter how hard the diggers tried, no matter how deep they dug the ground, they never got to the water. There was not a drop of water in the wells, it seemed as if the whole earth had dried up!
When all efforts were in vain and the king had lost his last hope of getting rid of the trouble, he ordered to beat the palace drum as hard as he could and announce a decree throughout the kingdom that read:
– Listen, people, listen, my people! Whoever comes to my aid, whoever returns water to dry wells, whoever cuts down destructive trees at the roots so that air and light can penetrate into the palace, I will command that he be made my direct heir. And I will give my daughter, princess Sumukhi the Beautiful-faced, to that man as a wife and celebrate the wedding with all the royal pomp.
And so, from different kingdoms-states, from many countries far and near, a line of all kinds of people, who were smarter, smarter and more dexterous, reached the palace: well done and daredevils, brave and daredevils, and craftsmen - jacks of all trades. They decided to try their luck, but failed and returned with nothing.
In a neighboring kingdom there lived an old woman. She had three sons. The eldest's name was Brave Lion - Khim-mat Singh, the middle one was called Beautiful Lion - Sundar Singh, and the youngest's name was Good Lion - Dhir Singh. And although they were endowed with these names by chance, it turned out that one of them grew up brave, the other beautiful, and the third kind.
“Come on, let’s go and try our luck with this king,” the brothers thought, took some food for the road and the most necessary belongings and hit the road.
They walked and walked and reached a dark forest. With difficulty they made their way into the very middle of the forest, and suddenly they saw: some man was cutting down trees.
- Hey, my dear, why are you cutting down the forest here?
“And then,” the stranger answers them, “that I want to cut a clearing so that people can easily get out onto the road.” But the trouble is, I can’t do this job alone! Now, if one of you helped me, then I would quickly cope.
“Your business is useless, and time is precious, I can’t help you,” said Himmat Singh.
“Hard work is beyond my strength,” said Sundar Singh.
Dhir Singh said nothing, took an ax and began to chop.
The axes flashed - the stranger and Dhir Singh worked so quickly that by evening a path through the forest was cut. And only then Dhir Singh noticed that the man’s ax was not ordinary, but magical. As soon as he hits the ax, the tree immediately falls to the ground! As a parting gift, the man gave his ax to Dhir Sinha.
Dhir Singh quickly walked through the entire forest along the clearing and found himself on the high road before his brothers. And they went out onto the road and saw: Dhir Singh was standing, waiting for them. The brothers were surprised, but didn’t ask anything. The three of them moved on. They walk, are silent, in a hurry. Suddenly they see an old man without a leg sitting by the stream and crying bitterly.
- Good people, help the crippled legless man! - the stranger began to wail, seeing the brothers from afar. “I went down to the stream for water, but forgot the jug at the top!” I don't have the strength to go up twice. Do me a favor, go get my jug, I will never forget your kindness!
Himmat Singh pretended not to hear anything and hurriedly walked past. Sundar Singh pretended not to see anything and also silently walked by. And Dhir Singh took pity on the poor fellow and went back for the jug. I climbed a steep mountain, searched for the jug for a long time, and finally found it. There is a small jug on the ground, and water gushes out of the neck. And next to it lies the lid. He lifted the lid, closed the neck, and the water stopped flowing.
He took the jug to the old man. The old man rejoiced:
- Thank you, son, for your service. My jug is not just any ordinary one – it’s magical. Whenever you put it on the ground and open the lid, water will flow out of it, fresh, spring water! I give you this jug for your kindness, take it, you won’t regret it!
Dhir Singh happily took the gift, said goodbye to the old man and hurried on his way.
Soon he caught up with the brothers. They walked and walked and came to one village. And whether yesterday or today, a hurricane swept over that village. Yes, so strong that it knocked down trees and destroyed huts. At the ruins of one shack they saw an old woman crying. With trembling hands she collected bamboo scattered around the yard. Himmat Singh and Sundar Singh thought only of one thing: how they could quickly get to the royal palace. They saw an old woman sitting and crying, and they hurried to pass by. Dhir Sinha felt sorry for her. He stopped, picked up a shovel and began throwing out garbage and debris. He looks - what a miracle! As soon as he digs with a shovel, garbage starts flying out from under it! The miracle shovel quickly started working, chips and debris flew in different directions, and soon there was no trace left of the pile of garbage.
Dhir Singh cleared the courtyard of rubble and built a new hut in the same place, but better than the old one.
“I bless you, son, live a hundred years,” the old woman tells him. “You have brought me considerable joy with your kindness.” Take my magic shovel with you, you will still need it!
Dhir Singh took the shovel, said goodbye to the old woman and hurried to catch up with the brothers. He found them at a fork in the road, and so the three of them went along the high road.
“You’re a good-for-nothing, Dhir Singh, and why did we take you with us!” Every now and then you stay uselessly,” Himmat Singh kept grumbling.
– Who knows his fate, what she wants to test us with? - Dhir Singh answered him. “We’ve been helping ourselves all our lives, but we need to help people too!”
“You’ve served people, but what’s the point?” – Sundar Singh objected. “I just tortured myself in vain.” These good deeds are nothing but worries, and not a penny of benefit from them.
- Why do you need it? Does a good deed require a reward? Or is it not enough to be glad that you helped a person? - Dhir Singh asked, but the brothers did not answer anything - they were in a hurry to get to the royal palace.
Here is the palace. The brothers began to show their strength and skills. Himmat Singh came out first. He picked up an ax sharp as a sword, heavy as a weight, and hit the tree with all his strength. As soon as there was a ringing, the whole tree began to hum, but it stood strong, it didn’t even sway. Then Himmat Singh began to chop branches as hard as he could: he chops off one, but two grow back! Himmat Sinha has a lot of strength, but little use. With a whistle, a huge ax cuts through the air, as if alive, it flies in powerful hands, branches fall one after another, and the tree becomes even thicker and more branches! Himmat Singh tried for a long time, chopping and chopping, but all in vain. The trees stand as if they were made of stone. Himmat Singh was exhausted.
The king realized that this hero was powerless to do anything, and ordered him to be driven away, out of sight.
But Himmat Singh was also stubborn. He didn't want to leave. Relying on his strength, he grappled with the servants. No matter how strong Himmat Singh was, no matter how stubborn Himmat Singh was, the fight still ended with his arms and legs being twisted and severely beaten and thrown out of the palace garden.
It was Sundar Sinha's turn. He saw how the strong brother became exhausted in single combat with the trees, how the servants grabbed him, twisted him and beat him, and threw him out of the garden, and decided to start by digging a well. He took his best shovel and began to dig the ground with all his might. So what? Sundar Singh works hard, digs, and in the place of the dug up land, a new one appears. Sundar Sinha has a lot of dexterity, but it’s of little use. Often, a shovel began to flash in his hands, earth was flying in all directions, but the more he rummaged in the ground, the more dexterously he dug, the smaller the hole became, and soon it was completely level with the ground. In despair, Sundar Singh threw away the shovel and fell to the ground. He no longer had the strength to cut down trees.
Having been defeated in open battle, Sundar Singh wanted to achieve victories in a roundabout way - after all, he was known as a handsome man.
Relying on his beauty, he decided to win the princess’s heart. “I just wish I could meet her. She will instantly be captivated by my appearance and will immediately take me as her groom, it cannot be otherwise,” Singh wondered. He wiped the dirt and dust from his handsome face and hurried to the women's half of the palace. But on the way he was captured by guards. Despite his noble appearance, they decided that he was a thief or a swindler, and they took Handsome Singh to the palace dungeon.
Now it’s the turn of the younger brother – Dhir Sinha. Dhir Singh pulled out an ax and a shovel from his knapsack and slowly walked up to the trees. As soon as I hit the tree with an axe, the tree immediately fell to the ground! Trees fall one after another, Dhir Singh waves his magic hatchet from right to left, clears the ground from branches and stumps with his magic shovel. Instantly it became light in the palace.
Dhir Singh did not dig the ground, but went down to the bottom of the dry well, put the jug down, and removed the lid from the neck. A fountain filled the jug with sparkling, spring water and filled the well to the brim.
The king and the people opened their mouths in surprise. Isn't this Dhir Singh a magician?
General merriment ensued. The holiday came to the Palace, and everyone in the city also rejoiced. The Tsar was especially happy. He gave his daughter, Beautiful-faced Sumukhi, to the Good Dhir Sinha.
Dhir Singh called his unfortunate brothers, gave them a lot of money and sent them home for their old mother. Soon the brothers brought the queen mother to the palace.
The wedding of Dhir Sinha the Good and Sumukhi the Beautiful was celebrated magnificently and cheerfully.
And for a long time Dhir Singh helped people with his kindness, took care of the poor and did many good deeds.
The kindness and generosity of Dhire Sinha pleased the king so much that he gave him his entire kingdom.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru