There lived a gentleman who was so rich that he could buy a dozen villages, and that gentleman had a lot of land, but he didn’t look anywhere else, but he just couldn’t find a man who knew arable farming well. One day a peasant comes to him and says:
“I know how to plow the land well, sow grain, and I will serve properly.” Receive me, sir!
Pan accepted. The grain grower has been serving for five years, and with him he produces such grain that, perhaps, there is no better one. So in the fifth year the farmer said to the master:
“I’ve already worked for you, sir, enough, now let’s settle the matter: I’ll go my own way.”
But the lord did not want to lose such a peasant. He thought for a moment, and then said:
- What should you, man, pay for your service?
- Yes, sir, give me that white horse. Pan agreed. And that horse was such that as soon as it began to gallop among the enemy in war, it would trample everything; and no bullet or saber can take him, but no one except the grain grower knew about it. The farmer took the horse, thanked the lord, and rode off. He drove and drove and drove into such a large and dark forest that my God! He sees a small hut standing. The farmer went into the hut, and lo and behold, an old, yellow old woman was sitting there; he asked her where he had gone. The old woman shook her head and answered:
- You’re unfortunate for coming here: witches flock here every night, they’re all going to drive me away from the world.
- Yes, whatever God wills, that’s what will happen! - the peasant answered and remained in the hut.
The old woman gave him dinner and asked:
“Help me, good man, spend at least three nights in the hut, and I’ll pay you well for it and teach you how to defend yourself.”
“Well, teach me, I’ll spend the night,” the farmer agreed.
The old woman says:
“You are wearing this cross, go into that room, draw a circle around yourself with this cross, then take the cross in your hands and sit; and if the witches flock, don’t be afraid.
The farmer took the cross, went into another room, did as the old woman said, and sat. Suddenly something buzzes above the hut, a witch flies into the hut, then a second, a third - there are so many of them that they can’t even fit in the hut, they dance, shout, clap their hands, run around the farmer, but they just can’t cross the circle. Some witch would speed up, run to the circle, then jump back, but no matter what they did, they couldn’t do anything. Suddenly a rooster in the old woman’s hut: “Ku-ka-re-ku!” The witches rushed out of the windows, and the house began to tremble. The farmer crossed himself and went to the old woman’s room. She saw him and was so happy:
“You’re a happy person, you’ve apparently done little wrong, the witches are afraid of you.”
- Yes, I worked honestly, sowed grain, and then I worked for the master, I may have sinned something, but may God forgive me!
The farmer spent the night two more nights. How did you spend the third night, the old woman says:
“Thank you, good man, for rescuing me from great trouble, it’s more difficult for me to sit here, I’ve sinned more.” You have this self-fighting sword on you, and if you happen to fight, just say: “Self-fighting sword, take it!” - and he will kill the entire army. I also give you advice: when you get married, do not trust your wife with anything important until she is seven years and seven weeks old.
The farmer bowed to the old woman, thanked her and left. He arrived in the city where the king lives, and there was alarm: a big enemy was attacking the city, he had already beaten the entire royal army, and soon he would take the city. The grain grower says:
- Well, take me to the king! They led the way.
- What do you want? - asks the king.
- Well, they say that a big enemy is attacking the city!
- Yes.
- If God helps you, I will beat him; just what will you give me for this?
- I'll give you half the kingdom.
- No, I don’t need a kingdom, but give me your daughter for me, I love her!
The king called his daughter and asked her if she really loved the farmer.
- Tatochka, my dear! Marry me to him, I love him, marry me off, I will pray to God for you! The king agreed. Then the farmer says:
- Give the horse three scoops of oats, and give me a bucket of wine. The king gave everything that the farmer asked for. He then mounted his horse and rode off. He went out of the city and saw that there was a large force of troops standing there, such that he could not count them. As the farmer shouted:
- Self-fighting sword, take it!
How a self-fighting sword flies over their heads and begins to cut one after another. And as the horse gallops between the troops, it beats with its hooves. The entire army was killed.
The farmer returned to the city. The king thanked him well. But the enemy did not want to give up his business - he gathered even more troops. The alarm was raised again. The farmer went to fight again. He beat the enemy and returned back. Other kings became envious of this king, gathered their troops together and went to war. The king was frightened: he thought that the farmer could not overcome this strength. But the farmer defeated this army as well.
Then he returned to the city and married the king’s daughter. He loved his wife very much, and his wife loved him. Three years have passed. The farmer's wife began to ask why he beat the enemy like that. The farmer could not resist and said: But the enemy did not abandon his, he began to torture and bribe the grain grower’s wife so that she would tell her what her husband’s strength was. So she was flattered by the big money and stole a self-fighting sword, gave it to the enemy, and put another one on her husband, but she couldn’t steal the horse: the farmer took care of it like the apple of his eye, even slept with him.
So the enemy started the war again.
The farmer mounted his horse, took his sword and rode out to meet the enemy. And as soon as he arrived there, he immediately shouted:
- Self-fighting sword, take it! Doesn't work.
- Self-fighting sword, take it!
Doesn't work. The farmer was surprised, and then, as soon as he looked at him, he found out that it was someone else, then he guessed where the self-fighting sword had gone, and began to cry bitterly. What was there to do? The self-fighting sword was already cutting down his army. So the sword flew up to the farmer and cut off his head in one fell swoop. Then the horse became very angry that his master was killed, began to become fierce, killed the entire army, and then approached the body of the farmer, stopped and stood there. The king transported the body to the city, was about to bury it, and then an old woman with an icon appeared and said:
- Let me go to the grain grower’s body.
They let her in. The old woman took it, immersed the icon in water and poured the water on the farmer. The farmer came to life. And the old woman said to him:
- Look, he didn’t listen to me: he told his wife a great secret and almost died forever. Here, take the sword again, I found it, just don’t tell your wife about the great secret until you are seven years and seven weeks old, otherwise you will die!
The farmer later married another girl, and they live together. They live, do not grieve, do not suffer, do not buy bread. This is such a fairy tale.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru