Once upon a time, two families lived in a distant kingdom on the seashore. In one there was a son whose name was José, and in the other a daughter Magdalena. The children became friends, and when they grew up, they got married. Jose and Magdalena had three daughters. The eldest, Ines, was very beautiful, the middle one, Angela, was very cheerful, and the youngest, Maria, was both cheerful and beautiful.
Jose and Magdalena made a living for themselves and their daughters by weaving blankets, and then dyeing them in different colors and selling them to rich people. The girls willingly helped their parents.
Years passed. And suddenly a disaster happened: the girls’ parents fell ill and died within one week. Ines, Angela and Maria began to weave blankets themselves and sell them to the rich.
One evening they were sitting at work, and Ines suddenly said to her sisters:
- Let's talk about what awaits us ahead - after all, we are getting married soon.
“Well, no,” Angela objected. “It’s soon night, but the earth has ears and blades of grass have eyes.”
But Ines continued to persuade the sisters, and finally they agreed.
“You go first and start,” they told the older sister. And she began:
— When I get married, I will change dresses three times a day.
Angela laughed cheerfully and said:
- And I will laugh from morning to evening. And they turned to their younger sister, Mary, to listen to what she had to say. Maria stood up and said:
- And I will have three twins - two boys and one girl. The first boy will be called Pedro, the second Pelipe, and the girl Ilyurosa. Ilyurosa will have green hair and a star on her forehead. The moment they are born, the bells will ring by themselves and the cannons will begin to fire.
The sisters were very amused by Mary’s words. But they did not know that when they were talking, the king happened to be near their house, and he heard everything, from the first to the last word. The next day, a courtier knocked on the sisters’ house and gave the girls the king’s order to come to the palace. The girls were scared, but did not dare to disobey.
When the sisters arrived at the palace, the king asked them:
-What did you talk about last night? Ines replied:
“I said that when I get married, I will change my dresses three times a day.” Angela replied:
- And I - that when I get married, I will laugh from morning to evening.
The king looked at Maria, but she was frightened and could not utter a word. The king had to repeat the question twice before she said:
“I said that I would have three twins - two boys, Pedro and Pelipe, and a girl named Ilyurosa. Ilyurosa will have green hair and a star on her forehead. The moment they are born, the bells will ring by themselves and the cannons will begin to fire.
The king announced:
“You, Maria, will become my wife, and you, her sisters, will no longer weave blankets for sale - I will take care of you.”
Three days later the wedding was celebrated in the palace. All the king’s subjects were happy that they would have such a cheerful and beautiful queen.
The king and his young wife lived happily together for about a year. Unexpectedly, the king needed to leave on state business, and, getting ready to set off, he entrusted Mary to the care of three old nannies. The king did not know that these nannies were actually evil witches.
The king left, and a few days later the queen said to the nannies:
- Don't leave me - it seems to me that I should have children soon.
The nannies began to fuss: one immediately went to look for a pig that had just farrowed, the second went for a basket, and the third blindfolded Queen Mary.
Suddenly the bells rang by themselves and the cannons began to fire - the queen gave birth to twins, two boys and a girl. The nanny, who remained with the queen, almost went blind from the radiance emanating from the newborn princess - green-haired and with a star on her forehead.
But then two other witches returned. Each brought what she came for. They dressed the babies in clothes prepared by their mother, put them in a basket, carried it across six rivers and threw it into the seventh. After this they returned to the queen, took off the blindfold and said:
- Such grief, queen, but what could we do? Here are your children!
And they showed the queen three little pigs. Queen Mary wept and said:
- Well, apparently, this is my destiny!
Two months passed and the king returned. Imagine his sadness and horror when, instead of children, he saw piglets near his wife! The king immediately ordered Mary to be expelled from the royal chambers. They built a pen for her and the piglets under the stairs, and they began to live there.
Another year has passed. People are accustomed to the fact that, when passing by the palace, they see the queen and her piglets under the stairs. During this time the piglets grew up and became big fat pigs.
And the basket, when it was thrown into the river, was carried out to sea by the current. The sea waves picked her up, carried her far, far away and finally threw her ashore.
Very close to this place lived an old woman named Popo. And then one day she saw: on the sand, where there was nothing the day before, there was a basket. Old woman Popo was collecting shellfish at that time. Overcoming her fear, she approached the basket, and children’s voices were heard from there:
- And here Grandma Popo has come! The old woman was very surprised and rushed to open the basket. And when she opened it, two boys and a green-haired girl jumped out onto the sand. Popo took the children to her hut and fed her shellfish that she had collected on the shore, and the children told her who they were and what had happened to them.
The next morning, before going ashore, Popo said to the children:
- If three old women come here with flowers and try to persuade you to smell these flowers, don’t smell them, because they are poisoned.
“Don’t worry about us, Grandma Popo,” answered the green-haired princess, “I won’t smell these flowers myself and I won’t let my brothers smell them.”
Indeed, no sooner had Grandma Popo left than three old witches appeared, posing as nannies.
“Smell how sweet these flowers smell,” one old woman said in an insinuating voice and handed her flowers to the children.
“Get out of here,” Ilyurosa shouted, “we won’t smell your flowers!”
And, taking the brothers by the hands, she led them into the hut.
When Grandma Popo came home, the children told her everything. Grandmother praised them for listening to her and doing as she taught.
The next morning Popo said:
“The old women will come again, but today they will treat you with poisoned bread.”
“We won’t touch him,” the green-haired princess promised.
Indeed, as soon as Popo left, the same three old ugly witches appeared.
- Really, dear children, aren’t you tired of shellfish? - they spoke feigningly affectionately. - Eat better than this delicious bread.
And they handed the children bread. But the princess answered:
- Get out of here! Grandma Popo told us not to take your bread - it’s poisoned.
The evil witches left, very angry that this time they failed to poison the children.
On the third day Popo said:
“Today the evil witches will not bring you anything, but they will begin to tempt you with the seven-flowered bird.” This bird will bring happiness and good luck to whoever catches it, but no one has yet managed to catch it. This bird lives behind seven mountains, and she and other birds, her friends, begin to tickle everyone who manages to get there and approaches her. And if a person cannot stand the tickling and laughs, he immediately turns into stone. On those mountains, wherever you look, there are petrified figures of people trying to catch the seven-colored bird.
“We won’t listen to them, Grandma Popo,” Princess Ilyuros promised.
Reassured, the old woman went to collect shellfish. And then three old hags appeared near the hut and began to talk about the beauty of the seven-flowered bird.
- We don’t want to listen to you, go away! - the green-haired princess shouted at them.
The witches left, but the evil deed was done - Prince Pedro began to ask to be released to search for the seven-flowered bird. No matter how his brother and sister tried to dissuade him, Prince Pedro did not listen to them, mounted his horse and rode away.
When Popo returned home and found out about this, she exclaimed:
- Poor prince, he has already turned to stone! The next morning Popo didn't go anywhere. Suddenly Prince Pelipe said:
- Believe me - I will not only save my brother, but also bring the seven-flowered flower!
And no matter how much his sister and grandmother Popo tried to persuade him to abandon his intention, in the end they had to let him go.
When Prince Pelipe reached the first mountain, many beautiful birds with bright feathers flocked to him. They began to tickle him and shout:
“Prince Pelipe has come for Prince Pedro and the seven-flowered flower!”
But no matter how much the birds tickled him, Prince Pelipe did not laugh.
When he climbed the second mountain, the birds flew at him again and began to tickle him. However, even here the prince, although with difficulty, restrained himself from laughing.
When Prince Pelipe reached the top of the third mountain, even more birds flew in, and they tickled him twice as hard. Prince Pelipe could not stand it, laughed and immediately turned into stone.
The green-haired princess waited for the brothers for a long time, but without waiting, she decided to go look for them herself. No matter how much Popo tried to dissuade her, no matter how much she frightened her with dangers, the princess could not be dissuaded. Ilyurosa said:
“Don’t worry, Granny Popo, my magic will help me revive everyone who was turned into stone by the seven-flowered girl.” Let me have a horse as fast as the wind, a golden saddle, golden armor and a golden sword!
And all this appeared immediately. The green-haired princess hugged Grandma Popo tightly, kissed her, jumped on her horse and disappeared.
When Princess Ilyuros climbed the first mountain, a flock of beautiful birds flew at her and began to tickle her. But thanks to the golden armor, the princess did not feel ticklish. So she climbed one mountain after another, and at each bird they flew at her in a larger flock than before, and shouted:
- Here comes Princess Ilyurosa for Prince Pedro, Prince Pelipe and the Seven Flowers!
But the green-haired princess kept riding through the mountains, and her golden armor reliably protected her from the birds. Finally she reached the seventh mountain, where the seven-flowered girl herself lived. The princess saw the bird and almost went blind from the shine of its feathers. Seven Flower sang:
- Here is the princess of Ilyuros, she has come for the seven-flowered flower!
The bird flew to the princess and sat on her shoulder. Princess Ilyuros grabbed the seven-flowered girl by the tail, pulled out a golden sword from its sheath and said:
“Give me back my two brothers and their horses and revive everyone you turned to stone!” If you don't do this, I'll cut off your head!
“Spare me, and I will give you your brothers and their horses,” the seven-flowered girl begged. “Give me back now, otherwise I won’t let you go,” the green-haired princess threatened.
Then the seven-flowered girl said:
“Tear out a feather from my wing and stick it in the ground.” The princess did just that. As soon as she stuck the feather into the ground, both her brothers appeared in front of her on horseback and many other people - all whom the birds had turned into stone.
The green-haired princess exclaimed:
“Let there appear a golden cage for the bird and golden armor for my brothers!”
And everything appeared immediately. The princess put the bird in a cage, the princes put on the golden armor that the sister had obtained for them with her magic, and they set off on their way back.
- How glad I am to see you alive and unharmed! Popo's grandmother exclaimed, hugging the green-haired princess and her brothers. “Now I’ll go get some shellfish, get some more, and we’ll celebrate your return.”
But the princess stopped her:
“You no longer need to collect shellfish and cook food - I will take care of this myself.” She spread the mat and exclaimed:
- Let there be a lot of different delicious food! And the food appeared immediately. When everyone had eaten their fill, Princess Ilyuros said:
- It's time for us to get ready to go. Let Pelipe turn into a rooster, and Pedro into a sailor!
And then Pelipe turned into a rooster, and Pedro, instead of his previous clothes, was wearing the kind that sailors wear.
“And you, Grandma Popo,” added the green-haired princess, “take the cage, and let’s all quickly go to the shore.”
When they reached the shore, the princess of Ilyuros shouted:
- Let a big sailing boat appear! And the boat immediately appeared. The four of them got into it and swam away.
Soon they met another boat. This boat was loaded with tobacco. As she sailed past, a rooster (Prince Pelipe) crowed loudly, and was answered by another on the oncoming boat. Then the tobacco merchant sitting in it shouted:
- Hey you, in the boat! It turns out you also have a rooster? Let's have a cockfight!
“My rooster is too young to fight,” answered the Princess of Ilyuros. “Besides, it’s much smaller than yours.”
The tobacco merchant began to beg the princess, and finally she agreed to have a cockfight. The boats moored to the shore. Prince Pedro and the tobacco merchant took their roosters, went down to the ground and placed the roosters opposite each other. The merchant's rooster began to peck at Prince Pelipe, but he did not respond. The merchant really wanted to see the roosters fight, but the green-haired princess said:
“I don’t have money to bet on my rooster.” The tobacco merchant was confident that his rooster would win and replied:
- But you have a boat. If our rooster wins, we will take her, and you will swim with us. If he wins. yours - you take our boat, and we will sail wherever you want.
“Okay,” said the princess, “let them fight.” The cockfight began and the princess's rooster won.
“Well,” said the tobacco merchant, “I took yours.” We'll have to follow you, as agreed.
Both boats sailed together and after a while they met another one. In this one sailed a spice merchant. Again Prince Pelipe crowed, and from this boat the rooster also answered him.
- Eh, yes, you also have a rooster! Let's have a cockfight! - the owner of the oncoming boat shouted to the green-haired princess and her companions.
“My rooster is too young, and he only fought once,” answered the green-haired princess.
However, the spice merchant continued to persuade Ilyurosa, and finally she agreed to a cockfight - with the condition that boats serve as the stake. The fight began, Princess Ilyurosa's rooster defeated this opponent as well.
Now three boats floated across the sea. A little time passed, and the shore appeared ahead. There was a large city on the shore - it was the capital of the kingdom. When the boats entered the harbor, the bells rang of their own accord and the cannons began to fire. The king in the palace was very surprised and ordered to find out what had happened. Returning, the royal servants reported:
- Your Majesty, three boats arrived - one with a load of tobacco, the other with spices, and in the third a green-haired beauty with a star in her forehead, a sailor, a rooster and an old woman with a golden cage in which sits a bird of unprecedented beauty.
“Invite them all to my palace,” the king ordered.
The servants conveyed the king's invitation to Princess Ilyurosa, but the princess replied:
“If the king wants to see us, let him come himself.” We don’t need anything from him - we only came here for drinking water.
The servants conveyed to the king the answer of the green-haired beauty. The answer seemed impudent to the king, but he really wanted to look at the sailors, and he went ashore and began to invite strangers to the palace himself. Finally they agreed.
When they approached the stairs that led to the palace, the princess saw below it a pen for pigs, and in it - Queen Mary with three pigs. The princess stopped and asked:
“Why is this woman kept in a pig pen?” After all, she is a person, not an animal.
Pretending that he had not heard, the king began to call the princess upstairs, but she said:
“I will not go up to the palace until the woman is released from the pen.”
“Okay, let her out,” the king ordered the servants.
“No, Your Majesty,” Princess Ilyuros stopped him, “I want to take her out of the pen myself.”
The green-haired princess took the queen's hand and she walked with her. The princess immediately took her to wash. She washed the queen, anointed her with incense, dressed her in a royal dress and led her into the hall, where everything was already prepared for a luxurious feast.
When they entered there, the three sorceresses, seeing Princess Ilyurosa and Queen Mary, trembled with fear and immediately conspired to poison the food. Planned and done. But when the king gave the sign to begin to eat, the princess of Ilyurosa shouted:
- Don't touch the food, it's poisoned! “And then, turning to the king, she said: “We are your own children, you are our father, and she,” Princess Ilyurosa pointed to Queen Maria, “is our own mother.” This sailor is my brother, Prince Pedro, and this rooster is my other brother, Prince Pelipe.
She had barely finished these words when the rooster turned into a young man again.
The princess continued:
- And I am the princess of Ilyuros. When we were born, three evil witches gave our mother piglets, and we were locked in a basket and thrown into the river.
The king rushed to hug his children and the queen, and then, remembering the witches, shouted:
- Hey, guards, grab them and execute them immediately! The guards rushed to carry out the king's order, but the sorceresses disappeared. They began to look for them throughout the palace, but were never found anywhere.
The witches were already far away at this time. They realized that they had nothing more to do in this kingdom, the good sorceress Ilyuros would reveal any of their machinations, and for all the evil they had caused to people, they would be severely punished here.
The mother of the two princes and the green-haired princess became queen again, and she and the king lived for a long time together with their children, grandmother Popo and the seven-colored bird, which brings happiness.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru