Where it was, it was there, and if it wasn’t, it won’t be, because the miracles that happened during the time of King Kakon stopped happening.
Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen, and they owned such wealth that no one could compare with them. But no wealth consoled them, and year by year they became sadder, because they had no heir.
- Oh, to whom, after our death, we will leave the kingdom and all our wealth! - the queen grieved. “Who knows into what unlucky hands all this will fall?”
And the king, too, was haunted by these thoughts, but he consoled the queen:
“Don’t worry, darling, don’t cry, maybe everything will get better.”
And, indeed, a year later the queen gave birth to a son. That was joy! Messengers ran in all directions to call guests to the king. They feasted for three weeks. And the music played day and night!
The parents doted on their son, and he grew and grew and now became a handsome young man. His father and mother began to persuade him to get married.
“Make us happy, son,” they say, “we want to take a walk at your wedding in our old age!”
Now they match him with such a princess, then another, one more beautiful than the other! But he just doesn’t like everything. And he says that he doesn’t want to get married at all.
The king was upset.
And let's persuade and beg him again. It's all in vain.
Well, if we don’t wash, we’ll go for a ride! - the king got angry, ordered the disobedient man to be locked in a closet where no one had ever lived, and assigned a servant to guard him.
At the door of that closet there was a deep well, and in the well the witch lived. Around midnight, when everyone in the castle was already asleep, she climbed up, looked through the keyhole - the light was on. After all, princes, even when they are sleeping, have candles burning in their rooms.
The witch was surprised. “What’s shining there?” she thinks. “We need to find out!”
She poked her head through the keyhole and saw the prince. The witch turned into a fly, flew into the room, looked at the prince, and shook her head.
- How good-looking! Handsome!
She watched enough, got out into the street and set off to fly around the world.
She flew and flew and met a skinny, lanky man-witcher. They recognized each other immediately.
-Where are you heading from? - the witcher asks the witch.
“From my handsome prince,” she answers. -Where are you from?
- From my beautiful princess!
- From your beautiful princess?
- From my beauty. Know - there is no one more beautiful than her in the world!
“Look, what did you come up with,” the witch waved her hand, “my prince is a hundred times more handsome!” If you don’t believe me, go ahead, bring your princess, let’s compare!
OK. The witcher rushed off like an arrow and returned with the princess. They brought her to the prince and laid her down next to him. And let's argue again:
- The prince is more handsome!
- No, the princess is more beautiful! They argued and argued, but the witch got tired of it:
“Okay, wait a minute,” she decided. - Let's ask.
As he stamped his foot, then the room shook, and an abyss opened in the middle of the floor, and there the Devil sat - the Chief Judge.
-What do you want? - speaks. - Why are you bothering me?
“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry,” the witch calms him down, “decide our dispute, which of these two is more beautiful?” I say prince, and he says princess. Damn, what do you say?
“Now let’s see,” the Devil grumbled, “and let’s listen to what they themselves have to say.”
And then the witch, the witcher and the Devil turned into flies and began to fly under the prince’s nose. The prince woke up, saw the princess, couldn’t believe his eyes, decided that he was seeing her in a dream. He rubbed his eyes - no, he was not sleeping. He began to complain to his parents why this beauty was not shown to him during the day.
He looks and looks, and the longer he looks, the more he likes her.
“Eh,” he says, “if they had shown it to me earlier, I wouldn’t have said a word, I would have immediately sent matchmakers.” How good, how beautiful!
And exchanged his ring for the princesses. And the flies are buzzing and buzzing again; the prince fell asleep, they woke up the princess. The princess saw the prince, was surprised and was offended by her parents, why they didn’t show her this handsome man during the day. She looks and looks, and the more she looks, the more she likes him.
“Oh,” she says, “if they showed him to me, I wouldn’t say a word, I would immediately marry him.” How beautiful, how handsome!
He wants to exchange rings with him, but he sees that they have already been changed. Then the flies flew away and the princess fell asleep. The flies again turned into a witch and a witcher, and the Devil declared that the prince and princess were equal in beauty.
The witcher took the princess home, and the witch went down into her well.
In the morning the prince woke up and began asking his servant who the girl was in his room at night. The poor servant doesn’t know anything, he slept like a log all night. He made excuses, excused himself, and then just say that the prince supposedly dreamed everything.
The prince got angry, attacked the servant, and wants to throw him into the well. He barely escaped from his hands and in fear rushed to the royal servant, complaining that the prince had apparently lost his mind, kept asking about some girl who was in his room at night! And he’s going to throw it down the well. The royal servant got ready and went to the prince.
“Good,” he says, “morning, prince.” How did you sleep?
- What kind of question? - the prince shouted. - Tell me better, what beauty was here last night?
“I don’t know anything,” the servant was surprised.
The prince attacked him - just say yes and nothing else, otherwise it will get worse! - here the royal servant decided that the prince had lost his mind, and hurried to the king himself.
The king listened to the servant, got scared, and broke his hands:
- My God, my God! How far I have lived in my old age! My son will drive me to the grave! Why did I treat him so harshly? Why did I lock him in a closet!
So, groaning, the king came to the prince.
- How are you, my son? - asks. - What happened to you?
- You know what happened to me! - the prince answers him. “I didn’t expect such jokes from you.”
In vain the king convinced him that he knew nothing, the prince did not believe and did not believe, the king had to swear on his royal crown. Our prince fell ill here and took ill. He's completely dying.
The princess, who was brought to the prince at night, was also the only, long-awaited daughter of the king and queen. She grew up, and princes began to woo her, they came from all over the world, but not one of them was dear to her.
The father endured and endured, but became angry and ordered her to be locked in an empty room with an old maid.
It was only after that night, when the witch and the witcher carried her to the prince, that she woke up from sleep and immediately asked about the prince. No one can tell her anything, and the father himself swears on his crown that he knows nothing. The princess fell ill here and fell ill, and is about to go to the next world.
The king and queen tell them to call the doctors. Doctors give advice, but cannot help. The princess is getting worse and worse day by day. Fortunately, her old maid had a son who was a soldier. The soldier thought about it and began to ask the king to let him go from being a soldier; even if he went to the ends of the world, he would bring a doctor who could cure the princess.
OK. The king agreed. And the next day the soldier got ready to go on the road.
I’ve already walked around seventy-six regions, but there’s still no suitable doctor.
I got to the seventy-seventh, came to the city where the sick prince lay.
- What news do you have here? - asks people.
- We have sad news! - people answer him. - The king's son is sick and dying.
And they told it like it is. The soldier hurried to the palace and promised to cure the prince. He is supposedly a doctor from the seventy-seventh country.
“Don’t try,” the king replies, “we’ve had so many doctors here, but none of them helped.”
The soldier persuaded him, the king waved his hand:
- Well, try your luck.
“Okay,” said the soldier, “just leave everyone, and leave me and the patient alone!”
Everyone left the room, the soldier sat down next to the prince and let’s talk about the princess. I weaved and weaved, I laid out everything I knew.
The prince listened, and he didn’t need better medicine - he immediately sat up in bed!
Then the king and queen run in and see that their son has come to life! They even cried in joy.
Just a week has passed, and the prince, as if nothing had happened, is healthy and cheerful. And then the soldier told the prince that it was time for them to go, lest the princess die of melancholy.
They agreed on what and how to do, slowly prepared two dresses in reserve and asked the king for leave, as if to go hunting. They ordered the horses to be saddled and galloped off into the nearest forest. We galloped and galloped and reached the border. The prince saw the traveler and said:
“Go to the king, good man, and tell him that I met your son.” He told me to tell you not to worry about him, he is going to a distant land, but will return soon.
And he gave the traveler a handful of ducats.
The prince and the soldier gallop day and night without stopping. Finally they reached the castle where the sick princess lay. The soldier was the first to enter the chambers. He sees: the princess is lying neither alive nor dead, and the king and queen are crying and wailing over her.
“Don’t cry,” the soldier tells them, “I brought a doctor, he will definitely cure your daughter.”
- Where is he? Drive quickly! - the king and queen interrupt him.
“Here, here,” the soldier answers. “He just asks everyone to leave, he needs to talk to the princess face to face.”
The king and queen went into the next room, and the soldier called the prince. As soon as the prince crossed the threshold, the princess immediately recognized him, stretched out her hands to him and said in a weak voice:
- It's him! He! Oh, hello! It's so good that you came. A little more and it would have been too late!
The prince came closer to her - and all the illness disappeared from her as if by hand. The king and queen came running - they couldn’t believe their eyes! What a wonderful healer!
But the prince does not leave his sweetheart, but he himself keeps silent about who he is, and orders the princess to remain silent. But then she rose to her feet and announced to her parents that this was the same prince she had asked about, and the prince admitted that he was the king’s son. And soon the wedding took place!
The wedding was celebrated and everyone who could, both old and young, went to the prince’s parents. And they mourn their son, thinking that he died.
There was so much to celebrate! And a great feast, and music, and dancing!
There was also a willow tree, on that willow there was a bell ringing, and then the fairy tale ended.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru