King Matia had a beautiful daughter, but she was lazy:
I never did anything, and I didn’t know how to do anything; I sat in front of the mirror every day and admired myself.
The time has come to marry her off. The king announced: whoever teaches his daughter to work at the age of three, he will marry her to him. Time goes on and on, and no one wooes the princess. The king sent his entourage to look for a husband for his daughter. They went in different directions. And then one day they met a guy plowing a field with eight oxen. They immediately ordered him to go to the king. The guy was scared, but there was nothing to do. He comes to the king, and he told him everything in order. The guy agreed and promised to teach the girl to work at three years old. He brought the princess home. The mother ran out to meet her, marveling at the beautiful girl.
The next day the guy took the plow, harnessed the oxen and went to the field, and told his mother not to force her daughter-in-law to work. In the evening I returned from work, the mother served dinner, and the son asked:
- Who worked today, mother?
“Me and you,” she answers.
- Well, whoever worked can eat.
The royal daughter did not like this, she got angry and went to bed hungry. And the next day everything was the same.
On the third, the princess said to her mother-in-law:
“Mom, give me some work too, so I don’t have to sit idle.”
She told her to chop some wood.
It was getting dark. We sat down to dinner, and the guy asked again:
- Who worked today, mother?
- We are three: me, you and the princess.
- Well, whoever worked can eat. And all three had dinner. So, little by little, the princess learned to work.
Three years later, the king comes to visit his daughter. He sees that she is working together with her mother-in-law. He was delighted and said:
- How, did you learn to work?
“But of course,” the princess answers, “it’s how it’s supposed to be with us: whoever worked can eat.” And you know, father, if you want to have dinner, go chop some wood.
The king brought his daughter and son-in-law many gifts, stayed for a while, and then took all three to his palace. He accepted that guy as his own son, and promised to transfer the kingdom to him during his lifetime.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru