Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife, and they had an only son. One day the son said to his parents:
- How much longer will we endure poverty? Let me leave home - maybe I’ll be able to earn something somewhere and thereby save you from poverty.
Mother and father did not agree to let their son go for a long time, but he stood his ground and, finally, they got him ready for the journey. His mother prepared him a light and satisfying meal, the young man put it in his bag, threw the bag over his shoulder, said goodbye to his parents and went to seek his fortune.
How long he walked, who knows, but the food he had taken with him ran out, and the young man began to worry about hunger. He went out to the edge of the forest and was met by a wolf. The young man decided to kill the wolf to satisfy his hunger.
“Don’t kill me,” said the wolf. “You better scratch my belly with a stick, and I’ll help you someday.”
The young man scratched the wolf's belly and moved on. He sees an eagle sitting on the ground. The eagle tried to fly, but could not.
“I’ll kill this eagle and eat it,” says the young man.
“Instead, throw me up a fathom,” the eagle answers, “and someday I will be useful to you.”
The young man threw the eagle, it flapped its wings and flew away, and the young man moved on. He goes and sees: the fox has fallen into a trap.
- Maybe I should eat the fox? - says the young man. - I'm dying of hunger.
- Where have you seen foxes eaten? - the fox answers. - My meat is not suitable for food. It’s better to free me from the trap, you’ll see – and I’ll be useful to you.
He also released the fox. He walked and walked and came to the seashore. He looks and a wave has thrown a large sturgeon onto land.
- That’s what I’ll eat! – the young man exclaimed, rushed forward and grabbed the sturgeon.
- Don't eat me! - said the sturgeon. “Anything can happen, maybe someday you will find yourself in a difficult situation - then I will repay you with kindness for kindness.”
The young man felt sorry for the sturgeon and threw it into the water.
No one knows how long he walked, but he finally reached the Aldar’s village. I went to the last house - and there lived an old witch.
“Grandma, give shelter to the guest,” said the young man.
“If you condescend to our poverty, we will be your masters,” answered the old woman.
The young man stopped at the witch's house. The hostess treated him to what she could, and they began a conversation.
“The best suitors from different countries wooed our Aldar’s daughter, but she didn’t give her consent to anyone. She ordered everyone to have their heads cut off and impaled on fence stakes. There is only one free stake left,” says the old woman.
- Why did she exterminate them, why did they anger her so much? - asked the young man.
– She has a celestial mirror. She sets a condition for anyone wooing her: “Hide three times, wherever you want. I will look for you with the help of the heavenly mirror. If I don’t find it, it means I’m destined to be yours. Well, if I find it, I’ll order the head to be cut off and impaled on a stake.”
“I must try my luck too,” said the young man, and the next day he went to the Aldar’s daughter.
She told him:
- Hide three times; If I don’t find you, it means I’m destined to be yours. If I find it, they will cut off your head; one stake on the fence is still free.
The young man agreed.
He went to the seashore. The sturgeon swam out to him and asked:
– How can I help you?
– Hide me in the deepest place: the daughter of Aldar will look for me, looking into the heavenly mirror. If he finds me, I'm lost.
The sturgeon opened his mouth, swallowed the young man and sank to the seabed.
The Aldar's daughter took her mirror and began to look for the young man. I searched all day until the evening, and when the sun was setting, I saw him at the bottom of the sea.
The sturgeon carried the young man back to the shore, and the saddened young man went to the Aldar’s daughter.
- Well, did you find me?
“I found it, but tomorrow you can hide again.”
The next day the young man went to the eagle.
“I needed your help,” he said. “Aldar’s daughter will look for me, looking into the heavenly mirror.” If he finds it, I will lose my head. Hide me somewhere.
The eagle carried him over the seven mountains and hid him there under a rock.
The Aldar's daughter took the heavenly mirror, began to turn it in different directions, and then said:
- Look! The eagle hid it under a rock behind the seven mountains!
The eagle brought the young man back to the Aldar's castle.
“I found you,” says the girl.
“I found it,” the young man agreed.
- Well, hide again tomorrow, but this is the last time.
The young man went to call the wolf:
-Where are you, wolf? You promised to help me, but I will never need your help as much as I do now!
A wolf appeared in front of him and asked:
- How can I help you?
- Hide me somewhere far away. Tomorrow they will look for me, and if they find me, I will be finished.
The wolf carried him into a distant dense forest and hid him under dead wood.
The Aldar's daughter took the heavenly mirror in the morning and began to look for the young man. She searched on the ground, searched underground - the young man was nowhere to be seen. I looked at the black rocks, at the white mountains - and he was not there.
The sun is already setting, about to set, and then Aldar’s daughter exclaimed:
- I found him! The gray wolf hid it in the gray forest under dead wood.
The wolf pulled the young man out from under the dead wood and brought him back.
- Well, did I find you? - asks the girl.
“I found it,” the young man answers. “According to the agreement, you can execute me, but I ask: let me hide again.”
– To a person who is friends with birds, animals and even fish, I, of course, will allow him to hide again!
The young man went into the field and shouted:
- Fox! If you don’t help me, I’m lost!
A fox appeared in front of him.
-What do you need?
- Hide me so that I can’t be found.
- Let's go to the Aldar's tower. There we will dig a hole under the wall, you will hide in it, I will throw earth and stones at you, and I myself will turn into a woman, sit on top and spin.
So they did.
The Aldar's daughter took a mirror in the morning, began to look in different directions, examined all four corners of the sky - she did not see the young man anywhere in the distance. She began to look closer and saw: right under the wall of her tower there was a hole, a young man was hidden in it, and a woman was sitting above the hole, spinning a tow.
The girl was surprised - and how could she not be surprised! How many people came to her to woo her, and no one had as many friends as this young man.
And the young man, hanging his head, came to the old witch’s house and told her about his misfortune.
“My guest,” said the old woman, “let’s do this: go to the Aldar’s daughter, ask her to allow you one more try.” Maybe you'll get lucky this time.
The girl allowed the young man to hide again.
In the morning the old witch says to the guest:
“I will whip you with a felt whip, and you will turn into a greyhound.” You and I will go to the Aldar's tower. When his daughter starts looking for you, you will stand behind her. She will turn
mirror - be behind her all the time so that the mirror doesn’t catch you.
The old woman took a felt whip, whipped the young man, and he turned into a beautiful greyhound dog. The old woman and the dog went to Aldar's castle. The Aldar daughter and her maids were delighted with the dog, began to stroke it, but the dog did not look at the maids and did not leave the Aldar daughter.
So the girl took the heavenly mirror and began to look into it. As she turns around with the mirror, the dog walks behind her, hiding from the mirror behind her.
The girl looks in the mirror - the young man is nowhere to be seen.
Noon has long passed, the sun has set - and the girl is still looking. Finally, she lowered the mirror and said:
- Come out, I didn’t find you. Apparently, I'm destined to be yours.
Then the old witch whipped the dog with a felt whip - and the dog turned back into a young man.
Aldar blessed his daughter and young son-in-law, gave them gold and jewelry, and the witch gave them her felt whip. The young man and his young wife got into a self-propelled chariot and drove home.
His parents were very old by that time. The young man whipped them with a felt whip, and they became young again.
And they live and live to this day.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru