There once lived a sovereign, he had three daughters, and all three were marriageable. Everything would be fine, but here’s the problem: the princesses were distinguished by their capricious, quarrelsome disposition, especially the eldest. Just looking at her eternally sour face made her cheekbones ache, like an unripe lemon. All she knew was that she curled her lips in disgust and scolded for no reason. The young military leaders who served at the court would have been happy to court the princesses, but nothing came of it: try to approach the princesses - they will laugh, you will not end up with shame! Next time you'll stay away from them.
One day, the eldest of the princesses scolded three young military leaders for no reason at all. All three harbored a grudge against her and decided to take revenge on her. They went out onto the road and saw a beggar nicknamed Orphan - a cunning fellow with a mind of his own - he, as usual, was begging for alms from passers-by.
- Hey, poor guy! Life must be hard for you,” the young men turned to the beggar. “Tired of knowing and begging for alms?” Surely you want to amuse yourself and live in peace and bliss?
The beggar raised his bloodshot eyes to the young man.
- Of course! - he answered. “How can you not want to!” But why empty talk?! Tell me, how can a beggar amuse himself? After all, I have neither money nor goods. Are you, dear friends, planning to give me a bag of coins from your generosity?
- Uh, no... Don't hope for that. Give you money - you still won’t become rich. To do this, you need something else: to become the sovereign's son-in-law. Once you become the son-in-law of the sovereign, then you will live in comfort and bliss.
The beggar heard this, got scared, waved his hands:
- Yes, you are making fun of me, glorious young men! Can a beggar become the sovereign's son-in-law? Just look at my hands - they are covered with sores, look at my face - it has become black with dirt. And these rags - they barely cover my nakedness! Who wouldn't disdain to touch me!
Then the young men called the beggar aside and began to whisper something in his ear. At first he listened without much interest, then he became animated, and in the end he laughed cheerfully:
- It was not! – he exclaimed. “I am very grateful to you for your practical advice!”
From that day on, the beggar stopped going out onto the road with his hand outstretched. On the advice of three young men, he went into the forest and hid in the bushes at the edge of the forest for exactly three days until he managed to shoot a single sparrow with a bow. In the evening, Sirota dumped him in chicken droppings near someone else’s chicken coop, and in the morning he put him on an arrow and went to the sovereign’s mansion. The sovereign was hunting that day, so the beggar boldly approached the palisade, behind which the palace rose. He pulled the bowstring and shot an arrow with a sparrow attached to it towards the chambers where the three princesses were sitting embroidering. The eldest saw a sparrow carcass stained with chicken droppings and began to scold:
- May you be empty, may you burst, you scoundrel! May your hands dry up! And who gave you the idea to bring such rubbish to us! The whole yard is dirty!..
Here the beggar raised his voice:
- Incomparable princesses! Don't be angry, throw this rubbish back at me! It’s not without reason that they say: it’s better to do good than to make rich!
The princesses could not find anything to answer, they bent over their embroidery and became silent. This is exactly what Sirota needed! He began to scream loudly, begging the princesses to throw back the sparrow. The eldest was frightened: there was no time, the father would return from hunting, see a beggar under the fence - he would be angry with them for welcoming some ragamuffin. And, of course, the eldest will get the most! Therefore, she ordered the middle one to immediately pick up the sparrow and throw it over the fence so that this loudmouth would finally calm down. The middle of the princesses did not want to lose her dignity and entrusted this task to the youngest. She had no choice but to obey. She put aside her needlework, walked up to the sparrow, bent down, extended her hand, but immediately pulled it away with disgust:
- Fi! What disgusting! It hurts to get your hands dirty! Whoever abandoned it, let him take this stuff!
The beggar was not at a loss and - jump! - He jumped over the fence, in front of the three amazed princesses he picked up his sparrow, stomped around a little, then hesitantly approached the sovereign’s daughters and asked them to give him a drink. They were speechless from such insolence. However, you can’t embarrass a beggar,” without leaving the princesses, he began to ask even louder for them to give him something to drink. The princesses were silent. Then the beggar sat down at the feet of the elder sister, and he kept repeating his thoughts. The eldest was afraid that her father would see that an unfamiliar guy was sitting at her feet; for such things, her father would not have mercy - he would beat not only her, but also her sisters! She told the middle sister to bring water, and she entrusted this task to the younger one. The younger sister had to obey: she brought a ladle of water to the beggar, he drank in one gulp, stepped aside, sat down on the ground again and, as if nothing had happened, began to pluck the sparrow. Then all three princesses shouted in one voice for him to get out, and quickly. Not so! The beggar answered them calmly:
- Look for yourself, dear princesses: the bird is all dirty. Just wait, I’ll pluck her, then I’ll get out of the yard!
The princesses did not know how to quickly get rid of this tramp.
“Okay, pluck your sparrow quickly and get away, otherwise our father will see you here, then we won’t cut off your head,” they said. “Don’t you know that the sovereign ordered to cut off the head of anyone who speaks to us without his permission?” Nowadays there is simply no one to guard us - all the guards and military leaders have already lost their heads for trying to talk to us without the sovereign’s knowledge. So, if you want to stay alive, run away quickly!
The beggar politely agreed with the princesses, but was in no hurry to leave. He pulled out feather after feather, and when he finally finished with this matter, he asked the princesses to bring some brushwood and coal: he decided, you see, to make a fire and fry a sparrow. The princesses surrounded the ignoramus and let him scold the world, but he doesn’t even listen - he sits and sits.
“Understand, you incomparable princesses,” he repeated, “where should I go: my hut is far from here, so until I fry the sparrow, I won’t move, otherwise the game will spoil.”
The princesses realized that this impudent man really would not leave until he achieved his goal, and they became even more frightened. “What if the priest comes - what should we do then?” - thought the eldest and told the middle sister to bring some brushwood. The middle one entrusted the job to the youngest, but the youngest had no one to send for firewood, so she had to go herself.
Orphan lit a fire and let’s fry the sparrow. Soon there was a delicious smell. The princesses sniffed and their mouths watered. They also wanted to try some game. But they couldn’t ask a beggar to give them a treat, so they began to scold him and drive him out of harm’s way. But he doesn’t even think about moving.
- Oh, how delicious! What a wonderful smell! - Sirota said. “But the piece won’t go down your throat without a sip of wine.” Bring me a cup of wine, dear princesses - I’ll drink, eat and go home, I won’t be an eyesore for you anymore.
The eldest of the princesses decided: “The sparrow is so small, only one tooth. Rather than waste time arguing with this scoundrel, it would be better, perhaps, to bring him a cup of wine. Let him drink, have a bite and go away.” And she told the middle sister to go and bring a cup of wine. The middle sister entrusted this task to the younger one, and the younger one had no one to send in her place, so she had to go get the wine herself. She brought wine and handed it to Sirota:
- Drink and get out of here quickly! Otherwise, our father will appear - he won’t blow your head off!
The beggar took the wine, sat down comfortably, drank it and began to snack with relish. He gnawed only the neck of the sparrow and again asked for wine. There is nothing to be done, the youngest of the princesses brought another cup. The orphan sat down comfortably again, knocked back a cup of wine and began to work on the sparrow’s wing. He gnawed one and asked for wine again. The younger princess brought another cup - the Orphan finished off the other wing. Now the carcass remained, and the beggar again asked for wine. The youngest of the princesses got angry - she ran for wine and, out of anger, grabbed a whole jug. He hands this jug to the beggar and shouts:
- Here, choke! Here's a whole jug for you! Is that enough now? Drink - and may your spirit not be here!
The beggar took the jug and began to pour it for himself. He drinks a cup and has a bite, drinks again and has another bite. Finally he ate the whole sparrow and drank all the wine. The drunken Orphan got really drunk, he stretched out on the ground and began screaming in a heart-rending voice:
- Oh Heaven! What is this being done? Oh my poor father and mother! They took the princesses and made me drunk!..
Just at this time the ringing of bells was heard - the sovereign was returning from hunting. The princesses were frightened, rushed about, cried, but no matter how they begged the beggar to get out of the yard, he did not move, but only yelled in a heart-rending voice:
- Ay-yay-yay! How so? How so? I'm very, very drunk... Very, very drunk... The princesses gave me, poor thing, a drink...
The sisters' eyes widened in fear.
- What will happen if the priest sees a guy in our yard, and he’s completely drunk? - they wailed. “We cannot escape Father’s whip!”
Completely losing their minds from fear, they decided to hide the beggar in the bedchamber of the youngest of the princesses. They grabbed him by the arms and legs and dragged him into the chambers, but right at the door the Orphan suddenly spread his arms wide, so that no matter how hard the poor princesses tried, they could not push him into the bedchamber. Then the princesses dragged the beggar to the middle sister’s bedchamber, but at the very door he again spread his arms wide, so that the princesses again failed to drag him into the bedchamber. Scared to death, they decided to drag him to his older sister. To their great joy, this time the Orphan did not resist, and he was pushed under the bed.
So everything seemed to go well. But as soon as the eldest of the princesses crossed the threshold of her bedchamber in the evening, the Orphan shouted at the top of his lungs:
- Oh-oh-oh! If only my poor father and mother could see where I, poor wretch, have to sleep! Unhappy me, poor thing! My throat is dry from thirst! These princesses themselves got me drunk, and now they won’t give me a cup of water! Hey! Who's there? I'm thirsty! Drink! Some water for me, some water!
The eldest of the princesses shook with fear and anger, quickly bent down to the beggar and slapped him loudly in the face, but still went for water.
Taking a cup of water from the princess’s hands, the Orphan suddenly screamed in a voice that was not his own:
- I won’t drink, I won’t! I don't need water, neither hot nor cold!
The princess began to beg the Orphan not to scream so loudly. He was about to calm down, but suddenly he became angry again:
- I haven’t slept under my bed at home! And then I ended up in the princess’s bedchamber, and here you are - please, they put you under the bed!
These screams took the princess away: it was not enough for the priest and mother to hear all this. The younger sisters, too, were afraid that the Orphan might wake up the sovereign and empress, they ran to the eldest’s bedchamber and began to beg her to put the beggar on her bed. She eventually agreed, and the beggar lounged like a master on the princess’s bed.
She thought that now he would finally calm down. But that was not the case! The beggar didn’t even think about sleeping, he tossed and turned from side to side and asked the princess all sorts of stupid questions. The princess begged him to shut up and hissed at him. But Sirota was laughing foolishly and lounging on the luxurious bed, when he suddenly shouted with delight:
- Oh Heaven! What bliss! Why wasn’t I destined to be born in the sovereign’s palace?!
This time the empress heard his voice. She lit the lamp and went to see what was going on in her eldest daughter’s bedchamber. The poor princess saw her mother, burst into tears and told in order what had happened to her. She begged the Empress to forgive her. Looking at the insolent man, who was sitting comfortably right in the princess’s bedchamber, the empress became terribly angry. But, fearing shame and gossip, she decided that there was only one way out - to give her eldest daughter in marriage to a beggar.
The three young commanders learned that their cunning plan had been a success, ordered the bull and the pig to be roasted, and cheerfully celebrated the wedding of the princess and the beggar. Really, he turned out to be a good guy.
Since then, the sovereign no longer kept his daughters in forbidden chambers. And, lo and behold, the princesses abandoned their former habits and whims; worthy suitors were pleased to exchange a kind word with them. And the former beggar grew rich on the sovereign's grub, became a handsome guy, and he was not short of intelligence and savvy. And the eldest princess did not complain about her fate.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru