A gypsy camp roamed. And as it happens: in some families there are many children, but they live in harmony, and in others there are only two or three children, but they live like dogs. And so one family roamed in this camp: a husband, a wife and two children. The daughter was older, and the boy was very small. Every now and then screams and curses were heard in the tent of these gypsies.
One day the gypsy woman had a fight with her husband again.
- Damn you! - she shouts. - Why did you fall on my head?
Yes, I should have married someone else. If I had left you, it would have been better. Now bother with you, the devil children, torment yourself.
The gypsy’s daughter approaches the gypsy, she holds her little brother in her arms and says to her mother:
- Why are you doing this, mom? Why do you, as soon as you start swearing, curse us? You and I no longer have the strength to live. We'll go into the forest and won't come back to you again.
The gypsy woman grinned:
- How come you won’t come? Where will you go? What devil will take you? You can't escape your mother anywhere.
That same evening, news spread around the camp: the gypsy woman’s children had disappeared—a girl and a boy.
The gypsy woman began to look everywhere, her husband rode all over the area on his horse - they could not find her anywhere. The next day, as soon as noon came, the gypsies watched: the children of the grumpy gypsy approached the tent and cried:
“Remove the stone from your soul, you cursed us, and now they won’t let us go.”
The gypsy wanted to take the children into the tent, but they wouldn’t give in to her hands. The whole camp caught them - it was useless.
In short, from that time on, as soon as the sun passed midday, chaos began in the forest near the camp; dances, games, songs. The eldest daughter dances, sings songs, and her little brother dances nearby. They run through the forest. The mother sees them, but cannot catch them.
One day a gypsy woman went to the river and looked: her daughter was sitting on a pebble between the rocks - her braids were loose, holding her brother in her arms. And near her children five devils are swarming.
How they grab the girl, how they throw her up, and she sits down on that pebble again.
The mother sat down on the river bank, cried, and the devils came up to her and said:
- Well, gypsy, if you had it, you grieved, but if you lost it, you grieve even worse!
- Tell me, evil spirit, how can I get my children back?
“Only then will you be able to return your children, when you remove the curse from your soul, when you throw away the stone from your heart, when you walk through this dark forest at night from beginning to end.” And even then, we can’t promise you whether you’ll return them or not...
The gypsy has nothing to do, she got ready in the evening and went through the forest. Suddenly he sees: a tall man is standing on the road, so tall that his head is as high as the tops of the trees, and this man is holding a whip in his hands. A gypsy woman comes up to him and says:
- Well, what can you tell me, forest dad? I would give my life to you, if only you would return my children to me.
The forester answers her:
“Oh, my dear, you should have thought better of it long ago and come to me, but now you’re late.” Your daughter is no longer alive: she drowned herself and became a river mermaid, and your son is no longer alive: he rose higher than a tall spruce and became a devil.
So you won’t get your children back and you won’t get them. You yourself cursed them, you yourself lost your life.
The forest father said this, and then waved his whip, divided the forest in two and said:
- Now tell me, which way will you go, which road?
- And tell me, forest daddy, where should I go?
- Eh, no, decide for yourself: if you go back, you will return to your master, if you go forward, you will lose your life.
The gypsy thought and said:
“Since I lost my children, it means I have nothing to come home to my master.” And without them I don’t even need life.
The gypsy went straight ahead. Then the forest father waved his hand, the forest moved, and the gypsy disappeared forever.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru