Once upon a time there lived a boy. His father and mother had long since died, and the poor fellow was wandering around the world. He had no choice but to hire himself out as a shepherd to one master. The owner promised to pay him five thalers a year, but when the year was over, he drove the boy away without paying a penny.
A boy walks and cries bitterly. Another owner met him and asked:
- Why are you crying, boy?
- How can I not cry? I earned five thalers from the owner, but he sent me away and didn’t pay me a penny.
- Well, don’t worry! - the owner consoles him. - Come to me as a shepherd, I will pay you ten thalers a year.
The boy went to work with him as a shepherd and served for a whole year. But only a year passed, and this owner drove the boy away without paying a penny.
And again the boy walks along the road and cries bitterly. He met his third owner.
- Why are you crying, boy? - asks.
- How can I not cry? I earned ten thalers from the owner, and he sent me away without paying a penny.
- Well, don’t worry! - the owner consoles him. - Come to me, I will pay you fifteen thalers a year.
The boy went to him and served for a whole year. But only a year passed, and this owner drove him away without paying a penny.
The boy was completely saddened. He walks along the road and cries. An important gentleman met him, came up and asked:
- Why are you crying, boy?
- How can I not cry? I worked for three employers, but none of them paid me a penny.
The master took pity on the boy, put him in his carriage, brought him to his palace and said:
“You’ll get as much money from me as you want, and the work won’t be hard, just don’t do what I don’t tell you to do.”
The next day the master took the guy to the basement, where there were three large boilers, and said:
“I have to leave for three days, and you make sure that the fire under the boilers doesn’t go out.” You can walk around the whole palace and look at everything, just don’t go to the well, otherwise it will be bad.
On the first day everything was fine. And on the second day the guy got bored, so he went to inspect the palace. And he looked into the boilers. He sees that all three owners are sitting there, that he was deceived. The guy threw even more wood under the boilers, the fire began to blaze, and the owners were almost exhausted from screaming. On the third day, the guy remembered the well and lost peace: he wanted so much to look into the well. The poor fellow endured, endured, but could not bear it and ran to the well. I looked in there - it was dark as far as I could see. He put his hand in - it was wet. He took out his hand and looked: one finger was bleeding.
What to do? He washed his finger and rubbed it, but the blood did not leave his finger.
Soon the master returned and asked the guy:
– Did you do everything as I told you?
I went to look - in fact, everything is in order, you couldn’t do better. But then he looked at the guy, saw that his finger was bleeding, and immediately realized that he had been looking into the well. The master got angry with the guy for disobedience and whipped him almost until he bled.
So they lived and lived, the guy served the master faithfully and tried to please him in everything. But then one day the master says again:
- I have to leave for three days, and you make sure that all the boilers are in order. You can walk around the entire palace, just don’t go into one room. If you go in, it will be bad.
The master left, and the guy was left alone. I did everything as the master ordered. Only the room where he is forbidden to enter does not give him peace. On the first day he endured, on the second day he also resisted. And on the third day he couldn’t help himself - he was drawn to that room. A guy comes in and sees a beautiful horse standing there. In front of the horse are two candles, and behind him are oats. The guy thought: “This is not the case: the oats are worth it, but the horse cannot eat it.” And swapped the candles and oats. The horse pounced on the oats and ate them, and then sighed heavily and said to the guy:
- Well, son, now you’re in trouble. If the master returns today, you and I will not survive. The guy was scared to death and asked for a horse:
- Advise how we can save ourselves now? And the horse answers:
“We have only one way to salvation.” If we want to stay alive, we must run, but first try to remove the large sword that hangs on the wall opposite, and cut the thick chain with which I am chained.
The guy tried to remove the sword from the wall, but he couldn’t even move it. Then the horse told him to take a sip from the bottle that stood in the corner. The guy took a sip and again tried to remove the sword. He moved the sword, but again he could not remove it. The horse ordered to take another sip. After that, the guy took the sword off the wall, but was unable to cut the chain. The horse told him to take a third sip. The guy took the third sip and cut the thick chain in one fell swoop.
“Now take the saddle,” says the horse, “saddle me and sit astride.” But first, take the comb that the master has on the table, the scarf that the master has at the head of the bed, and the bottle that the master has under the bed.
The guy took everything that was given and led the horse into the yard. But he doesn’t know how to get on the horse: the horse is huge, there’s no way you can get on it. The horse tells him:
- Climb onto the stone and wait, and when I run past, jump on my back.
The guy did just that. But when he jumped, he didn’t even make it halfway and fell to the ground. The horse ran past the guy a second time, but again nothing happened. And then suddenly the forest around began to rustle - it was the master returning home. The guy and the horse were scared and didn’t know what to do. The horse rushed past the stone for the third time and shouted to the guy:
“If you don’t jump on me now, we’re both dead.”
The guy gathered all his strength and finally jumped onto the horse’s back.
The horse rushed like a whirlwind, only the trees bend as the horse runs past them, and the puddles dry up from its hooves.
They galloped and galloped and suddenly they heard: the forest behind them rustled even more loudly than from their running. And the horse says:
- Oh, bad! The devil is chasing us! They drive further, and the devil is about to catch up with them. Then the horse shouted:
“Throw the comb on the ground, or we’ll be finished.”
The guy threw the comb, and at the same moment a thick, dense forest rose up behind them, the devil couldn’t get through it. The devil tried to break through the forest, but only tore off his own skin. He ran home to get a scythe and began to mow this forest. He waved his scythe once, waved it again, and the wide clearing was ready. And again the devil is chasing the fugitives.
The horse is flying at full speed, but how can you escape from the devil? Here he is catching up with them again. The horse shouts to the guy:
Throw the handkerchief on the ground, or we'll be finished!
The guy threw a handkerchief, and immediately huge rocks grew behind them. The devil tried to break through the rocks, but only broke off his claws. He had to run home for a crowbar. He brought a crowbar and began to crush the rocks. Finally he made his way and rushed on. The devil is all blue with anger and rushes after the fugitives like a whirlwind. The guy hears that the forest is noisier than before. That’s right – the devil is catching up with them again. The horse shouts to the guy:
- Pour the water out of the bottle, just be careful not to pour it on yourself or me!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru