One day a man decided to get married. But when the wedding palanquin and the bride were being carried past the mountain, a tiger suddenly jumped out onto the road. The palanquin bearers and the entire bride's retinue fled in fear in all directions. Meanwhile, the tiger climbed into the palanquin, grabbed the bride and took her to his cave. He took care of her and pleased her, like his own daughter, and she looked after his household. Every morning the tiger left to get food. Either he will bring a rooster, or a ram or a calf. The girl cooked the meat and fed the tiger. And the tiger, as soon as he began to eat boiled food, quickly learned the human language.
But then one day some official called his servants to him and ordered them to find rooster eggs and get sparrow combs, in a word, something that does not happen in the world. There is nothing to do. The servants did not hesitate and went to the mountains to carry out the official’s order. And at that time the tiger had just left the house, leaving the girl alone. She heard that people had come, and then she shouted: “Save me!” People followed the voice and approached the cave. They see a girl sitting there, and let’s ask her about everything. And when they found out that the tiger had brought her to the cave a long time ago, they began to persuade her:
“We will free you, just promise that you will be our master’s second wife.”
The girl agreed and answered:
“I will be your master’s second wife, just get me out of here as soon as possible.”
- What ransom should I give for you?
The girl answers:
- I don’t need anything. Prepare only a red wedding palanquin and another basket of red and green chopsticks.
- When do you want me to come for you?
- Tomorrow at the same time.
The girl began to get ready for the journey. And the official’s servants returned home and reported everything to their master. The next day, the official prepared everything that the girl asked for and sent people to the mountains to fetch the bride. The girl sat down in the palanquin and ordered that chopsticks be thrown along the entire road, all the way to the official’s house. And when she entered the gate, she immediately ordered to buy a dongua pumpkin for her, steam it, and then pour cold water on it to make the crust even harder.
The tiger returned to the cave, saw that the girl had disappeared, immediately realized that it was people who had kidnapped her, and went to look for her along the same road where the red and green sticks were scattered. He came straight to the official’s house, raised his head, looked around, and suddenly saw a girl standing upstairs at the window. She saw a tiger and screamed:
“People stole me, open your mouth quickly, I’ll jump into it now, and you’ll take me back to the cave.”
The tiger opened his mouth, and the girl threw the pumpkin. It hit him right in the throat. The tiger choked and died, and the girl got his skin and bones.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru