It was a long time ago. One gypsy had three daughters. He kept his daughters in great strictness, did not allow them to leave the tent, so that they did not see or hear anything.
And now the time has come for them to get married. Many rich gypsies approached them, but they refused everyone.
One day the sisters were sleeping in the canopy, and an old man came to them in a dream and said:
- Go into the forest, you will find a clearing there, in this clearing there is a hundred-year-old oak tree, under this oak tree an old witch will be waiting for you. She will tell you about your fate, for which of you how life will turn out.
The sisters woke up, talked among themselves and decided to secretly go into the forest to find out about their future fate. Let's go. We came across this clearing that the old man was talking about.
The sisters see: indeed, there is an oak tree, and so huge that its top touches the sky, and an old woman is sitting under the oak tree.
“Let the elder sister come to me,” the old woman ordered.
The older sister comes up and asks:
- Tell me, grandma, what is destined for me?
- It’s written in your family, my dear, to spend your life in a cave, your destiny is to become the wife of a cave sorcerer. If you are connected with an unclean man, he will take you around his kingdom and show you his riches. This man is very rich, no one is richer than him in all the land. But you won’t see white light anymore. Get ready for this.
- What about my sisters? – the elder sister begged.
“Forget about them, honey, you won’t see them again.”
- Eh, no, old witch! – the gypsy got angry. - It won't be your way. I won’t go into the cave, I won’t become the wife of a cave sorcerer, I don’t want to be separated from my sisters and the white light.
“As you know, just make sure the cave sorcerer doesn’t forgive you, he punishes you.”
“Let it be,” said the elder sister and walked away from the oak tree.
The middle sister approaches the witch:
- Tell me, grandma, what is my destiny in life?
“And you have such a destiny, dear: to be the wife of a forest man.” You will go into the forest, and he will already be waiting for you there. There is no one in the world stronger than the forest man. If he loves someone, he will make this person happy, but if he angers him, then do not expect good. He will lead you through the forests, bury you out of human sight, and tell you about life in the forest. Only animals and birds will be your friends, and you will have to stay away from people.
- What about my sisters?
- Forget about your sisters, daughter.
What can you do, since this is fate.
- That won’t happen, old witch! – the middle sister got angry. “It won’t be your way, I won’t live with the forest man!”
“You shouldn’t contradict your fate, daughter, be afraid of angering the forest man, he will punish you for words like that.”
“Let it be what it will be,” said the middle sister and walked away from the oak tree.
The younger sister approaches the witch:
– What is my fate, grandmother?
Just tell the whole truth, don’t hide anything.
“And this is your fate,” answered the sorceress. - You will go to the sea, sit on the shore and wait.
The sea will rise, and the king of the sea will come ashore with his twelve sons. So, my dear, your destiny is to live with this king of the sea. The sea will become your home, daughter. All the riches of the sea will be yours, but you will not see people anymore, only the dead will enter your house. And what conversation with them?
The younger sister sighed:
- Well, grandma, since fate is like this, what should we do? You can't hide from fate. Let it be what will be.
That same night the same old man comes again to the sisters in a dream:
- Well, have you found out about your fate?
“We found out, but we don’t want such a fate,” say the eldest and middle sisters. - We will not go to the indicated place.
- You shouldn’t contradict me, daughters.
The old witch told the whole truth.
The youngest daughter was silent and did not intervene in the conversation of the old man and her sisters. Only at the very end I asked:
- Tell me, grandfather, when will this prediction come true?
“Well,” he answers, “at the very end of the month you will have to go to the seashore, and everything that the sorceress predicted will happen to you.”
The time has come for the sisters to go: the eldest to the cave, the middle to the forest, and the youngest to the seashore.
- I won’t go! - the older sister shouts. “It’s better to hang yourself than to go into a cave.”
- And I won’t go! – the middle sister shouts. “It’s better to drown yourself in a river than to become the wife of a forest man.”
But the youngest didn’t say anything, she just quietly gathered her things into a bundle and went to the seashore.
A gypsy girl came to the seashore, sat on a pebble and waited. Exactly at midnight the sea parted, and the king of the sea, gray and shaggy, came out:
- Well, have you come, daughter?
- She has come, father.
“Thank you, dear, for not being afraid, for not arguing with your fate.” As a reward for this, I will fulfill any of your wishes. The time will come and you will wish for it. Don’t be afraid, daughter, I’m not taking you as a wife, I’m taking you as a daughter. After all, I have twelve sons, but not a single daughter. We will take care of you.
The sea waves parted and received the sea king along with the gypsy woman.
A girl lives with the sea king for a year, then lives for another. He couldn’t be happier with her, almost carrying her in his arms.
And her new brothers - the sons of the sea king - became attached to the gypsy with all their souls. She lives well in the sea kingdom, but only one thought worries her: the gypsy wants to see her sisters. She says to the sea king:
– Do you remember, father, you promised to fulfill one of my wishes, no matter what I made.
- Speak, daughter, I will do everything, no matter what you ask.
“I want to look at my sisters at least with one eye.”
The sea king frowned and became sad; - Eh, dear, I don’t feel sorry for letting you go to your sisters, I’m only afraid that this meeting will not bring you joy. And the gypsy is not far behind:
- Let go, father, no matter what the truth is, it is still the truth!
The sea king waved his hand and ordered:
“My sons, take her to her sisters, let her look at how they live.”
The brothers took their sister by the arms and carried her to the shore. They approach the gypsy camp. A gypsy girl sees: and near the tents two women are talking to young gypsies, but the gypsies are afraid to approach them. These women stand in what their mother gave birth to, their hair is long, flowing, down to their very heels, and they themselves are beautiful - you can’t take your eyes off them. The young gypsies could not stand it - they came closer to these women. How the women grabbed them and started tickling them. Tickled to death.
The gypsy girl recognized her sisters and began to cry.
And they saw her and ran up to her:
- Forgive us, sister, for confusing you. We did not listen to the witch, and for this we were punished.
“The cave sorcerer made me a river mermaid because I did not become his wife,” says the elder sister.
“But,” says the middle sister, “the forest man did not spare me, he made me a forest mermaid.” And since then we have had no peace.
The sisters grieved and went in different directions, each to their own fate.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru