Once upon a time there lived a man, and he had his only son, Ion. Shortly before his death, his father said to Jonah:
- Ion, I’m dying, and you go wherever you look, look for your happiness. You're a hard-working guy, work hard. Show that you are no worse than others.
Ion buried his father, packed his knapsack and set off to seek happiness.
He walked for a long time or a short time, and then in a green valley he met a shepherd.
-Where are you going, boy? - asked the shepherd.
“I’m looking for a job,” answered Ion.
“Won’t you come and work in my sheepfold?”
- Why not? I'll go!
- What kind of payment do you want?
-In the fall, give me a sheep, whichever one I choose.
“Well, let it be your way,” answered the shepherd.
All summer Ion tended sheep, and in the fall he received a sheep and set off on his journey. As soon as he stepped out onto the road, the sheep fell and died on the spot.
“I have no luck with sheep,” thought Ion and went to look for a new job.
He walked for a long time or a short time and met an old miller.
“Are you going far, boy?” asked the miller.
- I, uncle, am looking for my happiness.
“Won’t you work with me at the mill?”
- Why not? I'll try.
- What will you take for this?
- A little: you will feed me, and in the fall you will give me the millstone I want.
- What do you need a millstone for? Better take a bag of flour.
“I don’t need flour, give me a stone anyway,” Ion answered.
- Okay, let it be your way.
In the fall, Ion took a stone and just went out onto the road with it, the stone fell and split in two.
“What a misfortune! And here I was unlucky,” thought Ion and moved on.
He walked for a long time or a short time and met the priest.
-Where are you going, boy? - asked the priest.
— I walk around the world, looking for work.
-Would you like to work for me?
- Well, I can work for you too. What will you pay me? - Ion asked this time.
“I’ll give you some bread in the fall.” And the work will be like this: plowing, sowing, threshing, helping me with the housework.
- Okay, I agree.
In the evening the priest brought Jon home and showed him the priest. The next day he took him with him to plow the field. But the priest had such oxen that four people couldn’t handle them. In a word, there were oxen with temper.
They worked a little, and the priest said to Jonah:
“I’ll go home, and you drive slowly.” The oxen, I see, are quiet today.
- Go, go, I can handle it alone. As soon as the priest left, one of the oxen suddenly said to Jonah:
- Listen, Ion, we are not ordinary oxen, but magical ones. We help good people in any way we can. Go and rest, and we’ll plow the field ourselves.
Beyond the field the forest began. Ion climbed into the shadows and lay there, while the oxen plowed and tried.
But the priest didn’t go home. He hid to see how Ion would plow when he was alone. He saw that the oxen were plowing themselves, and thought: this is something unclean. In the evening he says to Jonah:
- Take whatever you want for the job, just leave me.
Ion took the money and went home. Suddenly the oxen catch up with him. The guy is back and says ass
“Lock up your oxen, otherwise they follow me as if they’ve known me all their lives.”
He locked the oxen, but as soon as Ion walked away, they broke the gate and caught up with him again. Well, this time Ion did not lead them away, but went further with them.
The oxen brought him to a large forest, and he began to graze them there. He looks - someone's goat is nibbling grass. Jon came up and milked her. And this was the goat of the old snake - the snake lived in the forest. The snake noticed in the evening that the goat had come home without milk, and shouted to the whole forest:
- Hey, what prankster milked my goat?
“It’s me, Ion Moldavanu,” the guy answered.
- Come on, come here. I heard that Moldovans are strong fighters. Show me your strength.
What should Jonah do here? He took out the cottage cheese that he had just made from goat's milk and squeezed it in his hand. The snake asks:
- What are you doing?
“Yes, I’m squeezing a stone to get water, otherwise it’s a long walk to the well.”
The snake saw that the water was really flowing, and was afraid. “What,” he thinks, “if he squeezes me the same way now!”
“You know,” he said to Jon, “let’s be better friends.” I have a castle here in the forest and a large farm, but I live alone. So you will be like a brother and son to me.
“Okay, let it be your way,” Ion agreed.
For two weeks he didn’t have to lift a finger.
But one day the serpent sent him to bring water. And the buckets he gave were so big that Ion could barely carry them empty, and couldn’t lift them full. What to do? Ion decided to cheat. He began to dig around the well. The serpent did not wait for water and went to meet Jonah. He came and asked:
- What are you doing, Ion?
- Yes, I want to bring this well home.
- Have you lost your mind? - the snake shouted. - This is the only well I have, and you want to fill it up. Let me get some water myself, otherwise with your plans I will be left without a well!
The snake took the buckets and they went home. And the snake breathed so strongly that when he exhaled, Ion flew far forward, and when he inhaled, he was drawn to the very mouth of the snake.
- Why are you running back and forth? - asked the snake.
“I’m so angry that I can’t find any room for myself.” As soon as I go forward, I remember everything, I come back, and I want to crack you so hard that sparks will fall from your eyes.
- What did I do wrong?
- Like what? By your grace, I will have to carry buckets every day. Wouldn't it be better to bring the whole well home?
“Okay,” says the snake, “I’ll carry the water myself, just don’t touch the well.”
The next day the serpent sends Jonah into the forest for firewood. And Ion took a rope and began to tie all the trees in the forest with it. The snake saw that Jonah was still no and no, and went to see what he was doing.
- Listen, what are you up to? - he asked Ion.
“I want to take the forest home.”
- Fie, so be it! After all, I inherited this forest from my father, and you want to destroy it!
The snake pulled out a larger tree to take home, and Jonah says:
- Listen, snake, you carry the trunk, and I will carry the branches. You see, there are so many of them: you can’t cope with them.
The snake lifted the tree, and Ion sat down among the branches and calmly drove home.
Soon after that, the snake gathered to visit his brother.
He left Jonah the keys and said:
- Here are your keys. You can go wherever you want, just don’t look into the cellar and don’t open this door. It's clear?
When the serpent left, Ion began to walk everywhere, looking at his wealth.
Ion stopped at the cellar and thought: “What is there?”
He took it and opened the door. He looks - and it’s full - full of people.
-Who are you, good people, and why are you sitting here? - asked Ion.
- We are forest guides. The snake put us here because we stood up against the evil rich people, the fighters, took away their goods and distributed them to the poor.
- Get out and go home. Here is the serpent's treasury: take gold from it and distribute it to the poor people.
- Thank you, Ion!
When they left, Ion also opened the door that the snake had not ordered to be opened. And behind the door stood a handsome horse, such that you couldn’t take your eyes off it. It was the horse of the brave Haidut ataman Kodryan. The snake caught this horse in the forest when the haiduk hobbled him and let him go to graze.
The horse said to Jonah:
“Get me out of here and take a brush, a scarf and a hat from the shelf.”
Ion Moldavanu took a brush, a scarf and a hat from the shelf and led the horse into the forest.
“Now,” said the horse, “go and release the oxen that brought you here.” Then I will help you. And the oxen will now go to a new owner - a poor old man lives on the edge of the forest.
Ion ran away and found oxen - all this time, while Ion lived with the serpent, they were grazing in a green clearing. Ion said goodbye to the oxen, and they went to the poor old man, who was toiling without cattle.
And Ion returned to where his horse was waiting for Haiduk Codrian.
“Get on me!” the horse shouted. Ion sat down. The magic horse neighed so hard that the earth shook, and rushed faster than the wind.
The snake heard the neighing of the horse and rushed to catch up with him. When he was already so close that his breath made Ion sway in the saddle, the horse shouted:
- Drop the brush!
And he threw the brush, and it turned into a large, dense forest. The snake began to gnaw trees to make a path for itself. So he got out of the thicket and again began to overtake Jonah. Then the horse said:
- Throw away the handkerchief!
Ion threw the handkerchief, and in the place where the handkerchief fell, the sea overflowed. While the serpent was crossing this sea, Ion rode far away. But soon the snake began to overtake the fugitives again, and when he was already very close, the horse shouted to Jonah:
- Throw away your hat!
The hat fell and turned into an iron wall, and the snake hit it with acceleration and immediately died. The horse stopped, Ion jumped to the ground. When they rested a little, the horse speaks*
- That's it. Ion, I will return to my master Codrian-haiduk, and you take this bell. When you need me, call it - I will rush to you faster than the wind. And here's my advice to you: don't walk around with your face open. You are very beautiful and this can cause trouble to happen to you. Cover your face with calfskin, it will protect you from the evil eye.
The horse galloped away, and Ion went to the shepherds, took out a calf skin from them, threw it over himself and moved on.
Ion heard that the king had three daughters and the youngest of them was so beautiful that you couldn’t take your eyes off her. And people said that she was the niece of Kodryan-haiduk, and they took her to the palace so as not to upset the king. The youngest royal daughter was born blind, her father still knew nothing about it. So the tsar considered Kodryanova’s niece his youngest daughter, but the tsarina did not dare to reveal the truth to him.
Ion came to the royal gates and asked if there was any work for him. They sent him to graze the geese.
Ion took the geese out to a green meadow, threw off the calf skin, and the geese looked at him all day, so that they forgot about the grass. And it was all because of Jonah’s beauty. So a day passed, two, three - the geese all looked at Jonah, did not eat and began to die of hunger.
The king got angry and sent his eldest daughter to check how the new shepherd’s geese were grazing. But Ion immediately heard that the royal carriage with bells was approaching, covered his face with his skin, and the geese began to nibble the grass. The Tsar's daughter arrived and looked - everything was in order. She returned to the palace and told her father about this. And the next morning several geese were again found dead, and the king sent his middle daughter to the shepherd.
The princess saddled her horse and rode off. As soon as she appeared on the road, Ion had already noticed her. He threw the skin over himself, and the geese began to graze calmly. The daughter returned to the king and told him that Ion was taking good care of the geese.
On the third day, the king sent his youngest daughter to the shepherd, because many geese had died again. She was smarter than the elders, threw a torn scarf over the royal dress and walked not along the road, but through the thorn bushes. She got out into the meadow, but Ion didn’t even raise an eyebrow in her direction - he sat there, his face open, and the geese looked at him. Then the girl threw off her scarf, and Jon saw that the princess was in front of him.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Ion,” she said. “I heard about your beauty and came to look at you.” And I liked you so much that I want to be your bride.
“But I am a poor man, a simple shepherd, you are the king’s daughter, and kings and poor people cannot tolerate each other.” Have you heard about Codrian-haiduk?
“I even saw him once,” the girl answered, “he’s so handsome and brave.”
- Do you know who you are?
- I am the youngest daughter of the king.
- No, you are Codrian’s niece.
And Ion told her everything that he had heard from people.
The girl told him to continue to hide his face from everyone and not to tell anyone that they loved each other.
And at night the king had a dream - they say, he must quickly marry off all his daughters, otherwise trouble will happen to him. The next morning the king called his daughters, gave them each a golden apple and ordered them to go out onto the balcony. Everyone walked under this balcony, and the princesses had to throw an apple to whoever they wanted as their grooms. The two eldest princesses immediately chose husbands for themselves - noble warriors, and the youngest did not throw her golden apple to anyone either on the first or second day. Everyone was surprised, and the king ordered to find out who else remained uninvited to the court, and he was pointed to a shepherd in a calf's skin. They called Jonah, he walked under the balcony, and the girl threw him a golden apple.
The king was very angry with his youngest daughter, but there was nowhere to go, and he had to marry the princess to a shepherd.
The king did not accept them, and Ion himself was not one of those who live in royal palaces. They made a dugout on the very edge of the city and began to live there. They began to work together in the field, because Jonah’s wife was the daughter of a poor peasant, and she ended up in the palace by accident. One day, enemies attacked the country, and the king got ready to go on a campaign with his two sons-in-law and his army.
Ion Moldavanu says to his wife:
- Go to the king and ask for a horse for me.
I will also go to war.
But the husbands of the older princesses laughed at her and gave Jonah an old mare, which for a long time had only carried water. Ion set out on the royal mare before everyone else, but got stuck in a swamp halfway along the way. There the king and his army caught up with him.
“Look, this unwashed one also went to fight,” said the king’s sons-in-law.
They approached Ion and asked:
- Hey, where are you going?
“To war,” Ion answered calmly. “I also want to defend our country.”
- What, you didn’t want to protect us?
- No, our country is a people, a poor people, and for us the invasion of enemies is more terrible than for people like you.
- Yes, he’s crazy, unfortunate thing!
He seems to consider himself equal to us, the royal sons-in-law!
They slapped him in the face and moved on. As soon as they drove away, Ion rang the magic bell. And immediately Haiduk Kodryan’s horse galloped up. Ion entered his left ear and came out of his right ear dressed in armor, with a saber and a spear. His horse ran faster than the wind. Ion overtook the royal army, crashed into the ranks of the enemies and began to cut them down left and right. By the time the king and his troops arrived, all the enemies had already been defeated. Ion turned back, and when he passed by the king’s sons-in-law, he slapped them so hard that they staggered. He reached the swamp, released the magic horse and covered his face with a calf's skin. His sons-in-law drove up to him and started making fun of him again, but he didn’t answer them.
Ion returned home and sent his wife to the palace to say that it was he who defeated the enemies. But her sons-in-law only laughed at her:
“It was God’s angel, and he helped us win, not your shepherd.”
The next day, Ion again alone beat the enemy army and slapped the king's sons-in-law. And they met him again in the swamp, riding on an old mare, and did not guess anything.
Jonah's wife went to the king again:
“My husband says that it was he who defeated the enemy army.”
- Shut up, don’t embarrass yourself! After all, it was an angel.
On the third day, the enemy army was much stronger. When the king and his army arrived at the place
battle, Ion still fought with the enemies. And they wounded him in the right hand. The king threw him his silk scarf, and Ion bandaged his wound with it. And then he beat all the enemies, gave the king’s sons-in-law six slaps in the face and rushed off on his horse. And on the way back, the king’s sons-in-law found him again by the swamp: he struggled and couldn’t get his old mare out of the swamp.
Soon the war ended, and Ion Moldavanu still lived in his dugout on the very edge of the city.
But one day the king called all his neighbors to watch how they would execute two haiduks. They attacked a rich and noble warrior in the forest. Guests came in large numbers, apparently and invisibly.
They took the haiduks out of prison and placed them nearby in the square. Ion also came there. The guests began to mock the haiduks. One of the king's sons-in-law pointed to the haiduk and said:
- Isn’t this the hero who defeated his enemies?
Everyone started laughing, but Ion couldn’t resist, he came forward and shouted:
“It was I, a simple shepherd, who helped you beat the enemy, but you didn’t believe me.” And today you want to execute the people who fought with me! Here, king, is your silk scarf that you gave me during the battle.
They rushed to Ion to grab him, but he took it and rang his bell. A horse came running, Ion entered the left ear, came out of the right in armor and with weapons, grabbed a saber and dealt with the king and his sons-in-law.
Ion freed the Haiduks, fraternized with them, took a wife, and they left for the forest. And the forest has always been a reliable friend of the haiduk.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru