The mother had an only son. And all their wealth is a plum orchard and a pair of oxen. Winter came and, in order to somehow warm up, they cut down their garden. And in the spring the son harnessed the oxen, plowed the land and sowed poppy seeds. We have to feed ourselves somehow. The poppy began to ripen, the birds flocked to it, and would have pecked it all off if the son had not taken out a gun from the far corner, which was left from his father. He began to guard the poppy. He sits somehow, looks around, suddenly sees a hawk descending on the poppy, Yanko takes aim - fuck! knocked out his wing.
- Hey, guard, why did you knock out my wing? - the hawk shouts to him.
- Why did you peck my poppy? - Yanko in response.
- Why I pecked, that’s why I pecked! I was hungry! - the hawk screams again. - Know! My father is the king of all hawks! If you don’t fix my wings, all the hawks will fly, they’ll peck your poppy and peck out your eyes.
- Apparently, my affairs are bad! Wait, I’ll take you to my mother.
And he took it to his mother. She had to work hard while she collected medicinal herbs and lined the wing. Until I found a carpenter and he used chopsticks to strengthen the wing so that it would grow together. The hawk was barely treated. Moreover, both oxen were fed to him, because the voracious hawk kept demanding meat. And again the problem is that the son did not guard the poppy, so the birds pecked it all off. Mother and son were left without everything.
“Oh, brother, it seems we can’t live like this,” said the hawk when he was already able to fly.
- How to live? - asks Yanko.
- And we will go together with you to my father. Let him compensate you for your losses. After all, I ate your oxen. In the meantime, we’ll send your mother to the king’s castle to heat the stove. Here's how to feed yourself!
OK. The mother remained in the royal castle to light the stove, and these two set off on their journey. The hawk flies ahead, Yanko follows. They approached the sea. The hawk jumped over the sea, and Yanko stood on the shore, whimpering. After all, he cannot fly.
“Don’t whine, don’t whine,” the hawk shouts to him from the other bank. “My father knows how to carry a person across the sea!”
He flew away and returned with a red towel. I spread a towel on the water and now they were both on the other side. Here the hawk says:
- Well, brother, everything is fine. To begin with, I give you this towel. You can cross all the seas. Now let’s go to that mountain to my father. He won't let you go empty-handed. Will take you to three underground closets. The first will contain only chervonets, the second will contain silver, and the third will contain gold. He will offer treasures, but don’t take them! In the third closet behind the door there is an old chest. Ask for the chest and go home as soon as possible. You will live like you never dreamed of before!
The old hawk was happy to see his son alive and well. She and Yanko told him everything. He led Yanko through his closets and began offering countless treasures. But Yanko refuses everything, only asking for an old chest. The one who perched behind the doors in the third closet.
“Look, brother, what a smart guy you are,” says the king. - Take whatever you want, just don’t touch the chest!
But Yanko stands his ground, give him the chest, and that’s all.
There was nothing to do, I had to give the chest to the hawk and escort Yanko home.
Yanko hurries to the house. The sea is not a hindrance to him; he moved to his shore on a red towel. I decided to take a break. He stretched out on a wide meadow and wanted to eat. And suddenly, it’s as if someone is whispering in his ear: “There’s something edible in that chest.”
He opened the top lid, and from there a great multitude of oxen, horses, sheep, goats, geese, chickens, and ducks poured out. There is no end in sight for the herds. – ,,Your mouth is not small enough for such a pie! - thinks Yanko. Opens another bulkhead.
Countless troops poured in from there, and the fear took over. Moreover, they say there is no third. “How can I feed such a crowd,” Yanko thought and looked behind the third bulkhead. And here the gold coins glitter. No matter how much you take, there are even more of them. Yanko went further, bought some food, and ate.
- Well, boy, it's time to get out of here! - Yanko says to himself, because he has no one else to talk to. - But what should I do? Leave the cattle, poultry, and troops here or put them back in the chest? How?
He sits, toils in thought, and hangs his head completely. Suddenly a terrible giant, the size of a mountain, black as coal, sits down next to him. And it was the Iron Man.
– Do you really want to drive the troops back into the chest? - asks.
- I want to, but I don’t know how. Maybe you know? - says Yanko.
- How can you not know! That's why I came to you! “I will, if you kneel in front of me and swear that you will not marry the king’s daughter.”
That's what they decided on. Yanko has not yet thought about marriage. The Iron Man ran around the cattle and troops, and they immediately retreated back into the chest.
Yanko and the Iron Man went their separate ways, only the Iron Man shouted after him:
- Look, don’t forget what you promised! If you break your word, I will catch you and tear you into pieces!
Yanko returned home and showed his mother the chest. And she let's laugh:
“Why,” he says, “do you need such rubbish? I,” he says, “wouldn’t even put it out the door.” Why do you need a chest if there is nothing to put in it!
But Yanko tells his mother to look for the shepherds; in that chest, they say, there are whole herds. The mother resists, but he pestered him until she went after the shepherds.
And people laugh, where is the deposit, they say! Who to graze if you have no cattle? There were two bulls, and they ate them too.
“I’ve completely disgraced myself,” says Mother Yanka.
“It’s not a problem,” Yanko answers, “but the cattle still need pasture.”
And he released his herds from the chest. The cattle and birds rushed to freedom, and everything around became pitch black. And there is no need for shepherds. They appeared out of nowhere.
Herds began to graze in the royal meadows. But one day, when the mother came to light the stove in the castle, the king attacked her and sternly asked:
– Whose flocks are these supposed to be grazing in my meadows? And if her son is so rich,” says the king, “then let him prepare for battle with my seven companies in the morning!”
The mother got scared and hurried home.
“Don’t be afraid, dear mother,” says Yanko. “The king has seven companies, and I have seventy-seven!”
In the morning Yanko released his army into the field. And asks:
- How many of you to put against seven companies!
- One of me is enough! - such a nimble soldier jumps out from the ranks. How the troops grappled, and indeed this nimble one killed all seven royal companies with one little finger.
Now it was Yanko’s turn to give orders. He orders the king: if he does not give his daughter to him as a wife, he and the princess will have to heat the stoves in Yanka’s house, just as his mother did in his palace.
Yanko ordered himself to build a castle and bought a magnificent dress. The king saw such a thing and without hesitation promised him his daughter as his wife. Everything, they say, is better than heating the stoves.
Here they are traveling in a rich carriage to a wedding. Suddenly out of nowhere
Iron man! And straight to Yanko! And the chest is at home. This means there are no troops under Yanko. What could he do? He started to run, only his heels sparkled. The iron man laughs and shouts after him:
- Run, run! I have enough time to release the army from your chest and take the princess away and catch up with you!
Yanko is saved, rushes through dark forests, through high mountains, along untrodden paths and finally gets to a tumbledown hut. And Baba Yaga lives there. He knocked and came in: “Good afternoon, mother!”
- Good day to you too, son! I know who you are running from, you are saving yourself. Don't be afraid of anything. Sit down, sip some soup and eat some meat. Get some sleep! Here is my dog - Far-Glance. When the Iron Man comes within three miles, he barks for the first time. On two - for the second time, and on one - he barks for the third time. Then I'll wake you up.
Yanko ate and went to bed. The dog barked for the third time, the old woman woke up Yanko, gave her a cake for the road and told her to run.
Yanko runs through dense forests and untrodden paths. In front of him is the second hut. And Baba Yaga lives in it. He knocked and entered:
- Good afternoon, mother!
- Good day to you too, son! I know who you are saving from, but don’t be afraid of anyone. My dog is Far Hearing. When the Iron Man is three miles away, he will bark for the first time. When he’s two miles away, he’ll bark a second time; when he’s a mile away, he’ll bark a third time. Then I'll wake you up.
Yanko sat down, ate, and then went to bed. When the dog barked for the third time, the old woman picked him up, put some cakes on the road and told him to run.
Yanko runs through dense forests and untrodden paths. He resorts to the third hut. Baba Yaga lives there too. I knocked. Logged in:
- Good afternoon, mother!
- Good afternoon to you too, son! I know who you are saving from! But don't be afraid of him! Sit down, eat soup and meat. Get some sleep. My dog is Strong. When the Iron Man is three miles from here, he will bark for the first time. When he is two miles away, he barks a second time, and when he gets closer to a mile, he barks a third time. Then I'll wake you up.
Yanko sat down, refreshed himself, and went to bed. When the dog barked for the third time, the old woman woke up Yanko, put a cake in the bag and told her to run away.
Yanko rushed all the way to the sea, and the Iron Man was running on his heels, about to grab him and tear him to pieces. But Yanko always wore his red towel instead of a belt. He took it off, spread it out, and now he was already on the other side. The Iron Man cannot cross the sea. He sat down and began to wait. And Yanko was already exhausted. I fell down and slept for three whole days!
On the third day I woke up, raised my head and almost died of fear! Three dogs, the size of a cow, are lying nearby! He won't budge. I stuck my head in the bag, tossed them a flatbread, maybe they’d let them through. And there's not a crumb there. The cakes turned into dogs! And they were Far-Glancing, Far-Hearing and Strong. The old women Yanko gave dogs to help. The dogs saw that Yanko had woken up, began to wag their tails, and began to fawn. Yanko realized that the dogs would not offend him.
Yanko went further. The dogs follow. Not a step behind.
As they walked, they saw a castle, and in it was a princess, as alone as a finger. Yanko began to serve her. After all, the princess had no one who could guard the castle and the vast forests around. Yanko hunted in these forests every day with his dogs, and returned to the castle only at night.
And the princess went to the seashore every night and waited for someone there. And she was waiting for the Iron Man. He will return to her when he catches up with Yanko and tears him into pieces.
One day the Iron Man saw the princess from the other side and called out to her. She recognized him immediately. Answered. So they agreed on how to deal with Yanko.
But Yanko doesn’t know anything about it, doesn’t know. In the evening he returned, as usual, from the forest, had dinner and walked around the castle. Everything was quiet, he went to bed, and in the morning he fell into a deep sleep. Then the princess crept up to him on tiptoe, untied the red towel from his belt, and tied it with exactly the same one. Only Yanko from the castle - she’s off to the sea! She crossed on a towel to the Iron Man and returned to the castle with him.
She showed which room Yanko sleeps in and where his dogs are. After all, the Iron Man did not even dare to show himself to the dogs.
He dug a hole under the door where Yanko spends the night. Sits, waits. In the evening, Yanko returned from hunting, and Far-Glance had disappeared somewhere. Yanko was very surprised, because the three dogs did not leave him a single step. Suddenly he sees Far-Gazer lying at the door on top of the Iron Man! And Yanko thought, the man is still overseas! Yanko started calling the dog, but he didn’t come! The other two are jumping around the table, whatever they throw, they immediately swallow everything. But Farsight did not move all night. The next day the Iron Man dug a hole under the hearth and climbed into it. But in the evening, Dalekoslukh was the first to rush back from the hunt and grabbed the man. Yanko calls him and punishes him, but he doesn’t move. So he lay on top of the man until the morning.
On the third day, the Iron Man dug himself a hole right under the table. I decided that during dinner, at least Yanko would grab my leg. But in the evening the Strong One fell on him, and until the morning he could not move.
He and the princess had to think hard to come up with something.
Princess Yanko began to look after her, saying that these dogs must be sick if they don’t want to eat and don’t even move from their spot. We should leave them at home at least once, let them rest, and she will look after them. Yanko succumbed to persuasion, caught the dogs and put each one on a chain in the room so that they would not follow him.
Dogs on chains howl while Yanko wanders alone through the forests. And the Iron Man puts three locks on the room so that the dogs don’t accidentally jump out.
Yanko walked and walked, but didn’t come across any game. Only one mouse is constantly spinning under my feet. He kicked her away.
- Oh, Yanko, don’t touch me! - the mouse suddenly says. “Don’t you know how dearly your oath cost you?” And you will pay even more if you don’t hurry now! There the Iron Man will lock up your dogs, and as soon as he locks them up, he will rush after you and tear you to pieces. Hurry before he locks those locks. But if you don’t have time, climb a tall willow tree near the water. The Iron Man will call you down, throw off everything you can. Then you will see what happens next.
Yanko listened to the mouse and ran as fast as he could to the castle. He came running, and the Iron Man was adjusting the last lock. Yanko quickly climbed up the willow tree. The iron man jumped out of the palace like mad and shouted to him:
“Get off, otherwise I’ll break you and the willow into small pieces!”
Yanko threw off his hat to him. And then all that was left of the hat were scraps. The iron man orders him to get down again, and Yanko takes off his clothes one by one. The Iron Man tore everything he could, leaving no thread behind.
There is no point in throwing Yanko down anymore. Here the Iron Man accelerated and ran towards the willow tree. But at that moment Far-Gazer broke free and rushed at the Iron Man! The man hit him once, and then the end came for the dog!
Again he flew into the willow and shook it so hard that Yanko almost threw him down. But Dalekosluh broke free from the chain and grappled with the Iron Man. The iron one cracked him on the ground, and then the end came for the dog.
Again he pounced on the willow and was already tearing it out by the roots, but the Strong One interfered. He was the last one to break free and fought with the Iron Man until noon. And he won! The man was so shaken, only a heap of earth remained! And this land began to grow and grow until a whole mountain grew. But there was earth from the very top, and inside there was iron and ore. Since then, the mountain has been called Zheleznaya and iron ore has been mined from it.
Strong raised his two comrades and all three dogs began to attack the unfaithful princess. They tore her into small pieces. And when the punishment was accomplished, they turned into people. And the castle came to life and the dense forests were filled with people. Yanko found his chest and released the herds from it. They began to graze in his meadows. And he released the army. Now no one was afraid of him. He had as much money as he wanted. Yanko got rich, sent for his mother, and married the most beautiful girl in their region.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru