It was a very long time ago... In the forest, not far from the village, there lived a wolf nicknamed “Iron”. He was very strong and angry. He caused a lot of grief to the villagers: he dragged sheep, goats, attacked cows, horses, and sometimes people. No matter how hard the villagers tried, they could not get rid of the predator. They tried to catch him, they shot at him. But it was all in vain: the Iron Wolf always left unharmed.
On the very outskirts of the village, a peasant and his wife lived in a squalid shack. They had two children - a boy and a girl.
One day, when a peasant and his wife were working in the field, and the children were left alone, the Iron Wolf quietly crept up to the house and dragged the children away.
The unfortunate parents, crying, wandered through the forest, looking for their children, but could not find them. And the Iron Wolf dragged the children into his lair and decided: “Let them grow up a little, and then I will eat them.”
Once, when the wolf went into the forest for prey, the children heard someone squeaking pitifully at the entrance to the wolf’s lair. They looked out and saw a tiny bird on a stone at the entrance. She was only the size of a fingernail and whistled so subtly and sadly that the children took great pity on her.
“Maybe she’s hungry,” they thought. - But what should I feed her? We don’t have anything.”
They rummaged in their pockets and found several grains of wheat. They threw grains to the bird, she quickly pecked them and suddenly spoke in a human voice.
“Thank you, children, for your kindness,” she said. “You fed me and I became strong.”
With these words she hit the ground and turned into a large bird with wide wings.
“Get on my back quickly,” she said. – I will save you from the Iron Wolf.
The children sat on the back of the bird, but as soon as it flew into the sky, the Iron Wolf rushed in and began to howl. And his breath was so powerful that it knocked the bird to the ground.
The wolf grabbed the children and put them in his lair again.
A few days later he went for prey again, and blocked the entrance to the lair with a large stone.
As soon as he left, the children heard a familiar whistling. They ran to the exit, but could not roll away the heavy stone.
“Wait,” the bird told them, “I brought my friend the tour.” We will free you now.
And then a huge auroch appeared near the lair. He rolled the stone away from the entrance and said to the children in a human voice:
“Come out quickly, sit on my back and hold on to my horns, I will save you from the Iron Wolf.”
The children were scared, but nevertheless they instantly climbed onto the back of the tour, grabbed its horns tightly, and the tour rushed off, and the little bird flew after them. The tour ran and ran until it found itself near the sea. Then he tore a hair out of his wool and threw it into the sea. A bridge immediately grew, and the tour carried the children across the sea. He stamped his foot and the bridge disappeared.
And soon the Iron Wolf came running to the sea and howled. Howled and howled, but couldn’t swim across the sea.
Tur lowered the children to the ground and gave them three of his hairs.
“Bury these three hairs, one at a time, deeper into the ground,” he told the children and disappeared.
The children buried the first hair in the ground, and a beautiful palace grew up in front of them. The second hair turned into a flock of sheep. And the third is in hunting dogs.
A brother and sister settled in the palace, and a little bird built a nest under their roof.
Several years have passed. The children have grown up...
My brother became a hunter. Every day he went into the forest and took the dogs with him. My sister was in charge of the house.
One day, when the brother went hunting and the sister went for a walk, the Iron Wolf ran up to the sea and howled so that it could be heard across the sea. The girl heard and approached the shore. Then Voli asked if she wanted to see her parents. He will lead them to the shore, and let the girl help them cross the sea.
- How can I help them get across? – the girl asked.
- Take a mirror, point it at the sun - and a long ray will fall across the sea. Along this ray, your parents will cross the sea to you,” said the Iron Wolf.
The girl believed it. She really wanted to see her father and mother. She didn't know that the Iron Wolf ate them.
She ran home, took a mirror and began to point it at the sun... And a bird hovered around her and said:
– Don’t trust the Iron Wolf, throw the mirror...
But the girl didn’t listen; she really wanted to hug her father and mother. She pointed the mirror at the sun, and a long, very long beam lay across the sea... The girl looked, when will her parents follow it? Only suddenly she sees: the Iron Wolf is rushing towards her at full speed! The girl screamed, realized that she had been deceived, but it was already too late... The Iron Wolf managed to cross the sea. The girl rushed to run and barely managed to slam the gate. She locked herself in the palace, neither alive nor dead from fear. And the Iron Wolf wanted to jump over the fence, but he couldn’t: the fence was very high. Then he set fire to the palace.
“Come out,” the Iron Wolf shouted to the girl, “you won’t burn!”
Meanwhile, the little bird flew into the forest, found his brother and said to him:
- Run home quickly! Save your sister from the Iron Wolf! The brother ran to the burning palace and unleashed all his hunting dogs on the wolf. But the Iron Wolf was very strong and fought back with fury.
My brother looks: half of the dogs were killed by a wolf, and the rest are weakening. He shot at the Iron Wolf and... missed. He shot again - the wolf dodged.
The Iron Wolf tore apart all the hunting dogs. The brother was left alone with the Iron Wolf.
“Well, now it’s your turn,” the Iron Wolf tells him. - Get your sister out of the house! Now you won't leave me!
He just said this and sees: a tour is rushing towards them, and a bird as small as a marigold is flying in front of it. The Iron Wolf shook with anger...
-You stole my loot! - he shouted to the tour. - Now you'll pay!
He rushed at the tour, and they began to fight. The iron wolf bites the tur, but the tur just wants to hit him with its horns, the wolf dodges, jumps first in one direction, then in the other. The tour begins to weaken, the Iron Wolf is about to topple it.
The girl saw this, ran out of the burning house and poured millet at the wolf’s feet...
The Iron Wolf jumped onto the tour, slipped on the millet and fell. The auroch contrived and pushed the wolf into the sea with its strong horns.
And at that time the little bird flew high, high into the sky... And suddenly a dark cloud came and the rain started pouring down, so hard that the fire never happened! Where the fire was dancing, now only a light smoke was smoking...
A little bird flew out of the cloud and landed on the horns of the aurochs. In parting, the tour said to his brother and sister:
- Live in peace. The iron wolf will not emerge from the bottom of the sea. He who harms others harms himself. And goodness is the best treasure in the world! Remember this!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru