Once upon a time there lived a king, and he had a Palawan of unprecedented strength (Palawan is a heroic fighter). In appearance, the Palawan was just like a deva - huge, covered in thick stubble, and therefore they nicknamed him Devkatsi - deva-man. The king was proud of his Palawan: no one in the whole kingdom could defeat him. And yet the king wanted to find a person stronger than Devkatsi.
The king sent messengers to all cities and villages to look for a fighter who would defeat Devkatsi.
The king's servants scattered along all the roads, they left forests and fields, mountains and valleys, they were exhausted, but they did not find a hunter to go to their death! The rumor about the mighty Devkatsi spread throughout the kingdom, and no one dared to measure strength with him.
The Tsar's servants return and see a ragged boy sitting by the road, gnawing on a crust of bread. His name was Ivana.
“Take me with you, I want to see the royal palace,” the baby asks them.
The king's messengers laughed and passed by. The boy followed them and did not lag behind.
“You’d better run home,” one of the servants tells him. “In the Tsai’s palace, Devkatsi, if you catch his eye, he’ll set the heat.”
– I’m not afraid of your Devkatsi! - says the boy.
“Look, brave man!” the servants laughed. “Maybe you can fight him?” We are just looking for such a daredevil.
- Why not fight? - Ivane answers.
And it’s funny to the king’s servants, and they are glad that they found who they were looking for. It doesn't matter that he's small. “What do we care if he doesn’t defeat Devkatsi? “I volunteered to fight him,” they decided and took Ivane to the palace.
The king saw the boy and did not know whether to laugh or be angry.
“Listen, brave boy,” says the king. “Are you really going to fight my Devkatsi?”
- Why won’t I? Just think, what a strong man your Devkatsi is! Feed me enough for a month, and then you will see for yourself.
The king agreed for fun.
Ivane eats and drinks, eats and drinks from morning to evening. Others do not grow in a year as much as Ivane grows in a day.
A month has passed. The day of the fight between Devkatsi and Ivane was set.
In the morning, crowds of people flocked to the square from all over to watch the competition. There were tons of people gathered. In a place of honor, the king sits with his household.
He walked out to the middle of Devkatsi’s circle. Ivane jumped up to him. He didn’t jump, he flew up! He walked in a circle, as if through the air, without touching the ground with his feet!
Devkatsi is spinning around, waving his arms, but he can’t catch the boy. Ivane jumped high and high and fell on Devkatsi with such force that he crushed him under him!
Everyone shouted, clapping for the winner, laughing at Devkatsi, shouting insultingly at him: “Biybuu!”
From that day on, Ivane became the royal Palawan.
Ivane walks all day in front of the palace and in the garden. Does nothing, eats, drinks and rests. His only occupation is to show his strength and dexterity, to amuse the king.
A year passed, then another, and many more days passed.
The king had a daughter, and she was angry and arrogant.
Ivane happened to see her on the terrace. He walked in front of the princess and said humorous words to her in peasant style. The arrogant princess was offended. She didn’t like that the village guy dared to talk to her - the king’s daughter. She decided to teach Ivane-palawan a lesson: to give him something to do so that he would fail and everyone would laugh at him.
She went to the king and said:
– In the garden of the Fire Deva there grows an apple tree of immortality. Whoever tastes its fruits will live forever. It would be nice for this apple tree to grow in our garden!
- That would be good, but who would dare to go to the Fire Deva?
“Can’t our Ivane-palawan defeat the deva?!” Send him for the apple tree. The thought of the apple tree of immortality sunk into the king’s head. He called to himself
Ivane says:
- Listen, my Palawan. There is an apple tree of immortality growing in the Fire Deva’s garden; transplant it into my garden.
- With great pleasure! - Ivana answers.
Whether it was a long walk or a short one, Ivan reached the garden of the Fire Deva. There is an apple tree there, all ablaze with red-golden apples.
Ivan kicked the trunk, and the apples fell to the ground and rolled—not a single one was left on the branches!
Ivana sat down under a tree, ate apples and lay down in the shade to sleep.
The Fire Dev sensed the scent of a man and entered the garden. I saw Ivane under the tree and marveled at his audacity.
- Who are you? How dare you trample the soil in my garden? - he roared. Ivane jumped up, lifted the Fire Deva over his head and slammed him neck-deep into the ground. And then he raised his sword to cut off his head.
“Don’t kill me, I’ll be your slave forever, I’ll help you out of any trouble,” the dev begged. “I’ll give you a magic mirror.” If you look into it, you will turn into the animal you want; If you look in next time, you will become a man again.
“Okay, I give you life, you will be my brother,” said Ivane. The fire deva took his brother-in-law into the house, treated him to food and gave him a magic mirror. He told Ivan why the king sent him.
- So be it, take the apple tree - don’t quarrel over it! - said the Fire Dev and himself uprooted the tree.
Ivane put the mirror in his pocket, put the apple tree of immortality on his shoulder and got ready to go back.
“If you get into trouble, call me and I’ll rush over in an instant,” the deva told him goodbye.
Ivane returned and planted an apple tree in front of the palace.
Time passes, but the apple tree does not bloom and does not produce apples. The arrogant princess mocks Ivane-palawan:
- Well, what a Palawan you are, you couldn’t defeat the Fire Deva! And he deceived the king - he planted a simple tree.
The princess mocks and picks leaves from the apple tree. And the tree painfully whips her with branches for this.
“Okay, I’ll harass you, Ivane,” the princess decided. She came to the king and said:
– Ivane was unable to get you the apple tree of immortality, let him get the golden-maned Rashi, take them away from the three deva brothers. It’s not for nothing that you feed and water him.
The king called his Palawan:
- Do me a service, Ivane, show your courage. Bring the golden-maned Rashi.
“With great pleasure,” Ivane answers.
Ivane took a large sharp sword and set off.
He walks along the path, but he himself does not know how to get the golden-maned Rashi. Ivane remembered his brother-in-law. He called the Fire Deva. In a single moment, a dev appeared in front of him.
- What is your need, brother? - asks the girl.
“But the king doesn’t give me peace, he ordered the golden-maned rashis to be delivered to him, but I don’t know where to look for them.”
“Don’t worry, brother, I’ll help you, I’ll take you to the possessions of the devas, who have golden-maned rushes,” says the Fire Deva.
The Fire Deva Ivane led to a wide river, beyond which lived three devas - three brothers. He sat down on the bank under a tree, poured a bowl of water, fixed a candle on its edge and said to his brother-in-law:
“I’ll stay on the shore, and you go to the road and recapture the Rashi from the devas.” If you can't handle it, I'll come to your aid. When the water turns red and the candle goes out, I will know that you are in trouble.
Ivane crossed the river and hid in the bushes near the road along which the devas were returning home.
It's time for dinner. The elder deva appeared - three-headed, riding on a golden-maned rashi. As soon as he approached the bushes, Ivane shouted:
- Hit!
And he soared under the deva rashi.
- But, oh, wolf's fill! — the dev roared. “What are you afraid of?” Ivane-palawan is far from us.
- But no!
Ivane the Palawan jumped up to the deva and in one fell swoop cut off all three of his heads. He took the golden-maned Rashi by the bridle and again hid in the bushes.
The middle one appeared on the road - a six-headed deva, riding on a golden-maned rashi. As soon as he approached the bushes, Ivane shouted:
- Hit!
And the Rashi stood rooted to the spot under the dev, afraid to take a step.
- But, oh, wolf's fill! - the deva roared. “Don’t be afraid, Ivane-palawan is far from us.”
- But no!
Ivane jumped out of the bushes, swung his sword and cut off all six heads of the deva. He took the second Rashi by the reins and sat in wait for the third Deva.
Finally the youngest deva, the nine-headed one, is riding on horseback! As soon as he approached the bushes, Ivane shouted:
- Hit!
And the golden-maned Rashi jumped away.
- But, oh, wolf's fill! – the mountain-like deva thundered. “Ivane-palawan will not attack us here.”
- And here I will attack! - Ivane responded and jumped up to the nine-headed deva. The dev was huge, Ivane was unable to blow his head off. Dev picked up
Ivane sat him down on his palm and cackled:
- If I want, I’ll grind you into powder, turn you into ash, ha-ha-ha! - and he threw Ivane-palawan to the ground.
Ivane sank into the ground up to his chest. The dev pulled out his sword, and then Ivane said to the monster:
“Let me smoke your pipe one last time, and then do whatever you want with me.”
The dev filled his pipe with tobacco and handed it to the man. And his pipe is long, very long, big, very big - the devas stuffed a whole bag of tobacco into it.
Ivane slowly lights his pipe - he’s stalling for time, he doesn’t want to die, he’s waiting for the Fire Deva to come to the rescue.
And his brother dozed off at this time. He doesn’t see how the water in the bowl turns red or how the candle goes out. But then the candle went out, and the Fire Deva opened his eyes. He jumped up and rushed like a whirlwind to help Ivane.
The Fire Deva flew at the nine-headed monster and took off all nine of its heads with one blow.
The brothers sat down on the golden-maned rashis, getting ready to head back, and then Ivane decided to see if anyone was left in the deva’s house.
“Wait for me here,” he says to his brother-in-law. “I’ll go and see what’s going on in the house of the devas.”
He took out a magic mirror, looked into it, turned into a cat and made his way into the house.
A fanged old woman sits by the fireplace, talking to herself:
- Why don’t my sons come back? Did something bad happen to them?
Did someone kill them? I will burn with fire on the path of the villain, I will incinerate him. If I hit you with a snowstorm, I’ll bury you, if I spill in a torrent, I’ll drown you.
Ivan got out into the yard, looked in the mirror and turned into a man again. He told his brother-brother how the fanged mother of the devas threatens him.
They jumped on the golden-maned rushes and launched them at full speed. Before they had time to leave the possessions of the devas, a fire began to blaze on the road.
“It’s the old woman who wants to burn us,” Ivana says to her brother-in-law.
He pulled out his sword and hit the flames. The fire instantly disappeared.
They rushed on. There is already a river. There's no way to move her. She is raging, seething, foaming. And suddenly a dilapidated bridge spanned the river.
“The old woman is not far behind us,” says Ivane, “she has crossed over a bridge, she will collapse under us, and we will drown in the river.”
He pulled out his sword and hit the bridge. The bridge collapsed, and the river immediately calmed down. The brothers-in-arms have moved to the other side and are moving on.
Suddenly the snow began to swirl, and a huge snowdrift grew on the road - there was no way to get around it, it kept growing and growing.
- It's the old woman again! – says Ivane.
He pulled out his sword and hit the snowdrift. Instantly the snowdrift fell apart and the road cleared.
Here the brothers-in-law said goodbye, and everyone went their own way.
Ivane-palawan brought the king of the golden-maned Rashi. The king rejoices and boasts in front of all the magical miracle horses. But the arrogant princess is not happy. She is stifled by her anger at Ivane for coping with all the assignments. The princess lost her peace, she kept thinking about what else to send the Palawan for so that he could not return back.
So she found out that buffaloes with diamond horns live in the distant sea, and she went to the king:
“I heard that in the distant sea, behind the seven mountains, there are buffaloes with diamond horns.” Tell the Palawan to get those buffalos.
King Ivane-Palawan sent for buffaloes with diamond horns.
Ivane went out into the field and called out to the Fire Deva. His brother appeared.
- What is your new trouble, brother? - asks the dev. Ivane told what business the king had sent him for.
“Don’t worry, this is not a tricky thing,” says the Fire Deva. “In the evenings, buffaloes come to the shore to drink water from the well.” They do not like sea water: it is salty and bitter. That well is guarded by huge ants. Ask the king for twelve loads of cotton wool, twelve jugs of wine and forty carcasses of sheep. And have some clean water in advance. Throw the carcasses to the ants, they will attack the meat, and meanwhile you drain the well with cotton wool and pour wine into it. You will understand what to do next.
Ivane did everything as the Fire Deva ordered and began to wait.
The sun set and diamond-horned buffaloes emerged from the sea. They approached the well and immediately retreated - they didn’t like the smell of wine! They walk around the well, tormented by thirst.
The buffaloes saw Ivane and prayed:
“Give us something to drink, man, we’ll serve you forever!” Ivane gave them water to drink and drove them to the king.
And those buffaloes were omniscient - they knew everything, they knew everything.
“You are a glorious man,” the buffaloes tell him, “brave and strong, only the stupid king and the evil princess will destroy you if we do not deliver you from their machinations.”
Here Ivane returned with the buffaloes.
The king, the princess, and the Nazir-viziers came out of the palace to look at the strange diamond-horned buffaloes. And the buffaloes bowed their heads and rushed straight towards the king and princess. They barely had time to jump to the side and rushed to run away out of fear.
And no one has seen them since then.
The people gathered and chose Ivane-Palawan as king. On the same day, the apple tree of immortality bloomed in front of the palace and the red-golden apples on it then began to glow.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru