One day, an old black man and his old woman found a little girl on the street, very white and pretty. They picked her up, took her into their home and raised her with love. But they were afraid that the baby would be taken away from them, and therefore they always locked her in a room without windows, and the girl never saw the white light, did not even know what day was and what night was. Years passed, and the girl turned into a girl. And then one day, left alone at home, she put a chair on the table, climbed onto it, dismantled several roof tiles and looked outside. And she liked the white light so much that she didn’t know where to go from happiness.
But I must tell you that old black men lived near the royal garden. The girl climbed out onto the roof and went down into the garden. And she froze with delight when she saw the flowers: she had never dreamed of such beauty. She picked a few roses and returned to her room through the hole in the roof. When the old people came home, they said:
“It’s like we smell like roses, granddaughter...
- Yes, it seems to you, grandma...
From then on, every time the old people left the house, she climbed out through the roof into the garden. And then one day she met the king, and he asked who she was, where she lived and what she was doing here. The girl didn’t want him to know who she was or where she lived, so she made up something and said that she was walking here. The king liked her very much and talked to her for a long time. And from then on they met every day. Eventually she realized that she would soon have a child. One fine day she went down to the garden and saw that the king had dozed off, waiting for her. Then she slowly took the golden order from his neck, cut off a piece of the skirt from his caftan and left.
She gave birth to her son in her room. When the old black woman heard the baby crying, she said:
- It’s like a baby is crying here, granddaughter...
- Yes, it seems to you, grandma...
She didn't go to the garden anymore. And the king missed her so much that he even fell ill, and no doctors could cure him. When the girl found out about this - after all, the old blacks were talking among themselves about the king's illness - she put her son, the royal order and a piece of caftan in the basket, took a moment and left the house. She put the basket on her head and sang as she walked:
- Buy flowers from the poor simpleton, they will help with love dryness...
She walked and walked and reached the royal palace, and then she was ordered to enter. She went up to the palace, put the basket on the table and said:
- Oh, I forgot to lock the door. I’m going to run home now, and you take care of my basket.
And she disappeared. They waited and waited for her, and then they took her and opened the basket. And the royal servants saw the baby, so plump and pretty, that they immediately ran to the royal bedchamber and showed off their find. And when the king saw the baby and the medal and a piece of his caftan, he immediately realized that it was his son. And in the blink of an eye the king felt better, and he ordered to announce throughout his kingdom:
“I see the fruit, but I don’t see the tree.”
The king promised a generous reward to the one who solved this riddle, and therefore many people gathered in the palace, and everyone offered their own solution, but no one pleased the king. Meanwhile, the girl learned about the royal order, and when no one could come up with anything, she told the old black man:
“Grandfather, go to the palace, ask to be allowed to see the king and say: “I see the tree, but I don’t see the fruit.”
The old man went to the palace and did everything as his granddaughter told him. The king was extremely happy and asked the black man:
-Who taught you to say that? The old man was very frightened, but told the king that it was his granddaughter who taught him.
“So, bring her here tomorrow morning, otherwise I will order your execution.”
The old man walked home and cried, he thought that his dear granddaughter was in danger. And he said to her:
- This is what came out of your idea, granddaughter. You told me to go to the king and say those words, and now he wants me to take you to the palace. But you never left the house, you didn’t see anything, and you don’t know anything...
“No trouble will happen to me, grandfather.” I'll go to the king.
And the next day, early in the morning, she, cheerful and contented, went with the old man to the palace. When the king saw her, he said:
“I see the tree and I see the fruit.”
He took her hand and said to his courtiers:
- She will be my wife.
They were immediately announced in the church and married, and then they had a feast for the whole world.
And I was there, the king gave me gifts, but I broke the dish and dropped all the sweets.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru