Young Robert, son of Lord Lambton, was very fond of fishing. He would go to the shore - not far from the castle the river Wier flowed, and there were large fat fish in it - he would cast his fishing rods and sit all day, waiting for him to bite. I even forgot about my lessons.
One day he was sitting on the shore, looking at the water, how it was flowing rapidly, and did not notice that his sister Jane had sat down next to him.
- There you are, Robert! Why did you run away from home without asking? And he didn’t do his lesson... Father got angry.
“The bite is very good today.” You see how many fish I caught. The ear will be great!
Jane looked into the tub, where the caught fish beat their tails, and said:
“And there’s still something floating there.” Either a fish or a worm. Really funny? Only a very small one - neither in the soup nor in the frying pan.
Jane looked at the unfamiliar creature for a long time: the body was long, round, the head was flat and the tail was constantly twirling.
- I'm afraid of him. Look at those evil eyes, they sparkle.
“Silly, it’s just a little snake,” said Robert and looked at the sky: “It’s time to go home!” Oh, and it will be from my father!
He reeled in the fishing rods, took the bucket of fish, and they went home. We passed a round green hill and came to an old well. They stopped taking water from it long ago, and the boys loved to throw pebbles there. The brother and sister stopped at the well and looked into the dark depths. Suddenly Robert put his hand into the bucket, took out a snake and said:
- Why take all the little things home? - Let him swim. - And threw it into the dark, calm water.
A year passed, another passed. Robert is fifteen years old. And then Lord Lambton got ready for war. Robert began to ask his father to take him with him. The father is afraid and does not want to take his son. But Robert nevertheless begged him, and they went to fight together.
“They will not return home,” Lady Lambton cried, “I will never see my son or husband again.”
Jane consoles her, but tears just flow.
Lord Lambton did not return and died in a bloody battle with the Turks. And Robert galloped home alone; he had not seen his native land for five years.
It was a long way back, and then Robert finally set foot on the English coast. He galloped on, in a hurry. Here are our native places; His heart was embarrassed - he would soon hug his mother and sister.
But what is it? The surrounding fields lie bare, black, and instead of a village there are ashes. Neither a human voice nor the barking of dogs can be heard. Robert felt terrible: what if Lambton Castle burned down too? No, fortunately, his castle is intact. Robert drove closer - all the windows and doors were tightly locked, the grass in the yard stood waist-deep. Robert drove into the yard, the front door opened slightly, and his sister looked out through the crack. Robert did not immediately recognize her: Jane grew up and became a beautiful girl.
- Oh, Robert! – Jane exclaimed and ran out to meet him. - You're finally back. Save us, dear brother!
- Save? From whom? What happened here, dear sister? Where is mother?
- Mother does not leave the bedchamber. If you don't save us, we are all lost. – And Jane hid her face in her hands.
Her brother hugged her, she stopped crying and said:
“Let’s go to the shore, I’ll show you a monster, the most terrible thing in the world.”
The brother and sister walked along the path that led to the Weier River. Here is a green hill, only its top is bare, and a furrow runs along the slopes, and all the grass in it has been torn off. Soon the river sparkled in the sun.
“Look,” Jane waved her hand.
Robert looked where his sister waved and cried out in amazement. In the middle of the river, a rock sticks out of the water, and a monster resembling a huge snake wraps around it in black rings. Now it raised its head, began to breathe noisily, and flames burst out of its mouth.
“It’s the one that wants to eat,” Jane whispered. “I hope he has enough milk today.” Every day we bring him milk from nine cows. The snake drinks milk and doesn't bother anyone. If there aren’t nine cows, that’s a disaster! It crawls around the surrounding area, spewing flames from its mouth. Whatever gets in the way is burned to the ground. You saw that everything around was dead - both fields and trees. Our land can no longer support us, and many people have left these places. And those who remain die of starvation.
-Where did he come from? – asked Robert.
Jane looked at her brother for a long time and said:
“It’s a snake, Robert, that same snake.”
- What snake?
– Remember, we were little, you went fishing and caught a black snake. And then he threw it into the old well.
“But she was very tiny,” he objected.
“I also said how evil her eyes are.” And you answered: nonsense, it’s just a little snake. Then you left, I was walking past a well, I looked into it, and from the darkness someone was staring at me with evil eyes. I looked closely and at the bottom of the well there was a large snake coiled in rings, but I immediately recognized it by its eyes. Then I often came to this well. The snake grew and grew. I was so scared, but I didn't tell anyone anything. Soon the well became cramped for him. And then one day he got out of there and crawled back into the river. Since then he has haunted us.
“He won’t have long to torture people!” - exclaimed Robert. “I fished him out of the river, and I’ll kill him.”
Meanwhile, the snake slid from the rock into the water and swam to the shore. He crawled out onto the ground and crawled, twisting, towards a green hill, and when he crawled to the top, he wrapped his long body around the slopes nine times.
- How to fight him at the top of the hill? – Robert was confused.
Then three village boys approached the hill, pale with fear, each with a heavy bucket in their hands.
“You see, they brought milk from nine cows to the snake.” Slowly the snake crawled down the hill.
“Let him drink, then I’ll kill him,” Robert whispered. He waited until the snake lowered its head into the bucket, and, walking silently, approached him. Jane moved away, afraid to lift a finger. But the snake drinks and doesn’t notice anything. Robert raised his damask sword over him, struck with all his might and cut the soft body of the snake in half.
- Oh, Robert! - Jane exclaimed. -You killed a monster!
But that was not the case. From one kite there became two, and both halves fought so hard on the ground that Robert hastily ran away to the side. The two halves crawled towards each other, and - lo and behold! – the snake is intact again. He raised his terrible head and breathed in a hot flame. The hair on Robert's head was singed, and he had to retreat with nothing.
The next day Robert attacked the snake again. He waited until he fell asleep and cut him into three parts. The pieces immediately grew together, and the fire-breathing snake moved towards the brave man. Robert fought bravely with the monster, but this time he had to retreat. It's good that he returned home alive.
- Everything is in vain! – Robert exclaimed in despair. “Even if I cut it into a thousand pieces, they will still grow together.” Who can defeat such a monster!
“You can’t take it by force,” said Jane. - We need to come up with something. There is only one old prophetic woman left in the village; she lives at the far end of the village. Maybe she can give some advice?
That same evening Robert went to the old prophetess. He entered her house and saw: an old woman sitting by the fireplace, one black cat purring on her shoulder, the other rubbing at her feet. Old woman Roberta listened, thought for a long time, looking into the fire, and finally said:
If you want to save us, you must fight in the river.
She said these words and fell silent again. With that, Robert left her.
- How is it possible to fight in a river? – Robert asked his sister. “The current is so fast, and it’s deep in the middle.” I can't even reach the bottom there.
-What if you stand on a rock? Swim to it while the snake laps milk. And when he returns, fight him and kill him.
Robert listened to his sister. I went to the shore in the morning, and the snake lay in the middle of the river as if nothing had happened, wrapped around the rock with black rings. At noon, he developed rings and swam to the shore to drink the milk that the village boys had left at the foot of the hill.
Robert jumped into the water and, without wasting time, swam to the rock. The current is fast, the water is cold, Robert is afraid that he will not swim to the rock. But his hands are strong, he overcame the current. He climbed out onto the rock and waited with his beating heart for the snake to return.
Finally, a long black body appeared on the shore - crawling, writhing, hurrying towards the water. The snake saw that the rock was occupied by a man and stopped. Evil eyes flashed, fire burst out of the nostrils. He dived into the river and swam to the rock. Here Robert drew his sword and prepared to engage the monster in battle. But the snake doesn’t want to climb onto the rock, you know it’s circling around, so fast that you can’t tell where its head is, where its tail is.
A fire-breathing head suddenly popped out of the water, Robert waved his sword, and the snake wrapped its tail around his leg and began to pull. “Well,” Robert thinks, “my last hour has come.” He strained himself, waved his sword, and cut off the tip of the snake’s tail.
It was then that Robert understood why the old woman ordered him to fight a snake in the river. The tip of the tail fell into the water and was carried away by the rapids; it did not have time to grow back.
The snake hissed angrily and rushed at Robert, breathing fire. And Robert raised his sword with renewed vigor and began to chop down the black body of the snake; If he chops off a piece, the current will carry it away; if he chops it off, it will carry it away again.
So Robert destroyed the terrible snake. The Lambtonians returned to their homes and lived without fear. The earth soon turned green again. Only at the very top of the round hill there remained a bare place - the memory of the snake. Since then, people have called the hill Snake. They say that a hundred years ago, furrows were visible - traces of the nine rings with which the snake entwined this hill.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru