Once upon a time there lived a poor tailor. He had a lot of children, even too many, but there was nothing to eat. His brother was a rich peasant and always baptized his children.
And the last time, when the tailor had a girl again, he flatly refused.
“I won’t,” he says, “I won’t baptize, that’s all.” Why won't you calm down? And so you yourself have nothing to eat.
So the tailor comes home and says to his wife:
- What should we do? You know what, I’ll go and whoever I meet on the way - some kind of grandfather or grandmother - I’ll ask him to be my godfather.
“Okay,” they say, “go.” Do as you please.
So he went, carrying the child in his arms. He sees a rosehip bush along the road, and a grandmother is sitting under it, all hunched over.
-Where did you run off to? - asks. - And even with such a baby?
“I’m going,” they say, “to baptize, but I don’t know who will be the godfather.”
- Well, I would go, but I don’t have money, I don’t have anything to give for a tooth.
The tailor is glad that he finally found the man. The child was baptized, and then the grandmother said:
“When the girl turns twelve years old, you will bring her here to this bush and leave her with me.”
He agreed. Time fled. Libushka grew up. When she was twelve years old, the tailor took her out onto the road. Lo and behold, grandma is right there, waiting for Libushka. There was a door under the rose hips, they both went under the bush and disappeared from view. The father stands and looks, but all in vain. The girl disappeared, as if she had fallen through the ground.
Libushka began to live with the old woman. She immediately gave her the keys to all the rooms, told her to clean everything, but not to look into the seventh room (there was a golden key from that one).
Once a week my grandmother locked herself in this room, and what she did there is unknown.
Everything was going well. But one day Libushka was sweeping six rooms, and she wanted to look into the seventh, forbidden, one. “Well, does he think there’s anything wrong with that?” It’s stuck in her head and her work is slipping out of her hands. She opened the door a crack - and what did she see: there was a coffin, in it was an old woman, and she had a horse’s head. She sits in a coffin and taps her knees. She nodded to the girl, and she slammed the door and ran away like an arrow.
Grandma comes and says:
- Libushka, you were there!
- No, grandma, I wasn’t!
- You were there!
- It wasn’t!
- Tell me what you saw there!
- Grandma, I wasn’t there!
- Tell me, girl. If you don’t tell me, you’ll go numb!
And Libushka is silent, as if stabbed to death. The grandmother deprived her of speech - made her mute - and drove her into the forest. And the forest all around is deaf and dense. The girl went through this forest, wandered there, wandered like a stray sheep, until the prince found her under a tree. He was hunting in this forest. Libushka could not talk to him, but she could write. The prince put her on his horse and took her to his place. Apparently she was a beauty.
Now they got married, and Libushka became his wife. The prince left for war. And Libushka was already heavy. Without him, she gave birth to a boy. He was as beautiful as a picture; his heart just made him happy. Suddenly her grandmother appears in front of her and immediately asks:
- Tell me, what did you see there?
- Grandma, I wasn’t there!
- Tell!
- I wasn’t there!
(At this time, the grandmother returned her speech.)
Since he didn’t confess, the grandmother grabbed the child and tore it up before her eyes.
Then a cry rose throughout the castle that a witch had come and devoured the prince. Now they wrote to the king, he had already won the war and was returning home. There was a fuss about the guards not keeping watch, what kind of guards were they? And Libushka defends the soldiers: they are not to blame.
Now the king is getting ready for war again. And Libushka is due to give birth soon. They placed double guards everywhere to make it more reliable. The king left, and his daughter was born without him. And also beautiful - like an angel. Again, out of nowhere, a grandmother appears.
- Tell me, what did you see there?
- I’ve never been there.
- Tell me, it won’t be bad!
- I wasn’t there.
She never confessed. The grandmother grabbed the child and in an instant tore it into pieces. The guards again did not see anything, as if they were not standing there. The king arrived, made threats, and began pointing directly at Libushka that, they say, this is not without reason. But for now he didn’t do anything to her, he left everything as it was.
She became pregnant again. The king wanted to get ready for a campaign this time too. He placed guards around his castle, ordered every corner to be guarded, and left. Libushka gave birth safely, and now, out of nowhere, a grandmother.
- What did you see there? - asks.
“I didn’t see anything, I haven’t been there.”
He keeps repeating the same thing. The grandmother grabbed the child and tore it apart in an instant, only bloody splashes remained on the walls. Now they write to the king that the third child has also been eaten. He dropped everything, left his army, and rushed home blacker than a cloud. He orders a big fire to be built and the young mother to be burned on it.
They lit a big fire and were just about to throw Libushka into the flames, when suddenly a black carriage rushes out of the forest. Someone waves a white flag from it - they say, sorry, sorry!
The carriage drove up, and the grandmother stood by the fire.
- What did you see? I'm asking you for the last time!
- I didn’t see anything! I wasn't there. It wasn't! Suddenly the fire went out, as if someone had blown on it, and three beautiful royal children stood in a row; they are wearing gold necklaces, and the grandmother says:
“Your perseverance saved me from the spell.” Live for happiness for everyone!
Libushka immediately regained her speech, her tongue was loosened. There was so much joy here! The king successfully ended all the wars, and from then on he and Libushka lived happily until his death.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru