I’ll tell you a fairy tale, I won’t hide anything, just as they told me in the evenings in the village.
Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. They got married when they were young and had a daughter. The daughter grew up as a beauty, as beautiful as the clear sun, like a bright berry. Those for whom the time had come to get married kept procrastinating, still hoping: and she was a girl, like all girls, someday she would have to choose a groom for herself.
Only, as they say, every seed sprouts and turns green easily, but it is not easy to bloom and ripen. It happens that rains and evil winds bend the sprout to the ground, tear it and break it, and it is hard for it to come to its senses again, to raise its forehead to the sun. So hard days came for the poor girl. For no apparent reason, her mother fell ill and gave up her soul to God. All she had time to do was pull out the shade from her bosom, give it to her daughter, and say:
- Do you see this ring? Take care of him like the apple of your eye. Whoever is wooing you, put the ring on his finger: if the time is right, marry him, and if not, don’t think so.
She buried her mother, was upset, grieved, a little time passed, and again her suitors began to pester her.
She tried the ring on for everyone, but it didn’t fit anyone. I couldn’t choose a groom for myself.
In those days, there lived a Little Man with a Nail, a Beard with an Elbow, and he had a grandson, never to be remembered, ugly and scary, like an evil spirit. Somehow it happened that the monster Little Man-nail found out what the size of the ring was, and having found out, he lit a hot fire and forced his grandson to hold his hand in the fire-flame for nine days and nine nights; when his hand softened, Little Man-nail put it on the anvil and fuck-tarrare - he began to forge it with nine hammers. He forged and forged until he adjusted his grandson’s finger to the size of the ring.
Then Little Man dressed his grandson in a dress embroidered in gold and silver, decorated with gems, and sent him to woo the beautiful maiden. He bowed to the girl, extended his finger... and the ring suited him. Woe, woe, the poor girl's tears flowed like a stream. She did not expect, did not guess that she would get such a groom. But since mother punished her like that on her deathbed, she had nowhere to go. She cried and wailed, but no one could help her grief, no one could console her.
How she was spinning and spinning there, but she managed to hide from the eyes of the dragon and, unnoticed by anyone, she ran to her mother’s grave and began to cry bitterly:
Oh, you are a black earth, Oh, a dark grave, If only the rain would wash you away, Even if the frost would split you, To my mother at the bottom of the earth, So that my groans could reach. Every day I shed tears, Let him hear my pain!
- What happened to you, dear daughter? - a voice sounded muffled, like a groan.
“Oh, dear mother, you left me a ring because of misfortune; there was no suitor for it, like all suitors, but it suited the monster-dragon.” Teach me, mother, wisely how I can get rid of the dragon, otherwise, rather than marry someone so dashing, it’s better to lie next to you in the grave.
“My daughter, go home and tell the groom that if he makes you a beautiful dress, like the sky at dawn, like the sun at noon, like the evening at sunset, you will marry him, and if he can’t, let him go home.” The girl returned home and told the snake right in the face that if he made her such a dress, she would marry him, and not fulfill the order, even if he did not show up at the door.
The grandson of Little Peasant sent this news to the snake kingdom, and there they sewed a dress from gold and gems that the world had never seen before or since.
The dragon returned with the dress and gave it to the girl with a bow. When she put it on, the dress fit her like a spitting image. And no matter how famous the girl was for her beauty, she became seven times more beautiful in that dress. Three suns glittered on the chest, on the shoulders, on the hem; rising, noon and setting. The dragon rejoices, and the girl withers and grieves. Her face turned from golden to earthy, tears stream down her cheeks; She saw that the wedding was being prepared, and ran secretly to her mother’s grave, and cried and wailed so bitterly that her heart was breaking:
Oh, you are black earth, Oh, you are a dark grave, You open up under me, I will lie down, mother, with you, With your shawl in the morning I will wash away my tears. And if not, from underground they sent me good advice: What should I do, what should I do, Should I die or live? And again a dull voice came from underground:
My sad daughter, why are you shedding tears and not giving me peace?
“Mother, mother,” said the girl, “the snake sewed a dress for me, now he’s in a hurry with the wedding.”
“And you tell the groom to sew another one, and let it be as beautiful as a clear morning, and permeated with rays and strewn with flowers in all their beauty in the morning dew, so that the color attracts their eyes, the smell intoxicates the soul.” And if he makes you such a dress, marry him, and if not, take him close to home
don't approach.
The girl returned home and said to the dragon:
- If you love me, dragon, and you want me to become your bride,
Dress me first in a beautiful dress, like a clear morning, permeated with rays, strewn with flowers in all their beauty in the morning dew, so that their color attracts the eyes, the smell intoxicates the soul, and if not...
Before she had time to finish speaking, the grandson of Little Peasant had already rushed off to the kingdom of dragons and raised goldsmiths and tailors - his best craftsmen - to their feet. For three days they collected flowers, for three days they spun silk thread, for three days they selected gems and grains of gold and sewed such a dress that you will not find another in the world; Looking at him, the birds chirped, people trembled, they could not take their eyes off, smiles bloomed on their faces. How the girl put it on... wow... my brother!.. Neither the beautiful May, nor the blooming land, nor the gaze of the beloved, nor the sunny garden, nor the shots on the mountain at dawn - nothing could compare with her. Only with a song, only with a dream could it be compared. Anyone who looked at her was overcome with love for her, but the girl walked around like a gloomy cloud and cried bitter tears.
The girl again went secretly to her mother’s grave and cried, sobbed, poured out her grief in tears:
Oh, you are black, Oh, you are a dark grave, You put pressure on your mother’s shoulders, But my sadness is no easier, Black is your night, Black is my share. You, grave, open up, Mother, come to me. For the third time I want to ask: Should I die or live?
- What happened, dear daughter?
“The dragon sewed a dress and is waiting for me to give him a rune and walk down the aisle with him.”
- My beauty, tell the dragon to sew you a third dress, a beautiful one,
like a magical night, with a starry sky and a full moon, and if he copes with this and everyone likes the dress, pretend that you are submitting, start a cheerful wedding: and when you go out into the yard to dance, put your hand on the flower on your chest and say: “Light is pouring in front, darkness is creeping behind,” and go where your eyes look. You will become free, like a bird of heaven, like the spring wind, no one will find your traces or shadow.
The girl conveyed her order to the dragon, but the monster did not answer; he decided to carry out this task for the glory of the dragon family. “Okay,” he thinks, “if not today, then tomorrow, but you will be mine.” He went and made her a third dress, so beautiful that a whole day would not be enough to describe it, and we don’t have time for that. The grandson of Little Peasant came to the girl, she dressed up in a new outfit and became a scribbler of beauty; on her shoulders two precious stones sparkled like two morning stars, on her sash there were ruby and emerald clusters, on her chest the full moon was bright and large, but the girl’s face was even more beautiful.
Not much time passed and they got married. Guests arrived, apparently and invisibly, and there was a feast and fun. The music started playing, the dancing flared up, and no one knew that that was the end of the wedding.
Now the time has come to take the bride out of the house according to the ancient custom. As soon as the guests began to clear the place for the chora, the bride put her hand to the flower on her chest and said: “Light pours ahead, darkness creeps behind!” As soon as she said these words, a black fog fell to the ground, and no one saw the girl again. Moving away from the house, she walked along the edge of the sky, along the rays of the stars, and reached an old dense forest: it was evening, and she decided to find a place in the thicket to spend the night.
The sun sets in the evening, rises early in the morning, and thunderstorms and rain can come when they please.
The grandson of Little Peasant got to the kingdom of dragons, they did not let him sit on the stove, but quickly equipped another dragon with two evil, despicable dogs and sent the girl to look for him. Dogs - nose to the ground, tail like a pipe.
led them around the world, led them on a fresh trail. The dogs are running in front, and the dragons are behind, both are waving their fists, gnashing their teeth, rushing at full speed, and in reality they dream and dream about how to get a beautiful maiden as soon as possible.
Soon the dogs reached the forest, barked and rushed into the thickets where the girl hid. The poor thing was stupefied with fear; she wanted to fall through the ground.
The ferocious grandson of Little Peasant grabbed her by the hand and wanted to drag her out of the bushes, he pulled and pulled, but she moved; doesn't want to. And without thinking twice, grab the second dragon! hit the girl's arms with a saber and cut them off right up to the elbows. The girl fell to the ground, began to cry, and the grandson of the Peasant Man threw one hand to one dog, the other to the other, nodded to his companion, turned back and was gone.
The beautiful maiden was left alone with her grief, with her sadness. Wandered
she is in the forest, and her strength is weakening; suddenly, out of nowhere, a thunderstorm broke out, a terrible storm arose, the wind was fierce, the trees were uprooted. The girl took cover from the bad weather as best she could, and then - fuck! — the top of the tree broke off, and on it there was a nest with chicks. The wind gutted the nest, and the chicks fell in all directions. They lie there, poor things, making such a squeal that even a stone could cry out of pity for them.
The girl was touched by the cry of the chicks, she began to rush through the forest, collected them with the stubs of her hands, sat down over them and covered them until the thunderstorm and rain subsided. Just as she decided to leave them, she suddenly heard: some bird rustling its wings overhead. The chicks squeaked and reached out to their mother. The bird was happy to see that her children were alive and unharmed, and asked the girl:
- How can I repay you for the good you have done?
- Why don’t you feel sorry?
“Oh, my dear, I would be glad to grow arms for you, but I don’t have water as clear as a tear from the spring of springs that flows from under the dragon rock, and I can’t get it.” I will take care of you as I take care of my chicks: as I groom them, I will groom you too.
The bird spread its wing, moved it over the girl and wrapped her in a chick, like two peas in a pod like the others.
She fed them, came out, and when the chicks grew up, they sang a cheerful song: they greeted the sun, over the free fields
fluttered. They stayed in a flock, got their own food, and flew to roost for the night.
And not far from the forest in which the chicks lived, there grew a large, beautiful garden of the Green Tsar.
The little birds got into the habit of flying into that garden, pecking at worms and bugs, until one fine day they noticed a branchy, beautiful apple tree. But that apple tree was not an ordinary one: in the morning the leaves blossomed, at noon the branches were covered with color, every other day the fruits swelled, and they were so sweet, tasty and juicy that you could swallow your tongue. As soon as they noticed that tree, they pecked apples on it. The green king endured a day, endured two, but, seeing that he could not reap the harvest, he called his three sons and said:
“My sons, if you want to eat apples, guard the tree from the birds of the air.”
“Let’s keep watch, father,” the sons answered in one voice.
On the first evening, the eldest son went on guard, but he was only awake for a short time: he was in a sleep, so deep that it was difficult for the red sun to wake him up in the morning.
Out of shame, he did not know where to go: the king, his brothers, and the whole court laughed at him.
On the second evening, the middle son went on guard. He fought and fought against sleep, and when dusk had completely fallen, he fell asleep even more soundly than his brother. The next day there was someone to laugh at again.
On the third evening, the youngest son went on guard. He took a brave weapon with him, found a secluded place and sat in ambush. He did not sit for long - night fell over the earth. Suddenly the wings rustled in the air, the whole flock of birds sat down on the apple tree and, well, pecked at the fruits! The prince raised his bow, took aim, but only the girl, transformed into a bird, noticed it and shouted:
- Stop, prince, don’t shoot!.. If you kill us, you won’t gain anything, you’ll only lose joy.
The prince was frightened, lowered his bow, and the bird - hop, hop! - from branch to branch, lower and lower, and as soon as it reached the ground, it turned into a beautiful beauty again.
The prince's heart sank with love for her. But when he saw her armless, he cried bitterly; The girl began to cry along with him. Tears flowed in streams, but the flame of their love quickly
dried out. And the girl told him her life, a bitter, bitter life, darkened by a dragon dog.
“I wouldn’t spare my soul just to see you with your hands.” Is this possible?
“The bird that wrapped me in a chick said that if someone brings water as clear as a tear from the spring of springs that flows from under the dragon rock, I will be able to be healed, and my hands will grow back as they were.” The prince looked around, saw a red poppy blooming among the trees in the garden, picked it and pinned it on the girl’s chest.
- Take this flower, and I’ll go on my way. When you miss me, throw a flower into the clear water: if it drowns, don’t wait for me anymore, if it floats on the water, wait for me for at least a century, and if it floats to the shore, wait for me for one year...
-Where are you going?
- I’ll go to the dragon rock.
“Even a bird doesn’t fly there, much less a person.”
- If I do return, where can I look for you?
- I will greet the sunrise in your garden in the morning with a song. The beauty parted with the son of the Green Tsar, turned around like a bird again and jumped onto a branch.
Then she took a poppy flower in her beak, flew to a clear stream, threw it into the water and watched with trepidation what would become of it. The flower floated downstream, then to the shore... and landed, as if it had been growing there all its life. The bird was delighted and quickly flew to the palace to see if the fellow was still there, but he had already gone far, heading towards the kingdom of dragons, to a spring of springs with water like a tear.
The bird sang a song of parting, a song of good meetings, and the prince kept walking and walking - through forests, mountains, places where dragons lived, and one fine day he reached a deep, terrible ravine, at the bottom of which three devils started a fight, they competed for their forelocks and raised such a howl as could be endured by saints. Seeing the traveler, they began to ask him:
“Good man, since chance brought you to us, have mercy and judge us: this is a very tough nut to crack, we can’t crack it ourselves.” Our father bequeathed three things to us on his deathbed, but we can’t divide the inheritance.
- What did he leave you?
— A couple of postsols, kushma and a fluor. But these things are not simple, but magical. Once you put on the tables, you can walk on water in them as if on land. As soon as you put the kushma on your head, you go your way and you have little grief - no one will see you, but as soon as you start playing on the flur, you will immediately find yourself where your soul desires.
- You asked me a difficult riddle. Do you see what's the point if each of you gets one thing? One will walk on the water, the other - the devil himself knows where. Now, if one of you took possession of everything, that would be the case.
“So I’m thinking of making sure that only one person gets everything.” Now listen to me. Leave your things here in the ravine and run to the hill that is visible in the distance. Whoever runs there and returns faster will own all things.
“Okay,” the devils agreed.
- Well, stand in a row and march!
As they rushed... gay-gay... priests, they raised such dust that they dusted the kodra for ten miles around. The devils are running, and the prince is laughing out loud. He put on his shoes, put the cusma on his head, played the fluer and just had time to think how he found himself at the dragon rock, at a spring of springs with water like a tear.
The dragons sensed that someone was taking water from the spring, and instantly young and old gathered together. They looked, and there wasn’t a living soul there, but they themselves sensed that someone was taking water. What a disaster! They surrounded the spring, their eyes stared, but they saw no one. One dragon bent over the spring, and the invisible prince swung his mace and grabbed it! on the back of his head, almost killed by light.
- Oh, whoever hit me, his eyes would pop out! - the dragon howled and grabbed! grab it! the one who stood behind him, thinking that he had hit him; he also did not notice the offender and hit the other. The dragons began to bludgeon each other, they started a fight, so much so that neither heaven nor earth was visible. Only one dragon remained alive, and not a single sword took him; no mace.
And the prince thought that if the power of the mace did not crush the dragon, let the walls of the prison and the darkness of the basements crush him. The young man put the fluor to his lips and wished to find himself together with the serpent at the royal court. Before he had time to sing the song, he was already home. He put the dragon under lock and key, behind seven bars, under the protection of guards, and he went straight to the garden, where a flock of birds was singing in the green foliage: having noticed him, the bird immediately jumped from branch to branch, until
did not find herself on the ground, and as soon as she touched the ground, she turned into a red maiden. The prince laughed with joy, and the girl cried. He rolled up her sleeves up to her shoulders and moistened the stumps with spring water three times. Immediately the girl’s hands grew back as they were, and she beamed with happiness. The sun is beautiful when it bursts out from behind the mountain steeps, from behind the black clouds, a flower is beautiful when the wind does not blow over it, the rain pours and the sun warms it, a flowering meadow in May is beautiful when a warm breeze caresses it. The girl with grown arms was just as beautiful, with joy in her heart and a smile on her face.
They went together to the palace, and the Green Tsar, out of joy that his son had returned, and with such a beautiful maiden, rushed to meet them. But before he had time to hug them, the guards screamed in horror: the walls began to collapse and the locks of the dungeon began to break: it was the dragon breaking out of captivity. My mother, what fear gripped everyone! Many fled, but the prince put the bush on his head and, when the angry dragon approached him... grab it! with his mace on one temple, then on the other, so that he laid him down on the spot. A girl approached the dragon, recognized him and began to shake; the monster gathered his strength and stretched out his hands to grab her. But then the girl noticed her ring on his finger and - time! - she tore it off. In that same instant, the dragon turned to dust, only a pile of bones fell to the ground - it was time for him to die long ago. Here the Green Tsar ordered his servants to burn the bones and throw the ashes to the wind, so that not a trace of the dragon would remain, and then he started a wedding with unheard-of music, with unprecedented dishes, and guests were called from all over the world. The girl’s father also came to the wedding from a distant kingdom: a carriage with twelve horses was sent for him first. And a feast broke out there - for the whole world! Whoever sat down at the table did not get up hungry and sober.
Happiness brought me to their wedding. I walked on it, had fun and saw how they lived in peace and harmony.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru