In ancient times, there lived a girl. When she was fifteen years old, she lost her mother, and the next year her father took as his wife a widow who had three daughters. All three sat at home and were lazy, and poor Annette spent the whole day in the field and tended sheep. In the evening, when she returned home, she was not allowed to rest, they forced her to wash the dishes, even though she was not the one who dirty them, because Annette had never had the opportunity to eat from a plate. Every morning they put a piece of stale bread in her pocket so that she could have lunch in the field without returning home, and even then her stepmother tried to give her a piece of bread; It is not surprising that the poor girl was often tormented by hunger.
One day, having eaten her meager lunch and washed it down with water from the stream, which she scooped up by the handful, the young shepherdess began to reflect on how sadly her life was going.
“It was completely different while my mother lived. She made sure that I did not tolerate cold or hunger; she loved me, and how tender and affectionate she was with me!”
Remembering the past, the shepherdess burst into tears, but suddenly, through the tears that clouded her eyes, she saw a beautiful woman with a sweet and kind face. It was a fairy.
- What's wrong with you, my child? - asked the fairy.
- Alas, madam! I cry because I remembered my kind mother.
- I know, I know - you lost your mother, and now you are unhappy: but be patient, I will take care of you and make your lot easier. To begin with, here is a stick: every time you want to eat, you just need to touch your black sheep with it.
The patron fairy disappeared before the girl had time to thank her. The shepherdess wanted to try the power of the wand as soon as possible; she touched the black ram with it, and at the same moment a covered table stood in front of her, on which there were all kinds of dishes; She ate to her heart's content and did not forget her faithful dog, who diligently helped her guard the herd. This happened day after day: as soon as the carcass wanted to graze, it was instantly served dishes more plentiful and better than the king himself. So it turned out that from being thin and weak, she became strong and plump, and now she was positively radiant with health. The stepmother, who was still keeping her from hand to mouth, could not be surprised at how the girl was getting fatter every day. She sensed something was wrong here.
“Marie,” she said to her eldest daughter, “you will go with the shepherdess to the field.” Take a good look at what she eats there, and tell me everything exactly; but just don’t show that you went there for a reason, try not to let her guess anything.
Marie went with Annette, who treated her sister better than she had treated her at home: she wove her a basket of willow twigs and collected a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers for her. But the widow’s daughter was not used to walking through the fields for a long time; she soon got tired and sat down to rest on the grass.
“Sit next to me and put your head on my lap, I’ll comb your hair,” Annette said to her sister.
The shepherdess guessed that the girl had been sent to spy on her; therefore, while combing her hair, she began to quietly hum: “Close, sister, one eye, close, sister, the other!” Close, sister, one eye, close, sister, the other!” She sang and sang until Marie was overcome by sleep. Meanwhile, the shepherdess managed to eat; she had a good meal, but Marie did not notice anything.
“Well, Marie,” the stepmother asked when her daughter returned, “can you tell me what kind of food this is that Annette benefits from?”
“I assure you, mother, I saw that she ate only her stale bread and drank only water from the stream.”
- Go to sleep, lazy one! Your sister will be better able to find out everything. Fanchetta, listen to what I tell you: tomorrow you will get up at first light and go with Annetta to the field; look what she does and tell me what she eats.
- Okay, mother, I'll keep an eye on everything. But the same thing happened to Fanchetta as to her
sister: she fell asleep and didn’t see anything. Her mother scolded her too.
“I bet both of those lazy people fell asleep there.” Well, this time everything will be different. Lisette, my goat, go to your mother. Tomorrow you will go with Annetta to the field; if you get tired, go to sleep, close one eye, or even both, just don’t close the one I’ll put in the back of your head. It will be bad for you if you do not fulfill my instructions!
Lisette promised her mother that she would notice everything. When she got tired of running, she put her head on Annette’s lap, and she began to hum, as before, “Close one eye, sister, close the other one, sister!” But she didn’t know that Lisette had a third eye: it remained open and spied what Annette was doing when she needed a table laden with all sorts of tasty things. Lisette was quick to tell her mother everything she had seen.
“Oh, mother, it’s not surprising that the shepherdess is getting so fat—she lives better than us.” What kind of delicacies does not the black ram bring her!
The stepmother became jealous that her stepdaughter had such happiness, and she decided: this should not happen! She went to bed and pretended to be sick.
“I think I’m going to die,” she told her husband, “but I know a remedy that could cure me.”
- Tell me, tell me quickly, little wife, we’ll get everything.
— I want to eat black sheep meat.
- Just that? Well, this wish is easy to fulfill! Whether the sheep is black or white, I don’t care: I’ll slaughter it.
Annetta heard the whole conversation, and while the owner was sharpening a large knife, she crept into the yard, and from there into the sheepfold.
- My black lamb, let's run away as soon as possible! They want to kill you!
- Eh, don't be afraid! Don’t contradict them, let them kill me, that’s the way it should be. Just do one thing: get my liver and bury it in the garden.
Annetta cried for a long time; but she could not do anything; she had to come to terms with the fact that her black sheep had been slaughtered. The stepmother and her daughters treated themselves to glory. It was as if the stepmother’s illness had lifted—now she was sure that she had annoyed her unrequited stepdaughter. She gloatingly treated the girl to roast black sheep. But she was sorry to give Annetta some tasty morsel, and she gave her the liver:
- Here, take it, you've had enough!
That's all Annette needed. She did as the ram told her, and a tree grew in the place where she buried the liver. It was so high, so high that even if you put the longest ladder up to it, it was impossible to reach the branches, and so smooth that not a single person could climb even halfway up the trunk. The beautiful fruits that ripened on it seduced everyone, but one only had to admire them. Only Annetta could pluck them, because the branches themselves bowed for her, and for no one else.
Once a king’s son was passing through those places and saw these beautiful fruits. His mouth watered - they seemed very tempting to him, but no one could snatch them. However, the king's son wanted to taste them so much that he promised to marry the daughter of any man who could get them for him. All the fathers, all the mothers wanted to try their luck; The daughters themselves tried to get to the fruits. But that was not the case! No one succeeded.
Annetta's stepmother, who cherished ambitious plans for her daughters, decided that she was the most cunning of all. She ordered a very long ladder and placed it against the tree, but still the ladder did not reach the lower branches by several feet. The stepmother climbed onto the very last step, stood on her tiptoes to reach the fruit hanging above her head, toppled over, fell backwards and broke her neck. Here she and all her anger came to an end!
This incident discouraged all ambitious people - no one tried to climb the ladder or climb the trunk. However, the prince was tormented by such a strong desire that they feared that he might fall ill. Here little Annetta deigned to take pity on him. And as soon as she approached the tree, the branches began to bend until they bent so low that she could touch them. Annetta picked up a full basket of fruit and brought it to the sick prince. It is easy to guess what reward she received for this precious gift: she became the prince’s wife and lived with him in happiness and contentment until the end of her days.
That's it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru