Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen, and they had an only son. So the prince grew up, and the king and queen held a baptismal celebration, and cut their son’s hair, as is customary. They invited the most noble people from all over the kingdom to a feast. The windows lit up with a thousand lights, the white chambers sparkled with silver, gold and expensive gems. And in the evening, the girls started ringing bells in the garden, you can’t take your eyes off any one you look at! The beauties dance in a round dance and do not take their affectionate eyes off the prince - so, it seems, they would eat him.
At midnight the guests went home, and the prince went out for a walk in the grove where old linden trees grew. The moon rose, it became as bright as day, and the prince could not sleep. The grove stood as if enchanted - the thick trunks of old trees cast dark shadows, and the moonlight, penetrating through the foliage, drew bizarre patterns on the ground. It smelled of linden blossom, like incense in a church. The prince wandered thoughtfully through the soft grass and did not notice how he entered a clearing. He looks - and in the clearing, illuminated by moonlight, stands a little vila-sorceress in a white outfit, and gold embroidery glitters on it. Her long hair was scattered over her shoulders, and on her head a golden crown, studded with precious stones, sparkled. And this villa was very tiny. Like a doll! The prince stopped and couldn’t take his eyes off her. And she suddenly spoke, and her voice rang like a silver bell:
- Wonderful prince! I was also invited to the holiday, but I didn’t dare come to visit you - I’m too small. And now I want to say hello to you under the moon, its light replaces the sun’s rays for me!
The prince liked the small fork. The night sorceress did not frighten him at all. He walked up to the small fork and took her hand. But she suddenly broke free and disappeared. All that was left in the prince’s hand was Vila’s mitten, so tiny that the prince had difficulty pulling it onto his little finger. Saddened, he returned to the palace and did not say a word to anyone about who he had seen in the old grove.
The next night the prince went to the grove again. He wanders in the light of the bright moon, still looking for a small fork. And she is nowhere to be found. The prince became sad, took out his mitten from his bosom and kissed it. And at that very moment a pitchfork appeared in front of him. The prince was so happy that it was impossible to say! His heart jumped with happiness in his chest! They walked for a long time in the moonlight, chatting merrily with each other. And an amazing thing! While they were talking, the little Vila grew noticeably taller in front of the prince’s eyes. When the time came for them to part, it was twice as large as the previous night. Now the mitten did not fit her hand, and Vila returned it to the prince with the words:
- Take the mitten as a deposit and take good care of it.
She said - and at the same moment disappeared.
- I will keep your mitten in my heart! - exclaimed the prince.
Since then, every night the prince and the vila met in the grove under the old linden trees. While the sun is shining, the prince finds no place for himself. Day after day he yearns for his vila, he can’t wait for the night to come and the moon to appear in the sky, and he keeps wondering: “Will my vila come today?” The prince loved the little vila more and more, and the vila grew taller every night. On the ninth night, when the full moon came, Vila became as tall as the prince.
- Now I will come to you every time the month floats in the sky! — Vila said cheerfully in her gentle voice.
- No, my dear! I can't live without you! You should be mine. I'll make you a queen!
- My dear! - Vila answers him. “I will be yours, but you must promise me that you will love only me all your life!”
- I promise, I promise! - Without thinking, the prince shouted. “I promise to always love you alone, but I won’t even look at others.”
- Fine! Just remember - I will be yours only as long as you remain true to your word.
Three days later the wedding took place. Those invited could not marvel at the beauty of the small pitchfork.
The prince and his young wife lived happily for seven years, when suddenly the old king died. A huge crowd of people gathered for the funeral. The most beautiful and noble women of the kingdom shed tears at his coffin. And among them there was one black-eyed beauty with red hair. She did not pray to God, did not mourn the late king, but relentlessly pursued the young prince with her gaze. The prince noticed that the beauty with red hair did not take her eyes off him, and this seemed unusually pleasant to him.
When the funeral procession moved to the cemetery, the prince, who was leading his wife by the arm, looked three times at the black-eyed beauty. Suddenly his wife got tangled in her skirt and almost fell.
- Oh, look, my dress has become too long! - she exclaimed.
And it’s true... Only the prince has no idea that his wife has become smaller.
But then the old king was buried, and everyone moved back to the palace. And the red-haired beauty followed on the heels of the prince, never lagging behind, and he glanced at her furtively. The prince never noticed that his wife had again turned into a little pitchfork. And as soon as they entered the old grove, the vila disappeared completely.
The prince married a red-haired beauty with black eyes. But he didn’t live happily with his new wife for three days. First she demanded to buy her a diamond bed. And so it went... Give her one thing, then another, and all these curiosities that no one else has. And if it happened that the prince did not fulfill her wishes, the beauty immediately burst into tears and, well, cry, and well, scolded her husband. The prince was so tired of the whims of the greedy beauty that he kicked her out of the house...
Only then did the prince understand what he had done. He grieves and sighs for the little villa. And again, as soon as the month floats in the sky, the prince goes to the grove where the old linden trees grow and calls his sweet, kind fork. The prince looked for her, looked for her, called his fork, called, and already managed to grow old, waiting for her. But the little vila never returned to him...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru