One rich man had a son. His father raised him at home, and as the guy grew up, he sent him around the world, not to make money, but to gain intelligence, to see how hard life is for people and how hard they have to work to honestly live their short life. His father gave him money for the journey, told him to take care of it, read the instructions, blessed him and sent him away.
Wandering around the world, the young man came to some city. He looks - they are leading a man to the gallows. A young man runs up and asks what bad thing the unfortunate man did and why they want to execute him.
“He has a lot of debts, and since he has nothing to pay, then, according to the laws of our country, he was sentenced to death,” they answer him.
Hearing this, the young man turned to the judges:
- Gentlemen judges! Can I pay this man's debts and ransom him?
- Please. Pay and do with it what you want.
The young man gave away all his money, sold his clothes down to the last shirt, and finally collected as much as he needed. The judges gave him the debtor, and they went around the world together, begging for alms.
One evening they lay down to rest. The ransomed debtor says:
“I’m tired of this kind of life, and I’m sorry to look at you.” It's because of me that you suffer. Let's go to the forest. There I have a named sister, the sorceress Vila. She will tell us how to get rich.
The young man agreed. They went into the forest. The path is long. The debtor walks ahead, the young man follows him. Finally they arrived. They see that the trees are tall - up to the month, their leaves are golden, their trunks are silver. And among the trees a bright flame burns and smoke curls above the fire. The young man got scared and asked:
- What is this? Some kind of miracle!
And the friend answers:
“Don’t be afraid, all my named sisters and their mothers are here.” The two of us cannot approach them. I will go ahead and tell them that we have come to live with them. And you wait for me under that tree; it is all made of gold, and its leaves are pearl. But if you value your life, be sure not to say a word until I return. Under the golden tree in the summer, all the pitchforks gather and embroider on hoops. And if they see a young man in the forest, they will bewitch him with their gaze and turn him into some kind of animal.
He said this and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the ground. Some time passed. The young man got tired of waiting, and he walked through the forest. Suddenly he sees a round dance of winged girls. He hid to look at them and listen to their songs. Unfortunately, the singer noticed him, bewitched him, and at that very moment he became blind and numb. He got scared and cried. Out of nowhere, his comrade flew in on wings, took his hand and said:
- Why are you so afraid?
The young man told with signs what happened to him. He took a small pipe from his belt, climbed up a tree and began to play. So many pitchforks and sorcerers, brothers and sisters, sworn brothers and sworn sisters flocked from all sides that it was impossible to count. They began to look for some medicinal herbs in the forest and treat the young man with them. He immediately regained his sight, and the gift of speech returned to him. Vila took him in and married him. He got rich. But when he grew old, he repented of his sins and returned home. He found his father already dying. He said goodbye to him, buried him and lived the life of a righteous man until his death. But every summer I went to the forest to visit former friends.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru