A son and his mother lived on the shore of the lake. They lived poorly. The son hunted ducks and geese. Once, for several days in a row, the son did not kill a single bird and together with his mother he was starving.
But then the son saw that a heron had fallen into his trap. He began to sharpen the knife to kill the heron, when suddenly she spoke:
- Don't kill me, set me free! Whatever you want, I will give you. Come to my kingdom and I will reward you generously.
“Where is your kingdom?” asked the young man.
- Climb onto the roof with me, let me out and see where I fly. “In that direction you will find my kingdom,” said the heron.
Mother and son consulted and decided: if they kill the heron and eat it, they will still remain poor, and if they release it into the wild, then maybe the heron will make them happy.
The son climbed onto the roof of the house and released the heron into the wild. The heron flew east. And so the young man went to the east to look for her kingdom.
He walked and walked and could not find the kingdom of the heron. But finally, the young man came across a herd of goats.
“Whose goats are these?” he asked the shepherd.
“These are heron goats,” said the shepherd.
“Where does the heron live?” asked the young man.
- Ask the shepherd who tends the sheep about this. The young man walked for a long time and finally met a herd of sheep.
- Whose sheep are these?
- These are heron rams.
-Where does the heron live? - he asked the shepherd.
“Why do you need it?” asked the shepherd.
The young man told the shepherd how the heron fell into his trap, how he freed her and how she told him to come to her kingdom.
“Take two rams from my herd,” said the shepherd. “Get on my white camel and go east.” When you approach the Heron Palace, you will see two dogs guarding the gate. Throw the sheep to the dogs, and drive freely into the yard.
“Tell me what I should ask the heron?” asked the young man.
“Ask her for a self-assembled tablecloth,” said the shepherd.
The young man thanked the shepherd for his advice, took two rams with him, sat on a white camel and rode to the heron.
As soon as he approached her palace, two dogs rushed at him from the gate. The young man tossed them a sheep each and rode freely into the yard. Then he saw a heron, got off the camel and greeted her.
- Do you remember when I freed you from the trap? Now I have come to your kingdom.
-What would you like?
“Give me a self-assembled tablecloth,” said the young man.
“Well, so be it,” said the heron. “Because you saved my life, I’ll give you a self-assembled tablecloth.”
The young man thanked the heron, took the tablecloth and drove back along the same road. He reached the shepherd, who was tending sheep, and showed him the heron’s gift.
“Tablecloth, turn around!” said the shepherd.
And then the self-assembled tablecloth unfolded, and various dishes appeared on it.
The young man fed the shepherd, rode on and returned safely to his mother.
From then on, mother and son were always full and thanked the heron. Now they could feed anyone who came into their house.
Soon the rumor about the self-assembled tablecloth spread throughout the country. He found out about her and the padishas and ordered the tablecloth to be taken from the poor and brought to him. They took away a self-assembled tablecloth from mother and son.
“Son, go to the heron and tell her about our grief,” the mother said to her son. The son went to the heron again. He soon reached the shepherd, who was tending the sheep, and told him about what had happened. The shepherd told him:
“Don’t say anything to the heron about this, but ask her for another pumpkin.” The young man went to the heron and asked her for a pumpkin.
When he again approached the shepherd with the pumpkin, he took the pumpkin from his hands, placed it on the ground in front of him and shouted:
- Hey, come out of the pumpkin!
Suddenly people with sticks jumped out of the pumpkin and began to beat the young man. He got scared and asked for mercy.
“Back to the pumpkin!” commanded the shepherd. And the people with the sticks disappeared.
“Now can you guess why you needed to ask the heron for a pumpkin?” asked the shepherd.
The young man returned home, went to the padishah and began to demand a self-assembled tablecloth from him. The padishah became angry and ordered him to be driven away. Then the young man threw the pumpkin at the feet of the padishah and shouted:
- Hey, come out of the pumpkin!
People with sticks jumped out of the pumpkin and began to beat the padishah. The guards fled in fear. The padishah prayed:
- That's enough, I'll give you the tablecloth now. The young man took the self-assembled tablecloth and shouted:
- Back to the pumpkin! The people with the sticks disappeared.
With a self-assembled tablecloth and a wonderful pumpkin, the son returned home to his mother. Since then, the son and mother lived without fear.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru