In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived an old man and an old woman, and during their entire existence they had no children. It occurred to them that these were ancient years, they had to die soon, but God had not given him an heir, and they began to pray to God to create a child for them in honor of their souls. The old man made a covenant: if the old woman gives birth to a child, then whoever comes along first, I will take him as godfather. After some time, the old woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The old man was happy, got ready and went to look for his godfather; just outside the gate, and a stroller, harnessed to fours, rolls towards him; The sovereign is sitting in the carriage.
The old man did not know the sovereign, mistook him for a boyar, stopped and began to bow.
- What do you want, old man? - asks the sovereign.
“Yes, I ask your mercy, don’t say it out of anger: baptize my newborn son.”
- Don’t you have anyone you know in the village?
“I have a lot of acquaintances, a lot of friends, but it’s not good to take me as a godfather, because this is the covenant: whoever meets first, ask him.”
“Okay,” says the sovereign, “here’s a hundred rubles for your christening; tomorrow I'll be there myself.
The next day he came to the old man; They immediately called the priest, baptized the baby and gave him the name Ivan. This Ivan began to grow by leaps and bounds - like wheat dough rising on dough; and every month he receives one hundred rubles of the Tsar’s salary by mail.
Ten years passed, he grew up big and felt immeasurable strength within himself. At that very time the sovereign thought about him; I have a godson, but I don’t know what he is; wished to see him personally and immediately sent an order for Ivan the peasant son, without any delay, to appear before his bright eyes. The old man began to pack it for the journey, took out the money and said:
- Here’s a hundred rubles for you, go to the city to ride a horse, buy yourself a horse; Otherwise it’s a long way - you can’t go on foot.
Ivan went to the city, and he came across an old man on the road.
- Hello, Ivan the peasant son! Where are you heading?
The good fellow answers:
“Grandpa, I’m going to the city, I want to buy myself a horse.”
- Well, listen to me if you want to be happy. As soon as you come to the horse riding, there will be one peasant selling a very thin, lousy horse; you choose it, and no matter how much the owner asks from you - go ahead, don’t bargain! And when you buy it, bring it home and graze it in the green meadows for twelve evenings and twelve mornings in the dew - then you will recognize it!
Ivan thanked the old man for his science and went into the city; comes to the horse, lo and behold, a peasant is standing and holding a thin, lousy horse by the bridle.
-Are you selling your horse?
- I’m selling.
- What are you asking for?
- Yes, without bargaining, a hundred rubles.
Ivan the peasant son took out a hundred rubles, gave it to the peasant, took the horse and led him to the courtyard. He brings me home, my father looked and waved his hand:
- Lost money!
- Wait, father! Perhaps, luckily for me, the horse will recover.
Ivan began to lead his horse every morning and every evening into the green meadows to pasture, and that’s how twelve morning dawns and twelve evening dawns passed - his horse became so strong, strong and beautiful that you couldn’t even think of it, not even in a fairy tale, and so intelligent - that only Ivan could think of it, and she already knows. Then Ivan the peasant son made himself a heroic harness, saddled his good horse, said goodbye to his father and mother and went to the capital city to the Tsar-Sovereign.
Whether he rode close, or far, or soon, or briefly, he found himself at the sovereign's palace, jumped to the ground, tied the heroic horse by the ring to an oak post and ordered him to report to the king about his arrival. The tsar ordered him not to be detained, to be allowed into the chambers without any bullying. Ivan entered the royal chambers, prayed at the holy icons, bowed to the king and said:
- I wish you good health, Your Majesty!
- Hello, godson! - answered the sovereign, sat him down at the table, began to treat him with all sorts of drinks and snacks, and he looked at him and marveled: a nice fellow - handsome in face, smart in mind, and tall; no one will think that he is ten years old, everyone will give him twenty, and even with a tail! “It’s clear from everything,” the king thinks, “that in this godson the Lord gave me not a simple warrior, but a very powerful hero.” And the king granted him the rank of officer and ordered him to serve with him.
Ivan the peasant son took up the service with all the will, does not refuse any work, stands for the truth with his chest; For this reason, the sovereign fell in love with him more than all his generals and ministers and did not trust any of them as much as his godson. The generals and ministers became embittered with Ivan and began to hold advice on how to slander him before the sovereign himself. One day the king called noble and close people to his place for dinner; As soon as everyone sat down at the table, he said:
- Listen, gentlemen generals and ministers! What do you think of my godson?
- What can I say, Your Majesty! We saw neither good nor bad from him; One thing is bad - he was very boastful. They have heard from him more than once that in such and such a kingdom, far away, a large marble palace was built, and a high fence was erected all around - neither foot nor horse could get there! Nastasya the beautiful princess lives in that palace. No one can get her, but he, Ivan, boasts of getting her, marrying her.
The king listened to this slander, ordered his godson to be called and began to tell him:
“Why are you boasting to the generals and ministers that you can get Nastasya the Princess, but you don’t report anything to me about it?”
- Have mercy, your majesty! - Ivan the peasant son answers. “I never dreamed of that.”
- Now it’s too late to deny; If you boast about me, then do the deed; and if you don’t do it, then my sword will take your head off your shoulders!
Ivan the peasant son became sad, hung his little head below his mighty shoulders and went to his good horse. The horse will say to him in a human voice:
- Why, master, are you freaking out and not telling me the truth?
- Oh, my good horse! Why should I be cheerful? The authorities slandered me in front of the sovereign himself, as if I could get Nastasia and marry the beautiful princess. The king ordered me to carry out this task, otherwise he wants to cut off my head.
- Don't worry, master! Pray to God and go to bed; morning is wiser than evening. We'll handle this matter; just ask the king for more money so that we don’t get bored on the way, we’ll have plenty to eat and drink whatever we want.
Ivan spent the night, got up in the morning, came to the sovereign and began to ask for the gold treasury for the campaign. The king ordered to give him as much as he needed. So the good fellow took the treasury, put heroic harness on his horse, sat on horseback and rode off on his journey.
Whether close, far, soon, or briefly, he drove to distant lands, to the thirtieth kingdom, and stopped at a marble palace; All around the palace the walls are high, no gates or doors are visible; how to get behind the fence? His good horse says to Ivan:
- Let's wait until evening! As soon as it gets dark, I will turn into a blue-winged eagle and fly over the wall with you. At that time the fair princess will sleep on her soft bed; you go straight into her bedroom, slowly take her in your arms and carry her boldly.
It’s good, they waited until evening; As soon as it got dark, the horse hit the damp ground, turned into a blue-winged eagle and said:
“It’s time for us to do our job; look, don't make a mistake!
Ivan the peasant son sat on an eagle; The eagle rose into the sky, flew over the wall and placed Ivan in the wide courtyard.
The good fellow went into the wards and looked - everything was quiet, all the servants were sleeping in deep sleep; He goes to the bedroom - Nastasya the beautiful princess is lying on the crib, sweeping away rich covers and sable blankets in her sleep. The good fellow looked at her indescribable beauty, at her white body, his ardent love clouded him, he could not stand it and kissed the princess on the sugar lips. From this the red maiden woke up and screamed in a loud voice in fear; At her voice they rose, the faithful servants came running, caught Ivan the peasant son and tied his hands and feet tightly. The princess ordered him to be put in prison and given him a glass of water and a pound of black bread a day.
Ivan sits in a strong dungeon and thinks a sad thought: “That’s right, here I should lay my violent head!” And his good heroic horse hit the ground and became a small bird, flew into his broken window and said:
- Well, master, listen: tomorrow I will break down the doors and make you weak; you hide in the garden behind such and such a bush; Nastasya the beautiful princess will walk there, and I will turn into a poor old man and begin to ask her for alms; Look, don’t yawn, otherwise it will be bad.
Ivan became happier and the bird flew away. The next day the heroic horse rushed to the dungeon and knocked down the door with its hooves; Ivan the peasant son ran out into the garden and stood behind a green bush. The beautiful princess went out for a walk in the garden, and as soon as she came up against a bush, a poor old man came up to her, bowed and asked with tears for holy alms. While the red maiden was taking out a wallet with money, Ivan the peasant son jumped out, grabbed her in his arms, and clamped her mouth so tightly that you couldn’t even raise a small voice. At that same moment, the old man turned into a gray-winged eagle, soared high, high with the queen and the good fellow, flew over the fence, sank to the ground and became still a heroic horse. Ivan the peasant son mounted his horse and took Nastasya the princess with him; tells her:
“What, beautiful princess, won’t you lock me in prison now?”
The beautiful princess answers:
- Apparently, it’s my destiny to be yours, do with me what you know!
Here they are going along the road; whether it’s close, whether it’s far, whether it’s soon, whether it’s short, they arrive at a large green meadow. In that meadow there are two giants standing, feeding each other with their fists; they were beaten and beaten until they bled, but no one could overcome the other; Near them lie a broomstick and a stick on the grass.
“Listen, brothers,” Ivan the peasant son asks them. -What are you fighting for?
The giants stopped fighting and said to him:
- We are both brothers; Our father died, and all that was left after him was nothing but a broom and a stick; We began to share, and we quarreled: everyone, you see, wants to take everything for themselves! Well, we decided to fight not to the gut, but to the death; whoever survives will receive both things.
- How long have you been arguing?
“Yes, we’ve been beating each other up for three years now, but we still haven’t achieved anything!”
- Oh, you! There is something to fight to the death over. How great is self-interest - a broom and a stick?
- Don’t say, brother, what you don’t know! With this broom and stick, you can defeat any force. No matter how many troops the enemy sends, boldly go out to meet them: where you wave a broom, there will be a street, and if you jump over, it will be the same with a side street. And you also need a stick: no matter how many troops you capture with it, you will take them all prisoner!
“Yes, these are good things!” thinks Ivan. “Perhaps they would be useful to me too.”
“Well, brothers,” he says, “do you want me to divide you equally?”
- Share, good man!
Ivan the peasant son got off his heroic horse, picked up a handful of fine sand, led the giants into the forest and scattered that sand in all four directions.
“Here,” he says, “collect sand; Whoever has more will get both the stick and the broom.
The giants rushed to collect sand, and in the meantime Ivan grabbed both a stick and a broom, mounted his horse - and remember his name!
For a long time or for a short time, he approaches his state and sees that his godfather has suffered a considerable misfortune: the entire kingdom has been conquered, a countless army is standing near the capital city, threatening to burn everything with fire, putting the king himself to an evil death.
Ivan the peasant son left the princess in a nearby forest, and he himself flew to the enemy’s army; Where he waves a broom, there is a street; where he jumps, there is a side street! In a short time he killed whole hundreds, whole thousands; and what remained of death, he hooked with a stick and dragged alive to the capital city.
The Tsar greeted him with joy, ordered drums to be beaten, trumpets to be blown, and bestowed with the rank of general and an untold treasury.
Then Ivan the peasant son remembered Nastasya the beautiful princess, asked for some time off and brought her straight to the palace. The king praised him for his heroic prowess and ordered him to prepare the house and celebrate the wedding. Ivan the peasant son married the beautiful princess, celebrated a rich wedding and began to live for himself without bothering him. Here's a fairy tale for you, and a bunch of bagels for me.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru