In ancient times, there lived a husband and wife. And their daughter grew up. The girl took it all: in height, and portliness, and courteousness. Looking at her, people rejoiced: the girl was friendly, affectionate, and courteous with everyone. She was in a hurry to help everyone in any way she could. But then misfortune befell her, trouble came. The girl's mother died.
How much time has passed - the father married a widow. And the widow brought her daughter into the house. And there were four in the family. Living as an orphan is not a joyful life, and with a stepmother it became even worse. She cherished and consoled her own daughter, but she disliked her stepdaughter from the first day. When the roosters crowed, the orphan got up, washed herself with tears, and managed the housework until midnight. And she spun, and weaved, and walked on water, and carried firewood, and milked cows. And the evil woman just shouted: -? You are incompetent, you scoundrel! The bread eater has taken its toll on my head!
One day my father opened a chest that was left over from his first wife. And in the chest there is a warmer, trimmed with fur, and a kokoshnik, studded with pearls, and morocco ankle boots, and a gold ring with an expensive stone, and various clothes. “We’ll divide it equally, and our daughters will have a dowry,” said the father. And the envious stepmother and her daughter harbored a dark thought. “We’ll divide this wealth into two.” share,” the stepmother whispered to her daughter. “Yes, with such and such a dowry we will find a merchant’s son.” You won’t marry a man, you’ll marry a lapotnik. Just don't make a mistake!
Some time passed after that conversation, the girls got ready to go berry picking. And the father jokingly says to them: “Well, whichever of you brings more berries will get a little more when the dowry is divided.”
Girls walk through the forest, call around, and pick berries. And in the evening, they met in a clearing. The stepmother's daughter looked - holy shit, the old daughter's basket was full, but she had nothing, just the bottom! Then I remembered my mother’s speech: do not divide the dowry into two shares... And as they passed through the swamp, the stepmother’s daughter snatched a basket of berries from her stepsister and pushed it from the crossbars into the bottomless swamp. “I’m drowning, I’m dying, dear sister,” the girl begged, “help me!”—? I’ll help you! Tony, you can't get out of this swamp. And I alone will get the entire dowry! - the stepmother shouted to her daughter.
She crossed the swamp and ran home. On the way, she poured berries into her truck - clean, large, one to one, and buried her stepsister's basket in the moss. -? Clever girl, my smart girl! - met her mother. - Look, old man, how many berries my daughter picked! -? Why didn’t you come together? - asked the father. -? We separated from her, - the stepmother’s daughter answered, - I called and called, but no one responded to me, I think she filled her basket before me and went home. -? Well, where can she, daughter, manage before you? I fell asleep somewhere and didn’t hear you! - the woman laughed.
The evening passed and the night passed. In the morning, the old man got up early. “We must go look,” he said, “it’s clear that trouble has struck.” He gathered the neighbors. They went into the forest. And the woman’s daughter is with them. “Here,” he says, “we separated and never saw each other again. We walked and walked all day from morning to evening, and came back with nothing.
Summer is already coming to an end. An old wanderer walks and wanders along those paths. I stepped on the crossbar perches, and in the muddy place a grass pipe grows. The old man cut off that pipe, put it to his lips and just blew into it, when he heard: the pipe began to play, began to sing, and lamented pitifully:
-?Play, play, grandfather, Play, play, darling. We were two half-sisters, And so they ruined me, For red berries and for my mother’s dowry, They drowned me in a rotten swamp!
And then an old wanderer came late in the evening to that village and asked to spend the night in the last hut, just in the house where the orphan girl had gotten lost. After dinner, the old wanderer spoke: “Not far from your village, I cut a pipe.” So funny: she sings and pronounces herself. Take it, master, blow on this pipe! As soon as the owner blew on the pipe, she began to speak and began to sing:
-?Play, play, my father, Play, play, my dear. We were two half-sisters, And so they ruined me, For red berries and for my mother’s dowry, They drowned me in a rotten swamp!
The old man's face changed. He handed the pipe to his stepdaughter: -? Come on, play! As soon as she brought the pipe to her lips, the pipe began to play and began to sing:
-?Play, play, step-sister, Play, play, you villain, Play, play, murderer! You killed me, You drowned me in a rotten swamp, For red berries and for my mother’s dowry, You took my life!
The father rushed for witnesses. The evil girl, and at the same time the mother, an evil woman, were tied up and put on guard. And the father with the witnesses and the old wanderer ran to the swamp. They searched and searched and soon pulled out the girl. They washed her and gave her rituals. Then she opened her eyes and said: “Oh, how long I slept and saw a lot in my dreams!” Do not hold, dear father, either a woman who is a villain or a daughter who is a villain. There will be no life for you or me from them. The father, in joy, forgave the evil woman and the villainous stepdaughter, drove them out of the yard: “Go back where you came from!”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru