Once upon a time there lived a merchant. He had two sons. As soon as the merchant died, the youngest son began to walk, have fun, and spend his father’s money without restraint. The elder didn't like it.
“Look, everything my father has acquired will go down the drain,” thought the elder brother. - What does he care: no wife, no children, tumbleweeds, but I’m a family man, sedate. Give your brother free rein, he will let me and my children travel around the world. I'll separate myself from him before it's too late. Let him take his share of what is left."
He called his brother to him and allocated him part of his father's inheritance.
The younger brother was a soul-man. He was friends and got along with everyone, and was always ready to help people. Whoever asked him for money: a poor beggar, a hungry person, a homeless tramp, a friend or acquaintance - he generously distributed money to everyone, and refused no one. This is how his inheritance left him; in a short period of time he gave away to people the entire considerable share of his wealth. And when he didn’t have a penny left in his soul, people began to honor him, and even teach him wisdom: hey, you’re a good merchant’s son, you threw all your father’s goods into the wind! And his friends stopped being friends with him, as if they didn’t even know him.
The merchant's son left home wherever he looked. He wandered for a long time and finally, hungry and exhausted, he reached one city.
“Eh, isn’t there a coin in my pocket somewhere?” – he thought hopefully. He turned everything inside out, but where is it! There wasn't even a penny to be found. “My affairs are bad. I have no relatives, no friends, no money, no things left, you are gone, my good-for-nothing little head!” Then he remembered the gold ring that he wore on his finger. Without hesitation, he took it off, sold it and, having eaten his fill, went to wander around the city. On one of the streets he met a man who was selling a cat for a hundred rupees.
– Who needs your mangy cat, and for that kind of money? - Passers-by laughed at the unlucky merchant. The boys pulled the cat by the tail, ruffled its ears, and ridicule rained down from all sides:
- Let's play on her ribs!
– What did you feed this skeleton, venerable one?
- Catch mice and feed her, otherwise she will die of hunger!
Seeing the merchant's son calmly standing aside, the hunted cat escaped from the owner's hands, jumped up to the young man, as if asking him for protection, and began to meow pitifully and rub against his legs. The young man felt so sorry for the cat that he, without hesitation, handed the merchant a hundred rupees. The delighted merchant hurriedly disappeared, and the merchant's son took the cat and moved on.
He walks and sees a man standing on the street selling a dog. He also asks one hundred rupees for the unsightly skinny dog. Passers-by make fun of them, push the dog, tug, but he doesn’t even move, doesn’t snap, his tail is between his legs and stands there, trembling all over.
- Hey, king of dogs - thunderstorm of tigers! Let’s go, let’s show it to the king, he’s never seen such a breed before,” some joked.
Others laughed:
– Your dog looks like a starving ascetic! Just look at his humble appearance! The very embodiment of long-suffering! Apparently, he, a sufferer, is a saint among dogs, all dogs worship him.
The dog saw the merchant's son standing calmly at a distance, ran up to him, wagged its tail, and began to lick his feet, as if begging for help. The merchant's son felt so sorry for the unfortunate dog that he hastily took one hundred rupees out of his pocket and handed it to the merchant. The dog's owner, stunned by the unexpected luck, grabbed the money and quickly left. And the merchant's son continued on his way with the dog and cat. He walked and walked, and he met a birdcatcher with a cage. A parrot was sitting in a cage. The bird catcher also asked one hundred rupees for the parrot. But who would give that kind of money for a tattered parrot, which, moreover, apparently, couldn’t even speak!
“This parrot is worthy to please the ears of the queen herself!” - passers-by mocked.
- Just look how important he is - he lowered his head and doesn’t look at anyone. Probably this sage considers all of us unworthy to listen to his clever speeches!
The unfortunate bird sat ruffled, as if lamenting its bitter fate. The merchant's son felt very sorry for the parrot. He thrust one hundred rupees into the bird-catcher's hands, took the purchase and moved on,
Whether he walked long or short, he met a man with a snake. The snake lay motionless, as if exhausted. The boys pulled her with sticks, and she, barely raising her head, meekly looked at her tormentors.
- Hey, where did you catch this king of snakes? - passers-by joked. “Isn’t this the ancient serpent Shesha?” Was it not Vishnu who churned the ocean-sea? And you're only asking a hundred rupees for it? Yes, you ask for a thousand - and that’s not enough! Be careful not to sell yourself short!
The merchant's son felt very sorry for the snake, he rummaged in his pockets, took out the last hundred rupees and gave them to the snake catcher. He didn't have a penny left anymore.
In order to somehow survive, he hired himself into service. It was hard for him; he was not used to working. And then one day a snake crawled up to the merchant’s son and spoke in a human voice:
- Why torture yourself, come with me. My father is the king of snakes. He is very rich. But if he offers you something to take from his treasures, refuse. Twice you must refuse his gift. And only when he offers to take something to choose from for the third time, ask him for a gold ring - the same one he wears around his neck.
The merchant's son and the snake immediately set off. They walked for a long time and finally came to the entrance to the snake cave. The snake asked the merchant's son to wait at the entrance, and she crawled into the cave.
“Dear father,” she turned to the snake king, “a great misfortune has befallen me.” I was caught by a snake charmer. I don’t know what he would have done to me if not for one kind man, the son of a merchant. He bought me from the fakir, and now I am free again. My deliverer stands here at the entrance to the cave.
Hearing this, the snake king exclaimed:
- Why were you silent before, son! We must properly thank your deliverer.
The king of snakes crawled out of the cave and said:
- O good man, demand from me whatever you want, take from my countless treasures whatever you want as a reward for saving my son.
“O king of snakes,” the merchant’s son answered him, “I don’t need your riches.” Kindness alone is enough for me.
- But I ask you, give me joy, give me the opportunity to thank you with at least something! Among my treasures there is not a single one that I would not want to give you, and there is not a single treasure among my riches that you could not claim for yourself as a reward. Nothing, O good man, can compare with what you have done for me in freeing my dearest treasure, my only son! – the snake king did not let up.
“I don’t need anything, thank you for your kind words,” the merchant’s son answered him again.
But when the snake king persistently began to beg him for the third time, he agreed.
“Golden ring, O great king, give me a golden ring.”
-What gold ring? – he was alarmed.
- Yes, this is the same thing that you are wearing around your neck.
- And-a-sh-sh-psh-sh! – suddenly the snake king hissed angrily at him. - P-sh-sh! Would anyone else dare to ask for my ring! I would have torn his head off and burned him to ashes with fire! But you,” he continued, having calmed down a little, “you, who twice modestly answered me with a refusal, me, who offered to choose any priceless gift, you, to whom I three times gave my faithful word to give everything you wished, you, to whom I am in an unpaid debt, - you, O good man, will receive what you wished for: my best, incomparable treasure, my golden ring! Take it, here it is! - With these words, the snake king, cowering, threw the ring from his neck and crawled into the cave.
The merchant's son picked up the ring and set off on his way back. He walked, looked at the ring and thought: “Well, what’s special about it? An ordinary ring, except it's gold. But it’s no better than what I had!”
But then the son of the snake king, as if guessing his thoughts, crawled up to him and said:
– Don’t be surprised, it was not by chance that I suggested you choose this gift. This gold ring contains miraculous power. If you cover the ring with earth, sprinkle it with sacred powder, light the incense burner, make a sacrificial fire nearby and throw sacrificial food into its sacred flame, then this ring, consecrated according to the ritual, will be able to fulfill any desire. Be happy, goodbye! - said the snake prince and crawled away,
Returning to his wretched home, the merchant's son did as the snake told him. He put the ring on the ground, sprinkled it with powder, smoked it, sprinkled it, threw a handful of sacrificial grains into the fire - he honored the ring as they honor the gods, and asked the ring for a hearty lunch, smart clothes and a fast-footed horse. So what! In an instant it all appeared before him. The merchant's son ate plenty, dressed up in a rich outfit, jumped on a dashing horse, put a dog, a cat and a parrot behind him and set off. Jumps along the road, sings songs.
He galloped and galloped and arrived in one kingdom. The king of that country announced that he would give his beautiful daughter in marriage to someone who could build a golden palace in one night, and that that palace would stand not on land, but on the sea. Whoever fails in this matter, let him blame himself. The king will order to cut off the head of the loser, some as a deterrent, others as an edification. This is what the royal decree said.
The merchant's son heard about this and went to the palace. He comes to the meeting hall, sits down right among the guests of honor and various important royal advisers, takes the betel nut treat offered to him and loudly announces that he has accepted the king’s conditions. Everyone froze. The king looked at the simple-minded face of the merchant’s son, and he felt sorry for the unfamiliar young man. There's no way the poor fellow will disappear due to his stupidity! The king began to dissuade him:
– Or didn’t you understand what threatens you if you fail?
But no matter how much the king tried to dissuade him, the merchant’s son stood his ground, and the king had to agree. At his sign, the young man was surrounded by guards so that in case of failure he could not escape.
Night has fallen. The city was sleeping. The merchant's son went out into the courtyard and prepared the sacrificial altar. He put the ring on the ground, arranged the sacred utensils: a censer with fragrant oils, a jug with fragrant powder, a vessel with holy water, a tray with sacrificial food. He placed a garland of flowers next to the ring, lit a fire, poured oil into it, and added grains. He hung a rosary around his neck, sat down in front of the ring and began to perform the rite of worship, saying:
O ring, you are not a simple, golden ring, O magic ring, an incomparable ring! I want not a simple palace to grow at this moment, but a golden one, so that it is seven houses high, so that it stands among the waves of the sea, so that a marble staircase goes down, and a giant wall surrounds it!
The night has passed. At dawn, people opened their eyes and froze in surprise. They see a palace standing in the distance, seven stories high, sparkling with the brilliance of red gold, and sea waves splashing around it!
The wedding of the merchant's son and the tsar's daughter was solemnly and magnificently celebrated. They went to live in the golden palace.
The princess’s hair was also not simple, but made of pure gold. One day, sitting on the steps right next to the water, I was washing my hair. And as I began to comb my braids, several hairs fell off. The princess picked them up, tied them into a bun, put them in a basket and threw them into the water. The waves picked up the basket and carried it far out to sea. The basket floated for a long time, and finally it washed up on a distant shore. On the other side stood the palace of one prince. One day the prince decided to take a boat ride. He looks at a basket floating near the shore. He took the basket out of the water, looked into it and saw golden hair. The prince marvels at them - he cannot take his eyes off, as if they had bewitched him with their brilliance.
“How beautiful she must be who has such wonderful braids,” he thought. “At any cost, I must marry her.”
From that day on, the prince became sad—he didn’t eat or drink. Day and night he thinks about golden braids and about the one who wears them.
The king found out about his son’s grief and ordered to find the most experienced matchmakers.
“I can make a hole in the sky,” said one young matchmaker.
“I can mend that hole in the sky,” said another older matchmaker.
“Well, I can make a hole in the sky and mend that hole,” said the oldest and most experienced matchmaker.
“That’s what I need,” said the king.
He immediately gave her a bunch of golden hairs and ordered:
- Find out at all costs where that golden-haired beauty lives, and immediately bring her here to the palace.
The matchmaker took a lot of money from the king and equipped the boat for a long journey. For a long time, in the wind and storm, the boat rushed across the blue sea. The matchmaker peered vigilantly into the distance.
“I’ll find a beautiful maiden, from underground, from the bottom of the sea,” she muttered. - Come on, quickly row to the shore, sons. Over there! - she urged the rowers. And indeed, the outlines of a golden palace soon appeared. “Yeah, that’s where that golden-haired maiden lives,” the matchmaker quickly realized.
The boat moored to the lower steps of the palace stairs. The matchmaker climbed up the steps onto the swimming platform, sat down at the entrance to the water and began to shout:
- Oh, I’m unhappy, miserable! Oh, where are you, my missing daughter! Ay, my dear! Where are you, my dear, my dear!
The lamentations and loud crying of the old woman reached the palace. The princess heard, called the old woman to her and asked:
- Why are you crying, grandma?
The matchmaker just looked at the princess and shouted: “Daughter, I finally found you!” - threw herself on her neck, began to hug, kiss, tears flowing from her eyes.
“Don’t touch me, crazy old woman, what kind of daughter am I to you!” – the princess recoiled in embarrassment.
- And I’m your dear aunt, your mother’s sister! Your poor mother passed away, and I visited you often. You were little then, just a baby, that’s why you don’t remember me. But I recognized you! Oh, those golden hairs of yours, I recognized you by them! What a blessing that I found you. Praise be to the Almighty! What a wonderful palace my girl lives in, there is nothing more beautiful than it, everything is golden, and you are so beautiful, rich! When I saw you, my darling, and in such and such a palace, my heart almost burst with joy,” the old matchmaker chattered incessantly. And again tears welled up in her eyes, and again she rushed to the princess and began to hug her with all her strength.
The princess was still surprised. “This woman, of course, cannot be my mother, she is twice as old as my late mother, but from everything it is clear that she is related to me. Otherwise, how could she have rejoiced and cried so much!”
The princess took her aunt to the palace, settled her in the best rooms, and began to look after her.
And Auntie pokes her nose everywhere and always tries to show kindred feelings. One day she hugged the princess especially tenderly and began to whisper to her:
- Oh, I feel sorry for you, my poor thing! Your hubby disappears somewhere, and you sit and wait for him all day long, all alone! You have no opportunity to take a walk or have fun, my recluse!
“What are you saying, auntie, why shouldn’t he sit with me all day in the palace?” After all, he cannot live without hunting.
- Hunting, you say? That's the trouble, he loves hunting! What if something bad happens to him while hunting? So you won’t even know about it! You live like a hermit, you don’t know what’s going on in this world! The palace stands in the middle of the sea. Tell me, beauty, how does your husband get from here to mother earth? - the old woman asked.
- He has a ring for that, auntie. It’s magical, it helps with everything.
- Oh, the ring! That's it! A ring, that is! - the aunt perked up. - Well, the ring is a ring, okay; What if my son-in-law meets a terrible beast in the forest, what if a tiger tears him to pieces? What are you going to do? The ring is with him! You won’t be able to help him or yourself. So you will die alone on the island.
- Oh, what are you saying, auntie! And in my thoughts I cannot admit that something could happen to my master!
- Well, if not this, then some other misfortune will happen. Think about it, if you had the ring with you, you could immediately help him, get him out of trouble. And without the ring, you won’t even know anything about him. But if you find out, you still won’t be able to help. You will sit and wait by the sea for the weather.
“Oh, auntie speaks the truth! What if my husband; get in trouble? Anything can happen, and he will die, and I will be lost!” - thought the princess.
The next morning, when the merchant's son was getting ready to travel, the princess approached him and asked for a ring. He was surprised and did not agree for a long time, but she began to cry and persuade her, and he gave her the ring, and he hurried off to hunt.
He had barely left when the old matchmaker appeared. I saw the gold ring on the princess’s finger and was delighted. The matchmaker began to persuade the princess to take a little walk and go on a boat ride. She led her up the stairs to the water, sat her in the boat and told the rowers to row quickly. They rowed as hard as they could straight into the blue sea. The wind blew and the boat rushed away from the golden palace. Then the princess realized that the old woman had deceived her. She screamed, began to call for help and wanted to throw herself into the water, but the old woman grabbed the princess, tied her arms and legs tightly, and wrapped her head in a scarf.
The rowers set sail, and soon the golden palace disappeared from sight.
On the third day the boat moored to the shore. The princess was brought to the palace. Then she found out why the old woman kidnapped her from the golden palace. And she asked the king to give her six months.
“If during this time my husband does not find me, I agree to become your son’s wife,” she answered the king.
The king thought: “This beauty’s husband, even if he finds out where she was taken, will still not get here. And even if he succeeds, he won’t get back. My guards won’t let him out of here alive.”
“Okay, honey, I accept your condition, we can wait six months,” he reassured the princess.
They placed the princess in a separate part of the palace, and the king appointed the old woman matchmaker herself as her guard.
“Keep your eyes open and don’t take a single step away from the golden-haired one, otherwise you’ll be in trouble, old lady!” – the king strictly ordered.
The merchant's son returned from hunting. He can't find his beautiful wife anywhere. He is grieving and doesn’t know what to do. Suddenly a parrot flies to him and shouts:
“Hey, master, the old woman kidnapped your wife, lured her out of the palace and took her by sea!”
- Woe is me! What have I done! – the merchant’s son began to lament. - Why did you give away the gold ring? Where are you languishing, my princess? How to find out how to return you to the golden palace? Oh, if only I had the ring with me!
A dog, a cat, a parrot - everyone gathered around and began to console their master:
- Calm down, master! We will find out where your princess is and who has taken possession of the magic ring.
They consulted among themselves and decided that the parrot would fly to look for the princess and would not return until he found out where she was languishing. Then the three of them will reach that country and, at any cost, will get the stolen ring. The parrot flew high above the sea and soon disappeared from sight. Three days and three nights pass, and then the parrot arrives with good news - the princess has been found!
- Where is she? - the cat and dog ask.
- She is a captive of a king. He hides her in a special palace. And the old woman took possession of the ring. The same one who kidnapped our princess by cunning. The old witch does not part with the ring day or night. He even sleeps with a ring in his mouth! First we need to take this ring away from her. Only then can the princess be freed: the old woman follows her like a shadow, loyal guards guard the palace entrances and exits.
The parrot, cat and dog set off and arrived safely at that palace.
“Friends,” says the cat. “I figured out how to take possession of the ring.” You, dog, will sneak into the kitchen late at night, steal a cake and put it under the old woman’s bed. At night, mice will come running and begin to gnaw on the cake. I will catch one mouse, strangle it and put the mouse's tail into the old woman's nostril. She sneezes. The ring will fall out of her mouth! Then you, dog, will pounce on the witch-matchmaker, grab him by the throat and begin to strangle him. And I’ll take the ring and quickly get out of the palace through drainpipes and ditches. When the old woman loses consciousness, you will leave her and run away. We will run away from the palace and hide somewhere. As soon as it begins to get light, you, parrot, will fly to the golden palace and give the ring to the owner.
As the cat said, so they did and that same night they took possession of the magic ring. The parrot took the ring in its beak and flew over the sea. The next day he handed the ring to the owner. The merchant's son put the ring on the ground, performed a rite of veneration over it and said:
- Oh, not a simple ring, oh, a golden ring, not a simple golden ring, but a magic ring! Make sure that my wife ends up here, in this place, next to me!
Before the merchant’s son had time to utter these words, he sees the princess standing in front of him, alive and unharmed.
Great was their joy when they saw each other. The princess began to thank her saviors. She gave the dog and cat fatty milk to drink, and treated the parrot to juicy ripe pomegranate seeds. If not for them, not for their intelligence, dexterity and cunning, the princess would have remained a captive for the rest of her life.
And everyone lived happily: the merchant’s son and his wife, and their faithful friends: a cat, a dog and a parrot.
Only the merchant’s son never parted with his magic ring again.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru