Somewhere, once upon a time, there lived a king, and he had his only son. The boy's mother died, the king married another, and she turned out to be a very evil stepmother. The boy kept asking his father what kind of beauty she was in that portrait hanging behind the stove. But the father did not say anything and kept repeating only one thing: “I’ll tell you when you grow up.”
Our prince grew up and still admired the beautiful portrait. And then one day, when the father was in a good mood, the prince asked:
- Oh, father, tell me, finally, who is drawn in that portrait that hangs behind the stove?
“Okay,” the father answers, “I’ll tell you.” This is your late mother, her name was Golden Panna. No one could compare with her beauty. When I was like you are now, she and I got married, now you must find yourself a wife so that the kingdom is not left without an heir after your death.
The stepmother heard this and immediately offered to find a good wife for the prince. But the prince did not want to hear about the wife that his stepmother would choose for him. And he directly announced that he would only marry a beauty like his mother. No matter how much his father tried to persuade him that there was no other such beauty and there never would be, the prince stood his ground.
Then the king called all his advisers to think and decide how to find such a girl for his son.
Advisors from all over the kingdom gathered, thought from morning to evening, but came up with nothing. And on the second and third day they sat and agreed that they would send ambassadors all over the world to look for a beauty for the prince.
Ambassadors went to different countries, and a year later they all returned with the answer that no one in the whole world had ever heard of such a girl.
What to do? Again the king had to gather his advisers. They sat even longer than the first time, but they didn’t come up with anything.
Finally, a gray-haired old man, who had not uttered a word the entire time, rises from his seat and says:
“I see that you can’t solve anything.” And I also see that if we don’t give our king practical advice now, he will despair and the whole country will despair with him. After all, if we don’t marry the prince, the entire royal family that has ruled us so long and happily will cease and the kingdom will be left without a king. I thought for a long time about how we could find the most beautiful girl in the world, and I came up with only one way. You know how great and glorious our city is, and how many foreigners make their way through it. Let us order all the wells in the city to be closed and strictly forbid the townspeople from giving water to strangers. Let everyone be sent to the royal castle, where we will leave one open well, and we will ask everyone if he has heard about the beautiful maiden.
This advice pleased the king.
Many people stopped at the royal courtyard at the well, but no one had ever heard of such a beauty.
Three years later, a traveler came to the city, covered in dust, barely dragging his feet from thirst. At the first house he asked for water to drink. But he was told that all the wells in the city were closed to strangers, and he had to go to the royal court only there to drink water.
Our traveler barely made it to the royal palace, and already at the gate he saw a well and guards around it. The traveler began to beg for water as soon as possible, because he was completely exhausted from thirst. The guards, seeing the stranger, immediately poured a full cup of water, gave the traveler a drink and began to ask if he had heard about the incomparable beauty that the prince was looking for.
“I heard, how could I not,” answers the traveler, “after all, I have walked the whole world from end to end.” Whoever looks at this beauty falls unconscious from amazement.
The guards grabbed the traveler by the hands and led him straight to the king - let him tell him everything he knows.
The king was delighted; he had already doubted that such beauty could exist in the world. He immediately ordered his son to be called so that he could hear what the traveler was going to talk about that beloved beauty.
“Most Serene King,” the traveler began, “it is true that I have visited all parts of the world.” But I have never heard of such a beauty as Magulena the Golden Lady. After all, she is so beautiful that if anyone looks at her, whether old or young, he immediately falls unconscious. But I do not advise the young prince to marry her. And not only because she lives very far away, few people will get there, but I’m afraid that it won’t work out like with many kings and princes. After all, as soon as you look at her, immediately at the sight of such beauty a person falls off his feet and is carried away. But she doesn’t want to marry a sick man.
The young prince decided to set off on the same day.
“No, my son,” says the king, “don’t rush!” Take money and an army with you on the road. And this wise man, if we ask him nicely, will also go with you. You'll get there faster with it.
And the king began to ask the traveler to go with his son to the beloved beauty.
The traveler at first refused and only after many requests agreed. On the condition that the prince will not take anyone else with him and will carry out any of his orders along the way.
As they decided, they did so, and the next day they set off on their journey together with the prince.
They travel through dense forests and impassable roads. Whether close or far, only once night overtook them in the forest. They walked through that forest and came across a house where a light was shining. They go inside, and there is an old man sitting at the table and writing in a book. They bowed to him, but he did not answer. They stood at the door for a long time: they thought they would say hello when he finished writing. But he writes and writes. We are already tired of standing, and his companion says to the prince:
“How can we stay here for the night if he doesn’t answer us one way or another?”
“Let’s just lie down here,” says the prince, “maybe the old man won’t touch us.” And they lay down, the prince fell asleep, but his companion could not sleep.
By midnight, three old man’s daughters appeared, flying around the world like crows.
- Father, no one spends the night with you? - they ask.
“But they spend the night,” the old man answers. - Nothing! Tell us where you've been and what you've heard.
- Oh, we won’t do better, these travelers will hear!
- What are you talking about, they are fast asleep. And if they hear it, they won’t care! Well, tell me, eldest, where you spent the day, what you heard.
“I visited today,” the eldest began, “far from here and heard that some prince was looking for Magulena, the Golden Lady, the same beauty as his mother once was.” But whoever tells him about the beauty, let him turn to stone up to his ankles on the spot.
- And you, my second daughter, where did you fly, what did you hear? - asks the father.
“I flew all over the world and heard that when the prince sets off after Magulena, the Golden Lady, he will reach a crossroads. One road will be rocky and swampy, and the other will be clean and smooth. If he goes along a good road, he will never get to the Golden Panna; but if he goes down a bad road, he might even meet her. But whoever tells him about this, let him become a stone up to his knees!
- Well, and you, my third daughter, where did you fly and what did you hear? - the father asks again.
“I flew around the world and heard that Prince Magulien will not receive the Golden Panna if he immediately looks into her eyes at the first meeting. But if on the first day he looks only at his legs to the knees, on the second - to the waist, and only on the third day he looks into his eyes, then the prince will receive her. But whoever tells him about this, let him turn to stone up to his waist!
The old man wrote down his daughters' stories in his book. But the wanderer did not sleep and heard everything.
The prince woke up in the morning, they both got up and went on their way. They come to a fork. The wanderer says:
- Your Grace, we will go along a bad road.
“No, we’ll go along this flat road,” the prince answers. “We’ve had enough of wandering through dense forests and off-the-beaten paths.” Finally we got out onto a flat road.
And he immediately turned onto a good road, and the companion set off on a bad one. But soon the prince returned - one of them seemed bored.
They drove for a long time. The prince wanted to return more than once. But the comrade reminded them that they were about to arrive at Magulien.
One day they climbed a hill and saw in the distance the towers of the city where Magulien, the Golden Lady, lives. The prince cheered up. Soon they arrived in the city. The prince wanted to go straight to the king to see the Golden Lady as soon as possible. But the wanderer reminded him that the prince promised him at home: to obey his comrade in everything. They rented a room in a tavern and spent the night there.
And in the morning, when they got up, the traveler said to the prince:
- Well, now you will go to the Golden Lady. As you enter the royal chambers, the guards will ask you: “What do you want here?” You boldly answer: “I want to see the Golden Panna.” They will take you to her straight away. But if you are a man, take your time! Don’t even think about looking her in the eyes right away; she will stand on a raised platform, you lower your eyes to the ground and move your gaze up from step to step until you see the Golden Lady’s legs up to her knees. Stop here and don't look again! There will be a table in the room, set, and on it a plate of soup and a goblet of wine. Sit down at the table, don’t say anything to anyone, eat a third of the plate, drink a third of the wine, leave the table and silently come back here! Do everything as I tell you, otherwise there will be trouble.
All this seemed strange to our prince, but he did not dare to object and promised to obey his friend in everything.
The prince came to the palace, the guards took him to the Golden Panna. He looked at her legs up to her knees, ate from the plate, drank wine from the goblet and, without saying a word to anyone, returned back. The prince's comrade praised him for not disobeying him.
On the second day, in the morning, the prince’s companion again sent the prince to the palace and ordered him to do everything as yesterday, but now look at Magulena from the waist up, eat half a plate of soup and drink half a cup of wine. The prince completed everything and returned satisfied.
On the third day, the friend again sends the prince to the palace, saying that now he can look into the face of the Golden Lady, but not in a hurry, but gradually raise his eyes, eat a full plate of soup and drink all the wine from the goblet. But once again he ordered me to be more careful.
The prince left, and our friend looked after him for a long time, fearing that the prince would not be able to withstand the last, most difficult test.
In the palace, the prince appeared before the Golden Panna. Magulien, the Golden Lady even felt sorry for him. What if he can't stand it? But such a handsome young man! But the prince gradually turns his gaze higher and higher; I saw the legs, the waist and, finally, the face! When I looked at her, she became embarrassed and swayed. And his head went spinning, he almost fell, but he pulled himself together and stood firm. He went to the table, ate the entire bowl of soup and drank a full cup of wine. And this gave him strength. Meanwhile, the princess recovered, ran down the steps straight to the prince and hugged him.
Then her father, the king of birds, enters the room. He is surprised that this is happening in his house. The young prince told who he was and why he came here. How he withstood all the tests, and asks to give him Magulena as his wife. The king did not agree for a long time and finally said:
“Okay,” he says, “I’ll give it back, but you don’t dare return to your parents.”
The prince was upset. But he really didn’t want to lose Magulena, the Golden Lady, and he agreed. The wedding was celebrated right away, and the prince remained to live in the royal palace.
And he ordered his friend to be brought from the tavern so that he could live with him. But he didn’t want to, he said that he would find himself a house nearby so that he could be at the prince’s fingertips. So they all lived together, and the young prince did not even think about returning to his father.
But some time passed and the thought sunk into the prince’s head that it would be nice for him to see his father, to find out how he lives without him. And the more he thought about it, the more he was drawn home. The prince decided to ask the king for time off. Once upon a time there was a king so cheerful that he seemed to refuse nothing to anyone in the world. The prince began to beg to let him go home to his parents. The king refused for a long time, but eventually agreed. Without hesitation, they gathered and said goodbye to the king. The prince with Magulena, the Golden Lady and a friend got into the carriage and drove off. Towards nightfall they again drive up to the house where the old man lived and wrote in the book. The prince says:
“Are we going to spend the night here again?” After all, you can go further!
“We’d better stop here,” says the companion, “after all, it’s already night outside!”
They come in. The old man writes this time in his book, they went to bed in silence. The prince fell asleep. The golden lady fell asleep, only their friend was awake and listening.
Before midnight, three old man's daughters appeared. Those who flew around the world like crows. The older one asks:
- Father, no one spends the night here?
“Yes, the same wanderers are sleeping who already spent the night once,” says the father. - Tell me where you were today and what you heard.
The eldest daughter says:
“Today I flew to distant lands and heard there that the prince married the Golden Lady and was returning home with her. But he’s unlikely to make it home. After all, his stepmother is a witch. She will send a large army to meet them. And a cup of wine. If the prince drinks wine, the witch will immediately tear him into pieces. And whoever tells him about this will be petrified from the waist up.
- Where have you, my middle daughter, been flying and what have you heard? - asks the father.
“I flew all over the world and heard that the prince and his Golden Panna would never make it home. Even if he doesn't drink from the cup. As soon as the prince approaches the house, his stepmother will send him a fine horse, the prince will sit on it and the horse will jump into the sea with him. And whoever tells the prince about this will instantly turn to stone up to his neck.
- Where have you, my youngest daughter, been flying and what have you heard? - the father asks for the third time.
“I flew all over the world and heard that the greatest danger at home awaits the prince and Magulien, the Golden Lady.” They will come home and lie down, and the evil stepmother will send a dragon on them. Exactly at midnight he will crawl out of the oven and tear the dear prince and his Magulien into small pieces. And whoever blurts out about this will instantly become a stone.
The old man wrote it all down, and the wanderer listened.
In the morning our travelers got up and moved on. They are driving along the bare steppe, they are already approaching the house, when suddenly dust begins to swirl on the road. They drove closer and saw a large army coming towards them, with a horseman ahead with a cup of wine. He dismounted, approached the carriage and handed that cup of wine to the prince.
“Here,” he says, “the king, your father, sends it to you.” He knows that you are thirsty in the steppe.
The prince took the cup and was ready to raise it to his lips, but then his friend jumped up:
- Stop! - he shouts, - you promised to obey me. Don't drink from this cup! Better give it to the person who brought it to you.
The prince objects, he shouldn’t die of thirst, but the traveler insisted on his own. The person who brought this wine had to drink the wine himself, and he was instantly torn into pieces.
- See what would happen to you! - said the companion.
The prince doesn’t know how to thank him, because he saved him from death. They move on. The city is just a stone's throw away, and a brave horse is being led towards us.
“This,” they say, “is sent to you by our king.” So that you can ride into the city on horseback!
The prince was tired of sitting in the carriage and was glad that he could ride on horseback. He wants to jump on his horse, but the traveler doesn’t let him.
The prince became angry and began to reproach him for always disturbing him. But the traveler does not give up.
“It’s better,” he says, “order the one who brought him to sit on the brave horse.”
So the prince did. As soon as the rider jumped on his horse, he jumped into the sea with him!
The prince and the Golden Lady arrived home. The old king greeted his son with great joy. And the stepmother pretended to be cheerful and pleased. The whole city rejoiced that the prince returned to them with the Golden Panna. And a magnificent wedding was held on the same day. Everyone ate, drank and danced in great joy. Only the traveler was not happy, he was still thinking about how to rescue the prince and Magulien from the last danger.
After the feast, when the prince and his young wife were getting ready to go to bed, the traveler asked the prince not to go to bed with his wife, but to let him into their room, and not to be afraid of anything, then everything would end well.
The prince agreed, but the stepmother heard everything and raised a cry: how can such a tramp and the prince’s wife be allowed to spend the night in the same room!
And the prince answered her:
- Why not!? After all, it was he who helped me marry Magulien and saved me from death more than once!
The prince lay down in another room, and left the traveler with the Golden Panna to spend the night. But the old witch did not waste time: secretly from everyone, she placed a guard in the room next to the bedroom and ordered the stranger to watch through the keyhole to see what he would do.
But he doesn’t close his eyes, he took the sharp sword in his hands and waits. At midnight, the side of the stove fell off, a dragon with twelve heads crawled out and went straight to Magulien. She's asleep and doesn't hear anything.
The traveler gathered all his strength and rushed at the dragon, tore off its heads, chopped it into pieces and threw it out the window into the alley. Then he scraped the blood off the walls, took off his shirt and wiped the blood on the floor. He cleaned up and looked around the room to see if there was any dragon blood left anywhere. Everything is clean, only one drop remains on Magulena’s cheek. A wanderer came up and licked this drop from her cheek. And then the guards in the next room woke up and raised a terrible cry that the traveler was kissing Magulien! People from all over the palace came running at the noise. And the old witch is right there, orders the criminal to be tied up and thrown into prison.
In the morning, the stepmother began to complain to the prince: this is what his faithful friend did! At night Magulien kissed the Golden Lady! At first the prince did not want to believe this, but the stepmother continued to stand her ground, then the prince ordered the traveler to be taken to court and the court decided that he deserved to die. They took him to the gallows. The traveler asks to be allowed to talk to the prince one last time. The prince came running to him, and then his friend told him everything.
“This way or that way,” he says, “I still have to disappear.” I want to justify myself in your eyes before I die. Do you remember how we spent the night with the old man in an empty house? You were asleep, but I wasn’t. Before midnight, three old man’s daughters arrived, and this is what they said to their father: The eldest said: “Today I flew to distant lands and heard there that one prince, Magulien, the Golden Lady, was looking for the same beauty as his mother was. Whoever says this will turn to stone up to his ankles.”
As soon as the traveler uttered these words, he immediately turned to stone up to his ankles.
- The middle daughter said: “I flew all over the world and heard that when the prince comes to a crossroads and sets off along a good road, he will never find Magulena, and if along an abandoned one, he may meet her. But whoever says this will become a stone up to his knees.”
As soon as he had time to say it, he immediately turned to stone down to his knees.
- The youngest daughter said: “I flew around the world and heard that this prince will not receive the Golden Lady as a wife if he immediately looks into her eyes at the first meeting. And she added: the one who tells him about this will be petrified from the waist down.”
He said it and immediately turned to stone from the waist down.
— And on the way back we came to that house again. You and the Golden Lady were sleeping, but I was awake and listening. Before midnight, the three old man's daughters arrived again. This is what they told their father:
The eldest said: “Today I flew to distant lands and heard that the prince married the Golden Lady and is going home with her. But he will hardly get home, because his stepmother will send him a cup of wine and when the prince drinks the wine, the witch will immediately tear him to pieces. And whoever tells him about this will be petrified from the waist up.”
Before the wanderer had time to finish speaking, he instantly turned to stone from the waist up.
- The middle daughter said: “I flew around the world and heard that the prince with his Golden Panna will still not get home, even if he doesn’t drink wine from that goblet. As soon as the prince approaches the house, the stepmother will send him a brave horse, and he and the prince will jump into the sea. And whoever tells the prince about this will instantly turn to stone up to his neck.”
I just had time to say this and instantly turned to stone up to my neck.
“The younger sister said: “I flew all over the world and heard that the greatest danger at home awaits the prince and the Golden Lady. When he and Magulena fall asleep, the evil stepmother will send a dragon on them, and at exactly midnight he will pounce on them and devour them both.”
“Well,” the friend said to the prince, “I couldn’t tell you all this at once, but I warned you that you would have a bad time.” I killed that dragon and threw it out the window into the alley. I did not kiss the golden lady, but only licked the drop of dragon blood that splashed on her cheek. The blood is poisonous and would burn through her skin to the flesh. And then the guards woke up and tied me up. Only the old man’s youngest daughter added one last thing: the one who tells all this will be completely petrified.”
Before he had time to really explain everything, he turned into a stone pillar.
Everyone who heard this story had tears in their eyes. The prince hugged the stone pillar and cried bitterly. They forcibly tore him away and took him to the palace. From that time on, the prince became sad, and nothing could cheer him up. The stepmother did not dare to show herself to him, because he would immediately order her execution. The old king soon died and the entire kingdom passed to his son. But the prince was still sad.
And now it’s time for Magulien to bring the baby. The night before this event, our king had a dream that he had to sprinkle the blood of a newborn on a stone pillar and immediately return home.
Magulena had a son. The king did everything as he had dreamed, and he hurried to the palace.
Then someone knocked on the door. The young king looks and there is his friend, standing alive and well and holding a healthy baby in his arms. The king rushed to hug the wanderer. They hugged and cried. Then we went to Magulena and told her everything that happened. And here came joy and luck, the likes of which people had never seen before or since.
True, I was not there, but I heard. I heard that they are still alive, if they have not yet died.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru