One man had three sons: the eldest - Poul, the middle - Peder and the youngest - nicknamed Malek. Paul and Peder were good guys, but the unlucky Malek came out, lying by the stove and digging in the ashes. And you won’t be able to tell what he is like, he’ll be so covered in ash.
One day Paul and Peder come to their father and say that they have decided to go around the world to look for a job. Well, the father gave them his consent. And when Malek found out that the brothers were leaving, he also asked to join them. His father didn’t even want to hear about letting him leave the house: he was not fit for any work and he didn’t look good at all. Such a dirty little guy is embarrassed to appear in front of strangers. And Malek got his way: I’ll go, I’ll go!
Poul and Peder began to get ready for the journey, gave them new beautiful clothes, but Malek remained in dirty, worn-out rags. His older brothers were ashamed of him, they didn’t want him to tag along, but Malku doesn’t have enough grief, he follows them - and that’s all.
So Paul and Peder came to the royal castle, and took them into service there, and, moreover, assigned them to good places. And when Malek got there, they couldn’t even find a job for him: where would you put such a dirty little guy? Then, however, they sent him to the stables, as the groom’s last helper - to clean out the dirt and manure.
The older brothers did not want to know him: not only was he dirty, but the place was seedy - you couldn’t find a worse one. Meanwhile, the little one worked diligently and soon got a better place.
At this point Paul and Peder became jealous, and also afraid: how can Malek wipe their noses? They came to the king and said: they say, Malek boasted that he could steal a ram from a mountain troll, and that ram is special - as soon as he takes a step, he will throw off half a pound of wool; the king will benefit greatly from it; the whole army will have enough cloth for uniforms. Just let King Malk intimidate him and order his head to be taken off if he doesn’t get a ram: without threats you won’t get any use out of him.
The king called Malk and asked if it was true that he boasted of getting a magic ram. Malek replies that he has never heard of a ram, and how can he handle such a matter? And the king says:
“If you don’t get a sheep, head off, but if you do get it, I’ll give you a good place.”
The little one is in tears, but don’t cry, you can’t argue with the king.
He asked to be given a wooden bowl, a broom handle and an apron. He adapted the scoop for his boat, made a mast from the handle, and pulled an apron instead of a sail. And he swam across the sea to the place where the mountain troll lived.
A magic ram was grazing on the shore, Malek grabbed it and quickly onto the boat - and swam away. And the troll saw him from his mountain. He rushed as fast as he could to the shore, stood by the water and shouted:
- Hey, who stole my sheep?
And Malek responded:
- I was the one who dragged him away, I call him Malcom!
- Well, hold on, I’ll catch up now! - shouts the troll.
- Let's catch up! - Malek answers.
The mountain troll is going crazy, jumping along the shore, but is afraid of water. The little one escaped from him.
He returned to the castle with the ram, and the king, to rejoice, assigned him to a good place.
And the brothers were even more overcome by envy: Malek, who knows, won’t be able to match them today or tomorrow. And they came up with a new trick.
They came to the king and said: they say, Malek boasted that he could get a magic lamp from a mountain troll that would shine on three kingdoms; the king will benefit greatly from it, especially when the need comes for him to go on a campaign with his army. Just let him threaten Malk that he will order Malk’s execution if he doesn’t get the magic lamp, otherwise you won’t expect any good from him.
The king again called Malk and asked if it was true that he boasted of getting a magic lamp from the mountain troll.
And again Malek burst into tears: he had never even heard of the lamp. And the king to him:
- Get me a lamp! If you don’t get it, you won’t have your head blown off, but if you fulfill my command, you’ll get an even better place.
There was nothing to do, Malek asked them to give him a bag of salt, and in the evening he swam in a wooden kettle to the mountain troll’s dwelling.
As it got dark, he climbed the mountain where the troll had a fire burning in the hearth, and started throwing handfuls of salt into the cauldron of porridge. So the old troll comes to try the porridge to see what it tastes like, but the porridge is too salty. It would be necessary to dilute it, bring water, but it was already completely dark outside. The old troll went to get a magic lamp and set off on the water with it, and Malek was right there: he grabbed the magic lamp - and he was like that!
As soon as he swam away from the shore, the troll already ran to the water and shouted:
- Hey, Malek, is that you?
- I! - Malek answers.
-Did you steal my sheep?
- Dragged away!
- And he took away the magic lamp too?
- He took it away!
- Well, stay with me, I’ll catch up with you now!
- Let's catch up! - Malek answers.
A mountain troll ran along the shore, jumping as if he was ready to throw himself into the water, and the little one just kept swimming.
He returned home cheerful and satisfied, the king gave him an even better place, he had already risen above his brothers, and they lost their peace out of envy, and only thought about how to drive him away from the world.
Poul and Peder came again to the king and said: they say, Malek boasted that he could get a magic bell from the mountain troll, the kind that rings for the three kingdoms; the benefit from it will be considerable, especially when the king decides to go to war against the enemy. Just let him threaten Malk with execution, otherwise it won’t be of any use.
Again King Malka called and asked if it was true that he boasted of getting a bell from the mountain troll, which rings for the three kingdoms. Malek replies: he supposedly never heard of the bell, and he’s not capable of such a thing. And the king to him:
“If you don’t get the magic bell, then say goodbye to life, but if you do get it, you’ll get a princess as your wife and half a kingdom to boot.” Well, after my death, so did the whole kingdom.
What to do here? Malek lowered the kettle into the water and swam again to the mountain troll. He sailed there late at night, the troll and his wife had already gone to bed. Malek made his way deep into the mountain, into the troll’s chambers, and climbed under the bed, where the magic bell was hidden. The little one instantly found him and was about to run, but that was not the case: the bell would ring! The mountain troll woke up. He poked the troll wife in the side and asked:
- What is this?
And she woke him up:
“Who knows, maybe I touched the bell and it rang.”
The troll grumbled at his wife, then they calmed down and fell asleep. When the little one heard that it had become quiet, he decided to try again, but where is it: as soon as he grabbed the bell, such a ringing sound began again that the troll jumped up, pushed the troll out of the way and shouted:
- What a misfortune, is it you again?
And she answers:
- Who else should there be? That's right, I accidentally missed the call.
This time the troll grumbled in earnest: and why should she lie still? And then they both fell asleep again.
The little one thinks: “I haven’t, I’ll try one last time.”
Just as he was about to crawl out from under the bed and run away, the troll sensed something was wrong, grabbed his hand next to the bed - and caught Malk. Well, the troll, of course, guessed who it was and said:
- Malek, is that you?
- I! - Malek answers.
-Did you steal my sheep?
- Dragged away!
— Did you take the magic lamp away from me?
- He took it away!
- And now you wanted to steal the bell?
- I wanted to!
“Tell me, what would you do with me if I fell into your hands like this?” - asks the troll.
“I would fatten him up with nuts and milk him with cream, and then fry him,” answers Malek.
“Okay, I’ll do the same to you,” says the mountain troll.
They put the fry in a cage and began to fatten him with nuts and milk him with cream. They assigned a girl to him to cook and serve food, but the troll stole that girl from her parents’ house and forced her to serve him. And Malek and the girl agreed to help each other.
A week or two passed, the troll wanted to see how Malek was doing and whether he had accumulated fat. The troll had thin eyes, and the girl taught Malk to give him a splinter instead of a finger. The troll sees that it’s not painful for the Malek to get fat, and he ordered him to be fattened for another two weeks.
As two weeks passed, the troll again wanted to see if Malek had accumulated enough fat. Then Malek slipped him a cow's teat instead of a finger. The troll saw how fat he had become and said that it was time to cook him into a roast.
So the troll went to work in the field, and ordered his wife to fry the fry and, when ready, ring the magic bell. And the girl again taught Malk what to do.
The troll got ready to cook a roast, put Malek on a baking sheet - like how they put bread to bake - and wanted to put it in the oven, but Malek fell off the baking sheet! She sits him down, and he collapses, as if he couldn’t hold on. Then Malek says to the troll: he, they say, won’t understand how to sit on a baking sheet and not fall off, let her show him.
Well, the troll sat down on the baking sheet. As soon as she had thoroughly washed herself, Malek put the baking sheet in the oven and closed the damper. Then he took her nightcap and put her in bed on the pillow: from the outside, it looked as if the troll herself was lying there. He found the magic bell, and he and the girl rushed to the shore, and there the kettle on the water was waiting for them.
While they were running from the mountain, the bell rang without interruption, and the troll thought that his wife was calling him for a roast, so he ran home as fast as he could. He entered and saw no one in the house, then he noticed a cap in the bed and thought: “That’s right, the wife lay down to rest, she was tired while she was cooking the roast.” Then I looked closer, and there was no one there, just a cap.
The troll rushed as fast as he could to the shore, and Malek and the girl had only just set sail and had not yet sailed far away. Here the troll began to jump and gallop, as if he was about to rush into the water and swim up after him. And he himself shouts to Malku:
-Did you steal my sheep?
- Dragged away! - Malek answers.
— Did you take the magic lamp away from me?
- He took it away!
— And the magic bell stole it?
- Dragged away!
- And on top of that, he took the girl away?
- He took me away!
- Well, stay with me, I’ll catch up with you now!
- Let's catch up! - Malek answers.
At this point the troll became so furious that he burst from anger. And the mountain troll crumbled into thousands of red flints, hard and sharp, the kind boys cut their feet on when they run barefoot in the summer.
And Malek arrived home safely, the king and princess were delighted, greeted him with honor, and soon the wedding was celebrated, they feasted richly and cheerfully.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru