A poor widow lived in a small hut. And she had a daughter of indescribable beauty. From morning to evening, her mother knitted a magic shirt for her.
A peddler fell in love with a girl. I got into the habit of walking almost every day. He asks her to marry him.
And she, as it happened, did not love him. She thought and thought about what to do, and asked her mother for advice.
“Tell him,” says mother, “let him give you a white satin dress, embroidered with gold leaves, so that it fits like a glove.” Then you will marry him. And then, lo and behold, the magic shirt will be ready.
A peddler came and asked the girl to marry. The girl answered him, as her mother advised. And that peddler was an evil wizard. A week later he brings a dress, exactly as the girl described - satin, embroidered with gold leaves. She ran upstairs to her mother, put on her dress, and it fit like a glove.
- What should I do now? – the daughter asks her mother.
“Tell him,” the mother answers, “let him give you a dress the color of heavenly azure, and let it fit smoothly, without wrinkles anywhere.” Then you will marry him. And then, lo and behold, the magic shirt will be ready.
The girl told the peddler what her mother had advised. He returned three days later and brought a dress the color of heavenly azure, just like it was made for her. The daughter again asks her mother what she should do.
“Tell him,” the mother answers, “let him bring you silver shoes, so that they are not too small, not too big, but at the right time, then you will marry him.”
The girl told him what her mother ordered; a day or two later he brings silver shoes, and the girl’s feet are tiny, three inches - anyway, they fit her just right: they are not tight and do not fall off her feet. Again the girl asks her mother what she should do now.
“Tonight I’ll finish knitting the magic shirt, there’s just a little left.” Tell the peddler that you will marry him. Let him come at ten o'clock tomorrow morning.
“I’ll come, I’ll definitely come,” the peddler answered and looked at her angrily.
In the evening, mother sat up late and knitted a magic shirt. And she knitted it from moss with gold thread, and whoever puts on this shirt could in an instant find himself at the end of the world, if only he wished it.
The next morning my mother got up just before dawn. She called her daughter and told her to get ready for the journey and look for happiness on a foreign side. And this happiness, he says, will be the most beautiful thing. The mother was a witch, she knew what tomorrow held. The daughter put on a moss shirt, and over it the dress she wore at home. Her mother gave her a golden crown and dresses with silver shoes given by the peddler. Mokhovushka is all ready, her mother says goodbye to her on the road:
“Wish to be a hundred miles away.” There you will see a large manor house. Knock and ask the owners for a job. They will have a job for you.
Mokhovushka did as her mother ordered, and soon found herself in front of the large manor's house. She knocked on the front doors and said that she was walking around the world looking for work. They called the hostess, she liked the girl.
– What kind of work can you do? - asks.
“I can cook, good lady,” Mokhovushka answers. “People say I’m a good cook.”
“We have a cook,” the hostess answers. “But if you want, I’ll take you as a junior cook.”
- Thank you, good lady. I really want to.
That's what they decided on. The mistress showed Mokhovushka where she would sleep and took her to the kitchen to meet the other maids.
“This is Mokhovushka,” the hostess told the servants. - She will be our junior cook. - And she left.
And Mokhovushka went up to her room, hid away the golden crown, silver shoes and both dresses - white and the color of heavenly azure.
Meanwhile, the other maids almost burst with envy.
“Just think,” they cackle, “this tramp in rags will be the junior cook!” Washing dishes is her job! If anyone should be a junior cook, it would be one of us. We know all sorts of dishes, not like this ragged creature! Let's knock her off her arrogance!
Mokhovushka came downstairs and wanted to get to work, and the maids all attacked her at once.
-What do you think you are! Look, I wanted to become a junior cook! Nothing will work out for you, you didn’t attack the same people! You will scrape cast iron and frying pans, clean spits and knives. Don't hope for anything else!
One girl took a ladle and hit - knock-knock-knock - Mokhovushka on the head.
- This is what people like you deserve!
Yes, things turned out badly for Mokhovushka. She stokes the stoves, scrapes the frying pans, her face looks like it’s smeared with soot. And the kitchen girls - first one, then the other - will grab the ladle and hit it - knock-knock-knock - on the head. The poor thing has a headache all the time and it doesn’t go away.
One day the neighbors organized a big celebration: during the day there was hunting and other fun, and in the evening there was a ball. And so on for three days in a row. Guests came from all over the area, the owner, the hostess and the owner's son also gathered for the holiday. In the kitchen the only talk is about the upcoming ball. Who dreams of having at least one glimpse of the fun, who wants to dance with a young gentleman, who wants to see how noble young ladies dress. If they had ball gowns, they say, they wouldn’t lose face.
Why are they worse than any baronesses and countesses?! Only one Mokhovushka is silent.
“And you, Mokhovushka,” the evil maids ask her, “do you also want to go to the ball?” The only thing missing was you, such a mess.
And let's hit her - knock-knock-knock - on the head with a ladle. They tease, they laugh - such a vile tribe.
And Mokhovushka, as already said, was a real beauty, and neither soot nor rags could hide it. The owner's son immediately noticed her, and the owner and hostess singled her out from all the servants. They began to get ready for the ball and sent for Mokhovushka, inviting her to go with them.
“No, thank you,” Mokhovushka answers. “I don’t even dare think about it.” My place is in the kitchen. I feel sorry for the carriage and your outfits; if I sit down, I’ll get everyone dirty.
The owners laughed and called - let's go. But Mokhovushka knows what she is doing: she thanks you for your kindness and refuses. So she insisted on her own. Mokhovushka returned to the kitchen, and the maids, of course, asked why the owners called her. Are they planning to fire you or something else? Mokhovushka says that her owners invited her to the ball.
- You? To the ball? - the maids shouted. - Unheard of! If someone had invited us, it would be a different matter. But you! Would they really let someone like you go to the ball? Young gentlemen will dance with the scullery maid, of course! They will be afraid to get their dress dirty! And what a spirit you give off - the ladies will hold their noses.
No, they said, they would never believe that the host and hostess would invite her to the ball. She's the one lying! And let's hit her - knock-knock-knock - on the head with a ladle.
The next day, the owner’s son invites Mokhovushka to the ball. The ball, she says, was wonderful; it was a shame she didn’t go. And today will be even better.
“No,” Mosstail answers. - I won’t go. Where am I, so dirty and in rags?
No matter how much the owner’s son asked or persuaded, Mokhovushka flatly refused. And the servants again did not believe that her masters had invited her to the ball, and even the master’s son had persuaded her.
- No, just listen to what else this liar invented!
And Mokhovushka took it and got ready for the ball, alone, so that no one would know. First of all, she bewitched the maids and put them to sleep. Then I washed myself thoroughly. She went upstairs, threw off her torn clothes and old shoes, put on a white satin dress embroidered with gold leaves, silver shoes and a gold crown on her head. She looked all over herself and wished she was at the ball. For a moment I felt as if I was flying through the air, I didn’t have time to say the last word - and then, please, I found myself at the ball. The owner’s son saw her and couldn’t take his eyes off her: in all my life I had never seen such a beauty, stately and elegant.
- Who is this? - asks his mother. Mother doesn't know either.
“Find out, mother,” the son asks. - Go talk to her. The mother understood that her son would not calm down until she talked to the unfamiliar guest. She approached Mokhovushka, identified herself and asked who she was and where she was from. Mokhovushka did not answer anything, she only said that where she lives, she gets hit on the head with a ladle every now and then. Then the owner’s son himself approached Mokhovushka and began asking questions, but Mokhovushka did not even say her name; invited me to dance - he doesn’t want to. The owner's son did not leave her side, and finally they began to dance. We walked there and back.
“It’s time to go home,” says Mokhovushka.
Her master’s son asks her to stay, but Mossie stands her ground, and that’s all.
“Okay,” he says, “I’ll go and take you.”
And Mokhovushka wished at that moment to return home, and he was the only one who saw her. She stood nearby and disappeared in the blink of an eye, he was even taken aback. Back and forth - there was no Mosscat, and no one saw where she had gone.
Mokhovushka found herself at home and looked to see that the maids were still sleeping. I changed into an old dress and woke up the maids. They rub their eyes, wondering whether it is night or morning. And Mokhovushka says: it will be a waste of time for them, because they slept all evening. Her maids beg her not to give them away; one gave her a skirt, another gave her stockings, the third gave her shoes, although they were old, they could still be worn. Mokhovushka promised not to tell the mistress anything. The maids were delighted, and there were no beaters that evening.
On the third day, the owner's son finds no place for himself. He can’t think of anything except the unknown beauty whom he fell in love with at first sight. Will she come to the ball today? What if it disappears again? No, today he will never let her go. It's the last ball, so as not to lose her completely.
“I fell in love with her for the rest of my life,” he told his mother. “If I don’t marry her, I’ll die.”
“She’s a good, modest girl,” his mother answers. - Only he doesn’t say his name.
– I don’t care whose it is, where it comes from. I love her, that's all. I can’t live without her, truly I say, I can’t live.
As is well known, maids have long ears and even longer tongues. Soon the only conversation in the kitchen is about the unknown beauty with whom the owner's son fell in love at the ball.
“Well, Mokhovushka,” the evil maids tease the poor thing, “how is the young master doing?” It seems like he invited you to the ball?
They tease, they mock, one grabbed a ladle and let’s hit her - knock-knock-knock - on the head: next time it will be discouraging to fool good people. Towards evening, the host and hostess sent for her and invited her to the ball again. Mosstail refused again. And she herself put the nasty maids to sleep and went, like last time, to the ball. Only now she was wearing a dress the color of sky blue.
Mokhovushka entered the hall, and the young owner was already waiting for her.
As soon as he saw it, he asked his father to send home for the fastest horse, let him stand saddled at the porch. And he asks mother to talk to Mokhovushka. The mother approached the girl and again returned with nothing. Then the servant reported that the saddled horse was already standing at the porch. The owner's son invited Mokhovushka to dance. They walked back and forth. It's time to go home, says Mossy. And the owner’s son took her hand and went out with her onto the porch.
Mokhovushka wished to return home and at that very moment found herself in her kitchen. It blew away like the wind, the owner's son just clasped his hands. Yes, apparently, one shoe hit him, and it fell right at his feet. Or maybe it didn’t hurt, but most likely that’s exactly what happened.
He picked up the silver shoe and held it in his hand, but he couldn’t hold the girl. Where there! It's easier to hold back a gust of wind on a stormy night.
Mossy returned home, changed into rags and woke up the maids. They rub their eyes and wonder why they were so sleepy. They promise Mossie: one is a shilling, the other is half a crown, and the third is a week’s salary, so long as Mossie doesn’t complain to the mistress.
And the owner’s son fell ill the next day - he fell mortally ill from love for the beauty who lost her shoe at the ball. They called all sorts of doctors, but he got worse and worse. It was announced throughout the kingdom that a girl who would hit her foot with a silver slipper could save him. The young master will marry her and recover.
Girls came to them in large numbers, apparently and invisibly from near and far. Who has a small foot, who has paws - everyone is in a hurry to try on a shoe. And this way and that they try to squeeze their foot in - no one’s shoe fits. Even the poorest girls were invited, even maids - all to no avail. And the young master can barely breathe.
- Have all the girls in the kingdom tried on the shoe? - says the mother in despair. - Is there really not one left, be it rich or poor?
“Not a single one,” the maids answer. - Except for the dirty little Mossie.
“Call her quickly,” the hostess orders.
Mossy took the silver shoe, stuck her foot in it, and it fit right in!
The owner's son jumped out of bed and wanted to hug Mokhovushka.
“Wait,” says the girl.
She ran upstairs and returned - she was wearing a gold crown, silver shoes and a white satin dress embroidered with gold leaves.
The owner's son wants to hug Mokhovushka, and she again tells him:
- Wait!
She ran upstairs and came running - she was wearing a dress the color of heavenly azure.
The owner's son hugged Mokhovushka, but this time she didn't say anything to him. He jumped out of bed - alive, healthy, cheeks rosy, as if he had never been sick.
The hostess asks why Mokhovushka said at the ball that at home they hit her on the head with a ladle.
“It’s true,” Mokhovushka answers, “the evil maids do.” The master and mistress got angry and kicked the maids out of the house, and even let the dogs loose so that they would be gone.
The young owner and Mokhovushka got married. They lived amicably and happily. They gave birth to many children. Maybe they are still alive today.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru