The peasant had three sons. The father loved the eldest and middle ones and refused them nothing, but he considered the younger one a fool and offended him in everything.
Once upon a time they lived, their sons became adults, and it was time to get them married. Father says:
- Now, sons, you are already adults, it’s time for you to get married. Go wherever you want, and tomorrow morning you will return and tell me which brides you have chosen for yourself.
The eldest sons dressed up, the father gave them a horse, but the younger son did not give anything. That's what he was wearing, and that's what he went for the bride. The older brothers went straight to rich houses, quickly got themselves brides, daughters of rich peasants, handsome with a large dowry. And the younger brother went wherever his eyes looked, thinking: Who will replace me, the unfortunate one, and I’m not dressed like a groom! But we have to go. He walked along the path, entered the forest, but lost the path. How many or how many miles have you walked, all around you there is a dense forest, the trees are tall, the bushes are impenetrable. He sees a hut standing there. It’s so small, low – you need to come in, relax, there’s no hurry!
I went into the hut, and there was no one there. In the middle of the hut there is a table, a mouse sits on the table, gawking at the guest. The guy sat down on the bench and thought: I’ll wait for the owners, someone must come! Then the mouse spoke and asked in a gentle voice:
-Where are you going, good man?
The peasant son was surprised and answered:
“But you can neither help nor hinder me, so why do you need to know where I’m going?”
“Tell me, don’t hide it,” says the mouse, “who knows, maybe I can help you!”
The guy liked that the mouse spoke to him so kindly, so he decided to tell her the truth:
“I need to get married, I’m looking for a bride,” and he told how his father ordered all his brothers to find brides and how he sent them on their way.
The mouse says to him:
- And you marry me!
This seemed so funny to the guy that he laughed, but as he remembered his home, his father, he thought: Since everyone is laughing at me, calling me a fool, I’ll bring a bride of my own! He agreed to marry the mouse, became engaged to her and returned home.
All the brothers have gathered, the father asks them who got which bride.
The eldest and middle sons boast about their brides, but the youngest has nothing to boast about. Father says:
- Well, who did you marry, fool?
“And I found a bride in the forest.”
-Who did you woo there?
“I found what was in the forest,” the son answered.
He didn’t explain anything further, climbed onto the stove and went to bed.
The next day the father called his sons again and said:
“By tomorrow morning, bring me the bread baked by your brides.” I'll see who can bake better.
The brothers went to their brides. The eldest and middle ones ride along, humming merrily.
The younger one also went, although he didn’t expect to get anything. What a mouse's bread! - thinks. - Unless he finds a dry crust and brings it. He reached the hut, and the mouse, his bride, was sitting on the table, as if waiting. She asks the groom:
- Why did you come, my betrothed, didn’t you come for me?
- I came for bread. The father sent us all to the brides to bake bread for him. “He wants to see who can bake better,” he said.
- Don’t worry, go to bed.
As soon as the groom fell asleep, the mouse went out onto the porch and rang the bell:
“My glorious relatives, my faithful servants, gather together to me!”
There are a lot of mice running around here! The bride mouse tells them:
- Bring me each your best grain of wheat!
Instantly everyone ran to their holes, brought a grain, ground it, kneaded it into dough and baked bread. In the morning, the bride serves the guy bread. He was happy, but didn’t say anything, just thanked him and went home. The sons appeared to their father at the appointed time, each giving him his bread. The eldest son has bread made from rye flour, the middle son has bread made from barley flour, ordinary peasant bread. The father opens the bread for his youngest son - it is so fragrant, rosy, soft - made of pure wheat, even if it were served on a royal table! The father was surprised where the fool got such bread, but kept silent, did not want to offend his older, beloved sons. He gives another task:
“Now let your brides weave a piece of linen!” I want to see who weaves better.
The brothers go to their brides again. The younger one looks more cheerful, hoping that maybe his mouse will come up with something. I came to the hut, the mouse was right there. He said why he came this time. She put the groom to bed, took the bell, and went out onto the porch.
“My glorious relatives, my faithful servants, gather together to me!”
There are a lot of mice running around here, waiting for what she will say. Mouse Bride says:
- Bring me each your best flax fiber!
The mice scurried into their holes, chose the best fiber, and immediately returned to their owner.
And their work began to boil: they quickly spun the threads, began to warp and weave - the fabric was ready, and it was as white and thin as a spider’s web. The bride rolled up the linen, put it in a nut shell, as much as it took, and gave it to the groom.
The guy thanked the mouse and went home. The other brothers are already there with the canvas - with large pieces. The younger one felt ashamed that he had so little, but he thought:
“Let them laugh, this is not the first time I have suffered ridicule!”
The elders showed me ordinary coarse linen. The younger one hesitates. The father says to him:
- Why don’t you, fool, show off the skill of your bride? Apparently, I’m not marrying you either!
He gives his father a nut, and the brothers laugh. The father took the nut, opened it, pulled out the linen, spread it out - it turned out to be fifty cubits of such thin and white linen, the kind that only kings probably have! The father was more surprised than before, but did not say a kind word to his son:
- Okay, it’s good that you brought it too, go to the stove, sleep!
Some days pass, the father again says to his sons:
“The time has come, sons, to show off the brides.” Go get them, and be here tomorrow morning!
The older ones, as always, are on horseback, and the younger ones are on foot. He walks and thinks: It will be fun for my brothers and father when I bring my mouse. Now they’ll kick you out of the house!.. Ah, it’s better to wander around the world or live in that forest hut than to endure insults in your father’s house! With these thoughts he enters the hut and says to the bride:
- Father wants to see you.
“Well, let’s go,” the mouse answers.
She harnessed three black mice to a carriage made of nutshells, put one mouse behind the coachman, and sat in the carriage herself:
- Well, I’m ready, let’s go!
Let's go. The mouse is driving, and the guy is walking next to him. Although he is scared and ashamed, what will happen cannot be avoided! They need to go across the river, over the bridge. A mouse drove his carriage onto the bridge, and then a passer-by comes towards him and marvels:
“What kind of travelers are these, I’ve never seen a mouse ride in a carriage!” That's it, lady! – he took it and kicked it. And the bride with the carriage, and the team - everything flew off the bridge and disappeared under the water.
The guy stopped in embarrassment, doesn’t know what to do, what will he say to his father now? He grabbed a mouse for himself, and it drowned, but before he had time to move, the water in the river suddenly began to boil and three black horses harnessed to a gilded carriage jumped out onto the bank! The horses got out onto the road, the coachman reined them in, and the troika stopped. And out of the carriage comes a girl of unprecedented beauty, the likes of which I have never dreamed of! He stands as if rooted to the spot. And the girl looks at him, smiles and says:
- Why are you standing there? Get into the carriage and take me to your father! It's me, your bride!
The guy doesn’t understand anything, but he still got into the carriage. I thought it was a dream. Then the girl began to tell him about herself:
- I am the king's daughter. The evil Suoyatar turned me and our entire kingdom into mice because I did not agree to marry her son. And until then I had to be a mouse, until there was a person who would agree to marry me and until they threw me into the water. Fortunately, a passer-by threw me into the river, and I can appear to your father as a girl.
The happy groom drove up with the beautiful bride, the king’s daughter, to her father’s house. They were waiting for him there; the rest of the brothers and their brides were already there. At the sight of such rich harness, everyone was taken aback. But when the youngest son let his bride down to the cat, no one believed their eyes, and the father could not open his mouth. Such a fool, he fooled everyone! Then my father felt ashamed that he had offended him and called him a fool. He began to look at his youngest son differently. At the wedding, his father asks him where he found such a bride. And the son answers again:
- Found it in the forest.
The father wanted to call his son a fool out of habit, but he caught himself in time. The girl heard this and told her father everything without concealment.
After the wedding, the youngest son left for his wife’s kingdom, where everything became the same. There they still live in happiness and wealth, if they are still alive.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru