The father had three adult sons. The two older ones only have outfits on their minds. They will dress up so well that you will open your mouth and whistle after them. And the youngest, lazy and slobby, is on the stove and lying in the ashes. So they nicknamed him “Dirty Shirt.”
My father sowed the field with oats. But every night, some wicked person tramples those oats. The owner will never understand what kind of misfortune this is!
“Well, just wait, I’ll catch you anyway! - he thinks.
He called his sons and told them to guard the field:
“You’ll catch him and beat him, no matter who he is.” To discourage the desire to spoil good things!
The two elders are going as if to the end of the world: horses, a dog, clubs - they drag everything with them. Mother baked pies for them, fried and steamed meat. I've filled my bags so full they're bursting at the seams.
“My children,” he says, “eat, there, in the field, so that you don’t disappear from hunger.”
Well, what about Zamarashka? He stealthily unlocked the table, collected dry crusts in a linen bag and walked into the field. This - if he asks for anything, his mother will shovel him out of the kitchen.
The elder brothers reached the field, lit a fire, and hobbled the horses. We ate our fill of pies and meat and washed it down with wine.
Their little heads hung heavy, and the brothers and the dog fell into the oats with them. Even if you cut them into pieces, they won’t wake up. But they didn’t even let Zamarashka get close to them!
Our Zamarashka climbed up a wild apple tree and is gnawing on a dry crust. I was thirsty and ate a sour apple.
Closer to midnight, three horses rushed, one straight to the apple tree and let’s rub its side against it. Here is our Zamarashka - jump! - He jumped onto the horse and grabbed the bridle as best he could. Stallion, well, gallop, from furrow to furrow, from boundary to boundary, from strip to strip! It rears up, rushes about, wants to throw off the rider. But Zamarashka grabbed tightly. The horse-fire is tired, he sees that he cannot free himself, he says:
- Well done! Take the bridle off me. If you shake it, whatever you wish will come true.
Zamarashka did just that, took the bridle and trudged home.
In the morning the brothers looked around, and the oats were again all crushed and trampled. The father was angry that they did not protect him.
- Maybe you saw who trampled? – asks Zamarashka.
“What could I have seen if I was asleep,” he muttered under his breath.
On the second night we went on guard. The older brothers took with them pies, wine, and fried meat. Namarashka - dry crusts. They ate and drank until they were tired, and this one gnawed dry crusts and sour apples on a wild apple tree. At midnight two winged horses came rushing. One goes straight to the apple tree, rubbing his side against it. And Zamarashka from the tree - hop! And it’s already sitting on his back! The horse rushes from furrow to furrow, from boundary to boundary, from strip to strip! But Zamarashka grabbed hold of him and wouldn’t let go. The horse says:
- Let me go, and take the bridle for yourself. If you shake it, all your wishes will come true!
Zamarashka took the bridle and hid it.
And on the third night their father sends them to guard the oats. The elders again stocked up on food and drink. They sit, eat from their belly, drink wine from their belly until sleep overtakes them. Zamarashka, as in those times, eats dry crusts with a sour apple. He's not sleeping, he's keeping watch.
Midnight had not yet struck when only one horse-fire rushed in, approached the apple tree, and rubbed itself. The messy one - hop! at him from the tree! They galloped along the furrows, along the borders, over the oats, until the horse gave up the bridle and said:
“You just shake the bridle and you’ll get whatever you want!” Zamarashka took the bridle and hid it well.
The drunken brothers barely made it home in the morning. And my father ordered the oats to be mowed into straw, but they were of no use.
One day, believe it or not, a decree was issued: the king would give his daughter to the one who could pluck the gold ring from the gold cord hanging on the princess’s window. The news of this spread far and wide. Zamarashka's brothers also gathered to the king.
- Well, and you, Dirty Shirt, will you go? - they ask him.
- Why not go? I'll go! - he answers and stands next to them. The brothers saddled their horses, got dressed up, and he climbed onto a big old pig and set off after them along the road. Not only the brothers, everyone around is holding their tummies laughing! But as soon as Zamarashka got out of the outskirts, he immediately shook his bridle:
- What does the master want? – he heard a voice.
“You don’t need anything, just a copper dress and a copper horse!”
And immediately a copper horse and a copper dress appeared.
Zamarashka changed his clothes, mounted his horse and rushed to the palace.
And in front of the palace there are already a lot of gentlemen and everyone is trying to jump to the princess’s window, but all in vain. The Zamarashka brothers began to gallop, but where could they go?
Just as the ring hung, it still hangs. Suddenly, as if someone had fallen from the sky, a good fellow appears on a copper horse! He flew up, grabbed the ring along with the cord, waved his hand to the royal daughter - and rushed away.
All there is to talk about is him. They question, search, and send letters in all directions. But there was no trace of the copper young man.
For the second time, decrees are flying, whoever, they say, picks a golden apple from the window that is higher than the previous one will receive a princess as a wife.
The brothers are making fun of Zamarashka again:
- Well, how about you, Zamarashka, going to the royal palace on a motley pig? And he just shrugged his shoulders and said:
- I’ll go, why not go?
The brothers got dressed and sat in the saddle, and he followed them on a motley pig, shaking.
But as soon as Zamarashka found himself outside the outskirts, he took the bridle out of his bag and shook it.
-What do you want, sir? - he hears a voice.
“I don’t need anything, just a silver horse and a silver dress!” His wish was soon fulfilled. Zamarashka changed his clothes and - forward!
Important gentlemen are again crowding in front of the royal palace. They jump, but it’s all in vain. Suddenly, like a whirlwind, a good fellow in silver clothes, on a silver horse, rushed in. People's mouths were wide open. He flew up to the window, grabbed the apple, looked at the king's daughter and disappeared along with the apple. Everyone stared—don’t be angry—like sheep at the new gate.
No matter how much they asked, the silver fellow seemed to have disappeared into the ground.
And for the third time the king proclaims that the gentlemen must gather at the palace. Whoever takes out a golden handkerchief from the highest window of the tower, he will give his daughter and the whole kingdom as a wife.
There are tons of gentlemen here. And the Zamarashkin brothers are there too. And Zamarashka is doing tricks and tricks on the pig, ridiculing people throughout the whole village - and on the threshing floor. Shake the bridle:
-What do you want, sir?
- Nothing! Just a golden horse and a golden dress!
He changed into a golden dress, sparkling brighter than the sun. He jumped on the golden horse and galloped to the palace!
No one would even think of jumping to such heights!
But then, like a hurricane, a golden fellow on a golden horse soared up to the window, grabbed a handkerchief and remember his name!
The king could not stand it:
- Get it for me, even from underground!
Orders all cities, villages, castles, houses, kitchens, stoves, courtyards, barns, haylofts to be searched! Don't miss a single corner!
And Messy Dirty Shirt, as if he got off the stove in the morning, sits at home behind the stove in his trousers and shirt. On his head is a tattered military cap. Neither give nor take - a garden scarecrow. But it was not for nothing that he pulled his hat down - a golden apple and a golden handkerchief were hidden under the cap. He buried a gold ring on a string in the ashes and tied the string to his finger. He sits and amuses himself like a little child.
The king and soldiers appeared and marched into their house. They look at the master's sons. They saw Zamarashka and mocked:
“Wasn’t it you, Dirty Shirt?”
- Is it on a pig, or what? – he answers in tone with them with a grin.
- He's a daredevil! - says one of the brothers. - He has a hussar's hat - to fight with geese!
And to make him laugh even louder, he rips off Zamarashka’s hat.
Suddenly an apple and a handkerchief fall out from under the hat! The dirty one wants to pull his hat down as quickly as possible and inadvertently pulls out the ring on the cord from the ashes. His gentleman was immediately identified. They are surprised how such a klutz managed to do it all.
But only Dirty Shirt knows better about himself: he shook his bridle:
- What does the master want?
- A golden dress and a golden horse!
He got dressed, jumped on his horse and flew to the royal palace. There he was received with open arms, the princess was given as his wife and the wedding was celebrated. And now they live, if they have not died.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru