Once upon a time there lived a woman. One day, as she was going to bed, she thought: “Tomorrow I have to get up early in the morning in order to get to the market on time.”
She was going to sell eggs and butter at the market.
She went to bed early and woke up when it was still completely dark. She didn’t have a watch, she didn’t know how to tell the time by the moon and the stars, and so she decided that it was time to get up, even though it hadn’t struck midnight yet.
And so, in this strange dark time, she led a sleepy horse out of the stable, placed two wicker baskets on his back - with butter and eggs, threw a cloak over her shoulders, sat astride the horse and set off. Her path to the city lay through the Heather Heath - a strange place, not at all suitable for night walks.
Before she had time to drive far, she suddenly heard a loud dog barking and in the light of the stars - fortunately, that night the sky was clear and there were a lot of stars pouring out - she saw a running hare.
The hare rushed straight to her and, almost reaching her, jumped onto the hedge, as if with all his appearance saying: “Come, take me and hide me!”
This woman didn’t like hunting at all, so she didn’t have to beg herself for long, she took the trembling hare from the fence, hid it in one of her baskets and moved on as if nothing had happened.
However, very soon she again heard the dog barking and immediately saw a wonderful rider on a horse - oh, just imagine! - on a horse without a head. The rider was all black, and his head, thank God, was still there! - also black, and on the top of her head there were horns sticking out from under the jockey’s cap. Even worse, when she looked down, she saw that what he had put into the stirrups was not his feet, shod in anything, but his cloven hooves!
A black rider on a headless horse was surrounded on all sides by large black dogs, who had probably come running at the scent of a hare. The dogs were also quite unusual. They had small horns on their heads, and when they twirled their tails, sparks rained down in all directions, and, sniffing, the woman smelled sulfur. Fear, and that’s all!
But she was a brave woman, and if she had already decided to save the hare and hide it in her basket, she would never have given him away. Besides, she knew that even though the devil was smart, he was still not a wizard! He could not guess where the hare had gone.
And indeed, the devil bowed to her and very politely asked if she had seen in which direction the hare ran. She shook her head: she didn’t see it and didn’t know. And he blew his horn, spurred his headless horse and galloped away from the Heath, and the black dogs followed him, and soon everyone was out of sight, which the woman was very happy about, as you yourself can guess.
Before she had time to come to her senses, suddenly the lid of the basket, in which, as she believed, the hare was sitting, half dead from fear, was thrown back, and a beautiful young lady, dressed all in white, rose from the basket.
“I admire your courage, mother,” said the beautiful lady. “You saved me from cruel torment.” When I was an ordinary woman, I committed a terrible sin and was punished for it. On earth and under the earth I was haunted by evil spirits, and there was only one way to escape from them - to be behind them when they were pursuing me. How many years have I failed to do this! Now you have helped me, and I will reward you for it. From now on, all your hens will lay two eggs at once, your cows will give milk all year round, and your husband will never defeat you in an argument!
And with these words the good fairy disappeared. The woman never saw her again, but everything turned out exactly as the fairy promised.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru