Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen; They lived and lived, just as others lived in the world before them. They had been married a long time ago, but they still had no children. And finally, the queen gave birth to a boy. The king was not at home at that time - he had gone to distant countries - and the queen did not baptize her son without a father.
“Until the king returns,” she said, “we will simply call the boy Nothing-Nothing.”
But the king did not return for a long time, and the boy managed to grow into a stately, handsome young man.
Finally the king set off on his way back. On the way, he encountered a deep, stormy river, and the king could not cross it. Then the giant comes up to him and says:
- Do you want me to carry you across the river?
- How much will you charge for this? - asks the king.
- Nothing, nothing, that's enough for me. Well, sit on my back, I’ll carry you quickly.
The king, of course, did not know that his son was nicknamed Nothing-Nothing, so he replied:
- Nothing so nothing, nothing so nothing! Take my gratitude into the bargain.
The king returned home and was very happy with both his wife and son. The Queen told him that their son had not yet been given any name, but was simply called Nothing-Nothing.
Here the poor king began to spin.
- What have I done! - speaks. “After all, I promised to give Nothing-Nothing to the giant who carried me on his back across the river.”
The king and queen grieved for a long time and finally decided:
“When the giant comes, we will give him the son of our henkeeper.” He won't even notice that the boy has been replaced.
The next day the giant came to the king to receive his promise. The king ordered to call the son of the henkeeper, the giant threw him on his back and carried him away.
The giant walked for a long time and finally saw a suitable rock. He sat down on her to rest and asked:
- Hey, you, there on the back, morel farmhand, what time is it now?
And the poor guy replies:
“The one when my mother bird collects eggs for the queen for breakfast.”
The giant became very angry. He threw the boy onto a rock and killed him.
The giant returned to the king in a rage. This time the king and queen gave him the gardener's son. The giant put the boy on his back and went home. Again he reached the rock, sat down to rest on it and asked:
- Hey, you, there on the back, morel farmhand, what time is it now?
And the gardener's son answers:
- Yes, probably the same one when my mother collects vegetables for the royal dinner.
Then the giant became completely furious - he killed this boy too.
Then, beside himself with rage, he returned to the royal castle and threatened that he would destroy everyone here if nothing-nothing was given to him this time.
I had to give him the prince. The giant reached the rock and asked:
- What time is it now? And Nothing-Nothing answers:
“The same one when my father the king sits down to dinner.”
- Now I got what I wanted! - the giant rejoiced. And he took Nothing-Nothing to his home.
So Nothing-Nothing remained with the giant and lived with him until he became an adult.
And the giant had a beautiful daughter. And so she fell in love with Nothing-Nothing, and he fell in love with her. One day the giant said Nothing-Nothing:
- Here's your work for tomorrow. I have a stable seven miles long and seven miles wide. It hasn't been cleaned for seven years. Clean it out tomorrow evening, or you'll end up for my dinner!
The next morning the giant's daughter brought breakfast for Nothing-Nothing and found him in grief and sadness: no matter how hard he tried, he could not clean out the stable. He will rake out the dirt, and it will immediately grow again. Then the girl said that she would help him. She called out to all the creatures of the earth and all the birds of the air, and immediately animals and birds flocked to her from all over the world. They took all the dirt out of the stable, and the giant had not yet returned, but the stable was already clean. The giant saw this, called Nothing-Nothing and said:
- Shame on the cunning guy who helped you! Well, never mind, I have a more difficult job for you tomorrow! I have a lake seven miles long, seven miles deep, seven miles wide. Drain it by tomorrow evening, otherwise you will end up for my dinner!
The next morning, Nothing-Nothing set to work early - he began scooping water out of the lake with a bucket. But the lake did not decrease one bit. What to do? Then the giant’s daughter called all the fish of the sea and ordered them to drink the lake water. And the fish quickly drank all the water and drained the lake.
The giant saw that the job was done, got angry and said:
- Well, just wait, I’ll give you some work for tomorrow! I have a tree seven miles high and without a single branch. And at the very top there is a nest, and there are seven eggs in it. Bring all the eggs whole, otherwise you'll end up for my dinner!
At first, the giant's daughter did not know how to help her sweetheart. I thought and thought, and finally came up with an idea: I cut off my fingers and toes and made steps out of them. Nothing-Nothing climbed the tree and took the eggs out of the nest. While he was descending, all the eggs were intact, but as soon as he stepped on the ground, one broke. What should I do? And so he decided to run away with his sweetheart. The giant's daughter grabbed a magic bottle from her room, and they started running without looking back.
But before they had time to run across three fields, they looked back and saw: a giant was rushing after them at full speed.
- Hurry, hurry! - cried the giant’s daughter. - Take the comb out of my hair and throw it on the ground!
Nothing-Nothing grabbed the comb from her hair and threw it to the ground. And immediately thick rosehip bushes grew from the teeth. It didn’t take long for the giant to make his way through the thorny thickets! When he finally made his way through them, Nothing-Nothing and his sweetheart managed to run far, far away. But the giant began to catch up again - he was about to grab him. Then his daughter shouted to her sweetheart:
“Take the dagger out of my hair and throw it on the ground, quickly, quickly!”
Nothing-Nothing grabbed the dagger from her hair and threw it to the ground. And at the same moment the road was blocked by a fence of sharp knives sticking out crosswise. It was not easy for the giant to pass between them. He made his way carefully, and meanwhile the fugitives rushed further and further and were almost out of sight.
Finally, the giant made his way through the hedge, caught up with them again and was already stretching out his hand to grab Nothing-Nothing, but the girl took out her magic bottle and threw it to the ground. The bottle broke and a big, big wave rolled out of it. She grew and grew; Now she covered the giant up to his waist, then up to his neck; got to the crown, and the giant choked.
And Nothing-Nothing and the girl ran further and further until they reached the place from where his parents’ castle was already visible. But the giant’s daughter was so tired that she could not take another step. Then Nothing-Nothing went to look for lodging for the night, and told the girl to wait. He went straight to the lights of the royal castle and on the way wandered into the hut of the henkeeper, the one whose son the giant had killed. She immediately recognized Nothing-Nothing, and if she hated him before, it was because of him that her son died! - now her fierce hatred flared up even more! And so, when Nothing-Nothing asked her how to get into the castle, she bewitched him, and as soon as he entered, he fell on a bench and fell asleep.
They didn't recognize him in the castle. No matter how hard the king and queen tried to wake up the unfamiliar young man, they could not. Then the king promised to marry him to the one who could wake him up.
And the giant’s daughter waited and waited for her beloved, and finally climbed the tree to see where he had gone. Meanwhile, the gardener's daughter came up. There was a spring under the tree, and she was about to scoop up some water when she suddenly saw the reflection of a girl in it. She saw it and decided that it was herself reflected in the water.
- How beautiful I am! - she said. - How good! Well, is it possible to send such a beauty across the water!
Then she threw the bucket and decided to try her luck - to wake up the stranger in order to marry him. So she came to the henkeeper, and she taught her how to briefly disenchant Nothing-Nothing so that he would stay awake exactly as long as she, the gardener’s daughter, needed; then she went to the castle and chanted a spell there. And when Nothing-Nothing woke him up for a while, the king and queen promised to marry him to her.
Meanwhile, the gardener himself went down to the spring and also saw a girl’s face in the water. He looked up and saw a girl sitting on a tree. He helped the giant's daughter down from the tree and brought her to his home. At home, he boasted that his daughter was getting married, and took the girl to the castle - he wanted to show her his daughter’s groom. And it was Nothing-Nothing! He was sleeping sitting in a chair
The giant's daughter saw him and shouted:
- Wake up, wake up! Say a word to me! But he didn't wake up. Then she said:
“What I didn’t have to do: clean the stable, drain the lake, climb a tree, and all this - to save you, dear.” And you sleep, you don’t wake up, you don’t want to say a word to me!
The king and queen heard her speech and came up. And she tells them:
“No matter how hard I try to wake him up, I can’t.” Nothing-Nothing wants to say a word to me!
They were very surprised: what do they think she knows about Nothing-Nothing? And they asked the girl: where is he now, this Nothing-Nothing?
- Yes, there he is, sitting in the chair! - she answered. Then they rushed to the sleeping man, began to kiss him and call him their own, beloved son. Then they called the gardener's daughter and forced her to chant the spell Nothing - Nothing woke up and told his parents how the giant's daughter saved him and how kind she was. Then the king and queen hugged and kissed the girl, saying that from now on she would be their daughter and that their son would marry her.
The bird-keeper was executed, and everyone else lived happily until the end of their days.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru