The old soldier served his sovereign for twenty-five years and went home. His soul was joyful all the way. Why not be happy? The horn is full of snuff, and three brand new ducats in your pocket! Is this not enough for a person to be cheerful?
He is walking through a dense forest, suddenly he meets a gray-haired old man and begs for alms.
- I won’t skimp on giving like that! You've got a whole ducat on you. I still have two left.
The soldier gave the poor old man a ducat and went merrily on his way.
He walked a little, and again the same old man came towards him and asked for alms again.
“If I had hesitated somewhere, I would have thought that it was still the same old man who had already acquired one ducat,” the soldier mutters to himself. “But that can’t be true!”
And he says out loud:
- Here's a ducat for you! Take it for yourself, I have another one! The soldier walked further, his soul even lighter. He walks, walks, sniffs the tobacco and continues walking. As soon as he sees it, the same old man with a long white beard, with a large stick in his hand, is hobbling towards him again. The soldier had already pulled the last ducat out of his pocket and handed it to the poor man:
- Well, only this is the last one. True, but I still have a cone of tobacco.
“He will be rewarded a hundredfold,” says the poor man and hands the soldier a leather bag. - This is for your three ducats. Just say: “Jump here!” - and all your enemies will be in the bag and will not be able to get out until you release them yourself.
I didn’t want to take the soldier, but then I thought: “Who knows, maybe this little bag might come in handy in an hour!” - and took it. I took it and thought again: “If I had such a bag before, I would have stuffed any enemy army into it. But now I don’t have such enemies. And of course, it’s possible to take it. Why not take it? Who knows where the enemies might fall from.”
The soldier threw the bag behind his back and moved on. In the evening he approaches the palace of one king and asks to spend the night. And the king resists:
“I’m in such trouble here myself that I don’t know how to get out, and there are still various passers-by meddling around.” The last hour is running out, I have to send my own daughter to the old castle, and no one undertakes to guard her, even though I promised half the kingdom for this.
-What is there to guard there? Let me take it! “Our soldier is ready for anything.”
The king began to lay out his misfortune:
“I received an order from the devil that I must take all three of my daughters one by one to the old castle, where the devil will come for them.” I have already promised half the kingdom and one of my daughters as a wife to the one who will rescue them from the devil’s claws.
- So, do you agree if I go watch? - asks the soldier.
The king is so happy and asks what kind of weapon does a soldier need?
- Give me a cart of candles! - says the soldier and goes to the castle. I lit all the candles and placed them on the windows. At midnight the devil arrives on three black horses with a pack of various servants. The devil himself has three huge scary heads. He saw that there was so much light in the castle, and he sent the coachman to see who was there.
The coachman runs up and knocks, but they don’t even think about opening the doors. The coachman asks who lit so many candles there, and from inside they answer him:
- Old soldier.
“Well, if it’s an old soldier, then let him stay this night,” said the devil and drove off.
The king comes in the morning to see if anyone in the castle is still alive. A soldier comes out to meet him and smiles.
The devil didn’t do anything to him, only promised to come again the next night.
The next night, a soldier took over to guard the second royal daughter. He ordered two cartloads of candles to be brought in advance and hewed out a healthy rowan club.
As soon as midnight struck, the devil appeared - six-headed, on six black stallions. And the castle shimmers with lights. The devil sends to find out who is there.
“An old soldier,” they answer.
- Well, if the old soldier is asleep, then let him sleep, I’ll come tomorrow. - And the devil left.
The next morning the king is afraid to go and see if the soldier and daughter are alive and well. Lo and behold, they are coming towards you, smiling. Again the devil did nothing to them, he promised to come tomorrow.
On the third night, a soldier took over to guard the youngest daughter. He ordered three cartloads of candles to be brought to the castle, and burned them all evening. And he himself stands with a leather bag in the middle of the room, holding a club in his hand.
At midnight the nine-headed devil arrives on nine black stallions. He immediately went to the castle, he wants to tear the soldier apart. And he just said: “Jump here!” – and the devil was in the bag. Well, now why feel sorry for him?
And the soldier began to touch the bag with a club. At first the devil endured it, just snorted, but little by little it began to pierce him and itch - oh! It seems like the aching in my bones has already begun!..
The devil begged:
“I heard about old soldiers, but I didn’t expect this.” Listen, brother, let me go, let’s share: take the castle for yourself. and I'll take the princess.
“No, brother,” says the soldier, “you won’t get out of my way until you promise to fill the entire castle with gold and not poke your nose into this region again.” Otherwise I’ll take you so far that you’ll stretch your legs!
“Just let me out, and I’ll promise whatever you want, just let me out, brother!” - the devil prays.
The soldier released him, and the devil went wild again: he opened all nine mouths and rushes at the soldier. He barely said his words: “Jump here!” - and here again the devil is in the bag, and the soldier is pushing him with all his might.
Finally, they all agreed: the devil will remain in the bag until the whole castle is covered with gold, and until then the soldier is not free to fight. Oh you! How many little devils came running here at once! They swarm, scurry about, like in an anthill. There is noise and squealing. The money is coming in right before our eyes. And the old devil out of the bag still urges them to hurry up, toss and turn quickly, so as to be able to get everything done before the roosters crow.
The little devils have taken over, only a pillar of dust! The soldier cannot be surprised: such tiny little devils, and what huge bags they drag!
Now the castle is almost full, only one corner is still missing, and then the first rooster crowed. One of the little devils whispers to the old devil that there is no more money in the hell. The nine-headed one goes out of his way:
- Hurry up, guys, as soon as you can, I have six more barrels of my grandfather’s money in the basement at home, bring them too! Hurry up!
The little devils rushed off like a whirlwind and immediately returned with money.
The rooster crowed for the second time when the devil broke free. In an instant, all the devils disappeared, so that before the third roosters they found themselves in the inferno.
And at night the king hears that there is noise in the castle and money is jingling, and out of fear he throws himself into a panic: now, he thinks, now his daughter and the old soldier are being torn to pieces.
As soon as it’s light, he’s already on his feet, running to the castle to see what happened there.
And I can’t even say how happy the king was when he saw his daughter and the soldier alive and well. And here is a castle full of gold!
On the same day they celebrated a magnificent wedding. The old soldier married the king's daughter and took half the kingdom as a dowry. But he didn’t have to reign for long; on the third day after the wedding, the old soldier died.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru