Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. They had a daughter. But then the wife died, the husband took another into the house, and she had her own daughter. The new wife was angry and grumpy, she loved only her daughter, and hated her poor stepdaughter. She forced her to work from morning to night, and gave her leftovers and leftovers to eat. But her daughter didn’t work at all, but ate everything delicious, everything sweet.
One day the stepmother gives the poor stepdaughter a skein of yarn and says:
- Go to the river and rinse the yarn thoroughly. Don't be afraid that the water is cold. After work, your hands will warm up!
The girl ran to the river and began to rinse the yarn. Her fingers quickly froze and became completely numb, and she released the skein and it sank to the bottom. The girl ran home in tears and told her stepmother how the skein had drowned. The stepmother hit the girl on the head and screamed:
- Oh, you slacker! I knew you would drown the skein! Get into the water, get it from the bottom! Get it however you want, but don’t come back without yarn!
The girl began to cry and went to the river. She walked up to the shore, closed her eyes and jumped into the water. And when I opened my eyes, I saw myself in a green meadow. A herd of golden-maned horses grazes on the grass. The wind blows the mane, tangles the hair. The girl approached the horses and combed their manes with her comb. Golden-maned mare says:
- Follow this path. You will meet a sour cream stream, and then a honey stream. But don’t try sour cream or honey - these are the streams of the old woman Yoma (Yoma is like Baba Yaga, but lives in the underwater world). The path will lead you to the old woman's hut. She has your skein of yarn. The hut will spin in the wind. We must shout:
Hey, hut, don't be angry -
Stop for me!
The hut will stop, and you can safely enter it.
The girl thanked the mare and walked along the path. He sees a cow grazing. The cow's udder is full, there is a milk pan nearby, and there is no one to milk the cow. Cow says:
- Girl, milk me, it’s hard for me, my udder is full of milk.
The girl milked the cow. Cow says:
- When you come to the old woman Yoma, she will order you to work. Then for work he will offer a choice of two baskets: red and blue. So you take the blue one.
The girl thanked the cow and moved on. Here is the sour cream stream. Oh, how hungry I am! But you can’t - this is the stream of the old woman Yoma. The girl crossed over the bridge and walked on. Here flows a honey stream. The poor thing's mouth watered, but she didn't even taste the honey. The path led her to a hut that was spinning in the wind.
- You, little hut, don’t be angry -
Stop for me! -
the girl shouted. The hut stopped instantly and the girl entered. And there sits the old woman Yoma, the water mistress. The old woman asks:
- Why did you come?
“Grandmother, my skein of yarn has sunk, so I’m walking around looking for it,” the girl answers.
“I have your skein,” says the old woman, “but you must work first.” Go chop some wood and heat the bathhouse.
The girl chopped wood and heated the bathhouse. The old woman brought there a basket full of baby frogs, lizards and swimming beetles.
“Here,” he says, “here are my dear children, they all need to be washed and steamed so that they are happy.” There are running lizards, tomboyish frogs and swimming beetles.
The girl carefully washed them all and carefully evaporated them all. The old woman brought her two baskets: red and blue.
- Choose!
The girl took the blue one. Yoma says:
- Open it in the green meadow. There you will take your skein.
A girl came to a green meadow and opened her basket. And then a large, good hut appeared in the meadow, and in it - everything that was needed for the farm. There the girl saw her skein of yarn, which she had drowned in the river.
The next day she married a guy from her village whom she had loved for a long time.
They began to live in their hut.
And the stepmother became even more angry.
- Why did our dirty and slacker get such happiness?! - she shouted. - It would be necessary for my smart and good daughter to get all this!
The next day she sent her daughter to rinse a skein of yarn. But the white-handed woman did not want to freeze her hands, she did not rinse him, but immediately threw him into the water and drowned him. She ran home and cried:
“Mom, I accidentally dropped the skein and it drowned in the river.”
“Oh, my dear daughter,” says the mother. - There’s nothing you can do, go dive for a skein.
The little white hand dived into the river and saw herself in a green meadow. A herd of golden manes grazes on the grass. A mare approached the girl:
- Comb my mane with your comb.
- I have no time! - the white-handed girl shouts. “I’m looking for a skein of yarn—I’m rushing to the old woman Yoma for a reward, for a dowry!”
The horses didn't tell her anything. She ran along the path. Here is a cow.
“Girl, milk me, it’s hard for me, my udder is full,” the cow asks.
- I have no time! - the white-handed girl shouts. - Yes, and I don’t know how to milk. Our father's daughter milked the cows - that's her business!
And she ran on. He sees a sour cream stream flowing. “Eating sour cream is my business!” - thought the white-handed girl. She got down on all fours and let's drink from the stream. I drank for a long time. She took a breath and started again. Then she stood up and slowly walked along the path. Suddenly he sees a honey stream. “Oh, what a pity that I ate so much sour cream! There’s almost no room for honey. Well, that’s okay, I’ll try,” she thought, got on all fours and let’s drink from this stream. I didn't drink for long. She took a breath and started again. It's hard to tear yourself away from honey. Too sweet and fragrant! Finally he feels: he can’t climb anymore. She stood up and walked along the path with difficulty. Here is the hut of the old woman Yoma, spinning in the wind - it doesn’t stop. The white-handed woman began to stop her with her hands, beat all her hands, and somehow stopped her. She came in.
- Why did you come? - asks the old woman Yoma.
“I came for a reward, for a dowry,” the girl answers.
“Here you go for your reward,” says old woman Yoma. “I haven’t even worked yet, but I’m already looking for a reward.” Okay, go to work. Chop the wood, heat the bathhouse.
The white-handed girl started chopping wood - it didn’t work, she couldn’t do it. I didn’t chop enough, the bathhouse was poorly heated, the water wasn’t hot. Old woman Yoma brought her a basket full of baby frogs, lizards and swimming beetles. The white hand didn’t want to wash them, she whipped them with a broom - and that’s all. The old woman brought her two baskets: red and blue.
- Choose.
White-handed grabbed the red basket and ran home. Her mother meets her:
- Oh, my clever girl! Oh my goodness! So you brought happiness to the house!
The two of them went into the hut, opened the red basket, and from there a red fire burst out and burned their hut.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru