In ancient times, there lived a greedy and cruel padishah. He had no children. And then one night the padishah dreamed that he was talking to a dervish.
- Listen, padishah, I see you are sad because you don’t have children. But know that you will not be happy if you have an heir,” the dervish told him.
- Why won’t I be happy? - asks the padishah.
- What goes around comes around. You tortured your subjects, and your son will torture you.
Nine months and nine days passed after this dream, and the wife gave birth to a son for the padishah. The boy was born a snake up to the waist, and a man above the waist. The padishah was very upset when he learned about this. It is known that a child grows from month to month, from year to year. And the son of the padishah grew up right before our eyes; in a year or two he became an eighteen-year-old youth. One day the son blocked his father’s way and said:
“Father, take me a princess from Rum as my wife.” I want to get married.
- Unhappy man, who will give his daughter for you?
“I don’t want to know anything,” says the son. “If within three days the princess of Rum does not become my wife, I will sting you to death.”
The padishah was afraid. He called his vizier and adviser and asked for help. They decided to find the girl and marry her off to the Rum princess.
Soon the padishah called his son to him:
- Tomorrow is the wedding. The son sets a condition:
“You owe me such a wedding to feed all the poor and disadvantaged and so that they leave the wedding with gifts.” If you don’t do what I say, you won’t live.
Out of fear, the padishah spent half his treasury on the wedding. They found a broken girl, persuaded her to call herself the Rum princess, and at night break the skull of the snake youth. The girl agreed, and the feast began. For three days and three nights, the padishah’s subjects walked at the wedding, and each took a gift with them. At the end of the third day, the girl was taken to the groom. At night, the prince guessed the girl’s intention to kill him and stung her to death. The next morning, having learned about what had happened, the padishah began to shake with fear. And the son says to his father:
“Now take the Chinese princess as my wife.” If you don’t marry me, I’ll sting you to death.
And no matter how much the padishah begged his son to abandon this idea, the snake did not agree. And this time the padishah found a suitable girl and taught her, just like the first. And he said to his son:
-Tomorrow is the wedding.
The son again sets the condition: “You will call all the poor to the wedding, and this time it will last seven days, seven nights.” And again, each guest must leave with a gift.
The padishah, afraid to object, spent the other half of the treasury on the wedding. At night, after the wedding, the young man killed this girl too.
A few days later he again blocked the padishah’s path:
- I unraveled all your machinations. The girls you took as my wives are neither Rumian nor Chinese princesses. That's why I killed them. This time you will take an Indian princess as my wife, and the wedding will last forty days and forty nights.
The padishah realized that if this time he did not fulfill his son’s wishes, then he would not be able to avoid death. The padishah had to spend all his remaining wealth and marry an Indian princess for his son. He gave away all the gold and silver from the treasury to the poor, and the royal treasury was empty.
On the night after the wedding, the padishah did not sleep a wink, thinking that this time the snake would kill the bride. The padishah was afraid that he would have to answer to the Indian king. He assigned spies to the snake and the bride. At night the snake turned into a beautiful young man. The spies ran to the padishah and told about what they saw. The padishah was very happy. In the morning he called his son to him and said:
“My son, explain why you caused me so much harm, forced me to empty the entire treasury?”
- It's very simple, father. I returned what was plundered and stolen from the people to the people, and human gratitude made me beautiful.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru