Once upon a time there lived a boy. He served as a page in a rich castle. He was an obedient boy, and everyone in the castle loved him - both the noble count, his master, whom he served on one knee, and the corpulent old butler, who was at his beck and call.
The castle stood on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the sea. Its walls were thick, and on the side facing the sea there was a small door in the wall. It led to a narrow staircase, and the staircase went down a cliff to the water. Along its steps you could go ashore and swim in the sparkling sea on a sunny summer morning.
Around the castle were flower beds, gardens, lawns, and beyond them a vast, heather-covered wasteland stretched to a distant mountain range. The little page loved to walk around this wasteland in his free time. There he ran as much as he wanted, chasing bumblebees, catching butterflies, looking for bird nests. The old butler willingly let the page go for a walk - he knew that it was good for a healthy boy to frolic in the fresh air. But before letting the page go, the old man always warned him:
- Just look, baby, don’t forget my order: go for a walk, but stay away from Fairy Hill. After all, with the “little people” you have to keep your eyes open!
He called the Fairy Hill a small green mound that rose about twenty yards from the garden gate. People said that fairies live in this hill and they punish everyone who dares to approach their home. Therefore, the villagers walked half a mile around the hill even during the day - they were so afraid to get too close to it and anger the “little people”. And at night people did not walk through the wasteland at all. After all, everyone knows that at night fairies fly out of their monastery, and the door to it remains wide open. So it may happen that some unlucky mortal makes a mistake and ends up through this door to the fairies.
But the page boy was a daredevil. Not only was he not afraid of fairies, but he actually longed to see their abode. He couldn't wait to find out what these fairies were like!
And then one night, when everyone was sleeping, the boy quietly got out of the castle. He opened the door in the wall, ran down the stone stairs towards the sea, then climbed onto the heather and rushed straight to Fairy Hill. To his great pleasure, it turned out that people were telling the truth: the top of the Fairy Hill was cut off like a knife, and light was pouring from inside. The boy's heart began to beat - he was so curious to know what was inside! He gathered his courage, ran up the hill and jumped into the hole. And so he found himself in a huge hall, lit by countless tiny candles. Here, at a shiny table, as if covered with varnish, sat many fairies, elves, and gnomes. They were dressed, some in green, some in yellow, some in pink dresses. Others wore blue, purple, bright scarlet clothes - in a word, all the colors of the rainbow.
The page boy, standing in a dark corner, marveled at the fairies and thought: “How many of them there are, these little ones! How strange it is that they live next door to people, but people don’t know anything about them!” And suddenly someone—the boy didn’t notice who exactly—proclaimed:
- Bring the cup!
Immediately, two little page elves in bright scarlet liveries rushed from the table to a tiny closet in the rock. Then they returned, bending under the weight of a magnificent silver goblet, richly decorated on the outside and gilded on the inside.
They placed the cup in the middle of the table, and all the fairies clapped their hands and shouted with joy. Then they took turns drinking from the goblet. But no matter how much they drank, the wine in the cup did not decrease. It remained full to the brim all the time, although no one topped it up. And the wine in the goblet changed all the time, as if by magic. Each person sitting at the table took turns picking up a goblet and saying what wine he wanted to taste. And the cup was instantly filled with this very wine.
“It would be nice to take this cup home! - thought the page boy. “Otherwise no one will believe that I was here.” I need to take something from here, to prove that I was here.” And he began to wait for a successful opportunity. Soon the fairies noticed him. But they were not at all angry with him for sneaking into their home. They even seemed delighted to see him and invited him to sit at the table.
However, little by little they began to be rude and insolent to their uninvited guest. They mocked the boy for serving mere mortals. They said that they knew everything that was happening in the castle, and made fun of the old butler. But the boy loved him dearly. They also ridiculed the food that the boy ate in the castle, saying that it was only suitable for animals. And when the page elves in bright scarlet liveries put some new dish on the table, the fairies moved the dish to the boy and treated him:
- Try it! You won't have to taste this in the castle.
Finally the boy could not stand their ridicule. Besides, he decided to take the cup away, and it was time to do it. He stood up and picked up the goblet, grasping the stem tightly with both hands.
- I’ll drink water for your health! - he shouted.
And the ruby red wine in the goblet instantly turned into clear cold water. The boy raised the cup to his lips, but did not drink, but with one jerk splashed all the water onto the candles. The hall immediately plunged into impenetrable darkness, and the boy, holding the precious cup tightly in his hands, rushed to the upper hole and jumped out of the Fairy Hill into the light of the stars. He jumped out just in time, barely in time, because at that same moment the mound collapsed behind him with a roar.
And so the page boy began to run as fast as he could across the dewy wasteland, and the whole crowd of fairies set off in pursuit of him. The fairies seemed to have gone wild with rage. The boy heard their piercing, angry screams and understood well that if they caught up with him, do not expect mercy. His heart sank. No matter how fast he ran, how could he compete with the fairies! And they were already catching up with him. It seemed that a little more and he would die. But suddenly a mysterious voice sounded in the darkness:
If you want to find a way to the castle,
Look for ways on the shore.
It was the voice of one unfortunate mortal. He was once captured by fairies and did not want the brave boy to suffer the same fate. But at that hour the page boy did not know this yet.
However, he remembered that fairies would not be able to touch a person if he stepped on the wet coastal sand.
And so the page turned to the side and ran to the shore. His feet sank into the dry sand, he was breathing heavily and already thought that he was about to fall exhausted. But still he ran.
And the fairies were catching up with him, and those who were rushing ahead were already ready to grab him. But then the page boy stepped onto the wet, hard sand, from which the sea waves had just subsided, and realized that he was saved. After all, fairies could not take a single step here. They stood on the dry sand and shouted loudly in frustration and rage, and the page boy, with a precious goblet in his hands, rushed along the edge of the shore. He quickly ran up the steps of the stone staircase and disappeared behind a door in the thick wall.
Many years have passed. The page boy himself became a respectable butler and taught the little pages how to serve. And the precious cup, a witness to his adventure, was kept in the castle.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru