There lived a king with three sons, he lived without sorrow, but somehow he fell ill and began to go blind. And the doctors said: only one thing can cure him - the passion flower. But the trouble is, it’s unknown where that flower grows.
The king sent his sons here to look for the flower throughout the land - whoever finds it will own the kingdom.
The elder brother was the first to saddle the horse. He drives and drives, and an old beggar woman meets him.
“Give me,” he says, “a piece of bread, poor thing.”
And he answered her:
- Get out of the way, old witch!
He moved on, but soon a misfortune befell him: his elder brother lost his way and got lost.
The middle brother of the eldest waited and waited, but he didn’t wait. He saddled his horse and set off in search of the flower. He also met an old beggar woman.
“Give me a piece of bread,” he says.
And he answered her:
- Get out of the way, old witch!
The younger brother waits and waits, the elders are not in sight.
He jumped on his horse and went to try his luck. An old beggar woman met him and asked for bread, and he gave her all the bread.
- Where are you going, son? - asks the old woman.
“I’m looking for a passion flower to save my father from his illness.”
“Take this egg,” says the beggar woman, “break it on the black stone that lies in the middle of the road.” The stone will split, and you will see a beautiful garden, and the guard in it is a lion. If the animal's eyes are open, enter boldly: he is sleeping. If they are closed, beware.
Soon the younger brother actually drove up to the black stone. He broke an egg on a stone, the stone split, and a garden of wondrous beauty was revealed to the young man, and in the very depths was a passion flower, all white, with a heavenly smell, and glowing. The prince looked, the lion’s eyes were open. Without fear, he walked past and picked a magic flower.
On the way back he met both brothers. They were tired of wandering around the world uselessly, so they sat down by the side of the road to catch their breath. At first, the brothers were happy about their younger brother and the witch’s flower, but then they began to think: wouldn’t it be better to kill their younger brother, bring the flower to the court themselves, and then divide their father’s possessions among themselves? That’s what they did: they killed the poor man, buried him, and took the miracle flower with them. Only the brothers didn’t notice - one of the younger prince’s fingers was not covered with earth.
It remained in plain sight and a reed grew out of it. A shepherd boy walked past, cut off that reed, made himself a pipe, blew on it, and she began to sing:
Don't play the pipe, shepherd -
the pipe knows the secret,
how my brothers ruined me
for the passion flower!
The shepherd boy walked and walked and came to the city. By that time the king had recovered from blindness. He heard the song and called the shepherd to him. He took the pipe from him, put it to his lips, and the pipe began to sing:
Don't play the pipe, father -
you will divulge it to the whole world,
how my brothers killed me
for the passion flower!
Then the king guessed everything. He hurried to the place where the reeds grew, dug the youngest out of the grave - he came to life. The king left the kingdom to his youngest son, and expelled the two older ones from the palace.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru