Three brothers and three sisters once lived with their parents. When the children grew up, the father suddenly fell seriously ill and, sensing the approach of death, called his wife, sons and daughters to say goodbye to them. The father entrusted his daughters to the care of his brothers and ordered, without delaying the matter, to marry them off to the first one who came to match the match. And having said this, he died.
A year passed after his father's death, and then one evening someone knocked on the orphans' door. The brothers opened the door, a stranger entered the house - no one had ever seen him before - and asked to give him his older sister as his wife. The brothers remembered the order of their late father and, without arguing, agreed. The alien immediately took the older sister away, but where and in what direction is unknown. The next evening the man appeared again and wooed the middle sister. The brothers gave away this sister too, although they did not know who their son-in-law was or where he came from. On the third evening the groom came for his younger sister. The brothers gave her as a wife to a stranger.
A year passes without a word from the sisters. And so the brothers prepared for the journey in search of the missing sisters. They wandered around the world for a long time and finally found themselves on a deserted hill - they saw a castle standing on it. The brothers go there, and who meets them - who do you think? - three sisters. They hugged, kissed and
After asking each other about their health, they sat down to rest. The brothers began to ask the sisters how they ended up in the castle, and the sisters admitted that they had married giant wizards. They had just uttered these words when suddenly someone hit the door with a club - bang!
- What is it? - the brothers were scared.
- Nothing, don’t be afraid. It's just that the giant has returned.
At that same moment a giant entered the room and, seeing the three brothers, was terribly surprised. But the women explained to him that the brothers had come to visit them: after all, they had not seen each other since their wedding day.
- OK. Who will light the fire in the hearth, and who will go hunting? - the giant asks the brothers.
The brothers say that we will light a fire in the hearth. The giant answers:
“If I return from hunting before you light a fire, know that I will chain you to this pillar.” If there is a fire burning in the hearth when I arrive, you will chain me up!
The giant left the brothers a lead club, a steel flint and a lead flint and went hunting.
The poor brothers fought and fought, all in vain! Can you strike a spark from lead? And then the giant arrived from the forest. He saw that there was no fire in the hearth, threw the loot on the floor, grabbed the brothers and chained all three to a post. The brothers are sitting, chained to a post, unable to move, their sisters feed them, water them, dress them and wash them.
Three years passed like this. The unfortunate mother is still waiting for her sons, she has already lost hope of seeing them - her sons have disappeared, they have not sent news about themselves. It's hard for an old woman to live alone. One day a grain of pepper caught her eye, and she sighed and said:
“Oh, if only God sent me a child, even if it’s just the size of a tiny seed, I’d still have someone to exchange a word with!”
God heard her prayer, and soon the woman felt a child under her heart, although she was not young and had lived without a husband for a long time. In due course, she gave birth to a child the size of a peppercorn. Before the child had time to be born, he said he couldn’t say enough, but swallowed a piece and jumped to his feet. The mother named her little one Perchik, she couldn’t be happier with him, and she cherishes him like the apple of her eye.
Perchik grew up, became quite an adult, and then one day he asked his mother:
“Tell me, dear mother, is it really that you and all your relatives have me alone?”
“I used to have three daughters and three sons, but now you’re the only one left!”
And his mother told Perchik how his sisters got married and disappeared, and how his brothers went on a long journey to look for them. Perchik listened to the old woman and told her that he would go around half the world, but he would certainly find them. How his mother tried to dissuade him, how she begged him not to leave her - nothing helped!
Perchik got ready to go. He wandered around the world for a long time. And then one day he met a team of twenty oxen, they were dragging a huge iron block up the mountain. The blank is entangled in tree roots, and people cannot move the oxen from their place. Perchik jumped up to them, threw the block onto his shoulders, dragged it up the mountain, looked back - there were no people, no oxen: they had disappeared without a trace! Perchik took the iron block to the blacksmith and ordered him to forge a club from it. The blacksmith made him a huge club. Pepper threw her over the clouds and exposed his back, waiting for her to fall back. The club fell on his back - Perchik felt as if a flea had bitten him. “No good! It’s too easy,” he thought.
He decided to return home and ask his mother if there was any iron left in the house after his father. The mother said that there was some scrap lying in the attic. Perchik climbed into the attic and at once brought out three hundred kilograms of junk iron. He brought this whole pile of iron to the blacksmith and ordered him to make a club for him. The blacksmith was surprised and asked Perchik:
- Is it really possible to use all this iron on a club? Maybe you could forge a saber out of it?
- No, I don’t need a saber, if only I had a suitable club! - Perchik objected.
The blacksmith has finished his work. Perchik grabbed the club, threw it under the clouds and again exposed his back. The club slammed onto his back, and Pepper fell to his knees. “This club will be good!” - he thought and went his way.
He wandered around the world for a long time and went far into the mountains. There was a castle among the mountains, and Perchik turned there. And imagine his surprise when he learned that three young men were imprisoned in the castle - chained to a pole, and three women were walking behind the prisoners and feeding them. Pepper sat down to rest with them and threw his club at the entrance. Then the giant returned and - bang, he threw his club at the open door. Perchik caught it in flight and launched it back, the giant swung and threw it at Perchik again - they exchanged the club three times. The giant realized that someone stranger had wandered into his house and, apparently, stronger than the owner, and he did not like this at all. But nothing can be done, I had to shoulder the club and cross the threshold. When he saw the uninvited guest, he shouted:
- Hey, Perchik, yes, no way, is that you?
- You guessed it, handsome, I’m the one! - Perchik answered.
“Listen, Perchik, if I’m the first to cope with my task, I’ll chain you to a post in the same way as the three brothers, but if you manage it first, you’ll chain me.”
That's what they decided on. Perchik stayed at home to make a fire, and the giant went hunting, leaving Perchik a club, flint and flint - all made of lead. Perchik tried to strike a spark, but soon realized that this was a futile task. He instantly grabbed his flint and steel from his wide leather belt and quickly lit a fire. But the giant still doesn’t come. The fire in the hearth is already burning with all its might, but the owner is not there. Finally he appeared with three chamois on his shoulders. The giant froze when he saw the fire in the hearth, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he wanted to say a word, when Perchik grabbed him on the head with his club!
- Have mercy! - the giant roared. - Don’t destroy me, and I’ll be your slave until my grave!
Pepper gave him life, and the giant became his slave.
The next day in the morning the two of them went hunting. As soon as they entered the forest, Perchik saw a giant with two heads - he was running somewhere, and on each leg he had a millstone impaled. Perchik asks the two-headed giant where he is in such a hurry, and he tells him:
- Well, I heard a rumor that some Perchik showed up and made that Perchik my brother his slave! I run to deal with him. I'll grind it into powder!
Perchik answers:
- Well, here I am. What's next?
The giant rushed at him like a ram, Perchik hit him on both heads with his club, and the giant prayed:
- Have mercy, Pepper, have mercy on me, and I will be your slave until the grave!
Perchik gave the giant life and took him with him to hunt. They had only just scattered in different directions when Perchik saw a giant with three heads. The giant is rushing somewhere, and in his hands is a spear the size of a century-old pine tree. Pepper asks the three-headed giant where you are running, and he replies:
“I heard that a certain Perchik entered our castle and captured both of my brothers. So I rushed as fast as I could - I want to chop it into small pieces!
Perchik tells him:
- This is me. What do you want from me?
The giant rushed towards him like a ram, and Perchik hit him on the head with his club, and the monster asked for mercy:
- Have mercy on me, Perchik, and I will be your slave until the grave!
Perchik spared the giant and took him with him to the mountains for prey. The four of them began to hunt. They caught four chamois, lit a fire and dressed one of the giants to roast them on a spit, and they themselves went fishing again. The giant made a spit and began to turn the carcasses on it. Little by little he roasted all four chamois and leaned them against a pine tree. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dwarf came straight to the giant.
- Let me taste the meat, it looks like you fried it perfectly!
- Go to hell, and without you there will be eaters! - the giant waved him off.
Then the dwarf jumped up to the giant and gave him such a slap in the face that he rolled head over heels to the ground. The dwarf in one sitting killed all four carcasses and - God bless his legs.
As soon as the giant woke up from the slap, three hunters appeared from the forest. They brought four more chamois.
- Where is your roast, unfortunate cook? - the hunters were surprised.
The giant told how the little dwarf destroyed all their supplies. Then the two-headed giant volunteered to fry the prey he had brought, and the rest went hunting again. The two-headed giant barely had time to remove the fourth carcass from the fire when the same dwarf appeared.
- Let me taste the meat, it’s obvious that you cooked it well!
- Go to hell, and without you there will be eaters! - the giant snapped.
The dwarf jumped up to the giant and gave him such a slap on the wrist that he rolled head over heels to the ground. And the dwarf pounced on the meat and instantly dealt with all four carcasses.
As soon as the two-headed giant woke up after being slapped, hunters appeared from the forest. They carried four more chamois and were as hungry as wolves.
- Where is your roast, unfortunate cook? Maybe your dwarf licked it off with his tongue? - the hunters exclaimed.
The giant told them how it happened. Then the three-headed giant remained by the fire, but the dwarf ate all his meat. The hunters returned from the forest and immediately guessed what had happened. And they are dying to eat, they can hardly move their legs from hunger. It was Perchik’s turn to tinker with the meat, and the giants again went for prey. Perchik fried all four carcasses, but did not have time to lean the last one against the pine tree when the dwarf found himself in front of him.
- Let me try the meat, it looks very tasty!
“Go to hell, you’ve already eaten your fill, you won’t get anything else!”
The dwarf rushed at Perchik, but he grabbed him and carried him away. He carried and carried and brought it to a huge beech tree. Perchik split the tree, squeezed the dwarf's beard in the split and threw it near the beech, and he returned to his roast. Then the giants arrived with their spoils - each one was carrying a chamois. When the hungry giants saw that the roast was intact, they were delighted; they had no time for questions: they immediately sat down to eat. They killed the worm, and Perchik told them how he dealt with the dwarf. They rushed to the beech tree. And it was as if the dwarf had never existed, the dwarf had disappeared - only the beard was sticking out in the splinter and the tree was all twisted. Then they noticed a trail of blood and followed it. They walked and walked and found themselves at the edge of an abyss. Here the bloody trail ended.
“So the dwarf went down into the abyss,” they decided and began to agree on who should climb into the abyss. The giants became afraid, and Perchik said:
- I would climb, but I’m afraid that you might deceive me!
- We will never let you down, by God! - the giants swore and lowered Perchik into the abyss.
Perchik found himself in a field - it stretches far, far, with no end in sight. And there was a house in the field, Perchik went straight to it. I walked in and there were four rooms in the house. He opened the door to the first room - and saw a girl, and such a beauty that he could not stop looking at it! The girl sat at a loom made of pure gold and weaved gold cloth. Perchik opened the door to the second room and saw a girl even more beautiful than the first, and next to her a golden hen was clucking over her chickens. He opened the door to the third room and saw a girl even younger and more beautiful than the second, and next to her a golden herd. Perchik opened the door to the fourth room - and what? He saw a beautiful girl - and with her youth and unprecedented beauty she eclipsed all three beauties. She sat at a hoop of pure gold and drew a pattern with gold threads.
“Hey!” thought Perchik to himself. “That’s who I’ll take as my wife, and those three I’ll grab for my slaves!”
The young beauty began to ask Perchik who he was and where he was from. Perchik explained to her that he was looking for a dwarf here and followed him down from the upper light.
- This is our brother. If you want to kill him, take this wooden saber, it will cut the dwarf in half, and will also go seven spans into the ground. Now go into the garden, he’s sleeping there under the bushes.
Perchik looked at the wooden saber and didn’t know what to do—whether it was worth taking it with him. Still, just for fun, he took the wooden sword off the wall and went out into the garden. Perchik found a sleeping dwarf. He raised two sabers over him at once - a wooden one and his own, he wanted to hack the dwarf to death right in his sleep. And then he changed his mind - it’s a shame to attack a sleeping person, you need to wake him up so that he knows by whose hand he is dying. Perchik pushed the dwarf and, without allowing him to come to his senses, pulled out a weapon and brought down a blow on the dwarf’s head with both his saber and his club. And here’s a miracle - the club didn’t even leave a scratch on the dwarf, but the wooden saber cut him in half, and even penetrated seven spans into the ground. Perchik returned to the house, took the four sisters and led them to the place where the giants were waiting for him above. Perchik ordered his slaves to pull the girls upstairs first, and then himself. The giants raised the three sisters one after another. It’s the turn of the fourth sister, and she says to Perchik:
“You go ahead, otherwise the giants will leave you here.”
Yes where there! Perchik did not listen to the girl - since the giants swore an oath to him, it means they won’t let him down. Meanwhile, the giants picked up their younger sister and went home with the girls, and threw the rope into the abyss for Perchik - get out as best you can!
Perchik was confused by such betrayal, and then began to think about what to do next. He was very sorry that he had not listened to the girl, but apparently you can’t escape fate. And Perchik walked across the field, and walked until the city appeared in the distance. He went to him. Not far from the city there was a mountain, and on the mountain there was something black. Perchik came closer, and what did he see? — a girl is sitting on the top of a mountain, wrapped in a black shawl, and her scarf is wet from her tears. Under the mountain, people gathered, apparently and invisibly, some with a baklaga, some with a large jug, some with a copper jug.
Pepper climbed to the top of the mountain to meet the girl. He greeted her and asked why she was crying.
“Run away from here, unknown young man,” the girl said through tears, “before you lay down your head with me, poor, doomed to perish in the prime of my life.” Run, young man, but I still have to accept death!
Pepper stared at the girl in amazement. And let's ask her why and why she should die. She told him her grief:
— A dragon lives nearby. The dragon has imposed a ban on water and does not give a drop to anyone until he receives tribute - a girl every day. He swallows the girl, then lets out the water. That’s why so many people gathered under the mountain - people were holding vessels and waiting to get water. The city residents established who should pay tribute to the dragon when. Today it is the turn of the royal daughter. Here I am waiting for my death hour! Now the dragon will fly and swallow me. Run away from here quickly before the same fate befalls you!
Perchik laughed in response and said that it was not the dashing death that scared him, but the bad life, and, moving his club towards him, he sat down next to the girl. And there Perchik clung to her knees and asked her to look in his head. The Tsar's daughter began to search Perchik's head, and soon the young man began to snore like a hero. And the tsar’s daughter wove a ring with her signet into his hair. Suddenly the mountain began to shake. The girl remembered her misfortune and burst into tears, tears dripping onto Perchik’s face. He woke up at once and shouted:
- What is it?
“Don’t you see?” the girl said, and Perchik in the blink of an eye grabbed his club. The dragon wanted to swallow them both, he had already showered them with his breath, but that was not the case. The dragon opened its second mouth, opened a third, and Perchik thrust his club straight into the monster’s throat, then pulled out a saber and cut off all three of its heads. Then he cut off the ears and put them in his pocket.
At that same moment, out of nowhere, Arap rushed to Mount Arap, picked up three severed heads of the dragon and rushed to the king to receive a reward for killing the dragon and saving the king’s daughter from death. The king rejoiced at this news and ordered to immediately arrange a feast for the whole city, and Arap promised to give his daughter as a wife.
Meanwhile, Perchik got lost in the crowd and wandered into the city, and when he got there, he headed to the tavern. He threw his club at the entrance and went in to rest. From the tavern, Perchik went straight to the palace and reported to the king that he had dealt with the dragon and rescued his daughter from trouble. The Tsar fixed his eyes on Perchik and exclaimed:
“Here is my daughter’s deliverer, he was the first to bring me good news!” - and pointed to Arap.
- How can such a Perchik cope with a dragon? - Arap jumped up here. - He doesn’t even have a weapon!
“My weapon remained in the tavern,” says Perchik. - If you don’t believe me, go and bring it here!
The arap jumped up and rushed to the tavern. I searched all the corners - there were no weapons, but I didn’t pay attention to the club that was lying by the door. Lost with joy, Arap ran to the king and reported that there were no weapons in the tavern, and without a weapon a person is like without hands.
“Wait, now I’ll show you my weapon,” Perchik shouted, instantly flew into the tavern, grabbed the club - and to the king. The king was surprised to see such a huge club, but everything stood its ground:
“You can’t kill a dragon with a club!” And how will you prove that you killed the dragon? Arap brought me something...
- What did he bring? - Perchik cried.
They showed him the heads, and Perchik put his hand in his pocket, pulled out dragon ears and threw all six pieces at the king’s feet.
“Arap has heads, I have ears—now decide which of us killed the dragon?”
At that same moment, the Tsar’s daughter entered the room, combed through Perchik’s hair, found her signet ring and announced to the Tsar that this was the very young man who had saved her from death. Here it is impossible not to believe the Tsar, he ordered the Arab to be executed, and hugged and kissed Perchik as if he were his own son. The king began to marry his daughter Perchika, but the young man thanked the king and said that he did not need any reward - just let him raise him to the upper world. The Tsar was amazed, looked at Perchik and said to him:
“Ask me anything, but it’s not in my power!”
But Perchik said that he did not want anything else. Then the king thought and said:
“A two-hour walk from here lives a huge bird, the size of a dragon: every year it hatches two chicks - tiny ones, like buffaloes, but the bird has never managed to feed its children. Some devil is destroying them, but who and how - the bird itself does not know. Go, save the bird's offspring; and if she doesn’t carry you to the upper world, then no one will. Hurry up. And as soon as you agree with the bird, return to me, I will give you everything that it demands.
Perchik threw his club over his shoulder and set off. So he comes to an immense willow, and on the willow hangs a nest, the size of two large threshing floors; There are two chicks in the nest, like two buffalos. Their mother flew away somewhere, and the chicks were left alone. The chicks saw Perchik, squealed as if something had pricked them, and rushed to the other edge of the nest. The willow swayed, the chicks flew to Perchik. He looked around: what a miracle - a huge dragon arched its head, another minute - and it will devour the chicks. The dragon opened one mouth - it couldn’t swallow it, opened the second - again it couldn’t capture the chicks. Then the dragon stretched out its third head, opened its mouth - the willow, the chicks, and the brave young man were about to disappear into it. But Perchik thrust his club into the dragon’s jaw, pulled out a saber and cut off all three heads of the monster. Blood poured out of the dragon like a river, the sky frowned. But the chicks covered Pepper with their wings. And then the bird returned. The bird flew up to its nest and chirped, calling its chicks, but the chicks did not move. The mother chirped a second time and a third time - the chicks fluttered up to her call. The bird saw Pepper and exclaimed:
- Hey, fox, she finally got there! So this is who is strangling my chicks!
Here the chicks told their mother everything that happened. The bird was happy and said to Perchik:
- You saved my children! Now ask me for any reward!
Pepper answered the bird that he had one cherished desire - to get out into the upper light. The bird looked at him with curiosity and said:
“Perhaps I would have tried to lift you into the upper light, but I would never do anything with your club!”
- And I can’t take a single step without a club! - Perchik objected.
Then the bird said:
- Feed me for forty days until I'm fed up. Bring a ram every day - in total, I will need forty rams. Yes, prepare forty sheep, forty cakes and forty waterskins with water for the journey. First, load your club onto my back, then sit down yourself, and with God’s help we will set off on our way. During the flight, watch me: when I turn my head to the right, feed me a lamb and a cake, when I turn my head to the left, give me water from a wineskin. If you manage to collect as many supplies as I said, maybe you and I will get out to the upper light.
Perchik promised the bird to get everything she said, immediately returned to the king and told him what he had agreed on with the bird. The Tsar gave Perchik forty sheep, and the young man went to fatten the bird. At the end of the fortieth day, Perchik received from the king another forty rams, forty flat cakes and forty wineskins of water. He loaded all the supplies onto the bird, put the club on top, jumped on its back, and the bird took off. When the bird wraps its head over its right shoulder, Perchik gives it a lamb and a flatbread; when it wraps it over its left shoulder, it gives it a wineskin of water. Little by little he fed her everything - a little more, and they would find themselves in the upper light. The bird looked back for the last time, and Perchik had run out of all his supplies, so he grabbed a piece from his thigh and handed it to the bird. She squeezed that piece in her beak, guessed that what she had received from Perchik was not ordinary meat, and did not eat it, but put it under her tongue. Then she rushed with all her strength and flew up.
Perchik realized that there was an overhead light in front of them, and how happy he was! The bird sat down on the ground, but Perchik could not stand up because he had cut off a large piece from his thigh. He lay there for seven days, and the bird rested next to him. Then the bird says to him:
“The time has come for us to part, but before you say goodbye, please write to our king firman that I delivered you safe and sound to the upper world.” I don’t dare show myself to the king without a firman.
Pepper gave the bird a letter. And she told him to go home.
“I’m so tired that I can’t get to my feet!” - Perchik answered.
Bird and let's find out what he fed it last time. Perchik made excuses this way and that, and then admitted what he had done.
“So that’s why you can’t get to your feet!” - the bird exclaimed, spat out the piece of meat that it was holding under its tongue, and stuck it to the young man’s thigh. At that same moment, Pepper, like a deer, jumped up on quick legs, said goodbye to the bird and walked through the forests to the castle of the giants. As soon as the giants saw Perchik, they rushed to meet him and, as one, they all fell to the ground dead.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru