Once upon a time there lived in Boulogne an old retired pilot with his wife and little son. He received a small pension and therefore got himself a boat, in which he went fishing every day. He had a son, about seven or eight years old, who often asked his father to take him to sea, but the old sailor, fearing for his only child, did not give consent. The boy, eager to ride on the sea, somehow hid between the rigging and sails, and when the boat set sail, he jumped out and shouted cheerfully:
- So, father, I went fishing with you!
When the boat approached the place where the fish were found, the pilot saw a ship with a raised flag, which meant a request to bring the ship into the port. The boat headed towards the ship, and when it approached it, the sailors of the ship's crew asked the fisherman if he was the pilot.
“I used to be a pilot and, even though I’m retired now, I can still bring you into the port.”
He and his son were accepted on board. The ship was coming from the kingdom of Natz and, by order of the king of this country, was supposed to bring a French boy to raise him in a foreign land and then marry him to the royal daughter.
When the royal envoys saw the pilot's son, they liked the strong-looking, healthy and intelligent boy so much that they said:
- This is exactly what we need. There is no point in going any further.
Having fed and watered the pilot, they said that he could return to his boat, since they no longer needed him.
The pilot got into the boat and began to call his son, but he was told that the boy would remain on the boat, and the ship left with full sail, leaving the father, who had lost his only son, in complete despair.
...The ship arrived in the capital of the kingdom of Nat. He saluted the city with twenty-one cannon shots, and the city responded with a similar volley. The child was brought to court, and the king really liked the little Frenchman. He ordered the nice boy to be raised as if he were his own son. When he turned eighteen, the king married him to his daughter, his age.
Living in contentment and wealth, the pilot’s son often remembered his parents:
“They weren’t rich when I left them.” I would like to see them and provide for them in their old age!
He told his wife about his desire, she found it quite natural and wanted to accompany her husband. In the kingdom of Nat, women and girls wear a veil, and the husband has the right to see his wife's face only after she becomes a mother. When the princess's husband asked his father-in-law for permission to travel to Boulogne, the king, before agreeing, made his son-in-law swear that he would not try to look at his wife's face during the trip. And if he finds out that his son-in-law, to his grief, broke his oath, he will severely punish him.
The princess and her husband boarded the ship and soon arrived at Boulogne. The ship saluted the city with twenty-one cannon shots, and the customs guards, having been on board the ship, reported to the authorities that the prince and princess of Nats had come to France to have fun. The guests got off the ship, got into a silver boat and disembarked. There they saw the prefect, the mayor and other authorities, who came to meet them and hospitably offer them the most beautiful chambers in the city.
The princess's husband, surrounded by a magnificent retinue, saw an old man in a patched sailor's blouse at a rickety fence and recognized his father. Having left his noble companions, he approached the old man and asked how he was doing. The pilot was very surprised that a gentleman dressed in silk and covered in jewelry inquired about the health of such a poor man as he.
-You don't recognize me? - asked the prince.
“No, sir,” answered the old man.
“I am your son, who was once taken overseas by a ship from the kingdom of Nat.” I am married to the princess of that country. How is my mother doing?
“She’s at home, very old, very grieving.”
- Take comfort, my father, I came to provide for you in your old age.
Returning to the dignitaries, the princess's husband told them that he would live with the old pilot, and stayed with his father for three weeks.
One day his mother told him:
“My son, I must admit that one thing extremely surprises me. No one has ever seen your wife's face.
“It’s customary in that country: a husband sees his wife’s face only after she becomes a mother.” Before leaving, I swore to my father-in-law to respect this custom.
“If I were you,” the mother answered, “I would still want to know who was given to me as a wife—a beauty or a freak.” If you handle the matter smartly, your father-in-law won't know anything.
The pilot's son told his wife everything that his mother had told him.
“Okay,” she said, “but I’m afraid that my father might find out about this.” After all, he is friends with all the wizards of our country. Then he will demote you and punish you severely.
The princess took off the veil, but when her husband brought the lamp to her face to get a better look at it, a spark fell and burned the young woman’s cheek.
- Ah! - exclaimed the princess. - That's what I was afraid of! We are dead.
The ship left Boulogne and came to Nat. As soon as the prince came ashore, the king asked him:
-Did you violate my order?
- No.
- I will check this, and woe to you if you betrayed your oath.
He called his daughter and told her:
— Did your husband reveal your face?
- No, father. .
- Don't lie. If you tell a lie, I will find out and punish you the same way I punished him.
When she lifted her veil, the king did not notice anything at first. But looking closer, he saw the burn and became terribly angry:
- Worthless! Get out of my sight and never show your face again.
He sent his servants for wizards, fairies and sorcerers and, when they appeared, he ordered them to turn his son-in-law into such a monster as the world had never seen.
One of the sorcerers said:
- Let him be blind in one eye and cross-eyed in the other.
“Let his mouth stretch to his ears,” another ordered.
- Let him grow a hump behind and in front.
“Let his nose become like no one else in the world has ever had.”
“I’ll put his head back to front.”
“Let him go lame, with one leg turned outward and the other inward.”
As the wizards uttered their spells, the transformation was accomplished, and when they had finished, the poor youth became such an ugly creature as had never been before. The king's revenge did not stop there - he ordered the soldiers to drive his son-in-law out of the city as a simple tramp.
Having become a cripple, the poor son of the pilot moved with great difficulty.
He wandered for a long time; Finally he approached a small house and, seeing an old woman sitting at the threshold, greeted her. It was an old fairy whom the king forgot to call when he decided to punish his son-in-law.
“Aren’t you the king’s son-in-law?”
- Alas, it’s me.
- They decorated you nicely! But luckily I still have the key to my closet.
She went there, brought a wand and said:
“I learned about your misadventures from a neighbor who came to me this morning for a light, and I decided to mitigate your ugliness at least a little if I met you.”
She touched him with her wand, and he became sighted in both eyes, his nose and mouth shrunk by half, only one of his two humps remained, his head was no longer turned backwards, but only sideways, and he stopped limping.
The fairy passed through him a note to her neighbor asking her to make the royal son-in-law even more beautiful than he was before. The pilot's son thanked the old fairy with all his heart and left her no longer as sad as he had come.
Entering his neighbor's house, he handed her a note and said:
- Good afternoon, Madame Margot.
- Oh, you are the king's son-in-law! I will finish what my godmother started.
She took her wand and wished that the pilot's son would turn into a slender, handsome young man, and this immediately came true. Then she told him:
- Don't be discouraged. Of course you want to return home? Here is a ball for you, it will roll in front of you and indicate the path you need to follow. I give you two more spears. With one you will kill anyone who wants to take you prisoner, with the other you will defend yourself from wild animals.
The fairy gave him bread and meat and warned him of all the dangers that awaited him on the way.
He thanked the fairy and, following the ball, came into the forest. He walked through the forest for about an hour and suddenly saw a lion on the road. At a distance lay a bear, and behind him a leopard. The ball rolled over the sleeping animals, they woke up and growled. The pilot's son gave one half of the bread to the lion, the other to the bear, and he threw meat to the leopard, and the animals let him pass.
The kind woman Margot told him that in the evening he would see a brightly lit castle in the middle of the forest. The stove will be lit there, the table will be set, and there won’t be a soul around.
The ball rolled into the yard, jumped onto the porch, and the door opened by itself. The pilot's son followed the ball in and, when warmed up, sat down at the table. An invisible hand placed food and drink in front of him. Then he went to sleep on a soft bed, and when he woke up in the morning, he saw breakfast prepared on the table. After eating, he was about to leave, when suddenly several girls in white dresses appeared and blocked his way.
- Would you like to dance with me? - said the first one.
“No,” he answered decisively.
“Dance with me a little,” asked the second one.
-No.
- Would you like to dance? - asked the third.
“No,” he answered quietly.
As she was leaving, the third girl dropped a glass slipper on the stairs. The pilot's son picked it up, and the girl, turning around, said to him:
“When you need me, take this shoe and say: “Appear to me, fair maiden,” and I will always serve you.
He set off after the ball and suddenly saw three huge ghosts on the road.
“Where are you going, you insignificant earthworm, the dust of my feet?” - the largest of them shouted in a terrible voice.
The pilot's son took the shoe and said:
- Appear to me, beautiful maiden.
- What can I do for you?
“Let these monsters crumble into dust, let the wind scatter them.”
In an instant his wish was fulfilled, and he moved on. He walked for a long time and finally came to Boulogne. He lived there with his parents and more than once reproached his mother for giving him bad advice, which caused him so much grief.
Since on his first visit he left his parents a considerable sum of money, he now bought himself a ship; then he called a beautiful maiden.
“Beautiful maiden,” he said, “I would like to take revenge on my father-in-law, who treated me so cruelly.” How to do this?
“Take twenty-nine sailors with you and boldly set off.” I'll take care of the rest.
Approaching the capital of the kingdom of Nad, the ship saluted with twenty-one cannon shots, and all the highest authorities of the port came to inquire what this ship wanted.
“I want to take the city,” said the pilot’s son. These words were conveyed to the king, but he laughed in response and said to his officers:
- Ask him when he would rather sink - today or tomorrow?
“Tomorrow I will take my place,” answered the pilot’s son.
- Who are you?
The king, very angry, ordered the ship to be sunk and called together many soldiers for this purpose. But every time the soldiers wanted to fire a volley, they began to sneeze desperately and could not take aim. The pilot's son passed unharmed through the ranks of the army and, approaching the king, stabbed him with a spear.
Then he found his wife, and in joy they threw a feast for the whole world. There were barrels of wine at all the intersections, and roasted wild boars were running through the streets with pepper and salt in their ears, with mustard under their tails and with forks stuck in their sides. Everyone could cut off a piece for themselves.
I was told to make the sauce, but I foolishly tasted too much and was sent away. I went to Gue-dik, and that’s the whole story.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru