I'll tell you a fairy tale about Grandfather Pavel's priceless stone. Grandfather Pavel was a shepherd. He had a shed in the Balkan mountains, and at night he drove a dozen sheep into this shed. He had a hut with a tiled roof, and a kitten, and a puppy. But the poor mountaineer didn’t even have a smokehouse to light his closet when it got dark.
One day Grandfather Pavel was wandering behind his flock along the edge of the forest and suddenly he heard a squeak - no matter what, someone was whistling, so pitifully! Grandfather Pavel went into the forest, looked around and saw: trees were burning, branches were cracking, and under one charred stump a motley lizard was writhing in the flames and screaming in a thin voice. The lizard saw the old man and began to ask him:
- Shepherd, my brother, rescue me from the fire!
“I would help you,” answers grandfather Pavel, “but I’m afraid to stick my nose into the fire—my legs will burn.”
- So give me your staff - I’ll grab it, and you’ll pull me out.
Grandfather Pavel handed the lizard his long shepherd's staff, and it wrapped itself around him like bindweed, and the old man pulled it out of the fire. She recovered a little and said:
- Now I want to thank you. Follow me.
- What will you give me? - asks grandfather Pavel.
“I am the daughter of the king of lizards,” the lizard answers. “My father, the lizard, lives in a deep dark cave.” He has a crown on his head, and in that crown there are nine priceless stones, and they shine like nine suns. I will give you one such pebble.
And so the lizard ran across the grass towards the river, and the old man trudged after it. They walked and walked and reached a cave.
“You stay here at the entrance, and I’ll go get the pebble,” says the lizard.
Grandfather Pavel sat down on the ground. It was getting dark. While the lizard was running after a pebble, it became completely dark. And finally she runs back with a priceless pebble in her mouth. Before the lizard had time to jump out of the cave, the entire clearing around began to shine. The birds on the nearby trees flapped their wings, chirped - they thought, the dawn had broken, the sun was rising.
“Take the pebble,” says the lizard, “and go home.” When you come, hit the ground three times with a pebble and say: “Stand so and so in front of me!” Whatever you want, you will get.
Grandfather Pavel took a light pebble, examined it - and the pebble was no larger than a hazelnut - put it in a bag and hobbled home. Here he is driving his flock, and the puppy and kitten are already sitting on the threshold, waiting. The old man drove the sheep into a shed, and he himself entered the hut and took out a pebble. And his pebble sparkled so much that the whole hut lit up. The puppy and kitten even covered their eyes with their paws - they were afraid they would go blind.
Grandfather Pavel had dinner and said:
- Why should I ask the pebble for anything else? Yes, I already have everything - a hut, and sheep, and cheese, and now I even have dinner with lights on!
Grandfather Pavel went to bed. He lies and lies, unable to sleep. And he began to think and ponder: “And why, really, haven’t I tested the pebble? I need to ask him for something. What should I ask? What should I ask?.. Yeah, I’ll ask for the white stone palace.”
The old man got out of bed, went to the shelf, and the pebble lay on it, shining. Grandfather Pavel took a pebble, hit it three times on the ground and said:
- Stand in front of me, white stone palace!
Before he had time to say this, his hut moved and disappeared somewhere, and in its place a marvelous white-stone palace appeared. The walls in the chambers were mirrored, the dishes were made of pure gold, and the tables and chairs were made of ivory. The old man marveled, walked through the upper rooms, examined everything and lay down on a soft down feather bed, and hid the pebble in his bosom.
And what do you think! That very evening, the shepherd’s neighbor, Ivan, comes to visit him and says:
- I came to see if you were alive and well. Let's poop, otherwise I can't sleep now... Hey, what kind of miracle is this? I can't believe my eyes! Who built such a palace for you?
— I built a pebble.
- What pebble? Come on, show it to me.
Grandfather Pavel put his hand in his bosom, took out a pebble and gave it to his neighbor. Ivan examined the pebble:
“How did it happen that such a small pebble built you a whole palace?”
Grandfather Pavel told how it happened and put the pebble in his bosom. The neighbors talked and talked and began to yawn.
“Stay overnight in my chambers, Ivan,” grandfather Pavel invited his neighbor.
-Where should I go?
- Lie down next to me on this feather bed.
Ivan lay down next to the old man and began to wait for him to fall asleep. As soon as grandfather Pavel fell asleep, Ivan put his hand in his bosom, grabbed a pebble, knocked it three times on the ground and said:
“Stand in front of me, four heroes, lift up the palace and take it across the Danube.”
Before he had time to utter these words, four heroes appeared, lifted the palace and carried it away. Ivan went after them with a pebble, but grandfather Pavel stayed behind. The next morning he woke up, looked around - and what did he see? There is no palace, no priceless stone. There is a dilapidated hut with a tiled roof, and in it there is a puppy and a kitten. The old man cried bitter tears. The sheep felt sorry for him and began to bleat. The kitten began to spin, and the puppy became sad. So the kitten says to the puppy:
- Let's go to the other bank of the Danube for Grandfather's pebble.
“Come on,” says the puppy.
We hit the road. They walked and walked and walked across the entire Danube Plain, reaching the wide, quiet Danube River.
“I can swim,” says the puppy, “but you can’t.” Sit on my back, I'll take you to the other side.
The kitten sat on his friend’s back, and they swam to the other side of the Danube. We walked a little more and reached the palace. They waited in the garden until it got dark and climbed into the open window. And then they see: Ivan is sleeping on a feather bed, and he has hidden a pebble in his mouth, under his tongue.
“How do we get the pebble out of his mouth?” - says the puppy.
“I’ll tell you now,” the kitten answers. “I’ll put my tail in the pepper shaker and tickle Ivan’s nose.” Ivan sneezes and a pebble falls out of his mouth.
As the kitten said, so I did. He put his tail in the pepper shaker, tickled Ivan’s nose, Ivan sneezed, and the pebble fell out of his mouth. The kitten grabbed a pebble and ran away. And the puppy is behind him. They ran and ran and reached the Danube. The kitten sat astride the puppy, and it swam. He swam to the middle of the river and said:
- This is a strange pebble! Let me look at him!
“Now you can’t,” says the kitten, “you’ll drop it into the water.” Let's go ashore, then you'll see.
“Come on now,” the puppy growled, “or else I’ll throw you off my back.” If you fall into the water, you will drown.
The kitten got scared and said:
- Hold it!
The puppy stretched out his paw for the pebble, but couldn’t hold it: the pebble sank into the water. The animals crawled out onto the shore and began to cry.
A fisherman with a fishing rod rode past and began asking them:
- Why are you crying?
“We’re hungry,” answered the kitten.
The fisherman threw his fishing rod into the water, pulled out a large fish and threw it to the puppy and kitten.
“Nate,” he says, “don’t cry anymore!”
The kitten and puppy took the fish to the willow tree and began to snack. And what do you think they found in her belly? We found a pebble. And it happened like this: the fish stood in the water with its mouth open. The pebble fell into the water, and she swallowed it.
The animals were so happy! They set off to run across the Danube Plain, ran across it, and reached the sheepfold of grandfather Pavel. They see an old man lying on the ground and crying. The animals rolled the pebble right up to the owner's head. And suddenly the light of a pebble caught the old man’s eyes. Grandfather Pavel grabbed a pebble, hit it three times on the ground and shouted:
- Stand in front of me, Ivan, and not just like that, but in a bag!
Before he had time to say this, a bag appeared, and Ivan was in it. Then Grandfather Pavel took his staff and started hitting the bag. He punched the thief, untied the bag, and drove Ivan away. Then he put the pebble in the bag and said:
“I don’t need any palace, Ivan will steal it anyway.” I know his habits!
And grandfather Pavel wandered after his sheep. From then on, every evening he put a pebble on the shelf, and it illuminated the hut. And when the old man died, the lizard came running and took away the pebble.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru