Once upon a time there lived a fisherman. With the money earned from the catch, he could not even feed his large family with polenta. Once he drags nets out of the sea and feels that they are very heavy. He pulled it out forcibly. He looks - a crab, so huge that you can’t take it in with your eyes.
“This is a catch,” the fisherman rejoiced. “Now I can feed my kids polenta!”
He came home and told his wife to put a saucepan on the fire: soon there would be flour for polenta. And he dragged the caught crab to the king’s palace.
“Your Majesty,” he began, “show your mercy, buy this crab from me.” My wife is already boiling water for polenta, but I have no money.
- What do I need your crab for? “Sell it to someone else,” the king replied.
But then the princess entered. - Oh, what a beautiful, what a wondrous crab! Daddy, dear, buy a crab, buy it, please! We'll let him into the pool along with the mullets and goldfish!
The princess loved fish very much. She sat for hours by the pool in the garden, still watching the mullets and goldfish swim. And the king, who doted on his daughter, of course fulfilled her request.
The fisherman put the crab into the fish pool and received a purse of gold. Now he could feed his children polenta for a whole month.
The princess loved to look at the crab and did not leave the pool for a long time. She already knew all his habits and noticed that at exactly noon he disappeared somewhere for three hours. And then one day, when she was sitting by the pool and admiring her crab, a bell rang. The princess went out onto the balcony and saw a beggar asking for alms. She threw him a purse of gold, but the beggar was unable to catch it, and the purse fell into a deep ditch filled with water.
The beggar went down into the ditch in the hope of finding a wallet, dived and swam under the water. An underground channel led from the moat to the pool and went even further, and where is unknown. Continuing to swim underwater, the beggar found himself in a beautiful body of water, in the middle of a large underground hall, decorated with magnificent carpets. The table was set in the hall. The beggar got out of the water and hid behind the carpet. At exactly noon, a mermaid appeared from the water on the back of a huge crab. The mermaid touched the crab with her magic wand. At the same moment, a handsome young man emerged from the crab shell. He sat down at the table, and the mermaid touched the table with her magic wand, and immediately the dishes were filled with all kinds of dishes, and the bottles with wine. Having finished his meal, the young man again entered the crab shell; the mermaid touched him with her magic wand, sat on the crab’s back, and they both disappeared under the water.
The beggar came out from behind the carpet and also dived into the pond, swam under the water and found himself in the princess’s pool. At this time she admired her fish. The royal daughter saw the beggar and was terribly surprised. -What do you want here?
“Hush, princess, I’ll tell you an amazing story.” He climbed out to the edge of the pool and told everything as it happened.
“Now I know where exactly at noon my crab goes for three hours,” said the princess. “Okay, tomorrow at noon we will go there together.”
The next day, through an underground canal, she and the beggar reached the hall with the pond and hid behind the carpet. At exactly noon a mermaid appeared on a crab. She touched the crab shell with her magic wand, a beautiful young man appeared and immediately headed to the table. The princess had been admiring the crab in her pool for a long time, but as soon as she saw the young man who came out of the shell, she immediately fell in love. She crept up to the shell and quietly climbed into it.
When the young man returned to the shell, he saw the princess there.
-What did you do? – he whispered. “If the mermaid finds out about this, we’re both dead.”
“I want to free you from evil spells,” the princess whispered in response. “Tell me how to help you!”
“It’s unlikely that you can help me with anything.” Only a girl who loves me more than life will save me from evil spells.
“I’m ready for anything,” said the princess. While this conversation was going on inside the shell, the mermaid sat on the crab, and he, moving his paws, carried her through an underground channel into the open sea. The mermaid had no idea that the king’s daughter was also hidden in the shell. The mermaid swam away into the sea, and the princess and the young man were left alone. Hugging tightly, they set off on their way back. On the way, the prince - and this was a real prince - told his beloved how to free him.
- Find a large rock on the seashore, stand on it and sing and play the violin there until a mermaid appears in the waves - she loves music. She will come out of the water and say: “Play, beauty, I feel so good!” .And you answer: “Okay, I’ll play, and you give me the flower that is in your hair.” When this flower falls into your hands, I will be free: in it is my salvation.
The crab returned to the pool and released the princess.
The beggar also returned from the underground hall to the pool and, not finding the princess, decided that she was in trouble. But then the king’s daughter came out of the pool, thanked the beggar and rewarded him generously. Then she went to her father and said that she wanted to study music and singing. The king never denied his daughter any of her wishes. He immediately ordered to call the best singers and musicians.
The princess learned to sing and play and said to the king:
– I want to go to the sea and, standing on a large rock, play the violin.
- On a cliff, on the seashore? “Are you crazy,” exclaimed the king. But, as always, he fulfilled her wish. Together with her, he sent eight maids in white robes, and after them, in case of unexpected danger, a detachment of warriors and ordered them not to take their eyes off the princess.
The princess stood on a large rock, and her eight ladies-in-waiting stood on eight rocks around her.
As soon as the sounds of the violin were heard, a mermaid appeared in the waves.
– What amazing music! Play, play, I feel so good!
- I will play, but give me the flower that is in your hair. More than anything in the world I love flowers!
“If you get this flower from where I throw it, it’s yours.”
“I’ll get it,” said the princess and began to sing and play again. She finished and said to the mermaid: “Now give me the flower.”
“Hold it,” said the mermaid and threw it far into the sea.
The princess threw herself into the water and swam towards the waves, to where the beautiful flower was swaying.
- Princess! Princess! Help! - All eight ladies-in-waiting shouted, standing on the rocks. The wind blew their white robes. But the princess swam and swam: she either disappeared or reappeared among the waves. And when the strength began to leave her, a wave came and brought the flower straight into her hands. A voice came from under the water:
-You saved me. Now you will become my wife. Don't be afraid of anything, I will help you, now we will go ashore. But not a word to anyone, not even my own father. Today I will please my parents, and tomorrow I will ask the king for your hand.
- Yes, yes, of course! – that’s all the princess said, catching her breath. And the crab swam with her to the shore.
At home, the princess only told the king that she had a lot of fun, and not a word more.
And the next day, at exactly three o’clock, the clatter of hooves, the sounds of trumpets and the roar of drums were heard in front of the royal palace. An envoy from another state announced that the son of their king was asking to receive him.
The prince asked the king for his daughter's hand in marriage, and then told everything as it happened. The king was at first angry that everything was hidden from him, but then he ordered his daughter to be called. The princess threw herself into the prince's arms.
- My beloved husband!
And the king realized that there was nothing else left to do but to have a wedding.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru