Once upon a time there lived a king, and he had a daughter, as beautiful as a blooming guava - not a girl, but simply a miracle. When any young man had the misfortune of seeing her face, he could not take his eyes off it, and so the princess was nicknamed Heart-Glue. This glue was so strong that a bird stuck in it had no hope of freeing itself.
Two or three hundred kings from different countries asked the princess's father for her hand in marriage, but the father did not want to impose his will on her. He said:
- Let Glue-for-Hearts choose for herself - after all, she is the one to get married, not me. Agree with her yourself; if she says food,” I won’t say no. When a dove is looking for a husband, it is not the blackbird that makes the nest.
Hearing such speeches, Glue-for-Hearts threw herself on her father’s neck, kissed him and said: “What a good father I have!”
The king was very good-natured, and for this he was nicknamed King Pie.
And then one day, when Glue-for-Hearts went for a walk in a carriage, the horses bolted. The coachman tried to stop them, but could not. The river was nearby, another moment - and the carriage would have fallen into it. Glue-for-Hearts was about to jump out of the carriage when she heard someone shout:
- Don't jump, I'll help you!
A young man jumped out of the thickets and rushed to the horses. Standing in front of them, he blocked their path, and the horses stopped.
Then Glue-for-Hearts got out of the carriage and said to the young man:
- Thank you very much, sir, you saved my life. I hope these wayward horses did not harm you?
- What are you talking about, madam! I had the good fortune to prevent them from throwing you into the river, and you ask if they did me harm! These wayward horses brought me good, not evil!
Glue-for-hearts turned red like the side of a lychee fruit turned to the sun, looked at the young man and lowered her eyes.
Meanwhile, the coachman led the carriage with horses back to the middle of the road. I examined the harness, wheels, everything else - everything was intact. Glue-for-hearts got back into the carriage, and the young man got in after her. He told the princess:
“I will never again leave you at the mercy of these horses—how can you rely on such a worthless coachman?” With me you don’t have to be afraid of anything - after all, my name is Prince No-Fear.
Princess Glue-for-Hearts and Prince No-Fear began to talk. They talked and talked and could not stop talking. When they arrived at King Pie's palace, Glue-for-Hearts hugged her father tightly, told her everything that had happened, and added:
“Father, the Prince Without Fear saved my life!” It is thanks to him that you are not crying now over the body of your beloved daughter. How can we thank him, father, for what he did for us?
The king looked at them, and then laughed and said to his daughter:
“Perhaps, my child, I will find a way to thank him, let me try.”
He took his daughter's hand, took the prince's hand, joined them and said:
- Isn't that right, children? Isn't this a good way to settle things? Speak up!
Glue-for-Hearts turned red like a ripe mango, hid her face in her father's chest, and then whispered something to him so quietly that no one could hear. But Prince No-Fear shouted:
- Hip-hip-hurray! How smart you are, father, and how noble!
The wedding day was immediately set. Bez-sgraha hurried everyone. Many seamstresses were put to work - sewing dresses, shirts, negligees, bed linen and other necessary things. Prince No-Fear spent whole days near the craftswomen, never ceasing to hurry them:
- Work, girls, work! Stop basking in the sun - better pick up your needles!
The wedding day has arrived. Glue-for-Hearts didn't sleep well that night and had a headache. Getting up early in the morning, she went up to the roof to get some fresh air. After being there, she decided to go downstairs and go get dressed (they had prepared a luxurious wedding dress for her), when suddenly she heard thunder overhead. She raised her head and saw: from the cloud above her, some huge monster had jumped onto the roof. It grabbed Glue-for-Hearts, stomped its foot, took off like a balloon, entered the cloud from which it had descended, and disappeared into it with its prey. The princess's maid, who was with her on the roof, wanted to scream, but she seemed to lose her tongue from horror.
The maid returned to the palace and told the prince and king what had happened to the princess. There are no words to describe their grief! They began to scream, cry, tear their hair and clothes - but what could they do, how could they help?
Without fear, he climbed a high mountain and began to look from there in all directions to see if a cloud would appear. Two or three times the cloud floated very close, but no matter how hard the prince looked, he could not see what was inside the cloud - it was too dense.
The prince's grief was great. He had only one consolation - hunting, which he loved very much. And then one day, while hunting in a dense forest, he saw several traveler trees and heard some noise behind them. “Maybe it’s a deer?” he thought and began to quietly make his way between the trees. When the traveler's trees were left behind, he saw: a large lion and a huge parrot were fighting over a doe that had just been killed. Without fear, he pulled out a knife, cut the doe into two equal parts and said:
-What are you fighting about? After all, this doe is enough for both of you. I cut it exactly in half, and let each of you take half for yourself.
Satisfied, the lion and parrot said to the prince:
“There was nothing to argue about, you’re right!” And for the fact that you resolved our dispute, we want to give you something. Our gifts will help save Glue-for-Hearts from Lulu, who has imprisoned her in the cloud.
After this, the lion pulled out a hair from his mane, gave it to the prince and said:
- When you want to turn into a big beautiful lion like me, take out this hair and say: “Hair, do your thing!” - and you will immediately turn into a lion. When you want to become a human again, you just need to say: “Volos, do everything as it was!” Did you understand what I said? Try to remember - it's not difficult at all.
Without fear, he warmly thanked the lion, and then the parrot tore a feather from its wing, gave it to the prince and said:
“When you want to become a parrot like me and fly wherever you want, you just need to take this feather and say: “Feather, do your thing!” - and you will turn into a parrot. When you want to become a human again, you just need to say: “Per, do everything as it was!” Look, remember my words!
The prince thanked the parrot, and all three went in different directions.
Returning to the palace, No-Fear hurried to King Pie to tell him about his meeting with the lion and the parrot. The poor old king was lying on the sofa near the open window. For whole days, from early morning until dark, he lay here, looking up at the sky: would the cloud that stole his daughter appear there?
Running into the room, Prince No-Fear exclaimed:
“Now is not the time to grieve, father, I’m going to save the princess!” God finally took pity on us. Write her a letter and I'll take it to her myself!
And he told King Pie in detail about his meeting with the parrot and the lion.
The old man rushed to the table, grabbed pen and paper and wrote: “Oh, my daughter, my dear daughter, what grief has befallen me! It was like a stone fell on my heart. If God hears my prayers, he will let me hug you one more time, I pray for this day and night. This letter will be given to you by the Prince Without Fear. Do everything as he tells you; if not
consider your old father, there is no one who loves you as much as he does.”
Having signed his name below, the king gave the letter to the prince and said:
- Come back soon with good news! After all, you know that if my grief continues any longer, I won’t be able to bear it and will die!
Leaving the unfortunate old man, the Prince Without Fear climbed the mountain and saw a cloud approaching from there. It floated across the sky like a big white ship and, driven by the wind, gradually sailed closer and closer. Prince No-Fear took out a parrot's feather and said to him:
- Pero, do your job!
In an instant, the prince’s body changed, wings appeared in place of his hands, his nose turned into a beak, and his clothes into feathers. Prince No-Fear became a large gray parrot. The cloud was already very close, and he rose and flew towards it. Having reached the cloud, Fearless entered it and saw that inside this cloud was like a real house. There were rooms, corridors, stairs, doors and windows, but all this was not wooden, like in houses on earth, but carved into the cloud itself. Everything was as if made of cotton wool, as light as smoke, and the Prince Without Fear, seeing this, was dumbfounded with amazement.
He entered the hallway - it was empty, there was no one there. There was a ladder in front of him, and Prince No-Fear climbed it. At the top he saw a long, long corridor with many doors, but all the doors were locked. Where's the Glue-for-Hearts? Without fear, he put his ear to one of the doors, listened - nothing was heard, put his ear to the other - not a sound, went to the third - and heard some snoring from there. This was Lulu's room. Lulu's big nose was stuffed up from a runny nose, and that's why he slept with his mouth open. Those who live in the clouds always have a runny nose - ask the residents of Curepipe*, they will confirm.
Without fear, he walked away from the door of Lulu and, trying not to make noise, moved on. Suddenly he stopped: crying and complaints could be heard from behind one door. “No other than a princess!” he thought and, opening the door with his beak, entered. Indeed, there was Glue-for-Hearts in the room.
Seeing the parrot, the princess thought that Lulu had probably sent the bird to her to brighten up her loneliness.
[Curepipe is a highland village in the center of the island of Mauritius]
But could she accept a gift from Lulu? The princess pushed the parrot away and said:
“I hate your master, so will I really love you?” Go away, I want to cry alone!
Then Fearless took out a pen and said to him:
Before he could finish speaking, he turned into a man. Seeing him, Glue-for-Hearts screamed and rushed to hug and kiss him. When they were finally able to speak, No-Fear gave King Pie's letter to the Lord. The princess read it and said:
- Well, of course, I will do whatever you tell me! I myself, without my father’s advice, know that a wife should obey her husband in everything!
Prince No-Fear asked what kind of creature this lulu was who stole her. Glue-for-hearts answered him:
“He looks like a man, but he’s not a man.” His face is not a human face, his eyes are not human eyes, his mouth is not a human mouth, his body is not a human body. I don't know who he is, maybe a spirit? I asked him what his name was, and he said that his name was Body-without-a-soul and I would never escape from him, because no one could kill him. Cut it into small pieces, and then nothing will happen to it, because the pieces will come together again. You can kill him only by knowing where his soul is hidden. His soul is in the egg, the egg is in the dove, the dove is in the red tiger, and the red tiger is in the big white tiger. First you need to kill the white tiger. When he dies, a red tiger will jump out of him and rush at you, already tired. He must be killed too. A dove will fly out of it; this pigeon must be caught and killed, and then the egg must be taken out of it. And to put an end to the Body-without-soul, this egg must be broken on his head, and then he will immediately fall dead. But can a person do all this? . .
“You ask if a person can kill your lulu, but apparently you forgot my name, Glue-for-Hearts, and my name is Prince Without Fear!” Get ready to head back - in less than three days I will return with this egg and make fried eggs on Lulu’s head. So get ready, let's not waste time now, I have to go.
They hugged each other tightly goodbye, and then, turning into a parrot again, the prince descended to the ground.
There he told poor old King Pie everything and went in search of the white tiger.
And this tiger lived in a cave of a huge mountain that stood in the middle of a wide plain. No one dared to pass by this cave - everyone walked far away from this place, fearing to catch the eye of the tiger. The entire ground around the cave was white with the bones of animals eaten by the tiger.
No-Fear turned into a parrot again and flew towards the cave. There he sat down on a tall tambalakok tree that grew in front of her. He quietly came down from the tree, took out the hair that the lion had given him, and said:
- Come on, hair, do your job!
And he turned into a huge, enormous lion - there has never been a second one like this in the country of Mauritius. He roared, and his roar was like thunder - even the mountain shook, and large stones rolled down onto the plain.
The tiger was sleeping in the cave at that time. Hearing a growl, he woke up and ran outside. The lion was waiting for him and, as soon as the tiger appeared, he immediately rushed at him. And they began to fight to the death. Foam fell from the mouths of both, and blood flowed from their wounds, but neither the lion nor the tiger noticed this - they clung to each other so much that it seemed that they were stuck together. Suddenly the tiger squeezed the lion's paw with its jaws. The tiger's head was now down, and the lion, grabbing his scruff, began to shake the tiger's head. The tiger released the lion's paw, and then the lion jumped on his back and, pressing the tiger to the ground, broke his back.
But the poor lion himself was wounded and completely exhausted. He began to lick the wound on his paw and then saw that a red tiger was crawling out from the killed white tiger. Another moment - and the red tiger will rush at him. But the Prince Without Fear was not only brave, but also smart - he immediately turned into a parrot, took off from the ground and sat down to rest on the tambalakok tree. The red tiger, stunned, remained standing under the tree, and the parrot from above shouted to him:
“Wait, I’ll rest a little, and then we’ll see.”
At this time, Lulu in the cloud felt worse than usual and said:
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me—I don’t feel right.”
What about Prince No-Fear? When he felt that his strength had returned, he again turned into a lion and rushed at the red tiger. The red tiger was smaller than the white one - after all, it fit entirely into it - and as soon as the lion hit this tiger with his paw three or four times, the tiger fell down. Leo exclaimed:
- Is this a tiger? This is not a tiger, but a wild cat!
And with the last blow of his paw the lion ripped open the tiger's belly. The red tiger died immediately, and the lion carefully began to delve into its entrails.
Lulu in the cloud had to lie down - he felt really bad.
The lion carefully took out the entrails from the tiger, fearing that he might miss the dove, when the dove suddenly flew out of the tiger’s mouth, soared high and flew. The lion rushed after him along the ground as fast as he could, but how could a four-legged creature keep up with a bird? The dove flew further and further away from him. It seemed that another moment5 and he would completely disappear from sight. But then Fearless again turned into a parrot and began to rise further, to rise higher and higher, like a large snake caught in the wind.
Hearing his approach, the dove exerted its last strength. Ah-wah - the parrot is already above his head!
The parrot jumped on top of the pigeon and grabbed onto it. He pecked once - and the pigeon lost its balance, tried to lie on one wing, then on the other, but could not and fell down like a stone. The parrot cut open the pigeon's belly and took out the egg. Taking the egg in his beak, he flew with it to the mountain and began to wait for the clouds.
Finally it appeared and, driven by the wind, slowly floated towards the mountain. Flapping his wings, the parrot flew towards him. He now knew which side the entrance was on, and immediately entered the princess’s room. Once there, he said:
- Here I am and here is the egg! Follow me - we don't have time to talk!
And he hurried to the room of the Body-without-soul. Lulu lay in bed and breathed rapidly, like a dog that had just chased a hare. The parrot broke the egg on his head - and Lulu's body began to melt, turning into water. The water flowed and rain came from the cloud. The cloud began to melt under their feet. The parrot barely had time to shout to Glue-for-Hearts:
- Grab me by the paws and hold on tight!
The cloud thinned, and the parrot flapped its wings and flew away from it. When they descended the mountain, a light rain was falling - this was all that was left of the cloud.
Fearless said to the pen:
- Come on, pen, do everything as it was!
As soon as the prince became human again, he took the princess into his arms. A lot of time passed before they descended from the mountain.
When King Pie saw his beloved daughter, his joy was boundless. He kissed her endlessly and could not kiss her. Finally, Fearless laughed and said, freeing his wife from the king’s arms:
- Father, you will leave her without cheeks - but these are, after all, my wife’s cheeks!
And they called the cook to order a festive dinner. It’s impossible to count the dishes that were served to them—so many different things that one could die from gluttony.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru