It often happens that fishermen in northern Norway, returning home from fishing, find either ears of bread stuck to the rudder or barley grains in the stomach of the fish they caught.
Then they know that their boats passed by the wonderful islands that are sung about in old grandfather's songs. The sun shines brighter there than anywhere else, the meadows there are greener, the fields are more fertile, and the fish in the sea never run out - no matter how much you cast the net, it’s always full.
But not everyone can see these islands. Only to a pure heart and a brave soul in an evil hour, when fierce waves threaten death, these mysterious lands open up. And happy is the one who sets foot on their friendly, sunny shores - he is saved.
Tradition says that there are three such islands in the sea. One island is called Sandfles. It rises from the depths of the sea near Heligoland, and its shores abound in fish and game.
The other island has no name. As if reluctantly he appears in the waters of Westfjord. Its flat surface remains under water, and only the heavy, full ears of water sway above the leaden waves.
The third island - the largest - appears near Røst, south of the Lofoten Islands, and it is called Ut-Røst.
The inhabitants of this fertile land know no need.
Fat herds walk across the vast green pastures of Ut-Røst, the fields are golden with ears of barley, and ships with fishing gear stand at the piers, always ready to set sail.
Old fishermen say that they happened to see unknown ships at sea, rushing towards them under full sail.
It seems that the ship is about to crash into a fishing boat... But at the very last minute the ship suddenly disappeared, like a cloud scattered by the wind.
“It’s Ut-Röst who went fishing,” the fishermen said then.
Many years ago, not far from Røst, there lived a poor fisherman named Matthias.
He had a house full of children, but only a boat and two goats. The boat was old, had been repaired more than once, and the goats were skinny and shabby, because they fed on fish tails and the pathetic grass that they managed to find on the coastal rocks.
Life was difficult for Matthias. His children often ran around hungry. But he was not one of those who complain about fate and hang his head, bowing to failure.
“It’s okay, today the wind is headwind, tomorrow it will be tailwind,” Mattias liked to say when he was unlucky. And he was often unlucky—much more often than he was lucky.
And then one day Matthias went out to sea to fish. It has been a long time since he had such a good catch as this time.
One after another he pulled out the heavy nets.
His boat was almost half full of fish, and he was already rejoicing, counting how much flour and lard he would buy with the money raised from the sale of fish.
He was so busy with his work that he did not notice how a black cloud covered the sky. Suddenly it got dark, a hurricane came and a storm arose that Matthias had never seen in his life.
The boat, heavy with its load, was thrown from side to side. In the end, the poor guy had to throw his entire catch overboard so as not to go down along with his wealth... And yet it was not easy for him to stay on the diverging wave.
But it’s not for nothing that Matthias lived his entire life at sea.
He fought the storm for many hours, deftly turning the boat every time the heavy waves fell on it and the depths of the sea were ready to swallow it.
Time passed, but the storm did not subside and the fog thickened more and more. No matter which way Matthias looked, land was nowhere to be seen. Either he was whirled by a storm, or the wind changed, only he realized that he was being carried into the open sea.
He swam and swam, but he didn’t know where.
And suddenly, amid the roar of the waves and the howling of the wind, somewhere in front of the bow of the boat, the hoarse cry of a raven was heard.
Mattias's heart sank.
“This must be the sea spirit singing a funeral song to me,” thought the fisherman. “Apparently, my last hour has come...”
In his thoughts, he began to say goodbye to his wife and children and prepare for death.
And the croaking was heard very close.
Mattias raised his head. Something black flashed just in front of the side, and he saw three huge ravens on the wreckage of the mast.
But at that time a strong wave picked up his boat and carried him further.
Soon Matthias could no longer fight the storm. Weak hands could not cope with the steering wheel. He was completely exhausted from hunger and thirst. And it ended with him closing his eyes and falling asleep, his head on the steering wheel...
Matthias woke up because it seemed to him as if his boat had touched the shore and was quietly rocking in place.
He shuddered and raised his head.
The clouds have parted. The sun peeked through the breaks in the clouds and illuminated the beautiful earth with its bright rays. The hillsides, covered with velvet meadows and golden fields, descended to the very shore, and the mountains to the very tops were dressed in a green forest outfit.
The air seemed to be saturated with the fragrant smell of grass and flowers, and Matthias inhaled it with his whole chest, as if it were a sweet, life-giving drink.
“Now I’m saved,” thought Matthias. “This is Ut-Röst!”
He pulled the boat onto the sand and walked along the path, which stretched like a barely noticeable thread through the barley field. Matthias looked around in surprise - never in his life had he seen such heavy, full-bodied ears of corn.
The path led him to a low dugout covered with fresh turf. A white goat with golden horns and silk wool grazed on its green roof. And in front of the dugout, on a blackened log, sat a little old man in a blue caftan and smoked a pipe. His beard was so large that it hung almost to his knees.
“Welcome, Matthias, to us on Ut-Röst,” said the old man.
“May happiness never leave this earth, father,” said Matthias. “But do you know me?”
- How can I not know you? Of course, I know,” said the old man. “Maybe you’ll stay with us?”
“With pleasure, father,” Matthias replied.
“And we are always glad to see a good man,” said the old man. “Soon my sons will return.” Have you seen them at sea?
- No, father, I didn’t see anyone at sea except three ravens.
“But these were my sons,” the old man said, chuckling. He knocked out his pipe and stood up. “Well, come in, come in, good man.” “You’re probably hungry, you want something to drink.” And he opened the door of his dugout for Matthias.
Matthias crossed the threshold and froze in place in surprise. In his life he had never seen so much food at once. The table was bursting under the weight of bowls, bowls, pots, jugs. And what they didn’t have! And fried, and boiled, and salted, and smoked, and cottage cheese, and sour cream, and cheese, and pate, and a whole mountain of Bergen bagels, and beer, and honey...
Matthias ate and drank as much as he liked, and still the plate in front of him seemed untouched, and the glass seemed full.
The old owner himself ate little, spoke even less, and kept glancing at the door.
Suddenly there was a noise outside, strong wings flapped and a hoarse croak was heard.
The door opened noisily, and three tall, broad-shouldered guys entered the room - one taller than the other.
“Here they are, my sons,” said the old man proudly.
Mattias felt uneasy when he saw these hefty fellows. He hurried to get up from the table. But the brothers sat him down with them again.
Each of the three brothers ate and drank for three, and nothing was left on the table, as if no one had touched the food or drink.
By the end of dinner, the brothers had become completely friends with Matthias. And when they finally got up from the table, the eldest said to Matthias:
- Well, buddy, go to bed. Tomorrow at dawn we will go fishing and take you with us. Don't return home empty-handed.
The next morning, just before dawn, they went out to sea.
As soon as the boat set sail from the shore, a terrible storm arose.
The eldest brother held the rudder, the middle one held the sail, and the youngest sat on the bow.
Matthias was given a large ladle to scoop out the water. Well, he had to work! The scoop kept flashing in his hands. And if Matthias hadn’t been all wet from the water, he would have been wet from sweat long ago.
The boat was rushing under full sails, and the brothers did not even lower them. And when there was too much water in the boat, the brothers positioned it so that it tilted to one side, and the water flowed down from the stern like a waterfall.
Finally the storm subsided, just as suddenly as it had begun.
The brothers took out their fishing gear and threw it into the sea. And Matthias cast his net.
There were so many fish in these places that the brothers pulled out full nets every now and then, and only Matthias’s net remained empty.
- Why is it that things aren’t going well for you, buddy? - said the older brother and exchanged glances with the younger one. “After all, there are plenty of fish around.”
“There are a lot of fish, but not enough luck,” answered Matthias.
“Maybe your network is bad,” said the middle brother.
And the younger one added:
- Take this one! She's our spare.
Matthias cast a new net, and before it had time to sink into the sea, it had to be pulled out. In his entire life, Matthias had never seen as many fish as he caught now at one time.
When the boat was filled to the brim with fish, the brothers again set the sail and turned the boat towards the shores of their wonderful island.
A fair wind blew, and the boat glided over the waves as easily and quickly as when it was empty.
Returning to the shore, the brothers, together with Matthias, cleaned the fish and hung them on hangers to dry and cure.
And the next day they went to sea again...
And no matter which direction they swam, the wind was always favorable for them, and the fish seemed to be waiting for them to cast their nets.
Matthias spent a whole week on Ut-Röst and finally began to get ready to go home.
The owners did not hold him back.
They gave him all the fish they caught that day, and on top of that they gave him a parting gift of a new eight-oared boat and, in addition to it, a whole bag of flour, a whole piece of thin canvas, a barrel of lard and a lot of other stuff.
Matthias did not know how to thank the old man and his sons.
“I will never forget you and your happy land,” he said, bowing.
“If you don’t forget, you are welcome to come to us again next spring,” said the old man. “You will come with us to sell fish.” It will be dry by the time you arrive.
- How can I find you next time? Today the storm brought me to you.
“And you follow the raven when it flies straight into the open sea, and you’ll find us,” said the old man. “Well, fair wind to you!” Goodbye!
And before Matthias could set off, Ut-Röst disappeared into the fog. All around, wherever you looked, the sea stretched without end and without edge.
A fair wind picked up Matthias's boat and carried it to his native shores.
Matthias lived at home all year without grief or worries.
And in the spring, as soon as the winter storms had passed, he again equipped his boat and went out to sea.
Immediately a raven circled above his sail.
The raven cawed hoarsely three times and flew away, showing Matthias the way to the shores of Ut-Røst... A ship was already standing at the berths of the wonderful island.
Matthias had never seen such a large, rich ship.
It was so large that a human voice could not reach from bow to stern, and therefore a sailor stood in the middle of the ship, who, having heard the navigator’s command, passed it on to the helmsman. And even then both had to scream at the top of their lungs.
The owners of Ut-Røst had already loaded the fish from their catch onto the ship, and now all that remained was to carry Mattias’s share into the hold.
But no matter how much they removed the fish from the hangers on which they were drying, there were no fewer fish on the hangers. There is no loss of anything on Ut-Röst.
Finally the hold was filled to the top, and the ship set sail.
In Bergen, Matthias successfully sold his fish and with the proceeds, on the advice of the old man, he bought a two-masted ship with all the fishing equipment.
“Well, Matthias,” said the owner of Ut-Röstha, saying goodbye to him, “the time has come for us to part.” You won't see us again. But as long as your heart is fearless, as long as it does not know greed, we will stand next to you at the helm, we will support the mast with our shoulders during a storm, together with you we will cast the nets. And happiness will not leave you!
That's how it went from then on.
Whatever business Matthias started, luck never failed him, and misfortune far bypassed his home on land and his ship at sea.
And always, when he steered his sailboat through the choppy sea waves, when he threw in his nets and pulled them out, someone’s invisible hands helped him hold the rudder, set the sails and pull the net.
True, he never again had the chance to see the magical island and its generous owners, but every year, on the very day when the storm brought him to the wonderful shores of Ut-Röst, he decorated the sailboat with multi-colored flags and lit lights in honor of invisible friends.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru