Once upon a time there lived a widow who cultivated a piece of land, and it was not her own, but someone else’s, and raised two sons. And now the time has come to send their sons to seek happiness around the world.
One day, the mother told her eldest son to take a jug and bring water from the source: she wanted to knead the dough to bake a pie for her son on the road. The pie could turn out big or small, depending on how much water the son brought. And besides this pie, she had nothing to give him with her.
The young man went with a jug to the well and drew water. But the jug turned out to be cracked, and almost all the water leaked out before he returned home. So the pie turned out to be quite small.
In parting, the mother asked her son:
- Maybe you can take only half of the pie? Then you will receive my blessing in addition. And if you take a whole one, I will curse you.
The son thought that he would have to walk far, and where and how to get food was unknown, and replied that he wanted to get a whole pie. Even with a mother’s curse in addition, whatever happens. And his mother gave him a whole pie and cursed him.
Then he called his younger brother aside, gave him his knife and asked him to keep it.
“Look at him every morning,” he instructed his brother. “If the blade is clean, it means I’m alive and well.” And if it tarnishes and rusts, you know I'm in trouble.
And so the elder brother went around the world to seek happiness. He walked all day and another day, and at the end of the third day he saw a shepherd tending a flock of sheep. The young man approached the shepherd and asked whose sheep these were. The shepherd replied:
“Where are you from, young man, that you don’t know who the owner of these lands is?” - And told him:
Bloody, terrible Ettin,
Ettin from Ireland
Took him to the north
Daughter of the King of Scotland.
Doesn't let her play or sing,
For laughter he hits you with a tailed whip.
He threatens her with a sword
She just moves her shoulder.
Like Julius Caesar, he is fearless,
But his three-headed face
Ugly and terrible.
They don't know who the hero is yet
But his time will come,
And Ettin the Bloody
With an unwavering hand
From Irish soil without interference
He will boldly remove it.
And the shepherd also told the young man that soon he would meet such animals as he had never seen in his life - so let him beware of them!
The young man went further and soon saw a herd of terrible two-headed animals with four horns on each head. He was scared to death and ran as fast as he could. And how happy he was when he finally reached the castle on a low hill!
The castle gates were open. The young man rushed into the courtyard, then into the rooms and saw an old woman at the hearth. He asked her if he could spend the night here, because he had been walking for a long time and was very tired.
The old woman replied that he could spend the night, but it was better for him not to stay here - after all, this is the castle of the Red Ettin, a terrible three-headed monster who does not spare anyone who falls into his clutches.
The young man wanted to leave, but he was afraid of the animals that wandered around the castle, and begged the old woman to hide him well and not hand him over to the Red Ettin. “If only I could spend the night somehow,” he thought, “and in the morning, maybe I’ll be able to elude the animals.” But he barely had time to hide in a secluded place when the terrible Ettin returned home. And as soon as he entered, he immediately roared:
I'm not blind, I'm not stupid,
I can smell the British spirit here.
Come out if you are brave,
This is where your end will come.
Ettin immediately found the poor young man and pulled him out of his hiding place. And then he said that he would spare him if he solved three riddles. And then the first head of the monster asked:
-What has no end?
The young man was unable to answer. Then the second head asked:
- The narrower it is, the more dangerous it is. What is this?
But the young man was unable to answer even here. Finally the third head asked:
- The dead carry the living. Guess what it is?
But the young man again did not guess.
Then the Red Ettin grabbed a wooden hammer, hit the young man on the head with it, and he turned into a stone pillar.
And the next morning his younger brother took out a knife, looked at it and was saddened - the whole blade was brown with rust. Then he told his mother that it was time for him to hit the road. His mother asked him to take a jug and go to the well for water to knead the dough and bake a pie for him. And so, when the son was carrying water home, a raven flew over his head and cawed:
- Look at the jug! Water leaks out. The young man was quick-witted, saw that the water was indeed flowing out, picked up a piece of clay and covered up the cracks. He brought home enough water to fill a large pie.
At parting, the mother told her son that if he wanted to receive her blessing in addition, then let him take only half of the pie. And the son decided that it was better to take half, but with his mother’s blessing, than the whole, but with a curse.
The younger brother set off on his journey and had already wandered far when suddenly he met an old woman. She asked him for a piece of pie, and he replied:
- Here, eat to your health! - and broke off a piece for her.
The old woman gave him a magic wand for this and said that the wand would be useful to him if he handled it correctly. This old lady was a fairy. She predicted to the young man everything that would happen to him, and taught him what to do, and then immediately disappeared.
The young man walked and walked until he saw an old man tending sheep, and when he asked him whose sheep they were, he heard the answer:
Bloody, terrible Ettin,
Ettin from Ireland
Took him to the north
Daughter of the King of Scotland.
Doesn't let her play or sing,
For laughter he hits you with a tailed whip.
He threatens her with a sword
She just moves her shoulder.
Like Julius Caesar, he is fearless,
But his three-headed face
Ugly and terrible.
However, the hour struck, and finally
Ettin the Bloody
Luckily for everyone there will be an end.
Hello hero.
How do you defeat the villain?
Own his land!
Finally, the young man approached the place where the horned monsters were grazing. But he did not stop, did not run away, but boldly walked among them - as the good fairy taught him. One animal rushed at the young man with a roar, opening its mouth to devour him. But the young man hit the beast with his magic wand, and at the same moment the monster fell dead at his feet.
And so the young man reached the castle of Red Ettin, knocked on the door, and they let him in. An old woman was sitting by the fire. She told the young man about what happened to his older brother, but the young man was not afraid.
Soon Ettin returned and roared:
I'm not blind, I'm not stupid,
I can smell the British spirit here.
Come out if you are brave,
This is where your end will come.
Ettin saw the young man, ordered him to come closer and said that he would ask him three riddles. The first head of the Red Ettin asked:
-What has no end?
“At the ring,” answered the young man.
Then the second head asked:
- The narrower it is, the more dangerous it is. What is this?
“The bridge,” he answered immediately.
Finally the third head asked:
- The dead carries the living. Guess what it is? And the young man said without hesitation:
- A ship is at sea, and there are people on the ship.
Ettin heard his answers and realized that the end of his power had come. And the young man raised an ax and cut off all three heads of the monster. Then he asked the old woman to show him where the daughter of the King of Scotland was hidden, and the old woman led him to the upper chambers.
She opened one door after another for him, and beauties came out of each room. They were all captives of Red Ettin, and among them was the king's daughter.
Finally, the old woman took the young man into the dungeon, where there was a stone pillar. The young man touched him with his wand, and his brother came to life.
The captives rejoiced and thanked their liberator. The next day, all of them, rejoicing and having fun, went to the king himself, and he married his daughter to his younger brother, and also found a noble bride for the eldest, and the brothers lived happily until the end of their days and did not forget their old mother either.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru