Once upon a time there lived one powerful padishah, formidable and unsociable. He was always gloomy and silent, and the only creature he loved was his son, Prince Boborakhim.
When Boborakhim grew up, the padishah began to initiate him into his state affairs and showed him all his wealth. The padishah took his son to his treasury, where there were chests with gold, silver and various jewelry. He led him through the rooms where magnificent carpets, the finest colored silks, rare furs, precious jugs and bowls were collected. Padishah Boborakhim walked through the entire palace, but did not show his son one room, and walked past a locked door. Boborakhim was surprised, but did not dare ask his father. However, from then on he kept thinking about what could be hidden in that room.
The young man was sure that his father had some secret that he did not want to reveal to anyone.
Curiosity tormented Boborakhim, and finally he decided to enter this room secretly from his father.
One day, after a big hunt, the padishah fell fast asleep. Boborakhim took the key to the secret room from his pocket, unlocked it and entered. It was a very small room, all upholstered and covered with carpets, and on the wall hung a large portrait of an extraordinary beauty: her face was like the reflection of the moon in calm water, her black eyes shone like stars, and her black braids were so long that they wrapped around her several times. The beauty from the portrait looked as if alive, and, struck by her beauty, Boborakhim fainted.
Waking up some time later, he left the room, locked it and put the key in its original place.
From then on, the young man became unrecognizable: his childish carelessness, playfulness and fun disappeared, he became silent and withdrawn, was not interested in anything, lost sleep and grew thinner and paler every day.
The father soon noticed a change in his son and suspected that he had entered the forbidden room. The padishah called Boborahim to him and asked:
“Admit it, did you enter a room that I didn’t want to show you?” - Yes, father, curiosity pushed me to go against your wishes!
- Oh, what have you done, unfortunate one! - exclaimed the padishah. - What will happen to you now?
- Father, the beauty stands before my eyes day and night. If you love me, tell me who she is, what her name is, and help me find her,” Boborakhim begged.
— The beauty’s name is Robiya with forty-arshin hair. They say she lives so far away that if it were possible to fly through the air, she would have to fly towards the moon for seven days and seven nights. Her house stands on a hill and is surrounded by high walls, like a fortress. The gates of this fortress are not locked, but they are guarded by tigers, and the house is guarded by a dragon. Robiya does not accept matchmakers; she announced that she will marry the one she chooses. “Don’t think about her, my son, try to forget her,” the padishah told Boborakhim.
But youth lives in hope.
And then one day Boborakhim learned that there was a rumor among the people about the carpenter Sang-sabur, who was planning to make a flying horse. Hearing this, Boborakhim ran to his father.
- Father! You are a powerful ruler, you can do anything! Call carpenters and joiners from all over the country. Promise them great rewards and order them to make a flying horse. I want to fly to Robiya and try my luck.
The padishah could not refuse his beloved son.
He ordered to gather all the carpenters and joiners of his country and announce to them:
— The padishah orders you to make a flying horse within three days. Whoever fulfills the order will receive a large reward from the padishah’s treasury. But if in three days the horse is not ready, you will all be executed.
For two days and two nights, carpenters and joiners thought about how to make a flying horse. But no matter how much they thought, they could not come up with anything. Their wives and children, mourning the fate of their husbands and fathers, scratched their faces and tore out their hair, and sprinkled ashes on their heads. The deadline was expiring, the third day was approaching, and the carpenters were in danger of death.
But on the third night, the young carpenter hero Sangsabur arrived from the most distant village. He said:
“I know how to make a flying horse, but I can’t do it alone.” But what one cannot do alone, we will do everything together.
- Well, do it like that! - said the joiners and carpenters and immediately set to work. There were so many of them that each of them had to do only one part, and by morning the horse was ready.
He was solemnly taken to the padishah, and the padishah ordered Sangsabur to test him.
The wooden horse acted as if it were alive—it not only galloped on the ground, but rose up and flew above the ground.
The padishah was delighted with the horse and said to Boborahim:
- Well, son, now I give you permission to go to Robiya with forty-arshin hair and try your luck.
Boborakhim prepared for the journey. In the evening, when the moon rose, he said goodbye to his father and mounted his horse.
Sangsabur explained to him:
“If you want to go up, turn the horse’s right ear, and if you want to go down to the ground, turn your left ear.”
...High above the clouds towards the moon, a wonderful horse with a fluttering lush mane and a long tail flew across the sky, flying so fast that Boborakhim could not even see which countries he was flying through.
So he flew for six days and six nights. At the end of the seventh day, the horse went a little lower.
As soon as the sun set and the moon rose, Boborahim saw a large city below him. A wide sheaf of rays from the ground stretched to the sky. Finding himself in the radiance of bright rays, Boborakhim seemed like a wonderful vision. The prince thought it was time to go down to the ground, and turned the horse’s left ear. The horse landed on the outskirts of the city. People in the city were still awake and walking in crowds along the streets.
When Boborakhim looked at the sky from the ground, he was very surprised: two moons were shining in the dark sky. One was brighter and the other was paler. Amazed, Boborakhim asked a passerby what this meant.
“Apparently, you’re not from here,” a passer-by said to Boborakhim. “The pale moon is real, and the bright moon is a reflection of the face of the beautiful Robia with forty-arshin hair.” This radiance pours through a hole in the ceiling of her room and is reflected in the sky.
— Where does Robiya live, and how to get to her? - Boborahim asked.
— She lives in a fortress on a hill. But the road to it is guarded by terrible tigers, and at the entrance lies a huge dragon.
- Is it really impossible to see her?! - exclaimed Bsborahim.
“You can see her,” said a passerby. “She herself very often appears among people: she leaves her house in the city and walks through the streets.” That’s why people in our city don’t go to bed for a long time, waiting for Robiya to appear. Where Robiya passes, it becomes as bright as day because of the radiance of her face. Everyone strives for her
meeting, everyone wants to look at her, and the one who sees her becomes light and joyful in his soul. Every young man carries in his heart the dream of catching her gaze at least once, but Robiya never looks directly at anyone. She slowly walks through the city and returns to her house on the hill.
Listening to the talkative townsman, Boborakhim felt terrible hunger. He didn’t want to go to the teahouse with his extraordinary horse, for fear of attracting attention, and decided to turn to his new acquaintance:
- Fulfill my request. Here's a gold one, go to the kebab shop, buy me two dozen kebab sticks and bring them here. To keep the kebab from getting cold, buy a scoop of burning coals.
As soon as the passer-by brought the kebab, Boborakhim mounted his horse, took the scoop with coal and kebab in his left hand, and with the other hand turned the horse’s right ear.
The horse, like a bird, soared upward.
Boborakhim wanted to go down somewhere near the city, eat barbecue there and hide the horse so that no one could see him. And he himself wanted to enter the city on foot.
But as soon as the wooden horse flew up, its lush mane caught fire from the hot coals.
Boborakhim got scared, threw the shovel with coals and shish kebab and turned the horse’s left ear - and the horse immediately descended to the ground. But the mane set the horse’s wooden neck on fire, and in an instant he was completely engulfed in fire.
All this happened so quickly that the townsman who bought a shish kebab for Boborakhim did not have time to go far and saw a burning horse. He immediately returned to help Boborakhim, but nothing could be done. The horse burned to the ground. Seeing this, Boborakhim cried bitterly and could not be consoled for a long time. Then, accompanied by his new acquaintance, he went into the city. In a nearby teahouse, Boborakhim asked for a dish of pilaf and a pot of tea; he ate it himself and treated his companion.
At this time, one moon in the sky went out. The people became agitated and began to fuss. A moment later, one part of the city lit up brightly.
— Robia is coming to town! - exclaimed the townsman. - Look, it’s getting brighter in our direction, that means Robiya is coming here!
Suddenly such a bright light shone that it was painful for the eyes to look at, and Boborakhim saw approaching Robia with forty-arshin hair.
She was exactly like the one in the portrait he had seen in his father's secret room. A bright radiance emanated from her white face, her black eyes shone like stars, her black hair, braided in many braids, descended to the very ground, wrapped around her arms and neck several times and stretched behind her like a silk cloak. Robiya's hot gaze wandered over the faces, as if he was looking for someone and did not find, and could not stop at anyone.
The delighted Boborakhim pushed forward and eagerly looked at the beauty, but Robiya did not hold her gaze on him for a moment and walked past. As soon as Robia left, the city immediately plunged into darkness. The saddened Boborakhim began to go to bed in the teahouse, but for a long time he could not
fall asleep.
“How can Robiya notice me in the crowd when there are so many people around? - he thought. “Now, if I could get into her fortress and see her alone there, then, probably, I would be able to make her love me.” But how can I get to her? After all, my horse is burned.”
Only at dawn he fell asleep and did not wake up the whole day.
So Boborakhim began to live in the city of Robiya. Every evening he wandered the streets, waiting for Robia, and tried in every possible way to attract her attention. But Robiya did not notice him, and not once did her gaze stop on Boborakhim’s face. Boborakhim did not sleep for whole nights, tormented by his failures.
He grew a beard, grew long hair and looked like a madman.
The powerful padishah, Boborakhim's father, waited day and night for his son's return. Three weeks after Boborakhim’s departure, the padishah fell into terrible despondency.
Sangsabur was no less worried about Boborahim than the padishah. He knew: if the horse he invented broke and Boborakhim died, the padishah would take his life.
Without telling anyone, Sangsabur decided to go in search of Boborahim. At night, as soon as the moon rose, he secretly left his city and went towards the moon, where Boborakhim flew.
A few days after Sangsabur’s departure, the padishah’s despondency increased even more, and he said to the Wazirs:
“I order Sangsabur and the carpenters to make a new horse and fly in search of my son.”
When the padishah was informed about the disappearance of Sangsabur, he cried out:
“Send messengers to look for my son and tell them not to return home until they find him or learn something about him!” “The padishah completely lost sleep and sat gloomy all day.
And Sangsabur walked and walked and finally came to the bank of a wide river. Suddenly he heard a plaintive cry, stopped and saw a bird floundering in the water. Sangsabur entered the river, hooked a drowning bird with his bow and pulled it to the shore.
The bird did not fly away.
Sangsabur bent over her to see why she was not flying. It turned out that she was tangled in long black hair.
The hero began to untangle the bird’s wings and wrap the hair around his hand—and the hair was forty arshins long.
- Yes, this is Robiya’s hair with forty arshins of hair - that means I’m on the right track! - Sangsabur exclaimed cheerfully.
The freed bird shook itself, spread its wings and soared into the clouds.
Now Sangsabur confidently walked up the river. Now the sun has already set behind the distant snowy mountain peaks, and the earth is shrouded in darkness. At this time, Sangsabur saw a wide sheaf of rays stretching from the earth to the sky, admired the bright radiance and quickened his pace.
But as soon as he entered the city, the wonderful radiance disappeared in the sky; animated and excited people ran past him and shouted:
- Robia! Robiya is coming!
Suddenly, in the direction where the people were running, it became as light as day, and the amazed Sangsabur saw the beautiful Robia walking in his direction among the parting crowd.
Sangsabur looked with admiration at her radiant face. She smiled so captivatingly that the enchanted hero could not utter a single word.
Having come very close, Robia stopped in front of Sangsabur, looked at him for a long, long time and suddenly turned around and quickly headed back to her fortress.
There has never been a case where Robia, leaving the fortress, did not walk through the streets and leave the city so quickly. Therefore, a rumor spread among the people that Robiya, with forty-arshin hair, suddenly fell ill.
As always, Boborakhim was among the people. He still did not lose hope of attracting Robia's attention and, without taking his eyes off the beauty, he pushed forward.
Now he looked with envy at where Robiya's gaze was directed, and could not refrain from exclamation.
In the dusty, road-weary, but beautiful and powerful hero, Boborakhim recognized Sangsabur.
Having absentmindedly listened to the message about his father, he immediately ordered Sangsabur to figure out how to win the beauty.
Several days passed. The sun set, evening came, but the gates of the fortress did not open, and the beautiful Robiya did not appear in the city. People were worried and sad. Then the oldest respectable residents of the city gathered in council and began to think about what could have happened to the beautiful Robia.
“Maybe she’s tired of looking for a groom and wants grooms to look for her,” the old people said. “We need to send someone to her fortress,” that’s what they decided at the council.
They sent a messenger through the streets of the city, who shouted loudly at all the intersections:
“Which brave man and hero would dare to go to the beautiful Robiya in the fortress?” Who will win her heart?
And a lot of people gathered outside the city. Who wanted to pass by the evil tigers themselves, fight the dragon and enter the fortress; who wanted to look at the brave man who would dare to do this. Boborakhim and Sangsabur also came here.
“Oh, if I had my flying horse now, I would fly on it to Robiya’s fortress and be ahead of everyone,” Boborahim said to Sangsabur.
“But this is impossible to do now,” Saigsabur answered him. “Your flying horse was made by hundreds of craftsmen gathered from all over the country.” Come home and we'll make you another horse.
- And at this time someone will sneak into the fortress and marry Robiya with forty arshin hair? No, I'm not leaving here! - said Boborahim.
Meanwhile, many noble youths of the city were already trying to get into the fortress to Robiya, but the tigers guarding the gates attacked them with fury. Then Sangsabur wound Robiya's forty-arshin hair from his left hand onto his right hand and bravely headed towards the gate.
The tigers, raising their terrible paws, rushed at him. With a sword clutched in his right hand, wrapped in forty arshins of hair, Sangsabur hit the first tiger on the head with force, then the second, and, to the delight of all those gathered, both tigers fell to the ground and fell silent.
The people greeted the brave and dexterous hero with loud shouts.
But suddenly delight and cries of joy gave way to screams of horror: with a hiss and whistle, breathing fire and releasing smoke from its nostrils, a terrible dragon crawled towards Sangsabur. He rose to his full height to fall upon Sangsabur a.
Without thinking twice, the brave hero ran towards the dragon and plunged his sword into his belly.
The dragon fell to the ground dead, and the fire in its mouth went out.
The path to Robia was open, and people poured in crowds into the gates of the fortress.
In the farthest room, the beautiful Robiya with forty-arshin hair sat with her eyes downcast and was silent. Women asked her if she was sick, but she did not answer a word and did not raise her eyes.
Then the women began to persuade her to show herself to the people.
“Go out, beauty, onto the terrace, sit higher on silk blankets and pillows and let everyone who wants to see you pass in front of you.”
The beautiful Robiya went out onto the terrace of the palace and sat high on seven layers of blankets. Forty-arsh braids covered her from head to toe and, hanging down from the terrace, reached the ground.
So old people, young men and children began to pass in front of Robiya, and everyone admired her and greeted her.
Pushing everyone aside, the handsome, richly dressed Boborakhim, the son of the padishah, quickly walked towards Robiya. As he approached, he did not take his eyes off her and waited for her to look at him and choose him as her husband.
But Robiya did not look up.
Only Sangsabur was in no hurry to see the beauty - he first went to the hauz and washed himself after the hot battle. He was one of the last to approach Robiya.
But as soon as Sangsabur approached the terrace, where Robiya with forty-arshin hair was sitting, everyone saw: the beauty raised her head, became pink as the dawn, and her eyes opened wide at the sight of the hero. She threw back her forty-arshin hair, stood up and, bowing to Sangsabur, said:
- Greetings, glorious hero!
So the people learned that Robiya with forty-arshin hair chose Sangsabur as her husband, who was a skilled craftsman - and made a flying horse, was a kind man - and saved a bird drowning in the river, was a strong, brave hero - and fought with tigers and a dragon.
And in the whole world there was no happier person than Sangsabur, because when he saw Robiya on the city street in the evening, he fell in love with the beauty at first sight, but did not even dare to admit this love to himself.
The people arranged a rich wedding for Robiya with forty-arshin hair and the smart hero Sangsabur. The sad Boborakhim was also at the wedding, who had only one hope left: that Sangsabur would build him a new flying horse and help him return to his father.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru