Once upon a time there lived an old man with an old woman. The hour came: the man died. He left behind seven twin sons, which are called the seven Simeons.
So they grow and grow, all one in the same in appearance and stature, and every morning all seven go out to plow the land.
It so happened that the king was driving in that direction: he saw from the road that far away in the field they were plowing the land as if in corvee labor - so many people! - and he knows that there is no lordly land in that direction.
So the king sends his groom to find out what kind of people are plowing, what kind of people and rank, lordly or royal, whether they are servants or hired workers?
The groom comes to them and asks:
- What kind of people are you, what is your family and rank? They answer him:
“And we are such people, our mother gave birth to us, seven Simeons, and we plow our father’s and grandfather’s land.”
The groom returned and told the king everything he had heard. The king is surprised.
- I have never heard such a miracle! - he says and immediately sends to tell the seven Simeons that he is waiting for them in his mansion for services and parcels.
All seven gathered and came to the royal chambers and stood in a row.
“Well,” says the king, “answer: what skill is anyone capable of, what craft do you know?” The eldest comes out.
“I,” he says, “can forge an iron pillar twenty high.”
“And I,” says the second one, “can push it into the ground.”
“And I,” says the third, “can climb on it and look all around, far, far away, everything that is happening in this wide world.”
“And I,” says the fourth, “can cut down a ship that sails on the sea as if on dry land.”
“And I,” says the fifth, “can trade various goods in foreign lands.”
“And I,” says the sixth, “can dive into the sea with a ship, people and goods, swim under the water and emerge where necessary.”
“And I’m a thief,” says the seventh, “I can get whatever you like or like.”
“I do not tolerate such crafts in my kingdom-state,” the king answered angrily to the last, seventh Simeon, “and I give you three days to get out of my land wherever you like; and I order all the other six Simeons to stay here.
The seventh Simeon became sad: he did not know what to do or what to do.
And the king was after the beautiful princess who lived beyond the mountains, beyond the seas. So the boyars, the royal governors, remembered that the seventh Simeon would be useful and, perhaps, would be able to bring a wonderful princess, and they began to ask the king to leave Simeon. The king thought and allowed him to stay.
The next day the king gathered his boyars and the governor and all the people and ordered the seven Simeons to show their skills.
The elder Simeon, without hesitating for long, forged an iron pillar twenty yards high. The king orders his people to install an iron pillar in the ground, but no matter how hard the people fought, they could not install it.
Then the king ordered the second Simeon to insert an iron pillar into the ground. Simeon the second, without thinking twice, lifted the pillar and pushed it into the ground.
Then Simeon the third climbed up this pillar, sat down on the crown and began to look around in the distance, how and what was happening in the wide world; and sees blue seas, ships are dying on them like spots, sees villages, cities, darkness of people, but does not notice that wonderful princess who fell in love with the king. And he began to look more closely at all the views and suddenly noticed: a beautiful princess was sitting at the window in a distant mansion, rosy-cheeked, fair-skinned and thin-skinned: you could see how her brains shimmered over her bones.
- Do you see? - the king shouts to him.
- I see.
“Get down quickly and get the princess, as you know, so that she can be with me no matter what!”
All seven Simeons gathered, cut down a ship, loaded it with all sorts of goods, and all together sailed by sea to reach the princess from behind the gray mountains, across the blue seas.
They drive, drive between heaven and earth, landing on an unknown island at the pier.
And the younger Simeon took with him on the journey a Siberian cat, a scientist who could walk along a chain, hand things over, and throw out various German things.
And the younger Simeon came out with his Siberian cat, walked along the island, and asked his brothers not to go to land until he himself came back.
He walks around the island, comes to the city, and on the square in front of the princess’s mansion he plays with a learned Siberian cat: he orders him to give things, to jump over a whip, to throw away German things.
At that time, the princess was sitting by the window and saw an unknown animal, the likes of which they had never seen before. He immediately sends his maid to find out what kind of beast this is and is it corrupt or not? Simeon listens to the red pullet, the princess's servant, and says:
“My animal is a Siberian cat, but I don’t sell it for any money, but if someone really loves it, I’ll give it to him.”
So the servant told her princess, and the princess again sent her pullet to Simeon the thief:
- Well, they say, I loved your beast!
Simeon went to the princesses’ mansion and brought her his Siberian cat as a gift; She only asks for this to live in her mansion for three days and taste the royal bread and salt, and also added:
“Shall I teach you, beautiful princess, how to play and have fun with an unknown beast, a Siberian cat?”
The princess allowed, and Simeon stayed overnight in the royal palace.
The news spread through the chambers that the princess had a wondrous unknown beast; Everyone gathered: the tsar, and the queen, and the princes, and the princesses, and the boyars, and the governors - everyone looked, admired and couldn’t stop looking at the cheerful animal, the learned cat. Everyone wants to get one for themselves and asks the princess; but the princess does not listen to anyone, does not give her Siberian cat to anyone, strokes his silken fur, plays with him day and night, and orders Simeon to drink and treat him as much as he can, so that he feels good.
Simeon thanks him for the bread and salt, for the treat and for the caresses, and on the third day he asks the princess to come to his ship, to look at its structure and at the various animals, seen and unseen, known and unknown, that he brought with him.
The princess asked the father-king and in the evening with her servants and nannies she went to look at Simeon’s ship and its animals, seen and unseen, known and unknown.
She comes, the younger Simeon is waiting for her at the shore and asks the princess not to be angry and to leave the nannies and maids on the ground, and to welcome her to the ship:
- There are many different and beautiful animals there; whichever one you like is yours! But we cannot give gifts to everyone who loves something - both nannies and servants.
The princess agrees and orders the nannies and maids to wait for her on the shore, and she herself follows Simeon to the ship to look at the wondrous wonders, the wonderful animals.
As soon as she rose, the ship sailed and went for a walk on the blue sea.
The king can't wait for the princess. Nannies and maids come and cry, telling of their grief. And the king was inflamed with anger and ordered a pursuit immediately.
They equipped the ship, and the royal ship chased the princess. Slightly dying in the distance - Simeonov’s ship is sailing and does not know that the royal pursuit is flying after him - it is not sailing! That's really close!
How the seven Simeons saw that the pursuit was already close - it was about to catch up! - They dived with both the princess and the ship. They swam underwater for a long time and rose to the top when they were close to their native land.
And the royal pursuit sailed for three days, three nights; I didn’t find anything, so I returned.
Seven Simeons and the beautiful princess arrive home, and lo and behold, there are as many people as there are peas pouring out on the shore! The Tsar himself waits at the pier and greets the overseas guests: the seven Simeons with the beautiful princess, with great joy.
As soon as they came ashore, the people began to shout and make noise, and the king kissed the princess on the sugary lips, led her into white-stone chambers, seated her at oak tables with broken tablecloths, treated her to all sorts of honey drinks and sugar liqueurs, and soon celebrated the wedding with her soul-princess - and there was fun and a great feast for the whole baptized world!
And he gave the seven Simeons the freedom throughout the entire kingdom-state to live and live in freedom, to trade duty-free, to own the granted land harmlessly; he treated him with all sorts of caresses and sent him home with the treasury to live on.
I also had a nag - wax shoulders, a pea whip. I see: a man’s barn is on fire; I installed the nag and went to fill the barn. While the barn was flooding, the nag melted, and the crows pecked at the whip. He traded in bricks and ended up with nothing; I had a problem, I snuck around the doorway, but I knocked off a tire, and now it hurts.
That's the end of the fairy tale!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru