They say that Shah Abbas and his vizier once a month, changing their appearance, walked around their possessions. One day, having changed clothes, they went through towns and villages and reached some spring. At the spring they saw a girl with a ladle in her hands. The Shah asked the girl to give him some water to drink. The girl put her hand into the spring and muddied the water. The Shah had to wait a long time for the mud to settle. Just as he wanted to drink the spring water, the girl stirred the water again. The padishah was embarrassed.
The girl realized that if she repeated her trick again, she would not be happy. She filled the ladle with water and threw some straws into it. The Shah, taking straws from the water, drank to the bottom. Then the girl, filling the ladle with water, handed it to the vizier. After the travelers quenched their thirst, the girl left.
“Vizir,” said the surprised padishah, “I didn’t understand why the girl was muddying the waters, but I saw that she did it deliberately.”
- May your years last, Shah. Do you want to go and ask her herself? - suggested the vizier.
The Shah agreed. They followed the girl and found her house. The girl’s father came out when she knocked. It turns out he was a merchant. The owner took them to his chambers. After a short conversation, he asked the guests:
- Who are you, brothers?
“We are travelers,” answered Shah Abbas, “we came to you to find out one question.”
“Father, they are not travelers at all,” the girl intervened in the conversation. “One of them is Shah Abbas, and the other is his vizier, they came to find out why I muddied the water when they wanted to get drunk.”
Shah Abbas was amazed at the girl’s intelligence and asked:
- Since you recognize us, girl, tell me why you muddied the waters?
“I saw that you were sweating after a long journey.” If you, sweating, drank the water, you would get sick, so I shook the water in the spring so that you would cool down a little while it settled. I realized that my action angered you. Then I filled the ladle with water and threw a few straws into it, so that when you pick them out of the water, it will cool down a little more. I did this for your health.
Shah Abbas was convinced of the girl's intelligence and decided to marry her.
“Girl,” the Shah addressed her, “I would like to have a son as smart as you.”
The girl immediately guessed his idea.
“Shah, one mullah is enough for this.”
The Shah realized that the girl agreed to marry him. He sent the vizier to fetch the mullah. The mullah who arrived with the vizier immediately married them. The girl became the wife of the Shah.
Shah Abbas, deciding to test his wife’s intelligence and devotion, did not touch her. But he set a condition: “I,” he said, “are returning to my city, and I will come here in a year or two. Before I return, you must fulfill three of my wishes. Buy a stallion that looks like my horse, find a puppy that looks like my dog, give birth to a son that looks like me. If you don’t fulfill it, I’ll order you to cut off your head.”
The girl agreed to fulfill the wishes of the padishah. The Shah and the Vizier said goodbye to the girl and her father and returned to the palace.
After the guests left, the father said to his daughter:
- You brought trouble on us. What will you do now?
The daughter reassured her father and said:
“Go and buy a mare that looks like the Shah’s horse, a bitch that looks like the Shah’s dog, and find a girl that looks like me.” Everything else doesn't concern you.
The father fulfilled his daughter’s instructions - he brought home a horse, a dog and an orphan girl. And the name of the merchant's daughter was Renoy Khanum. Rena said to the orphan who looked like her:
— You and I will go on a trip for several months. I will dress as a young man, and you will remain in your dress.
Having taken supplies for the road, saying goodbye to her father, the girl mounted a horse, put her friend on another and set off with the dog at the stirrup. We drove and drove and a few days later we reached the Shah’s capital. Near the city, in the Shah's reserve, they pitched a tent. They let the horses graze and went to bed.
While the girls are sleeping in the tent, I’ll tell you about the Shah’s huntsmen. In the Shah's reserve no one had the right to graze horses. The huntsman, seeing the horses, immediately ran to the Shah and reported to him that a tent had been pitched in the reserve and horses were grazing. The Shah became angry and ordered the owner of the horses to be brought in. They brought Renu Khanum, dressed as a young man, to the Shah. Rena, bowing as expected, greeted the Shah. Shah asked:
“Young man, how dare you let horses into my reserve?”
Rena replied that, may the life of the ruler of the world last, she is the son of the Egyptian padishah, and her companion is the daughter of the padishah’s brother. She supposedly decided to marry her cousin, but they didn’t give her away. Then, having agreed, they fled under the protection of Shah Abbas.
“Well, since you are looking for protection, I forgive you your crime,” said the Shah.
The Shah liked the young man’s speech. He invited the guest to have lunch with him. After the meal, the Shah suggested: “Let’s play backgammon.” Rena agreed. The Shah asked: “What are we going to play for?”
- I have a horse, let's play for it. If you win, you’ll take it, if not, you’ll give me the coin,” Rena answered.
The Shah agreed. Rena won the first game. Immediately she sent the Shah's horse to her mare. The horses got closer to each other.
“Let’s play again,” suggested the Shah.
“Shah, I have a dog,” Rena said. “If you win, you’ll take her; no, you’ll give me your dog.”
And this time Rena beat the Shah. She allowed the Shah's dog to visit her dog. The Shah got angry: “How is it that some boy beats me all the time.”
“God loves the trinity,” said the Shah. - Let's play again.
Rena agreed. The Shah asked what they would play for this time.
“May the life of the Shah last,” Rena answered, “I have nothing with me except my betrothed.” Let's agree, if you win, you will take my bride as your wife, no, you will give me someone from your harem.
The padishah agreed. Rena lost to the Shah.
“Well, keep your promise,” said the Shah.
Rena returned to the tent. I told my friend everything. I gave her my men's clothes, and she put on her women's clothes. I wrote a letter, gave it to my friend and told her:
“Take me to the Shah now, but don’t give me the letter.” After a while, come back and give the letter to the Shah. Tell him that you were mistaken, and where was the Shah’s conscience when he took your bride away from you. Say that you have brought a horse and a dog and demand your bride back. You take me from the Shah, and the rest is not your sorrow.
This time, dressed in the dress of a young man, Rena Khanum's companion led her to the Shah. The Shah asked the girl if she knew about the agreement.
“Yes, I know everything,” she answered.
Some time passed. The Shah was informed that some young man wanted to see him. The Shah ordered to let him in. The young man was brought to the Shah. He handed over the letter, and verbally said that he was very grateful for the reception the Shah had given him last time, however, he was allegedly hurt by the fact that the Shah had taken his cousin away from him. True, everything was by agreement, but the Shah should not have agreed. Now he has brought the Shah’s horse and dog and asks for the bride to be returned.
- I agree, how are you? - the Shah turned to Rene Khanum.
“And I agree,” answered Rena Khanum. “But write on paper that it’s not my fault in all this, that for such and such a time I was your wife.”
The padishah wrote, put his seal and handed the paper to the girl. Having thanked the Shah, the young man and girl went home.
Days and months passed, the time came - the girl had a son, the horse a foal, the dog a puppy. The foal and puppy were an exact copy of the Shah's horse and dog. And the child looked like Shah Abbas, as if one apple had been divided in half.
Two or three years have passed since then. The Shah remembered his promise to come to the merchant’s daughter. The Shah called the vizier:
- Vizier, prepare your horses, we’ll go to that girl.
For seven days, seven nights the Shah and the Vizier were on the road. Finally they reached the city where the girl lived. The girl noticed the guests from afar, put her son on a horse similar to the Shah’s, let the dog go next to the horse and went to meet the Shah.
The Shah, noticing the similarity of the boy with himself, and his horse and dog with his horse and dog, was very surprised. Entering the house, he took the sword out of its sheath and demanded an answer:
“The horse and the dog may be similar to mine, that’s possible, but where is this boy from?”
The Shah wanted to cut off the girl's head, but she said:
- Wait a while and you will hear the truth.
The Shah lowered his sword. The girl held out a paper with his seal.
“This boy is your half-son,” she said.
The Shah recognized the letter issued with his own hand and could not hide his surprise. He asked the girl to reveal the secret. The girl told the Shah about how she visited him under the guise of the son of the Egyptian king, that she was not with her cousin, but a stranger’s girl who looked like her, how she won two games of backgammon and lost one.
- Well, this is your son, this is a horse, and this is a dog.
The Shah praised the girl for her intelligence, ingenuity and enterprise, took his wife and son with him and returned to the palace. There they lived and lived and knew no grief.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru