A young shepherd was tending his flock by the river, in a green meadow between oak groves. And then he sees three beautiful girls swimming in the river. The shepherd looked at them and couldn’t take his eyes off. “If I were closer to them,” he thought, “I would grab one of the beauties and take him as my wife!”
And the girls took a swim, quickly put on their shirts and disappeared.
The next day, before dawn, the shepherd drove the flock onto the same lawn. The sheep began to graze, and the shepherd hid at the edge of the oak grove - he still wanted to be closer to the river and get a better look at the bathers. Well, as the sun rose, three girls appeared and entered the water. But the shepherd did not dare to approach them, for fear of scaring them away.
The third morning has arrived. The shepherd again hid in the bushes near the water. The sun rose, and the girls appeared at the river again. Young, cheerful, like clear stars. We quickly undressed and entered the river. And the shepherd is thinking about how he can catch at least one of the young beauties! And he decided to steal their clothes.
No sooner said than done! The shepherd came out of the ambush and stole the shirts. The girls saw this, became alarmed, and began to ask the shepherd to return their clothes - they promised a big reward. And the shepherd already realized that the girls would fulfill any of his commands, and said:
- Let one of you become my wife! If you refuse, I’ll immediately light a fire and burn your shirts, so you know. Then get home in whatever you want!
“Everything is clear to us, boy, but you should also know that we are mermaid sisters.” If you get married, people will start making fun of you, saying, what kind of wife do you have - a watery woman!
- Yes, even a witch! - said the boy. - What importance! I want to - and get married! Agree, otherwise I’ll burn my shirts.
The sisters saw that he was not joking.
- Well, tell us which one you like, and return the shirts as soon as possible, it’s time for us to return home, we live far away!
- Give me the youngest! - the guy answered.
Then the older sisters took him aside and said:
- Remember! When your sister becomes your wife, don’t give her the shirt, or she’ll run away. That shirt is magical, it has all the mermaid’s power.
The shepherd remembered that advice, gave the shirts to the older mermaid sisters, and they disappeared. And late in the evening the youngest entered the shepherd's house naked. The shepherd fixed her wedding dress and soon married her. He began to live with his mermaid wife; there was no more beautiful woman in the whole world than her.
How long or how quickly - the year has flown by. And so they invited the shepherd and his wife to the wedding of one of their relatives. At the wedding, the women began to dance in a circle; only the shepherd’s wife refused. Everyone began to persuade her. She answered:
“In your opinion, I can’t do it, but in the mermaid’s way, I can.” Yes, but the outfit is not suitable. Ask my husband to give me the mermaid shirt at least for a minute. Then I will show our dances.
Well, the women began to ask for a shepherd. But that one is absolutely impossible, and that’s all. The women are even more pestering, damned, begging! The shepherd gave in to them, went home, took a shirt from a secluded place, brought it to the wedding, ordered all the windows and doors to be closed, and gave the shirt to his wife.
She got dressed, entered the round dance and began to dance like a mermaid. Everyone who was there could not stop admiring the beauty. But as soon as the music stopped, the mermaid ran up to her husband, took his hand, and said:
- Well, now - be healthy, my lord!
And so she was - she flew away. The guy immediately jumped out of the house like mad and shouted after her:
- Wife, dear wife! Why are you leaving me! Tell me a word, tell me where to look for you, so that I can see you at least once!
- Look for me in a distant land, in the village of Kushkundalevo, dear husband! - she said and disappeared.
Soon the shepherd set out on the road to look for this village. He wandered for a long, long time and asked everywhere if anyone knew how to get to that place. But everyone was just amazed at such a name - they say they had never even heard of it! Having visited all the villages and all the cities, the boy went in search of the mountains and deserts. One day he met an old man in the mountains, standing with a stick in his hand near a hundred-year-old oak tree.
- How did you, son, wander into my wilderness? - the old man was surprised. - After all, the rooster doesn’t crow here, and people don’t come here!
“Trouble has driven me into trouble, grandfather,” said the shepherd. - I ask you, be my friend, help me - do you know where there is such a village - Kushkundalevo? Maybe there is something hidden in these mountains?
“I haven’t heard, son, that there was such a village in our area,” answered the old man. “I’ve lived here for two hundred years, but I’ve never heard such a name.” What do you need there, guy?
The shepherd told him everything that happened. The old man thought, grunted, and answered:
- I didn’t hear, son. Just don’t freak out, move on. In a month you will reach other mountains and you will meet a second old man, my brother, just like me. Give him greetings from me, because he is even older than me, he is three hundred years old, and he is the king over all the animals. Ask him nicely, he will help.
The guy moved on. And sure enough, a month later I met another old man. That old man was sitting by the stream, thinking. The guy approached him, greeted him politely, and told him everything in order.
“Well, you sit here,” answered the old man, “and I’ll gather all the animals and ask them, maybe they know.”
And he sent messengers in all directions. Soon all the animals gathered, rose on their hind legs, and bowed to the old man. And the old man says:
- Hey you, lions and bears, foxes and wolves and all the forest animals, I want to ask you something. You often run past villages - maybe you know the village of Kushkundalevo?
“We haven’t heard such a thing, Father Tsar!” - all the animals answered.
- Well, see? - the old man said to the shepherd. - There is no such village on earth! Just don’t be sad and, if you’re not too lazy, move on. In a month you will reach new mountains, you will see the third elder there, he is the ruler of all birds. Birds fly everywhere, so maybe they know where your village is!
The shepherd set off again. A month later, he actually met the third elder, the lord of the birds. The shepherd bowed to him, conveyed greetings from the two elders, and then told him about his misfortune - everything as it is, without concealment. The old man sent swift-winged messengers for his feathered servants. Just a day passed - and a huge flock gathered - all the birds flocked to the king!
- Tell me, eagles and crows, large and small birds, does anyone know where the village of Kushkundalevo is?
- Sir, you didn’t hear! - the birds answered.
“Yes... Probably he doesn’t exist, guy,” the old man said to the shepherd. “Even the birds don’t know this, but they fly everywhere!” And I haven’t heard of it, even though I’ve been living in the world for four hundred years.
And just at that moment a lame magpie flew up to the king. The king saw her and asked:
- What is this? Why are you so late? Later than all the birds arrived. Is this the order, forty?
- But I’m lame, sir! - answered the magpie. And I have to fly farther than anyone else - I live far away, in Kushkundalevo itself, father, - where the mermaids live! When I heard you calling, I was already completely ready, but I’m the mermaids’ servant. So the evil mistress went and hit me on the leg. I could barely fly from pain, forgive me, bright king!
“Did you hear, boy, what the magpie said?” - the old man asked the shepherd. - Well, sit astride the eagle, and the magpie will show the way.
- Thank you, sir, I will never forget you! - answered the shepherd.
And the old man ordered one of the eagles - the one that was stronger than all the others - to carry the shepherd to Kushkundalevo. The magpie flew forward, followed by a shepherd on an eagle. We arrived in the village early in the morning, our guy got off the eagle and entered the first courtyard to ask where the three sisters lived. Luckily, I came straight to them. Both elder mermaids instantly recognized him. “Ah-ah-ah! How exhausted the poor son-in-law is, wandering through the mountains and valleys,” the sisters thought. “That means he loves his wife seriously, and if so, then we need to help him!” The older sisters came out of the house and asked how it happened that he did not heed their advice and gave away the magic shirt? The boy told in order how the trouble had happened, and began to beg the two sisters to return his wife to him.
- Don't worry! “Your wife is here, in our house,” the sisters answered. - Take this saddle and follow us. Your wife is still sleeping. We will tie her sleepy and to the saddle. You will sit next to her, and the saddle will rise higher than the mountains. Just remember: as soon as you take off, your sister will wake up and scream and call her horse. You try, son-in-law, to reach the three treasured mountains by that time. If you pass them, everything will be fine, but if not, the horse will overtake you and tear you to pieces: he is magical!
The shepherd believed the two sisters, tied his wife to the saddle, sat down, took off, and they rushed off like a whirlwind. They passed three mountains, and then suddenly the mermaid woke up, realized what had happened, and began to call the horse. The horse rushed across the sky, but as soon as he reached the mountains, his magical power instantly disappeared, and he had to turn back. And the shepherd got to his native village, took off his wife’s shirt and burned it so that the mermaid’s power would disappear. Well, he began to live and live with his young mermaid wife. And she gave birth to his daughters - beautiful, beautiful.
It was from these daughters that all the beauties in the world came.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru