Once upon a time there lived a shepherd boy. He was born short, and therefore his character became harmful. One day he was walking to the pasture, and he met a henwife, she was carrying a basket of eggs for sale on her head. He took it and threw the stone into the basket, all the eggs were beaten. The poor woman got angry and shouted after the shepherdess:
“You won’t grow another nail until you find the beautiful Bargalina with three singing apples!”
From that time on, the shepherd boy stopped growing completely, and no matter how much his mother fed him, he kept growing thin and dry.
- What happened to you? - his mother began to ask him questions. “Has someone bewitched you?”
I had to tell my son how the henwife swore to him: “You won’t grow another fingernail until you find the beautiful Bargalina with three singing apples!”
“Well,” says the mother, “there’s nothing to do, you’ll have to go look around the world for this same Bargalina.”
The shepherd boy set off on his journey. He walked and walked and reached the bridge, he looked, and on the bridge there was a tiny woman swinging in a walnut shell swing.
-Who's coming? she asks.
- Friend, auntie. I'm looking for the beautiful Bargalina with three singing apples. Haven't you heard of her?
- No, I haven’t heard. Here, take this stone, it will be useful to you.
The shepherd boy approached the second bridge, and there was another tiny woman, bathing in a nut shell.
-Who's coming?
- Friend, auntie. I'm looking for the beautiful Bargalina with three singing apples. Don't you know anything about her?
- No, I don’t know. Take this ivory comb, you will need it.
The shepherd boy put the comb in his pocket and moved on. He reached a mountain stream. A man was sitting there on the shore and collecting the evening fog in a bag. The shepherd asked him about the beautiful Bargalina. The stranger also knew nothing about it, but gave the young man a handful of thick fog.
The shepherd boy got to the mill, and there the miller was a talking fox.
“Of course,” says the fox. “I heard about the beautiful Bargalina.” It will just be difficult to get it. Walk forward until you come across a house with an open door. Enter boldly and you will see a crystal cage with bells, and inside there are singing apples. This cage is guarded by an old sorceress. Remember: if the old woman’s eyes are closed, the witch’s eyes are not asleep, but if they are open, she is sleeping. Here, grab the cage and run away.
The shepherd boy reached the house and saw a crystal cage and an old woman nearby. Her eyes were closed, which meant she was not sleeping.
“Hello, handsome young man,” says the old woman. “Do me a favor and comb my hair.”
The shepherd boy began to comb the witch's hair, and little by little she opened her eyes - she fell asleep, therefore. The shepherd grabbed the cage and God bless his legs. But the bells in the cage trembled and rang, and the old woman woke up. The sorceress started up and sent a hundred horsemen in pursuit of the shepherd. They gallop, rush, and are about to overtake the boy. The shepherd threw behind his back the stone that was in his pocket. The stone turned into a huge mountain with rocks and abysses. The horses broke their legs there. The riders were left without horses and returned on foot to the old woman.
She sends two hundred horsemen after the shepherdess. When the shepherd boy saw them galloping on their heels, he threw back the ivory comb. At that same moment the ridge turned into a mountain, smooth as if made of bone. The horses' hooves skidded along it, and everyone was beaten. The third time the sorceress sent a chase of three hundred horsemen. The shepherd boy threw a handful of fog behind him, it spread into viscous darkness, the horses got lost and lost their way.
A shepherd boy came out onto the road to the house and became thirsty. He pulled one apple out of the cage and began to cut it. Suddenly he hears a thin voice:
- Oh, cut it quietly! Otherwise you'll hurt me.
The shepherd boy carefully cut the apple in half, ate one half, and hid the other in his pocket.
He walked to the well near his home, put his hand in his pocket for half an apple, and lo and behold, there was a tiny girl sitting there.
“I am the beautiful Bargalina,” she says. “And I’m very hungry.” Bring me a wheat cake.
The shepherd boy sat Bargalina on a little stand near the well and went home to get some flatbread.
And then a maid nicknamed Skvernavka came to the well. She saw the beautiful little girl on the verge and said:
- Wow! Small, but pretty! And I’m so big and unattractive.
Skvernavka grabbed the beautiful Bargalina and threw her into the well.
The shepherd boy returned, but the beautiful Bargalina was gone. The boy was sunbathing, but what can you do...
The shepherdess mother also used to take water from this well. One day she pulled out a bucket of water, and there was a fish in it. My mother brought the fish home and fried it. He and his son ate the fish and threw the bones out the window. And where the fish bones fell into the ground, a tree grew, so powerful and branchy that it blocked out all the light in the window. The shepherd cut down a tree, chopped wood and began to heat the stove with it.
Some time passed, and the shepherd's mother died. He now lived alone, still as thin and homely. Every morning he left to graze the cattle and returned home only in the evening. And by his arrival - to his surprise - all the bowls and frying pans had been cleaned, the cups and plates had been washed, and it was unknown whose hands this was. One day a young man hid behind the door to see who was doing these miracles. And he sees: a tiny girl crawls out of an armful of firewood and let’s wash the spoons, sweep the floor, make the bed, open the chest, bake wheat cakes. Then the shepherd boy jumped out from behind the door:
-Who are you? And how did you get here?
“I am the beautiful Bargalina,” the tiny girl answers. “Remember, you found me in your pocket instead of an apple.” Svernavka threw me into a well, I turned into a fish, then I became fish bones, then a seed, then I grew into a tree and turned into firewood. And when you are not at home, I again turn into the beautiful Bargalina.
As soon as the shepherdess found his Bargalina, he immediately began to grow, every day he became taller and more handsome. And little Bargalina grew up with him. The shepherd turned into a handsome young man and married Bargalina. And there was a merry wedding feast.
And I hid under the table
And there I found a bone.
They kicked me in the nose -
Sparks sparkled in his eyes.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru