Either it was or it wasn’t - once upon a time there lived a poor old man in one city. And that old man had a son. Both served as shepherds, tending the city flock.
One day a young man was tending cows in a meadow near the sea and saw a large fish on the sand.
The shepherd and a passing man sent a message to his father to come quickly on a cart for prey, and he rushed to the fish with a dagger. The fish waved its tail, spoke in a human voice, and began to beg for mercy:
- Don't kill me, young man. Better push me into the sea! I will be useful to you on a difficult day...
“How can I find you on a difficult day?” asked the young man.
- Take my fin. When necessary, you will come to the shore and throw the driftwood into the fire. Before it has time to burn, I will sail to you.
The young man felt sorry for the fish, took the fin and pushed it into the sea.
“Where is the big fish, my son?” the father shouted from afar. He was in a hurry on the cart for prey.
“The fish really wanted to go back to the sea.” She asked me to help her. “I helped,” said the son.
The father scolded his son, scolded him, even wanted to beat him.
The shepherd ran away from his father's wrath and wandered into a dense forest. He wanders through the forest and hears a plaintive groan. He went further and saw: a deer got entangled in the branches of a tree with its antlers. The young man grabbed the dagger, and the deer said in a human voice:
- Don't kill me, man, help me free myself! Tear out a clump of my wool and, when it becomes difficult for you, throw my wool into the fire. I will immediately appear before you to co-serve any service.
The young man took pity on the deer, tore out a tuft of wool from him, helped him get out into the wild and let him go.
The shepherd wandered for a long time in the thicket of the forest until he finally came out into a clearing. A fox is running across a clearing, with a pack of greyhounds hot on its heels. The fox was tired to death, she pressed herself to the feet of the young man.
“Don’t kill me, good man!” the fox cried. “Save me from the greyhounds, pluck a hair from my tail and let me go.” Whenever you are in trouble, burn my hair, I will come running and help you out.
The shepherd dispersed the greyhounds and released the fox, tearing out a hair from its tail.
He went further. Whether he walked a long way or not, he reached a big city.
“Would you like to receive a guest?” he asked, entering a poor hut not far from the city gates.
“Why not accept it?” answered the old landlady. She made the shepherd sit down, feed him and give him something to drink. And then
the shepherd went to look at the city.
That city was rich and extensive, there were many beautiful buildings in it, but the most beautiful and richest of all was, of course, the Khan's palace. The guest returned and asked the old woman who lives in the Khan’s palace.
“Oh, it’s better not to ask, son!” the old woman sighed. “Our khan has one and only daughter.” The fame of her spread far to foreign countries. The Khan's daughter is smart and beautiful, but her pride and cruelty know no bounds... Many famous brave men wooed her. And she orders each groom to hide and promises that she will marry him if she fails to find him.
- But I’m not one of the cowardly ones either! Should I go and look at the beauty?
“Don’t go, son,” the old woman began to persuade, “you didn’t listen to me.” There was never a person in the world who could hide from her. Whether you hide under water or underground, she will find you and order you to cut off your head. She has already given hundreds of young men into the hands of the executioner.
“Don’t worry, good old lady!” the shepherd told her. “I’m just a simple shepherd.” I won’t marry, but who knows, maybe I’ll outwit the Khan’s daughter.
He came to the palace and shouted:
- Hey, Great Khan, I want to compare my wits with your daughter!
“My daughter, answer this fool,” the khan ordered.
And the khan’s daughter shouted back from a high tower:
__ Hide so that I don’t find you, and I’m yours. But if I find it, your head will be cut off, know this!
- How many times will you let me hide? - asked the shepherd.
- Three times!
“Okay, look!” said the young man, hurried to the seashore and burned the fin of the fish.
A fish swam up from the depths of the sea:
- What do you want, young man? What is your concern? He asked the fish to hide him away. Revealed
the fish opened its mouth and swallowed the shepherd, and then dived to the very bottom of the sea and lay on its belly on the sand.
From a high tower the khan's daughter looked up, looked down, cast glances at all four corners of the world - the young man was nowhere to be seen. She would never have found the shepherd, but the fish opened its mouth, looking at the ship floating above
“I see, I see!” the khan’s daughter shouted and clapped her hands. “Come out!” You cannot hide from me even at the bottom of the sea.
The shepherd came out and stood in front of her.
“Hide for the second time!” she ordered.
The young man went into the thicket, burned a tuft of deer hair, the branches made noise, the branches crackled, a deer rushed up and said:
- Tell me what your concern is. The young man asked him to hide it better.
Then the deer put the young man on his back, threw back his head, ordered him to hold on tightly to the antlers, and flew away like the wind. He crossed seven peaks, passed seven valleys, hid the young man in a deep cave and lay down, closing the entrance with his body.
The khan's daughter looked up, looked down, and cast glances at all four directions of the world from her high tower. But she would never have found the young man if the deer had not suddenly jumped up to drive away the fly that was circling above him.
“I see, I see, come out of the cave!” the beauty shouted and clapped her hands with joy. “For the third time, make sure you hide well.”
The young man went to a wide plain and burned a hair from the fox’s tail. The fox seemed to grow out of the ground and instantly found itself in front of him.
“How can I help you, good man, what is your concern?” she asked.
“Untie the bag of your tricks and hide me, so that no one will find,” answered the young man.
The fox turned into a merchant with a red beard and with a bundle of colored morocco under his arm, and she turned the young man into a flea and told him to hide in this bundle.
“I will walk with my goods in front of the tower of the khan’s palace,” the fox said to the young man. “The khan’s daughter is a dandy, she will want to look at the morocco and will call me upstairs.” Then jump on the hem of her dress. And let them cut off my red beard if the beauty notices you.
And the khan’s daughter stood at that time on her high tower, looked at all four directions of the world, but could not find the young man anywhere. And then she saw a merchant who was passing by the tower.
- Who will buy excellent morocco? Who will buy red and blue morocco? - shouts the merchant.
“Bring your morocco here!” ordered the khan’s daughter. The merchant climbed the tower and spread his
goods. The beauty looked at the morocco and did not notice how a flea jumped onto the hem of her dress.
“Well, my daughter, do you see this man?” the khan shouted impatiently.
“No, father, I don’t see it, I don’t see it anywhere!” answered the beauty.
- Look carefully, my daughter!
But no matter how much the khan’s daughter looked, she never saw the shepherd.
“I have lost hope of finding him!” she said in despair.
And as soon as she had time to say this, the young shepherd took on his previous appearance.
The people of that country rejoiced that the young shepherd had outwitted the khan’s evil daughter. They began firing cannons, beating drums, playing the zurna, singing songs, and throwing a great feast. I was at that feast, danced like a bear, and then left the people to sing and have fun, and I ran to the little children to tell them this fairy tale.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru