A son was born to a father and mother, only three inches tall. The parents named their son Shorty. Shorty grew older, but his height did not increase. But Shorty had more than enough courage - he was not afraid of anyone.
Shorty began to ask his parents to let him go into the world to have a look. At first, the parents didn’t want to hear about it: where, they say, would such a baby go? But in the end they released me.
Shorty set off on his journey. He walked and walked and came to a large forest. He was tired from the whole day on the road, and he wanted to sleep. Shorty lay down straight on the ground and fell into a deep sleep.
And it so happened that the king of that country was hunting in the forest. He was chasing a hare and almost crushed Shorty. I saw the boy and let’s carry him.
- Are you lying down under your feet? Get out of here before the hares gore you!
But Shorty doesn’t even listen, he sleeps and snores. The king called the rangers and ordered them all to shoot together. The short one only moved his little finger and continued to sleep. The king ordered to shoot a second time. The short man moved his hand, but didn’t even think about waking up. Then the king ordered to shoot a third time.
Shorty jumped to his feet and shouted at the king:
- How dare you wake me up? As soon as I hit you, you'll all go head over heels!
Never before had the king met such a brave little boy. He laughed for a long time, and then asked:
“Can you even shake your fist at a locust?”
“Why talk about locusts,” answers Shorty, “let’s talk about bears.” And if you don’t believe me, give me a bear!
“Well, if you catch a bear,” says the king, “I’ll give you my daughter in marriage, and if you don’t catch it, I’ll flog you.”
Shorty agreed.
The next morning the king showed Shorty the bear, who was sleeping in his den. Shorty filled his pocket with stones and went to catch the bear. And the bear’s den was near a small barn. Shorty threw a stone at the bear - he woke up. He threw the second stone - the bear growled. As soon as he threw the third stone, the bear jumped out and rushed at Shorty. Shorty ran away, dashed into the barn and lay down on the ground at the very threshold. The bear chased Shorty, flew into the door and jumped over the baby. Shorty jumped out of the barn and locked the door. That's how the bear got caught.
Shorty called the king, and he only gaped in surprise.
- How did you manage to catch the bear? - asks. And Shorty brags:
- What a miracle - to catch a bear! I grabbed him by the ears and dragged him into the barn. Now, if you are not a coward, try to let the bear out of the barn!
The king must give his daughter in marriage to Shorty, but he does not want to do this and says:
- Go, Shorty, into the forest and kill the twelve robbers who live there, then you will get my daughter!
Shorty agreed. He took some pebbles with him and went into the forest. He came to the forest and climbed a tree. At night, the robbers gathered under this tree, lit a fire and began to cook dinner. The ataman ordered one robber to look in his head. The robber is looking, and Shorty from above throws a pebble - right at the chieftain’s head. The chieftain shouted at the robber not to hurt him. Shorty threw the pebble again. The ataman got angry and started yelling:
“If you hurt me again, watch out!”
Shorty again threw a pebble at the chieftain’s head. The chieftain could not stand it, grabbed a club and started beating the robber that he was looking for in his head. The robber screamed and called his comrades for help. The robbers came running and there was a fight to the death. Finally, everyone was so tired that they fell to the ground and immediately fell asleep. Then Shorty got down from the tree, took a saber from one robber and cut off all the robbers' heads, and then cut out their tongues to show the king, and went to the royal palace. The king wonders: how did Shorty defeat all the robbers?
And Shorty brags:
- As soon as he hit one, he was knocked off his feet and the spirit was gone from him, when he gave it to another - also on the spot. So I put everyone to bed.
But the king still doesn’t want to give up his daughter. He says to Shorty:
- Drive the enemies out of my kingdom, then I will give my daughter for you.
Shorty agreed, but only asked for a white horse and white clothes. The king gave him white clothes and a white horse. They took Shorty to the mountain and showed him the enemy army. He mounted his horse, waved his saber and galloped straight at the enemy, and he himself shouted:
- Toad! Toad! Toad!
The enemies see: someone is galloping, small in appearance and all in white. They got scared and began to run away. So Shorty drove away his enemies, and the king had to give him his daughter as a wife.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru