In which kingdom, in which state did the king live? He had a son and a daughter. The daughter's name was Maria, and the son, of course, was Ivan, as more and more Ivana, yes! Now they are getting older. The father says to his son:
“That’s it, son,” he says, “I feel in myself that I will soon die, you will need to get married and take the throne.”
- Well, then, father, who will I marry? Bless me. And so he says:
“Here, son, I’m giving you a ring, and whoever likes this ring, you take as your wife, regardless of whether she’s a peasant’s daughter or a merchant’s daughter, or even some widow’s daughter, it doesn’t matter.”
And so, the king fell ill for a short time and died. The prince remained unmarried; he remained with his sister. Well, you need to get married and become the throne. Here he is there, first for the royal daughters, for the royal ones - none of this ring goes well: sometimes it’s small, sometimes it’s big - there is no bride for him due to his parental blessing. Then he began to visit merchants’ daughters and peasants. In a word, I went through everyone, well, no one gets along, no matter what you want. This time they are sitting with their sister. They drink tea.
“Listen, sister, try this ring on for yourself.”
“Well, brother, even if I liked this ring, I’m still not your wife, since you’re my brother.”
- Well, anyway, sister, apply yourself, however, I’m not asking you to be my wife. And this is what she says:
- Well, let me amuse you and try on this ring.
She took this ring, put it on her hand, and it fit exactly on her hand. So he says to his sister:
“You know, my father gave me a blessing - whoever fits this ring on his hand should take it.” It didn’t work out well for anyone except you, which means your father’s blessing must be fulfilled - and you must marry me.
Now she says to him:
“Listen, brother, how can I marry you? The law won’t allow a brother to marry his sister.”
- Well, as you wish, sister, now think and decide. And my father’s blessing must be fulfilled, as he blessed.
So she thought for days. He asks:
- Well, what did you think, sister?
- No, not yet, give me three days.
And she thought about everything, but nothing came of it.
She came to her brother and said:
“Well, I’ll think about this ring in three days, then I’ll put it on when I marry you.”
- Well, okay, sister, in three days we will start the wedding.
- Okay, okay.
She went away, collected a fair amount of money and secretly left the city. She moved out of town, two, three, settled down and bought a house. She bought a house and took one widow into her house downstairs, while she herself lived upstairs. And the widow had a son, his name was Ivan. And so, of course, she bought the goods and began trading. She hired clerks and took this boy from the widow as a salesman, well, although to begin with, of course, as an assistant.
She starts trading, and things take off. When this boy grew up, she made him a senior clerk, and he learned the trade so well that she praised him very much for his work. This Vanyushka is twenty years old. And she always went to talk to him, invited him to visit him upstairs, gave him tea and loved him better than all the clerks. And so, one day, Vanyushka liked this hostess so much that he told his mother. I didn’t know that she was the king’s daughter:
- Well, mom, I want to marry the hostess, maybe she will marry me?
His mother says to him:
- What are you doing now, fool? If you tell her, she will get offended and drive you away. It’s bad for you to live, or something, she’ll drive us out of the apartment completely.
She even started scolding and beating him, and there was a general uproar among them. And she hears everything up there, their entire conversation. She suddenly comes down and says:
- Well, grandma, what’s going on with your son?
“To hell with him, the bad guy has started something that’s worthless to say!”
- Yes, tell me anyway.
“Listen, mistress, there’s nothing to say, it’s just a stupid thing, I’m a fool, and I won’t say anything!”
And so she didn’t say a word and left. And he doesn't say anything, of course.
The next day he went to the shop and trades. And so a month passed, he again comes to his mother and says.
- Listen, mom, I’ll still marry the mistress:
She beat him again and scolded him.
- What are you, bad, is it bad for you to live? She feeds you, clothes you, you have everything, and just say so, she will get angry and drive us all away!
She heard it again and went down to them.
- Why does he ask you, mistress, for everything, but you don’t give? Is he really asking to get married?
- What are you doing, hostess, to get married! He is still young, and there is nothing to say, I won’t allow him anything.
So she left again. And so he went to the store again. Another month has passed. No, he thought: “What will happen there will be, and I will be.”
Comes to his mother.
- So and so, as you like, I’ll get married.
She beat him again. And he’s all his own: “I’ll get married and get married.”
She comes down again.
- Well, tell me, grandma, what kind of noise are you making with him?
- Why, mistress, this is the point. He wants to get married, but is it possible to insult people? Why not? I'm ashamed to even say it. The fact is that he wants to marry you, I just apologize that you will be offended, drive us away completely and kick him out of work.
- Why, grandma, say that I will kick him out of work, but what if I marry him? Who cares, I’ll go for him - that’s my business, and if I don’t go, why drive me out of work, there’s no insult here that he wants to take me for himself. And there is no need to make noise, grandmother, and to appease your son, if it’s time for him to get married, who cares.
- Well, then, mistress, my son suggests that I go and woo you for him. If you want to go, then just don’t be offended by what I’m asking you for.
- Well done Vanyushka, you guessed where to start getting married. I agree, tomorrow we will start a small wedding and live. That's all, who cares!
And on the second day they started the wedding. We went to the crown and had a wedding, let it be a day or two, and started our work as before.
And they lived for a year, during which time they had a son, who was given the name Shkip. And as soon as he was born, he spoke immediately, and was literate (how quickly he learned). And this boy was so smart, when he wants to eat, he asks, when he wants to sleep, he also asks. And most of them had their grandmother with him, and they had no time.
One day, grandma goes to milk the cows and leaves him alone in the cradle. At this time, an old man comes alone to the yard on a horse. Here comes an old man to the hut, this boy did not sleep and spoke:
- Grandfather, where did you come from?
- Yes, from home, child, I came.
“If you want to eat, take it here in the cupboard, sit down and eat, so Grandma’s not at home, take it yourself.” And so grandpa ate, he again said to him:
- So, grandfather, do you have any sons or daughters?
- No, child.
- Is there a cow?
- I have a cow and a grandmother, I have no one else.
- So, grandfather, take me as your son, my name is Shkip. There is a cow, so I will drink milk, I don’t need anything else. Is there a big sheepskin coat?
- Eat. Why, Skip, child, you’re still small, you’ll still freeze.
- No, I won’t freeze, wrap me in a sheepskin coat.
“Well, if they catch me, old man, they’ll slap me for it.”
- No, no one will catch you.
- Well, okay, if they don’t find you, I’ll take you to grandma, live with grandma.
He brings the sheepskin coat, wraps it up, and goes home. When grandma came from the barn, Skip was gone. They looked for him, they looked for where he had gone, he was nowhere to be found, and they stayed there. And so the old man brought it home and said:
- Well, grandma, I brought my son, my son asked to come to me, so I brought him.
- Well, live with God, there is milk, he is still small, six months old.
“And the guy is smart, he says everything himself, if he wants anything, he’ll ask for it.”
Now he lives with his grandmother, this Skip. When he wants to eat, he will say:
- Grandma, give me some milk.
And he lives like this for a whole month. And once he says to grandfather:
- Grandfather, I see you live poorly.
- Yes, you see for yourself, even though you are still small, you understand a lot.
“So, grandpa, I’ll teach you, you’ll get a lot of money.” Go now, where the sovereign has made a square. And in the square there is a pillar, and on the pillar there is a thousand rubles of money for whoever climbs into this pillar, and, moreover, general clothes. Whoever climbs out of this pillar and gets money, then they will give him Yenerad clothes on top of that. There are a lot of daredevils there, all sorts of knights ride horses, well, no one can get them, they don’t know such a trick. And I’ll teach you, you’ll get it very easily. Here's how you get it: now go to the market, buy an eight-weight weight and a spool of thread. And then the rope is not very thin and you will come to this square. And when your turn comes, look, there is a ring at the top. And look, when you see a ring, tie a thread to an eight-weight weight and throw it into this ring. And when you get the ring, tie a string and pull it, and along this string you will climb in and get the money.
- Well, okay, I’ll go and try.
- Go, go, you’ll get it.
The old man did just that. I went to the market, bought everything and went to the square. And he looks at the daredevils there, some on horses, some climbing like that; and everyone retreated.
An old man comes and everyone says:
- Here, here, this old man will get it!
Grandfather walked and walked and saw the ring. Now he takes an eight-weight weight, ties a string and throws it. I just guessed right and pulled out a ring in it. Here he pulls the rope and climbs. He got out, took out a thousand rubles and military clothes and climbed back.
- That’s it, old man, no one could get it, but you got it! The general comes and says:
- Well, well done, grandfather, get money and general clothes.
The old man took the money and clothes and headed home. And this general comes, of course, to the king and says:
“Here, Your Majesty, we had so many riders, daredevils, no one could get them, but the old man came and got them, you understand.” I don’t know who told him, or whether he got it with his own opinion, well, he just got it. The king says: - Call the old man here!
But the king is still not married. And now they came for the old man.
“They ordered you to come right away, grandfather.” The old man was scared.
- Well, I probably did something wrong. A. then Skip spoke:
- Go, don’t be afraid, he will ask you: “Who taught you, or did you invent it yourself? Speak, don’t be afraid, otherwise I’ll put you to an evil death or put you in prison.” You tell him: “No, Your Majesty, I made it up myself.” Then he still won’t believe you and will say: “I’ll tell you anyway.” Then you say: “Well, since you frighten me so much, that is, I have a seven-month-old boy, he made it all up, and his name is Shkip.” And what will he tell you? Now go.
And so he comes to the king.
- Hello, Your Majesty.
- Hello, hello, grandfather, fighting old man! Well, tell me, how could you get money and general clothes, did you figure it out yourself or who helped you? No, I won’t believe it for anything if you tell me that you are yourself. Or who helped you, otherwise I will execute you or put you in prison. The old man was scared. Then the old man said to him; – I have a seven-month-old boy, and he is literate and speaks everything. His name is Shkip, and he told me how to get everything.
Then he says to him:
- Well, listen, grandfather, do you have it or where did you get it from?
- No, not my own, he asked to go with me to the same city, and so I took him to my place. . - Well, then bring it here.
The old man, of course, went home and said:
- Well, Shkip, the king himself called you. He doesn’t believe it, he thinks that I probably stole you, tell him yourself.
“Well, take me to the king, wrap me in a sheepskin coat and carry me, I’ll tell him.”
He now takes it and brings it to the king. The king comes out. Skip says:
- Well, hello, uncle, I’ll be your nephew.
The king smiled.
- Well, what kind of nephew? True, I had a sister, she left, I don’t know where, maybe a nephew.
- Yes, yes, nephew, my name is Shkip.
- Well, tell me now, Skip, that grandfather stole you from the house where he took you, or did you wish it yourself? And where are your mother and father, I want to know.
- My mother is married, trades, and lives only for herself. But grandfather didn’t steal me, I wanted to come here myself and taught him how to get the general’s clothes and money. And grandfather is not guilty of anything. I could have gotten it myself, well, I was still young. And now, if you brought me here now, then I will live with you, if you yourself will hang out with me. And you wanted to marry my mother, well, it’s good that she left. And I will find you a bride if you do everything.
Then the king said:
- Well, okay, Skip, I’ll take you. I would agree to hire a nanny, but since you don’t agree, I’ll be with you myself.
- Okay, but let grandpa go and reward him for taking me, so I wouldn’t get to you.
So, of course, he gave the old man money. The old man went home.
- Well, old woman, Skip was a good boy. And they gave me money, now you and I can live carefree. And so they began to live.
And Shkip is now with Varya, his uncle. And so he lived with his uncle for a whole year and said to his uncle:
- Well, uncle, I’m now one year old. Bring me some paper and a pencil, I’ll write you a plan according to which you will build a ship and go get married. Your bride is there, and you decided to marry your sister, well, you didn’t succeed. The uncle thinks: “Nothing, your head is smart, nephew!” And so, of course, his uncle brings him a large sheet of paper and a pencil, and he sits down and begins to draw up a plan. And he made this plan for three days. On the fourth day he gives the plan to his uncle.
- Well, uncle, you have a plan and hire craftsmen, let them work on the ship. Well, if they do something wrong, they will have to tear it down and start over. And let them work for a year, and then take me there, and I’ll see whether they work correctly or incorrectly.
The next day my uncle went to hire craftsmen and said:
- Well, work everything according to the plan that is indicated here, and in a year I will come to look. It won't work for you before three years.
The masters, of course, took this plan and got to work. It's almost been a year since they've been working. He says again, Skip, to his uncle:
- Uncle, come on, wrap me up, put me on a horse, and take me, I’ll go around the whole ship, look at the plan, see if they’re working correctly; I can’t run after you on my own feet yet, I’m only two years old.
And so his uncle, of course, took him, wrapped him up and brought him to the ship. We arrived and walked around.
- Uncle, something is built incorrectly here, in my opinion the nasal corg is incorrect. Bring the plan here, master!
The master comes with a plan. So he begins to show him:
“You see, it’s built incorrectly, crookedly, everything is according to your plan, but you did it wrong, incorrectly.” Destroy the entire ship to the ground!
And so they destroyed it and started working again for the same pay.
And a year passed again. Here he says to his uncle again:
- Well, uncle, now I can run a little, let’s go before it’s too late, we haven’t worked much. If it doesn’t work, then hire another master, this one doesn’t know how to work.
So, of course, they arrived, they walked to the middle part. He ran a little.
“Uncle, the ship is no good again, the ship won’t clamp down, the hydrofoils are no good, we could all die.” Destroy the entire ship to the ground, and count out these masters!
He calculated the craftsmen, hired the best craftsmen, and they began to work. He was already three years old, fourth.
We worked for a year.
- Well, uncle, now I can run. Let's go before it's too late; if it's wrong, we'll have to take it apart again. We've arrived again.
- Well, uncle, let's go take a look now.
The uncle thinks: “What is it, what losses is he causing me now!” - Well, he doesn’t say anything. And they looked at the ship.
- Well, uncle, I haven’t noticed anything yet, so far so good, we’ll wait another year.
And in the second year they didn’t notice anything either. On the third day, more than six months have passed. There are only four months left.
- Well, uncle, let's go, I'm already six years old, seven, I can do it myself now.
They come to the ship and look.
- Well, uncle, everything is fine, only the equipment is a little unsuitable. Well, okay, you’ve had to wait a long time to get married, let’s not delay it any longer. Well, uncle, now pack all the food supplies for the ship, and I will go and get you a bride, although she is far away, in the thirtieth kingdom, the daughter of a king, a sorceress. This ring will suit only her, it won’t suit anyone else. Now you stay, and I will go alone and bring you the beautiful princess. Well, only on the condition that I sleep with her the first night. I’ll just go as you want. Otherwise I won’t go, or go yourself. And now I’m seven years old, I can be eight.
Well, although he was seven years old, eight, well, he was very tall, full of himself, like a decent man. Even his uncle marveled at his height.
“No, nephew, although I won’t go without you, I don’t agree to this proposal.” Why? Because I haven’t seen my sister for ten years, and I’ve been single for thirty years, and you’re taking away the most precious thing from me, I just can’t agree to this.
- So listen, uncle, she won’t live with you if you don’t let me sleep the first night, otherwise you’ll never get married.
- Well, okay, nephew, go ahead, I won’t go. I give it, okay, so be it.
“Now let me say one more thing: hire captains, hire navigators, but the power on the ship is mine, and what I will order them to do, so that they do it, although I am still young.”
Then the tsar sits down and writes an order: “To carry out the orders of the captains of Shkipovo, whatever he wants, sail there.” He said goodbye to him and went to the ship.
- Well, uncle, wait, I’ll come in two years. You've waited so long, wait another two years and be true to your word.
When Skip came to the ship, they immediately began to roll the anchors and lower the ship into the sea. They immediately lowered it to full speed. And Shkip indicated where to go, and the captains obeyed him. And so they sailed for almost a year, the captains got bored that it was a very long voyage, they didn’t know where Shkip was sailing. And they even started (forced the captains) to ask Skip:
- So, will we soon come to the kingdom?
“Listen, captains, we’ll come soon, soon we’ll see land.”
Less than a month had passed since they arrived in the state. And so, when he arrived in this kingdom, he set up his ship, and in this city there had never been such a ship, and everyone was amazed at such a ship, everyone went to look. And he practiced his rarities in the cabin, playing the harp, which no one had ever heard. This princess found out that such a ship had arrived. She went, looked, heard singing, and then invited this Skip to her place, but she didn’t know his tricks, even though she was a sorceress. So, of course, when she called him to her place, she began to treat him there and began to question him:
– Why did you come and what will you do? He said:
“I’ll hand over my goods, pick up others, and then I’ll go.” Well, there are goods that no one has ever seen, I won’t show them here.
When the princess found out that he had such goods, she said:
- Listen, Skip, is it possible to look at these goods from you, of course, I won’t go alone. He said:
“Listen, beautiful princess, if you want to see it, then come tomorrow, otherwise we will soon leave here.” Take your nannies, your father and mother, take everyone, let them look. They said:
- Okay, we'll be there at ten o'clock.
- Okay, we'll wait.
And the princess did not recognize any meanness in this Shkip. And so, when he came to the ship, he said:
- Tomorrow the princess comes to the ship with her retinue, then at that very moment you cut the ropes, roll the anchors and lower the ship at full speed into the sea. And I will give you a sign, I will play the harp. I'll make a short break, start playing a second time, and the ship will move far from the shore. Then the entire royal retinue will come out onto the decks, only one princess will remain. Now take them into the boat, send them to sea, but don’t stop the ship. And I will play, she will not leave until they leave. And if I play the harp a third time, she will come out on her own, and that’s my business.
And so everyone stood in their places, both captains and sailors.
Just on the second day they saw that the entire royal retinue was going to the ship. Here Shkip now approaches them, bows, leads them into the cabin, and they enter, not noticing any cunning in him.
The guests sat down at the table, and he immediately took the harp in his hands and began to play. And he hears the rigging screeching, the ship was already underway. And he continues to play. And then they moved away a little, the ship began to rock, and it started playing for the second time. And at this time the entire royal retinue comes out onto the decks. When they came out, the captains and sailors no longer yawned, they lowered the boats, put them all in the boats and began to push them away from the board. And he plays. She starts asking:
- Why, Skip, does the ship begin to rock?
- Well, that's true, I guess.
And where are all my relatives, why are they not there?
And now he gets to his feet and goes out onto the deck. He sees that there is no one, and the land is not visible. She sees herself deceived, now she has turned into a swan and wants to fly. Well, Shkip captured her, turned her into a girl and said:
- No, beautiful princess, you have deceived many, well, you won’t deceive me, I didn’t run into such a guy. And I’m taking you to marry a king, you will live with him.
As soon as this king reached home, to the shore, he sent a chase, a steamer, to save his daughter and return them back to the kingdom. Now this ship, of course, followed him and got close and saw them. Then this team got all scared:
“Now they’ll tell us all that they’ll drown or catch us.”
Then Shkip saw that everyone was alarmed, he told them:
“Give me these hydrofoils and we’ll disappear under the water.”
They disappeared and went underwater. This steamer sees that the ship has sunk.
“We probably shot him.”
They walked and walked and returned to the kingdom.
- So and so, Your Majesty, we began to shoot, shot through, the ship sank.
- Well, my unfortunate daughter died along with that fool Shkip.
They moved a fair distance away, he ordered the hydrofoils to be tucked in, they rose up and were already close to their state. Both the crew and the sailors were amazed at the structure of the ship, that they could go underwater in such a place, they had never seen anything like it.
They are already sailing to their state. The king saw that his nephew had sailed and was now going to the pier. When I just reached the pier, my nephew comes out.
- Well, uncle, your wish has come true, you can get your wife that I promised you.
She leaves the cabin, he takes her hand, they go down the aisle in a row, and the feast is ready. And so they walked down the aisle, had a wedding, and after that they had to go to bed. Then Shkip comes to him and says:
“Well, uncle, now carry out my orders, you must give me the first night, so I got you the beautiful princess.”
And the princess looked into Skip’s eyes, didn’t say anything, just thought: “It doesn’t matter, if I fall asleep with the prince, I’ll leave.”
Then his uncle says to him:
“Listen, nephew, under no circumstances can I give you this so that you can go sleep with my wife.” You yourself know that now you can get drunk on any princess or prince’s daughter, I will help you.
- Well, okay, uncle, if you don’t give it, then don’t be offended by me; I won’t get it for you a second time, my life is more valuable to me than your wife, I’m still young. I don’t need your wife, if you don’t give it, then go and sleep.
He walked away himself. And so the king just collapsed next to her, she threw her arm over him, it was so hard for him that he fell asleep. She climbed over the prince, turned into a swan and flew away. Goodbye! When the prince woke up, his wife was gone, and he immediately remembered: “I was a fool for not letting Shkipa sleep. Maybe I would have had it, I don’t know for what purpose he asked for it.”
And so he got up, washed his face, came to his office and called Skip to his place.
He gives no answer, a second time, a third time; finally he went on his own. He comes, Skip and says; - Well, uncle, did you get married?
“Yes, I got married,” he says.
- Well, where is your bride?
“I don’t remember, she put her hand over me, I fell asleep, and she left.”
“Well, you knew before that she wouldn’t live with you, but now it’s whatever you want.” I won’t get it for you a second time. My life is more valuable. Then my uncle spoke again:
– Listen, Skip, let’s go and talk in private. He took me into the office and spoke:
- Listen, nephew, get it for me, maybe you can?
- No, uncle, I told you that I won’t get her, - my life is more expensive, which means it’s more expensive. Now you can’t go to her by ship.
- Well, how can we get it?
- Yes, now we need to go overland, and not go naked, but with an army. So send whoever you know, but I won’t go.
Uncle thought deeply. Skip looked at him and said:
“Well, uncle, if that’s the case, I’ll go and serve for you.” The only condition I will go again is if you let me sleep with her the first night. If you don’t give it, then tell me right away - I won’t go for anything. Then he said:
- Well, nephew, just find it, I give it.
- Well, will you stand by your word?
- You will.
- Will you regret it?
- I won’t regret it.
- Well, look. If you regret it, then no one will go a third time, and I won’t go, but this time I will go. Well, okay, if that’s the case, now gather thirty thousand troops for me, and I’ll go. Expect me no earlier than in a year.
Then the army, of course, was gathered, and our Skip set off on the road. Off he goes, a year has gone by, of course, a lot. It takes about a year. He comes to this state. When he comes to this state, he says to his army:
“Here, guys, now you split the army into three parts: to the right, to the left and to the middle.” I will go to the city, and there, of course, I will talk with the king. This will only take one day. When this princess sees me, she will be suspicious of my face. She will take the magic book and recognize me. Then they will appoint me to the gallows for the second day in a row. Now they will appoint me to the gallows, I will stand on the first ladder, and the king will allow me to smoke from a pipe and blow a whistle. And this whistle will be heard fifteen miles away. And hurry up. And I will smoke a pipe for at least half an hour, or even more; and I’ll step onto the second ladder. When I stand on the second staircase and whistle and smoke a pipe, you will be near the city. When I get up on the third ladder, you’ll be heading into the city, don’t wait for the third whistle. If you wait, I'll be hanged.
And so he told them everything and went. He comes to this kingdom as a knight and visits the king. The king, of course, greeted him like a decent knight, sat him down at the table, began to treat him and asked: who he is, where he went and why. He tells him everything. And suddenly, not long later, his daughter comes, now his face seemed suspicious to her: “Isn’t there Shkip?” She takes a magic book and points it out:
- Yes, he is!
She took the book down, put it back, comes back and says:
- Father, do you know what I will tell you?
- Well, speak up, daughter.
– Do you know who you are sitting with now?
- Yes, with a knight, apparently.
- Oh, with a knight?
- Yes.
- This is a knight, do you know who he is, father?
- Don't know. Well, the knight next door, he told me, it’s nearby, I need to get to know him. And he sits, is silent, knows what will happen.
- Do you know what kind of knight, father? I’ll tell you now - it needs to be removed now. This is the knight, the same Skip thief who stole me the first time. He should be given the gallows for tomorrow, and now put in a castle.
They have now taken him away and imprisoned him. They imprisoned him, and on the second day he was assigned to the gallows. They took him to the gallows, and now he steps out onto the first step and stands. When he stood on the step and said: “Your Royal Majesty, let me smoke a pipe and whistle, now life is in your hands.”
- Well, come on, smoke and whistle, where will you go now?
And this daughter stands and says:
- Listen, dad, don’t give it, otherwise it will be bad, don’t give it!
- Well, what are you talking about, a person needs to smoke; Where he goes, there are troops and executioners all around. Well, smoke, I allow it.
So he whistled and lit a pipe. And he smokes for an hour. And the troops are moving closer and closer. He then stood on the second step and said:
“Well, Your Royal Majesty, give me one more pipe to smoke and whistle.”
And so he smokes for an hour and sees that the troops are very close on three sides. Well, the public doesn't know anything about it. When he stood on the third step and began to ask: “Give me a pipe to smoke and whistle,” then his army rushed in. In a row they seized the king, tied his hands, both from the executioners and from his daughter, and freed Shkip from the gallows. This Shkip grabbed the sword from the executioner and now came, told the king’s head, and ordered to hold this princess while he went to get the horse. I went to get my horse and said to the troops:
- Well, you can pack up and go back.
They gathered their troops and turned back. They put her tied up on a horse, and Shkip led the troops too far from the kingdom so that they would not be overtaken. Then he said:
- Well, guys, now you go back, and I’ll go with the queen.
He untied her and drove off. She doesn’t say anything to him, she thinks; “Well, I got it again.”
And soon he came again to the king, to his uncle, and said:
“Well, uncle, I got your wife back for you, and now let me go to bed with her, otherwise I don’t agree; If you don’t allow it now, you will be unmarried forever and will never see a wife. Then my uncle said:
- Well, okay, nephew, if you’re not ashamed, lie down. And he walked away.
He fell down with her; She throws her hand at him, he throws his hand into the wall - the whole hall thunders. She puts her leg on, he puts his leg back on. They caused such a storm that the king did not sleep at that time, he kept listening to what would happen next, what was going on with them, the young people.
And then she throws herself over him, jumps out onto the floor, tucks her wings and wants to fly. And he jumped out of his seat, grabbed her by the wings and tore her in half. Suddenly my uncle comes:
- What is your thunder, nephew? Is that how they sleep?
And he looks - his wife is torn in half. When he tore it in half, just how many bastards fell out of it - it was terrible. Uncle says: - Well, what have you done again, tore your wife in half, I will remain unmarried again.
“Uncle, it’s none of your business, go away and order me to bring two tubs of water.”
Water, of course, was applied. He now takes half of this princess and washes it clean, squeezes out these bastards and puts them in a tub. He takes the other half and washed it in the same way. And then he put it together, blew it, and it grew together. And then he carried her into the bedroom and covered her with a blanket. Then he went out and said to his uncle:
- Well, uncle, now go, in an hour, and lie down with your wife.
- Why go to bed with a dead person if you killed her? He did it neither to himself nor to me - he left me unmarried.
“Nothing, I didn’t leave you unmarried, uncle, I only arranged that she wouldn’t leave you.” Come, look, and then lie down.
He comes and looks, and there is such a beauty lying there. And he fell down next to her. They slept through the night, in the morning they get up, you know, cheerful, and everything went well for them.
He then calls on his nephew:
- Well, thank you, nephew, now I slept peacefully with my wife.
And she says to him in response:
- Well, it’s good that you, Skip, convinced your uncle this time: you fell into bed with me. If he had convinced me, then the prince would not be alive, and you, like me, would have turned into a swan and flown away. Well, now everything is gone from me, there is nothing; your will.
“Well, that’s what should have been done to you,” Skip answers her.
Now the king begins to gather a real feast. And Shkip says to him: “You know what, uncle, I’ll go look for my father and mother, where they are.”
- Well, then, go. And at the same time, tell your sister to excuse me and come to the feast too. And I don't know where she lives.
And at this time the king gathers a feast; invites all princes, boyars and good girls to choose a bride for Shkipa. Although Shkip has not yet suggested that he will get married. Now this Skip comes to his father, to his mother, but they didn’t know him at all. He comes into the house and says hello:
- Hello, master, hostess!
- Hello, young man. Sit down and eat bread and salt with us.
So they started talking. This and that. He says to his father:
- So, dad and mom, tell me if you ever had children, how you live together, and grandma is with you, and you are still young. This one says, master; “Yes, young man, we had a son, and I don’t know how, we weren’t at home, and I don’t know where he went.” His name was Shkip.
When he began to speak, his mother looked him in the eyes very keenly, well, did not say anything. And Shkip says:
- Well, master, bring some vodka, and I’ll tell you about your Skip. “He now serves the king, your brother,” he begins to tell. - And he married him, this king, to one of the royal daughters. Yes, and he suffered a lot, my dear, it was difficult, difficult for him, but still he remained alive.
Then the owner heard about his son, brings vodka and pours two glasses.
- No, master, pour it for both your hostess and your grandmother. Although I don’t drink vodka, I do it for the sake of honor, and then I’ll tell us about your son.
The owner poured it for them all. So he says to his grandmother:
- Grandma, come here, have a drink too; I’ll tell you how Skip was stolen from you.
The old woman was very happy, came up to the table and said:
- Well, let's have a drink; Although I don’t drink anymore, I’ll drink a glass for such joy.
Everyone drank together. When they drank, he said:
- Well, dad, you are my father, and you are my mother, and you are my grandmother. The old man took me away when I was six months old at his own request.
And he told everything about it, how he lived, how he married the king; At first she left, he got her, and now they live. Then his mother began to cry, threw herself on his neck and began to hug and caress him, and so did his father.
- Well, okay, mom, now don’t cry, I won’t leave you anywhere and I will live with you. And now uncle is preparing a feast and asks you to come to the feast. His mother says to him:
“Listen, son Shkip, of course I won’t refuse to go, but for such an insult that he asked me to marry, I won’t go to him until he himself comes and apologizes.” I probably don’t live overseas, it won’t be far for him to travel.
- Okay, mom, I won’t ask you to go; and what you say is correct, but the fact is that it is your uncle’s duty to confess to your crime. I'll go and tell him now.
And so he went. The father and mother were so delighted that they forgot to even find out about their son’s life. And he came to his uncle and said:
“Well, uncle, if it’s your own fault, then go ahead and ask your sister to go, but she didn’t go with me.” Go and apologize for your crime, of course, she will not refuse.
The king immediately mounted his horse and rode to his sister. He went into the house and began to apologize:
- Well, forgive me, sister, if I committed such a crime, don’t be angry, and let’s go to my feast, to marry Shkipa all together, although he is not asking to marry, but he has done such a great thing for me. And they immediately got dressed.
- Well, okay, brother, if you yourself have repented, I’m not angry about it.
And we all went together. And my grandmother, of course, had to be left at home because there was no one there.
When they arrived, all the guests gathered, Shkip said:
- Listen, uncle, come on, apply the ring to your wife, will it fit, did you marry with your father’s blessing?
And he handed the ring to his wife in a row. My wife put it on - as it happened here.
- Well, now live.
And so they had a feast. Now the uncle says to his nephew:
- Well, nephew, now choose from all the royal, royal daughters. You are too cunning: your fame has spread throughout all states. When he was born, he spoke and was literate. And from this table you can choose your bride, there are many girls from different countries. Don't think they will refuse. And he answers:
“Well, uncle, while I’m still young, I don’t think about getting married.”
It was awkward for him to tell the girls where he wanted to get married.
“And I’ll tell you after this feast, time will not pass yet.”
When all the guests had left, only father and mother remained, and the king and his wife, he said: - Well, uncle, now I’ll tell you who I want to marry. Then I was embarrassed to tell them in front of the girls, because they would think that I didn’t want to take them. And I won’t take it,” he even added. - And now I’ll tell you about marriage. And why I don’t want to marry royal and royal daughters, I’ll tell you: because my mother married a poor peasant, which means she didn’t take the state or her wealth into account. And I’m going to marry such and such a peasant’s daughter—she’s in the same town, here. A. why don’t I marry a rich family, because my mother also married a peasant.
Well, of course, my uncle was embarrassed, but there was nothing to do since Skip agreed. Right now Shkip went to this peasant, took his daughter, walked down the aisle, and they had a ball. After all this, his uncle makes him, Shkipa, his heir to the throne. And his uncle also said to him:
- Well, where do you want to live, with me or will you go to your father?
- No, uncle, I won’t live with you, I’ll go to my father, mother, live with him, and then we’ll see.
And just like that, they said goodbye, of course, and went home. His father and mother were very happy that their son would go with him; with my wife, and my grandmother too. He lived with him for some time, then his uncle began to strongly punish him to come. And when he came to him, the king said:
“Well, nephew, take the throne, rule the throne, but I have become old, I can no longer rule the throne.”
And Shkip began to rule the throne and live until a ripe old age. But he did not leave his father and mother, he visited them.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru