The husband and wife lived together for many years, but they had no children. My wife constantly complained:
- Oh-oh-oh! And for whom do we work, both in the house and in the field, well, for whom? For yourself? But how much do we need? And after us, who will get it all? To whom? To strangers. Someone else will eat in our house, sleep in it. And he will ruin everything that we have done in our lifetime... But if we had a son, he would help us work, he would eat with us what we collect in the field...
Her husband consoled her:
- Well, why are you still complaining? After all, you are not alone, many women do not have children... But we work in order to live. If only you were healthy, the rest doesn’t matter!
His wife did not agree with him and, without ceasing, complained about her lot. One night she dreamed that she was standing on the shore of a lake, drawing water into a jug, and some old woman suddenly approached her and said:
- Hello, good woman!
- Hello, grandma...
“You keep complaining that you don’t have children.” Do you want to have a daughter?
- Of course I want to, I really want to!
- OK then. Your wish will come true. Look, just don't tell anyone your dream.
The woman woke up. She sat down on the mat. She got so excited that she lit a pipe.
The husband also woke up and asked in surprise:
- What's wrong with you?
- Well, nothing... I don’t want to sleep...
- No, it's not true. You had never smoked at night before... But the woman, following the old woman’s advice, did not tell him about her dream. She decided to leave the house and take a walk: the conversation with the old woman could not leave her mind.
But the husband did not allow his wife to leave the house. Doesn't she understand that this is dangerous? Doesn't she know that wild animals roam nearby at night?
Sleep is like death, it comes even when you don't expect it. And the woman eventually fell asleep. And the husband dozed off.
The woman again dreamed that she was on the shore of the same lake, with the same jug that she was filling with water. And again she hears the voice of the same old woman:
- Listen, woman, if I make you give birth, will you fulfill your vow?
- Of course I will!
- So, you will have a daughter. Just remember: a girl should never see her face - neither in a mirror, nor in glass, nor reflected in water. Look, if he sees your face, you will lose your daughter.
In the morning the woman woke up very happy. And although the husband, having reminded his wife of her strange behavior at night, began to scold her, she did not tell him anything.
Very soon her belly began to grow. And people all around whispered:
- Look! She's pregnant! Have you seen her belly?
In fairy tales, the months pass quickly. When the time came, the woman went into labor. The midwife came, and an unusually beautiful girl was born.
People continued to whisper:
- Well, didn't we talk? She really was pregnant. Just think, she hasn't had children for so long! That's amazing!
On the first night after giving birth, the woman again had the same dream.
“Now you have a child,” said a familiar voice. “But know this: no one should see him.” A girl should not leave the house, remember this!
And the woman began to do everything so that no one would see her daughter. She even stopped working in the fields. And when she needed to go for water, the father guarded the child.
The baby was already crawling when the woman again had a familiar dream. Now the old lady said:
“You can already show the girl to people.” Her name is Samba. Just don’t forget what I told you before: she shouldn’t see her face - not in the mirror, not in the glass, not in the water!
All the people were amazed when they saw the girl:
- Oh! Oh! Oh! What unprecedented beauty! The world has never seen such a child!
The mother began working in the room again, leaving the girl to play with other children.
The only, beloved daughter, Samba was always clean and smart. Her parents cared for her and caressed her. When she got older, her father and mother took her to the field with them. They showed her how cassava grows, what sweet potatoes and groundnuts look like. Samba laughed with joy; everything was new and interesting to her. Father and mother filled two huge baskets with vegetables and tubers, and everyone went home together.
And suddenly, as they walked across an open field, a huge cloud eclipsed the sky and rain poured down!
The parents started running. But little Samba was in no hurry. It was the first time in her life that she found herself in the rain, and she really liked it.
The mother, worried that some misfortune would happen to her daughter, began to cry and began to call the girl:
Samba, Samba, run from the rain, Hurry, my daughter, Samba, Samba, run from the rain!
And the girl, continuing to slowly walk along the road, answered:
Mom, I can’t run, the bracelets will break on the legs. Father, I can’t run, The bracelets on my arms will break!
Finally, all wet from the rain, they reached the house. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to the girl. She didn’t even notice the huge snake, which, like a thick log, lay at the edge of the road, basking in the warm water.
A few years later, on the advice of good neighbors, Samba was given to a woman for training - a girl should be able to clean the house and cook food. This woman’s parents asked only one thing: to hide all the mirrors in the house. There were no glass windows here.
Everything was going well. But one day, when Samba was cleaning the room, she wanted to open the chest. Samba turned the key sticking out in the lock, opened the lid and looked inside. How many things are there! She took out one thing after another and threw it aside - it was all uninteresting to her. And suddenly she saw a mirror. Surprised, she pulled it out and screamed:
- Oh, what is this? Who is this?
And immediately she became numb. At that moment the mistress of the house entered. No matter what she said, no matter how much she shook Samba’s hands, the girl was silent, only shook her head, and large tears rolled down her face. And suddenly, right before the hostess’s eyes, the girl disappeared, as if she had fallen through the ground.
The woman rushed to look for her. Where could the girl have gone? Despair gripped the woman, but then she remembered the mirror. How did she not guess right away? After all, the chest is open! All the things in it have been rummaged through!
A few days later, as usual, the mother came to visit Samba. She brought a large basket of fruits and vegetables on her head as a gift to the hostess. Upon learning of what had happened, the mother sobbed bitterly.
All my relatives were looking for Samba, all my friends... My beloved, long-awaited daughter had disappeared!
And at this time Samba found herself near a house. And the owner of this house and all the servants took pity on the unfortunate girl. So beautiful and dumb! Samba was sent to work in the kitchen. She turned out to be very clean and washed dishes well. In general, everyone was very pleased with her.
One day, when the cook was not in the kitchen, a huge snake, which had come from nowhere, swallowed all the food prepared for the day. The cook returned and saw that everything had been eaten, and decided that Samba had done it. The cook complained to the owner, and Samba was kicked out. After all, the girl was mute and could not explain anything!
Samba came to another house, and here she was pitied and received kindly. But the snake appeared here too. She crawled into the house when the owners were not there and broke all the dishes. The owners blamed Samba for this, beat her and drove her away.
Once again the poor thing had to look for a new place. Here they also pitied her. But the damned snake did not give her rest here either. She appeared invisible to everyone at the moment when Samba was alone in the house, and also devoured food and broke dishes. However, the owners did not place all the blame on Samba. They truly loved her.
One day the owner was getting ready to go to the city. Before leaving, he called the whole family and all the servants and asked who to bring what. Only Samba didn’t come: the mistress of the house didn’t call the girl - anyway, the poor thing won’t be able to say anything, because she’s mute! But the owner demanded that Samba come too.
When the owner asked her what she wanted him to bring her, to the great surprise of everyone, Samba suddenly spoke. In a timid voice, she asked the owner to bring her a knife “so that he could cut it himself,” a whetstone “so that he could sharpen it himself,” and a lamp “so that he could light himself.” Having said this, the girl became speechless again.
The owner has left. And when he returned home, he brought everyone what they asked for. With a friendly smile, he gave Samba a knife, a whetstone and a lamp.
Samba hid the gifts in her room. In the dead of night a snake crawled in there. But from behind Samba’s pillow, a knife instantly jumped out and began to cut up the snake, the whetstone began to sharpen the knife as it went, and the lamp flashed brightly to burn pieces of the snake’s body.
Early in the morning, the owners entered Samba’s room and were dumbfounded with horror when they saw pieces of a huge snake scattered on the floor, mangled and burned. And Samba, who had regained her ability to speak, explained that this snake was the cause of all her misfortunes. Everything that happened to Samba was the work of evil witchcraft. And now all misfortunes have come to an end.
Samba returned to her parents and began to live with them, surrounded by care and love. And then one of the sons of the man who brought Samba a knife, a sharpening stone and a lamp married her.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru