Once upon a time in the same kingdom there lived a kind king and a beautiful queen. They had an only son, as beautiful as a clear day. They loved him deeply.
The young prince's only passion was hunting. Every morning, with a dozen faithful servants and two dozen greyhounds, he went into the wild forests and every evening, to the triumphant sound of a bugle, he returned home with his spoils.
But then one day the prince's horse returned home alone. The young prince wandered deep into the forest and lost his way. It quickly became dark, and hungry wolves came out of their holes to hunt. The prince climbed a tall oak tree and, settling down among its mighty branches, fell asleep. When he woke up, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing happily. But no matter how hard the prince tried to find his way in the wild forest, all his attempts were useless.
Sitting down to rest, he satisfied his hunger with wild strawberries and washed it down with water from a cool spring. He spent the whole day looking for a way in the forest, and in the evening, tired, he again climbed the old oak tree and slept all night. This went on for three days and three nights. During the day, the prince stubbornly searched for a way out of the wild forest, and in the evenings he slept on the branches of an old oak tree. But on the fourth night, climbing an oak tree, he suddenly saw a faintly flickering light in the distance. He quickly climbed down from the tree and ran towards the flickering light. For a whole hour he made his way through dense thickets of thorns until he finally saw an illuminated castle standing in the thicket of the forest. He walked up to the cast iron gate and knocked. And suddenly - lo and behold! – the gates opened, and a girl appeared before his eyes, as beautiful as day.
- Good evening, beauty! – the prince greeted her. - I am the son of the King of France. I got lost while hunting and have been trying unsuccessfully to find my way home for three days and three nights. I'm just dying of hunger and thirst. Please don't send me away and let me stay here for the night.
“Come in, dear prince,” said the girl, smiling. - My name is beautiful Joana. I will feed you and give you something to drink, but I won’t be able to leave you overnight, because my parents are terrible cannibals and they will return home soon. I really don't want them to find you here and eat you.
“Oh, good girl,” the prince objected to her. – I’m very tired and want to sleep. I don't have the strength to go back to the forest.
“Well, okay,” said the girl. “Come in, I’ll feed you, give you something to drink and hide you under a barrel.”
And she did everything as she promised.
Exactly at midnight, a panting cannibal and cannibal ran into the castle and immediately noticed that the air was somehow unclean.
- Hmm-hmm! It smells like a human being here. “There’s something wrong here,” the cannibal said in a scary voice.
“That’s completely impossible,” Joanna said. - Look for yourself. The cannibal and the cannibal began to search everywhere, looked into all corners, searched everything, but found no one.
“Okay,” they said. “We’ll go to bed now, and in the morning we’ll look better.” “They collapsed on the bed and began to snore.
But the beautiful Joanna was in no hurry to fall asleep. She took a handful of clay and molded it into a bun, onto which she attached her cut lock of hair. Then she took a magic wand and seven-league boots from the cannibals and woke up the prince.
- Get up quickly! We must run, otherwise disaster awaits us.
And, putting on their running boots, they rushed faster than the wind. Hearing a strange noise, the cannibals sensed something was wrong and shouted:
“Beautiful Joanna, come here, it’s time to sleep!”
And the magic bun answered in the girl’s voice:
- Now, now, I’ll just wash my face.
A minute later the cannibals shouted again:
“Beautiful Joanna, come here and go to bed.”
The magic bun answers them:
- Now, now, I’ll just undress.
A little more time passed, and the cannibals shouted again:
- Beautiful Joanna, where are you? It's time to sleep.
“Now, now, I’ll just take off my shoes,” the bun answered again.
And just as dawn was breaking, the cannibals asked again:
- Beautiful Joanna, where are you? It's time to sleep.
But the bun did not answer anything this time, because morning came and its magical power ended. Having heard no answer, the cannibals rushed to Joana’s room and understood everything.
- Oh, you scoundrel! She ran away with the man and took with her our magic wand and seven-league boots. Hurry after them, we will have time to catch them and feast on the little humans!
The ogre took out another magic wand and, putting on ten-mile running boots, rushed off at the speed of lightning.
Soon the beautiful Joanna and the prince heard a whistle behind them and realized what was happening. Joana waved her magic wand and turned the prince and herself into little birds. They sat down on a tree branch and began to chant. The cannibal flew up to them and asked:
- Hey, little birds, have you seen the beauty with the prince?
The birds did not answer, they just continued to sing in thin voices.
The cannibal returned home with nothing, and the beautiful Joanna and the prince again turned into people and flew on.
- Well, did you find them? – the ogre’s wife asked him when he returned to the castle.
- Where there! It's like they fell through the ground. “I only met two stupid birds,” answered the cannibal.
- Oh, you fool! After all, that's what they were. Well, go and catch them quickly.
But Joanna and the prince were already far away. The cannibal rushed even faster... it’s already close!
The beauty waved her magic wand and turned the prince into a black duck and herself into a deep lake. The cannibal caught up with them and asked:
- Hey, black duck! Didn't the beauty and the prince fly past here?
But the duck didn’t answer, she just quacked quietly. Again the cannibal returned home with nothing, and the beauty and the prince flew on even faster.
- Well, did you catch them? – the ogre’s wife asked him when he returned to the castle.
- No. I saw no one except a black duck and a deep, deep lake.
- You stupid fool. That's what they were. Fly quickly and grab them.
The ogre ran even faster. It's about to catch up! Then the beauty turned into a lamb, and turned the prince into a ram. The cannibal flies up and asks:
- Hey, mangy sheep, have you seen the beauty with the prince?
“Be-be,” was all the sheep answered.
The cannibal returned again.
- I didn’t find them anywhere. Only on the way did I see a couple of mangy sheep.
“So that’s what they were,” the cannibal got angry again and rushed in pursuit. But the prince and the beauty were already very far away, and she could not catch up with them.
After seven days and seven nights they flew to the kingdom of France, and there was no limit to the joy of the prince’s parents. On the same day, he married the beautiful Joanna and lived with her in peace and harmony.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru