It so happened that the king's son became friends with a poor man, the son of a shoemaker. The young people did not hide their friendship from anyone - they appeared together on the streets and squares of the city, walked together in the royal garden, and the prince was even proud of his friend, because Miguel - that was the name of the poor young man - was kind, honest and brave.
Still, the king did not like this friendship. He called Miguel to him and ordered him to immediately leave the kingdom. The young man had to put the knapsack on his shoulders and go on a long journey. However, having learned about this, the young prince also began to get ready for the journey, and no matter how much the old king threatened him, he mounted his horse and rode after his friend.
Soon he caught up with Miguel. The friends hugged and hit the road together. So they traveled from one country to another and finally entered a dense forest. Centuries-old trees surrounded them on all sides, calm, majestic and silent. And suddenly the young men heard a distant cry. Someone asked for help. They hurried forward. The screams became louder and louder. Finally, in a forest clearing, they saw a beautiful girl tied to the trunk of a thick tree.
- What happened to you, beauty? - the prince and Miguel asked in one voice.
The girl answered:
- Robbers attacked me. They took my jewelry and killed all my servants.
- Oh, unfortunate one! - exclaimed the prince, who guessed that this was the princess, fell in love with her and decided to marry her. - Miguel, take the dagger and quickly cut the ropes to free the captive! “And when his friend fulfilled his request, the prince gave the princess his hand and sat him on his horse.
In a word, there were two of them, but there were three. Talking, they continued on their way until night fell. The travelers settled down for the night. The princess and prince soon fell fast asleep, but faithful Miguel did not sleep. The forest was so thick and dark that the robbers could appear again at any moment!
The young man guarded the sleep of the prince and his bride. He patiently walked back and forth between the trees, like a sentry in front of a royal palace. Gradually he went deeper and deeper into the forest and finally found himself in front of a large cave. “Aren’t robbers hiding here?” - thought the young man and, drawing his sword, stepped under the dark arches. But there was no one in the cave. The young man looked closely and saw three black shiny stones lying in the middle. He was about to return back, when suddenly three pigeons flew into the cave - white, like fluff or a cloud on a fine day. The pigeons each sat on their own rock and cooed loudly. Miguel listened and began to distinguish the words.
The first dove said:
- Poor prince! He sleeps peacefully and does not know that misfortune awaits him in the grove of golden oranges. If the princess bites the fruit, she will die!
The second dove said:
- How sorry I am for the princess! Misfortune awaits her at the crystal spring. If the prince scoops up clear water, he will die!
The third dove finished:
- What do your secrets mean compared to mine! What do these misfortunes mean compared to the one I will tell you about! If the prince and princess do not die on the way, they will die in their bed, because on the wedding day, at exactly midnight, a terrible seven-headed snake will crawl into the palace and eat them both!
Miguel rushed out of the cave in horror to warn his friends about the danger, but the pigeons took to the air and blocked his way. The young man involuntarily stopped, and the birds sang in chorus:
You found out the secret from us,
But if you let it slip -
You will turn into cold marble,
You will be petrified in that very hour.
Poor Miguel! He loved the princess and the prince so much and at the same time could not warn them about the danger: one word - and he would turn into a dumb, lifeless statue! And yet the young man did not lose hope. “Who knows,” he thought, “perhaps we will pass a magical grove with poisoned fruits, and a crystal spring with such clear but poisonous water!”
He woke up the prince and told him:
- Let's hurry to the palace! If you return home with such a beautiful bride, the king will be so happy that he will forgive you for your disobedience, and will allow me to live in the city next to you.
The prince always trusted his friend's prudence, and soon all three set off on their way back.
What Miguel did not do to pass the grove of golden oranges. He tried to walk in an open field, walking around every tree in dozens of steps, and yet at dawn, as if from under the ground, an enchanted grove grew in front of him. It all sparkled in the rays of the early sun, and neither the prince nor Miguel had ever seen such juicy, such large, such golden fruits even in the royal garden!
“Well,” thought Miguel, “now the princess will want to eat oranges...” - and immediately heard the ringing voice of the beauty:
- Oh my prince! Pick me one of these beautiful fruits!
“Princess,” Miguel immediately objected to her, “these oranges are not for sale!”
“Oh, if I eat one out of a thousand, the owner won’t be angry!” — the beauty laughed and stood up in the saddle to reach a branch completely covered with golden fruits. But at that very moment Miguel whipped her horse, the princess screamed, and the horse, rushing forward, carried her out of the enchanted grove.
- What are you doing! - the prince flared up.
Miguel calmly replied:
- That's right, friend. “And the prince moderated his anger because he believed in Miguel’s prudence. Finally, towards evening, the travelers reached a flowering valley, where a new test awaited them. A stream, transparent and clean as a tear, flowed, washing colorful pebbles. This was the enchanted crystal spring!
Before Miguel had time to look back, the prince had already run up to the spring and scooped up a full handful of clear water. Another moment - he will take a sip and die! However, this time Miguel managed to prevent misfortune. Without saying a word, he pushed his friend hard on the elbow: the water splashed, and the prince, who was very thirsty, exclaimed in anger:
- What's wrong with you today, Miguel? Why don't you let me get drunk?
“That’s how it should be,” the young man answered the prince again. - The path is long, let's hurry home quickly.
And this time the king’s son restrained himself. Miguel was triumphant. The two dangers were already over. The young man was confident that he would be able to save his friends from the seven-headed serpent. Finally, all three approached the palace. The king himself came out to meet them. He kissed his son, hugged the beautiful princess and ordered him to prepare for the wedding. And he called Miguel to him and said:
“Although you are the son of a shoemaker, I see that you were a faithful comrade to my son.” Ask me for anything you want, and I will fulfill your request.
Miguel replied:
“Your Majesty, allow me to stand watch outside the newlyweds’ room all night on the wedding day.”
The bride and groom danced and had fun at the wedding for a long time and only late in the evening, tired and happy, they went to rest in their bedroom. When they fell asleep, faithful Miguel stood at the door with a naked sword in his hand.
At exactly midnight he heard a rustling sound. The rustling became louder. The snake was approaching. He was already in front of the bedroom door! But the young man bravely entered into battle with the seven-headed monster and cut off all seven of his heads one after another. And then, together with the body, he threw these terrible heads into a deep ditch that surrounded the royal palace on all sides. Then he returned to the rooms to see if the prince had woken up. In clothes spattered with the blood of a snake, with a drawn sword, he approached the bed, but at that moment the princess woke up. Seeing that Miguel was bending over the prince with a sword in his hand, she decided that the young man had either already killed or was going to kill her young husband, and screamed loudly. The courtiers came running to the scream, the guards came running, rattling their weapons.
- Here, here is the killer! Grab him! - the princess did not stop screaming. - Look - he's covered in blood! Throw him into prison!
Seeing Miguel, surrounded by guards and with a sword in his hand, the prince said to him:
“My friend, I believe you, but explain to these people what happened and why are you standing here in the middle of the night in my bedroom with a bloody weapon?”
- Oh prince! - Miguel exclaimed and... stopped. He remembered that he could not reveal any of his three secrets to a friend with impunity. He remembered the prediction of the three doves that he had heard in the cave:
...if you let it slip -
You will turn into cold marble,
You will be petrified in that very hour!
And the prince already insisted:
- Why are you silent, my friend, or do you have nothing to say in your defense?
“Oh prince...” Miguel repeated in a sad voice. “If you knew how much each word would cost me, you wouldn’t demand explanations from me.”
The prince was already hesitating, but the princess ordered:
- Let him speak now! Or don’t you remember, my prince, how this young man, who calls himself your friend, whipped my horse and did not let me eat the golden fruits! Or don’t you remember that he didn’t let you drink from the crystal spring when you were thirsty! He is not a friend - he is your enemy, he wanted to kill you!
Faithful Miguel could not bear such an unfair accusation.
- It's not true! - he exclaimed loudly. - Now I will explain everything!
He boldly stepped forward and spoke.
He talked about how in the forest, in a cave, he learned three cherished secrets from wonderful birds and how he saved the princess from certain death in a grove of golden oranges.
He spoke, and with every word his legs grew cold: first his feet went numb, then his knees, and when Miguel finished telling the story of the first secret, he was already cold to the waist, motionless and white as marble.
And yet the young man continued the story.
He extended his hands forward, as if begging his friend to believe his every word, and told the prince about how he saved him from certain death at the crystal spring. And again, with every word, the young man felt how a deadly cold rose higher and higher through his body, penetrated his chest and squeezed his heart, how his hands grew numb and stiff, how death came to his throat! Now the young man could only turn his head - a little to the right, a little to the left.
- Enough! - cried the prince, frightened by this sight.
But Miguel shook his hair and shouted: “I’ll tell you everything!” - courageously brought his terrible story to an end. When the last word was spoken, everyone saw that instead of a blooming young man full of life and strength, a dumb, lifeless statue of white, motionless marble stood in front of him.
- Oh Miguel! - the prince exclaimed in despair and rushed to hug the knees of the statue. - Wake up! Come back to us! But the stony Miguel did not answer a word.
Sad, the courtiers dispersed. The guards slowly left. The princess was already repenting of her persistence.
- Oh, why did I make him talk! - she sobbed. - Why didn’t I take my word for it, like you, my prince, my husband! The young prince was inconsolable. He ordered the statue to be taken out into the garden and placed on a path strewn with yellow sand under a tall tree. And there was no more beautiful statue in the royal garden than the stone Miguel.
With his head held high, he stood in front of the palace. In the mornings, in the rays of the rising sun, the cold marble turned pink and warm, as if blood was flowing through the veins of the young man, as if a brave heart was beginning to beat again. And when during the day the sliding shadows of trees ran across the statue, it seemed that the statue was moving and was about to come down from its high pedestal. Unhappy prince! For hours he sat at the foot of the stone statue.
- Oh friend! - he exclaimed. - Answer me! I will give everything to give you back your life!
He repeated these words endlessly, repeated every day, repeated until one day he heard a mysterious voice:
- Give your life - and your friend will return to you!
The prince did not know who said these words. There wasn't a soul around. But he responded to them with all his heart:
- Give up my life? I'm ready!
And, snatching a sharp blade from its sheath, the prince put it to his chest to pierce his heart. But the same mysterious voice said:
- Stop. Don't rush!
The prince looked at the statue, and - lo and behold! — the statue moved! The wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out, his lips trembled, his hands came to life, and the stone Miguel easily jumped to the ground. No, he was no longer made of stone: he was walking towards the prince! With a bold movement, he snatched the sword from his hands and threw it far into the bushes.
Thus ends the magical story about the prince and his stone friend. The young men embraced and went hand in hand to the palace, never to be separated again.
So loyalty and friendship turned out to be stronger than the most evil spells and even stronger than death.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru