One man had a son, his name was Strongman. The Strongman grew up and asked his father:
“Father, show me our fields, how big they are.” His father took him to look at the fields. And in the middle of the field there was a big, big spruce tree. The strongman asks:
-What kind of flower is this?
He grabbed the spruce by the top and tore it out along with the roots. The father was surprised, and the Strong Man took the spruce with one hand, peeled off all the branches with the other and said:
“I’ll have a nice cane when I go for a walk.”
They returned home, the Strong Man became hungry and asked his mother for food. The mother wanted to whip up something to eat, but the father said:
“You won’t feed him with such a little.” Better cook some porridge in our ten-bucket cauldron.
The mother cooked porridge and was about to put it in a bowl, but the Strong Man said:
– Why else apply it? So let's eat from the cauldron. And as soon as he took the porridge, he ate it all. The father saw this and frowned:
- No, son, I can’t feed you! You better go to the king. In the palace you will find work you can handle, and you can eat there as much as your heart desires.
“Well, father, I wouldn’t mind, but I won’t go myself.” Let the king come for me, then I will go.
The king sent for him once, sent again, but the Strongman still did not come. Then the king sent six soldiers for him, but he still didn’t want to. Well, he’s not going well, the soldiers decided to bring him in by force. And the Strongman laughs:
- I’ll start messing with you ferrets! Here you go!
And just as he hit each soldier with his finger, he killed them all on the spot. The king sent twelve soldiers for him. The Strongman also interrupted them. And then he thought about it: “That’s not the point, he killed so many royal soldiers! I’ll have to go to him.”
He came to the king, offered his hand and asked:
- Well, king, what good can you say?
- Stay and serve me, I have a lot to do!
- Well, I guess I’ll serve! – the Strong Man muttered and stayed.
After some time, the Strongman began to hint to the king that he would not mind marrying the princess.
The king just rolled his eyes:
“Well, son, if you want to marry my daughter, first get me a golden horse, a golden dog and a golden rooster.” Until you get it, I won’t give it to your daughter.
- OK! - The Strong Man agreed and immediately went to the blacksmith so that he could forge him a stronger club, one that would not bend or break.
The blacksmith forged a club weighing as much as a berkovets. But the Strong Man hit himself on the finger with the baton - the baton broke. The blacksmith added a berk of iron, and the club came out great.
Before setting off, the Strongman came to the princess to say goodbye and ordered her to wait for him and, God forbid, not to marry someone else.
The princess promised to wait for him and put her gold ring on his finger.
The Strong Man walked and walked and met a huge fellow and asked him:
- Who are you?
- I am Water Disperse. As soon as I put my stick in the water, the water will immediately part and you can walk on dry ground.
- Come with me!
Vodurazgonay agreed. They walked and walked and met a man who moved mountains. The Strongman asks him:
- Who are you?
- I am Move Mountains.
- Come with us!
The three of them went and met another giant. The Strongman asks him:
- Who are you?
- I - You-see-everything-hear-everything a hundred miles away.
- Come with us!
The four of them went further and came to the castle where the devil lived. And there was a big river flowing around the castle - there was no way to get across.
He hit Water Disperse with his stick on the water, and it immediately became dry. They entered the castle and saw a decrepit old woman sitting in the room. It was the damn mother. And the devil himself and his sons have gone to no one knows where.
A bridge was thrown across the river to the castle, along which the devils rode home. The Strongman ordered to keep an eye on this bridge a hundred miles away so that the devils would not take them by surprise. And Disperse the Water and Move the Mountains, sent him to bed, and lay down to take a nap. He dozed and dozed, but couldn’t really fall asleep. Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore, I rubbed my eyes, jumped out of bed and went to see what was going on at the bridge. Comes. Here you go! A hundred miles away you can see everything, hear everything, snore with all your might!
Oh, the Strong Man got angry, but he thought and thought and didn’t wake him up: let the sleepyhead get some sleep! The Strongman sat down under the bridge and decided to waylay the devils himself.
He waited, waited and waited - around midnight the devil’s youngest son was riding on a black horse, followed by a black dog and a black rooster. He drove up to the bridge, but the horse did not go onto the bridge.
- Why don’t you go to the bridge? - asks the young devil. And the horse, dog and rooster answer:
“There’s a hero standing under the bridge, he’ll kill us.”
- Well, if he’s so strong, let him come out - we’ll fight!
The Strongman came out from under the bridge and fucked the young devil on the head with his iron club - he was out of his mind.
Strong Man took the horse, dog and rooster to the damn stable and locked them there.
The next morning, the Strongman asks A hundred miles away, you see everything, you hear everything:
- Well, what did you see last night?
“I didn’t see anything,” he answers.
Well - no, no. The Strongman ordered the next night to move the Mountains and go to guard the bridge. But he also fell asleep. Strongman had to lie in wait for the devils instead. That night he killed the devil’s middle son, and locked his horse, dog and rooster in the stable.
On the third night, Vodurazgonay guarded the bridge, and everything was the same as on the first two nights. That night the Strongman killed the devil’s eldest son, and locked the horse, dog and rooster in the stable.
On the fourth night, the Strongman himself gathered to guard the bridge. Before leaving, he put three plates on the table, a glass on each plate, poured water into the glasses and ordered his comrades:
– You stay here and look into these glasses. If the water in them turns red, then stir it with all your might, so that when I fight the devil on the bridge, I will have more strength.
The Strongman went down under the bridge and waited. Now midnight has come, the devil himself is galloping on a golden horse - the earth shakes under him, and behind him is a golden dog and a golden rooster. The devil rode up to the bridge - the golden horse neighs, the golden dog barks, the golden rooster crows, but they don’t want to go to the bridge.
- Why don’t you go to the bridge? - the devil shouts. The golden horse, the golden dog and the golden rooster answer him:
“The Strongman himself is standing under the bridge, he will kill us.”
- Well, if it’s the vaunted Strongman himself, let him come out and measure his strength with me!
The Strongman came out from under the bridge, and they began to fight. The devil hit the Strongman, and he went into the ground almost up to his knees. Then the Strong Man hit the devil and drove him into the ground up to his ankles. The devil hit the Strongman a second time, and the Strongman went into the ground above his knees. Now the Strong Man hit the devil, and now the devil is almost up to his knees in the ground. The devil hit the Strong Man a third time and drove him into the ground up to his hips. The Strongman says to the devil:
– What, can you rest while working?
“Of course, it’s possible,” the devil answers.
Meanwhile, the water in the glasses turned into blood, foamed, overflowed, and the idlers were tired of the day and fell asleep.
The Strong Man understood what was going on, and as soon as the devil gave him a break, he tore his hat off his head and threw it at the castle wall, but his comrades never woke up. Then he tore off his shoes and threw them into the castle wall - and his friends slept and slept. Finally he tore the scarf from his neck and threw it at the castle wall. Fortunately, the scarf broke through the wall and hit the legs of the beds. The sleepyheads immediately woke up, sensed that trouble had struck, and began stirring the water in the glasses as best they could.
And the more they interfered, the stronger the Strongman became. Again he rushed at the devil. And - what a miracle! - the devil hits him with all his might, but the Strongman not only does not go into the ground, but, on the contrary, after each blow he rises from the ground. The devil had a hard time: the Strong Man drove him completely into the ground, laughed and shouted:
- May the devils take you away!
The Strongman dealt with the devil, and brought his golden horse, golden dog and golden rooster to the castle. He called his comrades and slapped them in the face for almost killing him. The next morning the Strong Man gave each of them a horse, a dog and a rooster - those that the devil had taken from his sons. He left for himself a golden horse, a golden dog and a golden rooster. All four of them jumped on their horses and turned towards the house.
We drove a little, and the Strong Man suddenly remembered:
- Where is the gold ring that the princess put on my finger? I forgot it in the devil's castle!
There is nothing to do. He told his comrades to go further, and he turned around the ring. I drove up to the castle, but - what is it? – the gate is locked, you can’t get into the castle! The Strongman thought: what should he do now? Then the golden horse, dog and rooster taught him how to turn into a fly in order to crawl through the keyhole and get the ring. The Strong Man turned into a fly, crawled through the keyhole and was just about to take the ring, when suddenly he saw: three damn daughters and the devil’s mother sitting in another room and gossiping about something. He decided to eavesdrop on what they were talking about.
The Strongman flew into the room, sat down on the stove and listened. Damn mother says:
“We definitely must take revenge on this Strong Man.” Tomorrow I will turn into a white tavern by the road along which they will travel. They will go into the tavern and stay there.
- This is not enough! - says the first daughter. “I’ll turn into a hot sun and scorch them mercilessly.” They will be thirsty, and a cool river will appear in front of them. They will drink from the river and stay there.
- This is not enough! - says the second daughter. - I will turn into a pear strewn with fruits. They will taste the pears and stay there.
– And that’s not enough! - says the third daughter. “I will turn myself into a soft meadow and send them to sleep.” They hobble the horses, lie down on the grass and remain there.
The Strong Man listened to all this, grabbed the ring, crawled through the keyhole, took on his previous appearance, jumped on the golden horse and set off as fast as he could to catch up with his fellow travelers, while the golden dog and golden rooster ran after him.
He caught up with his comrades, but didn’t say a word. They drive and drive and see: of course, there is a white tavern standing by the road. Strongman’s comrades are eager to enter the inn, as if someone is pulling them, but Strongman won’t let them in for anything. They move on. The sun is so hot, so hot – I have no strength! And then, as if on purpose, the river flows, and the water in it is clear and cool. For his comrades, it’s like manna from heaven: they need to get drunk, that’s all, but the Strongman will never allow it. They passed this river, and the Strong Man told them to look back. We looked: there was no river, and I didn’t want to drink anymore. They move on. There is a pear tree standing by the road, and it is full of fruits. How passionately they want to taste the pears, but the Strongman did not allow this either. They drove a little more - there was a meadow in front of them. The grass on it is soft, fragrant, and they wanted to sleep so much that they fell off their horses. And the Strongman is in a hurry:
– There’s no point in sleeping here! Let's move on!
We reached the crossroads and the dream disappeared! The Strongman said goodbye to his comrades at the crossroads and said:
“Each of you take a horse, a dog and a rooster and go wherever you want, and I’ll go home.”
The Strongman returned with a golden horse, a golden dog and a golden rooster to the king and married the princess.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru