Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had three sons. All three are healthy, strong and beautiful. They lived very poorly: they had little land; and then there are all sorts of misfortunes: either the grain will not be produced due to drought, then it will be knocked out by hail, then, you see, the pestilence will destroy all the cattle.
The sons grew up and began to help their father in his work: they work day and night, they work until they sweat, until they get tired, but there is still no luck.
- Look, look! - say the neighbors. “What great fellows, but they can’t feed themselves and their old people.” Shame!.. It would be better if they went somewhere else, hired themselves as workers. Maybe then they would get better.
The sons felt offended. They went to their father and mother and asked:
- Let us go, father and mother! Let's go to live on someone else's side and find happiness!
The old man and the old woman became sad and cried:
-Where are you going, sons? Who will you leave us old people for?
The eldest son says to this:
- Don’t cry, father and mother, don’t grieve! We will find a free land!
Middle added:
“We’ll sow grain there.”
And the younger one said:
- And we will never leave you, father and mother, we will never forget! As soon as we get stronger, we will help you.
The old man and the old woman agreed to let their sons go to new lands.
We collected them for the journey. The sons said goodbye and, in memory of themselves, planted a young green willow under the window. The sons said to their father and mother:
- Take care of our willow, water it! While it is green and fresh, we are alive and well, but if it dries up, it is not good!
The sons left. The old man and the old woman were left alone.
How much or how much time has passed - their daughter was born, pretty and affectionate. A willow grows in front of the windows, and my daughter grows - one more beautiful than the other. The old men feed and water their daughter, dress her, put on shoes and take care of the willow tree: they water it with water and protect it from cattle.
The girl grew up big and began to go outside and play with her friends. One day she comes home and cries bitterly. Her mother asks:
“Why are you crying, my daughter? Did anyone offend you?”
- How can I not cry! All my girlfriends in the village have older brothers, but I’m the only one!
The mother became sad. She told her daughter about her three sons, how they planted a willow tree under the window and left want and shortages to look for free land.
“Since then, I haven’t heard a word about them,” she added.
A girl fell in love with a young willow and began to take care of it: she picks dry leaves from it, waters it with water, or sits under it, sings a song or embroiders.
Once she noticed that dry branches began to appear on the willow: first one, then another.
“Oh, this is not good!” the girl thinks. “Did something happen to the brothers on the other side? We need to visit them, visit them.”
She went to her father and mother and began to ask to stay with her brothers. The old people got scared and began to dissuade their daughter:
- Where are you going, daughter! The path is long, hard - you will be tortured, you won’t get there!
- It’s okay, I’ll get there! Even though I’m tired, I’ll see my brothers!
They see an old man and an old woman - there is nothing to do, they let their daughter go.
Her mother dressed her in a white shirt, embroidered with red silk, put on a white shushun (women's outer clothing like a shirt, sundress), decorated with gold sequins, embroidered with silk and beads, belted it with a red sash, wove a scarlet ribbon into her braids, put a necklace of shiny coins around her neck, and covered her head with a scarf. raspberry.
The mother began to cry, hugged her beloved daughter, and her two hot tears fell onto the girl’s chest.
- My dear daughter, beloved daughter! - says the mother. “My tears will save you, deliver you, protect you from bad troubles, from illness, and from any misfortune.” Never forget me, dear daughter: both during a difficult journey and during rest. And I will always remember you, day and night!
The girl said goodbye to her father and mother, took a bundle of bread and went on a long journey to look for her brothers.
Whether it was long or short, whether close or far, is unknown: soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done. The girl passed through many villages and many fields. She walks through a dense, dark forest. Suddenly Syre-Varda meets her, shaggy, dirty, leaning on a stick, looking around, shaking her head.
- Hello, daughter! Where are you going?
“I’m going, grandma, on a long journey: to look for my older brothers.”
- Let me walk you! It's more fun on the road together.
- Let's go!
The girl and Syre-Varda went together.
They walked and walked and reached the river.
Syre-Varda says:
- Hey, daughter, let's take a bath, it's hard, very stuffy!
“Come on,” the girl answers.
They chose a place—a sandy, sloping bank—and undressed. The girl, not expecting trouble, jumped into the water! She bathes, jumps, splashes, and she covers her chest with her hand so that the flowing water does not wash away her mother’s tears.
Meanwhile, Syre-Varda threw her old, dirty rags onto the sand, took off her worn-out bast shoes and let’s quickly, quickly dress in girls’ clothes. The girl saw this and said to Syre-Varda:
- Why are you wearing my clothes? Don't touch them!
And Syre-Varda responded:
- Now put on my rags! They will be good for you too!
The girl sees it - trouble. She cried and screamed:
- Oh, mommy, dear mommy! Syre-Varda puts on my dress, dresses up in my outfits, covers herself with my scarf!
The mother's voice was heard here:
- Now, now, daughter! I'm running to help you out! I’ll take a heavy stick and beat Syre-Varda.
It was the mother’s tears that echoed from the girl’s chest.
Syre-Varda was frightened, quickly threw away her girl’s clothes, put on her old rags, and put on her bast shoes.
The girl got dressed in her clothes and moved on. And Syre-Varda does not lag behind her, following on her heels.
“Oh,” he says, “how angry your mother is!” But she shouldn’t have been angry: I was joking with you! And how did she hear your voice?
“It was her tears that echoed from my chest,” says the girl.
Syre-Varda remained silent and did not say anything.
Whether they walked long or short, the road again led them to the river. The banks of the river are green, the water in the river is cold, and the day is hot, sultry, the sun is burning hot.
Syre-Varda says to the girl:
- Let's go for a swim, daughter! It will be easier to walk!
The girl wants to take a swim, cool off from the heat, and wash herself off from the road dust, but she’s afraid: what if Syre-Varda steals her clothes! And Syre-Varda guessed and said:
-What are you afraid of? Don’t be afraid, I won’t take your dresses: now I’ll go into the river with you, I’ll swim myself!
The cunning witch undressed and climbed into the water first.
The girl couldn’t stand it: she took off her clothes and also entered the water. They are swimming. and the girl still covers her chest with her hand. Suddenly Syre-Varda rushes to her and let’s splash water on her chest!
Before the girl had time to scream, Syre-Varda had already washed her mother’s tears from her chest, ran out of the water, grabbed her clothes and let’s dress up.
The girl began to cry and screamed:
- Oh, mommy, dear mommy! Syre-Varda took my clothes from me, dresses up in my clothes, covers herself with my scarf...
Only the mother doesn’t answer, doesn’t respond.
The girl cried for a long time, but her tears did not help her grief. She came out of the water and asked and asked Syre-Vard to give her clothes. But Syre-Varda doesn’t even think about giving them away. There was nothing to do, the girl began to dress in Syre-Varda’s old rags. She got dressed and went out onto the road. And Syre-Varda is already waiting for her.
She took tar and mud, smeared the girl’s face and said:
- Your face is for me, my face is for you!
And Syre-Varda became young and beautiful, and the girl became black and dirty...
They moved on. Syre-Varda comes and repeats:
“When we come to your brothers, don’t you dare tell them that you are their sister, they won’t believe you anyway.” And if you say, you won’t live!
Whether it was long or short, whether close or far, is unknown. The fairy tale is told soon, but the deed is not done soon. They finally came to distant lands and found their older brothers. Syre-Varda tells them:
“I am your sister, my dear brothers, I came to stay with you, to visit you in a foreign country!”
The brothers rejoiced. They kiss her, hug her, call her affectionate names. Then they looked at the ragged, dirty girl and asked:
-Who is this with you? Who did you bring to us, sister?
- And this is an orphan, a tramp! - says Syre-Varda. “I found her in the forest, felt sorry for her and took her with me.” Send her to the back hut, let her sit there and not show herself here!
The brothers sent their own sister to the back hut - they didn’t even look at her, they didn’t say anything to her. And they put Syre-Varda in the front corner, fed her pies, gave her honey and home brew. And when night came, they laid her on a soft bed, on feather pillows.
The next day the brothers got up early in the morning and gathered in the field to harvest grain. They say to Syre-Varda:
“Well, our beloved sister, we’ll go to the field, and you go to the threshing floor to guard the grain.” Yesterday we threshed rye for seeds, but didn’t have time to put it in the barn. Make sure the birds don't steal the grain.
Syre-Varda went to the threshing floor, sat down at the edge of the threshing floor (a cleared place for threshing) and let's call crows, jackdaws, pigeons and sparrows:
- Come, birds, gather! Rip up, peck all the grain, throw straw all over the threshing floor!
Flocks of birds flocked here and gathered to the threshing floor: jackdaws, crows, rooks, and pigeons. They swooped in like a dark cloud, began tearing up a pile of rye, pecking at grain, and littering the entire threshing floor with straw. And Syre-Varda went home. She ate, drank, and lay down on the bed.
The brothers arrived from the field in the evening and saw that the threshing floor was in such a mess as never before. They got angry at Syre-Varda and said:
- Why, sister, did you guard the barn so poorly?
- Yes, you will keep watch here! - Syre-Varda answers the brothers. “I worked day and day, I was completely tired, exhausted. You better go and guard the threshing floor for the ragged beggar woman who came with me.
The next day the brothers sent their real sister to guard the threshing floor, and they themselves went to the field.
A girl came to the threshing floor, sat down on the edge of the threshing floor and sang a song: she began calling crows, jackdaws, doves, and sparrows. I began to ask them to collect all the straws from the threshing floor, to collect the threshed rye, to cover it with straw from the dew.
The birds listened to her. Jackdaws, crows, pigeons, rooks, and sparrows flocked to the threshing floor and began to clean the threshing floor. They tidied up the straw in one place and took it down one straw at a time. They collected a pile, grain by grain, and covered it with fresh straw.
The brothers arrived in the evening and saw that the threshing floor was unrecognizable! Everything is clean, tidy, swept. The grain is whole and covered with fresh straw. The brothers began to say to each other:
- What kind of miracle? Isn't this girl our real sister? You see how caring, hardworking she is, and her face resembles our mother. And that good-for-nothing, lazy girl! We need to find out everything!
The next day they again sent their sister to the threshing floor to guard the rye. And they themselves say:
“Let’s go slowly, look and listen: won’t we see or hear anything?”
A girl came to the threshing floor, sat down and sang a song about her father, about her mother, about the green willow that the brothers planted under the window. Then she began to sing how the evil witch Syre-Varda deceived her, took her clothes and pretended to be a young beauty. The brothers found out everything. They ran up to the girl and said:
“Why, sister, didn’t you open up to us earlier?”
- Yes, Syre-Varda threatened to kill me.
The brothers rushed to the deceiver Syra-Varda. They took off her sister’s clothes and told her to dress in rags. Here Syre-Varda again became scary and old.
The brothers tied her to the horse's tail, and the horse sped off the evil witch to an unknown destination.
The sister stayed with her brothers for a long time and began to get ready to go home. They harnessed a couple of horses, tied a bell to the arc, wrapped a red sash around the arc, put gifts in the cart and escorted the sister to her native place, to her father, to her mother.
[Syre-varda - evil old woman, witch]
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru