There was and there was nothing - there lived only one king. The king had a servant. He was a very clever servant, and he knew his business well. So one day the servant decided: “Let me learn another craft.” I thought, thought, searched, chose - and chose theft. He will leave the hat in the royal chambers, then sneak up and take it away. The king saw him stealing his hat, called him and said:
“Hey, guy, what are you doing there?” “Sir,” answered the servant, “I learned to serve you well, I also want to learn how to steal.” “Okay,” said the king, “I have a white horse; If you steal him, you’ll get two thousand; if you don’t, I’ll take his head off.” “Very good,” said the thief.
The king ordered the horse to be brought into the stable, put one man on the horse, gave the reins to another, and placed a third at the door.
The thief got up at night, took all kinds of food and a jug of vodka, brought it all to the guards and said: “The Tsar sent it to you, have dinner and drink so as not to fall asleep.” The one who was standing at the door fell asleep standing there; the one who was holding the reins fell down with the reins, and the one who was sitting on the horse fell asleep on the horse.
The thief took the reins from the horse, pulled off the rider along with the saddle, sat on the horse and rode off. The next morning the king enters the stable - there is no horse. He called the thief and gave him two thousand. The thief brought a horse. The king said to him: “I have black bulls; If you steal them, you’ll get three thousand, if not, I’ll take your head off. “Okay,” says the thief.
Shepherds guard the bulls in the mountains. A thief went, took a pair of boots, smeared one boot with mud, and left the other clean. He threw the dirty boot on the road along which the shepherds led the bulls to water, and placed the clean one near the water. He hid himself. The shepherds took the bulls to a watering place and saw a boot lying there; They picked it up, they wanted to take it, but they thought: it’s just one boot, and even that one is covered in dirt, it’s not worth washing. We reached the water, saw another boot, were delighted and ran after the first one. And the thief went out and stole the bulls.
The shepherds returned, but there was no trace of the bulls. They rushed here and there - no bulls. They went to the king to report: so and so, misfortune - the bulls disappeared. The king realized whose business this was and called the thief. “Lead the bulls, take your three thousand.”
The thief drove the bulls and took three thousand. They argued for the third time. “If you manage to steal my wife, I’ll give you half the kingdom,” said the king, “but if not, I’ll take off your head.” The thief asked for two weeks. They gave it to him.
And the king decided to kill the thief. He surrounded his palace with troops and ordered to shoot whoever showed up. The thief found the dead man, dressed him in his dress, dragged him and placed him at the gate. The guards thought that this was the thief, let’s shoot at him, they riddled him all over. They reported to the king that they had killed the thief. The king was delighted, ordered to bury the imaginary thief and disbanded the entire army. And the thief crept into the palace, grabbed the queen and ran away with her.
The thief is leading the beautiful queen, and the devil is meeting her. The devil liked the queen: “Sell it!” “I’ll sell it, but what will you give me?” - I'll give you whatever you want. - Give me a hat full of gold.
The devil was delighted, ran for the gold, and the thief dug a huge hole, made a hole in his hat and covered the hole with it. The devil pours gold, he pours it, he can’t fill his hat, he dragged all his gold, barely filled the hole. The devil took the queen away.
The king returned from the funeral - the queen was gone. He called the thief. “Bring your wife, take half the kingdom.” The thief went to hell and said: “I don’t need your gold!” It was the queen, return it - the king demands. “No,” says the devil, “let’s compete.” Whoever wins gets the gold and the woman. “Come on, how?” “Let’s run,” says the devil, “whoever runs first wins.” “Okay,” said the thief, “I’ll just run myself, I’ll go and get my cousin.” “Okay,” says the devil, “if you have a brother to overtake me.” A thief went, caught two birds with one stone, put one in his bosom, took the other in his hands, stroked it, saying: “Come on, little bunny brother, run, don’t disgrace yourself.” “I’m ready,” says the devil, “let’s go with your brother.” “You run, he’ll catch up.”
The thief let the hare go, it darted into the bushes and ran away. The devil rushed after him. The thief took out another hare from his bosom, held it in his hands, stroked it and said: “Well done, brother hare, you didn’t disgrace me.” The devil runs back and shouts: “Here I am, where is your brother?” “He came running a long time ago, he’s waiting for you,” says the thief. The devil argued: “I don’t agree, let’s argue differently.” “Come on,” says the thief, “but how?” “Come on, who can shout louder.” “You’re crazy, why should we shout?” The devil doesn’t lag behind, the thief agreed. As the devil screamed, our thief almost went deaf and barely survived. You have to shout to the thief, and he says: “You don’t have to shout like that, but the way I’ll show you.” Just plug your ears with cotton wool and blindfold your eyes - otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll deafen you or blind you.
The devil plugged his ears and blindfolded him. “Well, hold on,” says the thief, “I’ll scream now!” - he took a huge club and hit the devil on the head. - Ay, that’s enough, don’t shout anymore! - the devil prays. And the thief beats him even more. The devil roared. “Well, did I win?” - asked the thief. - Not yet, - says the devil. - What else do you want? - Let's fight, - whoever is stronger among us, let him take both the gold and the queen. - Good, - says the thief, - I’m only afraid to kill you, but I have an old uncle, let’s go, - he will fight with you. The devil was happy: - Very good!
The thief took him to the bear’s den and said: “He’s lying there, go to him, grab him by the hand, drag him, he’ll come out, and you’ll fight.” The devil climbed up to the bear, grabbed him, grabbed him, dragged him, the uncle-monk got angry, raised his paw and smeared the devil on the head, knocked him down and started beating him. He finished it off to perfection. And the queen and the gold went to the thief. A thief came to the king, removed him from his reign and became the king himself.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru