A long time ago, there lived an orphan in a certain city. She was both smart and pretty. Everyone who saw her once wanted to look at her again. The girl was so modest and kind that everyone loved her. The chief of the city guard saw the orphan and immediately fell in love with her. When the girl was returning from the market, the head of the guard blocked her path:
- Hey, beauty, I liked you, I want to marry you.
“You, brother boss, are old enough to be my father, and besides, you have a wife and children at home, so I won’t marry you.”
The head of the guard tried to persuade the girl for a long time, but she did not agree to anything. Then he threatened her:
“I’ll take you by force, and if you don’t go by force, I’ll slander you before the city judge.”
“I’m not afraid of slander,” the girl answered. “Do whatever you want, but I said my word.”
The chief of the guard grabbed two or three chickens and eggs and went to the judge. He puts on an offended look and tells the judge that such and such a girl stole his heifer, and he asks to punish her.
When the judge saw the gifts, he immediately agreed to fulfill the request of the chief of the guard and summoned the orphan to him.
“Shame on you,” the judge attacked the girl as soon as she came to him. -Why did you steal this man’s heifer? I will punish you for this in such a way that you will remember it for the rest of your life.
“Mr. Judge,” says the girl, “how do you know that I stole the chief of the guard’s heifer?”
- Where from? “He told me about it himself,” the judge replies.
- Well, so what, what does he say? I also say that he invented everything to slander me.
The girl realized that the judge wanted to support the head of the guard at all costs. Then she said loudly:
- Mister Judge, I see that you have neither honesty nor intelligence. Not knowing the truth, you want to punish me based on this man’s slander. If so, I’m not afraid of you, do whatever you want.
Meanwhile, the judge noticed that the girl was beautiful and thought that it would be nice to get her as his wife.
“You’re right, brother,” the judge said to the chief of the guard. “Now you can go home.” I will punish this girl. After the chief of the guard left, the judge said to the girl:
“You see, your guilt is great, but I will forgive you if you agree to become my wife.”
No matter how much the girl asked, no matter how much she proved that she was not guilty, that the chief of the guard was slandering her, the judge stood his ground. Then the girl said that, even if she was guilty, she would not marry him, that he was good enough to be her grandfather.
The judge rose from his seat and began to prove that he was no old man, that he was as hot as a fifteen-year-old youth. The girl sees that the judge has completely lost his head, he began to caress her, she slapped him in the face and screamed:
- Take your hands off, you old bastard! Otherwise I’ll go out into the street and disgrace you in front of the whole city.
“Well, since you didn’t agree to marry me,” the judge turned to threats, “see what I’ll do to you.” The judge went straight to the padishah.
“May the life of the padishah last,” he began, bowing his head, “you have an orphan living in your city, and she vilifies you everywhere, spreading rumors that you are a bad person.” I wanted to punish her, so she began to vilify me and make lies in vain. I came to you with a request: order the executioner to cut off her head.
The padishah immediately ordered the girl to be brought to him.
“Listen, girl, how dare you carry me around everywhere?”
The girl told the padishah everything as it happened. It seemed to her that the padishah would fairly punish the chief of the guard and the judge. But the padishah turned out to be worse than those two.
The padishah also saw that the girl was a real beauty, and fell in love with her at first sight.
- Listen, girl, if you agree to marry me, I will make you my main wife. If you don’t agree, I’ll order the executioner to cut off your head,” said the padishah.
The girl realized that without cunning she could not get rid of this misfortune.
“May the life of the padishah last,” she pretended to be submissive, “I will marry you.” But for now no one should know about my consent. Tomorrow evening come to my house and we’ll discuss everything with you.
“Having calmed the padishah, the girl went from him to the judge, and then to the chief of the guard. She repeated to each of them what she had said to the padishah:
- I changed my mind. Come to my house tomorrow evening and we’ll discuss everything. The next morning she called a digger from the market, and he dug a well in the middle of the house. I put two pots of water on the fire. Then she went to her old neighbor and invited her to visit:
“Grandma, I’m bored, come and visit me tonight.”
Evening came. The chief of the guard came first. The girl sat him down and started a conversation. At this time there was a knock on the gate. The chief of the guard asked in fear:
-Who is this?
“My husband,” the girl explained.
- What should I do? — the chief of the guard asked, stuttering.
- Tie yourself with a rope - I will lower you into the well, and when your husband leaves, I will pull you up.
The girl lowered the chief of the guard into the well and opened the door. The judge stood at the gate. They had just started talking when there was a knock on the gate again.
- Who is this? - The judge was scared.
“My husband,” answered the girl.
The girl also lowered the judge into the well.
This time she let the padishah into the house. A little later they knocked again. Now the padishah was already afraid. The girl tied him with a rope and lowered him into the well. This time, an old neighbor came to the girl. The girl and the old woman talked a little about this and that. Suddenly the old woman turned her attention to the boilers on the fireplace.
“What is that boiling in your cauldrons, daughter?” - she asked curiously.
“Yes, I’m boiling water, grandma,” the girl answered.
- Why do you need so much boiling water?
“There are a lot of living creatures in the well, I want to scald the well to kill all the snakes and scorpions.”
The girl and the old woman together tipped the pots of boiling water into the well. The judge, padishah and chief of the guard were boiled alive. After the old woman left, the girl pulled the corpses out of the well with a hook on a long rope. She wrapped each one individually in a white shroud and wondered where to bury them. He sees a shepherd riding past the house on a donkey. She called him and said:
- Brother, my father is dead, bury him. I'll pay whatever you need. But be careful, my father was very unscrupulous, he might come back.
The shepherd agreed. He loaded the corpse onto a donkey, took it and buried it in the steppe. And during this time the girl put the second corpse in the yard. The shepherd returned for payment and saw a dead man lying in the yard.
- Who is this? — the shepherd was surprised.
“Brother, I told you that this dead man has no conscience, and can even escape from the grave.” Apparently, you buried it shallowly, and it got ahead of you. Take him away and bury him so that he never comes back.
“Well, this time I’ll bury you deeply, sister,” the shepherd assured.
He loaded the corpse onto a donkey and took it far out of town. He chose a high rock, with difficulty lifted his load there and threw his body down. And under the rock at that time some mullah was performing prayer. The mullah got scared when he saw the dead body in the shroud, interrupted his prayer and took off running. The shepherd noticed from the cliff that someone was running below, and decided that the corpse had come to life again. He ran after the mullah, caught up with him and hit him on the head with his baton.
“May the devils take you away,” exclaimed the indignant shepherd. “Even if you’re dead, you need to have a conscience.” The mullah's skull was split in two by the blow of a club, like a ripe watermelon. The shepherd dug a deep hole and buried the mullah in it. Again he returned to the girl for payment. Meanwhile, the girl prepared the third dead man in the yard.
“Well, brother,” the girl exclaimed as soon as the shepherd entered the gate, “I asked you to bury him deeper.” You see, he deceived you again.
“Oh, the devils may take your father away,” the shepherd became seriously angry, “well, he’s shameless.” This time I will arrange something for him that, even if he is thrice cunning, he will not be able to return. Grumbling, the shepherd threw the dead man onto a donkey and set off. He lowered the body onto the mill wheel so that it would be blown to pieces. And at that time the miller was bathing under the mill wheel. The shepherd looked down to see how he was doing, to see if he had come to life again. Look, someone is splashing in the water right next to the wheel. The shepherd decided that this time the dead man had come to life. He ran into the miller and started hitting him with a club and saying:
- Here you go, here you go! You will know how to come alive!
He beat the miller to death and turned him into a bag of bones. He returned to the girl and was glad that the dead man was no longer there; he did not return this time. The shepherd received his pay and left. And the girl, having destroyed all her enemies, began to live carefree and happily.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru