Whether it’s true or not, in ancient times there lived one padishah. He married three times. Several times the tulips bloomed and withered on the hills, several times the thick grass lushly covered the fields and valleys, and then dried up. But during all this time, not a single wife gave birth to a single child.
One day, after a long thought over his fate, the padishah called his wazir, who was his right hand, and said to him:
“As you know, I have been dreaming about a child all my life, but never once has my heart been filled with joy at the sight of a desired child.” I order you to travel around the whole world and find me a wife who would make me happy with a son or at least a daughter.
The wazir heard this, was surprised by the padishah’s words, wanted to say where he would find such a wife, but objecting to the padishah was tantamount to demanding death for himself, so he, without saying anything, went to look for the padishah’s desired wife.
Before he had time to leave the country, a conversation between girls reached him in one village. He rode closer to them, stopped his horse and saw three daughters of a shepherd on the bank of a fast-flowing stream.
“If I married a padishah,” said one of the girls, “I would cook a pot of pilaf with which I would feed all the people of his kingdom, and I would also leave it in stock...
“If I married a padishah,” said another girl, “I would weave a carpet that could cover the whole world.” If you roll it up, it becomes the same as a pistachio shell...
“If I married the padishah,” said the third girl, “I would give birth.”
If only he had a son and a daughter with golden curls, with radiant faces, like the sun illuminating the world.
The wazir heard their conversation, was delighted and quickly returned to the padishah.
“Oh, great sovereign,” said the wazir, entering him, “I did not have to travel around the whole world.” In one village of your own country there live three daughters of a shepherd.” And the wazir told the padishah everything that he had heard from the girls.
The childless padishah was delighted and ordered three sisters to be brought to him. The padishah's order was quickly carried out. The wedding was celebrated for seven days and seven nights; the padishah took all three daughters of the shepherd as his wives.
Days passed, weeks passed, months passed. The younger wife was about to have a child.
The padishah was hunting. Carried away, he stopped in one place rich in game. And at this time the shepherd’s daughter gave birth to a son and a daughter. And in fact, the children had golden curls and radiant faces, like the sun illuminating the world. Each child had a large black mole between their eyebrows.
At the sight of such beautiful children of the padishah’s first three wives, the flames of jealousy and hatred for the younger wife began to burn, and the consciousness that for so many years they had not given birth to the padishah either a son or a daughter stabbed them like a sharp sword, and they decided to destroy the children. Having bribed the old woman, the wives ordered her to take the boy and girl somewhere far away and kill them there.
After this, the padishah’s wives took the kitten and the kitten, put them in place of the children and informed the padishah that his wife, instead of the promised son and daughter, gave birth to a kitten with the kitten.
As soon as the padishah heard this news, he was very upset and told the messengers to bite their tongues and not say anything to anyone, because it would greatly discredit his dignity. Then, returning home, the padishah immediately ordered his wazir, his right hand, to put his younger wife in prison.
Meanwhile, the old woman and her children crossed high mountains and waterless deserts. Walking through a distant flowering meadow, she met a shepherd. Seeing two crying children in the old woman’s arms, the shepherd asked her:
“Why did you bring babies to these deserted places?” Whose children are these and where are you taking them?
Frightened by the shepherd, the old woman told him the whole truth, but asked him to keep it secret.
“Otherwise,” she warned, “the padishah will execute both of us.”
The shepherd promised to keep secret everything that the old woman told him, and said:
- Give me these little ones, they will be my children! And take some rag stained with blood to the padishah’s wives and tell them that you carried out their orders.” He slaughtered the lamb and gave the old woman the children’s diapers stained with its blood.
The boy and girl began to grow up in the shepherd's house. He fed the children sheep's milk. The years passed... And the older the children became, the more beautiful they became. The shepherd rebuilt his house and planted a garden around it. When the children grew up, they began to take care of the garden themselves and feast on its fruits. In the large flowering garden, the children grew up joyful and happy.
Finally they became adults. Now the young man picked up a bow and arrows and went hunting. Hunting in forests and dense thickets, he brought home various game. His sister plucked her and prepared food for her father and brother.
One day the padishah was hunting in a mountain gorge and from afar he saw an unusually handsome young man - his radiant face, like a radiance, illuminated everything around. Never in his life had he seen anything like this and rushed on his horse to the young man.
The young man saw an elderly horseman riding in his direction, went to meet him and politely greeted him. The padishah asked who he was, where he lived and who raised him so well.
“I am the son of a shepherd,” answered the young man, “our house is not far from here.”
“Oh, if only I had such a son!” thought the padishah. The old wound in his heart opened again, and he sighed heavily. The padishah liked the young man so much that he began to invite him to the palace.
“If father allows, then I will come to you,” said the young man, and in the evening he told his father about the meeting with the padishah and about his invitation.
“This turned out badly,” thought the shepherd, “it would be better for him not to meet the padishah, nothing good will come of this. But we have no choice, we cannot help but submit to the padishah.” And, having come to this decision, the shepherd sent the young man to the palace of the padishah.
The rumor about the arrival of an unusually handsome young man at the palace quickly spread among the courtiers. When the older wives saw a young man with golden curls and a black mole between his eyebrows, they immediately guessed that he was the son of the padishah. In horror and anger they ran to the old woman and shouted:
“Come on, tell me, is your soul more valuable than gold?”
“Both soul and gold!” answered the frightened old woman.
“If your soul is dear to you, tell the truth: what are you doing with the padishah’s children?” The old woman realized that her secret was open and was forced to tell the whole truth.
But then she begged:
- Have pity on me, old one, now I will do as you want!
The wives were happy about this, gave the old woman more gold and, reassured, went home.
The old woman immediately went to the market, bought sakich, needles, usma and antimony and, passing through the mountains and valleys, came to the shepherd’s garden.
The golden-haired girl was picking fruit in the garden, and a sharp voice reached her,
shouting: “I’m selling goods! Sakich and needles, use and antimony! The girl ran to the gate and through the door bars saw a decrepit old woman with a bag on her shoulder.
“Dear girl,” the old woman turned to her, “tell everyone who is in the garden that an old woman has come from the city and is selling various goods.”
“There’s no one here except me,” said the girl.
- Really! - exclaimed the old woman, feigning surprise, - do you really always sit like this alone?
- Yes, it’s always like that. My brother goes hunting every day. The father drives the cattle far away and does not return home for weeks. From morning to evening I am alone.
“Oh, oh,” the old woman said with contrition. “You can die from boredom!” You need a mirror that shows the whole world. You would put it in front of you and sit, looking at the whole world. You would never be bored: such a mirror is a pleasure!
“But I’m not bored, I don’t have time,” said the girl, “from morning to evening I’m busy with some kind of business, and I’m not bored!”
- No, you will have much more fun with a mirror, and it won’t be so difficult to get it. Ask your hunter brother, he will bring it to you. And if he refuses, have a good cry, he will feel sorry for you, and he will definitely fulfill your request.
The girl was interested in such a mirror, and she decided to follow the old woman’s advice. In the evening she did not go out to meet her brother, but, sitting on the edge of the sufa, cried bitterly.
“What’s wrong with you, why are you crying?” the brother asked sympathetically, rushing to her.
“How can I not cry,” said the sister, raising her tear-stained face. “You leave me and go away.” From morning to evening I am alone, isn’t I bored?.. If I had a mirror that showed the whole world, I would sit, look into it and I wouldn’t be bored!
The brother found his sister’s desire natural and the next morning he went to look for such a mirror. He walked and walked, crossed a snowy pass, then crossed two more snowy passes and finally reached a mountain as transparent as crystal. At the foot of the mountain, on the bank of a clear stream, reflecting everything in itself, as in a mirror, stood an old woman with a staff in her hand.
“Hello, good mother!” said the golden-haired young man politely and respectfully.
“Hello,” answered the old woman. “I’m glad that you are polite and respectful to your elders, otherwise I would turn you into a crystal plate.” Why did you come here and where are you going?
The young man told her about the purpose of his coming.
“Oh, you have taken on a dangerous responsibility,” said the old woman. “Such a mirror is in the power of divas, but don’t worry, I will help you.” Take mine
staff, with it you will be invisible. Behind this crystal mountain is the abode of divas. Stealthily sneak into the palace of the Shah of Divas, and when all the divas fall asleep, find and take from them the mirror you need.
So, with the help of this old woman’s staff, the young man achieved his goal.
The sister was incredibly happy when she saw the mirror brought by her brother, showing the whole world. She could see in that mirror everything she wanted and everyone she wanted.
Having not seen the golden-haired young man with a black mole between his eyebrows for several days, the padishah missed him very much. When the padishah's messenger brought the young man to the palace, the older wives again became frightened and ran to their old woman.
“You deceived us again!” they shouted, raising their fists.
- No, I didn’t deceive you! But if he managed to return from there, he won’t return now!
And then the girl again heard the familiar voice of the old woman and ran to the gate.
“Oh, it’s you, dear mother!” she greeted the old woman joyfully. “You told the truth, I really liked the mirror showing the world!”
- What else is that! There is something even more interesting in the world. Tell your brother to bring you a pair of talking parrots. Talking parrots tell very interesting tales. It's a pleasure to listen to them!
And again, seeing tears flowing in six streams from his only sister, the brother went to look for the talking parrots. He walked and walked and again came to that crystal mountain and met the same old woman.
“This desire of yours is impossible to fulfill,” said the old woman. “Have pity on your young life and come back!” Many brave souls came for these parrots, but they all died here.
“No,” said the young man, “I’m not cowardly enough to go back!” Just tell me which way I need to go?
“Go to the right side of the crystal mountain,” said the old woman. The young man followed the path indicated by the old woman and came to a marvelous flowering land.
There were a lot of beautiful stone statues in the large garden. II suddenly two gentle and pleasant voices reached his ears.
- Sister!
- What, dear sister?
“Is this frivolous young man also looking for us?”
- Let him turn to stone up to his knees!
And at that time the young man felt that his legs had turned to stone up to the knees. And the birds continued to say:
- Sister!
- What, dear sister?
- He wants to catch us and take us away!
- Let him turn to stone up to his waist!
And at this time the young man felt that he was petrified from the waist up.
- Sister!
- What, dear sister?
“This young man wants to put us in a cage and make us his sister’s slaves!”
- Let him turn to stone!
The girl waited for her brother for a week, waited for two weeks, waited for a month, but nothing was heard from him. Sad and worried, she looked into her mirror and one day saw her brother standing petrified in a flowering garden among other stone statues. Moaning with grief, she hit herself on the forehead and, dressing in men's clothes, went to look for her brother. She walked and walked and came to a crystal mountain, to a transparent stream that reflected everything in itself, as if in a mirror.
“Hey, daughter,” said the same old woman, standing by the stream and carefully looking at the girl. “Why are you wearing men’s clothes and where are you going?”
Flooding her tender and beautiful face, like a rose petal, with tears, the girl told the old woman about her petrified brother. The old woman, after thinking for a minute, said:
“You have a good brother, polite and courteous, we need to help him!” You go from the right side of the crystal mountain, you will reach a garden where talking parrots live. But don’t come close to the garden, otherwise you yourself will turn to stone. You, standing at a distance from him, shout your brother’s name at the top of your voice. Then your wish will come true.
The girl thanked the old woman and quickly followed the indicated path. Approaching the garden, she immediately began calling her brother by name at the top of her voice. The girl screamed so loudly that everything around her shook, and at the same moment she heard:
“Oh, what is that voice?” said all the animated statues, heading towards the parrots’ nest. They, wanting to grab the birds, pushed each other away and stretched out their hands for the parrots.
- Sister!
- What, dear sister?
“The voice of a girl dressed in men’s clothing revived all our victims!”
- Yes, but now we can no longer make them stone again!
“We just have to submit and obey this girl,” said one parrot.
“No one else has the right to take possession of us!” said another.
All the people who were trying to kidnap the birds heard these words of the parrots, resigned themselves to their fate and, rejoicing that they had come to life, went home.
The girl took the parrots and went home with her brother.
The padishah, who missed the golden-haired young man, looked for him all the time. And as soon as I found out about his return home, he sent for him and began to ask about the reason for such a long absence. The young man told everything that happened to him.
“Do you have a sister?” asked the surprised padishah and immediately ordered his father and sister to be brought to the palace.
The next day, when the shepherd was preparing to go with the children to the padishah, the parrots began to talk: “Sister!”
- What, dear sister?
“Amazing things are happening in the palace now!” said one parrot.
“All this can be seen in a wonderful mirror,” said another.
The shepherd with his son and daughter immediately looked in the mirror and saw that the padishah’s three wives were pouring poison into all the prepared dishes, into all the sweets, into tea and fruit, as well as onto all the carpets and bedding for the guests.
Long paths were laid out from the gate to the palace hall. The shepherd did not step onto these paths, but walked next to them. The young man and the girl followed in his footsteps.
Silk and satin blankets and velvet pillows were spread out in the hall. The guests did not sit on them, but sat at the entrance.
They brought various delicious dishes, but the guests didn’t even look at them. The padishah, as soon as he saw the golden-haired beauty with a black mole between her eyebrows, was so fascinated by her beauty that he sat and looked, not taking his eyes off her.
When the guests were about to leave, the padishah detained them and said:
- No, you are not going anywhere! I want to marry this girl and now I will order preparations for the wedding, I will invite people from the seven regions to the wedding.
Hearing such words, the shepherd could no longer hide his secret and told the padishah everything.
The amazed and ashamed padishah listened to the shepherd's story with his mouth open in surprise. He ordered his three wives to be called. Trembling with fear, they confessed their guilt.
The mother of the children and the wazir's right hand were freed from the cold and damp dungeon, where they were already close to death. He ordered the guilty wives of the padishah to be severely punished, and he himself, turning to everyone present, said:
“My dear children have been found, my beloved wife has returned to me!” Now you, weaver, weave a carpet that would cover the whole world! And you, cook, cook so much pilaf so that you can feed the people of the whole world to the full!
We were at the big feast, sitting on carpets, eating fatty pilaf and having fun with everyone!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru