Either it was or it wasn’t, there lived, they say, a widower in the world, and he had a beautiful daughter.
It was difficult for a widower without a wife. He married a second time. And the stepmother, as soon as she entered the house, hated her stepdaughter and from morning to night did not give her husband peace:
- Take her wherever you want, just so she doesn’t come back! Her husband asked her, persuaded her, but the evil woman stood her ground and finally got it. The daughter herself asked her father:
- Let's go, take me away, father! The light is great, I won’t be lost...
A father and daughter went to the market. He bought a bear skin from a hunter, put it on the girl and went to the capital.
Passing by the royal palace, he shouted loudly:
– I’m selling a teddy bear! I'm selling a teddy bear! The prince heard this, looked out of the window and asked:
– What can your little bear do?
- Whatever you order! - said the father. The prince was delighted at such fun. Paid three gold pieces. I bought a teddy bear!
Here the little bear lives with the Tsarevich, making him happy: he cleans the chambers, cleans the weapons, serves at the table... The Tsarevich cannot praise them enough.
And the girl, when all the work is done, crawls into a corner and slowly sews dresses for herself from the scraps that she begs from the royal tailors. She sewed three: silver, gold, semi-precious, each more beautiful than the other and so thin that she hid them in a nut shell.
Once there was a feast in the palace, and the king, the prince and all his retinue gathered at the feast. The girl took off her bearskin, put on a silver dress and also went. She really wanted to dance!
When they saw such a beauty at the feast, they greeted her with honor and seated her next to the prince. Music played, young people danced. The girl and the prince also went to dance. And the prince did not take his eyes off her - he liked her so much... But he did not admire her for long. The dance ended, the girl ran away, and no one knew: whose she was and where she came from?
The prince asked everyone, and everyone just threw up their hands and shook their heads. He decided to have a feast again. Maybe a beauty will come to see him?
The music began again and the guests gathered. They started dancing... And again the girl came to the holiday, only this time not in a silver, but in a gold dress, and she was even more beautiful; everyone just looked at her. She and the prince danced, and a little later the beauty quietly disappeared again. No matter how much they looked for her - the bear cub also looked for her along with everyone else - they turned the whole palace upside down, but they still couldn’t find her.
The prince called the guests again for the holiday. We had a feast. The music started... Let's all go dancing. And again the beauty appeared, and besides, in a semi-precious dress, so that she blinded everyone with her beauty and attire. The prince went to dance with her, put a ring on her finger and asked her to marry him. The girl agreed, but as soon as the prince turned away by chance, she disappeared unnoticed, and was never found. The entire capital was searched, every house was entered. There is no such thing as a beauty!
And the prince said:
– Prepare the food so that it tastes good and is not too heavy. I will go looking for my bride throughout the kingdom.
They began to prepare travel supplies and began to bake bread. And the little bear came to the cook, who was kneading the dough, and extended his paw: give me a piece!
The cook got angry.
- Go away! - she screamed. - Damn you! And without you it’s sickening here!
The prince heard this and felt sorry for his beloved bear cub:
- Give him a piece of dough, it’s not his fault!
They gave the bear girl dough, and she ran to her corner, hid the ring given by the prince in the dough, made a loaf of bread, and then took it to the baker to put it in the oven. The baker baked a loaf of bread, and the little bear put it in the khur-jin, where the food prepared for the prince for the journey lay. Everyone around laughed and began to make fun of the bear cub: this is what a treat he has prepared for the owner. But the prince stood up for him here too.
“Leave it,” he said. – Who knows, maybe this bread will bring us good luck?
The prince set off on his journey, traveled all over the kingdom from end to end, but did not find the beauty. He ran out of travel supplies. The prince asks his servants:
– Do we have any food left?
“No,” the servants answer. - Only the bread that the little bear put in.
- Well, let's at least have it. I'll try!
The prince broke the loaf of bread, and a ring fell out. The prince recognized his gift.
- So this is who my bride is! - he shouted. - Let's go home immediately!
- Why are you so cheerful? - the king asked him when the prince returned to the palace. – Have you found your betrothed?
- Found it! - says the prince. “Only I’m very hungry.” Let my little bear bring me lunch as soon as possible.
They told the bear cub to serve lunch, but he resists and doesn’t want to. They reported to the prince that the bear cub was not listening. The prince laughed:
- Well, okay! I'll bring him myself!
He brought the bear cub to his chambers and said:
- Now stop hiding! Get out of this skin!
The girl shed her bear skin and came out more beautiful than a semi-precious stone. And there was a great celebration here in the palace. Seven zurnachs and a drummer were called, the wedding was played, and the beauty was married off to the prince.
Here's a little bear for you!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru