There lived a grandfather and a woman, they had no children. The grandfather is grieving, the woman is grieving: “Who will look after us in our old age, since we have no children?” So the woman asks the grandfather: “Go and go, grandfather, to the forest, cut down a tree for me, we’ll make a cradle, I’ll put a little chick in the cradle and I’ll rock it, it will at least be fun for me!”
Grandfather went, cut down a tree, and made a cradle. The woman put the little chick in her cradle, rocked her and sang a song:
Lyuli-lyuli, my Telesika, I cooked a kuleshika with legs and arms, Enough to feed you! It sways and sings, sways and sings. In the evening we went to bed. In the morning they get up, and lo and behold, that little girl has become a son. They were so happy, oh my God! And they named that son Telesik.
My son is growing up, he is growing up and he has become so handsome that you can’t even imagine or imagine, you can only describe him in a fairy tale.
Now he has grown up and says: “Give me a tattoo, a golden shuttle and a silver oar, I will catch fish and feed you!”
So grandpa made a golden shuttle and a silver oar, they lowered it onto the river, and it swam. Here he swims along the river, catches fish, feeds his grandfather and woman; What he catches, gives back and swims again. So he lives on the river. And his mother brings him food. So she says once: “Look, son, don’t be mistaken, how I start calling you, swim to the shore, and if someone is a stranger, then swim further!”
So his mother cooked him breakfast, brought him ashore and called:
My Telesik, Telesik! I made some kuleshika, with arms and legs, enough to feed you. Telesik heard: “It’s my mother who brought me breakfast!”
Floating. He landed on the shore, ate, drank, pushed the golden shuttle away with a silver oar and swam further to catch fish.
And the witch overheard Telesika’s mother calling, went up to the shore and started shouting in a thick voice:
My telesik, Telesika! I cooked a kuleshik, And with arms and legs, Enough to feed you. And he hears. - No, this is not my mother’s voice. Swim, swim, shuttle, further, further! Swim, swim, shuttle, on!
The shuttle sailed. And the witch stood and stood and walked away from the shore.
So Telesik’s mother cooked him lunch, brought him to the bank and called:
My telesik, Telesik! I cooked a kuleshik, And with arms and legs, Enough to feed you. He heard.
- It was my mother who brought me lunch!
He swam to the shore, ate and drank, gave his mother the fish he had caught, pushed the shuttle away and swam again.
The witch comes to the shore and again in a thick voice:
My telesik, Telesika! I cooked a kuleshika, And with arms and legs, Enough to feed you. He heard that this was not his mother’s voice, and waved his oar: “Swim, swim, little shuttle, on!” Swim, swim, little shuttle, keep going!
And the shuttle sailed forward.
And just like that again: when his mother brings him and calls him, he will land on the shore, and when the witch calls him, he will wave his oar, the shuttle and sail on.
The witch saw that nothing could be done, and went to the blacksmith: “Blacksmith, blacksmith!” Give me a thin voice like Telesik’s mother!
The blacksmith forged it. She walked up to the bank and started calling:
My telesik, Telesika! I cooked a kuleshik, And with arms and legs, Enough to feed you. He thought it was his mother: “It was my mother who brought me food!”
Yes, and swam to the shore. And the witch snatched him from the boat and carried him to her home.
“Olenka, Olenka, unlock it!” Olenka opened the door and she entered the hut.
- Olenka, Olenka, heat up the stove so that the stones fall apart.
Olenka flooded it so much that the stones were falling apart.
- Olenka, Olenka, bake me Telesika while I go to visit.
Olenka says: “Sit down, Telesik, on the shovel!” I'll try whether you're heavy or not.
And he says: “But I don’t know how to sit down.” “Yes, sit down!” - says Olenka.
He put his head on the shovel.
- No, sit down completely!
He put one hand down.
- Like this? - asks. - No, not like that!
He put his other hand.
- So, what? - No, no! Sit down, all of you! - How about that? So, maybe? “Yes, and put his foot down.” “No,” says Olenka. “Not like that!” “Well, show me yourself,” says Telesik, “otherwise I don’t know how.”
She just sat down, and he grabbed the shovel, threw Olenka into the stove and covered it with a damper, and he locked the hut, climbed up the sycamore tree, and sat there.
Here comes the witch.
- Olenka, Olenka, open it! Olenka is silent. “Olenka, Olenka, open!” I can’t hear Olenka. “Damn Olenka, she’s already run off to play with the boys.”
The witch herself opened the hut, opened the damper, took it out of the oven and eats it - she thinks it’s Telesik. She ate her fill, went out into the yard and rolled around on the grass.
- I’ll ride, I’ll lie around, having eaten Telesikov’s meat!
And Telesik from sycamore:
- Ride, lie around, having eaten some deer meat!
She listens. And again:
- I’ll ride, I’ll lie around, having eaten Telesikov’s meat!
And he again:
- Ride, lie around, having eaten some deer meat!
She looked up and saw Telesik. She rushed to the sycamore and began gnawing on it. She gnawed and gnawed, broke all her teeth, but she just couldn’t gnaw through it. She rushed to the blacksmith:
- Blacksmith, blacksmith, forge me such teeth that I can gnaw through sycamore and eat Telesik!
The blacksmith forged it. How she started again. It's about to bite through. And suddenly a flock of geese flies. Telesik asks them:
Geese, geese, goslings! Take me on your wings, carry me to the priest, and at the priest’s I can eat and drink, and have a good time walking around!
And the geese answer:
- Let the middle ones take you! But the witch gnaws and gnaws. Telesik sits and cries. Suddenly a flock of geese flies again. Telesik asks:
Geese, geese, goslings! Take me on your wings, carry me to the priest, and at the priest’s I can eat and drink, and have a good time walking around!
And they tell him:
- Let the ones in the back take you!
Telesik is crying again. And the sycamore is just crackling. The witch was already tired, went to drink some water and gnawing again. Suddenly another flock of geese flies by. A. Telesik was delighted and asked:
Geese, geese, goslings! Take me on your wings, carry me to the priest, and at the priest’s I can eat and drink, and have a good time walking around!
- Let the last one take you! - Yes, and they flew.
Telesik thinks: “Now I’m lost forever,” and he cries so bitterly, he’s covered in tears, and the witch is about to knock down the sycamore tree. Suddenly a lone gosling flies by, lags behind, can barely fly. Telephone to him:
Goose, goose, goose! Take me on the wing, carry me to the priest, and at the priest’s I can eat and drink, and have a good time walking around!
He says:
- Sit down.
Telesik sat down. So Telesik the gosling brought him to the priest and sat him down on the rubble, and he flew off.
Here Telesik is sitting on the rubble. And the woman baked some pies, took them out of the oven and said:
- This pie is for you, grandfather, and this pie is for me! And Telesik from the yard: - What about me?
She takes out the pies again:
- This is a pie for you, grandpa, and this is for me! And Telesik again: “What about me?”
They are surprised.
“You don’t know, grandfather, who it seems to be shouting: “And me?” “No,” he says, “I don’t know.” “Yes, probably, grandfather, I heard it.” And again he takes the pies out of the oven: “This is a pie for you, grandfather, and this is for me!” And Telesik is sitting on the rubble. “What about me?” he asks.
Grandfather looked out the window and it was Telesik! They ran out, grabbed him, carried him into the hut and were so happy. His mother fed him, gave him something to drink, washed his hair and gave him a clean shirt.
So they live, chew bread, carry goods at the table, carry water with a rocker, and I was there, drinking honey, it flowed down my beard, but it didn’t get into my mouth.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru