A woman named Gyal-apchi had a son, and he always laughed when he slept.
For some time the mother did not say anything, but as this continued from night to night, she could not stand it and asked what made him laugh so much.
“Nothing special,” the boy answered. - I laugh just like that
- Well, well, there is no need to be shy or afraid of me. After all, I am your mother, and you must tell me about everything that happens to you.
“If you really want to know, this is why I laugh: I keep having a very funny dream that half of the sky serves as a blanket for me, and the other half as a mattress.”
The mother went to an astrologer to interpret the meaning of the dream, and the astrologer said: “Your son is destined to become the Emperor of China.”
Despite the fact that neither the mother herself nor her neighbors truly believed in this prediction, the news spread throughout the country. Soon even the Chinese Emperor heard about this, but did not attach any importance to the rumors. He said:
- How can a poor peasant boy become an Emperor? My power has no limits, and I will rule until death puts an end to it.
And all the ministers agreed with him.
Every day the rumors spread further and further. The Emperor's confidence began to wane. At night he could not sleep from anxiety.
The more he thought about it, the more tormented he became. One sleepless night followed another. Finally, one day he called his ministers and asked what he should do in connection with this alarming news. Someone said that his worry was in vain. Others said that something needs to be done. So, they decided to ask the government astrologer for advice, but his answer was disappointing. He informed the Emperor that the boy was definitely destined to rule in his stead, no matter how hard he tried to prevent it. The emperor decided that the only way to regain his peace of mind and retain his throne was to kill the boy. He called the boy to the palace and said:
“You are chosen by fate to become the ruler of the Great Chinese Empire, and you will be crowned if you get me an unprecedented flower, the heart of a zombie and the daughter of the Northern Regions.”
The boy had no idea where all this could be found, but, nevertheless, he set off. He walked for many days, not knowing which way to look.
One day followed another, the boy ran out of money, and, having not decided where to direct his steps, he decided to give up the search. At that same moment he saw a man with very long ears approaching him.
- What a strange look you have! - the boy exclaimed. -Where are you going?
- Yes, actually, nowhere, but my long bottomless ears allow me to hear everything that is said in the farthest corners of the globe. But Gyal-apchi’s son was luckier than me. He is destined to become Emperor of all China.
“I am the son of Gyal-apchi,” said the boy. “And I am looking for three things that the Chinese Emperor ordered me to bring to him before I take his place.”
- Oh, how wonderful! “Let me help you,” the man replied, and they became friends.
Traveling from one place to another, they met a man who could stretch his arms over very long distances, and a man with a huge mouth, who called himself the eater of the Sun and Moon.
These three people decided to help the boy carry out the Emperor's orders. Longarm stretched his hands across the hills, valleys and mountains and took out an unprecedented flower from the bottom of the Great Sea. Then he brought the zombie's heart. And then the eater of the Sun and Moon said to his long-armed friend:
“I will eat the Sun so that darkness falls on the world, and you reach out and steal the daughter of the Northern Lands.”
Having received what he needed, the boy delivered an unprecedented flower, the heart of a zombie and the daughter of the Northern Lands to the Emperor. He could not believe that the little peasant boy was able to do something that an ordinary person could not do. He was afraid that the boy might turn out to be something more than a simple person.
However, he still did not want to give up the throne to the boy. Once again he called his ministers and asked what he should do. Now that the boy had delivered to him everything he was told, the ministers had nothing more to advise the Emperor except to suggest poisoning the boy. The emperor liked their advice, and he decided to organize a big celebration and invite the boy to it as an honored guest.
Long Ears heard everything that the Emperor and his ministers were talking about, and told the boy about their plans:
“The news has reached me that the Emperor and the ministers have agreed to poison you.” While the eater of the sun and moon holds the sun in his mouth, our long-armed friend will replace your plate with the Emperor's plate. Until then, don't eat anything.
Having remembered these detailed instructions, the boy went to the holiday.
So, the eater of the Sun and the Moon temporarily swallowed the Sun, and the long-armed one swapped the places of the plates of the boy and the Emperor. When the city was suddenly enveloped in darkness, the Emperor and ministers were amazed because there was no eclipse listed in their court almanac. The astrologer himself was confused and horrified, since his calculations also did not indicate such a possibility. They all knew that this was a very bad sign, but they did not know what exactly it portended. Only one thing occurred to them: perhaps the time had come for the Emperor to leave the throne.
The holiday continued until the appearance of the Sun, and all eyes were fixed on the boy in anticipation of his imminent death. But he ate, drank and had fun with all his heart, without expressing any signs of approaching death. The ministers were surprised, and at the thought that they had again suffered defeat, they were overcome with shame. They looked at the boy with such greedy curiosity that they did not notice how, in the middle of the celebration, the Emperor quietly passed away into another world. Shame and anger showed on their faces as they rose to leave, but the Emperor did not move. And only then did they realize that he had died instead of the boy.
And then the boy became the Ruler of the Great Chinese Empire. He took the daughter of the Northern Lands as his wife, appointed three friends as his ministers, and together they ruled wisely for many years.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru