Once upon a time there lived a poor peasant, who rented a quarter for the winter. Now the time has come to sow rye, and the farm laborers say: give one - five rubles, and buy the other a quarter of vodka. The man thought and thought.
“Well,” he says, “I’ll give you five rubles or buy a quarter... No, it will be expensive.” - And he went to the fair, bought a horse, gave three gold and ten pennies for it.
So he bought himself a horse, made a plow and went to plow himself. And a quarter of it was right next to the forest. Well, he started plowing, and mosquitoes and gadflies began to attack the horse, biting him on the sides, and wouldn’t let him plow, so the peasant covered the horse in a row, and the wind rose and threw him off the row. The peasant grabbed him in a row, swung at the horse and killed thirty gadflies, and there were too many mosquitoes to count. He stopped, looked and thought: “Why should I grieve now, I myself am now such a hero that I killed thirty heroes in one fell swoop, but I have no small strength and no counting.” So he thought to himself: “I’ll go wander around the world, I’m tired of sitting on the stove and listening to crickets at home.” He put an ax in his belt, threw it on his horse in a row, sat down, and rode off. So he’s driving along, he approaches a crossroads, and there’s a pillar standing there. The peasant thought and thought, got off his horse, went up to the post and wrote a sign (and he was a literate peasant). So he wrote this: “A Boltansky man, a Basurman hero, was passing by - in one fell swoop he put down thirty heroes at once, but there was no small force and no count,” and then he drove on.
Here Bova Korolevich runs, runs into that pillar, looks and thinks: “What is it? A Boltansky man passed by, a Basurman hero, who killed thirty heroes in one fell swoop, but he had no small strength to count. There is no one in the world stronger against the three of us, but someone stronger has been found.” Well, let him chase along that road. He chased and chased, and lo and behold, some peasant was riding on such a nag that only the skin was dangling and the bones were bending. Bova Korolevich says:
- Hello, man! He says: “Great!” “Aren’t you,” he asks, “a Boltansky man, a Basurman hero, who laid down thirty heroes in one fell swoop, but has no small strength and no counting?”
The man answers:
- I. - Well, don’t be angry then that you called me a peasant. - Who are you? - asks the man. - Bova Korolevich. - Well, stand next to me, let's go. Now Yaruslan Lazarevich is running, looked at that pillar and says: “What is it?” There is no one stronger against the two of us, but it turns out that this one will be stronger, he laid down thirty heroes in one fell swoop, but there is no small force and no count.
So he read this inscription and, well, drive the horse, then he catches up.
“Hello,” he says, “Bova Korolevitch!” Why are you going with this guy? And he says: “Be quiet!”
Well, he guessed and asked the peasant:
“Aren’t you,” he says, “will you be a Boltansky peasant, a Basurman hero, who laid down thirty heroes in one fell swoop, but has no small strength and no counting?”
And he answers:
- I. - Well, don’t be angry that I called you a peasant. - Who are you? — the man asks. “I’m Yaruslan Lazarevich.” “Well, stand in the row on the right hand, let’s go!”
And let's go.
Now Ilya Muromets is running, and reading on a pillar.
“Lord,” he says, “there is no one stronger against me, and this one will be stronger - after all, he laid down thirty heroes in one fell swoop, and you can’t even count the small force.”
And let's drive the horse, it will catch up with the heroes.
“What are you,” he asks, “are you traveling with a peasant?” And they say: “Hush, keep quiet!”
So he guessed, the peasant asks:
“Aren’t you a Boltansky man, a Basurman hero, who laid down thirty heroes in one fell swoop, but you can’t even count your petty strength?”
And he answers:
- I. - Well, we apologize for calling you a peasant. - And who are you? - asks the peasant. - I am Ilya Muromets, stronger than all the heroes in the world. - Well, stand in the middle!
And let's go. Now the three heroes are planning to go to the Wild Field, where there is a princess who will marry whoever comes to her. They drove and drove, they came to the Wild Steppes, set up three kurens and threw out three flags. The peasant took the horse off his horse in a row, let the horse go to graze, and he covered himself up next to him and went to bed.
The princess looked through the telescope and said to her princes:
“Three heroes rode out to my steppes and raised three flags. Detach, - he says, - my dear princes, six heroes, six animals, so that there is no small force, and let them beat those heroes, and bring their heads to me for display.
The princes immediately equipped the army and sent it to the steppe. Bova Korolevich looked into the pipe and said to his comrades:
- What should I do? Six heroes, six beasts are coming against us, and we can’t even count the small forces! The comrades say: “Let’s ask the peasant.”
Bova Korolevich comes to the peasant and asks:
“The Boltansky peasant, the Basurman hero, give us advice: six heroes, six animals are riding against us, and we can’t even count the small forces, what should we do now?” “You,” says the peasant, “glorious hero, Bova Korolevich, get on your horse and ride to meet them, you will beat the six heroes, like six gadflies, and your horse will trample the small forces.”
Bova Korolevich mounted his horse, rode off and let's fight: he chopped six heroes and six animals, trampled the small force with his horse, left only one, wrote a note and gave the news to the princess. Then the princess releases nine heroes, nine beasts against them, and the small force cannot be counted.
Yaruslan Lazarevich looked through the telescope and said:
- What are we going to do: nine heroes, nine animals are opposing us, but there is no small force to count? The comrades say: “Go and ask the peasant!”
Yaruslan Lazarevich came to the peasant and asked:
“The Boltansky man, the Basurman hero, give us advice: nine heroes, nine animals, are standing against us, there is no small force to count, what should we do?” “You,” says the peasant, “glorious hero, Yaruslan Lazarevich, mount your horse and ride to meet them.” You will beat nine heroes like nine gadflies, and your horse will trample the small force.
Yaruslan Lazarevich mounted his horse, rode off and let's fight: he beat nine heroes and nine animals, and trampled the small force with his horse, leaving only one, and sent him with news to the princess. Then she releases twelve heroes, twelve beasts against them, but there is no small force to count.
Ilya Muromets looked into the pipe and said:
- What are we going to do: twelve heroes, twelve animals are opposing us, but there is no small force to count?
Comrades say:
- Go and ask the peasant.
Ilya Muromets came to the peasant and asked:
“The Boltansky peasant, the Basurman hero, give us advice: twelve heroes, twelve animals, are coming against us; there is no small force and there is no count, what should we do?” “You, glorious hero,” says the peasant, “Ilya Muromets, get on your horse and ride to meet them: you will beat twelve heroes, twelve animals, like twelve gadflies, and your horse will trample the small force.”
Ilya Muromets saddled his horse, sat down and rode off. Well, let's fight with those heroes, let's fight: twelve heroes, twelve beasts, and the horse trampled a small force, left only one, wrote a note and sent the message to the princess.
Now the princess sees that this is not a trivial matter, calls her princes to her and says:
- What should we do: three heroes beat all our heroes, all the animals, and we can’t even count the small forces? And the princes say: “So let us release on them the twelve-headed serpent, which sits chained in twelve chains; if he can’t cope with them, we’ll have to accept them as guests.
They decided and released the twelve-headed serpent from its chains. A kite flies, the earth trembles, an animal hides in the forest, and a small bird flies overseas.
So Ilya Muromets got up early, looked through the telescope and said to his comrades:
“It’s a bad thing, comrades, a twelve-headed snake is flying towards us, the earth is shaking under it, the animal is hiding in the forest, and a small bird is flying overseas.” “Well,” they say, “let’s go, comrades, to the peasant.” So they came to him and said: “Boltansky man, Basurman hero, we have served our time, and now your turn has come: a twelve-headed snake is flying at us, now go and deal with it.”
The little man stood up and thought: “Well, that’s the end of my knighthood!” I’ve traveled around the world a little, I’ve seen people, but now I have to give myself up to the snake alive, I probably won’t be able to get out of this.” So he stood up, covered his horse in a row, tucked his ax into his belt, sat down and rode off. The heroes say to him:
“Take a horse from one of us, yours is barely breathing, perhaps it won’t even reach the kite.” “No need,” he says, “your horses won’t stand me.”
He tugged at the halter and hobbled off. Here he approaches the snake. The snake flies towards him, the earth trembles, the animal hides in the forest, and the small bird flies overseas... The peasant does not pay attention to this, he tugs the horse’s halter, and the horse little by little trudges along. The snake looked at this knight, stopped and stood.
- What is this, a mockery of me, or what? - That's right! - the man answered.
He jumped off his horse, pulled out an ax from his belt and hit the beast on the head, so one head rolled, then on the second, and it fell.
Then the three heroes saw that the snake, the Boltansky man, the Basurman hero, was beating him, taking away their glory, they mounted their horses and rushed at the snake from both sides, and the third grabbed him by the tail - they beat him, chopped him, burned him in the fire and threw the ashes to the wind.
“Now,” says the peasant, “we can go and woo the princess; The only bad thing is that you, heroes, are envious: I wanted to chop the snake with an ax, but you didn’t let me; Why didn’t you come to the Wild Field in your turn?
And he shouted at them. Ilya Muromets, as the eldest, says:
“Well, we ask for forgiveness, our glorious Boltansky man, the Basurman hero, you are now the elder over us: you want to go marry the princess and take the kingdom for yourself, but no, we’ll go around the world to show our strength.”
- Thank you for the honor! - the guy was talking to him. “But I’m not the princess’s groom, because you called me a man, but I don’t have to show my strength around the world, surprise people and disturb people’s peace.” And you, like noble heroes, your decoration is rich, and your horses are expensive, go to the princess to woo the princess, and I will trail behind.
So the heroes dressed in their best clothes and moved forward, and the peasant watered the horse, covered it in a row, sat on it, pulled the halter and rode after them.
The princess sees that all her heroes have been beaten, the twelve-headed serpent has been turned to ashes, and thinks: “There is nothing to do, she must meet dear guests.” So she called her princes and ordered:
- Open the gates, spread canvases to my palace and greet the heroes with bread and salt!
They opened the gates, greeted the heroes with bread and salt, bowed, and the princess went out onto the porch and opened the doors to them in her palace; He greets the heroes, seats them at the table, and treats them to expensive wine and honey. And the Boltansky man, the Basurman hero, rode up to the palace, tied the horse at the porch, took it off straight away, spread it out near the palace, lay down and smoked a pipe.
Here the heroes are drinking and walking, each of them looks at the princess, and thinks: “Which of us three will she honor?” The princess sees that all the heroes are one more beautiful than the other, one sweeter than the other, and she herself does not know whom she should marry. They drink, which means they party, but don’t get down to business. The princess then says:
“Whoever of you, glorious heroes, has defeated my twelve-headed serpent, let him drink a glass of wine with me.”
The heroes looked at each other: back and forth, but the hero who killed the twelve-headed snake was not there. They then - there is nothing to do - and say:
“There is also a Boltansky guy with us, a Basurman hero, who laid down thirty heroes in one fell swoop, and you can’t even count his petty strength; he is now lying near the palace and smoking a pipe, let him come here; but he’s a wonderful guy, his clothes are simple, he rides on a nag, and when he sleeps, he hides in a row.
“If so, then so,” says the princess, “let my princes dress him as they should and bring him to the table.”
The princes dressed the Boltansky peasant and seated him at the table. Well, the princess pours everyone a glass and says:
“Whoever of you, glorious heroes, has defeated my twelve-headed serpent, let him drink a glass of wine with me.”
But the little man was not afraid, he raised his glass and said:
- I am!
That’s when the princess married him and put him in charge of her kingdom,
I visited him, drank vodka with him, and then I came to you and told you this fairy tale - maybe you can put a glass on my table.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru