Once upon a time, their magic consisted in the fact that they had three magical things: a spear that could break evil spells, an unsinkable blanket that floated on the water itself, and a precious talisman ring that gave strength.
The wizard Guvaki had an only son, and his name was Guvalik. From early childhood, the gypsies beyond Guvalik began to notice the heroic strength. He grabs the horse by the mane and throws him to the ground. Until the age of twelve, father forbade his son to go to the protected forests, but as Guvalik grew up, he wanted to see the world. He saddled his horse and set off. As soon as Guvalik entered the protected forests, a tiger jumped out of the thicket and rushed at him. Guvalik was not taken aback, grabbed the beast by the mouth, broke its bones, and then dragged it alive to the camp. The father was amazed, the gypsies were amazed.
- Son, how could you cope with such a beast?
“I don’t know if he succumbed to me, so I brought him back alive.”
The gypsies were delighted and decided to throw a feast on the occasion of such good luck. They began to convene guests from all over the world, they began to send messengers to all kingdoms.
And in another kingdom there was also a gypsy camp, and a gypsy and a gypsy lived there. They had no sons, but twelve children, all daughters. From early childhood, girls were accustomed to men's work, they knew how to stay firmly in the saddle and wield a whip properly. And among all the sisters, the youngest, the beautiful Velevuma, stood out. She was stronger than all the men in her camp, and she had no equal in wrestling, racing, or anything else. Velevuma did not go anywhere until she was eighteen, and then she heard from a messenger that there was a gypsy hero Guvalik, who had glorified himself with his feat from early childhood. The sisters got together and decided among themselves to go to Guvalik to see. They put on heroic armor, saddled the best horses and rode off. No one would recognize them as girls; whoever looks at them makes way for twelve heroes. So the sisters arrived at the Guvalik camp.
And there the feast is already in full swing.
Many guests gathered from all over the world. The gypsies decided to arrange fights to see who was stronger among them. And so the twelve heroic girls defeated all their opponents, and then, when they found no equal, they began to fight among themselves. Defeated all her Velevuma sisters.
Guvalik looked at this and asked his father:
- Father, allow me to measure my strength with this hero.
- Why are you, son, you are too young to go up against such a hero. And they won’t let you into the fight.
- Allow me, father!
Guvalik persuaded his father, persuaded him, and finally persuaded him. The father talked with the gypsies, and they agreed. Guvalik went to the horses, saddled his father’s favorite horse, and rode out to the duel.
He and Velevuma rode off in different directions, then turned their horses and began to move together. As Guvalik hit the hero in the chest, he knocked him off his horse.
Guvalik was frightened and thought that he had killed a hero. He felt sorry for him, he got off his horse and came closer.
Guvalik bent over the hero, unfastened his armor: and what did he see?
He saw that the hero was a girl!
Guvalik was amazed at the beauty of the gypsy and said:
“If I had known that you were a girl, I wouldn’t have even raised my hand against you, let alone fought.”
Velevum opened her eyes, looked at Guvalik, and her face lit up with a scarlet flame: she fell in love with him at first sight.
“Tell me, beauty,” asks Guvalik, “what is your name, what kind of tribe are you?” And where do you live?
“My name is Velevuma,” the girl answers, “I am of gypsy descent, and I live in such and such a place... I came here with my sisters to look at you.” These heroes who defeated everyone are my sisters. We must go back, home, to our father, to our mother. If you want, you can find me!
Velevuma said this, called her sisters, they got ready for the journey, mounted their horses - and only dust rose in a column.
A day passes, another passes, a third - Guvalik became sad, he really fell in love with the beautiful Velevuma.
- What happened, son? – asks Guvalik’s father. “You haven’t looked like yourself at all lately.”
Don't eat, don't drink, just look at the road.
Guvalik told his father what was going on:
- I'm leaving, father. Bless me.
“You’re not going into the low beams, son.” Your beloved lives far away.
In short, Guvalik got ready. His father gave him the most expensive things in his family for the journey: a magic spear, an unsinkable blanket and a family talisman - a precious ring.
- Take this, son, let them help you, let them protect you from evil spells.
Guvalik boarded a ship and sailed to a distant kingdom, where his beloved, the beautiful Velevuma, lived.
How much or how much time has passed, Guvalik’s ship sails to the island, and he sees: there is a wonderful palace standing on the island.
-Who lives in this palace? - Guvalik asked a passerby when the ship landed on the shore.
And he answered him:
– The sorceress Izvessa lives here.
“Go,” says Guvalik, “say that such and such a gypsy has arrived.”
They reported to Izvessa about Guvalik.
“Bring him here to me,” commanded the sorceress Izvessa.
They brought Guvalik to Izvessa, and she said to him:
“I know where you’re going, where you’re going, but I won’t let you get there.” If you become my husband, then everything will be fine with us, but if you don’t want to, if you refuse me, then beware! You won't be able to walk around the world alive.
And Guvalik is a young, hot-blooded guy of gypsy descent. His blood boiled.
“Even if I die, I won’t take you as my wife.” I love another girl and want to be with her.
“Okay, you chose your fate,” Izvessa frowned. - Just watch, you won’t swim to your beloved, I’ll smash your ship into pieces, and you’ll die in the waves.
Izvessa said so and drove the gypsy Guvalik away from her palace.
As soon as Guvalik boarded the ship and sailed from the shore, Izvessa went to the sea and ordered her sea slaves to create a storm. The sea slaves came out, blew in all the winds and raised such a hurricane that the sky and earth were mixed up. Guvalik's ship rushed off to an unknown destination, and then hit underwater rocks and sank.
All of Guvalik’s comrades met their end at the bottom of the sea, and he would have been in trouble if he had not remembered at the very last moment that he had an unsinkable blanket. Guvalik grabbed an unsinkable blanket, spread it on the waves, lay down on it and forgot.
She took Guvalik's blanket to a distant uninhabited island. And the sorceress Izvessa, having learned that Guvalik had survived, sent her servant, a nine-headed dragon, to kill the daring gypsy.
Guvalik woke up and saw a nine-headed monster descending on him from the sky and wanted to shoot him with a bow.
Guvalik waved his hands, and the arrow flew past the target. This precious ring - the family talisman - deflected the witch's arrow. No matter how hard the dragon tried to defeat Guvalik, he failed. He never managed to cope with the magic ring. Guvalik grabbed the dragon and began to strangle it. The dragon begged:
“Don’t destroy me, Guvalik, have mercy, let me go, and I will help you get to your beloved Velevuma.”
Guvalik felt sorry for the dragon and asked:
– How can I get to the kingdom where Velevuma lives?
“Listen to me carefully, Guvalik,” the dragon answers. “An old wizard lives on this island; the evil Izvessa walled him up in a dungeon exactly thirty-three years ago. This old man knows a lot, and will reveal a lot to the one who saves him. But there is no way out of this dungeon. No one brings food or drink to the old man, and no one knows what he feeds on. If this wizard is alive, then only he can help you.
The dragon led Guvalik to an enchanted dungeon, where the evil sorceress Izvessa imprisoned the good old wizard. They approach the dungeon. Then Guvalik shouts:
- Hey, old man, answer me, are you alive?!
- Who is calling me? – the old man’s voice rang out from the dungeon. “I haven’t heard a human voice for thirty-three years, I haven’t heard a horse’s tramp for thirty-three years, will I really see the light of day before I die, will I look at a human face?”
Guvalik was delighted when he heard the voice of the old wizard.
- How can I open the entrance to the dungeon? – the gypsy asked the dragon. - Look, there’s not a crack anywhere!
There are just stones lying around.
-Have you forgotten about your magic spear? Hit the rock with your spear, and you will have the entrance to the dungeon.
So Guvalik did as the dragon taught him. He waved his spear, and the mountains parted, and the entrance to the dungeon opened. They went down into the dungeon. Guvalik looks: an old, old man, all overgrown with moss, sits near the wall, and this man’s arms and legs are chained to the rock with iron shackles.
- Hello, grandfather! I am Guvalik, the gypsy son. I have come to free you.
- Hello, son, hello, thank you for the kind word, but it’s unlikely that you will save me. Only one person in the world can do this. This man was my beloved friend, for a long time we did good deeds with him on earth, until the evil Izvessa prevented us. I don’t know where he is now. I only know one thing: my friend had three outlandish things: a magic spear, a precious ring and an unsinkable blanket.
“So know, grandfather,” Guvalik rejoiced, “that the man you’re talking about is my grandfather.” And here are those strange things that you just remembered.
Guvalik took out a magic spear, a talisman ring and an unsinkable blanket and placed everything at the feet of the good old wizard.
“From my grandfather,” continued Guvalik, “these things came to my father, and my father gave them to me.” I am your friend's grandson...
- And if so, then don’t waste time, son, take the magic spear in your hands and hit the witch’s shackles.
Guvalik grabbed the spear and barely touched the chains when they crumbled. The old man stood up, straightened his shoulders, walked around the dungeon and said to Guvalik:
“Since you freed me, saved me from death, I will serve you until my death.” What do you want, tell me? I see that your soul is restless.
Then Guvalik told what happened to him, and told about his beloved Velevuma. The good wizard listened to him, shook his head and said:
“There will be many more dangers on your way, son, I will help you as best I can, but just remember: Izvessa does not forgive those who disobeyed her, there will be no peace for you.”
They came out of the dungeon.
Guvalik released the dragon, and he and the good wizard went to the seashore. They are approaching the sea. Here the old man takes out a golden bow and shoots an arrow from it into the sea. As soon as the arrow touched the water, it turned into a golden ship. Guvalik and the good wizard boarded a ship and went to the kingdom where Velevuma lives.
How much or how little time has passed - God knows. They come to this kingdom, and there they are already met.
The gypsies arranged a feast: of course, Velevuma agrees to become Guvalik’s wife.
As expected, the newlyweds went to church to get married. But as soon as they stood in front of the altar, thunder sounded, lightning flashed, the dome of the church fell off and the face of the sorceress Izvessa appeared. She flew into the church, grabbed Velevuma by the hair and dragged the beauty into her kingdom.
Guvalik turned black, sat down on a stone and thought. And then the good old wizard comes up to him and says:
- Why are you sad, son?
After all, I said that Izvessa will not leave you alone until we defeat her.
“Tell me, grandfather, do you know where Izvessa took my bride?”
“I don’t know, son, but I have magic horses that will take us where we need to go.”
The old man took out his bow, took out two arrows and shot them into the field, one after the other. Magic horses appeared. Guvalik had never seen such horses in his life: they had wings on their sides, flames came out of their nostrils, and sparks flew from under their hooves. Guvalik and the old man mounted their horses and flew away.
How long their journey lasted, no one knows, they just drove up to a huge rock, such that they could neither look at it nor go around it.
– Listen to what I tell you, Guvalik. At the very top of this rock there is a small chapel. When you enter this chapel, you will see a marble statue in front of you. Ask this statue:
“Tell me, where is my bride Velevuma hidden? Is she alive? If this statue answers you something, then we will find your beauty, but if she does not answer, then Velevuma is not alive and it is useless to look for her.
Guvalik hit the magic horse with a whip, and the horse soared above the clouds and flew to the very top of the cliff. Guvalik got off the mine, looked around, and sure enough, the chapel stood just as the old wizard said. Guvalik enters the chapel and sees: in front of him is a marble statue of an old woman. Guvalik put his hand on the forehead of the statue and said:
- Answer me, statue!
The statue shook and said in a human voice:
- What do you want from me, gypsy?
– Tell me, where is my Velevuma?
What should I do to get her back?
“Your bride is alive, but it won’t be easy for you to take her.” Many dangers await you: the sea will meet you with a storm, if you ride through a meadow, the grass will entangle your horse’s legs, if you walk through the forest, animals will tear your clothes, trying to gnaw you, if you go through swamps, the poisonous air will poison you, the earth will burn under your feet. Don't be afraid, Guvalik, you will overcome all this.
You will go into the very dense thicket, there, in the middle of the forest, a palace will stand, you will not see a window or a door in this palace, and near the palace will lie a twelve-headed Serpent - Izvessa’s cousin. It will be harder to fight him. But that's not all. When you defeat the Serpent, Izvessa herself will fly to you. Don't fight her, a simple person cannot defeat her. Place your destiny in the hands of the good old wizard. He alone can overcome it.
But it will only cost him his life. If you defeat the evil spell, Velevuma will be yours. And so as not to burn in the witch’s flame, take the bottle at my feet. If you sprinkle water from this bottle, you will not be afraid of any fire.
The statue said these words and turned cold again. Guvalik took the bottle, jumped on his horse and went down the cliff. The gypsy told the wizard everything that the statue had told him and stepped aside. A good wizard approached him and said:
“Don’t worry about me, Guvalik, I have my own scores to settle with Izvessa, and besides, I’m old already, I’ve lived a lot on earth, it’s time to retire.” I just want to do one more good deed before I die: to rid the world of the evil witch.
They saddled their horses and set off. Everything happened as the marble statue predicted. They swam across three seas, got into storms many times, but were saved each time by an unsinkable blanket. They rode through the meadow - the grass intertwined the horses' legs, but Guvalik waved his magic ring, and the grass parted. They drove into the forest - predatory animals attacked them, tore their clothes, tried to bite Guvalik and the old man to death. Then Guvalika had to take the magic spear into her hands. Their path ran through the swamps - the poisoned air bothered them, but they endured it too.
The ground burned under their feet. Then Guvalik took the bottle that the statue gave him. He sprinkled water on himself, on the old man, on the magic horses - and did not take their fire.
How much or how much time has passed - they drove into a dense thicket. They look: there is a palace in the middle of the thicket, and there are no doors or windows in that palace - only gray stone around. And near the palace the Serpent lies, and fire comes out of its twelve heads.
- Why, gypsy, have you come to my kingdom? - the Snake shouted.
“I want to free my bride, Velevuma,” Guvalik shouted.
The Serpent laughed so hard that everything around shook:
“Get out as quickly as possible, otherwise you won’t leave here alive!”
And then a big battle began.
For twelve days and nights Guvalik fought with the Serpent. On the twelfth day, Guvalik cut off the last head of the Snake. As soon as the last head of the Serpent flew to the ground, thunder struck, lightning flashed and the evil sorceress Izvessa flew to them. Then the old man shouted:
- Don’t leave my bones in this damned place, Guvalik, bury me as it should be.
Guvalik hit the wall with a magic spear and entered the palace. He looks: his Velevuma is sitting in the middle of the hall, dressed all in black, and on her head she has a black scarf that covers her face.
“Take off your scarf, Velevuma,” Guvalik ordered, “look at the light.”
Velevum did not recognize Guvalik’s voice.
“I can’t,” he answers, “I have to take off the scarf.” Izvessa covered me with it. I’ll take it off and bring disaster on my own head.
“Open your face, look who is standing in front of you,” Guvalik exclaimed and pulled the scarf from his bride’s head.
Velevuma began to cry when she saw Guvalik and threw herself on his neck. They came out into the world and saw: in front of the palace lies the dead Izvessa, and next to her the kind old wizard lies, and in his eyes the last spark of life glimmers.
“Take me, Guvalik, with you to your homeland and bury me there,” the old man whispered and died.
Guvalik did everything as the old man asked, and then came to his camp. The father blessed him and Velevuma, and they lived together happily ever after.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru