Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They lived in poverty. The old man went hunting, and if the hunt was successful, then they were full, but if the hunt was unsuccessful, then they sat in their poor sakla, hungry.
One day the old man was hunting all day and did not meet anyone. And the wife hoped that he would bring something and they would eat.
The old man was tired and thirst tormented him. He saw a lake and went to it to drink water. But when he fell to the water, someone grabbed him by the beard and began to pull him towards him.
The old man began to ask:
“I’m an old man, let me go, don’t pull me towards you!” But the one who pulled him answers:
- I will turn you into a young man, if only you can be useful!
And he dragged him along. A door opened from the lake into the sea. They passed these doors and moved on. A door to land opened from the sea, and they went out onto land.
The king of the genies lived there. He joyfully met the old man and told him:
- Hello, guest! The stakes of my fence are short of one head, and I will impale your head unless you comply with my demand. If you fulfill it, I will give my daughter to you.
The poor man looked around, and when he saw human heads impaled on fence stakes, his heart sank: “And my head will be cut off!” - he thought.
The king of the jinn gave three tasks and promised to marry his daughter to the one who completed all three of them. Pointing to a field strewn with stacks of wheat, he gave the poor man his first task:
— Until the morning, put the wheat grains in the barns, but so that the stacks are not moved from their places.
The poor man became thoughtful and sad:
- He makes me do the impossible! To have my head on a fence!
But he was no longer an old man: the one who pulled his beard made him a young man, and when the daughter of the king of the genies saw him, she took a liking to him. She sees that he is sitting sad and asks:
- What's wrong with you? Why are you sitting sad?
-What makes me sad? - he answers. “Your father gave me a task that is absolutely impossible to complete.” I can't handle it, and my head will be cut off.
“Don’t let this sadden you,” says the daughter of the king of the genies. “We will do everything!” In the evening I will call all the mice there are, and they will pour wheat from all the stacks into the barns.
In the evening, the daughter of the king of the genies calls the mice together with a cry:
- Mice, wherever you are, come here and fill the barns with all the grain that is in the stacks before morning, so that not a single grain is lost and that the stacks are not moved from their place.
All the mice in the world gathered and did not leave a single grain in the stacks; they poured them into barns, and the stacks did not even move.
The king of the jinn got up in the morning and asked the young man:
- Well, did you do anything? And the king’s daughter warned him:
“Father will ask you meticulously, but don’t be afraid, do your job, and let what pleases God happen.”
The king of the jinn, without saying anything, asked him the second task:
“Overnight, a church should appear in my yard, but it should be made of only wax and nothing else.”
The young man, poor fellow, became agitated and thought, “God has cursed me.” He sits again sadly, and the king’s daughter says to him:
- Don't despair, it's easy to do. Today I will collect all the bees there are, and the church will be ready before morning.
She called out to the bees and told them:
- Build a church out of pure wax overnight! Evening came. The bees began to stir and work so hard that by morning the church was ready.
In the morning, the king of the genies got up, went outside, looked around the courtyard and saw a church made of pure wax there.
And the king’s daughter warned the young man in advance:
- Don’t wait for the third task, it’s impossible, and I can’t help you with anything. We both need to get out of here!
The young man got into the boat with the girl, and they fled; The king of the jinn found out about this when they were already far away, and sent a numerous pursuit after them.
Meanwhile, the fugitives came to the shore of the lake, and the daughter of the king of the genies, who had a magical gift, made them turn into a pair of ducks, a male and a female, and they began to frolic in the lake.
The chase also came to the shore of the lake - there was no one. They searched everywhere, but found nothing anywhere, and they didn’t even pay attention to the ducks.
The pursuit turned back to the king of the genies. He asks them:
- Well, what did you come back with? Didn't you catch up with them?
- We didn’t see anything anywhere! - they answer. “We only noticed two ducks in one lake, a male and a female.”
The king of the jinn was sad:
“I forgot to warn you, so you didn’t recognize them.” It was them. Catch up with them, catch them and bring them here.
And the daughter of the king of the jinn had the gift of prophecy. She says to the young man:
- Father recognized us! A new chase is coming for us, let's run! They ran, looking back, and saw a chase behind them in the distance. The girl says to the young man:
“We can’t run away any further.” I will make sure that a church appears here; one of us will become a priest in it, and the other a deacon, and we will not be recognized.
A church appeared, and they became a deacon and a priest.
The participants in the chase saw the church and thought that the fugitives could hide there. But, seeing only a priest and a deacon there performing divine services, they were embarrassed to interrupt them and turned back. And on the way back they looked everywhere for the fugitives, but did not find them anywhere; and so we returned home.
The king of the jinn asks:
- Well, did you find them? They answer again:
“We didn’t even meet local residents along the way. Only in one place did a priest and a deacon perform divine services in the church, and we saw no one else.
The Jinn King says:
“It was them, but you didn’t recognize them.” Now you won't be able to find them anymore! My daughter failed to appreciate herself! She was a bitch and she ran away like a bitch! There's nothing you can do about it, let's leave them.
The daughter of the king of the jinn learned that the pursuit had turned back, and said to her husband:
- Now let's go without fear!
They came to his house. The old woman had already died, but her house under the thatched roof stood as before.
- Here's our house! - the young man says to his wife. “I lived so poorly!”
And his wife answers him:
- Property is a gainful business. Don't worry about it. She asked God:
- Let tall buildings appear in this place before morning! In the morning they woke up and saw tall houses. And the daughter of the king of the jinn again says:
- Let these houses be filled with all the golden decoration that is necessary! Let there be a robe for my husband made of expensive fabrics to dress from head to toe! And let all the best of women’s clothing appear for me, and in two shifts! “And she also asked. “God, let there be a table the entire length of our house, filled with an abundance of food and drinks!”
That's how it all happened; husband and wife sat down at the table, treated themselves, and had heartfelt conversations with each other about their love. And they can’t stop looking at each other. Then she said again:
“Let there be guards at our doors so that we can get rid of loitering visitors.”
This is how they lived and live to this day.
Just as you have not seen them, may you not see another misfortune, another disease, and may God give us a safe release from this place.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru