Once upon a time there lived a shepherd, and he had three obedient, hardworking daughters. He tended the sheep, and his daughters managed the housework, and everything went as it should have. Yes, for some time now the shepherd began to feel that old age was weighing him down, and one fine day he said this to his daughters:
- My dears, I have become old, I no longer have the strength to graze the flock.
“Oh, father, don’t be sad, stay home, rest, gain strength, and we will herd the flock in line,” says the eldest daughter.
- I would agree, dear, if you were guys, you -
Stay-at-home girls, I’m afraid that as soon as you go out into the field you’ll get scared of something.
“Oh, father,” the eldest daughter objected to him, “you will see how much more we begin to graze, you will rejoice—you won’t be overjoyed.”
- Shut up, daughter, because since I’ve been tending sheep, I haven’t seen a shepherd with a scarf on his head and in a skirt.
“And we’ll dress in men’s clothes: zipun, kushma, postols.” Nobody will recognize us.
- Maybe so.
Without thinking twice, the eldest daughter put on a zipun, put on shoes, pulled a kusma over her head - why not a guy! — then she tied herself with a red sash, like a flame, and folded the sash in such a dashing way. She then released the sheep from the pen, led the flock out of the village and, playing the fluor, headed towards a small hill. The old father did not attach much importance to his daughter’s words and courage, he just wanted to check whether he could rely on her in case of trouble. Hiding so that the other daughters would not see, he pulled out a bear skin from behind a beam, crept into the bushes, pulled the skin over himself and appeared to the flock - mrr... mrr!., - rushes straight at the sheep. The sheep, as soon as they saw that the beast was approaching them, ran away instantly; even with their eyes they would not have been able to catch them. The shepherd was petrified on the spot with fear. His legs trembled, he dropped the stick from his hands and, screaming in horror, turned back home, so that only his heels sparkled.
The old man felt more sad and annoyed than ever. Arriving home, he saw his daughter, scared to death and pale as wax.
- Oh, my troubles, I knew that there was little hope for you. The only thing you can do is turn around the stove.
“Don’t be upset, father,” says the second daughter, “now I will lead the sheep to pasture.”
“Dear daughter, you’d better stay at home, I don’t want the animals to frighten you as much as your sister.”
I couldn't dissuade her. The girl dressed in men's clothing and drove the sheep to where the grass was thicker.
The father could not sit still. He wanted to make sure whether he could be confident in the intelligence and courage of his middle daughter if (God forbid!) some misfortune happened to her. And just like that, hiding, he unnoticedly took a bear skin, in a forest clearing, to which his daughter and her flock were just approaching, put the skin on himself and - mrr! Mrr!.. - came out to them. The girl, seeing such a hulk that was coming at her, growling and clanking her teeth, turned the sheep back and ran as fast as she could.
The old man hid the skin and ran after his daughter. They entered the courtyard almost simultaneously. And at home - crying, groaning, the poor man did not see the white light from such a commotion. Having gathered all three daughters, he began to calm them down and complain about their fate:
- Oh, my troubles, apparently there is no happiness for me in the world: if I had a son, I would
I would like help today, but what should I do? The sheep I tended will disappear, and after so many years of hard work I will be left with nothing.
The youngest daughter took her father’s complaints so close to her heart that she decided to help his trouble at all costs.
“Father,” she said, “I will also lead the sheep to pasture.”
- Leave it, my daughter, I had no help from your older sisters, and especially from you. I'm afraid you'll be so scared that you won't come to your senses later.
“I’m not afraid of anything in the world.”
“That’s what you all say at home, under your parents’ roof, but there, on the field, you tremble with fear.”
But he couldn’t dissuade her. No matter how much I tried to reason with her, she still did as she said. She put on her coat, put on her shoes, pulled the bush over her head and went with the sheep into the forest.
As she led the flock out into a wide field, one sheep began to bleat and fuss, unable to find a place for itself, as if it were sick with whirlwind.
“What happened, dear myoara, don’t you like your master or the grass of the field?”
“I like the grass, and I like the owner, but I can’t find a place for myself, because I’m afraid that the bear will meet again - you’ll be scared to death, just like your older sisters were scared.”
The girl, like all girls, although she was brave, was still afraid of being alone in the field, with no support.
“You have grazed in these dangerous places many times, dear Mioara, wouldn’t it be better to get around them?”
“Go around, don’t go around, danger is ahead, but don’t be afraid.” As you will see,
that the bear is heading towards the flock - rush towards it with a batog and hit it in the face. The girl really wanted to keep her word to her father, she cheered up and went forward - to where the beast usually comes from.
appeared. So the bear appeared, growling, chattering its teeth, and rushed at the sheep and the girl. The sheep got scared, huddled together and wanted to run away. The girl twirled the batog over her head, whistled and - fuck! - once in the bear's face - bang! - along the ribs so that the father felt the bearskin crawling from the blows. He jumped to the side and shouted:
- Stop, my daughter, don’t hit me!
The girl, having heard this, could not believe her ears and eyes. She trembled all over, and her father came up to her, hugged her and said:
- My daughter, you kept your word, you weren’t scared like your sisters, from now on
you will herd the sheep, and I am calm - I know that there is someone to look after them, and from now on no one will dare to say that you are not a real shepherd. And she began to graze the sheep, walked with them, all the places up and down. Things went like clockwork, and my father’s heart was light, and people were pleased to see such a shepherd. -One day she led a flock to more distant places, and there she met another shepherd with a flock. As usual, when two shepherds meet, they united their flocks, one said a word, the other said another, got into conversation, and the girl found out that this shepherd was the son of the woman Kotoroantsi.
So they herded and tended the sheep together. Yes, one day the son of the woman Kotoroans looked at the girl with a longer look, and his heart sank: he realized that this shepherd was a girl, and not a guy, as one might think, looking at the clothes. This guess, which had sprouted in his heart, gave him no rest and gnawed at him day and night, forcing him to fight his thoughts like the sea fights the winds.
The guy furtively looked at the blush of his cheeks, then at his smooth gait, then at his sweet lips, and in the evenings, when he was driving the flock home, she saw the Kotoroan that her son was sighing heavily and melting right before her eyes.
“What’s wrong with you, dear sypok,” she turned to him one day, “what happened?” Maybe some kind of misfortune?
“No,” he says. “Today I met a shepherd, and it seemed to me from the way he walked and how he behaved that this was a girl, but neither in words nor in chapters could I penetrate into the secret.”
“Don’t worry, but try it, as I’ll advise you now, and you’ll definitely find out everything.” Tomorrow, when you meet him, lead the sheep under the forest canopy, where there will be birds and flowers, and if it is a young man, it will reach out to the trees to choose a stick for a batog or a branch for a pipe, and if there is a girl, it will reach out to the flowers.
Kotoroan's son came to life instantly and decided to do as his mother advised. The next day, singing, in love with the fields and codry, he approached the maiden's flock.
But, just as the earth with its riches is reflected in calm and quiet waters, so the thoughts and feelings of some are gradually transmitted to the hearts of others, more
far-sighted and cautious. The magical myoara guessed the thoughts of Kotoroan's son and kept trying to find a solution to all the intrigues that Kotoroan could set up for the girl.
How the time has come to go to the codry, she whispered to the girl about her guesses, and - now hold on! — they decided to screw the guy’s brains. Whistling and playing the pipe, they reached the forest, where a pasture began, strewn with flowers so beautiful that they grabbed the heart and called to them, so that they could at least smell them or touch them with their hands. The girl stepped on them, as if she had not seen, and continued to retire into the thicket, dragging the shepherd with her, to choose a stick for the batog and a branch for the pipe.
The son of Kotoroan was taken aback and at a loss. In the evening he came home sad and thoughtful. The Kotoran woman calmed him down as best she could, consoled him and advised him to invite the shepherd to her place, then they would certainly know whether it was a girl or a boy.
No sooner said than done. The Kotoroans led a flock and still wanted to appear to the shepherd as a devoted comrade, and in the evening he began, starting from afar, to invite the little shepherd to his home for a visit. At first the girl resisted - this and that, and then she went. The Kotoroan was already waiting for them. She heated the water in advance, as if to wash her son’s hair, but she herself thought of something else: if you make the little shepherd wash, then she will see if he has braids, and everything will become clear. Mioara found out something or sniffed it out, but only approached the girl and whispered what a trick was being prepared for her. She was horrified and asked the sheep for advice. Mioara said:
- As soon as they prepare a trough for washing, I will go by and inadvertently knock it over, but you tell me that you will wash in another water: If the Kotoroan tries to persuade you, refuse.
And so they did. The old woman has prepared everything that is required and calls
shepherd to wash his hair. The careless myoara hobbled and hobbled around
trough and - knocked him over.
“Here’s a poor little sheep, she played a trick on me,” says Kotoroantsa. “Just wait, I’ll put another water on now to heat.”
“Don’t fuss in vain, I won’t wash in any other water,” says the little shepherd. She saw the Kotoroan that nothing was working out, and decided to find out the secret in another way. As she began to put the shepherds to bed, she placed a bunch of basil under their heads and whispered to her son:
“Go to bed, my dear, I’ll find out everything before the morning.” I put a bunch of basil under your heads; if it doesn’t wither by morning, then the little shepherd is a guy, and if it withers, it’s a girl.
The shepherds lay down, one on one corner of the pillow, the other on the other, just as Kotoroan laid down, and at dawn, when sleep is especially sweet, Mioara took and changed the bunches of basil.
In the morning, Kotoroanetsa began to check the bundles, and they were the same. Nothing came of her divination and witchcraft.
“It seemed to you, my son,” she says to her son. “This shepherd is a young man.” Since everything turned out this way, the son of Kotoroan left his guesses, parted with the shepherd and began to think about his own affairs. After some time, he got married, and his life flowed in peace and quiet. Somehow, chance brought a Choban girl to the house of Kotoroantsa’s son. She came closer and saw: a fire was burning in front of the house, and something was being cooked in a pot on tripods. A little further away, near a tree, the son of Kotoroan is skinning a lamb, and the young housewife is busy in the house. The girl came closer. At this time, the fire burned so brightly that the brew began to splash out of the pot. Mistress
she ran up, grabbed the pot with her apron and wanted to take it off the fire. - My God! - the shepherd girl could not stand it, - no matter how much I walk around the world, I have not yet seen the owner take off the pot with her apron. - And out of frustration she threw the kushma to the ground. Her hair spilled over her shoulders and surrounded her face with golden rings. The son of Kotoroan, when he looked around and saw her, rushed to her with outstretched arms to hug her (and his hands were stained with the blood of the lamb). The girl spun around herself and turned into a swallow. Only in the place near the neck where the hands of Kotoroan’s son touched, there remained a strip the color of blood, and it has survived to this day.
A swallow began to beat and - frr! frr! frr! - began to rise into the sky. The son of Kotoroan grabbed her by the tail, and she rushed with all her might, and only a bunch of feathers remained in his hands. He looked after the swallow and saw that its tail had taken the shape of scissors. And the swallow moved further and further away from him, hiding in the sky.
Since then, swallows have a red neck and a scissored tail, and they build their nest under the roofs of houses - a sign that they descend from the human race.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru