In ancient times, there lived a poor fisherman with three marriageable daughters.
One guy wanted to marry one of the daughters. But this guy only left the house at night and people avoided him. The eldest flatly refused to marry him; the middle one didn’t even want to hear about him; and the youngest agreed.
The wedding took place at night. And as soon as the young people were left alone, the husband said:
“I’ll tell you a secret: I’m bewitched.” Only at night I am a man, but during the day I am doomed to be a turtle. And to get rid of this witchcraft, there is only one remedy: after the wedding, I must separate from my wife and go on a trip around the world, at night in the form of a man, and during the day in the form of a turtle. If, before my return, you remain faithful to me and endure all hardships in the name of love, the evil spell will dissipate, and I will forever acquire a human form.
“I’m ready,” the wife answered.
Then the husband put a diamond ring on her finger and said:
“This ring will help you with everything.” But use it for a good cause.
Dawn broke, and the husband turned into a turtle. At a slow snail's pace he set off around the earth. And the young wife went to the city to look for work. On the way, she met a woman with a boy who kept crying.
“Give me the little one in your arms, I’ll calm him down,” she said to her mother.
“It would be good if you succeeded,” she answered. “He cries all day long.”
“The magical power of diamond,” whispered the young woman, “let the boy laugh, dance and jump.”
And then the boy laughed, began to dance and jump.
Then she went into the baker's shop and turned to the owner:
- Take me to work - you won’t regret it... The hostess agreed, and the young woman got down to business, saying:
- The magical power of diamond, let everyone come to buy bread only in this shop while I work here!
From that day on, there was no end to buyers. One day three young townspeople came to the shop, saw a young beauty and fell in love with her.
“Open the door for me at night,” said one, “I’ll give you a thousand francs.”
“And I,” says the second, “two thousand.”
“And I, three...” blurted out the third.
She took the money from the third and at night slowly let him into the shop.
“Wait,” the woman whispered, “I’ll just put out the dough.” And then: “Do me a favor, mix it a little.”
The man began to knead and knead and knead until dawn. It was the magical power of the diamond that prevented him from tearing himself away from the dough.
- Finally got it done! “You’ve been fussing for a long time,” the woman grinned and kicked the guest out.
Then she agreed to let the second man in, took two thousand francs and asked:
- Blow on the fire a little so that the stove doesn’t go out.
The poor fellow was blowing, blowing on the fire... His cheeks were swelling like bellows. The magical power of the stone did not allow him to leave the stove until dawn.
“He came to me and fanned the fire all night,” the woman reproached him in the morning, “he’s good, there’s nothing to say,” and she kicked him out.
The next night she let in the man who promised her a thousand francs.
“I’ll put the dough on,” she told him, “and you close the door.”
The man closed the door, but the magical power of the stone opened it. And so all night until dawn he closed the door, and it swung open again.
- Well, did you finally close the door? Now open it and get out.
Three men got angry and filed a lawsuit. In those days there were not only male guards, there were also female guards. They were the ones who arrested the women. And then four guards approached the bread shop to arrest the culprit.
“The magical power of the diamond,” she whispered, “let the guards quarrel and fight until the morning.”
Here are the guards and let's furiously hit and scratch each other.
Four guards were sent to search for the guards who did not return with the arrested woman for a long time.
The woman saw them, and the magical power of the diamond forced all four to play leapfrog: one offers his bent back, and the other jumps over him like a goat and offers his back to the third...
Then a turtle crawled up to the house. It was a man who walked around the earth. As soon as the turtle saw our woman, he immediately turned into a beautiful man.
This is how he remained until the end of his days...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru