In ancient times, there lived a poor, poor old man and an old woman. They didn't have any farming. They fed on begging for alms... But they had an only son, who, although he grew up in poverty, grew up intelligent and dexterous. And as he grew up, he began to work day and night, and delivered his father and mother from want.
The khan himself liked this poor son very much.
“If this guy were rich, I would give my daughter for him,” said the khan.
And the khan’s daughter heard his words and began to look at the young man; I realized that my father wouldn’t mind... She looked and looked, and she fell in love with him.
She approached him one day and said: “If you want, take me as your wife!” She thought the poor man would be happy. But the poor man is silent, in no hurry to answer...
- What? are you silent? – the khan’s daughter was offended.
– What should I say? - the young man answers. - I am poor, from a simple peasant family, and you are the khan’s daughter... You cannot be me... a good wife...
When the father and mother found out what the khan’s daughter was talking about with their son, they pestered him: “Get married, get married!” He refused this way and that: “It won’t fit, they say, to our house,” but the old people begged until he fulfilled their will. All that the son earned was spent by the old man and the old woman on the wedding. They remained poor, just like in previous years.
Some time passed, the khan’s daughter said to her husband:
“It’s not right for us to live in such poverty.” Let's move in with my father. His chests are bursting with wealth.
- No! - said the young man. – If I leave home, who will take care of my old people?
But the wife kept saying one thing: “Let’s leave and let’s leave!” And she herself would run away to her father’s house, then return to her husband again... In the end, the khan got tired of it.
- Come live with us! - he says to his son-in-law. “Your old people can manage without you.”
But the young man replied:
“I won’t allow my father and mother to ask for alms in their old age... I told your daughter that we are not a couple.” She doesn’t want to live with me, let her go alone.
And the khan had a magic whip. If you hit a darkened person, you could turn him into any animal or bird.
The khan's daughter grabbed the whip and ran to her husband.
“I’m asking you for the last time: will we move in with my father?”
– Go away alone!.. I won’t leave my mother and father alone.
- So be you, stubborn ass, an ass! – hit him with a whip and turned him into a donkey.
She drove the young man in the form of a donkey to his father and mother and said:
“My father sent your son to his relatives on an errand. And I sent you this stubborn beast as a gift. You will have something to transport firewood from the forest with.
An old man carries firewood from the forest on a donkey and sells it. Thus they live comfortably with the old woman. The old man cannot boast enough about his donkey; he takes pity on him and feeds him to his fill.
“What a smart, hard-working donkey I got,” he says!
The khan's daughter did not like this. She came again with a whip and quietly asked:
- Well, how now, will you fulfill my will? The donkey shook his head: “No!” - So be a dog! - she got angry. She whipped him and turned him into a dog.
And the old man saw his daughter-in-law in the yard and was delighted:
- Will my son return soon, daughter?
“Don’t wait,” says the khan’s daughter. “My father sent him very far away.”
The old man was very sad that his beloved donkey was missing. But then a dog appeared in the yard. He doesn’t leave the threshold, he caresses him, he looks into the eyes of the old man and the old woman. They felt very sorry for the dog, they didn’t drive him away, fed him, pet him... The khan’s daughter came again. I saw and reprimanded them:
“We don’t have enough bread ourselves, and we also got a dog.” May my eyes never see this dog again!
The poor old men did not dare to contradict the khan’s daughter and drove the dog away from the yard.” A shepherd noticed her and lured her to him. The dog helps him herd the sheep, runs around the herd, guards diligently: he won’t let a single lamb fall behind, and drives away the wolves.
The shepherd is satisfied:
- Oh, what a nice shepherd I have! I don’t feel sorry for one hundred sheep for her!
By evening he drove the herd to his kosh. The old dogs attacked the new dog. The shepherd dispersed them and threw the dog a bone. And she didn’t even touch her. Then the shepherd brought out a piece of raw meat from the kosh. But the dog didn’t even eat the meat. And she herself looks into the eyes of the owner...
- What a miracle! No, this is not an ordinary dog... Let me give it what people eat. “The shepherd took a clean bowl, poured sour cream into it, and crumbled the flatbread.
The dog ate everything and licked the cup.
The young man lived for three years in the form of a dog with a shepherd. The Khan's daughter was still waiting for her husband, hoping that he would come to his senses and come to her to ask for forgiveness.
And the old people, the poor, have already stopped waiting. The daughter-in-law told them that he was missing, that their son was missing, that he was dead...
And he yearned for his native place, missed his father and mother. “Give me,” he thinks, “I’ll go and at least look at them.”... He comes, fawns over them, jumps... And the old man and the old woman were delighted, they immediately recognized their dog, fed it, gave it something to drink...
She began to live with them again.
A few days later, the khan’s daughter walked past their yard, saw the dog, approached it, and quietly asked:
“Will you come and live with us now?” The dog shook his head: “No!” The khan's daughter rushed home and brought a whip.
- So become a bird! – hit and turned the young man into a swift.
The bird often circled over the parental house, flew into the yard of the old people and sat on their shoulders.
– This is probably the soul of our son! - the old woman sighed, and they did not drive away the swift.
“What if I fly to the khan’s house? I’ll find an open window, try it, hit the whip. Maybe I’ll take off my witchcraft and become a human again?” - thought the young man. As I thought, I did so. He flew into the khan's chambers and hit his chest on the whip. And a miracle happened - he turned into a man.
As soon as he had time to take the whip in his hands, the khan’s daughter ran in, the young man hit her with a whip and said:
- Now be an ass!
The old man and the old woman could not be happier that their son had returned. They had buried him in their thoughts and mourned him for a long time.
- Where have you been for so long, son? - they asked.
“It was hard for me to see how poor we became.” So I hired myself as a shepherd to a rich man and served him for three years... And now, father, I have brought you virgin land as a gift.
“You always need a donkey on the farm,” the old man rejoiced. - Here, without you, the khan gave us a donkey, but it was stolen from me. For a long time I carried firewood from the forest on my shoulders... Now I’ll rest!
- Load up, father, more bundles. This is a very angry donkey, don’t feel sorry for her. And I’ll bring you two more donkeys.
The next day, early in the morning, the happy old man went into the forest to get firewood. And the young man went to the khan. Hit him with a whip. Hit the hanshu. Turned them into donkeys.
And then he drove them into his yard.
The next day the old man went into the forest with three donkeys. In the evening he returned and chased them away, laden with huge bundles of firewood. A young man came up and asked:
- Well, how does it feel for you to be an ass? The father was surprised and laughed:
- What are you thinking about talking to donkeys, son?
And then his son told him the whole truth.
Have you heard the fairy tale with your own ears? Live long and long so that you can see everything you hear with your own eyes!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru