Once upon a time there lived a king in a coastal country. He had many fishermen who caught fish for him with seines. The king's son supervised their work.
One day, fishermen caught a goldfish. The prince saw her and decided: “Why take the life of this little beautiful fish, it will do no good to my father, he already has a lot of wealth, let him live for his own joy.” The prince released the fish into the sea. Someone reported this to the king, and he became very angry.
- Aayt, how dare you deprive me of my prey! - the king shouted. “I don’t need such a son.” Let hell be your lot. Get out of my sight wherever you want.
The father kicked his son out of his kingdom. The prince walked for a long time, aimlessly. On the seashore, under a spreading nut tree, he met a young man - exactly like him. They met. The prince told the person he met about how unfairly his father had treated him.
“Now you won’t be alone in your trouble,” his new acquaintance told the prince. “From this day on, I will be your friend.”
The prince was delighted. When a friend is nearby, it is easier to endure life's adversities. They agreed that they would share both joy and sorrow in half and swore an oath to each other about this. They set off further together. We wandered around the world for a long time. One day, friends heard that the king of the country they were in had a beautiful daughter. She got married three hundred times, but all her suitors, entering the amhara, died on the very first night, and in the morning they were taken out of there dead. The expelled prince decided to marry this princess at all costs. He told his friend about this. He began to dissuade him:
- Why do you need a woman who killed three hundred men? Isn't life dear to you?
But no matter how much his friend tried to dissuade the prince, he insisted on his own. The young man, on behalf of the prince, went to the palace to tell the king that there was a man who wanted to marry his daughter.
“Well, I don’t mind,” said the king. “My daughter had three hundred wonderful suitors, but they all died.” Apparently, this young man wants to become the three hundred and first. Let him come. The king was tired of the constant ruinous weddings. This time he decided to have a small wedding just for appearances. On the first wedding night, the prince went to the bride in Amhara. And shortly before that, his friend hid in the Amhara under an ottoman. When the newlyweds fell asleep, the prince's friend crawled out from under the ottoman and stood at their head with a drawn saber. He stood there motionless for a long time and began to get tired. Suddenly, at midnight, a red snake began to crawl out of the bride’s mouth; she reached out to the prince. The friend, standing ready, swung his saber and cut off the snake's head. And the body of the snake was stuck in the womb of the bride. The prince's friend wrapped the snake's head in a scarf and again froze motionless with his saber raised. After some time, another snake began to crawl out of the bride’s mouth. And the prince’s friend cut off her head, and the body of the snake got stuck in the womb of the bride. He also wrapped the head of the second snake in a scarf. A third snake began to crawl out of the girl’s mouth; the prince’s friend cut off its head. The headless body of this snake crawled into the womb of the bride. He wrapped the snake's head in a scarf. Towards the end of the night, the prince’s friend wanted to leave the amhara unnoticed, but at that time the prince woke up and saw him with a drawn saber.
- Ait, I considered you my faithful friend, and you came here to kill me! - the prince exclaimed and jumped up.
“I didn’t intend to kill you, but I came here completely by accident,” the friend began to justify himself.
But the prince found this explanation unconvincing. An argument ensued.
- Okay, you can do whatever you want with me, but only...
“But not here,” said the prince’s friend. - Let's leave here, then do as you please.
The prince agreed.
The king was very surprised and delighted when he saw his son-in-law alive and well in the morning. He arranged a real rich wedding and gave his daughter a suitable dowry. We drank, ate, and had fun at the wedding for a whole week. Then the prince with his young wife and friend set off on the return journey. They drove for a long time in silence. The prince was still wondering what to do with his friend, who, as he believed, wanted to kill him in the Amhara. But I couldn’t come up with anything. We drove up to the walnut tree where they met and became friends. The prince's friend says:
- Here you and I became friends, at this place we swore an oath to each other that we would equally share everything that we got. If you have not betrayed your oath, then we must share with you everything that we have obtained.
The prince did not object. They fairly divided all the wealth. But how to divide a woman? He married her alone.
“Anyway, we have to share the wife,” said the friend. “There is no other way out.”
“Since you insist on this, let it be your way,” the prince agreed reluctantly.
Two twisting braids rested on the shoulders of the prince's wife. Each of the friends took the braid. The friend swung his saber, aiming to cut the woman exactly in half, but before he could bring the blade to her head, the headless body of a red snake slid out of her mouth.
“Hayt, I swung unsuccessfully,” said the prince’s friend. “He raised his saber again, but again did not have time to lower it; the second snake jumped out. When the third snake came out, the prince's friend sheathed his saber and said:
“When you saw me in Amhara with a saber, you thought that I wanted to kill you, but that’s not the case.” I saved you from death by neutralizing these snakes. I then cut off their heads. Here they are. With these words, he threw three severed snake heads. “You also saved my life at one time, although you don’t remember it,” the prince’s friend continued. “I am that little goldfish that you rescued from the net and released into the sea.” Take all the wealth and wife. Now she is harmless and will be your faithful friend.
The prince's friend entered the sea and, turning again into a goldfish, swam into the depths.
Freed from poisonous snakes, the princess became even more beautiful. The prince returned home with his wife and rich gifts. The Tsar Father, seeing his son healthy and unharmed, and with a beautiful wife and great wealth, rejoiced. He had long since repented of his actions and, by arranging an unprecedented wedding, tried to atone for his guilt before his son.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru