Once upon a time there lived a miller and a miller's wife, and they had their only daughter, Maryanka. Their daughter grew up, and they began to think about getting her married, they say, it’s time for her. There was a maid at the mill named Betushka, and Maryanka loved her very much and confided everything to her, like her own sister.
Then one day the groom comes to them. He arrived in a four-wheeler, covered in rings and gold chains, and you could see right away that he was a gentleman. Maryanka says to Betushka:
- What a rich groom I have, Betushka.
“What’s true is true,” the girl agrees, “just like the count!” The whole caftan is trimmed with cords and piping, this is not just anyone!
The groom was getting ready to leave them and asked the miller: “When are you planning to celebrate the wedding?”
“Yes, for me, the sooner the better,” the miller answers him, “the girl agrees, why wait.” A wedding is a wedding!
The girls started talking again, and Betushka couldn’t be surprised.
- Oh, mommies, what a groom! Rides in fours!
- Yes, that’s what! - Maryanka boasts even more, - he told me that he would come to the wedding in six! What do you think, Betushka, should I marry him?
- Well, such a rich man! Go, of course.
The groom left, and the parents, as usual, went to consult with friends about Maryanka’s wedding. In short, let's go invite them to the wedding. The parents left home, and Maryanka said to Betushka:
- That's it, Betushka. After all, he said in which direction he lived. Let's go there and have a look. At least we'll know what kind of wealth he has.
We agreed. Maryanka quickly cooked up something for the road, and both set off. We came to the forest and kept going through the forest and through the forest. A white doe runs out onto the path in front of them and shows them the way so that they don’t get lost. The girls followed her, followed her, and in the evening they came to the inn. Then the maid says:
“Listen, Maryanka, let’s go there to spend the night, and early in the morning we’ll move on.”
- The truth is yours, Betushka. Our friends will return from their friends in about three days, not earlier, so we still have a lot of time.
They approach the gate. A huge dog sits at the gate, and there is a tub next to him. And this tub is full of blood. The girls threw a cake to the dog, and he let them pass. They approach the second door, and there lies another dog - even bigger. And also a tub of blood.
- Betushka, should we go further? What do you say, girlfriend?
- Well, since we’re already here, let’s go.
They threw a few cakes to the dog and went to the third door. And at the third door the dog is sitting again, even more, and there is blood near him, blood - it’s scary to say. The girls threw him a whole handful of flatbreads and before they had time to look back, they found themselves in the room. There was a table in the middle of the room, and on that table there were sixty-six plates and spoons, but not a single person was to be seen anywhere. And there were also about forty beds standing there, headboards facing each other. The girls look around, where did they end up? Well, they say, okay! They crawled into the corner under the bed and were afraid to move. Soon a man enters the room and puts food on the table. As soon as he left, a whole gang of people burst in, all of them men. Then several more people come in and drag the young lady behind them and drag her straight to the chopping block. This lady was about to give birth, so she asks them:
- Have pity, don’t ruin it, if not for my sake, then at least for the sake of the child!
But they executed her without any mercy. There was a precious ring left on her hand - they couldn’t steal it, so they grabbed an ax and cut off her finger, and this finger, along with the ring, flew straight into Maryanka’s lap. Now both girls were even more frightened than before, but they sat there very quietly, and Maryanka hid that finger in her bosom.
They lit a candle, looking for where this finger flew off to. And suddenly the candle went out.
“Apparently someone else is here,” says one.
- Who could be here? The dogs won’t let anyone in. They lit it again - it goes out, they light it a third time - the candle goes out. One was about to start looking under the bed, but then the others shouted to him:
- Stop looking! We'll see tomorrow, it's not going anywhere.
Again some time passed. They brought a driver. They stabbed him and took the horses to the stable. Here the groom says:
“Tomorrow I’ll go to the meeting with six of us, so these horses will be useful to me.”
A little later they bring in a young man, a hunting assistant. And the same end for him. He asked and begged them to let him live, but where there - they cut off his head, and that’s it. Every time they put a tub under the blood, and took the body somewhere. So they put it all away and sat down to drink. Yes, what kind of wines do they drink - the best ones that only end up on the princely table. They sit and feast, and the groom says to them:
- Well, now the chest with money is almost full, a little missing! And when we go to the mill tomorrow for my engagement, we’ll fill it up to the top; The miller has a lot of money - the chickens don’t peck.
They sat like that for a long time, drinking, until they all got drunk and fell all over the place. When everyone was fast asleep and there was only snoring in the room, both girls crawled out from under the bed on all fours, quietly left the house and found themselves next to the first dog. The dog was not so angry and did not even bark. Then they walked past the second and past the third - both monsters only raised their muzzles and grumbled, but did not touch them. The friends jumped out of the gate and ran home with all their might! The sun had not yet risen, and they were already home - they were rushing so fast. My soul almost jumped out, I had seen such passion, it took me a long time to come to my senses.
Now the parents have returned, and the miller, well, let’s flog the fever: let’s get ready quickly, we need to treat the groom and his groomsmen better.
“Oh, father,” Maryanka tells him, “if you saw how much wealth he has, you wouldn’t believe your eyes!”
- Well, of course, he is a rich man, it’s obvious from everything.
- Rich, rich, but he has all this loot! And he will come here only to rob us!
Here both girls started chattering like magpies and vying with each other to tell how they ran secretly into the forest and what they saw there. Such passions, they say, that it is impossible to describe! Just then the miller and miller’s wife clasped their hands: “So that’s it!” - they dropped everything and consulted how they could catch this fellow. The miller now ran away and arranged for soldiers to be sent to him. The soldiers will surround the mill and, when the feast is in full swing, all the robbers will be captured.
In the morning the groom rolled up with the gear, cheerful, still laughing and joking. Now the conspiracy has begun. We agreed on everything, the engagement ended, the feast began. Dish after dish is placed on the table; at the mills they never give a damn about this. It’s at the table that Maryanka says:
“My dear fiancé, what did you dream about last night?”
- Long story, long dream. I dreamed about how our wedding was celebrated.
- But what a dream I had! - Which one?
Maryanka says:
“It’s as if our Betushka and I went into a dense dense forest, came across some kind of tavern there and stayed there overnight. Suddenly a whole gang of men rushes in and brings with them a young lady. This lady was in position, and dressed richly, all in gold, rings on her. They are going to kill her, and she asks them to spare her, at least for the sake of the child. But they did not spare her; they cut off her head. Then they brought the driver, he was immediately on the chopping block, as if they were chopping him, his little head rolled off.
Here the groom fidgeted in his chair and said:
- Hmm, a dream is like a dream, let me out! And Maryanka grabbed him by the sleeve:
- No, no, wait, I haven’t told you the whole dream yet. And if you don’t believe me, here’s the finger with the ring that the lady had cut off, it fell into my lap, and I hid it.
As she said this, the groom escaped and went straight out the window. And his friends, when he whistled for them, also all jumped out of the windows. But then they were all caught in the yard and arrested. Then the authorities ordered the cart to be harnessed, we went to that inn and found a large chest with money there. It was almost filled to the top, but there was still a little space left, so the robbers were sharpening their teeth on the miller, they were going to fill the chest to the top. They loaded him onto the cart, and the horse barely moved the cart from its place. We went into the stable, there were four more horses standing there, they harnessed them all and rode off, and burned the inn. Since then, no one lives there anymore. That's the whole story.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru