Once upon a time there lived a poor orphan boy named Anders. There was nowhere for him to lay his head, nothing to eat, nowhere to put his hands; He decided to go around the world, to find whatever business he could.
Here Anders is wandering through the dense forest, and a stranger meets him. He asks Anders:
- Little one, little one, where are you going?
“Yes,” Anders answers, “I’m wandering around the world; I'm looking to see if any service might come up.
“Come and work for me,” says the man, “I desperately need a boy like you.” I will pay you well: for the first year of service - a sack of dalers, for the next year - two sacks, and for the third - as many as three. Because you will have to serve for exactly three years. Just make sure you obey me in everything, even if something seems strange. You have nothing to fear. No trouble will happen to you until you leave my will.
That's how things worked out. Anders hired himself into the service and followed the owner to his home.
That strange dwelling was hidden near the lake, in a mountain in the middle of a dense forest. There is not a living soul around, silence and solitude.
People and animals, birds and fish did not show their noses in those parts. Do you want to know why? Anders's master was a terrible sorcerer, and he ruled over the entire area.
It’s impossible to count how many dark things he was involved in. Whether man or beast, it was all the same for the sorcerer; he spared no one. They say that he did not spare his own daughter and hid her from people at the bottom of the sea. The sorcerer acted mercilessly: he killed some people to death, others he smothered with debts, and others he took captive.
In his underground menagerie there were so many animals, birds and fish languishing! The sorcerer fed them once every three years, and tormented them to his heart's content.
At first, the sorcerer Anders assigned him to feed the forest animals.
The boy was amazed at how skinny and dejected they all were - wolves and bears, deer and hares. He fed them to their fill. Even though there were a lot of animals (outlandish menageries stretched a whole mile underground), Anders completed the job in one day.
The sorcerer praised him:
- Well done!
And the next day he says to the boy:
“Nowadays we don’t have to feed the animals.” They don’t get food every day, but only once every three years. Go play in the forest; Whenever you are needed, I will call you.
And suddenly the sorcerer began to mutter incomprehensible words:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips! Turn around like a hare, little one.
Anders turned into a hare and hopped off into the forest. And there was fun in the forest: the hunters were shooting, the dogs were barking! After all, in the forest, there was no one left to hunt except the hare, there was no longer any animal left: the sorcerer killed some, drove some into underground menageries.
The hunters were glad that at least the hare showed up in the forest, and they all started after him at once. The hare's quick legs suited him! He had to run from both hunters and dogs. The hare's life has become restless!
But no matter how the dogs chased him, no matter how the hunters shot at him, it was all in vain. The hare remained unharmed and ran away from the hunters further into the forest. The hare finally understood: the dogs couldn’t keep up with him, and the hunters couldn’t shoot him. I calmed down. He even enjoyed teasing dogs and hunters.
Anders ran and hopped like a hare for a whole year, and when the time came, the sorcerer called him home. And again the sorcerer muttered incomprehensible words:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips! Turn into a human!
The hare turned into a man.
- Well, are you satisfied with the service? - asks the sorcerer. - Do you like running like a hare?
“Yes, the service is good,” the boy answers. “I’ve never run so fast before.”
The sorcerer showed Anders the bag of dalers that the boy had earned, and he agreed to serve for another year.
Now the sorcerer Anders has assigned him to feed the forest birds.
He had all kinds of birds languishing in captivity: eagles, swallows, cuckoos, and crows. And they were all shabby and dejected, too. The sorcerer bewitched them and drove them into cages.
Those cells stretched a mile underground.
Anders fed the birds to their fill. He completed this job in one day. The sorcerer praised him:
- Well done!
And the next day he says to the boy:
“There’s no need to feed the birds these days.” They don’t get food every day, but only once every three years. Go play in the forest; Whenever you are needed, I will call you.
And suddenly the sorcerer began to mutter incomprehensible words:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips! Turn around, little raven.
Anders turned into a raven and soared up. “How good!” he thought. “It’s much more free to fly like a raven than to run like a hare; and the dogs can’t reach me. It’s fun to look at them from above!”
But there was no peace for him in heaven. There was commotion in the forest again: hunters were shooting, dogs were barking. After all, in the forest, there was no one to hunt except for the raven, there were no more birds left: the sorcerer killed some, drove some into underground cages. That's why the hunters fired at the raven.
The raven was frightened: just as soon as he saw it, he would be shot. But he soon noticed that the bullet was not taking him. And he began to fly without fear.
He flew and soared like a raven for a whole year, and when the time came, his sorcerer shouted home. And again the sorcerer muttered incomprehensible words:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips! Turn into a human!
The raven turned into a man.
- Well, are you satisfied with the service? - asks the sorcerer. “Do you like flying as a raven?”
- Yes, the service is good! - the boy answers. “I’ve never had the opportunity to fly in the sky before.”
The sorcerer showed Anders two bags of dalers that he had earned that year. They stood next to the one from last year. And the boy agreed to serve for another year.
Now the sorcerer Anders has assigned him to feed the fish.
What kind of fish did he languish in captivity: sharks, salmon, herring, and cod! And everyone is also bony and dejected. The sorcerer bewitched them and collected them into his ponds and gardens. Those ponds and cages stretched a mile underground.
The boy fed the fish to their fill.
He completed the new job in one day, and the morning of the next day the sorcerer again muttered incomprehensible words:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips! Turn around like a fish, little one!
Anders turned into a fish and splashed into the river! The boy is splashing in the water, he is having fun: he will dive to the bottom, then he will come up.
He swam and swam, further and further. And then the river carried him straight into the sea.
Anders sees a crystal castle standing at the bottom of the sea.
He looked out the window, looked into another: the upper rooms and the hall sparkled like a mirror. The decoration in the castle is rich. The tables, benches, and stands are made of whale bone, framed in gold and lined with pearls. The floors are covered with soft carpets, and down pillows are scattered on the carpets. Bright ones - like a rainbow! Here and there strange trees with intricate flowers grow. Fountains gush from the snail's house, streams of water fall down and hit the transparent shells. And wonderful music sounds everywhere!
But the most beautiful thing in that castle was the young mistress herself! She wanders through the crystal chambers, sad and very sad. Apparently, the wonders around her do not please her; You won’t even look at the crystal walls that shine like a mirror, you won’t even admire their beauty.
“You can’t find such a beauty in the whole wide world,” Anders thought.
He swims around the castle, looks into the windows, and is overcome by melancholy:
“I wish I could turn from a pathetic, dumb fish into a human again! I wish I could remember the words that the sorcerer says when he casts a spell!”
Anders swam, dived, thought and remembered, until it dawned on him:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips! Turn into a human!
As soon as he said these words, he turned into a man again, standing on the seabed.
Anders hurries to the crystal castle, approaches the young beauty and speaks to her. She was scared to death! And when she heard his kind words, when she found out why he found himself here, beauty Helga’s heart was relieved. And she is glad that she is no longer alone at the bottom of the sea, that a handsome fellow is with her. Anders didn’t even have time to look back when he became a grown-up guy.
The days run and fly by in joy and merriment. And Anders completely forgot that he would soon need to return to the sorcerer.
The beautiful Helga once reminded him of this:
“Soon the sorcerer will call you back home; Like it or not, you will have to return: you are in his will. But first you need to take on your fish form again, otherwise you won’t get to land alive. The time has come - I must open up to you. I am the daughter of the very sorcerer you serve. Even though he is my father, I’ll be honest, he’s a merciless villain! I know how many people I have killed. And he imprisoned me in a crystal castle, so that there would be no one to stand up for people, animals, birds and fish.
Anders was amazed that the evil sorcerer had such a kind and beautiful daughter. And she says:
“I know a way to get rid of the sorcerer, to free everyone from captivity.” Listen to me and remember well everything I tell you. The kings of all the surrounding lands owed money to the sorcerer. There is nothing to say about the common people; they never leave the sorcerer’s bondage. Now the time has come for the king of a nearby kingdom to pay his debt to the sorcerer. If he fails to pay on time, he will lose his life. But I have no money to pay him, I know for sure.
You do this: refuse service. You have served for three years and are now free to leave the sorcerer. Take the six bags of dalers that you have earned over the years, go to that very kingdom and hire yourself into the service of the king there. And when you notice that the king has tightened his grip, it means that the time has come for him to pay the debt to the sorcerer. Then tell the king: I know what grief is gnawing at you, I can, they say, help you out, lend you money. And the king needs exactly six bags of dalers. But you will lend money to the king with an agreement: when he goes to the sorcerer, let him take you with him, pass you off as the king’s jester and let you run ahead of him. And at the sorcerer’s you will do whatever you want: play pranks, break windows. Then my father, the sorcerer, will be angry and will call the king to account for your clownish tricks. The king will have to, even though he pays his debt, either solve three riddles or lose his life.
First my sorcerer father will ask him:
- Where is my daughter?
And you stand next to the king and answer:
- At the bottom of the sea! Then he will ask:
- Do you recognize my daughter?
- How not to admit it! - you will answer. Girls will pass by you in a crowd - all looking the same, hair to hair, voice to voice. You yourself will never recognize me among them. Then I will give you a sign as soon as I pass by. Then grab my hand and hold me tightly, don’t let go. So you will guess the first riddle of the sorcerer.
And then the sorcerer will ask:
-Where is my heart? Come forward and answer:
- In the belly of a fish!
- Do you recognize that fish?
- How not to admit it! - you will answer. A school of fish will swim past you - all one at a time. You yourself don’t care about the one you need to recognize. But I’ll stay close and push you when that fish swims by. Grab the fish right away and rip open its belly with a knife. This is the end of the sorcerer! And you and I will never part again.
Andre listened to Helga's advice and promised her to do everything exactly. And when the time came for him to sail back, he began to remember the words that the sorcerer used to say when he cast a spell. Helga didn’t know those words, and Anders apparently completely forgot them.
He wandered around all day, thinking and thinking, but he just couldn’t remember! And at night he couldn’t sleep, he kept thinking and remembering; Anders almost forgot himself at dawn, and it dawned on him:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips!
Turn around like a fish, little one!
As soon as Anders said the words, he turned into a fish and splashed into the water! Here the sorcerer called Anders, he swam across the sea and the river in one fell swoop, and now he dives near the shore.
And on the shore the sorcerer stands and mutters his incomprehensible words:
Snur-re! Snur-re! Snur-re - vips! Turn into a human!
The fish turned into a man.
- Well, are you satisfied with the service? - asks the sorcerer. — Do you like swimming as a fish?
“I wouldn’t be happy,” Anders answers. “You won’t find better service in the whole world!”
And to tell the truth, he didn’t bend his heart. He fell in love with the beautiful Helga, and life at the bottom of the sea came to his heart.
The sorcerer showed Anders three bags of dalers that he had earned that year. Those bags stood next to the three previous ones, and now the guy had only six bags of gold.
- Maybe you can serve for another year? - asks the sorcerer. - You will earn six more bags of dalers in addition. You will have twelve in total. Such wealth does not lie on the road!
- No! - Anders answers. - This money is enough for me. I want to wander around other lands, serve with other people, see their customs, gain some wisdom. Maybe someday I'll come back to you.
- Come if you want! - says the sorcerer. “You served me faithfully for three years, as agreed.” And it is not in my will to keep you!
The guy took his six bags of dalers and set off on the road, to that very nearby kingdom that his bride Helga was talking about.
He buried the gold in a safe place, not far from the royal court, went to the king and asked to serve. They hired him as a groom to groom and clean the royal horses.
Soon Anders noticed: the king was sunbathing. The king is gnawed by grief, he is angry at everyone and has forgotten about fun.
One day the king comes to the stable, the groom says to him:
- Allow me, Your Majesty, to ask, why are you sad? Why are you angry and have forgotten about fun?
“What’s the use of talking in vain,” the king replies, “all the same, you won’t take the trouble away from me.”
- Who knows! - says the groom. “Perhaps I know what grief is gnawing at your royal heart.” Maybe I can help you.
The king was incredibly happy and began to ask the groom: what should he do and what should he do.
“I will give you, Your Majesty, six bags of dalers to pay your debt to the sorcerer, but only with an agreement: take me with you when you go to pay the debt.” And I’ll dress up funnier, pretend to be the royal jester and run ahead.
I'll make trouble there, play pranks. Only you, Your Majesty, do not be afraid. No harm will happen from that.
- Have it your way! - the king said cheerfully. “And now it’s time to go.”
They came to a mountain in the forest, and there the sorcerer’s previous dwelling was no longer there. But a crystal castle grew up on the hill, which Anders had never seen before.
But he knew about the sorcerer’s tricks and would not have been at all surprised if the crystal castle had suddenly disappeared, just as it unexpectedly appeared at the behest of the sorcerer.
They came closer to the castle.
Anders pretended to be the royal jester and play pranks, play all sorts of buffoonery tricks: he walks backwards and stands on his head. And then suddenly he started breaking crystal doors and windows and breaking everything he could get his hands on. Trouble and nothing more!
The sorcerer almost choked with anger. The beast jumped out of the castle like a beast and let the king be blamed for what it is worth:
- Why did so-and-so bring the vile jester with him?
You are such a poor bastard, you will never be able to compensate for your losses.
And you still can’t get rid of the old debt!
And the jester answered him:
- We'll be here in a jiffy!
And here the king presents to the sorcerer six bags of dalers that the groom gave him. The sorcerer took a measure, measured the money - everything fit exactly.
The king dealt with his old debt and received a promissory note from the sorcerer. Only now the king had a new debt - for the losses that the jester inflicted on the sorcerer. But there is nothing to pay the king with.
Then the sorcerer says to the king:
- I’ll tell you three riddles. If you guess it, it’s your happiness: I’ll forgive you your debt. If you don’t guess, you’ll answer with your head.
There was nothing to do - the king had to agree.
“Here’s my first riddle for you,” says the sorcerer. “Where is my daughter?”
And the jester answers instead of the king:
- At the bottom of the sea!
- How do you know? - asks the sorcerer.
“A silver fish saw her there,” answers the jester.
- Do you recognize my daughter? - asks the sorcerer.
- How not to admit it! Bring her here! - says the jester.
The sorcerer waved his hand, and out of nowhere, girls appeared, all with the same face and all similar to Helga. But they were not real people, but ghosts. At the end, Helga showed up and, as she passed by the jester, she pinched him quietly. Anders almost screamed, but came to his senses in time.
How he will grab her hand! And he feels that it is not a ghost, but a living Helga.
The sorcerer had to admit that his first riddle had been solved.
- Here’s my second riddle! - says the sorcerer. -Where is my heart?
- In the belly of a fish! - answers the jester.
- Do you recognize that fish? - asks the sorcerer.
- How not to admit it! Click her here! - says the jester. The sorcerer waved his hand and a school of fish swam past - all one in the same. But as soon as the right fish appeared, Helga quietly pushed the jester. He grabbed the fish, ripped open its belly with a knife and pulled out the sorcerer’s heart.
Here the sorcerer fell dead and turned into a pile of stones. All his witchcraft spells lost their power at that very moment. Animals, birds and fish escaped from their dungeons and scattered throughout the forests, into the skies, into rivers, seas and lakes.
And poor orphan Anders and the beautiful Helga entered the crystal castle and had a wedding. Who was not at that wedding! Everyone came whom Anders had freed from bondage and bondage.
The people chose Anders as their king, and he ruled wisely and justly. And if Anders and the beautiful Helga have not yet died, they still live in love and joy.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru