They say that once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. And the man was known as a great hunter - he had no equal. But it’s a pity, a misfortune happened to him one day: once while hunting he was surrounded by a pack of wolves, and although he killed many, others came running, angry, and tore him to pieces in a dense forest, far from his native home, leaving only bones of him. The wife, having not received news from her husband, waited and waited, and then burst into burning tears, washing away her misfortune with them. For a long time she cried out her grief and longing for her husband, for besides everything she was about to give birth. How long or how long did it take for Fat-Frumos to become a strong and handsome young man and once turned to his mother with a question:
“Tell me, mother, what kind of craft my father was engaged in, so that I can find something to my liking.”
“Oh, my dear,” the mother wailed, “you don’t need to engage in his craft, many dangers await you on this path.” Better do what all the people around you are doing.
Fat-Frumos listened to his mother's advice, but did not put up with this thought for long and soon began again to insist that his mother tell him the truth. She had no choice but to tell him everything.
- Your father, my dear son, lived by hunting. But don’t even think about doing it, because I paid more than enough for the profits from this craft.
The guy, like all guys, did not take his mother’s words seriously. As soon as he heard that his father was a hunter, he decided to become one himself. He made himself a bow and arrows and the next morning he went hunting in the wide steppe.
Once, while hunting, he walked up and down the surrounding forests, coastal groves, hills and fields and came to an extraordinary forest: pearl leaves sparkled on the silver trees. And in the middle of the forest he saw a clearing, beautiful, beautiful, all strewn with flowers: roses, poppies and peonies. In the very middle of the clearing there is a lake, of which there are few: the shores are made of white marble, the water is like a tear, you can count all the pebbles at the bottom. The sun is shining brightly, not a breath of wind, and the water is warm, very warm. The guy’s heart fluttered sweetly at the sight of all this beauty, he slowly walked around the lake and was about to head back, when he suddenly heard: Frr! Frr! - three birds landed on the shore of the lake, Fat-Frumos took cover and just wanted to shoot an arrow - the birds flapped their wings and instantly turned into three girls of extraordinary beauty: gentle faces, golden hair, and - puff! — they rushed straight into the water. They bathe, swim, dive - it’s a pleasure to look at them. And the cunning guy quietly went behind the bushes, found the wings of the maidens, hid them in his bosom and set off on the way back.
The fairies came out of the water, but there were no wings. They began to look under the bushes, in the grass, but search forever and you won’t find it. One of the maidens, the one with the biggest eyes, saw the young man’s footprint on the grass. And all three went - eyes to the ground - following the trail after him. They are in a hurry, passing each other, not distinguishing between mountains and valleys, but you know how well done he is pacing. They walked a good half of the way and saw Fat-Frumos on the horizon. One older fairy spoke in a gentle voice:
Carved peony leaf,
Proud guy, wait,
Wait, look around
Turn around to your bride.
He slowed down and turned back to see who was following him. I just looked back - frr! frr! - two wings instantly flew out from behind her bosom and shot up like lightning towards one of the maidens, turning her, as in a fairy tale, into a bird that easily rose into the sky. Fat-Frumos understood the magic of the song, lowered his head, pulled his shirt tighter at the collar and, deciding not to turn around anymore, walked on. But it didn’t take long: another maiden began to sing a sad song:
Gold chamber leaf,
Young boy
That he came to our forest,
My peace has been taken away.
This song is mine
I sing for you.
You go - don't rush
Yes, stay on the way,
For the flowers to bloom,
So that love grows,
So that I don't waste away
In evil sadness and melancholy...
And she sang so tenderly, so sincerely that:
The leaves in the forest were whispering,
And the springs cleared up,
The sun slowed down its run -
The diamonds in the flowers lit up.
Fat-Frumos does not look back, and the maiden does not stop talking:
Red peony leaf,
I don’t know what to do
I shed tears, I suffer.
The song kept getting closer and bewitched Fat-Frumos so much that he could hardly move his feet.
It’s not for nothing that they say: a tree is destined by fate to bear fruit, and a song is destined to ignite people’s hearts. He turned his head back, and the second pair of wings - frr! - flew out from his bosom, and while tears were welling up on his eyelashes, the bird-maiden was already far away in the blue of the sky.
Fat-Frumos stands with his eyes wide open, there is bitterness in his heart, resentment cannot fit in his soul. The good fellow thought that he would never miss the third pair of wings.
He set off on the road again, shedding tears and watering the grass with them. As he walked through the valley, the third maiden began to sing, enchanting everyone around with her voice, so that even the grass swayed to the rhythm of this song, and every bud immediately blossomed, and the branches were instantly covered with leaves. The song flowed smoothly, like spring water from the foot of a hill:
Walnut leaf, green leaf,
Filled with the juice of life,
You only know how hard it is
And my fate is bitter.
I'm homesick, but not for home,
And according to a stranger,
What came from distant places
Relax in a magical forest.
The young man walks, he walks and beware, and the maiden’s song flows with even greater passion:
Heart, you are tired of beating,
Turn into a fast bird
And fly to him, fly
With all your might, catch up,
Catch up and in the middle of the road
Fall at his feet.
This song, my pain
Touch him, light him with love...
The mountains collapsed from the power of this song, perhaps the young man’s heart would not have been able to stand it if he had not rushed to step on the threshold of his house and open the door. As soon as he entered the house, the fairy fell silent and stood behind him, stately, beautiful, with a smile on her lips. She bowed to the young man, extended her hand to him, and she was more beautiful than the proud princess, as if she were the daughter of the sun: in the bend of her eyebrows there was the shine of the sun’s rays, the moon put her jewelry on her flexible neck like a vine, flowers spilled from the May field on her dress.
They fell in love with each other and without much persuasion began to prepare for the wedding. When the tables were cleared and the candles were lit, they invited many people, all their relatives and friends, so that everyone could taste the joy of the young. A big feast was thrown, and unprecedented fun began. The bride and groom danced, all the young people danced so that the ground floated away from under their feet.
The bride danced lightly, like a feather, sometimes rushing like a whirlwind, sometimes dancing in a circle so that she left everyone with their mouths agape.
People looked and were surprised:
- May, may, this is a dancer!
And the fairy answered:
“If my fiancé gave me back my wings, I would dance a hundred times more beautiful.”
All the guests began to ask the groom to give her wings.
- Let him dance, and if he decides to fly away, are we really good for nothing: we won’t catch one bird?! - they shouted at him from all sides.
Fat-Frumos had no choice but to pull out the wings and give them to her. The girl put her wings to her shoulders, her hands to her hips and, like a poplar leaf in the breeze, she swayed, swayed, spun like a spinning top, her eyes darting with lightning. Everyone didn’t take their eyes off her, and the bride walked along the edge of the circle, quickly moved towards the center and suddenly - bang! - hit the ground. Before the spark had time to flare up, it turned into a bird and flew up, higher and higher. The groom grabbed the bow, pulled the string and began to take aim. The bird, sensing trouble, threw itself over its head and turned into a cuckoo. Then the young man let go of the bow from his hands, for there is a law among hunters: shoot at any bird, only a cuckoo, God forbid, don’t touch it. The groom became sad and began to spin, but the cuckoo sank down, made a circle and said to him:
- Well done, well done, if you want to see me, come to the golden palace that stands in the golden forest...
Having said this, she again rose up until she became like a grain of wheat, then like a poppy seed, and soon the blue of the sky completely hid her from the eyes of people.
And Fat-frumos set off on a journey, walked, walked, until he came to a place where such a drought was raging that it seemed as if the very heart of the earth was burning. Near one mountain he came across a shack, on the rubble of which an old, old grandfather was sitting; a beard like a haystack, thin and pale in face, but wise in words.
- Good day, grandfather.
- Welcome, well done, sit down on the rubble, take a break from the road and tell me: what kind of thought brought you to these distances, what kind of love and for whom made you trample these roads, walk through our deserted places?
“I’m looking all over the world for a golden forest with a golden palace.”
The old man thought and thought, then shrugged his shoulders:
“I’ve seen a lot in my time, heard about a lot, but I don’t remember anyone telling me about this forest.” But, since you’ve already come to me, I’ll try to help, and we’ll find out where to go.
The old man got up, stood in front of the house, pulled out a fluor from his bosom, and when he whistled once, the mountains bent their tops, and animals, birds, flies and other forest dwellers began to come running and flock from all sides. They gathered apparently and invisibly.
When there was nowhere to go from them, the old man asked:
- My children, you rush around the world so much - have you seen the golden palace that stands in the golden forest?
The goat replied:
“I’m just coming from there, father.”
- Then escort the young man out, show him the way.
- Oh, father, even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to show the way: an unprecedented drought is drying up those places - the grass is dry, you won’t find a drop of water anywhere.
However, a command is a command. The goat and the young man set off on a journey, leading him along untrodden paths, through rocky places to the top of the hill, from where stretched out a flat place, scorched by drought.
“Now keep your path forward, don’t turn aside, when your eyes see the edge of the earth, consider that you have come to the golden palace that stands in the golden forest,” the goat told him goodbye.
Fat-Frumos went further and saw deserted places: nothing alive around, only withered gardens and fields scorched by the sun. Some kind of light was burning in the distance. He came closer. Several shepherds were milking sheep into nutshells. They also had milk pans, but they had long since dried up: there was no one to milk in such dry conditions. The shepherds told him that since the serpent took the fairy fairy away from the golden garden, all the springs and springs in their places dried up, the rivers and lakes dried up, and everything that grew and turned green dried up on the vine. Having learned where the wanderer was going, the shepherds gave him a flyer.
- Take it, well done, it will serve you well on your journey.
And Fat-Frumos again set out on the road, walked and walked, whether long or short, and came to the kingdom of the serpent. He crossed the line and looked around in surprise: as if he found himself in a completely different land. The grass grew lush, waist-deep in flowers, woven like a carpet, the trees stood tall and spreading. Seeing such beauty around, Fat-Frumos brought a fluor to his mouth, and a doina flowed, praising this grace. And then three wolves and three bears, guarding the borders of the serpentine kingdom, came out to him from their dens from the forests. They came to eat Fat-Frumos—that was their master’s order—but they heard him play and forgot about everything. We listened to the magic flurry and couldn’t stop listening.
Then wolves and bears surrounded him.
“Listen, daredevil, if you play for us again, everything will be fine, but if not, come back, because we are ordered to tear to shreds anyone who crosses the border of this kingdom.”
What then did Fat-Frumos answer them?
“I would have played you a hundred times more beautifully, but the problem is that my flute is broken.” If you dared to help me pull the core out of a hundred-year-old oak tree, then I would play for you with all my heart.
The wolves and bears went and found an oak tree - a huge, thick one - they brought a young man to him, and when he cut the oak with a broadsword, the oak split in the middle, and Fat-Frumos said:
- Grab the edges of the crack quickly and pull to the sides, and I will look for the core.
The wolves and bears stuck their paws into the crack, and Fat-frumos quickly pulled out a broadsword - and trapped all the animals in the oak tree so that they could neither move their paws nor knock down the tree. Fat-frumos left them all, as if in a trap, and moved on. He walked and walked and reached the border of another kingdom. Before he could take even three steps, Black Moor came out to meet him with a double-edged saber. As he walked with a saber at the bottom - he cut off Fat-Frumos' legs, swung it in the middle and cut off his arms, but when he raised his saber to cut off the young man's head, he didn't have to do it - Fat-Frumos fell. There was a spring not far from where he fell. The young man came to his senses and rolled towards him to drink some water. He bent down, pulled the water into himself, but it went away, it was not given - it was snake water. Then he tensed up and grabbed the most important key vein with his teeth, biting it tightly, so that the spring prayed:
- Let go, oh, let go, well done!
- I won’t let you go.
“Let me go, I’ll do everything for you and give you whatever you ask.”
“Make my hands grow back, the same as they were before.”
“That’s why,” said the key, and Fat-Frumos’s hands instantly grew, the same as they were before.
Again he asks for the key, begs:
- Let me go, well done, I’m dying from pain!
“I won’t let go until my legs grow back, the same as they were.”
- May your wish come true! - said the key. And Fat-Frumos’s legs also grew.
He tensed his muscles then, pressed his feet into the ground and pulled the key vein even tighter.
- What do you want, good fellow, why are you torturing me?
— Tell me how to defeat the Black Moor.
- Take three sips of water from the place you are holding on to with your teeth.
Fat-frumos took a sip of water three times, as the key told him, and he became so strong that the earth shook from his very breath.
He set off on his journey, and Black Moor with a saber comes out to meet him again. How Fat-Frumos will grab him, how he will throw him to the ground - bang! - the saber fell from Arap’s hands, and for three hours he could be heard howling as he entered the earth’s firmament. That's how!
Fat-Frumos began to make his way to the serpentine palace and walked through shady forests, through flowery meadows, through green valleys, groves full of birdsong, and came to a palace that looked at the sun and did not fade, so beautiful. The Fairy of Fairies came out onto the threshold and said:
- It’s good that you came, Fat-Frumos. But it would be better if you didn’t come anyway, because the dog-snake will destroy you.
I barely had time to say this - the dragon's club flies, knocked on the door, from there - on the threshold and landed in its place, on the nail! Fat-Frumos grabbed her and threw her back; if she hadn’t hit the snake’s chest, she would have flown further.
“Difficult guests are apparently waiting for me at home,” said the snake.
He entered the house, saw Fat-Frumos and asked:
- How do you want to fight, good fellow, hand-to-hand or with sabers?
- With sabers or hand-to-hand combat - I will still have the upper hand.
And they began to fight. As the snake threw the young man to the ground, the earth shook under him. Now it’s Fat-Frumos’s turn. He threw the snake to the ground, it went into the earth's firmament, only the forelock remained; stick out above the ground. However, the snake got out and shouted:
- Wolves, bears; my friends, jump here, your master is in trouble!
Fat-Frumoe threw the snake again. And again the serpent went into the depths of the earth, only the forelock; remained hanging around. But he shouted even louder:
- Black Arab, where are you! Your owner feels bad!
But who could hear him and come to his aid if the earth was collapsing above the Black Moor, and the oak tree was tenaciously holding the wolves and bears?!
When Fat-Frumos threw the snake for the third time, it sank howling into the bowels of the earth for three days, but never came out to this day.
And water flowed from the dry springs, the fields turned green - grace descended on the whole earth.
And Fat-Frumos entered the palace, and what could he do? He took the Fairy of Fairies by the hand, turned all the serpent's wealth into a golden apple, returned home, and they began to live and live and make good things.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru