Well, that's how it went. As happened in this world, a mother and her son lived in a village. It was poor in the house. And the day came when the son (and his name was Parrot) said to his mother: “Mother!” I’ll go around the world, see who lives how, and find out what I’m good for, why I was born into the world. The mother cried, but let her son go. The Parrot is walking, walking, he has passed through many countries, but has not stopped anywhere.
So he came to a big city and asked if a servant was needed here in the royal palace (in that city, as usual, there was a royal palace). People tell him:
“Our king needs a gardener.” The old one was buried the other day.
The parrot was happy: he knew how to handle a hoe, and he would learn the rest. And so it happened. I learned. And since this Parrot was both good-looking and courteous, he remained a gardener in the royal palace. And everyone liked him there, even the princess watched the Parrot work in the garden.
And in that city there lived a prince who wanted to marry the princess. He saw that the princess was talking to the Parrot, smiling at him, and rarely and reluctantly talking to him, the prince who wants to marry her. He harbored a grudge against the gardener. And then I came up with this. He came to the king, the princess’s father, and said:
“And your gardener, this Parrot, boasts that he can bring here a horse that Tartaro himself rides!”
The king called the Parrot to him.
“So,” he says, “can you bring here the horse that Tartaro rides?”
– I didn’t say anything like that! - Parrot answers.
- He said, he didn’t say... The king orders you - do it.
Then Parrot said goodbye to everyone in the royal house and went to look for where Tartaro lived.
Everyone in Basque Country knows about Tartaro. This is a formidable giant. He has extraordinary strength and a cool disposition. And even though he has only one eye, he sees the entire Tartaro district, he smells everyone who goes to his palace.
But no one knows where his palace is, everyone says different things.
The Parrot walks through the Basque Country, passes through forests, climbs mountains, fords rivers. He reached a stormy mountain river, the name of which he had never heard. On the river there is a ferryman, beyond the river there is a wild bank and in the distance there is a huge house. They say Tartaro lives there.
The carrier transported Parrot to the wild coast, and Parrot said to him:
- Wait for me here. I may go back with a heavy burden.
The carrier agreed, sat down on a stone, and pulled the boat ashore. And the Parrot went straight to the huge house.
Walking, walking, he reached the house. An old woman came out to meet him, so old that she probably saw how people were born on earth.
“Go away,” he shouts, “Tartaro will eat you!” Nothing will save you!
But the Parrot didn’t leave. Hid in a large woodpile. He sits, sits and hears: the earth began to hum like a drum, the wind rose and there was such a roar throughout the area, as if mountains were knocking against mountains. This is Tartaro going home.
He approached the house and immediately began looking for the man.
I looked behind the house - no, under the stairs - no one, went to the woodpile and let's scatter the wood. There were already four logs left above the Parrot, but Tartaro was tired, kicked the woodpile and went into the house. The parrot heard Tartaro sit down at the table and begin to eat the stew.
Parrot then crawled out from under the firewood and went to the stable where Tartaro kept his horses. I chose the one that stood closest to the entrance and decided to take it with me, but okay, I noticed that the bell was dangling from the horse’s neck. And this bell is so huge that it fits to hang on the city bell tower, to convene people, and not to hang from a horse’s neck.
The Parrot took his tongue out of the bell - he couldn’t call the bell any more for Tartaro’s help. Parrot put the tongue of the bell on his shoulder, took the horse by the bridle and went to the river. The bell on the horse's neck dangles, but is silent. Tartaro hears nothing, the carrier sits on the shore. I saw from afar that Parrot was returning, and not alone, but a huge horse, which Tartaro himself was riding and leading by the bridle, - he quickly pushed the boat into the water, and jumped into it himself. Then Parrot and his horse came up.
Let's swim. They swam and swam, they swam to the middle of the river, and turned back. They see Tartaro running to the shore, tearing out bushes and trees along the way, shouting:
- Give me back my horse, man, I’ll give you whatever you want - No! - Parrot shouts to him from the middle of the river. - I won’t give it up!
Then they swam across the river, the Parrot sat on Tartaro’s horse and rode off to the king whose gardener he was.
Comes to town. All the doors and windows of the houses opened, people looked out: they had never seen such a huge horse. And then the Parrot put his tongue into the bell again. The horse is galloping, the bell on his neck is beating, swinging in one direction and then in the other, and such a ringing and roar goes through the city, as if people were gathering to put out a fire all over the world.
The king left the royal house. He is glad that he received such a miracle, now he will have something to surprise strangers with.
The royal daughter liked the parrot even more. The princess smiles at him. And the prince is angry. I got angry and angry and came up with this.
“And your Parrot,” he once says to the king, “can bring you the olanos that Tartaro goes hunting with!”
And the king wants to see who these same Olanos look like. Some say: they are half dogs, half horses. Others say: they are half horses, half dogs.
The king sent for the Parrot.
– Can you bring the Olanos with whom Tartaro hunts?
- Don't know! - says Parrot.
“You know, you don’t know, but you’ll do it,” the king answers. - Bring me etiholano - magic dogs or magic horses, that's how you want, but this is my royal order.
The Parrot went after the olanos with which Tartaro was hunting. The road is already known - I quickly reached the river, and again asks the carrier to wait on the shore.
An old woman met the Parrot and chased him away, but the Parrot didn’t go, he hid in a woodpile.
Tartaro comes, knocks his feet - the earth rumbles, breathes - the mountains rise, screams - the clouds gather into clouds. I started looking for the Parrot. The parrot lies and does not move. There are already two logs left above him, now Tartaro will grab him. But Tartaro threw the firewood on the ground, waved his hand so that the winds from the four corners of the world flew to his house, and went to dinner.
The parrot sighed, moved one hand, moved the other hand, crawled out from under the firewood and walked towards the house. He sees: Tartaro is already sleeping, holding his hand under the pillow.
“Well,” says the Parrot to the magical dogs of Tartaro, “get up!”
He gave them meat that he took from Tartaro in the kitchen. Olano raised their dog heads, beat their horse hooves, wagged their tails, and followed the Parrot.
The Parrot runs with the olano to the river, runs quickly, sees nothing in front of him, only different colors flash in his eyes: a green stripe, red, yellow, blue.
He ran to the river, jumped into the boat, and sat down to help the ferryman row.
They are floating. They swam to the middle of the river, turned around and saw: Tartaro was standing knee-deep in the water and shouting for the Parrot to give him the olano.
- No! - Parrot answers. He got out of the boat and ran to the royal house. The Olanos rush after him, teeth bared, hooves rattling, tails wagging.
Tied the Parrot Olano in the garden. They began to guard the royal palace.
He works a day, he works for two, everyone began to love him even more, everyone talks to him, even the princess. Only the prince doesn’t know what else to come up with. And I came up with it.
– He can bring Tartaro himself! - said to the king.
The King believed and said to the Parrot:
“I don’t know,” you said, you didn’t say that you could bring Tartaro, but I’m waiting for you here together. Don’t you dare come alone, I won’t forgive you!
“Have it your way,” says Parrot. “Just give me, dear king, a barrel of honey, a barrel of feathers, bull horns, shiny silk, a silver harness and the largest carriage that you can find.”
We found such a carriage. Everything that the Parrot asked for was loaded into the carriage, and he went after Tartaro.
He drives and drives and reaches the river. The carrier says:
- Wait for me and don’t be surprised at anything! He got out of the boat, first jumped into a barrel of honey, from it into a barrel of feathers, then he put bull horns on his head, wrapped himself in silk, sat behind the coachman on the box of the carriage, drove horses in a silver harness, and drove Tartaro to the house.
And Tartaro was at home. He answered the knock himself. He saw some monster’s carriage roll right under his door, and he got scared.
- Who are you? - asks.
“I am,” replies Parrot, “the oldest devil in the underworld.” Sit down, I've come for you!
Tartaro got into the carriage. Let's go. On the shore, Parrot and the carrier barely dragged that carriage into the boat.
Let's swim. They almost drowned, but they made it to the shore.
And then, when all the roads along which they had to travel had passed, they appeared at the walls of the city where the king lived.
Tartaro's people got scared, began pointing cannons at him and shooting cannonballs at the giant. But Tartaro caught the cannonballs with his hands and threw them back. He could have bombarded that city with cannonballs, but Parrot tied him up and forced him to serve him. Only then did he bring him to the city.
And since the Parrot did everything the king ordered, the king gave him his daughter as his wife. And the princess wanted such a groom.
But no one knows what happened to that envious prince, but he left the city: he was afraid that Tartaro, who now obeyed the Parrot, would eat him.
And Parrot lived there happily ever after, everyone would do the same.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru