Once upon a time there lived a king. He received nothing, only spent, and was so wasteful that he would have squandered all the treasures of the world if he had owned them. What can I say, if there is no longer a thread of my own left on it!
But he did not lose heart. “Eh,” the king consoled himself, “we’ll live somehow! Maybe we’ll make some money. There are a lot of animals in the forests, I’ll start hunting.
As he said, so he did. Only one castle survived from all his wealth. He and his family began to live in that castle and go hunting in the forest. Whatever he catches, he lives with his wife and three daughters.
One day he shot a lot of game. He should have calmed down with that, but then suddenly a hare jumps out of the bushes. “Well, scythe, and now the end will come for you,” thought the king, took aim and killed the hare.
Suddenly everything around began to crack, trees began to fall. The king turned around and saw a huge bear bursting through the thicket, taking a step - it destroyed everything in its path, roaring - the mountains were shaking. The king stood upright in fear, but the bear stood up on its hind legs, lowered its front legs onto the king’s shoulders and growled:
“I’ll tear you to pieces now!” How dare you touch my subjects?
You just shot my most loyal servant right before my eyes! Now either say goodbye to life, or promise me your eldest daughter as a wife. I'll come for her in two weeks.
The king cannot escape alive from the bear's claws. I had to promise my daughter. The bear let him go.
The king did not say anything to his people, he just wandered around the house, gloomy, darker than the black night. He doesn’t dare go hunting, something will happen to his daughter now.
I decided not to give up, and not to give my daughter to the bear. By the end of the second week, the king placed reliable guards around the castle. He ordered to shoot at everyone who approached the castle.
Two weeks have passed, the third has begun. Suddenly, at exactly noon, gentlemen are rolling along in twelve carriages. A young prince emerges from the first carriage, important gentlemen from the rest, followed by servants dragging rich gifts into the castle for the bride and her parents. The prince bows to the king and queen, bows to the princesses, the matchmaker steps forward and asks the prince to give his eldest daughter as a wife.
Neither the daughter nor the parents resist, but the unhappy father says:
“It would be nice for the royal daughter to marry the prince.” But what should we do if I promised her to the shaggy bear? Today is the time for the bear to come for her.
- What else, bear! Why would you give your daughter to the beast? And if the bear appears, you have guards posted in this case,” the prince persuades the king.
Persuaded. And they had a great feast. They eat and drink, fortunately the groom brought a lot of food with him. So they feasted until the evening. And in the evening they put the young woman into the carriage, the prince got in, and all the gentlemen who came with him left with him.
And the king, as he went on a spree, couldn’t stop, because the treat was free! His guests are not transferred. Long story short, the king again let everything go to waste. What to do here? I had to get ready to go hunting again. But he no longer began to beat the beast, he was afraid to meet a bear, so he began to hunt the bird.
For the time being, everything went well. Only one day he sees two hawks circling above him. He took aim, fired, and the defeated hawks fell at his feet. The forest rustled here, the tops of the trees fell as if cut off, and a mighty eagle rushes onto the king’s shoulders and shouts:
“You won’t escape my claws!” How dare you destroy my subjects? I killed two of my best soldiers before my eyes. Either say goodbye to life, or promise me your middle daughter as a wife. Wait for me in two weeks! I'll come for her!
The king has nowhere to go. She won’t escape from the eagle’s claws, so she had to promise her middle daughter to the eagle.
At home, the king did not say a word, he just walked back and forth, hanging his head, as if life was not sweet to him. The king did not hunt the bird anymore and decided not to give his second daughter to the eagle, if the first one did not marry a bear.
On the fourteenth day he posted a military guard around the castle. The guards are standing, raising their heads, looking into the sky to see if an eagle is flying towards the castle.
But everything is calm in the sky, not a single bird appears.
Suddenly, at exactly noon, twelve carriages rushed to the castle. A handsome prince, even more handsome than the first one, gets out of the first carriage; from the rest - important gentlemen, and behind them the servants drag rich gifts into the castle for the bride and her parents. The prince bows to the king with the queen and princesses, the matchmaker comes forward and asks the king to give the prince his middle daughter as a wife.
“We wouldn’t mind,” says the father, “but you didn’t come at a good hour, soon a formidable eagle will fly after her, it just so happened that I had to promise him my daughter as a wife.”
- Why on earth? After all, you didn’t raise your daughter to be a bird. And if the eagle flies, you have a military guard at the ready. Just a little bit, he’ll be sent away to the next world,” the matchmakers persuade the king.
The king agreed and there was a feast here! The prince has brought everything, the tables are laden with food, the fun is noisy until the evening. And in the evening they seated the young woman together with the prince in a golden carriage, and all the gentlemen who arrived rode away after them.
The king, as soon as he began to revel, did not stop. I walked and walked until I had missed everything. My family and I began to live from hand to mouth. Not only friends, but also servants abandoned the impoverished king. He was left alone with his wife and younger daughter in a deserted castle. What to do, don't die of hunger? The king prepared his tackle and began to go to the sea and fish.
Things were going well, but one day he caught a chub and a decent one. Suddenly the sea boiled, the waves were raging, lashing the shore, and a huge fish jumped out of the waves, beating its tail as hard as it could and shouting:
“Now I’ll drag you into the sea, you miserable little fry!” How dare you destroy my subjects! Before my eyes, you killed my faithful servant and for this you will either have to say goodbye to your life or give me your youngest daughter as my wife. Wait! I'll come for her in two weeks.
What was the king to do? I had to promise.
At home he didn’t say anything, he just walked around as if he’d been submerged in water. It is difficult, of course, to imagine that the fish will reach the high castle, but fear torments and torments the king.
The deadline has come. Everything around is quiet, calm, not even a breeze blows from the sea. Suddenly, at exactly noon, gentlemen in twelve carriages enter the courtyard. The prince comes out of the first. Yes, such a handsome guy, even better than those two. From the others the lords jumped out, and behind them the servants carried rich gifts into the castle, for the bride and for the parents.
The prince bows low to the king, queen and princess. The matchmaker stands next to him and asks the king to give his youngest daughter to the prince as his wife.
“I don’t mind,” the king answers. “But here’s the problem: I had to promise her to a sea fish as a wife, otherwise that fish would have dragged me into the sea.” You came at a bad time, the time is now for the fish to be here.
- What else! The fish will not be able to get here and will not be able to live without water. Will you really give your child to the sea monster? No, we came here earlier and will not back down! - the matchmakers say to the king.
And then the fun began, the wedding party continued until the evening.
And in the evening they seated the young woman next to the handsome prince in a carriage, the rich gentlemen got into their carriages, and one after another they rushed off. The castle was empty, and the king and queen were left alone.
That night the king did not sleep, he thought. He was disgusted with throwing money away, begging and relying on handouts. He got up in the morning as a completely different person, he regrets his daughters, who married someone unknown, and asks his wife for forgiveness, because because of his wastefulness and recklessness, she suffered so much torment and lost her daughters.
The king stopped drinking and partying, paid off his debts, hired servants, took on wise advisers and began to rule his state as it should be and conduct business like a master. Soon the queen gave birth to a wonderful son.
The boy grew by leaps and bounds. The time has come and he turned into a handsome young man. Most of all, the prince loved to play in the garden. One day he went up to the flower beds to look at the flowers - all the flower beds were covered with flowers, only three stood in desolation. He began to question the gardener. And he gets out this way and that, but doesn’t really answer. The prince tells him to cultivate and sow these flower beds. He comes to the garden on the second day, and on the third, and the flower beds are still as empty as before.
- What's happened? Did you not understand me or did you disobey me? - the prince got angry and scolded him until he laid out everything as it is: these, they say, are the flowerbeds of his missing sisters, and as a sign of mourning, flowers are not planted in the flowerbeds. This is the queen's order.
The prince rushed to his mother, asking her to tell him about the flower beds and about the sisters, because no one had told him about this until now. Poor mother in tears:
“Yes, my son,” she said. “Even the flower beds in the garden are sad that for so long we don’t know who we gave our daughters to and where they are now.” If it weren’t for you, I myself would have dried up with sadness.
- Don’t cry, mother, I’ll find my sisters! - the prince answers her.
- No, no, my son, not that! - the mother laments. “All my life I was afraid that you would go looking for them and disappear yourself.” Don’t even show your father that you know about your sisters, otherwise we’ll get it from him.
But the prince was deprived of sleep and peace. He suffered for three days, went to his father and boldly said that there was no need to hide the truth from him, he would go look for his sisters anyway. The father was not angry with his son and agreed with his decision. From him, from the old man, they say, what’s the use now, let the young man get down to business. And the poor mother again suffers to see her son off on the road.
The prince sat down in the magnificent carriage, and the army followed him. They drove the horses straight into the forest where the father had once met a bear, because the prince had taken the eldest princess in the same direction.
Everything was fine until they reached the dense thickets: suddenly a huge bear jumped out of the bushes, and before the prince had time to come to his senses, he had scattered the soldiers in all directions and was already breaking into the carriage.
The prince did not wait for his death, jumped out of the carriage and, God bless his legs, rushed away, made his way through the thicket, made his way through the dense thickets! He reached a cave and jumped inside, looking for salvation from the bear.
And in that cave - believe it or not - a beautiful princess sits on dry brushwood, plays with two bear cubs. She saw the prince, rushed to meet him, and groaned:
- Oh, man, you have come at an evil hour! I hear my bear husband is already returning home: whoever you are, he will tear you apart, he will not have mercy!
– And I – that’s who I am – I’m looking for my sister. She was given in marriage to a bear. Help me if you can,” the prince answers her.
They did not have time for long speeches. The ferocious bear was already growling in front of the cave, so much so that the rocks shook. The beauty hid the prince under bundles of brushwood. And then the bear burst in, sniffed all the corners and roared:
- Wife! It smells like a man here. Serve it here! I dealt with an entire army and will not have mercy on him!
His wife persuades him, but he does not listen to persuasion, raking brushwood with his paws. He grabbed the prince’s leg, he lost his memory out of fear - he didn’t know where he was or what was wrong with him - he lost consciousness.
When he came to his senses and rubbed his eyes, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, where did he end up? And he lies in magnificent chambers, on a soft gilded bed.
The prince jumped to his feet, looked out of the window, and saw the prince’s castle, the sun was shining clear in the sky, people were walking around the courtyard, the prince’s servants were scurrying here and there, just like at home. He had not yet had time to get dressed, when suddenly the doors swung wide open, and the prince entered with the princess and two young princes, the prince gave him his hand and said:
- Hello, brother-in-law, hello! Don't be surprised by anything. Yesterday I, in bear guise, was ready to tear you to pieces, but today I greet you as a human being! We know you well, but you still don’t know that I was once cursed. Except for your sister, we all here turn into bears and various other animals while the month is running out, and when the month is full, we become people again. Yesterday I almost clawed you with my paw, but then my time struck, and I turned into a man! Now you are our welcome guest and will remain a guest for two whole weeks.
The prince began to visit his sister and brother-in-law. I told their sons about my old parents and how people lived there with them. Time fled quickly, suddenly a huge bear came out of the bushes, and before the prince had time to come to his senses, he scattered the soldiers in all directions and was already breaking into the carriage.
The prince did not wait for his death, jumped out of the carriage and, God bless his legs, rushed away, made his way through the thicket, made his way through the dense thickets! He reached a cave and jumped inside, looking for salvation from the bear.
And in that cave - believe it or not - a beautiful princess sits on dry brushwood, plays with two bear cubs. She saw the prince, rushed to meet him, and groaned:
- Oh, man, you have come at an evil hour! I hear my bear husband is already returning home: whoever you are, he will tear you apart, he will not have mercy!
– And I – that’s who I am – I’m looking for my sister. She was given in marriage to a bear. Help me if you can,” the prince answers her.
They did not have time for long speeches. The ferocious bear was already growling in front of the cave, so much so that the rocks shook. The beauty hid the prince under bundles of brushwood. And then the bear burst in, sniffed all the corners and roared:
- Wife! It smells like a man here. Serve it here! I dealt with an entire army and will not have mercy on him!
His wife persuades him, but he does not listen to persuasion, raking brushwood with his paws. He grabbed the prince’s leg, he lost his memory out of fear - he didn’t know where he was or what was wrong with him - he lost consciousness.
When he came to his senses and rubbed his eyes, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, where did he end up? And he lies in magnificent chambers, on a soft gilded bed.
The prince jumped to his feet, looked out of the window, and saw the prince’s castle, the sun was shining clear in the sky, people were walking around the courtyard, the prince’s servants were scurrying here and there, just like at home. He had not yet had time to get dressed, when suddenly the doors swung wide open, and the prince entered with the princess and two young princes, the prince gave him his hand and said:
- Hello, brother-in-law, hello! Don't be surprised by anything. Yesterday I, in bear guise, was ready to tear you to pieces, but today I greet you as a human being! We know you well, but you still don’t know that I was once cursed. Except for your sister, we all here turn into bears and various other animals while the month is running out, and when the month is full, we become people again. Yesterday I almost clawed you with my paw, but then my time struck, and I turned into a man! Now you are our welcome guest and will remain a guest for two whole weeks.
The prince began to visit his sister and brother-in-law. I told their sons about my old parents and how people lived there with them. Time fled quickly, and now the thirteenth day has arrived. Then his son-in-law appears to him and says:
“We’re happy to leave you here forever, but my time is approaching!” You need to leave quickly, otherwise there will be trouble. I ordered the carriage to be laid. It's time, get ready!
“I know it myself, my dear brother-in-law,” the prince answers him. “But I won’t move anywhere from this place until you tell me how to rid you of the evil spell.” Speak up, or I’ll kill you here!
- Well, if you want to save us, then go and look, and if you look, you will find! Take a tuft of my bear fur for the trip. When you're in trouble, rub it between your fingers and I'll come to the rescue right away. The servants will take you to the border of my domain, go and search from there! You will see an eagle's nest on a tall tree. Try to get to him. Your second sister and my brother live there. They will show you the way further.
The coachman in the yard had already cracked his whip: it was time to get ready. The prince hugged his brother-in-law, sister and nephews, got into the carriage, and the horses rushed off.
All day long they raced through a beautiful country, and in the evening they reached a stream, and then suddenly our prince saw that he was sitting on a log, and the horses, coachman and servants turned into rats, squirrels, mice, hares and other little animals and ran away in all directions. So he sat alone the whole night, not knowing where to go.
Dawn broke, the prince got up and walked through the mountains, through the valleys, along deep ravines. He walks and looks for an eagle’s nest in hundred-year-old trees.
A lot of time passed, and suddenly one evening the prince saw a nest on a high tree. He climbed the tree and climbed into the nest. And there the beautiful princess plays with two eaglets, as if with her own children. The prince immediately realized that this was his middle sister. And she froze in fright and shouted:
- Man, how did you get here? Fell from the sky, or what?
He wanted to tell her that he was her brother, but she interrupted him and shouted even louder:
- What are you, what are you, we don’t have time to explain! The eagle, my husband, is already close - can you hear the noise of its wings! He will tear you to pieces. Hide quickly in the nest under the leaves.
And she quickly covered it with leaves.
The eagle flew into the nest like a bullet and shouted angrily:
- Wife! I smell a man! Bring him here, how dare he come here, I’ll tear him into small pieces now!
And with his terrible paw he threw dry leaves off the prince.
The prince was frightened, became drowsy, and did not understand what was happening to him. But then he came to his senses, opened his eyes and saw: it was broad daylight outside, and he was lying in magnificent chambers, on a soft, gilded bed. And I immediately realized what and how. He washed himself, put himself in order, and then his brother-in-law, the eagle, with his wife, the prince’s sister, and their children came and greeted him: after all, they recognized him right away!
The prince conveyed greetings to them from his parents and from the family of his brother-bear. They began to live well. The better they were, the faster the days passed, and on the thirteenth day the eagle brother-in-law stood at the door and said:
“Oh, my son-in-law, tomorrow I won’t vouch for myself, maybe something bad will happen to you.” You’d better get into the carriage and go to another house.
“I know, I know,” answered the prince, “but I would rather die than move until you tell me how I can free you from the evil spell.”
- Well, if you take up this, go, look and you will find! I'll give you an eagle feather for your journey; If you find yourself in trouble, rub it between your fingers and I will immediately fly to your aid. Now go to the lake, our third fish brother lives there. When you see clouds of smoke in the middle of the lake, jump there, and then figure out what to do next.
The coachman in the yard has already cracked his whip: the hour has struck, they say! The prince said goodbye to his relatives and got into the carriage.
They rushed tirelessly, and beautiful lands flashed along the road. Our prince did not notice how they found themselves near some stream. And suddenly he sees that he is sitting in an eggshell, and the coachman, horses and servants have turned into birds and scattered in different directions.
The prince’s vision grew dark, and in the morning, when he came to his senses, he saw that around him there was only a bare plain and deserted lands.
He walked along deserted fields endlessly and without edge and finally came to a lake. He sees smoke pouring out of the lake near the shore. Without hesitation, the prince ran away, jumped into the very middle of the smoke column and ended up in the chimney, and in that stove his younger sister was cooking food for her husband. My sister wanted to hit him with a poker for scaring her, but when he explained everything and conveyed greetings from his parents and from their sisters and husbands, she was delighted.
“Well, since you’re here,” she said, “then don’t be afraid of my husband, although he looks fierce, he wouldn’t hurt a fly.” And here he is.
The fish brother-in-law beat with his tail, as if he wanted to crush everything in his path, but soon calmed down, turned into a man and kissed his dear son-in-law.
The lakes are as usual. In its place there is a palace, the brother-in-law hugged his son-in-law, and they began to walk around the magnificent chambers together, and then went for a walk in the garden. There was no trace left of the evil spell. So it would have gone on if the thirteenth day had not arrived. My brother-in-law became worried and couldn’t find a place for himself. And the prince does not lag behind him, asking how to free them all from the evil spell, until he told him everything:
“Far away,” he began speaking, “beyond the sea there stands a tall and slender tree, like a spruce, but there is not a single twig on its trunk - it is all bare, smooth to the very top.” And at the very top of the head there was one disconnected branch. There is a leaf on that branch, a golden key hangs on the leaf, and that’s what you need to get. This key unlocks the rock, there are six rooms in it: the first is a canopy, in the second there is such frost that even your teeth are cold, in the third there is a raging flame, in the fourth there are snakes stinging, and in the fifth there is silence. Whoever does not chicken out and passes through all these rooms will end up in the last one, in which the devil himself sleeps. It was he who bewitched us and our sister because she did not want to marry him. Our sister lies in the middle of the room in an iron coffin. Neither sleeps nor wakes, neither lives nor dies. The devil wakes up from time to time, stabs her with a sharp sword and asks: “Well, will you marry me?” - “Oh, I won’t! – the sister screams in pain. And the devil answered her: “Well, okay, then at least live and rot! And everything goes on as it went. If she says: “I’ll go!” - the devil will marry her, and remove the curse from us. In the meantime, we are all toiling! And so it will be until there is a daredevil who will sneak up to the damn bed and take off the golden trumpet that hangs in his head. This trumpet will sound our liberation.
Now the prince knew what to do next. He said goodbye to his brother-in-law and his sister and hurried to leave as quickly as possible before the fateful hour struck. And it's about time. He barely had time to take his feet away from the sworn kingdom when the sea had already spilled behind him.
The prince jumped out onto the shore and looked: a tall tree stretched all the way to the clouds. There is not a notch or a knot on the tree, there is nothing to grab onto. The prince spat in his hands, wrapped his legs around the trunk and climbed. It's about to reach the top of my head; oh, I couldn’t resist, I flew down and hit the ground! But he did not despair, but again climbed the tree. Suddenly he felt something hard in his pocket, looked, and it was a knife. I wanted to throw it away, but then I changed my mind. He stuck the knife into the tree, grabbed it and began to climb up: he would stick the knife in, pull himself up and climb higher and higher. I'm already halfway there. Suddenly the wild boars came running! They grunt and dig up the roots of the tree! He remembered about his brother-in-law, the bear. He crushed the bear's fur between his fingers, and immediately twelve bears appeared. This is where the end came for the boars.
The prince reached the very top. Now he is already reaching for the branch for the golden key. But suddenly hawks flew at him, beat him with their wings, tried to peck out his eyes, there was no way for the prince to fight back, he remembered about his brother-in-law, the eagle, rubbed his eagle feather with his fingers, the eagles attacked the hawks, only the fluff flew away. The prince grabbed the key and went downstairs.
I started thinking and racking my brains, which door should I open with this key? He would have walked like that, nothing would have come of it, if he hadn’t touched the cliff with that key. The cliff parted, and the prince fell into the vestibule. He passed the canopy and went into the second room. From the second it draws a grave cold at him, from the third it radiates heat.
“He was, he wasn’t,” thought the prince, “where ours didn’t disappear! He ran up and rushed through all four rooms in one spirit, only stopping in the fifth! One side of him was frozen, the other was burned, and the snakes stung his chest and back. But then he got into the fifth room - and everything healed for him. In the fifth room there was such silence that you can’t even tell. The prince looked into the sixth, and there, in fact, near the door The devil is stretched out on the bed, and a golden pipe is hanging in his head. In the middle of the room, in an iron coffin, lies a pale beauty, neither alive nor dead. Then the devil rises, stabs the girl with a sharp sword and growls:
- Well, now will you marry me?
- No, I won’t go! - she answers.
- Well, okay, then...
Before the devil had time to repeat his curse, the brave prince rushed to the golden pipe. The devil is waving a sharp sword, about to cut off his hand, but the prince of the Polovtsy turned up and managed to play the golden trumpet.
And then, as if a hundred thunder thundered. The rocks collapsed and the devil fell through the ground.
Our prince looks, and in place of the rock there is already a huge castle, and instead of deserts and dense forests there is a big city and beautiful, cheerful valleys. In the castle next to him a beautiful maiden sits, beautiful and rosy, like a rose, quick as a chamois, meek like a dove. She caresses the young man and says tenderly: “I’ll only marry you, you saved me from death.”
They held hands and went out into the yard - and what did they see? In front of the castle there are a lot of carriages, in those carriages important gentlemen are sitting, and in the richest carriages in front of all are the bear brother-in-law, and the eagle brother-in-law with their wives and children, and the fish brother-in-law with his young wife. Everyone thanks the prince for his release. The brothers give him their sister as a wife and four kingdoms in addition.
Well, what else can I tell you? All the relatives gathered together and they went to their old parents. And they are already waiting - they can’t wait for their children.
Our newlyweds played a wedding that has never happened and will never happen as long as this world lasts.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru