Once upon a time there lived an orphan. There’s no other way to put it, except for her father, she had no one else in the world, but without maternal affection, even with a good father, a child is still an orphan! She was a kind and pretty girl, like a flower, and diligent like a bee, and homely and quiet, like a mouse, and at work like a lion. The simple economy is busy, pulling with all its might. One day her father says to her:
- Oh, daughter, I can’t watch how you are tormented at work. I need to get married. It will be easier to manage things together.
The daughter did not want to contradict her father, she was glad that she would have a mother. My father got married. He took a widow and her daughter as his wife; his daughter was the same age as him, but not so pretty.
But only the mother of her daughter is always a mother. She blows away a speck of dust, praises her in front of people, and comes to the orphan as a stepmother, a stepmother. Now the poor orphan has learned what work is! He works hard around the house and with housework, and also serves his stepmother and daughter. Neither during the day, nor at night, nor in the middle of the week, nor on Sunday are they allowed to rest. They do not seat you at the table with you. Everyone kicks and pokes, they don’t say a kind word, they throw scraps behind the stove, and that’s how it’s full.
But the girl doesn’t complain, she’s always friendly and sweet, and in torn rags she’s still a hundred times more beautiful than the fearmonger’s stepmother.
One day my father was going to the fair. The stepmother says to him:
- Buy me this and that. And for my daughter some shoes and a silk skirt, buy more ribbons and honey gingerbread! - Yes, she said all sorts of things! The old man listened to her instructions, looked behind the stove and asked his ragged daughter:
- Tell me, what should I bring you? The orphan quietly whispers to him:
- Oh, father, dear. Whatever you trip over, bring it back!
The old man went to the fair. I bought everything that my stepmother ordered, but I couldn’t find anything for my own daughter. He goes home and wonders if he forgot something. He walked and walked down the path through the woods, and suddenly he tripped over a crooked nut tree, three nuts, yellow as wax, fell from it!
“Aha,” he decided, “now there will be a hotel for my daughter!” I returned home and distributed gifts. No one was so happy about the gifts as the poor orphan. She hid the nuts in her pocket, like precious pearls, and went back to work.
On Sunday morning, the orphan changed all her affairs, sat on the doorstep, and began to get ready for church. And the stepmother shouts:
- Oh, you are so and so! Who are we going to throw our house on? You don't have anything else to do! She ran out into the yard and carried a measure of peas mixed with lentils:
- Go through it before we get back from church!
Everyone has left, and the poor girl sits, takes away the peas from the lentils, and she cries bitterly:
“Mother, mother, why didn’t you take me with you?” It would be better for me, poor orphan!
I cried and cried, and then three nuts crunched in my pocket! She took it out, put it in front of her, looked at it and was happy. Well, at least the father is kind! I picked up the peas again. Suddenly I hear someone knocking on the window. I looked and there were three white doves knocking on the house and asking to come.
“Doves, doves! They want to come into the house! Probably to please poor me!
I let them in, and the pigeons asked:
- What are you doing, dear girl?
“You see,” she answers, “everyone is having a holiday, but I have to work!”
“Don’t worry,” cooed one dove, “leave everything as it is!” He takes a nut, opens it with his beak and takes out a silk dress, as white as snow.
- Put it on quickly and go to church! We'll do everything here ourselves. But only the priest will say: “Amen - don’t wait, rush home to change clothes.
The girl was delighted, dressed up in a beautiful dress, like a lily, and went.
He enters the church and sits down on an empty bench. Everyone is looking at her, but the prince does not take his eyes off her at all. He liked the beauty so much that he would sit in the church until the evening and look at her. But the beauty lowered her head and did not raise her eyes to anyone. She heard: “Amen, she got up and hurried home! At home she took off her white dress, put it in a nut shell, and hid the nut. Then the stepmother and daughter appear, they see the peas - separately and the lentils - separately. There is nothing to complain about. The stepmother began to tell and tease the orphan:
- If only you, dirty little thing, were in church, you would see such a beauty! Yes, you, dirty little thing, just sit behind the stove!
“And I saw her when she walked past.”
- How is this possible?
“And I climbed onto the well, right up to the crane, when I was walking on the water.”
- To the crane itself? How dare you look at the street? Do you hear, old man, this scoundrel knows nothing but to mess around! – the stepmother became furious.
And even though it was Sunday, the old man had to remove the crane from the well, just so that the house would be quiet.
And the prince asks everyone what kind of girl she is, where is she from?
“And she entered that house where there was a well with a tall crane!” - people answer.
The prince orders his servants to go around all the houses and look for the well with the crane; the servants walked and walked, but how to find him if he’s not there?
Sunday is coming again. An orphan in a torn dress is sitting at the stove, getting ready for church. And the stepmother is primping her daughter in front of the mirror, and she pounces on her stepdaughter:
– Are there not enough things to do at home? - shouts. - I won’t let you go anywhere! She ran to the closet and brought out a measure of millet mixed with poppy seeds:
“Here,” he says, “sort it out, if you can’t sort it out before we arrive, I’ll show you!”
The stepdaughter is sitting, sad, mourning her bitter fate. Suddenly three doves knock on the window:
- Don’t cry, dear girl, let us in, we’ll do everything. Give us one of those three nuts! - They say.
The girl gave them a nut, the dove pecked, and pulled out a silver dress:
- Look, what a dress! Put it on and go to church! But when you hear “Amen - hurry home. Don’t be afraid, everything will be fine!”
The girl changed her clothes, became like a star, hurried to church, couldn’t feel her feet under her with joy. She came, sat down in the same place, and didn’t look around. But the prince does not take his eyes off her and his heart aches sweetly and sweetly.
As our beauty heard: “Amen,” she got up and quietly slipped out of the church. I just returned home, I just took off my dress, and my stepmother and daughter were right there. The stepmother looks and shakes her head, because a whole measure of poppy seeds and millet have been sorted out! And the anger takes over and there is nothing to say. But still, I couldn’t resist, evil woman, let’s be sarcastic:
“If only you were in church with us, you unfortunate little thing, you would see the beauty!” But you, baker, have a place behind the stove!
“And I saw her when she passed by us, I was climbing a plum tree, I wanted to pick a plum for you for dinner!” - the stepdaughter answers.
That’s all the stepmother needed, she took the poor thing to work:
“Oh, you scoundrel,” she shouts, “even on Sunday you climb trees, tear your dress and stare at people!” Well, wait a minute! - Hey, old man, go chop the plum so that your owl doesn’t stick to it anymore!
The old man went, even though it was Sunday, and cut down the tree out of harm’s way.
The prince is again looking everywhere for the beauty. And they tell him that she went to that house where a plum tree grows at the gate. The prince ordered to look for the plum. The servants searched and searched, but did not find it, because the father cut down that tree.
The prince became sad and thought:
“Well, just wait,” I decided, “I’ll find you anyway!
Third Sunday is coming. The orphan redid all the work, combed her hair, styled it beautifully, and went to her stepmother. And she dresses up her daughter in front of the mirror. The stepdaughter began to ask her stepmother to let her into church at least once.
- Oh, you dirty thing! Do you want us to be laughed at because of you, you ragamuffin? Don't go anywhere, stay home!
The evil woman runs into the closet, dragging half a measure of flour and ashes.
- Get down to business! Yes, when we arrive, so that she can go through everything! He and his daughter grabbed each other by the arms and went, but the poor orphan remained at home. She sits and separates the flour from the ashes, and she cries and says:
- Oh, mother, mother! The white light is not dear to me, can I cope with such work?
He hears: knock-knock - these are three doves knocking on the window:
- Don’t cry, beauty, don’t cry! We will help you, let us into the house. The girl opened the window and let the doves in. One dove nut asks. He took the bait and took out the golden dress.
- Here's a dress for you. Put it on quickly and go to church! When you hear “Amen - don’t wait for others to come out, run home!”
She goes to church, like a beautiful red sun, sits down in her place, listens to the service and does not notice that everyone is looking at her, and the prince is smiling at her. The service ended, the following sounded: “Amen - the girl got up and wants to go home!
But what is it? She stands there, unable to move, but she doesn’t see that the prince ordered resin to be poured under her bench. She tried this way and that, trying to tear her legs away from the resin, finally somehow freed herself and rushed home. I didn’t notice that one shoe stuck to the resin.
I just had time to change clothes, and my stepmother was already in the yard. There was no time for the girl to put her golden dress in a shell and threw it out the door. Stepmother - go into the room! He sees that the flour has been collected in a bag, the ashes are lying to the side - he cannot say a word out of anger.
And then I couldn’t resist, let’s pester my stepdaughter:
Hey,” he says, “lazy thing, I wish you could go to church!” Oh, what a beautiful girl she was sitting there! And you, dirty little thing, are stuck behind the stove!
“But I saw her,” the stepdaughter answers, “when she was walking near our house, I climbed onto the roof, right up to the chimney, and had a good look at the beauty.”
The stepmother was just waiting for this, she attacked her like a witch:
- Oh, you slacker, oh, you scoundrel! I'll show you how to climb a pipe! Get under the trough. Now you'll have enough time with me without lunch, you miserable filthy creature! Hey, old man, put down the pipe immediately, or else...
The poor old man climbed onto the roof and threw the pipe off the roof.
And then the royal servants appeared, looking for the beauty: they say that she ran into that house where there was a tall chimney on the roof. We looked, but there was no pipe at all! And they went away without a quick slurp.
But the prince still had the pledge - the golden slipper. He sent servants, ordered them to go from house to house, where there were girls, to try on shoes, which of them would need to be brought to him immediately.
The royal servants go from house to house, trying on the shoe for everyone, but the shoe fits no one. The stepmother saw that they were coming to them, let her daughter squeeze and crush her leg, but the leg was so huge that it remained. The servants entered the house and started trying on the stepmother’s daughter’s shoe, but it didn’t even fit on her nose!
“No, this one won’t do,” he says, “and don’t you have another girl?” And the stepmother answered: “What are you, what are you, we don’t have anyone else!”
The servants were just about to leave the yard, but then a rooster crowed from the attic window:
- Crow, don’t rush, crow, wait! Look under the trough!
- What's happened? – the servants stopped. - Who should be looking under the trough?
- Yes, what are you talking about! This rooster always crows like that,” the stepmother began to dissuade them.
But the servants do not listen to her, they run to the attic. They see two troughs standing, and under them the beauty is sitting all in tears. They tried on the shoe for her, and she fit like a glove!
The servants went downstairs, looked outside the door and there was a golden dress thrown away!
The servants understood, they finally found who they were looking for.
The stepmother saw that her stepdaughter was being put into a carriage - she burst out of anger, and then the end came for her.
The prince recognized the girl immediately.
“Is it,” he says, “that you, my dear, have been to church three times?”
“I am,” the girl answered bashfully, and blushed like a poppy.
- Where did you get such beautiful dresses?
She told him everything in order and did not forget about the three lovebirds. She put on an elegant dress and became even more beautiful. And a week later she married the king. And the poor orphan became a queen.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru