There was a king who had a daughter; she was extraordinarily beautiful, but at the same time so proud and arrogant that none of the suitors seemed good enough for her. She refused one after another, and, moreover, laughed at each one.
One day the king ordered a big feast and called suitors from everywhere, from near and far, who would like to woo her. He placed them all in a row in order, according to rank and title; in front stood the kings, then the dukes, princes, counts and barons, and finally the nobles.
And they led the princess through the rows, but in each of the suitors she found some kind of flaw. One was too fat. “Yes, this one is like a wine barrel!” - she said. The other one was too long. “Long, too thin, and doesn’t have a stately gait!” - she said. The third was too short; “Well, what luck is there in him if he’s small and fat to boot?” The fourth was too pale: “This one looks like death.” The fifth one was too flushed: “This one is just some kind of turkey!” The sixth was too young: “This one is young and painfully green, he, like a damp tree, will not catch fire.”
And so she found in everyone something to find fault with, but she especially laughed at one good king, who was taller than the others and whose chin was a little crooked.
“Wow,” she said and laughed, “this guy’s chin is like a blackbird’s beak!”
And from then on they called him Drozdovik.
When the old king saw that his daughter knew only one thing, that she was making fun of people, and had refused all the gathered suitors, he became angry and swore that she would have to take as her husband the first beggar she met that knocked on his door.
A few days later, a musician appeared and began to sing under the window to earn alms for himself. The king heard this and said:
- Let him go upstairs.
The musician entered in his dirty, tattered clothes and began to sing a song before the king and his daughter; and when he finished, he asked for alms.
The king said:
“I liked your singing so much that I will give you my daughter as a wife.”
The princess was frightened, but the king said:
“I swore an oath to marry you to the first beggar I came across, and I must keep my oath.”
And no persuasion helped; They called the priest, and she had to immediately marry the musician. When this was done, the king said:
“Now, as a beggar’s wife, it is not appropriate for you to stay in my castle; you can go with your husband anywhere.”
The beggar led her by the hand from the castle, and she had to walk with him. They came to a dense forest, and she asked:
—Whose forests and meadows are these?
-This is all about King Thrush. If I hadn’t driven him away, then everything would have been yours.
-Oh, what a pity that I can’t return Drozdovik! They walked through the fields, and she asked again:
- Whose fields and river are these?
-This is all about King Thrush! If I hadn’t driven him away, then everything would have been yours.
-Oh, what a pity that I can’t return Drozdovik! They then walked through the big city, and she asked again:
- Whose beautiful city is this?
- He has been the Thrush King for a long time. If I hadn’t driven him away, then everything would have been yours.
-Oh, what a pity that I can’t return Drozdovik!
“I don’t like it at all,” said the musician, “that you keep wanting someone else to be your husband: aren’t I dear to you?”
They finally approached a small hut, and she said:
- My God, what a little house! Why is he so bad?
And the musician replied:
- This house is mine and yours, we will live here together.
And she had to bend down to enter the low door.
-Where are the servants? - asked the princess.
-What kind of servants are they? - answered the beggar. -You have to do everything yourself if you want anything done. Come on, quickly light the stove and put on the water so I can cook dinner, I’m very tired.
But the princess did not know how to light a fire and cook, and the beggar had to get to work himself; and things worked out somehow. They ate something from hand to mouth and went to bed.
But as soon as it began to get light, he kicked her out of bed, and she had to do her homework. They lived like this for several days, neither bad nor good, and ate all their supplies. Then the husband says:
“Wife, nothing will work out for us this way, we eat but don’t earn anything.” Get down to weaving baskets.
He went and cut willow twigs, brought them home, and she began to weave, but the hard twigs wounded her tender hands.
“I see this won’t work for you,” said the husband, “you’d better take up the yarn, perhaps you can handle it.”
She sat down and tried to spin yarn; but the rough threads cut into her tender fingers, and blood flowed from them.
“You see,” said the husband, “you’re not fit for any work, I’ll have a hard time with you.” I'll try to get into the pot and pottery trade. You will have to go to the market and sell goods.
“Oh,” she thought, “why, people from our kingdom will come to the market and see me sitting and selling pots, and they will laugh at me!”
But what was to be done? She had to obey, otherwise they would have to starve.
The first time things went well - people bought goods from her because she was beautiful, and paid her what she asked for; even many paid her money and left the pots for her. This is how they lived on it.
My husband again bought a lot of new clay pots. She sat down with pots on the corner of the market, placed the goods around her and began to trade. But suddenly a drunken hussar galloped up, ran straight into the pots - and only shards remained of them. She began to cry and out of fear did not know what to do now.
- Oh, what will happen to me for this! - she exclaimed. - What will my husband tell me?
And she ran home and told him about her grief.
- Who sits on the corner of the market with pottery? - said the husband. - Stop crying; I see you are not fit for a decent job. Just now I was in our king’s castle and asked if a scullery maid would be needed there, and they promised to hire you; there they will feed you for it.
And the princess became a dishwasher, she had to help the cook and do the most menial work. She tied two bowls to her bag and brought home in them what she got from the scraps, and that’s what they ate.
It happened that at that time the wedding of the eldest prince was to be celebrated, and so the poor woman went upstairs to the castle and stood at the door to the hall to take a look. So the candles were lit, and the guests entered, one more beautiful than the other, and everything was full of pomp and splendor. And she thought with sorrow in her heart about her evil lot, and began to curse her pride and arrogance, which had humiliated her so much and plunged her into great poverty. She heard the smell of expensive dishes that the servants carried in and out of the hall, and they sometimes threw some of the leftovers to her, she put them in her bowl, intending to take it all home later.
Suddenly the prince came in, he was dressed in velvet and silk, and he had gold chains around his neck. Seeing a beautiful woman at the door, he grabbed her hand and wanted to dance with her; but she got scared and began to refuse; she recognized him as King Thrush, who had wooed her and whom she mockingly refused. But no matter how she resisted, he still dragged her into the hall; and suddenly the ribbon on which her bag was hanging broke, and bowls fell out of it onto the floor and soup spilled.
When the guests saw this, they all began to laugh and make fun of her, and she was so ashamed that she was ready to sink into the ground. She rushed to the door and wanted to run away, but a man caught up with her on the stairs and brought her back. She looked at him, and it was King Thrush. He said to her affectionately:
“Don’t be afraid, because I and the musician with whom you lived in a poor hut are one and the same.” It was I, out of love for you, who pretended to be a musician; and the hussar who broke all your pots was me too. I did all this to break your pride and punish you for your arrogance when you laughed at me.
She cried bitterly and said:
“I was so unfair that I am unworthy to be your wife.” But he told her:
-Calm down, the difficult days are over, and now we will celebrate our wedding.
And the king's maids appeared and dressed her in magnificent dresses; and her father came, and with him the whole court; they wished her happiness in her marriage to King Thrush;
and the real joy has only now begun.
And I would like you and I to visit there too.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru