Once upon a time there lived an old man who was left a widower with three daughters. One day one of his daughters says to him:
“Father, will you bring me a jug of water from the well?” There is not a drop of water in the house, and I need to cook soup.
“Okay, daughter,” answered the old man.
He took the jug and went to the well. When he bent over the water to fill the jug, a toad jumped into his face and grabbed him so tightly that no force could tear it off.
“You will not tear me away from your face,” said the toad, “until you give me one of your daughters as a wife!”
The old man left the jug at the well and ran home.
- Oh God! What happened to you, father? - the daughters shouted when they saw him.
- Woe is me, my poor children! The vile creature jumped in my face while I was drawing water from the well. Now this monster says that he will not leave until one of you agrees to take him as your husband.
- God! What are you saying, father! - answered the eldest daughter. - Take a toad as your husband! Yes, it’s disgusting to even look at her!
And she turned away and left the house. The second daughter did the same.
“What can I do, my unfortunate father,” said the youngest then, “I agree to take a toad as my husband: my heart cannot bear for you to remain in this form!”
And the toad immediately fell to the ground. The wedding was scheduled for another day.
When the bride entered the church with a toad, the priest was very surprised and said that he would never marry a Christian woman with a toad. But he finally agreed because the bride’s father told him everything and promised him a lot of money.
Then the groom took his wife to the castle - he, it turns out, had a beautiful castle. When it was time to go to bed, he took his wife into the bedroom, threw off his toad skin, and a handsome young prince appeared before the bride. While the sun was shining in the sky, he was a toad; when night came, he became a prince.
Both sisters of the newlywed often came to visit her and were very surprised to see her so cheerful - she always laughed and sang.
“There’s something here,” they thought. “We need to follow her and find out what’s going on.”
One night they quietly crept up to her bedroom door and began to peek through the keyhole. Well, they were surprised to see a handsome young prince instead of a toad!
- Look, look! What a handsome prince!” If only I had known then...,” each one repeated.
And they heard the prince say to his wife:
“Tomorrow I have to leave and I’ll leave my toad skin at home.” Take good care that nothing happens to her. After all, I have to pass another year and one day in this guise.
“That’s it!” - thought both sisters, listening at the door.
The next morning the prince left, as he had said, and both of his sisters-in-law came to visit their sister.
- Oh, what beautiful things you have here! How happy you must be with your baby toad! - they told her.
“It’s true, dear sisters, I’m very happy with him.”
-Where did he go?
- On a long journey.
-You have such beautiful hair, would you like me to comb it, sister?
- Please, dear sister.
While they were combing her hair with a golden comb, she fell asleep, and the sisters took the keys out of her pocket, took the toad skin from the closet where it was locked, threw it into the fire and left.
The young woman woke up and was very surprised to see that she was alone in the house. Immediately after this, her husband returned, all red with anger.
- Oh, you damned one! - he shouted. “You did what I forbade you to do, you burned my toad skin, to my misfortune, and to yours too!” Now I'll leave and you'll never see me again!
The poor woman cried and said:
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
- No, don't follow me, stay here.
And he rushed away. And she runs after him!
- They tell you to stay!
- I won’t stay, I’ll follow you!
And he kept running. But no matter how he ran, she followed on his heels. Then he threw the golden ball. The wife picked up the ball, put it in her pocket and continued running.
- Come home, come home! - he shouted to her.
- I will never return without you!
Then he threw another golden ball. She picked it up like the first one and put it in her pocket. Then the third ball. But since she was hot on his heels all the time, he became terribly angry and hit her right in the face. Blood splattered, and three drops that landed on his shirt left three stains on it.
Here the poor woman began to fall behind. She soon lost sight of the fugitive, but still shouted after him:
“Let these three stains not disappear until I come to wash them off!”
And she, in spite of everything, ran and ran after him. Soon she found herself in a dense forest, walked along a path between the trees and saw two huge lions sitting on both sides of the path. She was terribly scared.
"Woe is me! - she thought. “I will lose my life here, because, of course, these lions will kill me!” But no matter what happens!”
And she moved on. As she passed the lions, she was surprised to see that they lay down at her feet and licked her hands. And she caressed them, put her hands on their heads and began to stroke them. Then she moved on.
Then she saw a hare sitting by the path, and as she passed by him, the hare said to her:
“Get on my back, I’ll take you out of the forest.” She climbed onto the hare's back, and soon he took her out of the forest.
“Now,” the hare said to her goodbye, “you are near the castle where the one you are looking for lives.”
And in fact, she soon reached a large alley lined with old oak trees, and nearby she saw washerwomen washing clothes on a pond.
She approached them and heard one of them say:
- Oh, that’s just an enchanted shirt! For two years now, every time I wash, I've been trying to get three bloody stains out of it, and no matter how hard I try, I can't do anything!
Hearing these words, the traveler approached the washerwoman who had spoken thus and said to her:
“Please, trust me with this shirt for a minute.” I think I can wash off these three blood stains.
They gave her a shirt. She spat on the three blood stains, dipped her shirt in the water, rubbed it a little, and immediately all three stains disappeared.
“Thank you very much,” the washerwoman told her. “Our master is going to get married, he will be happy to know that the bloody stains are gone, because this is his best shirt.”
“I would like to find a job in your master’s castle.”
“The other day the shepherdess left, and no one has yet been hired to take her place.” Come with me, I'll take care of you.
She was taken to the castle to guard the sheep. Every day she led her flock into the dense forest surrounding the castle, and often saw her husband walking there with the young princess who was to become his wife. The shepherdess's heart beat faster when she saw him, but she did not dare say a word.
She still had three golden balls, and often played with them to amuse herself. One day the young princess saw the golden balls and said to her maid:
- Look! What beautiful golden balls this girl has! Go to her and ask her to sell me one ball
The maid went to the shepherdess and said to her:
- Shepherdess, what beautiful golden balls you have! Would you sell me one for the princess, my mistress?
- I don’t care about the fruits of my balls, this is my only entertainment in solitude.
- Well, don't be stupid! Look how worn out your dress is - sell one ball to my mistress, and she will pay you well, so that you can dress cleanly.
“I don’t want either gold or silver.”
- So what do you want?
- Spend one night with your master!
- How dare you say that, shameless girl!
“Otherwise I won’t give up my balls for anything in the world.”
The maid returned to her mistress.
- Well, what did the shepherdess answer you?
- What did she answer me? I don't dare repeat this to you.
- Speak quickly!
“She, the shameless one, said that she would give up one of her balls only if you allowed her to spend the night with your fiancé.”
- What else did you want! Well, whatever! Come what may, I want to have such a ball. At dinner, I will pour a sleeping potion into my fiancé’s wine, he won’t even see her. Tell her that I agree to her condition and bring me the golden ball.
In the evening, when they got up from the table, the gentleman wanted to sleep so badly that he had to go to bed right away. Soon the shepherdess was admitted to him. But in vain she called him the most tender names, in vain she kissed him and shook him with all her might - nothing could wake him up.
- Woe is me! - exclaimed the unfortunate woman, sobbing. “That means all my efforts, all the torments I experienced were in vain!” But I married you when you were a toad and No one wanted to look at you! For two whole years, in the heat and in the most severe cold, in rain, snow and storm, I looked for you everywhere, without losing courage. And now that I finally found you, you don’t hear me and sleep like the dead! How unhappy I am!
And she cried and sobbed. But alas! Nobody heard her.
And in the morning she again drove her sheep into the forest, sad and sorrowful. At noon, the princess, as the day before, went for a walk with her maid. Seeing her, the shepherdess began to play with two golden balls that she still had left. The princess wanted to have a second ball, for a change, and she again said to her maid:
- Go to the shepherdess and buy another golden ball from her.
The maid obeyed, and in the end the bargain was concluded on the same terms as yesterday: to spend the night with the owner of the castle in his bedroom.
The princess, as the day before, poured a sleeping potion into the groom's wine during dinner, and he, getting up from the table, immediately lay down and fell asleep like a log. Soon the shepherdess was brought in again, and she again began to cry and lament. A servant, who happened to be passing by the bedroom, heard the crying and stopped to find out what was the matter. He was very surprised at what he heard, and in the morning, entering his master, he said:
“Sir, there is a lot going on here in your castle that you don’t know about and that you should know.”
- What is it, speak quickly!
“A few days ago a poor woman came to the castle, seemingly unhappy and exhausted; Out of pity, they took her in place of the shepherdess who had recently left. One day, the princess, walking in the forest with her maid, saw a shepherdess playing with golden balls. She immediately wanted to have these balls and sent a maid to buy them from the shepherdess at any price. The shepherdess did not want either gold or silver, but for each ball she demanded the right to spend the night with you in your bedroom. She has already given two and spent two nights with you. But you didn't notice anything. It takes pity to listen to her screams and lamentations! I even wonder if she’s gone crazy, because she says very strange things - for example, that she became your wife while you were a toad, and that she’s been walking around the world for two whole years looking for you...
- Is all this really true?
- Yes, my lord, it is true; and if you still didn’t know anything about this, it’s because during dinner the princess pours a sleeping potion into your wine, and you, getting up from the table, immediately go to bed and sleep soundly until the morning.
- That's how it is! I need to be on my guard, and then you will soon see that things will go differently here.
Meanwhile, all the servants of the castle, having heard that the shepherdess was spending her nights with her master, began to despise and hate her, and the cook now gave her only stale crusts, like a dog.
The next day the shepherdess again drove her sheep into the forest, and the princess bought a third golden ball from her for the same price as the first two: for the right to spend the night with the master in his bedroom.
When the hour for the evening meal arrived, this time the gentleman was on his guard. He noticed that while he was talking with his neighbor, the princess again poured sleeping potion into his glass. He pretended not to notice anything, but instead of drinking the wine, he slowly poured it under the table.
Getting up from the table, he pretended to be sleepy, as before, and immediately went to his bedroom. The shepherdess soon came there too. This time he did not sleep and, as soon as he saw her, he rushed to hug her, and they cried together with happiness and joy that they had found each other.
“Go back to your place now, my poor wife,” he said later, “and tomorrow you will see that things here will go completely differently.”
The next day there was a great feast at the castle, at which the wedding day was to be announced. There were kings, queens, princes, princesses and many other noble gentlemen there. At the end of the feast, the future son-in-law stood up and said to the old owner:
“My father-in-law, I would like to ask you for advice in this matter: I had a beautiful box with a beautiful golden key; I lost the key to my box and ordered myself a new one. But I found my old key, so now I have two keys instead of one. How do you think, my father-in-law, should I open my box?
“You should always prefer what is older,” answered the future father-in-law.
Then the prince entered the room next to the hall and returned from there, holding the hand of a shepherdess, simply dressed, and said, introducing her to everyone:
“Well, this is my first key, that is, my first wife, whom I finally found; this is my wife, and I love her as before, besides her, I will never have any other!
And they returned to their country and lived there happily
until the end of my days.
Here is the tale of the toad groom. How did you like it?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru