Once upon a time there lived a king. He was angry, unjust, cruel. People didn’t like him, they called him fiana-padishah, which means evil king. And this king had a beautiful daughter named Kirana. She was not like her father. She is so kind, affectionate, and friendly to people. She didn’t like her father, argued with him, and always stood up for people.
One day the king and his retinue went hunting. He had a bad hunt that day. He got almost nothing. Angry, he tossed and turned home. He drives along the road, biting his lips in anger. And then, as luck would have it, the guy comes towards me. He's carrying an armful of firewood in his hands. He's such a nice guy, stately, handsome. The guy saw the king and bowed low to him. Yes, I didn’t please, apparently. The king stopped his horse and attacked the woodcutter:
- Why don’t you take off your hat to your king, so-and-so?
- How can I get it, sir? My hands are busy, as you can see, but I haven’t learned to take off my hat with my feet yet.
- Oh, so you’re still opposing! - the king shouted. - Hey! Servants! Take him and put him in prison. I will show him how to respect your king.
The servants ran up. They grabbed the woodcutter, took him to the palace, and put him in the darkest dungeon.
The royal daughter Kirana found out about this, and she decided to help the innocent woodcutter. And Kirana had a maid - Fatima, faithful to her mistress to the grave. That night, Kirana and Fatima came out of the bedroom and secretly made their way to the doors of the dungeon. The guards made a fuss at first, but when they found out the Tsar’s daughter, they let her through in silence. Kirana sat for a long time with the young woodcutter, consoled him, and spoke kind words. And she promised him to do everything she could to save him from death.
And the next night Kirana went to him, and the third. And they fell in love with each other. Loved it deeply. Kiran began to ask and beg her father to let the woodcutter go free. Yes, where! Fiana Padishah didn’t even want to hear about it. And then Kirana decided to help her beloved escape. She took a small dagger and an iron file, went again at night to the woodcutter and gave it all to him.
“Hurry up, my love,” she said, you will be executed tomorrow. You can't escape tonight, everything died.
Kirana and Fatima left, and the woodcutter slowly sawed through the bars on the window and got out of the dungeon.
When the king found out about this, he became very angry and stamped his feet in anger. He ordered to call his daughter to his place.
- This is your job, scoundrel! - shouts. - It was you who helped him. So get lost yourself!
He clapped his hands, called the guards and ordered his own daughter to be put in a glass palace. So that she does not utter a word to anyone, so that she does not see a living soul.
The servants grabbed Kirana and put her in an empty palace. It’s hard for Kirana, she cries bitterly, she’s dying. It's hard to live in the world when your own father is a bad person.
Meanwhile, Fatima ran to the woodcutter and told about Kioanino’s grief. The woodcutter jumped up. His warm heart began to beat. I decided to lay down my head and free my beloved.
One day, on a dark, dark night, his faithful Fatima helped him get into the palace and see Kirana. Kirana was delighted to see him. They sat until the morning. Everyone talked, poured out all their bitter grief. And they agreed that the next night he would come to Kirana again and help her escape. They will run away to another country. The guy hugged Kiran goodbye and began to slowly leave the glass palace. But he was unlucky - right at the entrance in the dark he stepped on a sleeping dog. The dog jumped up and barked. The royal guards came running, grabbed the woodcutter, and brought him to the king. Fiana Padishah immediately recognized the impudent one. And when he found out that he was caught from his daughter in the palace, he turned green with anger.
He ordered Kiran to be brought to him.
- What does this tramp want from you? - he asks his daughter.
But Kirana was not one of the timid ones.
“I won’t tell you anything,” he says. - Do whatever you want with me. I’ll just say one thing: I love this man.
The Fyana Padishah howled throughout the entire palace:
– You won’t be with him! You won't! I will turn him into a bull. Bull, do you hear?
Before he had time to say this, the young woodcutter turned like a bull and ran into the field. “And this girl,” the king pointed to his daughter Kirana, “take her to the forest and execute her there, far from human eyes.”
The servants grabbed Kirana. They tied her hands and feet. They threw me into the cart.
The Tsar Father came out onto the porch. Not to say goodbye to my own daughter. I just came out to say:
“So that I can be sure that you did everything as instructed, bring me the little finger from her left hand.”
And they took Kirana to a dense forest. And Karana had a favorite dog. That dog howled when she saw that her owner was being taken somewhere and ran after the chaise. Kirana took her to her place. She stroked the fur and stroked it, and then suddenly she screamed. The servants rushed to her. They see: the dog bit off Kirana’s little finger. They stopped. The elder says:
“Forgive us, madam, that we had to take you to your death.” There is not one among your father's servants who does not love you for your kind heart. But we are known to be forced people. Only this time we were lucky. The dog saved you and us. Go, gentle lady, wherever your heart desires, and we will take this little finger to the Padishah.
Kirana bowed low to them. They gave her a little food and went back to report to the king that his order had been fulfilled. Kirana was left alone. What to do? She walked further through the forest. It went on like this for a long time. Days gave way to nights, and nights to days. Finally she came to the bank of some river. I saw a house on the shore. Kirana went there. He sees: there is no one in that house, it is empty. And she began to live there. Days passed by. Winter has replaced summer. And Kirana had a son - clear-eyed, handsome. She named him Tuku. My son grew by leaps and bounds. And less than two years passed before he grew into a hero. And smart, and strong, and a mother’s helper. They lived well. Here’s how Tuku asks his mother:
- Mom, do I have a father?
Kirana answers after thinking:
- Of course, there is. But he's just far away.
- Where can I find it, mom? – Tuku asks.
Kirana sighed heavily.
She remembered her father, the ferocious Fyan padishah, and remembered how he took his own father from Tuku. She felt bitter.
“You won’t find him, son.” The only memory you have left of him is a small bull. But no one knows where he is, that bull.
- It’s okay, mom, I’ll find him. “I’ll definitely find it,” Tuku answers her.
And Tuku began to get ready for the journey. His mother baked him five flat cakes, sewed a bag, and no one knows where Tuku went - to look for Gelan’s bull.
He walked and walked and saw: a herd was grazing at the edge of the forest. No shepherds with him, no dogs. Tuku was surprised. Then one black cow comes up to him and says in a human voice:
- Hello, Tuku! Finally you have arrived. We're tired of waiting. Now you are our master. Do whatever you want with us.
-What should I do with you?
- It's best to sell it. Just keep Gelan’s bull and buy him another one as a mate. They will help you out of any trouble.
As the cow said, Tuku did so. He sold the herd. I bought myself a bull to pair with Gelan. I named him Zhoyan.
He harnessed his oxen and rode home.
Well, how he lived there - only he knows about that.
Several years passed, and the Padishah’s adopted daughter, the beauty of beauties, grew up.
And the Fyan padishah announced that whoever plows his land in one day, he will give his daughter as a wife.
I learned about Tuka’s royal will and thought about it. The bull Gelan saw this and asked:
- Why are you so sad, Tuku? Why did you hang your head?
Tuku told him about his idea.
- Well, no problem. We will help you and Joyan. Go to the king and tell him to forge two plows for you in nine days.
Tuku came to the king and said:
“I, sir, will plow your land in 24 hours.” But I only have oxen, but no plows. If you make me a couple of plows in nine days, I will plow your land.
The king grinned.
“Okay,” he says, “come back on the tenth day.” There will be plows for you.
Nine days have passed. And Tuku appeared to the Fyan Padishah. He took the plows and began to plow the royal land. I worked until lunchtime. He lifted a lot of earth with the plow.
The king sees: his business is bad - this poor man is plowing the land. He sent his daughter:
- Bring lunch to the groom. My daughter went to the field. She saw Tuku and immediately fell in love with him. And she says:
- Sit down, good fellow, relax, eat. The richer you are, the happier you are.
I ate Tuku. And the king’s daughter says:
- Here, wash it down with some good wine.
Tuk bowed to her and refused the wine. Only the girl begged him so much that he would drink at least a sip, that Tuku couldn’t resist and agreed.
And the Fyana Padishah himself put a sleeping potion in that wine. Nobody knew about that. Even the king’s daughter didn’t know.
As soon as Tuku drank the wine, he felt sleepy. He lay down, put his head on the girl’s lap and fell into a deep sleep. Tuku slept for a long time. The sun had already begun to set behind the mountains. Then the bull Gelan guessed that it was the Fyana Padishah who set it up. I was not at a loss. He raised the sun with his horns and set it from sunset again to noon. And the bull Zhoyan sneezed so much that Tuku woke up.
- Uh! Yes, I think I fell asleep a little. Let's get to work, dear helpers.
The bulls did not answer him. They just waved their tails.
Before the sun had time to disappear behind the mountains again, Tuku plowed all the royal land. He came to the Fyan Padishah and said:
- Well, I kept my word. Now it's up to you, king. When will we have the wedding?
The king did not want to give his daughter to the plowman, but he could not go back on his word. The king thought. And then he says:
- I will keep my word. Only condition: you will take away my daughter’s entire dowry with this pair of bulls, as you wish. If you don’t take it away, you won’t be punished.
Tuku came to the bulls sad and sad.
– Why are you sad, Tuku? – Gelan asks him.
Tuku told him about his grief.
- Well, this trouble is not great yet. Tell the king to make a suitable cart in nine days. We'll help you out.
Nine days have passed. The royal craftsmen made a cart. She was so big that even a thousand bulls could not have moved her. Tuka harnessed Gelan and Zhoyan to it, and the royal servants began to put the wealth of the Fyan-padishah into it. The cart was loaded to the brim. Tuku sat on it and shouted:
- Heye, Gelan, cha, Zhoyan!
And the bulls went slowly, as if they were carrying fluff rather than cargo.
When the Fyana Padishah saw all this, he rushed to Tuk. I wanted to take away my property. But that was not the case. The bull Gelan hooked him on his horns, raised him high to the sky, and then threw him to the ground. And the bull Zhoyan trampled him underfoot.
And the king’s daughter married Tuka. They distributed almost all of the Fyan-padishah's wealth to the people and began to live and prosper and make good money.
How long or how short have they lived like this? But the time has come for the bulls to die. Before their death they asked Tuku:
- When we die, cut off our horns and bury them at the doorstep. This will be your memory from us.
That's what Tuku did. He cut off the bull's horns and buried them at his door. And four huge oak trees grew in that place. To this day they stand there like giants. Maybe they are the ones who protect human happiness from all evil...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru