A long time ago, but not so long ago, the Turks attacked Moldova. Red fezzes scattered throughout all the cities and villages. They forced people to pay taxes with a stick and a batog and committed a lot of violence - only Mother Earth knows how much.
Once in one village, girls of marriageable age, younger and older women gathered for a get-together, spinning and spinning for themselves over jokes and jokes. Suddenly someone knocked on the window. The girls began to chuckle and nudge each other
friend:
- Come out, Katinkutsa, go, Smaranda! You better come out, Ilyana. Ilyana went out into the yard to see what kind of guy was knocking there. And who did you see? A big Turk on a black horse. Before the girl had time to scream in fright, the Turk grabbed her by the waist, put her on a horse and was gone. He drove his horse over the mountains and through the valleys. When the poor girl came to her senses, the Turk was singing:
But, but, but, drive my horse, We are taking the Maiden home, We will throw her into the oven alive, So the Turk rode along the land, with a fair wind, until he reached a copper palace, fenced with a copper fence with copper gates. An old Turkish woman was sitting in front of the palace.
- May you be healthy forever, mother!
- Welcome, good health to you too, son.
- Here, I brought a young girl.
- Go, invite your guests, we’ll have a great time.
The Turk went to call on the guests, and the Turkish wasp lit a hot fire in the stove to fry the girl. The poor thing understood what fate had in store for her, but did not fall to her knees to beg for mercy. She began to think and wonder how to escape. When the fire flared up so that the stove began to glow from the heat, the Turkish woman put a huge shovel on the stove and shouted:
- Jump, maiden, onto the shovel!
“Jump first, witch, show me,” the girl answered her. The evil old woman then attacked her:
- The desert swallows you up, you’re not smart enough to lie down on a shovel!
- How should I know, auntie, if I have never done such a thing!
“This is a big miracle,” the old woman kept cursing and began to show how to lie down. “Look, ugly girl, you need to lie face up, put your hands to your body, stretch out your legs, close your eyes.”
The girl was just waiting for this. As the Turkish woman lay stretched out on a shovel, she threw it into the oven and - bang! - covered it with a shutter. Then she ran away, and her trace was lost. A little later the Turk returned with his guests and seated them at the table.
- Hey, mother, where are you, come out, set the table.
Where could a Turkish woman go if she turned into pastrama! The Turk clicked and called for her, searched and, not finding her, rushed to the stove damper. When he saw his mother in the oven - he almost gave his soul to God, but, apparently, he was strong - his heart did not break.
Embittered, he chased after the girl and was about to catch her. The poor girl saw how things turned out, and, finding herself on the river bank, climbed to the very top of one of the trees that grew on the bank - she sat there without moving.
The Turk chased her so hard that the earth shook. Having reached the trees, he saw the girl’s reflection in the water and shouted:
- So I got you! - and - splash! - into the water.
This is where the end of the Turk came - he drowned, and the girl went to her native village.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru