Once upon a time there was a Shah. And he had no one except one and only daughter. And this daughter was of indescribable beauty. The Shah loved her so much that he fulfilled any wish before she had time to say it out loud. He built a wonderful castle in which forty maids served.
Matchmakers came to the Shah every day, but the girl did not want to marry anyone. She didn't like anyone. She didn't like anything at all. She was always dissatisfied, constantly complaining about her fate.
One fine day, the Shah's daughter, accompanied by forty maids, went out into the garden for a walk. She often walked in this garden and always hid from her maids in a quiet corner and sat there, overwhelmed with melancholy.
And this time the girls began to sing and dance, and the Shah’s daughter, lost in thought, sat under a tree and lamented out loud that there was no joy in her life. Suddenly an eagle descended from the sky, picked her up and carried her away. Nobody even noticed it. The eagle flew over the mountains, over the valleys, and the girl did not dare to sigh or groan. Finally he flew to the forest, landed there, put the girl under a tree and disappeared.
Let's leave her in the forest and return to the palace, where forty maids merrily sang and danced. Suddenly they noticed that the lady was not with them. They searched the whole garden, but did not find her. There was nothing to do. They went to the Shah and told him that during a walk his daughter had disappeared from the garden.
Out of grief, the Shah began to hit himself on the head and cry. The vizier and advisers came running to the noise. They listened to the sad news and said:
- O great and wisest Shah, what is the use of beating yourself on the head and crying? We need to do something.
Having somehow calmed the Shah, they sent horsemen and heralds throughout the land. They drove for many days, but no one could bring news about the girl.
Let's leave the Shah in the palace in anguish and sadness and see what happened to the Shah's daughter. When she woke up, she could not come to her senses for a long time, and then she got up and walked wherever her eyes were looking. During the day she collected herbs and wild berries and ate them, and at night she climbed trees and slept there. So she lived in the forest for forty days. One day, from a high tree, she saw that in the distance, at the foot of the mountain, a shepherd was tending a flock. She quickly descended from the tree and went to the shepherd.
“Oh brother,” she said, greeting politely, “I’m hungry, will you give me some milk?”
The shepherd immediately milked the milk pan full and gave it to the girl. She drank, wiped her lips and said: “Brother shepherd, if you have any old clothes, give them to me, and instead of money I will leave you this bracelet.”
She opened the bracelet and gave it to the shepherd, and in return he brought her old clothes and sewed a hat out of sheep skin. She thanked the shepherd, put on the cast-offs he gave her, looked like a young man, and moved on. She walked for three days and three nights and finally reached the big city. At the very city gates she went into a teahouse and asked the owner:
- O good man, will you take me as a servant?
The owner smiled:
- Why not take it? I'll gladly take it.
Then the girl said:
“But I don’t have a place to live, let me spend the night in a teahouse.”
The owner agreed. And the girl began to serve tea. Everyone liked the lively peddler. But one night, while wiping glasses and saucers, the girl suddenly remembered her home, her father, her heart sank and she began to complain bitterly about her fate, which had deprived her of wealth and shelter. Lost in thought, she picked up a tray with glasses and wanted to take it to the tea shop, but tripped and dropped it. All the glasses broke.
Morning has come. The owner came. He saw what the girl had done, got angry and drove her away. Crying bitterly, the poor girl left the teahouse, not knowing where to go or with whom to find shelter. She walked off without making out the way. I walked for a long time and suddenly realized that I had left the city. She looked around and saw merchants walking with a caravan, carrying goods somewhere. The girl hurried towards them.
“I’ve lost my way,” she said timidly. “I’m tired, I have no one.” Take me with you wherever you go. I will serve you.
The merchants took pity and took her with them.
They walked until dark, and then let the camels graze, and they themselves went to bed. The girl was embarrassed to lie down next to them and, moving away, lay down to sleep in the hole.
At dawn the caravan moved on while the girl was still sleeping in her hole. The merchants, not seeing yesterday's wanderer, did not look for him.
The girl woke up and discovered that there was no trace of the caravan. Frustrated, dejected, she wandered off, not knowing where. I walked a lot, I walked little by little, a day on the road, an hour on a halt. Rivers were forded, mountains were bypassed, and finally I found myself in a dense forest. Here she remained. During the day, she collected wild fruits and ate them, moderating her hunger. At night she climbed a tree and slept there, trembling for fear that some animal would smell her and tear her to pieces.
One day, the son of the Shah, who ruled in these places, came to the forest to hunt. For a long time he did not see any animal or bird. Suddenly a fleet-footed deer rushed in front of him. The young man raised his bow and chased the beast. He galloped after the deer for a long time, but never caught it. Having lost hope of luck, he started his horse at a walk on the way back. He stopped at a spring to water his horse and suddenly saw the reflection of a young man in the water. He raised his head: a young man was sitting on a tree, his eyes sparkling, looking at him. The Shah's son grabbed a bow and wanted to shoot him. But the young man pleaded:
- O brave hunter, have pity on me, don’t destroy me! I won't do you any harm. I have nowhere to live, so I moved here.
“If so, get down from the tree,” the Shah’s son ordered. When the girl went downstairs, her hat fell from her head, and her braids slid like two snakes down her back. The prince could not recover from surprise. Finally he asked:
- O beautiful girl, who are you, where are you from and where are you going?
She truthfully told him about everything that had happened to her and only hid the fact that she was the daughter of the Shah. The young man took pity on her and took her with him to the palace. There he instructed the servants to change her clothes and give her a good room. And he arranged a feast and forgot about his guest.
Several days passed. One day the Shah's son remembered the girl and wanted to see her. As soon as he opened the door to her room, he froze on the threshold, as if struck by lightning. Before him stood a girl as beautiful as the face of the moon. He wanted to speak, but was speechless. He wanted to approach her, but his legs did not obey him. And at that moment the Shah’s son knew the power of love. From now on he lost peace and did not sleep until the morning. And at dawn he came to the girl and opened his heart to her.
It must be said that the Shah’s son was also indescribably handsome. And she responded to his love with the same ardent love. From that moment they spent all their time together. The Shah learned about this story and called his son to him:
“My son and heir, I heard that you fell in love with a girl whom you found in the forest and sheltered in our palace. I didn’t contradict you, I like that you are kind. But is it proper for you to love a commoner? Can you marry a girl whose origin and race are unknown to us? Come to your senses, my son, I will marry you to the daughter of the chief vizier.
The Shah spent a long time persuading his son. He promised mountains of gold, but achieved nothing. The young man repeated his thoughts:
- Oh dear father, forgive me, I have always obeyed you, but now I can’t. I will not marry anyone other than the girl I brought from the forest. And now if you want, execute me, or if you want, have the wedding played.
The Shah realized that there was great love and nothing could be done, and ordered preparations for the wedding. The wedding took place for forty days and forty nights. And nine months and nine days later the young son was born. The Shah threw a big feast, called viziers, advisers, fortune tellers, and dervishes. The doors were also open to strangers.
The servants fell in love with the new mistress and looked after her and her son.
Her husband loved her as no husband had ever loved his wife. And still the girl complained about her fate and was dissatisfied with everything. And so they lived, until one day, waking up in the morning, she saw that the bed next to her was empty, and there was no child.
She rushed to her husband crying. The news of the missing child reached the Shah. He gave the order to search everything around, but the child was never found anywhere.
A year later, another boy was born to the Shah's daughter-in-law. And again one day this child disappeared. The girl woke up in the morning and saw that her hands and mouth were covered in blood. The news of this spread throughout the region. And they all decided that she had killed her child. The Shah called her to him. No matter how the girl swore, no matter how she swore, no one believed her. The Shah ordered his vizier:
“Take her into the forest, kill her, and bring me her bloody shirt as proof.”
The vizier put his right hand to his eyes and said:
- Oh my Shah, today your order will be executed.
The vizier took the girl and led her into the forest. But I must say that this vizier was very smart and fair. He understood that a mother would not kill her child, and he felt that there was some kind of secret hidden here. So he released the girl and said:
- Daughter, get out of here. Try your luck. If you don’t die on the road, if wild animals don’t eat you, maybe you’ll find your good share somewhere.
The vizier shot the bird, dipped its blood on the girl’s shirt and took it to the Shah. The Shah saw the bloody shirt and believed that his daughter-in-law was dead.
But let’s leave the Shah, the Vizier and the Shah’s son in the palace and follow the poor woman who had lost everything she had and was now rightly complaining about her fate. After the vizier left, she sat for a long time, not knowing where to go, what to do, then she went out onto the path. Suddenly she saw a man walking ahead with a bundle of brushwood. She wanted to ask him for directions. But I got scared: what if it’s a thief or a robber? But he, hearing someone’s steps behind him, looked back. The girl hurried to hide behind a tree. He realized that the girl was hiding from him, and, without saying a word, he moved on.
When he walked away a little, the girl came out from behind the tree and followed in his footsteps. He looked back again, and again the girl hid. The stranger laughed:
- Baby, I’m not a child, why are you playing hide and seek with me?
These words encouraged her, she decided to come closer.
- Daughter, what are you doing in these parts, who are you?
“I’ve lost my way,” she answered, “and I can’t find my way to the city.”
He looked at her pale face, her tattered clothes, bare feet and uncovered head and said:
“Daughter, tell me the truth, it’s not like you just lost your way.”
He persuaded her for a long time, promised that he would take her wherever she asked, just let her tell her about her grief.
“Because,” he finished, “I see: you have a grave grief.”
She began to cry and told about everything that had happened to her from the very moment when the eagle grabbed her in its paws and carried her into the forest. Then the passerby said:
- Daughter, you were the daughter of the Shah and married the Shah. You always lived in luxury, had forty servants, and were never denied anything. And yet you complained about fate. Everything you told me happened to you only because you are so ungrateful. Stop whining and complaining, and then everything will work out.
But she shook her head, not believing his words.
- Daughter, listen, I’ll tell you about my life. And you will believe me.
He lowered a bundle of brushwood to the ground, sat down and began his story.
- I was a poor woodcutter. As a child, every day I brought a bundle of firewood from the forest and sold it for two nickels. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t earn more than two nickels. I kept whining and crying. “Oh Allah,” I said, “how long; am I destined to drag out such a miserable existence! Either make my pennies multiply, or let them not exist at all, so that I will eventually die of hunger.”
That same night I saw in a dream that my earnings had become even less and now I earned one nickel a day. This didn't bother me at all. “Thank Allah,” I thought, “the end is coming soon.”
However, in the morning, as always, I went to the forest, chopped firewood and took it to the market to sell. As luck would have it, there were no buyers. I was about to go home, deciding that my dream was coming true, but then some merchant came to the threshold of his shop and called me. I approached. There was joy in the house. Some played, others danced, others laughed loudly. It turns out that the owner was celebrating his daughter's wedding. And in the courtyard, pilaf was cooked in seven copper cauldrons. The merchant told me to throw some wood on the fireplace. When I did this, he gave me ten nickels and said:
“Son, I see that you are a quick guy, help the servants carry the dishes, and for this you will be fed to your heart’s content.”
I agreed. All night I carried and washed the dishes, and when in the morning the merchant’s daughter was taken to her husband’s house, I lay down in the corner and fell asleep. When I woke up, I was about to leave, but the merchant’s wife told me to wait, and she said to her husband:
- Listen, we got our daughter married, we don’t have any other children. If we stay alone in the house, we will be sad and bored. Maybe we can take this boy?
The merchant readily agreed with his wife. So I stayed with them. No one was waiting for me at home, because in the whole wide world I had no one. I helped the merchant’s wife with the housework, and sometimes stayed to guard the shop. But no matter what I did, every day I went into the forest to chop wood, brought a large bundle to the city and sold it. And - a strange thing - no matter who bought firewood from me, they all gave me ten dimes without a word.
One fine day, his friends came to the merchant and said that they were going to go to another city to buy goods, and they invited him with them. But he sighed heavily and refused: “It seems that this time I won’t be able to go with you. Something is wrong with me.”
And when the guests left, the merchant’s wife said: “Listen, give the boy some money, let him go instead of you.” The merchant shook his head:
“I’m afraid, little wife, because he doesn’t know how to trade.” He will waste all his money, and he himself will disappear for nothing. But the wife insisted:
- Nothing will happen. So what if he's a child? Let him get used to it. Your comrades will help him. Let's see what happens.
In the end, the merchant agreed, gave me a hundred tomans and sent me with the caravan. We walked for a long time... And at random, and at random, and at random. Finally, after forty days and forty nights, we reached the city where we were supposed to make purchases. None of my companions on the road spent a single fog, and I didn’t have even half left. They cursed me, they honored me in every way:
“The good merchant took you in and made you his son.” Now he has sent you for goods. So don’t waste your money, there will be nothing left for purchasing.
But I didn’t listen and did my own thing.
In the city I completely fell out with them and rented a room for myself in some caravanserai. At night I heard heartbreaking moans coming from the next room. I couldn't stand it and went there. A merchant I didn’t know, sick and very old, was lying in bed and moaning. He was on his last legs. I rubbed his back and sides and made him drink a glass of hot tea. A little later he came to his senses. And in the morning, seeing that I had spent the whole night near him, he began to thank me and said:
- Son, I have no one. Today I will die. I don’t want all my wealth to go to strangers. I see you are a kind person. Take it all for yourself. But here's how to do it. I brought one hundred bags of rice to this city to sell. They are kept in the Shah's barns. In each bag I hid a purse of gold. Nobody knows about this. You are the first one to whom I reveal my secret. I do this because soon my soul will soar into heaven, and you helped me in my hour of death. As soon as it becomes known that I am dead, the Shah will give the order to sell my rice. Hurry there and pay, no matter how much they ask for the bag. Bring this bag to where you live, and tell the Shah’s servants not to sell the rest of the rice to anyone. The next day you will take everything. As soon as you bring one bag to your place, take out a wallet with gold from it. With this money you will buy the rest of the rice and in each bag you will find the same wallet. Let it all go to you.
Having said this, the merchant closed his eyes and died. I buried him properly.
Indeed, as soon as the news of the merchant’s death reached the Shah, he ordered it to be announced throughout the city, adding that there were a hundred bags of rice left and whoever wanted to buy them should come to the Shah’s barn. At that very moment I went there. As the merchant ordered, I bought one bag, and promised to come for the rest tomorrow. I brought this bag to my caravanserai and untied it, pouring the rice onto the floor. The wallet was there. With this gold I bought the remaining ninety-nine bags. Two days later, having loaded all the rice onto camels, I set off for my homeland. The merchant who adopted me, seeing how much goods I brought, was surprised. “Son,” he said, “I only gave you a hundred tomans. How did you manage to buy so much rice with that money?” I laughed: “You don’t see everything yet, every bag contains a purse of gold.”
Hearing this, the merchant was very happy. We divided all the money received from the sale of rice and found in the bags in half. I built myself a house so beautiful, the likes of which even the Shah does not have. From that day on, wherever I went, whatever I did, money rained down on me. And now I'm very rich. But still, in gratitude to the bundle of brushwood that once fed me and then helped me get out of the shackles of poverty, from time to time I go into the forest and chop wood. Listen to me, daughter, never be ungrateful. Whatever fate gives you, thank her for everything. Then you will be happy. Otherwise, your affairs will never get better.
She listened to him carefully and said:
“You’re right, I’ve been very ungrateful all my life.” And he added:
- Daughter, you said that you had lost your way. Now I'm going to the city, if you want, I'll take you with me.
But she thought that it was a shame to appear in the city in such rags and refused:
“Thank you, good man, now I’ll find the way myself.” You go, I’ll follow in your footsteps a little later.
He said goodbye and went home.
As soon as the man left, the girl saw an old woman coming towards her. She was delighted and ran to the old woman.
-Grandma, it’s so good that I met you. Tell me, what are you doing in this forest?
The old woman laughed.
- Daughter, first tell me, what are you doing here?
The girl began to talk about everything that happened to her.
But before she had time to say a few words, the old woman interrupted her:
- Daughter, I asked you what you were doing here in order to test you. I know everything myself. Now tell me: are you still complaining about your fate?
The girl realized that the old woman knew everything about her and said:
- Oh no. I will no longer complain about my fate.
The old woman saw that she was speaking sincerely, took her hand and led her to her.
She lived on a bald mountain that stood in the middle of the forest. Not a single road led to this mountain; all its slopes were steep. And only in one place did a barely noticeable narrow path wind its way. The old woman led the girl along it. At the very top she stopped in front of a cave, the entrance to which was through a narrow, tight gap. They squeezed through the gap with difficulty. The first thing the girl saw were her sons. She was very surprised and happy. She hugged them, pressed them to her chest and cried. When the first excitement subsided, she asked:
- Grandma, what does this mean? Who brought my children here? The old woman replied:
- Daughter, listen and know. I brought your children here. And I brought you from your father’s house to this forest. I subject all ungrateful people to severe trials. Have you stopped complaining about fate? The princess swore that she would never be ungrateful until the end of her days. Then the old woman said:
“Now get up, take your children and get out of this cave.” I will now turn into a bird, you will sit on my wings, and I will take you to your husband.
As soon as she said the last words, her hands turned into wings and her nose into a beak. The royal daughter took her sons in her arms and sat on the wings of a bird. But let them fly, while we see what happened to the Shah’s son.
Having lost his wife and children, he began to wither away from grief, dressed in mourning and spent all his time in tears. Father, mother and vizier, friends and nobles tried to persuade him to calm down and stop being sad. Nothing helped. He dried up and turned pale, melting like a candle.
One day he was sitting in an abandoned corner of the Shah's garden, immersed in sorrowful thoughts. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an old fortune teller appeared. Seeing the young man thinking, he asked:
- Son, why are you so sad? Tell me about your grief. The young man raised his head:
- Listen, aren’t you ashamed to be called a fortune teller?! If you were a real fortune teller, you wouldn't ask me why I'm sad. You would know for yourself what my grief is.
These words hurt the old man very much; he opened his book and, putting it in front of him, began to guess.
- O son of the Shah, and I’ll tell you that you yearn for your wife and children.
The Shah's son, seeing that his grief had been correctly guessed, said:
- How can I get rid of this grief? The fortune teller leafed through several pages and said:
- O son of the Shah, as long as you complain about your fate, you cry and moan, you will not get rid of grief. But once you start having fun and talking to people, everything will be fine.
Having said this, he disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. The young man thought: “I’ll check the fortune teller’s words.” On the same day he ordered a feast to be held in the garden. What was missing here? The tables were laden with food. Overseas drinks flowed like a river. Sherbet was poured straight from the barrels. The music was loud like at a wedding. The Shah's son had the most fun. The courtiers were surprised: the Shah’s son had not even smiled for so long, and then he started having such fun.
But let’s leave the young man to feast and see what his wife and children are doing. While he was having fun, they flew across the seventh sky on the wings of a sorceress-bird. Finally, she descended over the Shah’s garden, carefully placed the travelers on the grass and disappeared. The princess quietly walked to the place where the sounds of music were coming from and saw that it was her husband having fun. She became sad, stopped and looked at him from a distance. But he suddenly raised his head, noticed her, recognized her immediately and ran up. He hugged his wife and children, pressed them to his chest and asked:
- How did you manage to stay alive? Tell me. She told about everything that happened to her, and at the end sighed heavily. The Shah's son asked:
- Why are you sighing? After all, you promised never to complain again.
“I experienced so much grief,” she answered, “so many troubles, I almost died several times, but I never forgot you.” And here, it turns out, you were feasting and having fun.
He hugged her even warmer and said:
- You're wrong. Just today a smile appeared on my face. Since you left, I was all in black, crying from morning to night. But today some fortune teller appeared in the garden and told me that as long as I cry and grieve, I will be unhappy, and if I start having fun, happiness will smile on me. I obeyed him and arranged a feast. As you can see, he's right. My children and wife returned to me.
They started having fun together. And I was at that feast. I drank sherbet, it ran down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth. He ate the pilaf, took it with his hands, put it on his tongue, but it didn’t get into his mouth.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru