There lived a peasant woman in a village and she had a son. He grew up to be a good guy - handsome, healthy, hard-working. One day he came to his mother and said:
- Mother, I want to get married.
- So, get married, son. There are a lot of brides of all kinds in our village, and in the neighboring one. Choose any one.
And the guy replied:
“No, mother, I don’t want to marry a simple peasant woman, I want to marry the Tsar’s daughter.”
The mother was surprised:
- Oh, son, what are you thinking! The king will not give his daughter for you. After all, you are a simple man, and she is a princess!
- Why not give it away? I'm a healthy, hard-working, handsome guy. Maybe they'll give it away.
- Well, go and try your luck.
His mother packed a knapsack for him, put a piece of bread in it, and he went to get married. I saw a huge palace, all the porches were carved, the windows were painted. And there are many servants around. The guy asked:
- Do the king and his daughter live here?
“Here, in the palace,” answered the servants.
- Well, then run to her, tell her - the groom has come.
An important and fat princess came out. The peasant son looked at her and asked:
-Are you the king's daughter?
- Of course I am.
- I want to marry you.
- Well, what's the problem? Let's go to the upper room and talk.
They entered the upper room. And there was a table, a samovar on the table and all sorts of treats laid out. They sat down, the groom asked:
-Are you a rich bride? Do you have a lot of dresses sewn?
- And it wouldn’t be much! I'm the king's daughter. When I get up in the morning, put on a new dress, I go to the mirror and so on all day until the evening I dress up and look in the mirror.
— Are you still dressing up until the evening? And when do you work?
The Tsar’s daughter looked at him and clasped her hands:
- Work? Oh, what a boring word you said! I don't know how to do anything. My servants do everything.
“Well, I’ll marry you, we’ll go to the village, so will you be able to bake bread?” Can you light the stove?
The Tsar’s daughter marvels more than ever:
- Bread? In the oven? What are you talking about? After all, wood burns in the stove, and if you put bread in there, it will become coal. The Tsar Told me that bread grows on Christmas trees.
- On the Christmas trees? Well, I would like to see where these trees are found. Oh you! Well, tell me, are you spoiled by your father, are you used to eating and drinking sweet things? How do you drink tea - as a snack or as a snack?
The royal daughter looked at him and shook her head:
“There’s a hook in my ceiling, and there’s a rope hanging from the hook.” Whenever I want sweet tea, they will tie a whole sugar loaf to this string, and I will suck it, and drink it, suck it, and drink it.
The guy's eyes bulged.
“This,” he said, “how is it?” Do you need loaf of sugar for your tea every day? Yes, in our village no one drinks tea like that. No, apparently you’re not accustomed to our ways... Well, tell me, are you a good needlewoman? Did you sew feather beds, pillows, blankets for the wedding?
The Tsar’s daughter just waved her hands:
- What are you talking about, I don’t have a bed, but a whole room filled with fluff. I will enter it, dive and emerge. So I sleep.
The groom was putting a piece in his mouth, and his hand stopped.
- What, are you going to fill my whole hut with feathers? We'll suffocate! No, apparently you are a bad housewife. Maybe you're at least literate?
- Yes, to tell the truth, I’m not very literate.
- Illiterate? Why did you grow up so big, fat, and uneducated?
The Tsar's daughter pouted her lips:
- What a mess you are, everything is wrong and wrong for you!
The guy is sitting, rubbing his forehead, and forgot to think about the treat.
“Yes...” he said, “I must go home and consult with my mother whether you are a suitable bride for me.”
- Go, darling. And tomorrow, you’ll probably come back: you won’t find me better anywhere.
I came home and told my mother:
- Well, mother, I saw the king’s daughter. This is such a misfortune, mother: all day long she dresses up and looks in mirrors, she doesn’t know how to work, she says that bread grows on Christmas trees. Yes, he drinks tea not like us - he sucks a whole sugar loaf. Yes, he doesn’t sleep on the bed, but dives and emerges somewhere in the fluff. Yes, he doesn’t know how to read and write. What do I need, mother, such a bride!
And mother laughed and said:
- Okay, son, okay, berry. I will find you a bride myself.
The mother looked for her in the village - and found a bride for her son, such a good girl, smart, a good housewife, and a hard-working needlewoman. So the guy got married and lived happily.
And from that day on, the Tsar’s daughter went out onto the porch every morning and looked around: where is the groom? What doesn't come back?
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru