Once upon a time there lived an old man. And he had an only son. The old man could not teach his son, because he was already old and, moreover, very poor. And then one day, grieving, he called his son and said:
“You see, my son, I’ve already become old, I can’t work for you, I’m ashamed to ask for alms, and we haven’t saved anything.” You have already grown up, and I will have to give you to the people - to serve.
“Well, father,” the son answers, “I was thinking about this myself too.” The old man took an iron-bound stick, put the last piece of bread that was left in their house in his bag, and went with his son to look for service. They walked and walked through mountains and valleys and finally saw a man in a black robe, sitting on a stone and reading a book.
And it was - know! - a warlock, but neither father nor son knew about it. They bowed to him and said:
- God bless you!
- God grant the same to you! - answered the warlock. -Where are you going, old man?
“I’m taking my son to serve.” Won't you take it?
- Why not take it! I need a servant, leave him with me! Besides, he can learn a thing or two from me. What will you give for science?
- Oh, what can I, poor man, give, if I myself have nothing to eat?
- OK. I will keep your son with me for seven years, and after seven years come for him. If you recognize him, he will be yours, but if you don’t recognize him, he will remain with me forever.
- Okay, here we go! - the father answers. - Let it be so!
And at the same time he thinks: “Is it possible that in seven years I won’t recognize my son?” The old man left his son with the warlock and went home. The warlock immediately began asking the guy if he could read. And the guy knew the letters, although poorly, but he was afraid that it would be bad if he said that he could read; he replied that he didn’t know how to read and write, where did he supposed to study?
- Well, if you don’t know how, that means you’re the one I need! I'll give you one job. And with these words, the warlock took the guy into the house. In the first room there were only brushes, in the second there were only books, and, finally, in the third, empty, there was only a locked door that led to the next room.
- Look, this is where you will live. You will use these brushes to sweep books and you will have no other work. And when you get bored with this activity, here is a twig, you knock on this door three times, your peers will immediately come running, and you can play with them to your heart’s content. If you get hungry, knock on the door once and food will immediately appear in front of you. I will go on a journey for seven years, but you must behave in such a way that when I return, I will be satisfied with you.
Our warlock left, but the boy remained alone in the house. True, he lived well: as soon as he knocked on the door, various dishes appeared on the table; when he knocked three times, boys came running with toys. The guy just got sick of constantly sweeping dust off books. He opened one of them and learned to read from it. And he began to read everything in a row until he learned all kinds of magic from books.
After seven years, the wizard returned home. He found everything in perfect order and praised the boy.
Meanwhile, what was the poor father doing at home? He got by somehow and kept wondering whether he would be able to recognize his son in seven years?
Looking at his peers, he wondered: “Now he’s grown up, this is what he’s probably become? After all, he won’t turn into some kind of monster?”
Seven years passed, he took his stick and bag and went to the forest where he left his son.
Walking through the forest. The warlock’s house is already not far away. Suddenly a smart and handsome guy runs towards him.
“It could be my son,” thought the father. “Only he was dressed worse.”
And this was actually his son. He ran closer and said:
- Well, father, do you recognize me?
“Eh, with difficulty,” the father looks closely. “But the truth is, it’s true, you’ve grown up great!”
“That’s not so bad,” the son answers. “When you come to the warlock, it will be difficult for you to recognize me.” He will show you a flock of pigeons on the roof. Look carefully, I will sit among the pigeons in the third row, and I will lower my wing a little, and that’s how you recognize me.
And then he ran away. The old father walked on cheerfully and finally reached the warlock’s house.
“I,” he says, “came for my son.”
“Well, well,” the warlock answers, “seven years have passed, what’s true is true, so take it if you find out,” and points to a flock of pigeons on the roof. “But if you don’t recognize it the first time, it will remain with me forever.”
The old father leaned on his stick and began to watch. He looks and looks at these pigeons and suddenly sees that in the third row one pigeon is hanging its wing. - Here he is! - the father exclaimed and pointed with his stick. - Here is my son! He sits in the third row, his wing hanging down.
- Right! You guessed it right! — the warlock answers.
The father demands that his son be returned to him, but the evil warlock dodges this way and that, telling the old man that he cannot immediately let him go, because now he is a dove. And it will take a lot of time to turn him back into a young man. But soon he will return his son to him.
So the father had to leave with nothing and leave his son with the warlock.
One day, the warlock went somewhere on his own business, and our fellow collected magic books and - God bless his legs! - He ran away to his father.
“So you’ve finally freed yourself!” - his father tells him.
- Freed! “And I also grabbed his magic books from the warlock,” the son answers.
- Look, you wouldn’t have to pay dearly for them!
- Nothing, father. After all, now I myself am a wizard worse than a warlock! But, father, we can’t live with empty pockets. We need to stock up on money. I will turn into a yearling bull, and you take me to be sold. But don’t sell it for less than a hundred gold pieces. And when you sell it, don’t leave the rope around my neck, but ask me to return it. Then I'll be home again.
As he said, that’s how it all turned out. The father sold the bull for a hundred gold pieces, took the rope with him, and the son found himself home even before his father. When all the hundred gold coins have come out, the son speaks to his father.
- Here we are again left empty-handed. This time I’ll turn into an ox, don’t take less than a hundred ducats for me. And when you sell it, remove the rope from me, and I will return to your home.
And the second time everything worked out well: the son returned home before his father.
And the third time he turned into a good, brave horse and ordered his father to take at least a hundred ducats for him, and never leave the bridle to the buyer.
A father comes with a horse to the fair, but his horse has no equal in the entire fair! Buyers immediately came running from all sides, everyone was asking about the price, and a hundred ducats seemed too high a price to everyone. Then a rich buyer approaches - and it was the warlock himself.
“Old man,” he asks, “how much are you asking for this fine horse?” - and praises the horse: he’s handsome, he’s good!
“It’s really good, but no one will give a hundred ducats for it.”
- Aren’t you going to slow down anything?
- Really, sir, not a single penny!
“I’ve been looking for such a beautiful horse for a long time.” So be it, I’ll pay you a hundred ducats.
And he poured out a pile of ducats to the old man.
And while the old man was counting the money and looking to see if there were any counterfeit ones, the warlock jumped onto his horse, took the bridle in his hands - that’s all they saw.
“Well, I got you, now you’re in my hands,” the warlock thinks. “Oh, and I’ll teach you a lesson! I’ll show you how to poke your nose into someone else’s craft!”
And spurring his horse, he ran as fast as he could! Only in another village did he stop in front of a forge. The warlock tied the horse to a post, and he himself entered the forge.
“Blacksmith,” he says, “make pounds of horseshoes, we’ll shoe this horse with a hot iron.”
And so that things would go faster, he himself began to help the blacksmith.
Meanwhile, boys from all over the village came running to the smithy to look at the horse and the owner. One boy came very close to the horse. And the horse whispers to him:
- Boy, take off my bridle.
The boy did just that! Our horse instantly turned into a dove and flew away.
The warlock saw it, immediately turned into a hawk and chased the dove. They flew and flew until the hawk overtook the dove. It's about to grab it!
And nearby there was a royal garden. The king's daughter walked in it, sad and thoughtful, because her father was dying and not a single doctor would undertake to cure him. And suddenly, out of nowhere, a good fellow stands in front of her and tells her that he will now turn himself into a gold ring and asks her to put this ring on her finger.
The princess liked the good fellow, and she did not deny it. The guy immediately turned into a beautiful gold ring, and the princess put it on her little finger.
Meanwhile, the king ordered an announcement: whoever cures him will give his daughter as a wife.
At first, doctors came in dime a dozen, everyone wanted to cure the king, but soon everyone lost hope and stopped showing up at the palace.
But on the third day in the morning a new doctor comes and promises to cure the king. And again it was the same warlock. He cured the king and immediately wished to exchange rings with the royal daughter as a sign that she agreed to marry him. The princess refused for a long time: no, they said, she had a suitable engagement ring, and asked to wait. But the warlock was well aware of the ring and he told her:
- Give me that ring from your little finger. I agree with him too.
The king ordered his daughter to take off this ring and exchange it with the groom.
The royal daughter began to take the ring off her finger, but it slipped out of her hands, fell to the floor and suddenly crumbled into fine millet. The warlock saw this, turned into a rooster and started pecking at the millet. He’s already eaten everything, only one grain has rolled into the crack, and the rooster can’t get it. The rooster turned into a mouse - he thought he could get the grain, but our grain turned into a cat, the cat quickly caught the mouse and tore it to shreds. Here the end has come for the warlock!
And suddenly a kind young man stands in front of the king and his daughter and asks for forgiveness for disturbing them so much. The king was surprised at what he saw and ordered the whole truth to be told to him.
“Well,” says the king, “if you are such a master of masters and my daughter likes me, I’ll give her to you as a wife!”
The wedding took place right there. The good fellow ordered his father to be brought, and after the death of the king, he himself became king. And he lives to this day, if he has not yet died.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru