Once upon a time there was a woman. She had two sons and a daughter. One day in the spring the brothers went out to the field to plow the land. They plowed and plowed, one paddock was still left, but it seemed to them worse than all the previous work - they were already exhausted. One morning they gathered in the field, put a plow and a harrow on a cart and, before setting off, said to their mother:
- Mother, how long do we have to survive on dry food? Cook us something and go with your sister to the arable land.
- Oh, my dears, how can I send her, poor thing, to such a distance; She’s small, she’ll get lost, and we’ll never find her again.
- Don't get lost, mother. We’ll harness the oxen and draw a furrow from the house all the way to the field, and it will go along the furrow and come straight to us. The mother began to cook, and the sons took up the plow and began to build a deep furrow from the house, a wide path for their dear sister. Work was busy that day, the boys were all waiting for what the sister would bring them now, something hot to eat. After all, in the field at work there is much more hunting, and the stew is much tastier when you sit on your mother earth and the cool breeze refreshes you.
All the fellows looked along the furrow and, the higher the sun rose above their heads, the more often they turned their gaze to where the long-awaited sister was supposed to appear.
Yes, wishes are not always fulfilled; It also happens that on one side the sun warms up, and on the other the shadow thickens.
Not far from their field stretched the domain of an old, old dragon, white as winter and gloomy as a stormy autumn. The filthy dragon found out which path the girl would take, and planned to captivate her and make her a slave at his court. He decided so and, without hesitation, set off on his way. He reached the furrow and began to fill it up, blow it out, and trample it. And when he got to the outskirts of the village, he threw off the plow with a copper ploughshare from his back and laid a deep, peasant furrow all the way to his palace. The girl went outside the outskirts and walked along the furrow, but did not come to her brothers, but straight to the palace of the terrible dragon. The dragon grabbed her, locked her in his mansion and began to give her work every day - more and more difficult. The grief of the brothers and mother was great when, upon returning home, they learned that their sister had left and gone missing. Until midnight they thought and wondered, but didn’t come up with anything worthwhile. And the next morning the elder brother got up, packed his knapsack and went to look around the world for where the evil wind had carried his sister. He saw a fresh furrow and followed the trail. Just as stormy waters carry light wood chips downstream to eternal burial, so the dragon’s furrow led the guy not to a joyful life, but to inevitable death. And there was no one to return him from this road. He walked faster and faster along the fresh trail of his sister. The furrow ended, and the guy stepped into the kingdom of the dragon. Not far away there is a beautiful garden, like a green sea, trees - one more beautiful than the other. And in the middle of this garden stood a gilded palace, decorated with gems, sparkling like a red sun. The guy did not become timid, but walked with a brave step straight to the palace. Then a girl’s voice stopped him: Dear guy, wait, There is no way to the palace, Don’t go to the magic garden,
You won't be happy later. When the dragon dog sees that you are getting into trouble, bitter grief awaits us - He will kill you immediately!
The guy looked around and saw his sister in front of him. She also recognized him and came up - his face was sad, tears were flowing like a river.
Oh, my brother, leave quickly, otherwise a fierce dragon will come and when he sees you, he will finish you on the spot.
Sister, sister,
It's time for us to go home!
How you left us On that bad day and hour - the light of the sun went out for everyone. We are all shedding tears like a river, so let's go home quickly.
“Come on faster,” she said, and, holding hands, they began to run. But they didn’t even have time to take three steps when the dragon’s club fell right in front of them - so huge that they couldn’t get around it, couldn’t go around it; here the monster dragon himself rose in front of them and asked:
- What, lad, are we going to fight or revel?
I don’t need your mash, Let’s compete in battle! Come out, dragon-dog, show your strength.
The dragon glanced sideways at the sword hanging on his side and shouted:
My sword, get out, leave the scabbard, knock him off his feet!
The sword jumped out of its sheath, whistled through the air and cut off the guy’s legs.
The dragon grabbed his club, circled it over his head and threw it far, far away, behind the palace, beyond the garden, to the very edge of the kingdom. The club hit the ground and dug a deep hole. The dragon threw the unfortunate guy there and his legs were cut off.
How much or how much time has passed, and now melancholy and sadness, and the tears of the mother pushed the second brother onto the same road, he walked along the furrow. He walked from morning until noon, walked around a deep hole dug by the dragon's club, and reached the garden. Just about to enter this garden, he hears a girl’s voice:
Dear guy, wait, there is no way to the palace, Don’t go to the magic garden, you won’t be happy later. When the dragon dog sees that you are getting into trouble, bitter grief awaits us - He will kill you immediately!
The guy looked around and saw his sister. And she recognized him, came up - a sad face, tears flowing like a stream and said:
- Oh, brother, leave quickly, otherwise the dragon will come and blow your head off.
Sister, sister, it's time for us to go home!
How you left us On that bad day and hour - The light of the sun went out for everyone, We all shed tears like a river, So let's hurry home. They had only taken two or three steps when, out of nowhere, the fierce dragon again blocked their path.
- Stop, good fellow, and answer me: are we going to fight or revel? The guy cut him off:
I don’t need your mash, Let’s compete in battle! Come out, dragon-dog, show your strength. Then the dragon ordered his sword: My sword, get out, leave the scabbard, knock him off his feet!
The sword jumped out of its sheath, whistled in the air and cut off the guy’s legs above the knees. The snake bent down and threw him into the same deep hole.
And before that the girl was grieving, but now her grief knew no bounds. She turned black as the earth, shedding tears of blood, and every day she made her way stealthily to the deep pit and threw her brothers something to eat.
And mother still can’t wait for at least one of the children to return. One day, passing by a well, she wanted to drink the cold water. Quenched
thirsty, she sat down to rest a little on flint stones and conceived from this.
She soon gave birth to a boy, as beautiful as the clear sun. Her son grew up before her eyes: another one would not grow as much in a year as he did in a day. And she nicknamed him Flint-well done. He was barely two weeks old and he was already playing with ten and twelve year olds. And no one could compete with him in strength. Somehow people started talking among themselves, looking at him and marveling at his strength:
“This one, if he goes, he’ll certainly find his brothers and sister.” Kremin heard these words and ran home as fast as he could.
- Mother, do I have brothers and sisters? The mother’s brow became clouded, she thought and said:
“You have no one else, my son.”
But it’s not easy for a mother to deceive her child - sadness gnaws at her. And Kremen noticed how saddened the mother was, and believed the rumors even more. One day, while hunting, he wandered onto a green lawn and saw an iron rock. “I wish I could make a club out of it!” he thought, and took it to the blacksmith.
The blacksmith forged such a club that twelve men could not lift it. Flint took it, brought it home, and as soon as he swung it, as he threw it, the club disappeared behind the clouds. And the guy opened the door and said to his mother:
“I’ll lie down to rest, and when you hear the club buzzing, wake me up.”
He slept for three days and three nights. On the fourth day, hearing a piercing whistle, his mother woke him up. He jumped out onto the threshold and put his knee on the club. Then he looked around - the club was bent: “You still need to forge,” he thought and carried it back to the forge. And then he called his mother and said:
“I had a dream, mother, that a gray-haired old man came to me and advised me that you crawl under the hut and from there give me a piece of flatbread that you baked, then my strength will triple.”
What parents won’t do to make their children stronger and more beautiful! Flint, the good fellow, forged a hut near the rubble, lifted it, and the mother, with a flatbread in her hand, climbed under it and handed it to him from there. And then he began to lightly lower the hut onto his mother - more and more. The wretched woman endured and endured and finally cried out:
- Kremin, Kremen, what are you doing?
- Tell me, mother, do I have brothers and sisters? The mother groaned and cried:
- Yes, my dear, you have both brothers and a sister.
She told him how they left one after another and never returned.
- Well, if so, knead me cakes from your tears for the long journey, I’ll go around the world, maybe I’ll pick up their trail.
The mother got out from under the hut, poured flour into a kneading bowl and kneaded the dough, pouring burning tears over it. Kremin took the fresh cakes and walked along the furrow, following in the footsteps of his brothers. He walked and walked, walked around the deep abyss dug by the dragon's club, and reached a beautiful garden. I was just about to enter when I heard a girl’s voice:
Dear guy, wait, there is no way to the palace, Don’t go to the magic garden, you won’t be happy later.
When the dragon dog sees that you are getting into trouble, bitter grief awaits us - He will kill you immediately!
Kremin stopped and, seeing the girl, exhausted, pale, and tear-stained, took pity on her and handed her a piece of flatbread. The girl brought the cake to her mouth.
-Where did you get this cake?
- From home. My mother gave it to me.
- It can’t be, because this bread was baked by my mother.
- So you are my sister.
The good flint told her how the mother sent two sons, young and handsome, so that they could find her daughter and bring her home.
“And so they left,” the fellow tells her, “as if they sank into the water, not a word of them, not a breath.” Mother only knows the day they left, but who knows when they return home?
“It was I who walked along the furrow from the house, and my brothers followed me.” We met, but the dragon didn’t let us go home.
“Dear sister, let’s run away.”
“If you’re my brother, then come home quickly and take care of your mother, because she’s unlikely to see us.” No matter how many times I tried to run, I barely took three steps before the dragon caught me, beat me and brought me back.
- How can I recognize him?
— When meeting a stranger, he always asks: “Well, shall we fight or revel?” In response to the answer “let’s fight,” he orders his sword: My sword, get out, leave the sheath, knock him off his feet!
So he cut down both my brothers and threw them into a pit. Well, if the answer is different, and the uninvited guest wishes to “go on a drinking binge,” the snake leads him to the palace, seats him at the table and begins to treat him to three roasted oxen, wine and bread. And this is his custom: as soon as he gnaws a bone, he hits the guest on the head in order to break the callus and suck the brain out of it. And if someone is stronger and can withstand such treatment,
then everything will come to an end for him, because, having eaten, the dragon turns to the sword again:
My sword, get out, leave the scabbard, knock him off his feet!
As soon as the girl finished her story, a terrible black cloud suddenly rose in the distance, menacing thunder roared, and from behind the cloud a dragon’s club rushed at them like lightning. Flint grabbed her with one hand, spun her over his head and threw her back. The cloud turned black and became even more cloudy, and the angry voice of the serpent was heard:
- Eh, unkind guests are waiting for me!
And the werewolf rolled straight down the mountain like a whirlwind, kicking up dust in a column around him, hit the ground and turned into a dragon.
- What do you want, good fellow, to fight or to revel?
- Let's eat early, sit at the table, and then fight! They entered the palace, placed the snakes on the table, three roasted oxen, a barrel of wine, and began to devour them. He gnawed the bone, grabbed it, and bang! well done on the head. But then the scythe found a stone! Flint gnawed a bone and smacked the dragon right in the forehead with such force that sparks fell from his eyes. While the snake came to its senses, Flint snatched his saber from its sheath and hit it on his knee - first in half, and then broke it into four, eight pieces, and when he hit them on the rock, they scattered to smithereens. The dragon woke up, grabbed it, and the saber was gone. He saw that things were bad, his trick had failed, he went out into the yard and shouted at the top of his lungs:
- Come out, good fellow, let's fight on the copper current.
They came to the copper current, forged by ninety-nine gorynych snakes in ninety-nine days with ninety-nine hammers on as many anvils. Here they fought tooth and nail, they struck with their clubs, and the clubs shattered into smithereens. They then fought hand-to-hand; who would defeat whom was rightfully stronger. Rocks crumbled, mountains fell through the ground, chips flew from trees, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the sky, so the damned dragon fought with Flint. They fought and fought until they were exhausted, and fell to the ground from great fatigue. And they got so excited that a blue flame burst out of the dragon’s mouth, and a green flame burst out of the mouth of the young flint. They lie there, barely catching their breath, and suddenly they see a gray falcon high in the blue sky. When the snake saw him, he screamed at the top of his lungs:
Falcon, fly to the Danube River, In the best barrel, Bring water with your mighty beak, Put out the flame.
For disobedience, expect punishment:
I will crush your family, I will destroy the lives of falcons, tits and all other birds.
And the falcon circles above them as if nothing had happened. Then the fine fellow asked him kindly:
Eh, my falcon, Bring spring water quickly and fill the fire, Give me something to drink, Cool me down, People will be happy, And as a reward I will give you, according to the law, Dragon Carrion. You fly, my light, There will be lunch here for falcons, tits and all other birds.
The falcon rushed to the ground, rummaged around and soon appeared, carrying in its talons a jug of cold spring water. He quenched the young man’s thirst for goodness, sprinkled him, refreshed him,
Feeling the new strength, Flint jumped up, strained himself, and as soon as he grabbed the fierce dragon, and when he hit the damp ground, then the end of the dragon came. The clouds left the clear sky, the red sun appeared, the wind on its wings brought fragrance to the fields. Flint returned to the palace, found his sister, took her hand and said:
“Now let’s go home, the fierce dragon won’t stop us.” The girl walked a few steps, stopped and cried.
- Oh, brother, I can’t leave, leaving our unfortunate brothers here.
- Where are they?
- In a deep abyss. The dragon crippled them and threw them there. Kremin descended into the abyss and soon carried both brothers out in his arms. The poor fellows held their severed legs in their hands and were pale and thin, life barely glimmered in them. Flint laid them on the green grass, looked around and headed straight to the east. He walked, walked through the mountains, through valleys, through dense forests, along high steeps, and then he met an old woman on the way.
- Good day, grandma!
- Hello, good fellow! Where are you heading?
“I’m looking for dead and living water.”
“There are many springs of all kinds in this valley, but it will not be easy to find dead and living water; Almost all springs have poisoned water. Kremen sat down and thought about it. And there is a spring, and there is a spring of water, but how do you know which one is healing? If you don’t try, luckily you’ll end up with a good one, but what if you drink poison and lose your life?
Kremin walks along this valley, keeps looking at the springs, and suddenly comes across flowers. He began to tear them, collected a large bouquet and returned to the springs; He took it and dipped a flower into the water of each spring. All the flowers he collected were just enough for him. Flint turned back and looked: everywhere the flowers had withered and withered. Only in one spring did a flower bloom more than ever, and
in another he gave roots to the ground. He filled two jugs with water from these springs and walked away without looking back. Then he applied the severed legs to the brothers, sprinkled them with dead water, and the legs grew together, and when he sprinkled them with living water, the boys stood up as if nothing had happened. There was no end to their happiness. They hugged, kissed, and all four of them went home. Just as after a dark and cold night, the light of dawn and the warmth of the sun enlivens everything around, so love and happiness returned to the mother’s soul when she saw her children. They began to live and live well and make good money. Each of them had their own home, their own table, and they lived so happily and peacefully for many, many years, and maybe they still live now, if they have not died.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru