In ancient times there was an old mill manor on the Jutland peninsula, in the parish of Elling. The miller and his wife died, and the estate went to their three daughters: Sisse, Missa and Kisya. The sisters lived alone in the miller's yard, and rented the mill to the sharecropper Christian.
There was no such thing as Sisse and Missa in the whole parish. And which of the two was more beautiful - Cisse or Misse - it’s really hard to tell.
Guys used to argue and argue. One: “Sisse is more beautiful,” the other: “Misse is more beautiful.” And it ended in a brawl. They'll give each other bruises, but it's still of little use. Everyone says their own thing.
The third sister, Kisei, was not very pretty. But she was hard-working: she ran the household, and everything was in order in her hands.
And all her sisters have to do is dress up and admire their beauty in the mirror.
The fame of the Miller's daughters spread a hundred miles around the Venussels district. And so many good and harmonious guys wooed them that the gossips lost count. Some guys liked the beauty of Cisse and Missa. Others, who are smarter, looked at the hard-working Kisei for themselves.
Only Cisse and Misse didn’t even look at the ordinary guys. They looked for richer and more knowledgeable suitors. And Kisei - she was completely afraid to get married: to go.
And then one day the sharecropper Christian started a matchmaking match.
Christian was a kind owner and a smart miller. He earned his bread honestly. And everyone in the area knew: he doesn’t rob peasants, doesn’t charge for grinding, and doesn’t steal flour. There were few such millers at that time.
Christian held the mill for three years, made a fortune for himself and his sisters, and then suddenly thought: “Isn’t it better to put all the money in one pocket? And Missa has taken a liking to me. I’ll go and make a match.”
He came to the millers' yard and said:
- I decided to marry you, Misse!
Missa answered him:
-Are you crazy? Go back where you came from, know your place and look for a wife equal to you!
It was as if Christian had been spat in the face. The miller got angry, his eyes were bloodshot, but he didn’t say a word and left.
And Cisse is standing in the garden.
Christian thought: “It’s no good for me to return home without a bride.”
And he wooed Cissa.
Cisse replied to him:
- Am I really going to marry someone like you?
Christian became even more angry and went home without a sip.
Suddenly he sees Kisei standing at the door of the brewery.
He thought: “Beauty is erased, but skill remains. A hard-working wife is of more use in the household.” He took it and wooed Kisei.
- Thank you for your kind words! - said Kisei and wiped her hands on her apron. - I would be glad to marry you, but I can’t! I'm afraid!
-What are you afraid of? - her tenant asks.
“You won’t have much trouble with your husband,” answers Kise. “Woo him, please him, follow him and raise the children.” Otherwise he’ll get into the habit of going to a tavern; When he returns home drunk, he'll get a beating. No, I’d rather stay a girl. Otherwise it couldn't have been worse.
So Christian left with nothing. A cloud walks around the house like a cloud, looking like a wolf. But still he sees that he can’t manage without his mistress.
Christian went to another yard, and there was a girl there who agreed to marry him. And she was then a good wife to him.
Soon the pastor's son Kristoffer came to woo the millers' yard. He was a learned man and his thoughts were always in the clouds, but he only decided that it was not a sin to think about earthly things. And with a kind, beautiful wife, science will be more fun! Besides, the sisters from the mill estate, they say, don’t have enough money for the chickens. So for now we can live on their bread.
He wooed Cissa.
Cisse replied to him:
-Are you out of your mind? Do you really think I will marry a long-haired man? Look at your father and mother!
Your father grew rich like a hog. And mother is as skinny as a sliver! It won’t sit down in a day. Either pour beer into the pastor’s mug, or change the little guys’ diapers! And so he suffers!
How would you all feed yourself if kind people didn’t bring you gifts? No, look for a wife equal to you!
Kristoffer came out of the room, and Misse was standing at the door.
- Maybe you'll get engaged to me? - asks Kristoffer.
- No, I’ll wait until you become a bishop. To be a bishop and live in Aalborg, where all the bishops live, wherever they may go! Just hurry up while you're young. I will never marry an old man!
Kristoffer swallowed his insult and was about to go home, but he met him at the door of the Kissee brewery.
Kristoffer wooed her, and Kisei turned him away, just like Christian. With that he left.
The third groom was the merchant Seren from Fladstrand. Seren was known as a courteous merchant. He bowed to the customers from the waist, which is why his back bent. But the buyers have no idea that he is putting them up and covering them up with polite deceit. Seren acquired a large estate by deception.
He drove to the millers' yard in a well-dressed carriage; pockets full of dalers. The first person he met was Kisei - she was cleaning cast iron.
“You’re a servant, right, and not the master’s daughter?” - asks the merchant.
“No, mistress,” answers Kissey. “There are only three of us, daughters, and if you need beauties, they sit in the upper room.”
He went to the upper room, and there, indeed, Cisse and Misse were sitting next to each other. They decided to organize a bridesmaid show for the grooms and send off those they didn’t like together.
Seren looked at one sister, looked at the other, then bowed to Cissa and asked:
- Marry me!
Misse answers for her:
-Are you crazy? All we can think about is selling cheese in your filthy little shop! I came up with something else! Somebody will appear with two skills in her pocket, and we will bend our necks in front of her! No matter how it is! We have enough of our own!
The merchant began to bow and ask for forgiveness. He backed towards the exit, backed away, and ran straight into Kisei. And she, with a bucket in her hands, went into the hallway to wash the floor. It then occurred to Serena that Kissey was of more use in the household, and her share of the inheritance was no less than her sister’s; maybe she will make an even better wife. He made the offer.
She wiped Kisei’s hands on a rag and said:
“I would be glad to marry you, but I’m afraid.” Nowadays you sing sweetly, but how will you sing when you come home drunk? You’ll start throwing your boots at me!
And the merchant drove off with nothing.
Rumor spread here that in Elling parish there were sisters getting married who were so picky and arrogant that they did not like any groom.
The Count from Dronniglinn Castle heard about it. He was an unmarried man, so he decided to look at the girls, because so many grooms had been sent away.
The count dressed himself to smithereens and appeared with his retinue at the millers' yard. They led him into the hall where Cisse and Misse were sitting. And then the count saw that people were telling the truth: he had never met more beautiful girls. And he has traveled a lot around the world!
“Hmm, yes,” thought the count, “one is better than the other! Which one should I woo? Eh, does it really matter? I’ll woo both of them. Whoever gives consent, I’ll take her as my wife!”
Here he put all his countly courtesy to use. He waved his hand and shuffled his foot. He looks at the sisters, he can’t get enough of them, he can’t take his eyes off, he almost went cross-eyed.
As the count spoke, the sisters looked at each other, smiled, and Misse said:
“Mr. Count, they must think that this is a great honor for us!” But in Denmark there are a dime a dozen counts; There will be people more knowledgeable than you! But don't worry! You will probably find some kind of worthless noblewoman who has her sights set on the countess, poor thing. Talk to her!
The count ran out of the hall as if scalded, jumped on his horse and left the yard. He swept away everything in his path, knocking over the bucket that Kisei had just pulled out of the well with water.
“So you’re the third sister who doesn’t want to get married?” - asks the count.
- I want to, but I’m afraid! - Kisei answers.
- Oh, to hell with you! It’s not fitting for me to return home without a bride. Your face isn’t too pretty, but you can’t drink water off your face! And my beauty is enough for two. Kick off your country shoes and come here! The horse can handle both of us.
Kisei thought, thought, and then said:
- I'm afraid! The graphs are probably cut from the same cloth as the others. If he goes to make a match, he talks like honey, but if he gets married, he will change.
And it’s not like living for a simple girl among the nobles.
The count became enraged and drove off with his retinue, furious and contemptuous.
And soon the Duke, the king’s faithful servant, appeared at the mill. He heard how the Count from Dronninglund was wooing him and how he was kicked out of the court in disgrace. Here the Duke wanted to rub his nose in this untalented countenance.
The Duke dressed himself to the nines and took with him a huge retinue.
Misse blinked her eyes at the sight of the Duke and muttered:
- You could really take him as a husband!
- Shut up! - Cisse shouted at her. “It’s not proper for me to marry just anyone, but are you really worse than me?”
The Duke went into the hall and also saw that people were telling the truth: the beauty of the girls was a match for his ducal title.
Here the Duke spoke as if written. He made a proposal and began to wait for an answer.
This time it was Cisse who spoke.
“There is great honor, but not very much,” she said, “and everyone has their own honor.” It is not proper for me to marry a servant, even a royal one. My sister thinks the same.
She pinched Misse’s hand, and Misse sighed and remained silent. This time she was not averse to getting married, but Cisse was the leader in the house, and Missa did not dare to contradict her.
The Duke jumped onto his horse and left the yard, only sparks fell from under his hooves. But suddenly he saw Kisei, who was watering the cattle, and instantly reined in his horse.
“Here is the third sister!” he said to himself. “Shouldn’t I woo her? She refused the mediocre countess, so her consent is now valuable. And the girl, apparently, is independent! But if she doesn’t settle down at the royal court, she will sit at home and raise the children.”
The Duke straightened up in the saddle and shouted:
- Hey, girl! Get on your horse! You and I will live a glorious life! The kids are coming with us!
- I'm afraid! - Kissee said, and she was almost crying.
- Well, then the joke is on you! I don't need a coward wife! - answered the Duke and galloped home empty-handed.
It so happened that in Vensussel and in Himmerland, in Thu and on the island of Mors, every single person learned how the three sisters had sent away the count and the duke. And that’s why the grooms were now afraid to look at their sisters. For many years, no one even looked at the millers' yard in the parish of Elling.
Kiseya will not be overjoyed at this - as long as they don’t bother her with matchmaking. She worked around the house and was kind to everyone, so that the surrounding women praised her, sometimes they couldn’t praise her enough.
And in the front room it was quiet - you could hear a fly fly by. There Cisse and Misse sat, waiting for suitors, week after week, year after year. Their youth and beauty did not increase. They stayed too long, and people began to say: “The girls are getting married, but the grandmother is the same age.”
Missa was sorry:
“It’s a shame they didn’t marry a count or a duke.”
But Cisse said arrogantly:
“If I can wait, so can you.” Finally, some groom will be found. I will marry the first, and then I will find a husband for you too.
Finally the Danish king himself appeared. Because the rumor about picky brides from Melnikov's yard in Elling reached him. True, he heard about them ten years ago, when the queen was still alive. And the king did not come, so as not to offend his wife. But all those ten years the king could only think about the beauties who left both the count and the duke with their noses.
But then the queen died. And when she was buried honorably, the king ordered it to be transported by ship across the Great and Little Belt. From there he rode in a carriage straight to Aalborg, and then again crossed by ship to Sunnby. So the ride took a lot of time.
At the end, the king arrived in Knivholt and sent a messenger to Elling with an order: the king had arrived, wanted to talk with the highly respected maidens and was waiting for them to come to him. The messenger brought the answer:
“If the king wishes to speak with us, let him appear himself.”
“Oh, damn you!..” the king scolded the girls in his hearts.
He began to think about what to do next, and then waved his hand: “Don’t turn back with anything, if you’ve climbed so far.”
He ordered the golden carriage to be pawned and drove off to the Boathouse.
The king is riding, and the people are following him in droves. After all, the rumor spread throughout the entire district: “The Danish king himself came to woo the Miller’s daughters!”
The king entered the hall where Cisse and Misse were sitting. When the sisters saw the king with a golden crown on his head and in an ermine robe, they stood up at once and bowed low.
The king sat down in a chair, took off his golden crown and placed it on the floor next to the chair. The king wiped his forehead with a silk handkerchief and wiped his glasses. He was already old, and this was not the first time he was wooing, so he wanted to get a better look at the brides.
Suddenly the king grinned:
- That's two overdoses! Well, those shabby little ones! Oh, damn them!.. Well, never mind! It was worth traveling to distant lands to see with my own eyes how the count and the duke were deceived. The king grinned again, put on his crown and went to the door. But he doesn’t even look at his sisters.
Kisei stood in the yard. She bowed low to the king and muttered:
- It seems to me that I’m no longer afraid!
“You’re not afraid, but I’m afraid!” - said the king. “And I’ll tell you, my dear, I had a chance to fight with the Swedes, and with the Vendians, and with the British; I wasn’t afraid of them, but I’m afraid of you!
The whole retinue burst out laughing, and the king along with them, and they all rolled out of the courtyard. Only their brides saw them.
The people who came running to the estate also heard the royal words - and began to laugh. Rumors about the royal speeches began to spread from mouth to mouth. And the people were already laughing all over Vensyssel and even further, in Aalborg, on the island of Mors and in Ty, in Viborg and in Ribe. Laughter echoed across the Little Belt, and they laughed in Odense, on the island of Funen. The Great Belt is also no obstacle, and now the island of Zealand is flooding. It got to the point where people all over Denmark were laughing. The window panes of the mill estate in Elling rattled with laughter, heard the sister’s laughter, and pouted with resentment; sulked, sulked, and burst.
Hey, I’m not lying! Instantly it never happened! And from that time on, no one saw them again. But people say that the sisters did not disappear completely: from them the swamp birds - lapwings, which are called pigtails, came from them. Those pigtails are not big, they are the size of a dove; There is beauty in them, like in a shabby heron. And they scream pitifully and pitifully.
It happens that you wander past the Jutland swamps and bogs and hear someone screaming pitifully:
"I don't want to! I don't want to!"
And one of the girls always answers:
"And I'm afraid! And I'm afraid!"
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru