Once upon a time, a woodcutter and his son lived in a small hut on the edge of the forest. The time came when his father grew old and decrepit, it became difficult for him to work, and Juan, although he was kind and pitied his father, was not yet really used to working.
One day his father said to Juan:
- We're running out of wood, go into the forest and chop some wood.
“I’ll go now,” Juan promised, but didn’t even move.
The father waited a little and asked:
- When will you go for firewood?
“I’m coming now, father,” Juan answered.
The old man returned to his business and forgot about his son, and then looked and saw that he was lying to himself and dreaming about something. Well, his father got angry with him!
“If you don’t go into the forest right away, will I whip you?” - he shouted at his son.
Juan knew that his father could really punish him, so he immediately got up, took an ax and went into the forest.
Arriving in the forest, he first began to select and mark trees with notches, and then began to cut them down. He cut down two trees and began to work on the third, when he suddenly saw: there was a hollow in the tree he was cutting down. Something sparkled in the depths of the hollow. “Probably someone hid gold there,” Juan thought and worked with the ax even harder in order to quickly fell the tree. But when the tree fell, a forest monster appeared from the hollow. However, Juan was not afraid of the monster and, raising his ax over him, exclaimed:
- Your hour of death has come!
The forest monster backed away and began to ask Juan:
“Spare me, good sir, then you will live happily, and you will have a beautiful wife.” Hearing this, Juan lowered the ax and asked:
-Are you telling the truth?
- I swear to you! - the monster answered Juan.
-Where will I find a wife? - asked Juan. He pretended to still be angry and raised the ax again - he really wanted to get what he was promised.
“Take the white pebble from my tongue,” answered the monster. “You can ask this stone for whatever you want, it will give you everything.”
And the monster, opening its mouth, stuck out its tongue, on which indeed lay a round white pebble. Juan took it, and the monster immediately disappeared.
The young man decided to test the magical power of the pebble and told him:
- Give me people to help.
As soon as he finished speaking these words, many people appeared in the forest. Some began to cut down trees, others began to chop them for firewood, and others began to carry firewood to his house.
Finally Juan decided that there was enough firewood. He dismissed the people and hurried home - he wanted to lie down in his favorite place behind the fire. When he arrived, his father was not at home. Juan immediately lay down on the mat, but he did not have to lie there for long - his father returned. The old man saw that his son was again lying stretched out behind the fireplace, and asked angrily:
“Did you chop the wood, Juan, as I told you, or not?”
“Look out the window, father,” Juan answered.
How surprised the old man was when, looking out the window, he saw a large woodpile near the house - he had never managed to chop so much firewood in a day in his life!
The next day, Juan remembered that the monster had promised him a beautiful wife. Juan began to think about whom to marry, and decided: “It would be best, perhaps, to marry the royal daughter - she is said to be very beautiful.” Having made this decision, Juan got up and went to the capital.
When Juan was admitted to the king, the young man said:
- Your Majesty, I want to marry your daughter. The king grinned and replied:
- Okay, you will marry my daughter, but only if you do what I order you.
“I will do whatever your majesty commands,” said Juan.
- Build me a castle in the middle of the bay. And know this: if you don’t build it in three days, your head will be cut off.
“In three days the castle will be built,” Juan promised the king.
One day passed, then another, and Juan still did not get to work. But when the third day came to an end, Juan ordered his stone to build a beautiful castle in the middle of the bay.
While washing his face in the morning, the king saw through the window: Juan, dressed like a prince, was walking towards the palace.
“The castle is ready, your majesty,” said Juan, appearing before the king. -Would you please take a look?
“If what you said is true, you will become my son-in-law,” replied the king.
After breakfast, the king and his daughter took a boat to the castle in the middle of the bay. They really liked the castle.
The next day a magnificent wedding was arranged.
A little time passed after the wedding, and the war began. The country was attacked by enemies, Juan led the army of his father-in-law and, thanks to the white stone, easily defeated the powerful enemy.
The enemy commander, who had never known defeat before, became enraged. He realized that Juan possessed some kind of magical power, and, returning to his homeland, announced:
“I will give half of my wealth to anyone who finds out Juan’s secret.”
One witch heard about this. She knew about the white stone that Juan had, and one hot day, turning into a large bird, she flew to the country where Juan lived. Arriving at his palace, she again turned into an old woman and knocked on the door. She learned that Juan was hunting and Princess Maria was home alone. Maria invited the old woman into the house, and she said, smiling tenderly:
- Don’t you recognize me, beautiful Maria? After all, I babysat you when you were still very little?
The princess was very surprised: she mistook the old woman for a beggar. However, Maria believed everything she said and began to treat the witch with pie and sweet fruits.
The old woman told her:
- Thank you, beauty, don’t worry about me, but rather lie down and rest - after all, it’s time for afternoon rest.
That's what Maria did. The old woman began to fan the princess and fanned her until she fell asleep. And then, when Maria was already fast asleep, the witch pulled out from under her pillow a white pebble that Juan had kept there, and, turning into a bird again, flew to the military leader. The commander's joy when he saw the white pebble knew no bounds, and he immediately gave the witch, as promised, half of his wealth.
Meanwhile, Juan, not knowing anything about this, hunted carefree in the forest. And suddenly a huge bird rushed at him from above, tore off his rich outer clothing and soared up with it. And the underwear that remained on Juan instantly turned into what he wore when he was poor.
Frightened and confused, Juan hurried home. Arriving there, he saw that there was no one in his palace. Juan put his hand under the pillow to take a pebble, but the pebble was not there; rushed to the royal palace - there was not a soul there either. Juan didn’t know where to look for the pebble now, and wondered: why did all these troubles suddenly fall on him? Juan thought for a long time and finally realized that the reason for everything was the military leader whom he defeated on the battlefield, and that it was the military leader who took possession of his stone.
And then Juan went to the country where the military leader lived. To get there, you had to cross three mountains. When Juan crossed the first and second, he was very tired and decided to rest for a while. He lay down on the grass, and suddenly someone purred near him and rubbed against his leg. Juan sat down and saw a large cat purring next to him. He did not chase the cat away, but petted him, put him in his bag and moved on.
Juan walked for many hours along a difficult road and finally came to the commander’s castle. Juan knocked on the gate, and the warlord's guard asked from inside:
- Who are you and what do you need? Juan replied:
“I am an unfortunate beggar and I will be grateful for a handful of rice.”
However, the commander who heard this conversation immediately recognized Juan's voice. He ordered the guards:
- Grab him and throw him into the rat cellar! The servants grabbed Juan and immediately threw him into the basement. It was very dark in the basement where Juan found himself, and as soon as the door slammed shut, rats began to bite him. But then the cat meowed loudly, reminding Juan of himself. Delighted, Juan untied the bag, the cat jumped out and strangled all the rats, except for two - those that were the last to crawl out of the hole. One of them squeaked:
- Spare me and my daughter, Juan, I will be useful to you!
“Get for me the white pebble that your master stole from me, then you will remain alive,” Juan said to the rat.
“I’ll bring you this stone,” the rat begged, “just spare me!”
“Then go after him quickly,” Juan ordered. The rat ran to the commander’s chambers, grabbed a magic stone from his table and rushed to Juan. When the pebble was in his hands, Juan exclaimed:
- Destroy this castle!
The earth shook, thunder roared, and Juan saw the walls of the castle crumble and the commander and his entourage perish under them.
Juan put the rat in the bag, picked up the cat and ordered the pebble:
- Take me home!
Before he could blink an eye, he was already standing in his house.
- Give me back my wife and father-in-law! - Juan ordered the magic stone.
He had scarcely finished speaking when Princess Mary and the King appeared before him. Crying with joy, they told Juan that the evil commander had imprisoned them and they no longer hoped to return to their home.
“It’s only thanks to you that we returned and stayed alive,” the king told Juan, “so I want you to become king instead of me.” And I will stay to live with you and, when you have children, I will babysit them.
The next day Juan was crowned. Together with his wife, now the queen, he began to live in the palace and took his decrepit father there. He ruled wisely and justly and lived many years in happiness and contentment with Queen Mary.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru