A great misfortune happened in a certain state: the nine-headed serpent Miracle Yudo swooped in from somewhere and stole the sun and the month from the sky.
People are crying, grieving: it’s dark without the sun, and it’s cold.
And there lived one poor widow in those parts. She had a little son - about five years old. Life was difficult for the widow in hunger and cold. And her only joy was that her son was growing up smart and daring.
And there lived a rich merchant nearby. He had a son the same age as the widow's.
The merchant's son became friends with the widow's son. Sometimes, as soon as he wakes up, he runs to him to play. They have fun in the hut, with a torch, and then go outside. It’s a well-known thing, small children: they need to play in gurneys and run to the river.
And everything would be fine, but the trouble is - the game without the sun is not fun.
One day the widow’s son said to the merchant:
- Eh, if I ate what you eat, I would become a hero and defeat Miracle Yudo, take away the sun-month from him and hang him in the sky again!
The merchant's son came home and told his father what the widow's son had told him.
- This can’t be! - the merchant is surprised, - Go call him outside - I want to hear for myself.
The merchant's son went to his friend and invited him for a walk.
“I’m hungry,” says the widow’s son. - And we don’t even have a piece of bread...
- Let's go outside, I'll bring you some bread. The merchant's son returned home, took a piece of bread, and brought it to his friend.
The widow's son ate the bread and became happy.
- Do you remember what you told me yesterday about Miracle Yudo? - asks the merchant's son.
- I remember.
And he repeated word for word what he said about Miracle Yudo. And the merchant stood around the corner and heard everything with his own ears.
“Hey,” he thought to himself, “this is obviously not an ordinary lad. We need to take him in. Let’s see what happens.”
The merchant took the widow's son into his house and began to feed him what he himself ate. He sees that the widow’s son is indeed growing by leaps and bounds. After a year or two he became so strong that he could overcome the merchant himself. Then the merchant wrote to the king: “So, they say, and so, your royal majesty, a widow’s son lives with me, he is going to, when he grows up, overcome Miracle Yudo and return the sun and the month to the sky...”
The king read and wrote the answer: “Immediately deliver the widow’s son to the palace.”
The merchant harnessed a couple of horses, put the widow's son in a cart and took him to the king.
- What should I feed you, widow’s son, so that you grow up to be a hero? - asks the king.
“Feed me ox liver for three years,” the widow’s son answers.
But the king should not buy oxen: he ordered it, and they began to slaughter the oxen and feed the liver to the widow’s son.
The widow's son is now growing up better than on the merchant's grub. Plays in the royal chambers with the one-year-old prince.
Three years have passed. The widow's son says to the king:
“Now I’ll go look for Miracle Yudo.” But I want your son and the merchant’s son to be my comrades. It's still more fun on the road.
“Okay,” the king agrees, “let them come with you.” If only they would defeat Miracle Yudo.
He sent a letter to the merchant so that his son would appear at the palace. The merchant did not want to let his son go on a long journey, but you won’t argue with the king.
The merchant's son arrived at the royal palace. Then the widow’s son says to the prince:
- Tell your father to forge me a mace worth about six pounds. There will be at least something to fight off the dogs, otherwise I’m afraid of them.
“And for me,” says the merchant’s son, “at least three pounds...
“Well, am I worse than you, or something? I also need to take a mace on the road, at least two pounds worth,” says the king’s son.
He went to his father. The tsar ordered the blacksmiths to forge a mace for the boys: for the widow’s son for six pounds, for the merchant’s for three pounds, for his own for two.
The widow's son took his mace, went out into an open field and threw it into the sky. The mace stayed in the sky for three hours and flies back. The widow's son offered his right palm. The mace hit the palm and broke in two.
The widow's son got angry and said to the king's son:
- Tell your father not to cheat! With such a mace, you and I will perish. Let him tell the blacksmiths to forge me a strong and big mace—sixteen pounds worth.
“And I’m worth six pounds,” says the merchant’s son.
- And I’m three! - says the king's son. He went to his father. The king calls the blacksmiths to his place:
- You, so-and-so, what do you think! Why was the weak mace forged on the widow's son?
And he gives them orders to forge three new maces, bigger and stronger.
The blacksmiths knocked and clinked and forged three new maces.
The widow's son took his mace, went out into an open field and threw it into the sky. The mace stayed in the sky from morning to evening and flies back. The widow's son put his knee up - the mace hit him and broke in two.
The widow's son and his friends went to the king himself:
“If you want me to defeat Miracle Yudo and take the sun-moon from him, then order the coppersmiths to cast me a copper mace worth twenty-five pounds, so that it does not break.” The merchant's son says:
- And I’m worth nine pounds! The king's son says:
“And that’s enough for me for six.”
The king called the coppersmiths and ordered them to cast three maces without any deception: one for twenty-five poods, the second for nine, and the third for six.
The widow's son took the copper mace in his hands and became cheerful - he liked it. Then he went out into an open field and threw the mace into the sky. The mace flew beyond the highest clouds. All day and all night the widow's son walked through the fields, through the meadows, waiting for the mace. Finally, early in the morning, he hears: a mace is flying from behind the clouds. The widow's son offered his shoulder - the mace hit and rolled to the ground.
- This is a real mace! - he says. “With such a mace you can go wherever you want, fight with the filthy Chud-Yud.”
The merchant's son and the king are also happy - the coppersmiths cast good maces for them!
Then the widow's son says to his friends:
- Go and say goodbye to your fathers. It's time for us to hit the road.
The king's son went, but the merchant refused:
- Why should I waste time: I already said goodbye to my father when I came here.
The boys got ready and set off on the big road.
They passed one kingdom, the second, the third - they reached the Kalinovo bridge. They see an old hut standing nearby.
“Come on,” says the widow’s son, “we’ll spend the night here and rest for a day or two.” Otherwise we still don’t know what road lies ahead of us.
They went into the hut. And there is an old granny spinning yarn. The boys greeted her and asked to spend the night:
- We, grandma, are very tired from a long journey...
“Spend the night to your health,” says the old woman. “He who walks on the roads does not carry a hut with him.”
The widow's son talked with his grandmother and found out that they had ended up in the kingdom of the filthy snake Miracle-Yuda: exactly where they needed to go!
Night has come. The widow’s son thinks: “We should set up a patrol on the Kalinov Bridge so that no one accidentally attacks.”
He sends the king's son to guard.
The king's son went up to the Viburnum bridge, walked around a little and thought:
"Why should I stand here in plain sight? If anyone is walking or driving, they will see me. I’d better go and lie down under the bridge - it will be quieter there."
So he did.
Meanwhile, the widow’s son cannot sleep: “We must,” he thinks, “check whether the king’s son is standing guard.”
He went out to the Viburnum bridge at midnight, looked, but there was no watchman!
While he was looking for the king's son, lo and behold, a three-headed snake, the younger brother of Miracle Yud, was going hunting. On his middle head sits a watchful falcon, and a fleet-footed greyhound runs at his side. And as soon as the horse stepped on the bridge, it immediately neighed, the greyhound barked, and the falcon screamed.
The younger Miracle Yudo hit the horse between the ears:
- Why are you neighing, grass bag? And you, dog meat, why did you bark? And you, hawk feather, why are you screaming? If you sense my opponent, then he is not even close here. I have only one opponent, but he lives far away, in the thirtieth kingdom. This is the widow's son. But even a crow won’t bring his bones here!
The widow's son heard these words and said:
“It’s not the raven who brings the bones to the good fellow, he comes himself!”
The snake got scared:
“So are you here, widow’s son?”
- Here, evil spirits!
- Well, what are we going to do - fight or make peace?
“I didn’t go far away to make peace with you filthy people, but to fight!”
- So prepare the current! - the snake shouted. The widow's son answers:
- You need it - you cook it! You have three spirits, you blow, but I have one. I’m not used to the lord’s luxury: I can fight on damp ground.
Miracle Yudo got off his horse, breathed three times, and the current became smooth for three miles.
They began to fight.
They fought for three hours. The widow's son defeated the younger Miracle Yudo and knocked off all three of his heads. He let the horse go into the green meadow, the greyhound and the falcon into the open field. And he returned to the hut and went to bed.
In the morning the king's son comes from patrol.
- Well, how was the guard there? - asks the widow's son. - Maybe who was walking or driving?
“No,” says the king’s son, “not even a bird flew close all night...
“You are an unreliable comrade,” the widow’s son thinks. “I must, apparently, rely more on myself.”
The next night he sends the merchant's son to the Kalinov bridge. The merchant's son walked along the bridge and thought to himself: “Why should I risk my head here? I’d better go under the bridge and go to sleep,”
So he did.
The widow's son went out to the bridge at midnight to check whether his comrade was standing guard. I looked here and there - no! Suddenly he sees a six-headed Miracle Yudo driving onto the viburnum bridge. The horse reared up, neighed loudly, the greyhound barked, and the falcon screamed. Miracle Yudo grabs the horse between the ears:
- Why are you neighing, grass bag? And you, dog meat, why did you bark? And you, hawk feather, why are you screaming? There is no opponent here equal in strength to me. True, he exists, far away, in the thirtieth kingdom, a widow’s son. Yes, even a crow wouldn’t bring his bones here!
And the widow's son answers:
“The crow doesn’t bring bones to a good fellow—he comes himself!”
- Ah, so you’re here, widow’s son?
- Here, evil spirits!
- Well, are we going to fight or make peace?
“I didn’t go into the distance to make peace with you filthy people, but to fight!”
“And I would advise you, widow’s son, that it’s better to put up with it, otherwise I’ll kill you.”
“If you kill, then you’ll talk.”
- Well, get ready! - shouted Miracle Yudo.
- You need it - you cook it. You have six spirits, and I have one. I’m fine without electricity: I’m a peasant’s son, I’m not used to luxury, I can fight on damp ground.
Miracle Yudo got off his horse, breathed six breaths, and the current became smooth for six miles. They started to fight.
They fought for six hours. The widow's son knocked down all six of Miracle Yuda's heads. He let the horse go into the green meadow, the greyhound and the falcon into the open field. And he returned to the hut and went to bed.
The next morning the watchman comes and wakes up the widow’s son:
“You’re not supposed to sleep for a long time on someone else’s side.” I didn't sleep a wink all night...
The widow's son thought: "And there is little hope for this comrade. You just have to rely on yourself."
The third night has arrived. The widow's son sent the old woman to spend the night in the barn, and he stuck a knife into the wall, substituted the goblet and said to his friends:
“If blood drips from the knife into this cup, then run to my aid.”
And so that the friends would not fall asleep, he gave them cards and told them to play.
But as soon as he walked out the door, they threw down their cards and went to bed.
The widow's son came to the Viburnum bridge and stood guard. Exactly at midnight he sees the oldest Miracle Yudo with nine heads driving onto the Kalinov bridge. The moon shines on his chest, and the sun sparkles on his middle head. The horse under him fell to its knees, neighed loudly, the greyhound barked, and the falcon screamed.
Miracle Yudo hit the horse between the ears:
- Why are you neighing, grass bag? And you, dog meat, why did you bark? And you, hawk feather, why are you screaming? The horse says:
- Eh, master, this is the last time you’re going hunting with me...
- Are you lying, wolf meat! My opponent is not here. There is only a widow's son, distant lands, in the thirtieth kingdom, and even a crow won't bring his bones here.
The widow's son came forward and answered:
“The crow doesn’t bring bones to a good fellow—he comes himself!”
“Oh, so you’re here, widow’s son?”
- Here!
- Well, what do you want: fight or make peace? I would advise you to better put up with it: you are still too young to compare your strength with me.
“I’m young, I’m not young, but I didn’t go into the distance to make peace with you, you filthy thief, but to fight.”
- Well, if you dare to fight with me, then prepare the shock. I'll see how strong you are.
“I don’t need current: I can fight on damp ground!” And you cook for yourself, since you are used to walking in clean places.
Miracle Yudo got off his horse and took a deep breath—the current became smooth for nine miles.
They started to fight.
They fought and fought - the widow's son Chudu-Yudu knocked off three heads, but could not overcome. “Where are my comrades?” he thinks. “Aren’t they sleeping?”
The widow's son asks Chud-Yuda for a break:
“Tsars-kings fight, and even then they have a break: let’s do it too!”
“Come on,” says Miracle Yudo.
The widow's son stepped aside, took off the mitten from his left hand, and when he threw it into the hut where his comrades remained, he completely tore off the entire roof. And the friends turned on the other side and slept as they slept.
The widow's son sees that there is no help.
They started beating again. They fought and fought - the widow’s son knocked off three more heads from Chuda-Yuda, he himself is knee-deep in blood, but cannot cope with the last heads.
Again he asks for a break.
“Why are you,” grins Miracle Yudo, “all the time asking for a break?”
- Don’t we have enough time?
- Well, let's take a break.
The widow's son took a moment when the enemy turned away and threw the second mitten into the hut. The hut was blown away right up to the windows, and the friends slept as they slept.
We rested a little and then began to fight again. The widow’s son is already almost waist-deep in blood, but he can’t cope with the last of the heads: he doesn’t have enough strength.
Meanwhile, it was beginning to get light. “My friends have probably slept off,” the widow’s son thinks. “We need to remind them of ourselves once again.”
He says again to Miracle-Yud:
“Tsars-kings fight, and even then they have a respite. Let's take a third break. And then we will fight to the end.
Miracle Yudo also weakened.
“Okay,” he says, “let’s take a break.” The widow's son took off the boot from his left foot and threw it into the hut.
The boot flew to the hut and destroyed it all the way to the floor. His friends jumped out of bed and saw that the goblet was full of blood; the knife dripped...
“Well,” they say, “it’s obviously bad for our comrade, if that’s the case.”
They grabbed their maces and rushed to the viburnum bridge. When Miracle Yudo saw them, he began to shake:
“Ah, widow’s son, now I know why you asked for a break and threw your boot off your left foot!” You outsmarted me...
And when the three of them began to attack Miracle Yudo from all sides, he didn’t know who to attack.
They knocked off the last three heads. This is where the end of the Miracle-Yud came.
Then the widow's son took the sun and the month and hung them in the sky. And suddenly the whole earth became bright and bright. People ran out into the street, rejoicing, admiring, basking in the sun. The friends returned to the old woman, built her a new hut, better than the one she had, and decided to rest a little before the journey.
The tsar's and merchant's sons are sleeping, walking, and the widow's son is still thinking: “There is not a single Miracle-Jud in the world anymore, but their wives still remain - witches. No matter how much trouble they cause!”
He left his friends, changed his clothes and went to the chambers where all three Miracle-Yudas lived.
- Don't you need a worker? - he asks the witches.
“Yes, we must,” answers the oldest witch. “We are orphans now: there is no one to work.” The widow's son killed all three of our husbands. But it’s okay, we’ll bring him to life!
- How will you survive him? - asks the worker. “He’s obviously very strong.”
“He has strength, and we have witchcraft,” says the wife of the younger Miracle-Yuda. “He will go with his assistants back to his kingdom, and I will spread a spring along the way: they will drink water - and that’s the end of them.”
“And if this doesn’t help,” says the wife of the middle Miracle-Yuda, “then I will become a sweet apple tree.” They'll eat an apple and won't want any more...
“They can manage without water and without apples,” says the wife of the eldest Miracle-Yuda. But I came up with a better idea: I’ll spread a flowering meadow over a hundred miles. And I’ll put a shady willow to the side. They will ride and want to get their horses in the meadow and rest under the willow tree. And as soon as they lie down, they won’t get up again. And as soon as the horse plucks the grass from that meadow three times, he will no longer live...
And that’s all the widow’s son needed. He waited until nightfall, when the witches fell asleep, left the palace and ran to his friends.
The next day, just before dawn, they went to a green meadow and each caught a horse. The widow's son mounted the nine-headed horse Chuda-Yuda, the merchant's son mounted the six-headed horse, and the king's son mounted the three-headed horse Chuda-Yuda. And we went to our kingdom.
They drive through fields, drive through forests, and approach a spring. And then the king’s son and the merchant wanted to drink so much that they couldn’t stand it.
The widow's son says:
- After all, you are not people of the peasant rank. Wait, I'll bring you some water myself.
He jumped off his horse, went up to the spring and started hitting it with a mace. He smashed it so hard that only dirt and blood remained. Friends almost cry:
- Why did you do this? We are dying of thirst...
“This is not a spring,” says the widow’s son, “but only a deception.”
He mounted his horse and they rode on.
They drive up to the apple tree. And such apples grow on it - red and ruddy, just asking to be eaten.
The comrades rushed to the apple tree, and the widow’s son stopped them:
- Wait! You are still people of the rank of master - I’d rather pick the apples for you myself.
He approached the apple tree, hit it with a mace - it immediately fell down and withered.
- Why did you do this? We could at least eat an apple.
“These are not apples, but our death,” says the widow’s son.
They moved on. They approach a flowering meadow. We saw a shady willow tree, and everyone wanted to sleep - they couldn’t help themselves. And the horses kick with their hooves - they reach for the flowering grass.
The widow's son held the horse:
“I’ll go and see if it’s possible to graze horses in this meadow.”
He approached the willow and began to beat it with a mace, and the whole meadow immediately dried up, and only bones remained from the willow.
“You see what a willow and what a meadow this is,” he says to his comrades.
They drove through a dry meadow and stopped to spend the night in a green oak grove. The horses were allowed to graze, and they themselves had dinner and went to bed. We slept for three days and three nights. And when they woke up, the widow’s son said to his friends:
“Here our kingdom is not far away.” Go home alone. Otherwise your fathers have been waiting for you for a long time. I don't have a father. I’ll still wander around the world and take a look.
The widow's son said goodbye to his friends and went for a walk around the world.
Whether he travels for a long time or not for long, he comes to the Constantine Tsar. And that king was one-sided, one-eyed, with one leg, one arm, half a head on his shoulders, and half a beard on his face. And he loved horses very much.
He saw the widow's son's horse and said:
- Let's run in runs around the palace. If I overtake you, I will take your horse, and if you overtake me, I will give you my kingdom.
The widow’s son thought: “It cannot be that the one-sided and one-legged king got ahead of me.” And he agreed.
They started to run. The widow's son had not even taken three steps, but the one-legged king had already run around the palace three times. The resident king took the widow's son's horse and put it in his stable.
The widow's son almost cries: he feels sorry for the horse.
He began to ask the king:
“I’ll do whatever service you want, just give me back my horse!”
The Resident King thought and said:
- Baba Kargota lives in the distant land, in the thirtieth kingdom. She has twelve daughters, all as one: hair to hair, voice to voice and all with the same face. Grandma’s house is surrounded by a high palisade, and on each palisade a human head sticks out: these are all those who came to woo the woman’s daughters. Only one palisade is empty. So: if you marry Baba Kargota’s youngest daughter to me, I will return your horse.
The widow's son thought: if you don't agree; then he won’t see the horse like his ears. But if you agree, maybe you’ll be left without a head, or maybe with both a head and a horse.”
“Okay,” he says to the king. - I'll go to matchmaking. He walks and walks, and lo and behold, a man is running across the sea, as if across a bridge. The widow's son looked at the runner.
- Good afternoon to you. Sea Runner! - he greeted.
- Good health, widow's son! Where are you going, where are you going?
“I’m going to Baba Kargota to marry her youngest daughter to Tsar Constantine.”
- Take me with you too. I will be useful to you in trouble.
- Let's go.
The two of them walk together. They see a man with one mustache holding a millstone that grinds twenty millstones, and with the other mustache propping up a cloud in the sky.
- Good afternoon to you, Usach! - Good health, widow's son! Where are you going, where are you going?
“I’m going to Baba Kargota to marry her youngest daughter to Tsar Constantine.”
- Take me with you too.
- Let's go.
The three of them went. They walked and walked and saw a man drinking water from the lake. I drank the whole lake, but everyone shouts: “I’m thirsty!”
- Good afternoon, Waterhole!
- Good afternoon, widow's son! Where are you going, where are you going?
“I’m going to Baba Kargota to marry her youngest daughter to the King of the Resident.”
- Take me with you too.
- Okay, come with us.
They walked a little, they saw a man gnawing on an aspen log and kept shouting: “I want to eat!”
- Good afternoon, Glutton!
- Good afternoon, widow's son! Where are you going, where are you going?
“I’m going to Baba Kargota to marry her youngest daughter to the King of the Resident.”
- Take me with you too.
- Come with us.
We approached the forest. They meet a man in a sheepskin coat down to his toes. He stands by the road and keeps his mittens on - clap, clap! And as soon as it slams, the trees are immediately covered with frost. ,
- Good afternoon, Frost!
- Good health, widow's son! Where are you going, where are you going?
“I’m going to Baba Kargota to marry her youngest daughter to the King of the Resident.”
“You won’t be able to come to an agreement with Baba Kargota without me.”
- So come with us.
The six of them went. They walked and walked and came to the courtyard of Baba Kargota. They see that heads stick out on all the palisades, only on one there are none. The widow's son says:
- This is where my head will stick out!
“Maybe she would have stuck around,” the comrades grin, “if it weren’t for us...
They began to look for the gate. Yes, they are not anywhere. Then the Sea Runner ran around the yard three times and found the gate.
They entered the yard. Baba Kargota stands on the porch, wondering how these road people could find her gate.
The widow's son approached Baba Kargota:
- Hello, hostess!
- Hello, widow's son! Why did you come to me?
“I’ve come to marry your youngest daughter to the Resident Tsar.”
- Well, make a match, if you're not joking. But before you marry your daughter, drink some beer from my cellar. If you drink it all, I’ll marry my daughter to the Constantine Tsar, and if you don’t drink it, I’ll take off my head.
“I’ll drink it willingly,” the widow’s son answers. “I’m from a long journey, and I’m very thirsty.” And my friends’ mouths were dry too.
The woman ordered the servants to take the widow’s son and his comrades to the beer cellar. The servants took them there and locked them up.
The widow's son and his friends drink in mugs, and the Watering Place swallows whole barrels. He drinks a barrel, hits it with his fist - it crumbles into rivets. He drank all the barrels and shouted at the top of his lungs:
- Baba Kargota, give me some more beer! Baba Kargota opened the cellar and looked - all the barrels were broken, and all the beer was drunk!
“I don’t have any more beer,” he says. And there are pies. If you eat all the pies, you will marry your daughter.
The matchmakers were delighted;
- Come on, grandma, your pies! We were hungry from the road and hungry.
The woman told the servants to open another cellar - with pies. She let the matchmakers in there. And there are whole mountains of pies in the cellar.
While the others ate their pie, the Glutton cleared out the entire cellar, ate the wall and shouted at the top of his lungs:
- Baba Kargota, give me some more pies! The woman got angry: she had been baking pies with her daughters for three years, but the matchmakers ate everything in an hour. She then ordered the servants to heat the iron bath. The servants heated it so much that the walls turned red. The woman says to the matchmakers:
“Wash in my bathhouse, spend the night, and then we’ll talk about business.”
- Okay, grandma, we were on the roads, we were very dusty, the bathhouse would not harm us.
The woman took the matchmakers to the bathhouse herself. And only the widow’s son approached the threshold, and Frost grabbed him by the shoulder and put him behind him. He himself entered first, put on his mittens, waved once or twice, and instantly there was a whiff of cold. The rest of the matchmakers followed Moroz in, and the woman closed the door and locked it...
And then let Frost walk around the bathhouse, waving his mittens:
- Well, isn’t it too cold? Will it be possible to sleep without covering?
“The bathhouse is just right,” my comrades praise. - Not hot, not cold, just in moderation. We washed ourselves and went to bed.
The next morning Baba Kargota sends her servants to the bathhouse:
- Go and throw the fried matchmakers away to the dogs!
The servants opened the bathhouse, and six young men came out, all strong as oaks.
The woman was completely dumbfounded: she couldn’t do anything about the matchmakers! So she says to the widow’s son:
“If you recognize my youngest daughter, you will marry her to the Constantine King.” If you don’t find out, I’ll put your head on an empty picket fence.
The widow’s son became sad: “How can we recognize her, this youngest daughter?”
“I’ll find out,” whispers the Sea Runner. - I saw them more than once when they came to the sea to swim.
“Okay,” says the widow’s son to the woman, “bring your daughters.”
Baba Kargota soon brings twelve daughters - all alike, hair to hair, voice to voice, shoulder to shoulder - all as one! She went out front and put her daughters behind.
The widow’s son walked around the woman’s daughters three times, but he didn’t recognize which one was the youngest: they were all the same!
Here the Sea Runner winked and pointed at his youngest daughter with his eyes. The widow's son took her and brought her forward to Baba Kargota.
- Here is your youngest daughter!
The woman began to shake with anger, but nothing could be done: her cunning did not help her!
The widow's son took the woman's daughter by the hand and led her out the gate. But as soon as they left, the old woman’s daughter jumped into the sky, sat on a cloud and laughed.
Then Usach raised his right mustache up, picked it up and took it off the cloud.
The woman’s daughter sees that such matchmakers are not to be trifled with, and she calms down.
The matchmakers went home.
On the way, everyone, as soon as they reach the place where they met the widow’s son, remains there. The Sea Runner went about his work, and the Barbel went about his. Their watering hole... And the widow’s son and the woman’s daughter went to the Constantine Tsar.
During this time, the king has brought a full pit of resin on the horse of the widow’s son and heats it from below: the resin just boils. And he put a thin reed on top.
The widow's son comes to him.
“Here,” he says, “for you, king, is the youngest daughter of Baba Kargota: I barely got her!” Now give back my horse.
The king pointed to the reed and said, grinning through his one-sided beard:
“If you cross this bridge, I’ll give you the horse.” The widow's son looked at the thin reed - he felt scared. And the woman’s daughter pushes him in the side: “Don’t be afraid!”
And no one noticed how she thrust a strong steel rod under the reed.
“Go,” he says to the widow’s son. He walked along the reed. He went over and said to the resident king:
- Here's what, king: I served you two services. Well, then do me at least one service - cross this bridge that you yourself laid.
“Well,” the woman’s daughter persuades the king, “cross over, otherwise you won’t be my husband.”
The king sees that since the widow’s son has crossed over, then he has nothing to fear.
And as soon as he stepped on the reed, like a woman’s daughter - jerk! - and pulled out a steel rod from under him... The reed broke, and the king flew into the boiling resin and remained there.
“Well,” says the widow’s son, “don’t dig a hole for someone else, you’ll fall into it yourself.”
He married the youngest daughter of Baba Kargota and remained to live in that kingdom.
And now he lives and thrives and makes good money.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru