Once upon a time there lived a poor, poor widow, and she had one and only son, named Lare. The mother worked with all her strength to raise her son. And when Lars was sixteen years old, she said:
- Now, son, you earn your own bread. Go look for some work, but I can’t feed you anymore.
And so Lara went around the world to look for a living.
He walked and walked, and he met an old man on the road.
The old man asks:
-Where are you going, guy?
- I'm going to look for work. I want to enter someone's service.
- Come to me!
- Okay, I can come to you too. For me, it’s all the same whether it’s towards you or towards someone else.
- Well, let's go. You won't regret it.
And Lare followed the old man.
The owner fed and watered him - it’s better not to. He didn’t require any work from him. What doesn't seem good? It's just very boring. Not a single person came to the owner. You can't hear a living voice in his house. The dog is not visible either.
One day the owner was going somewhere and said to Lars:
— I'm leaving for eight days. You will be alone in the house. Do what you want, go wherever you want, just don’t go into those four rooms that are locked. And if you go in, blame yourself. I'll come back and cut off your head.
No, no, Lara will not disobey her master in anything. The owner can rely on him...
The old man left, and Lara was left alone. He wandered around the house idle for several days, and suddenly his curiosity overcame him so much that he opened one of the four locked rooms.
He entered and looked around - the room was completely empty, only above the door, on a shelf, lay a branch of dried thorn.
“Why did the owner forbid me to come here? There’s nothing to look at here,” thought Lara. “And I’ll break a whole cartload of such rods for myself if I want.”
Eight days later the owner returned. Before he could cross the threshold, he was already asking:
-You didn’t go into locked rooms?
“I didn’t go,” answered Lare.
“But now I’ll see for myself whether you’re telling the truth,” said the owner and entered the very room that he had opened to Lara. “Yeah, it’s immediately obvious that you were here!” Well, now say goodbye to life!
Lare cried and assured that he would always obey his master. And the owner forgave him. But first I gave him a good spanking. It’s not a long time to remember bad things. The owner stopped getting angry, Lara forgot about the beatings, and they began to be good friends again.
Time passed, and the owner again began to get ready for the road.
“Now I won’t be home for fourteen days,” he said to Lars. “See that you don’t go into those three rooms that are locked.” And where you have already been, please go as much as your heart desires.
Lara, of course, promised to do everything as the owner ordered.
But this time the same thing happened as last time.
For eight days Lara walked around and around locked doors, and then he couldn’t stand it and opened the lock of one room. And this room was completely empty, only on the shelf above the door was a cobblestone and a jug of water. “I found something to hide!” thought Lara. And he locked the room again.
The owner returned on the appointed day.
— Didn’t go into locked rooms? - he asked immediately.
“No, I didn’t go,” said Lara.
“I’ll check it now,” said the owner. He opened the door of one room and shouted: “No, now don’t expect mercy!” Say goodbye to life, your last hour has come!
But Lara cried so much, cried so much, that the owner finally relented: he gave life, but beat him - he beat him. He didn’t leave a living place on Lars. And when his wounds healed and the owner’s anger subsided, everything went as before.
And so the owner got ready to leave the house again.
“I’m leaving for twenty days,” he told Lars. “If you enter the third room, don’t expect to survive.”
He said it and left.
Lara endured it for fourteen days, and then he couldn’t stand it and opened the door of the third room. There was absolutely nothing stored here, not even cobblestones. And only in the middle of the room there was a small door in the floor, sort of like a cellar. Lara grabbed the handle and lifted the door. He looked into the underground and saw: there was a large copper cauldron and something was bubbling in it. But there is no fire anywhere.
“What could be in this cauldron?” - Lare thought and stuck his finger into the cauldron.
He took out his finger, and it was all gilded.
What to do? The owner had found out before that Lare went into locked rooms, and now he finds out even more so. No matter how Lare rubbed his finger - with sand and lye - the gilding still did not come off.
Then Lare tied a rag around his finger and began to await his fate.
The owner returned, looked at Lars’s tied finger and immediately understood everything; he didn’t even need to go into the forbidden room.
He tore the bandage off Lars’s hand and his golden finger began to shine.
Without hesitation, the owner grabbed the sword to cut off the head of his disobedient servant, but Lara fell to his knees, begging to spare his life. In the end, the owner took pity on him and whipped him with a belt so that Lara could neither walk, nor lie, nor sit.
The owner had to take out his magic horn and apply healing ointment to Lars’ scars. The scars healed, and everything went as before again.
And now the owner left for the fourth time.
“Now I’ll be back only in a month,” he told Lars. “And here’s my word to you: don’t blow your head off if you enter the fourth room.” This time I will keep my word, rest assured.
For three weeks Lara didn’t even walk past that door. And then he wanted to enter the forbidden room so badly that he gave up on everything and entered.
What did he see there?
There was a fence built in the corner of the room, and there, in a stall, stood a black horse. A dirty bag was placed over his head, and a basket of hay was tied to his tail.
“Who played such a joke on you?!” Lare exclaimed. He threw the bag onto the floor and placed the basket near the horse's muzzle.
The horse was apparently very hungry. He ate all the hay that was in the basket, and only then said:
- Thank you, young man. You fed me and saved me from starvation. For this I will save you. Go to the room where the owner of this house sleeps and choose armor for yourself, not the new, shiny ones, but the ones that are covered with rust. Take the sword - the rustiest one, the saddle - the oldest one and come back here.
Lare did everything as the horse told him. True, the sword was so heavy that Lara could barely drag it. And he couldn’t even lift it with both hands.
“Well, now take off your clothes and climb into the cauldron that is in the next room,” said the horse.
“But I’ll be covered all over in gold—like my finger—and then I won’t be able to move,” said Lara.
And the horse answers him:
“Whoever sneaks into this vat will be bound hand and foot by gold.” And whoever boldly throws himself into the vat, no harm will happen to him.
Lara listened to his horse and jumped into the boiling cauldron and plunged headlong into it.
And he came out of the cauldron and was unrecognizable. There is a blush on the cheeks, the hair is burning with gold. And the strength in his hands is such that he doesn’t care about anything.
“Try to raise your sword,” the horse told him.
Lare took the sword - and didn’t even feel it in his hand, as if it was not a sword, but a feather.
“Now ride me.” Put on your armor yourself, take a thorn branch, a jug of water, a cobblestone, and even grab a ram’s horn with healing ointment - and we’ll hit the road!
Lare took everything that the horse told him, jumped into the saddle, and the horse began to gallop.
They rushed faster than the wind, faster than a stone falling from a mountain. But suddenly the black horse raised his head and said:
- I hear stomping. Look around, maybe they are chasing us. Lare looked around.
“That’s right, some monster is chasing us.”
- This is our master - the troll. Throw the thorn branch quickly and far away so that it doesn’t touch me,” said the black horse.
Lare stood up in the saddle and threw a branch of dried thorn onto the road.
And immediately behind them a thick thorny thicket rose up, a real forest of thorns.
The troll ran to these thorny thickets, rushed right through, and howled in pain. He had to go back for an ax and for help.
Meanwhile, the black horse and Lars rode even further. The horse runs at full speed and again hears stomping behind him - stronger than before.
- Well, look back, see what is there?
Lare looked around and said:
“There’s a whole crowd chasing us.”
- This is a troll and his non-humans. Throw a cobblestone at them quickly, just don’t hit me.
He swung at Lara with all his strength and threw the cobblestone. And immediately a tall mountain grew in that place. The trolls chewed it with their teeth and crushed it with their claws, but they could not do anything. They had to run around the mountain.
And the black horse with Lars gallops further and further along the straight road.
And then again the black horse heard the stomping, again he felt that the ground was trembling under him.
- Look who's chasing us there? - he said to Lars.
- There's a whole army there! - Lare exclaimed. - Everyone is in armor, with swords, with spears!
“Well, quickly pour the water out of the jug, and make sure not a single drop gets on me.”
Lara leaned over the saddle and began pouring water onto the road. And no matter how hard he tried, one drop still fell on the horse. Immediately the horse and Lars found themselves in a deep lake. It spilled out in all directions, so that the shores were not visible. The black horse barely swam onto land.
And the trolls were afraid to even step into the water. They lay down by the shore and decided to drink the lake. They drank and drank and got so drunk that they all burst.
No one, of course, regretted them or will regret them, but the black horse said:
- Well, we finally got rid of them!
They drove for a long time until they saw a dense forest, and in the forest - a green clearing. Near an old linden tree with a huge hollow, the horse stopped and said:
“Now unsaddle me, hide all your armor in the hollow, keep only the bridle for yourself, and go to the royal castle.” Yes, first make yourself a wig from moss to cover your golden hair. Ask for some work in the castle. And if you need anything, come here. Shake your bridle and I will appear immediately. The castle is not far here, the path will lead you straight to it.
And so Lars, in an old dress and a wig, went to the royal palace.
First he went to the royal kitchen and began to ask the royal cook for a job. He can carry firewood, carry water from a well, but you never know what else is needed in the kitchen. But the cook, as soon as she saw him, immediately drove him away.
- Where are you going, you shaggy, unkempt! And do you still imagine that I will let you into the kitchen? Get out, get out of here! Then Lare went to the royal stable. But the groom even waved his hands when he heard that Lars was asking to serve him.
- Yes, the royal horses will rear up if they see you! He's a good looking guy, nothing to say! There is not hair on the head, but a whole swamp mound! Get out, get out of here.
Then Lars went to the royal gardener. He turned out to be more accommodating.
- Well, stay. You will dig the ground. You don't need a beautiful hairstyle for this. And you will sleep under the gazebo. The gazebo stood in the garden on high posts. There, under the ladder that led to the gazebo, Lare found some hay and made a bed for himself.
So he began to live in the royal castle. The gardener was pleased with him: none of the workers could dig up the ground faster than Lars, no one could, like Lara, bring a whole barrel of water at once. But Lars didn’t care.
The gardener was afraid of only one thing - that the king and princess might see Lars. They would never tolerate such an unkempt slob tending to their garden.
Yes, everything didn’t happen the way he thought. One day, when Lare took off his wig early in the morning and began to wash himself, the princess saw him from her window.
His hair shone like the sun, and wherever he turned, a golden ray sparkled everywhere. And then he put on the wig again, and immediately everything around seemed to fade.
The next morning, before dawn, the princess ordered her maid to sneak up to Lars while he was sleeping and take off this disgusting wig.
The princess stood at the window, and the maid quietly made her way to the gazebo and was already stretching out her hand to the wig, but then Lars turned on his other side and began snoring loudly.
The maid froze in place. But the princess gave her a sign, and the maid carefully removed the wig from Lars' head. And immediately it was as if a golden glow spread around. Neither the maid nor the princess had ever seen such a handsome young man.
Then the maid, just as carefully, put his wig on Lars’ head and ran to her mistress.
At dinner, the princess told the king that she did not want to marry either the prince or the duke, whom they were wooing, but would only marry the guy who worked in their garden.
The king became so angry, shouted and stamped his feet so much that everyone became scared. But the princess firmly stood her ground: either the young gardener or no one.
Then the king ordered the princess to be locked in her chambers and kept under lock and key day and night until she came to her senses. And he ordered Lars to be imprisoned in a tower and kept there for as long as the king pleased.
And so they did.
The king is glad that he got rid of trouble, but another misfortune is already knocking on his door - his neighbor is going to war against him, he wants to seize his kingdom. Here, willy-nilly, you will fight.
Lars saw from the window of his tower that the royal army was preparing to go on a campaign, and asked the jailer:
“Go to the king, maybe the king will allow me to fight the enemy.”
Well, the king laughed when he heard that Lare was asking to go to war!
- Surely, the enemy will immediately retreat when he sees such a warrior!.. Well, let him go if he wants.
They gave Lars a broken sword, they gave him an old nag that was limping on three legs and dragging the fourth, and Lars, along with the entire royal army, went to war.
They drove off a little and his nag got stuck in the swamp. Lars spurred her and whipped her, but she did not move - neither here nor there. So the entire royal army passed by him, and everyone made fun of him!
And when everyone was out of sight, Lars jumped off his nag and ran onto the green lawn, to the old linden tree. He took the armor out of the hollow, put it on, and then took the bridle out of his pocket and shook it lightly. The bridle rang, and at that very moment a black horse appeared in front of Lars.
“Sit down,” he says, “on me and don’t be afraid of anything.” Slash the enemy, do your job, and I won’t let you down.
When Lars caught up with the army, the battle was already in full swing. The enemy pressed on from all sides. And Lars rushed forward, waved his wonderful sword - and the enemy ranks immediately trembled. He waved it a second time - and the enemy army ran without looking back.
Lara drives the enemy further and further, and whoever his sword touches falls to the ground dead. The royal army is only surprised: who is this brave man, where did he come from? Everyone asks each other about him, but there’s already no trace of him. In the evening, when the royal army returned home, Lare was still stomping around in the middle of the swamp and urging his nag on. Everyone laughed at him again.
- Look, this fool is still fighting with his nag!
And we drove past.
The next day the royal army again moved against the enemy. Again everyone laughed at Lars and his nags and left him alone to flounder in the swamp.
And at the height of the battle, a warrior in battle armor again galloped out of nowhere and dispersed the enemy ranks.
In the evening, when the army was returning home, Lars again fought in the swamp with his nag. Whoever passes by him, everyone will find a word for him.
One advises:
- You should have carried your horse! It will happen sooner rather than later!
Another asks:
- Maybe you can sell your horse? I'll buy it!
The third one shouts:
- I should make some supports for my nag! And there was such a merry fellow that he shot at Lars with a bow and wounded his leg with an arrow.
At this point Lars could not stand it. He began to moan and groan so much that even the king himself became sorry and threw him his handkerchief to bandage the wound. On the third day the same thing happened. An army leaves the royal castle, and Lars and everyone on his nag. We reached the swamp, and the nag stood again - and didn’t move.
- No, he’s here waiting for the frogs to eat him! - someone said.
And everyone laughed together.
And when the army disappeared from sight, Lars again ran to the old linden tree, equipped himself, jumped on a black horse and galloped to the place of battle, to where swords rang and arrows whistled.
He immediately crashed into the thick of the battle and killed the enemy king.
This is where the war ended.
And Lars rode up to his king - and everyone saw that this unknown daredevil’s leg was bandaged with a royal scarf. At this point everyone guessed that the savior of the kingdom was none other than the gardener’s assistant.
- So why did you pretend to be a homeless poor man, when in fact you are a noble young man? What kind of tribe are you? Where is your kingdom? - asked the king.
“I don’t have any kingdom, and I didn’t pretend to be anyone.” “I am truly a poor man, the son of a poor widow,” said Lars.
- It’s a pity, of course, but what can you do! - said the king. “But whoever you are, you still saved my kingdom.”
And the king immediately announced publicly that he was giving Lars his daughter as a wife and a crown to boot. Let him now rule the kingdom!
Lare anointed the wounds of all the wounded with healing ointment, which he grabbed from the troll, and the army returned home with cheerful songs. When the princess saw that Lars was riding ahead of the army, she began to jump on one leg for joy.
- Here is my fiancé! I told you that there is no one better in the world than him.
The next day they decided to have a wedding.
In the morning, the young king went to the stable to visit the black horse, to see if he was well fed and watered. The horse stood sad and dejected.
“I helped you become happy, now help me,” he told Lars.
“Yes, I’ll do whatever you want for you,” said Lars.
“Then take the sword and cut off my head.” What a life for a horse! I don't want to live like this anymore.
- What are you, what are you! - Lars exclaimed. “I will never agree to kill you!” And what are you thinking? Will I ever offend you! You will have everything you ask for.
But the black horse did not want to listen to anything.
“If you don’t cut off my head,” he said, “then I will kill you.”
The young king had to agree.
He raised the sword over the head of the black horse, and he closed his eyes so as not to see how his faithful comrade would die.
I opened my eyes - what a miracle? In the place where the horse had been, a beautiful young man now stood.
-Who are you? Where did you come from? - Lars asked.
- Don't you recognize me? - said the young man. - Don’t recognize your black horse? But I wasn’t always a horse. My kingdom was captured by the king you killed yesterday. He sold me to a troll, and he bewitched me. You lifted his spell from me and saved my kingdom. Now you and I will live as good neighbors and will never fight with each other.
And so it was. Both young kings lived for many years, both grew old, but all their lives there was peace and friendship between them. They often went to visit each other and never went to war with each other.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru