Somewhere, once upon a time, there lived a king and he had a son and a daughter. Oh, what a couple they were. The boy is like a red sun, and the girl is like a clear dawn! How a brother and sister will walk hand in hand through the garden, a consolation for the old father, a sight for sore eyes for the whole world!
Once the king and his daughter went for a ride, but a whirlwind hit them, and the princess disappeared from the carriage!
The king screams, looks around, but there is already no trace of her. The king sent servants to all corners, they are scouring the country, the princess, like looking for a needle in a haystack, cannot be found anywhere.
The king was sunbathing, crying, lamenting. And his son says to him:
- Oh, father, and I have a stone in my heart. But don’t kill yourself, don’t lose hope. I’ll go look for my sister myself, maybe I’ll find her somewhere!
The king blessed his son, gave him weapons, and packed him for the journey.
The prince walks through the mountains, through the valleys, calls his sister, asks everyone he meets if anyone has seen or heard? But I haven’t heard or heard anything about my sister.
I walked and walked through the mountains, through the valleys and finally got to a large lake, and there a flock of ducks was swimming. He pulled the gun off his shoulder and took aim at the biggest one.
- Stop, good fellow, stop! Don't kill me, I'll be useful to you! - the duck shouts to him. “I know where you’re going!” Go this way: your sister is in the castle at the Wind.
The prince was surprised, hung the gun on his shoulder and walked on. He walks and wanders, suddenly a large anthill stands in his way and prevents him from passing. The prince began to stir it. The ants started running around, got worried, then a big ant with wings crawls out and says: “Don’t destroy my palace, good fellow!” Go around it on the right side, and I’ll still be useful to you!
The prince smiled at such speeches and left the anthill standing in place.
He walked and walked and reached the dense forest thickets. So confused that he doesn't know where to go. He sees a path, and even that dry stump is overgrown, and that stump is full of bees. The prince pulled out a sharp sword and wants to chop the stump, but then the queen bee crawls out.
“Don’t touch my house, good fellow, go around it on the right side, and I will serve you.”
The prince obeyed, walked around the stump and began to pave his way further. He finally made his way through the thicket and saw a tall castle standing on a bare peak.
- Well, thank God, I finally got there! - he sighed and began to climb the mountain. No such luck, a black whirlwind flew at him and knocked him off his feet. The prince crawled on all fours along the hard grass and with great difficulty found himself at the top. I went up to the lock, knocked, but no one answered. He enters the chambers, some, some - no one. And only in the third does he see that godfather Wind, the king of the winds, is sitting, blowing out the window with all his might.
The King of the Winds turned to the prince and said:
- Welcome, son-in-law, welcome!
And he, without delay, gets down to business - he demands his stolen sister back.
“Look, you’re so nimble,” the Wind answers him. - Wait, don’t rush! Now you are in my power! - picked him up and carried him to the seashore. He took the ring off his finger and threw it into the middle of the sea.
“If you bring me this ring by morning, I’ll give you my sister, and if you can’t, go back where you came from!”
Our prince is frozen and cannot say a word from fear. The King of the Winds laughed and soared into the air, only managing to shout, “I’ll see you in the morning!”
The prince wanders along the seashore, grieving. Suddenly a duck flies to him:
“Hey,” he shouts, “brother, don’t be sad, go to bed.” You gave me life. And I will help you. I'll bring you this ring!
At dawn the prince wakes up, and the ring is already on his finger. He was incredibly happy, and then the Wind King himself came to him:
“Well,” he asks, “what and how?” Where is my ring?
- Here he is! - the prince answers, - and gives him the ring.
“Okay,” the Wind grins, “but that’s not all, follow me!” The Wind lifted the prince to the highest tower of the castle, took a bag of poppy seeds with him and sent it down into the wind.
“If you collect this poppy by morning, then I’ll free your sister and you along with her!”
The prince became sad, looked around and sighed heavily. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a winged ant appears.
“Don’t be sad, brother,” he says to the prince, “go to bed, and we’ll collect all the poppies for you by morning.”
The prince's heart was relieved and he went to bed. In the morning, the Wind, the king of the winds, appeared at the tower, and the poppy was already all collected and lying in a bag.
“Be it your way,” he said, puffing, “take your sister, since you’re so quick, but first find her among your twelve girlfriends!”
- That's all! - the prince grinned. - What kind of brother is this if he can’t find his own sister!
Yes, the king just started showing him the red maidens, and they all looked the same! Everyone smiles at the prince, everyone says:
- Hello, brother, hello!
The prince’s eyes darkened and he realized that his affairs were bad. But then a bee flies up to him and whispers in his ear:
- Nothing, well done, don’t be afraid! The one I sit on is your sister. The prince was delighted and looked to see where the bee would land. He saw it, ran up to his sister, hugged her, shouted:
- Here she is, my sister.
“That’s right,” answered the Wind, the king of the winds, puffing out his cheeks, “I won’t hold you any longer, go on your way!”
The brother and sister did not take long to ask and hurried home. The father was delighted when he saw his brother walking hand in hand with his rescued sister. And everyone around had something to look at!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru