Once upon a time there lived a prince. From an early age they told him that there was no one in the world wiser and more beautiful than him. And he became so proud that he himself believed it. Now the time has come for him to get married, and the prince swore that he would find a girl whose intelligence would match her beauty. The old king summoned all the most intelligent and beautiful girls in the kingdom to the palace, but his son did not like any of them. And then the prince decided to go around the world himself to look for his betrothed.
He visited many countries and kingdoms, saw many girls, but never found a bride. So the prince had to return home with nothing.
Here he is driving through a dense dense forest, and it’s already getting dark. His horse is tired, and he wants to eat and drink. Suddenly he noticed smoke above the trees, and soon a small house appeared. The prince dismounted, entered the house and saw: a decrepit, poorly dressed old man and woman sitting at the table and dining on stale bread and milk. The prince bowed to his hosts and said:
- Hello, good people. Let me stay with you for the night.
“How not to let me in,” the old man answers. “Even though we are poor people, we are happy to have a guest.”
The old man came out of the house, tied up his horse and gave him an armful of hay. Meanwhile, the old woman began to treat the guest with milk and crackers.
They had dinner and went to bed. Only, after all, a wooden bench is not a royal feather bed, so the prince woke up at the crack of dawn and suddenly heard - in the upper light, it seemed like a spinning wheel was buzzing and a girl’s voice was singing a song. And the girl sang so well that the prince simply listened!
And when the old people woke up in the morning, he asked them:
- Who is it in the upper room singing so gloriously?
The old man and the old woman began to convince the prince that there was no one there, they say, the prince had dreamed. Only the prince did not leave them behind until they told him the whole truth:
“Yes,” they say, “we have a daughter, Dagmar.” She was singing this morning. Only we hide it from everyone. We live in the forest alone and are afraid that an unkind person will offend her.
“That’s how it is,” the prince answers them. - But can I have a look at your daughter? Or is it so bad that you’re ashamed to show it to people?
The old man could not bear the insult, he became angry and called to his daughter. And that’s all the prince needs.
The girl ran downstairs and asked:
- What business did you call for, father?
“Well,” says the old man, “go and say hello to the guest.”
The girl looked at the prince, turned all red and froze, as if rooted to the spot. And the prince does not take his eyes off her. No matter how much he traveled around the world, he had never met such a beauty. They looked at each other like that for a long time. Then the prince came to his senses. It is not proper for him, a king’s son, to stare at a poor peasant woman. He said goodbye to his owners, generously rewarded them for their shelter, and galloped away.
The prince returned home, but he could not find peace for himself. The beautiful Dagmar is out of his mind. Wherever he looks, wherever he goes, he still sees her. And then the prince decided:
“I’ll test her to see if her intelligence matches her beauty.” And if she lacks intelligence, then there is nothing to think about her.
He sent a messenger to the girl with two silks and ordered her to weave a canopy from them for the royal bed. And Dagmar broke off two splinters from the wall, gave them to the messenger and said:
“Tell the prince to order a loom to be made from these splinters so that he has something to weave on.”
And the prince realized that the girl was no stupider than him! But still I decided to try it again. Again he sent a messenger to Dagmar and ordered her to appear at the castle either during the day or in the evening; neither on foot nor by cart; neither naked nor clothed. Dagmar spread a fishing net on the ground, sat on it and ordered her father to drag the net to the prince’s castle. She appeared at dusk. The day was already drawing to a close, and evening had not yet come. And instead of a dress she put on a long linen shirt.
The prince met her, took her to the palace and said to the old king:
- Father, there is no girl in the world more beautiful and more intelligent than Dagmar. Let me marry her, because I don’t want to hear about any other bride.
The king and queen frowned. Where have you seen a prince marry a peasant’s daughter? Only the prince firmly stood his ground, and the king had to agree. They played a wedding, they healed young souls in soul. Just before the wedding, the old queen called the prince and said to him:
“Promise me, son, that Dagmar will never interfere in royal affairs.” Although she is smart, it is not proper for a peasant daughter to proclaim her decisions in the throne room.
Even though Prince Dagmar loved him, he still made such a promise to his father.
Time passed, the prince's parents died, and he became a king, and his wife became a queen. For a long time there has not been such a wise and fair queen in Denmark as Dagmar. She remembered that she herself grew up in need, and tried to help the poor people as best she could.
Only a black thought sank into the young king’s heart. He was afraid that people would begin to gossip that, they say, the king does not live by his own mind, but his wife runs everything in the kingdom. And then the king’s adviser began to whisper to him that the people approved of Dagmar’s decision more than anything else. The king became angry, called Dagmar to him and said:
- Leave the palace. There should be one king in the state, not two. Get ready and go to your father, to the forest hut.
“Well,” said Dagmar, “I’ll go to my father.” Just lastly, fulfill my three wishes.
- Tell me, what are your desires? - asks the king.
“Drink wine with me goodbye so that we can part on good terms.” Order me to be taken in a large carriage, so that I don’t have to walk back to my old father.
And also let me take with me from the palace what is dearer to me, so that I can remember my past life forever.
Her words sank into the king’s soul, and he ordered wine to be brought to drink with his wife as a farewell. And she poured a sleeping potion into his cup. The king drank and fell into a deep sleep. Then the queen ordered him to be carried into the carriage and took him with her to her parents' house. She laid him there on the bed, and she put on a simple peasant dress, sat down at the spinning wheel and began to sing a song - the same one that the young prince had once heard.
The king slept for a long time, and in the end he woke up and saw: he was lying in a hut on a poor peasant bed, and next to him the queen was sitting at a spinning wheel and humming a song.
“Again you violated my will,” says the king. - Why did you bring me here?
“No,” the queen answers, “I did not leave your will.” Wasn't it you who allowed me to take my most precious possessions with me from the castle? So don’t you know that there is nothing more precious to me in the world than you?
“You got the better of me here too,” the king sighed then. - Well, get ready, let's go home. We can't stay here! Who will rule the kingdom then?
And from that time on, the king lifted his ban and consulted the queen in all his affairs. He realized that even though his wife was wiser than him, there was no dishonor in that.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru