In one village there lived an old gypsy woman.
She lived settledly. She lived out her life together with her son. She was greedy and communicated with evil spirits. The old woman did not like it when someone came to visit her, and as soon as evening came, she went out into the yard. He gets up, mutters a spell, and then turns around and turns into a pig. And this pig begins to throw herself at everyone who comes to her house. He knocks him to the ground and rolls around. So she drove everyone away from her house.
And the old woman’s son was handsome. He didn’t know about his mother’s witchcraft, and she didn’t tell him anything about herself. The guy grew up and met a good gypsy. They fell in love with each other. When the old woman found out about this, she harbored evil. One day a girl wanted to visit her fiancé.
As soon as she approached his house, a pig jumped out to meet her, threw herself at her feet, and did not allow her passage. She knocked the girl off her feet and nearly rolled her to death; she barely fought back and ran away. The gypsy woman ran to her brothers and told everything how it happened.
- Hey, our sister, your business is bad, nothing less than a witch - the mother of your fiancé. You shouldn't marry him.
- Why, my dear brothers, I love him more than my life.
“Okay, sister, we’ll try to help your grief.”
And the next day the witch’s son came to woo. And the bride’s brothers say to him from the doorway:
“That’s what, more, we know that you love each other, but we cannot give our sister for you.”
- What's happened? - asks the gypsy. - Why am I no good to you?
“You’re good to everyone, but we won’t give our sister to your house.”
“Maybe you are afraid of something, so tell me directly what it is.”
- Okay, brother, we like you, and we’ll tell you everything.
There is talk throughout the village that your mother is communicating with evil spirits, and here your bride, our sister, is convinced of this herself.
And the brothers told how it happened.
- This cannot be! Why are you making false accusations against my mother?
- As you know, brother, but we won’t give our sister to your house.
“Okay, let’s do this,” the gypsy said to the brothers, “if it’s true that my mother is a witch, I’ll kill her myself!” And if this is a slander, then you will lie at her feet, begging for forgiveness.
That's what they decided on. In the evening, the gypsy and his bride's brothers went to the forge, took iron rods there, heated them red-hot and went to the witch's house. And a pig ran out to meet them and threw itself at their feet.
And she throws herself at the feet of only the brothers, but does not touch the gypsy himself.
As the brothers began to beat the pig with hot rods, it began to squeal and immediately disappeared.
The gypsies enter the house, and an old woman lies on the stove and groans, groans, all wrapped in rags.
-What happened to you, mother? Let me untie the rags and take a look.
“I’m sick for some reason, son, I can’t feel well.” I’ll heal on my own, thank you for your concern.
“Still, mother, let me see what’s wrong with you, maybe I should take you to the doctor?” - the gypsy said again and was just about to untie the rags when the witch jumped up and waved her hands:
- Don't you dare come closer!
-What are you afraid of, mother? Or are you hiding something from me?
“It’s none of your business, son,” said the witch and turned away.
“You haven’t forgotten about our agreement,” the brothers reminded the gypsy, “don’t see your bride.”
The gypsy approached his mother, pulled the rags and threw them off.
He looks, and his mother is all striped with iron rods. The gypsy grabbed the gun.
– So, people were telling the truth about you?! So you are a witch! – the gypsy shouted and pulled the trigger. The gun fired, the smoke cleared, and the witch stood as if nothing had happened and shook her head:
“Eh, son, I hid my secret from you for a long time, but there’s nothing to do,” you found out. I see that you will not be happy in life as long as I am alive. So listen: here you cannot kill me, but there is an enchanted place in our forest, near a hundred-year-old oak tree. There I lose my witchcraft power. Take me there and kill me there!
He led the gypsy mother to the oak tree, fired, and when the smoke cleared, he saw that the old woman had disappeared.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru