Two brothers went hunting. They meet a dog in the forest. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - the dog asks. – I will give each of you three puppies: the first two have the nickname Grab, the second Lomai, the third Iron Gnawing. When the first ones grab it, there is a column of dust; when the second ones break, there is a crash; when others gnaw, the pieces fly.
OK. A little later they meet a wolf. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - asks the wolf. - I'll give you each one. wolf cub. By instinct they will be strong.
OK. A little later they meet a bear. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - asks the bear. – I’ll give you each a bear cub. They will climb deftly.
OK. A little later they meet a lynx. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - asks the lynx. “I’ll give you each a lynx.” They will scratch a lot.
OK. A little later they meet a fox. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - the fox asks. “I’ll give you each a little fox.” They will be famous healers.
OK. A little later they meet a deer. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - asks the deer. “I’ll give you each a deer.” They will be nice porters.
OK. A little later they meet a roe deer. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - asks the roe deer. “I’ll give you each a kid.” They will be quick on their feet.
OK. A little later they meet a hare. The older brother asks the younger:
- Shoot me, or what?
- Don't shoot me! - asks the hare. - I'll give you each a bunny. They will run away from anyone.
So the brothers took their animals and their helpers and decided to split up. But before they parted, they agreed to each stick a knife into a large oak tree: if one of the two returns and sees that his brother’s knife is rusty, then things will be bad for his brother; if it shines, it means there’s nowhere better. The older brother walks in a circle, the younger brother goes straight.
The next day the elder brother happened to go out to the castle. The castle seemed to have completely died out: except for one girl, there was not a single soul.
- Girl-sister, where are all the people?
“All the people ran after the white deer, but they turned to stones; and so my father disappeared.
- Well, well, girl, they ran without helpers, and I have more than enough of them; The deer can't get away from me.
Leaves the castle. And then a white deer runs past the castle. The elder rushed after him with his assistants. But the white deer disappeared instantly. The elder brother looks up and sees: a nasty witch is sitting on an old aspen tree.
“Get down to the ground, old witch, or I’ll send my bear after you to get you out of there, honorably!”
- I’ll get off, get off! Just let me whip your comrades with this twig so that they don’t bite me. He allowed it. But as soon as the witch lashed her with a twig, all the animals, all the helpers, along with her older brother, turned into stones.
It was not long before the younger brother returned to the oak tree, but when he arrived, he saw that his brother’s knife was completely rusty. He immediately hit the road again and went to look for his brother.
He comes to the very castle where the only girl remained.
- Sister-maiden, where are all the people?
“All the people ran after the white deer and turned to stones.” Once a fellow came here with various animals - his assistants - and was going to catch a deer. But where is it? – also petrified.
- This is my brother, this is my brother, how can I save him from trouble?
“You won’t save your brother!” Better run away from here and take me with you. You, boy, don’t know what kind of witch is sitting on that aspen tree: she will say a word, wave her wand once and turn you, me and your animals into eternal stones. Yes, she will still take revenge if she finds out that I sheltered you here. Let's run, boy, before it's too late.
The younger brother jumps onto the wolf's back, picks up the girl on his lap - and off he goes! Suddenly the ground began to hum - a witch was rushing after them.
The younger brother sees that he cannot escape on a wolf; leaves the wolf, jumps from the girl to the bear. And the witch follows, getting closer and closer.
The younger brother and the girl jump onto the deer. And the witch behind them is getting closer and closer.
The hare runs away as fast as he can; The roe deer gallops as fast as it can. A wolf cub, a bear cub, a little fox rush from hummock to hummock; the little lynx, bow-legged, stumbles and flies head over heels. And Grab, Break, Iron Gnawer gnashing their teeth. Where can they be, alone! In the end, the deer porter sees that the witch will be the most playful of them all. He says to his younger brother:
“Rub my right horn, a comb will come out of it.” Throw this comb over your left shoulder, just don’t look back.
The younger brother threw the comb over his left shoulder, and lo and behold! – behind us the dense forest stood like a wall. However, the witch broke through him.
Then the deer says to his younger brother:
“Rub my right horn, a whetstone will come out of it.” Throw this whetstone over your left shoulder, just don’t look back.
The younger brother threw the whetstone over his left shoulder, and lo and behold! - the mountains stood behind - the cliffs were wide in width and high in height. However, the witch got through them too.
Then the deer says to his younger brother:
“Rub my right horn, a handkerchief will come out of it.” Throw this scarf over your left shoulder, just don’t look back.
The younger brother threw the scarf over his left shoulder, and lo and behold! - a river of fire spilled out behind us. The witch cannot cross this river.
The younger brother got off the deer and took a breath. Yes, you can’t rest for a long time, you have to build a hut where you can sleep the night. Now everyone got to work. Well, things moved quickly: one carries, another throws, the third lifts, the fourth pulls, the fifth lays, the sixth covers.
When everyone has fallen asleep, the deer takes his younger brother out into the wild and says:
“Now kill me and bury my head under the threshold, my body under the floor.” Now it will come to you, keep it better than your eyes. And when you leave this hut, twist it three times from right to left, tie my head to my body with it, and I will come to life again.
- But how, dear little deer, am I going to kill you, my savior?
- Don’t be stupid, maybe I’ll teach you something bad; everything is for your own benefit.
The younger brother fulfilled the order and placed the prievite on the window.
The next morning he decided to go hunting with his animal helpers so that he would not have to starve. The girl stayed in the hut and saw the baby. So she thought:
“It’s not a good idea to throw away good things like that: I’ll tie up their stockings.”
And when she tied up the stocking, she twisted it from left to right. At that very moment, an iron bridge spanned the fiery river, the witch - once, and across the river!
The animals attacked here, the assistants attacked the witch. But she can’t do anything - in her haste she forgot the twig on the aspen. How could someone like that get into trouble? One-two! - a deep hole is ready, and no matter what animal runs up, it falls into the hole.
As soon as everyone fell into the pit, the thick, distant iron doors on top slammed shut, and that was the end of everything!
Now the younger brother and the girl are caught. The witch just chuckles and orders them to flood the bathhouse, wash both of them white so that they can be swallowed for breakfast.
They heat the bathhouse, and the witch lies down in the sun. The shelf had not yet warmed up even a little when the deer’s head appeared and said:
- Why are you stupid, in such a hurry with the firebox! Grab, Break, Iron Gnawer have only gnawed through three iron doors - wait until they gnaw through all the doors.
The head had barely disappeared when the witch jumped up:
- I lie there, I lie there, I can’t wait. Will you heat it up soon?
- For one it’s half-heated, for two to steam, you need to add more.
“Well, if you’ve been poking around for so long, then I don’t need two for breakfast.”
Having said this, the witch grabs the girl and pulls out her front tooth, the one made of pure gold. This tooth was donated by mother Laima herself, and when it is not in the mouth, then the girl’s death comes.
And so it was: the tooth was taken out of the girl’s mouth and the girl died. The witch puts the girl in an iron coffin and buries her at a crossroads.
While the witch was busy, the deer's head arrived again.
- Grab it, Break it, the Iron Eater has chewed through three more doors!
The witch buried the girl and comes running, hungrier than ever. How to shout:
- Sink quickly! If it doesn't happen soon, I'll eat you unwashed!
“It will be there soon, soon, only the water will warm up a little.” The witch lay down in the sun, the deer’s head appears again:
- Grab it, Break it, Iron Eater is breaking down the last door. Now wait for help!
Soon all the assistants ran up. Each one hid in its own place: a little hare under the bench, a roe deer under the shelf, a fox under the porch, a wolf in a tub, a bear behind the stove, a lynx in the chokehold, Grab, Break, Iron Gnawing and the younger brother under the stove.
A little later the witch comes and screams:
- Will it be soon?
- It's ready - come in!
Creak! - the door opens and a witch crawls in.
Here's where there was something to look at: Grab grabs, Break crushes, Iron gnawer gnaws, bear beats, wolf tears, fox bites, lynx scratches, roe deer hoofs, little hare rushes, and the younger brother wooes the witch with a ladle.
However, they did not manage to finish off the witch completely, because the door of the bathhouse remained open, and she ran away.
There was such rejoicing! Only when the younger brother began to talk about the girl did everyone immediately become sad and rushed to look for her. The hare galloped ahead, the wolf and dogs sniffed out the tracks and - lo and behold! - sniffed, sniffed and sniffed.
The little lynx and the roe deer immediately dug up the iron coffin, the bear pulled it out, grab it, break it, the iron gnawer broke off the iron lid, and the doctor fox found a golden tooth in the headboard.
The younger brother inserted the tooth from where it had been pulled out, and lo and behold, the girl was alive and healthy. Now they revived the deer and rushed along the same road to the palace.
On the way, the fox, a smart head, says:
“We can sniff out everything, but we still didn’t immediately smell that the witch forgot her twig on the aspen.” Was there any need to run so far?
“Nothing, nothing,” the deer answered her. “Now we’ll order the witch to get off the aspen without a twig, and if she doesn’t listen, then we’ll knock the aspen to the ground.”
OK. They come to the aspen tree. The witch is sitting, ruffled and moaning:
– I’m cold, I’m chilly! Let me warm up on the ground, and so that your animals don’t bite me, let me lightly whip them with a twig.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru