There lived an old man. He had an only son, Yanko. Yanko left for distant lands and suddenly learned that his father was very ill. Yanko got scared and hurried home.
He comes, and his father dies.
“Son,” says Father Yanko, “I will soon die, and you will be left alone in the world.” You will have to live by your own mind, there will be no one to take care of you. Look, don’t trust evil people, be careful. I leave you an inheritance, it is hidden in a well in the yard. . .
Before my father could finish speaking, he died.
Yanko gave his father a good funeral. I spent all my savings on them, and even had to take out a loan.
“Let me look for my inheritance,” thought Yanko when he was left alone.
He took a shovel, went down into the old well and began to dig.
One day digs, another day digs - nothing happens. Yanko was about to quit work, when suddenly the shovel hit something hard. Yanko sees a box in front of him. He took it and climbed up.
He locked himself in his room and opened the box. And what does he see! — Hidden in the box are a whistle, a belt and an empty wallet.
“What an inheritance! - thought Yanko. - Has my father really decided to laugh at me!”
But suddenly he saw a piece of paper in his wallet. it says:
"Whoever shakes his wallet, gold coins will fall down. Whoever blows the whistle, an army will appear to him. Whoever girds himself with a belt will find himself wherever he wants."
Yanko shook his wallet and gold coins began to fall, just enough to pay off his debts. Yanko settled accounts with his neighbors, hid his father’s gifts and began to manage things.
Several years have passed. Yanko decided to get married. Yes, not on a simple girl from her village, but on a proud princess. He blew his whistle and a large army came to him. Yanko, at his head, went to the king. The king saw so many soldiers, got scared, and went out to Yanko. bows to him and asks:
-What do you want?
- I want to woo your daughter. - Yanko answers him.
The king calmed down, and the princess laughed. Yanko liked her - she was cheerful, she jumped like a little goat. They took Yanko to the palace. They began to treat, sing, play, and beat drums.
At the feast, Yanko pulled his father's wallet out of his pocket. The princess began to laugh at him:
- Oh, what a simple wallet you have!
Yanko was offended, shook his wallet, and gold coins fell out of it.
- See! - he says to the princess, - what a wallet I have. I’ll shake it, I’ll shake out as much gold as I want. . .
The insidious princess slowly pulled Yanko’s wallet out of his pocket. Yanko returned home to prepare for the wedding and saw that his wallet was missing. . .
He blew his whistle again, gathered an army, came to the king and shouted:
- Where is my wallet? Give it away, otherwise it will be bad for you!
The princess got scared, came out to Yanko and said:
- Yes, dear Yanko, you forgot him. My wallet is in a gold box.
She began to joke and jump around him like a little goat. The princess made Yanko laugh, and he forgot his insult. They arranged a feast again. The princess is sitting next to Yanko. Then he accidentally pulled a whistle out of his pocket. And the princess laughs at him - why does he carry a simple whistle in his pocket? Yanko was offended and said:
- This is not a simple whistle, but a magical one. I’ll whistle, I’ll gather an army - I can destroy your entire city. I also have a belt at home, which is also magical. If I put it on, I will immediately find myself wherever I want to be. That's how!. .
At night Yanko fell asleep, and the treacherous princess sneaked into his bedroom, stole the whistle and told her father about it. The king whistled, and Yanko's entire army obeyed him. The king ordered the soldiers to drag Yanko out of bed and drive him out of the city with a broom.
Yanko wandered for a long time until he got home, tired and ragged. He was very upset that he had lost his wallet and whistle, but he remembered that he still had his belt. Yanko belted himself and said:
“I want to find myself in the evil princess’s palace right now.”
And so it came true. The princess saw Yanko in front of her, screamed in fear, and suddenly
As soon as Yanko tugged at the belt, the belt remained in her hand.
- Hey, guards! - she shouted. And before Yanko had time to look back, he found himself in prison.
“They ordered you to be executed in the morning,” the prison guard told him.
- Oh, what have I done! - Yanko cried and sighed. “And why did I even decide to impose myself on you, you robbers, swindler kings!” . .
“Don’t despair,” the prison guard told him. - I feel sorry for you, guy, I decided to save you. In the corner of your prison lies a large stone, and under it there is a hole: through it you will escape from prison. When the mason built the prison, he expected that he would be imprisoned here too, so he prepared a loophole for himself just in case. . .
Yanko picked up the stone, saw a hole and climbed into it. He wandered for a long time along the underground passage, and finally saw daylight through the crack. rolled away the stone and climbed out. He rejoiced at his salvation, lay down and fell asleep.
Yanko woke up in the morning. He was tormented by hunger. He wandered, wandered through the forest, climbed a hill and saw a hut and a flock of sheep. He went downstairs to the shepherd. The shepherd's wife gave Yanko bread, cheese, milk and asked how he got to them - no one had ever come here from the city. Yanko told the shepherd and his wife about his misfortune, and the good people let him live with them.
It was good here Yanko. He was glad that he remained alive and got out into freedom. One day he was wandering through the forest, got lost and wanted to eat. He sees a tree, and there are many pears growing on it. Yanko climbed a tree, picked pears, and ate his fill. What's happened? He sees that his nose is growing, it has become long and thick, like a club. He pulled his nose - it hurt. . .
“What a disaster! - he thought. How can I live now with such a nose?”
Yanko gets down from the tree, hears a stream gurgling, sees water flowing from a rock. And my nose has grown so big that it won’t let me drink. However, Yanko contrived to put his mouth under the stream, take a sip of water, and suddenly his nose shrank. Another sip, another - the nose became as before.
“Wonderful!” thought Yanko. “It’s great that I got rid of my nose...”
And suddenly it occurred to him how to punish the evil princess.
Yanko picked a cap full of these pears and poured water from a healing stream into a flask.
Then I found my way home. He took a basket from the shepherd's wife, laid out the pears, changed into shepherd's clothes, said goodbye to the owners and left.
And then a man with a basket appeared in front of the royal palace.
- I sell pears, overseas pears! - he shouted.
The king's maid ran out into the street and bought pears from him, and the seller took the money - and was gone.
- Oh, what wonderful pears! - said the princess when the pears were served on the table and began to eat them.
Suddenly she looked at her mother and shouted:
- Oh, what's wrong with your nose?
“Better watch your nose,” exclaimed the queen, “it has grown up to your chin!”
As soon as the princess decided to laugh, she saw her nose, and it had already grown to her waist! She cried and screamed.
Only the king was lucky. His wife and daughter attacked the pears so much that he only got one - although his nose has grown, it’s not so scary.
He ordered to call doctors from all over the kingdom. They began to treat the royal noses, they began to cut them, but this only made them grow bigger.
All the courtiers laughed quietly, looking at the noses of their rulers. They especially laughed at the queen, whom everyone disliked for her arrogance and deceit.
A few days later, a rumor spread throughout the city that some visiting doctor from everyone
can cure diseases. It was Yanko, who was posing as a doctor. Rumors about a new doctor reached the palace, and the king ordered him to be brought.
Yanko looked at the noses and said:
“I can cure such a disease, but you must obey me in everything!”
- We will obey, we will! - shouted the princess and her mother.
“Your blood is thick, royal,” Yanko said to the king and queen, “we’ll have to make it thinner.”
He took the whip and whipped the king and queen for three days and did not give them anything to eat. And on the fourth day he gave them a sip of wonderful water from his flask - their noses immediately shrank.
It was the princess's turn.
“Your blood is especially thick from greed and deceit,” Yanko told her. “You’ll have to be treated for nine days.”
He beat the princess with a whip for seven days. On the eighth day the princess was so exhausted that she could no longer bear it.
“Save me,” she begged Yanko. - I will marry you and give you all my treasures.
-What are your treasures? - asked Yanko.
“Here they are,” answered the princess, “no one else in the world has them.”
She opened the golden box and handed the doctor a whistle, wallet and belt.
“Here are my treasures,” said the princess. “Gold pours out of the purse, the whistle summons as many soldiers as you want, and whoever girds himself with a belt will find himself wherever he wants.”
Yanko wrapped himself in a belt, put his wallet and whistle in his pocket, and then said to the princess:
- Listen to me, treacherous princess.
I'm the guy you robbed and wanted to hang. I am the shepherd who sold the pears. I am also a doctor who could have cured you right away, but as punishment I beat and starved you. The treasures are mine, they will remain with me, and for your deceit and anger you will forever have a long nose!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru