Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had no children. They somehow sit at the table and grieve:
– God would send us a child, even as tall as a hedgehog!
As soon as they said this, a little hedgehog crawls out from behind the stove and says:
- I am your son!
The old men took the hedgehog as their son and raised him.
When the hedgehog grew up, the mother said:
- If I had a bigger son, he would herd pigs. But such a small pig can be trampled, that’s the problem.
- Don't be sad! I can handle this matter!
“Won’t you be afraid, son?”
- Be afraid of pigs! Yes, I would burn with shame! Let's get them here, I'll herd them!
The hedgehog drove the pigs into the forest and grazed them there for three years, without bringing them home. In three years, so many pigs were born that it was impossible to count them. However, the hedgehog easily copes with them.
One day, in the forest where the hedgehog was grazing pigs, the king himself was hunting and got lost. Wandering through the forest, he came across a herd of hedgehogs, but did not see the shepherdess himself: the hedgehog had climbed into the wild rosemary thickets.
- Is there a shepherd with these pigs? - shouted the king.
- And here he is - me! - the hedgehog answers.
- Where are you?
- And in the wild rosemary.
- Come here, let's talk!
- Why not go? - the hedgehog answered and crawled out of the thicket.
- How can you, so small, herd pigs?
- How did you, so big, get lost?
- Get me out of this forest!
- Why not take it out? Give me your youngest daughter and I’ll take you out in no time.
- Look what you want! May I give you my daughter, such a little frog!
- No, no - look for the way yourself! The king galloped away. He was lost all day, and in the evening he was right there again.
- Where are you? Listen, shepherd boy, I can’t find the way, get me out of here!
- Why not take it out? Just give me your youngest daughter and I’ll take you out in no time.
- He will chat! I can't do this!
- No, no, look for the way yourself!
The king made a circle, made another, and turned back again.
- Well, then, will you lead me out of the forest?
- Why not take it out? Just give me your youngest daughter and I’ll take you out in no time.
- Well, what should I do with you? Take it to your health!
- So, you promise me your daughter?
- I promise!
- OK! Follow me along this path, but hurry up, otherwise my pigs will wander off.
The hedgehog showed the king the way, agreed on when to come to the wedding, and rushed as fast as he could to the pigs. Three days before the wedding, the hedgehog drove the pigs to his father's yard. The father just threw up his hands: in the barn, and in the fence, and in all the nooks of pigs, wherever you turn, they are grunting from everywhere.
On the third day, early in the morning, the hedgehog put on his festive clothes, pulled a hedgehog fur coat over it, harnessed two black roosters to a birch bark carriage and rode at full speed to the bride’s palace. The king did not meet him empty-handed: he ordered his soldiers to throw stones at the birch bark carriage and kill the roosters. But the roosters only see the stone, so - jump-jump-jump! - they jump, and the stone flies underneath. And so on until they arrived at the palace itself. Then the roosters crowed:
- Cuckoo! The royal son-in-law has arrived!
The bride came out to meet him, put the hedgehog in a silk apron and carried it to the palace. The older sisters make fun of her, and the younger sister responds:
- Laugh, laugh, whoever is destined for me, I’ll marry him!
The next morning, the bride again put the hedgehog in her apron and carried it to the church to get married. They put a wedding ring on the hedgehog's paw, and after the wedding the little wife put her husband in her apron to take him to the palace. Everyone laughs at the funny couple, and the young wife answers them:
- Laugh, laugh, whoever is destined for me, I’ll marry him!
In the evening, as he was going to bed, the hedgehog pulled off his fur coat and laid it at his feet. The wife saw this and thought: “Why take care of such a prickly fur coat? When hubby falls asleep, I’ll burn it!”
I did it as I intended. What next? Only the fur coat burned, the hubby fell ill, and he was so seriously ill that he was about to die. The wife is crying and repenting. And the hedgehog, enduring pain, consoles his wife:
“I know, I know, dear little wife, that you didn’t do this out of malice, but before you get down to business, you should consult with your hubby.” If you hadn’t burned your fur coat today, I would have gotten rid of it without pain in two weeks. However, if I endure, then you will see a miracle and tears will be replaced by joy.
It was difficult for the hedgehog, but he endured and endured. Especially on the last day, his illness bothered him. But as soon as the sun set, the hedgehog jumped out of bed, twitched his muzzle three times and at that very moment turned into a stately prince. His father-in-law rejoiced and gave him all the power. And the new king called his parents to him and lived happily with his young wife.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru