Either it was or it wasn’t - they say that a woman lived in the same village with her own daughter and stepdaughter.
She didn’t bother her daughter with work, she fed her sweet chureks. And he will give his stepdaughter a stale crust and a pinch of salt and send a cow to graze in the field for the whole day.
Their cow was red, her name was Zaza. The girl ties a cow in the sun, treats it to a salty crust, and sits there hungry until the evening.
So one day Zaza, the red cow, says:
“Come here, dear one, come here, dear one, drink from my horns!”
Zaza bowed her head and drank, the girl drank honey from the right horn, and oil from the left.
That’s how it was with them: the girl would give the cow a salted crust, and she would drink honey and butter.
And the stepmother not only sent her stepdaughter to graze the cow, but also forced her to pull the goat’s hair.
One day a girl is sitting in a field, tending a cow, scratching goat hair. Out of nowhere, a black whirlwind flew in and took away all the girl’s fur. The poor thing began to cry and ran to her stepmother:
- Mother, mother, what should I do? The wind blew away our wool!
The stepmother beat the orphan and ordered him to find some wool right away.
- If you don’t find it, I’ll kill you, I won’t leave you alive!
The girl returned to the field and asked:
- What should I do, Zaza, little red cow?
- Don't cry! - the red cow answers. “I’ll teach you how to find wool... Dry your tears and listen.” Will you go along that road? Wide fields will lie on your path. You will see people in those fields. They will harvest their harvest - red corals. Bow down and say this: May it be good to you and your harvest! Would you mind pouring a scoop of grain for me? Can you show me where the mistress of the winds, Chassazhey, lives? They will send you to the second current, where large pearls are removed. And ask these people the same thing. From here they will send you to the third current. Red gold will be removed there. You bow to these people and ask for the same. They will show you the way...
As you walk along that road, you will see dogs, there will be hay in front of them, and horses, there will be bones in front of them... Give the dogs bones, and the horses hay, take pity on them, say: My poor ones! And they will let you through.
Next there will be a fast river on your way. Take a sip of water from it, praise: Oh, sweet water! And the river will open the way for you. Beyond this fast river stands the house of the Chassages.
You will open the door, go up the stairs, shout: Mother of the winds Chassazhey, have mercy, give me the wool, otherwise my stepmother will kill me!
Chassazhey will answer: Come closer, I can’t hear anything! Don't be afraid, come up, and she will say:
Come on, shake up everything in my house! Then you whitewash the house, wash the clothes and tidy up the bed...
Chassazhey likes this, and she tells you:
Ruffle my hair and tear my dress! But of course, don't listen to her. Mend the dress, give Chassazhey a bath, comb her braids, and put her to bed.
When she falls asleep, take the wool and run, don’t look back, otherwise Chassazhey will force you to live with her forever.
The girl thanked Zazu and went on her way. She saw wide fields, saw a current where people were raking red corals.
“May it be good for you and your harvest!” said the girl. “Will you give me a shovel too?” Can you show me the way to the mistress of the winds, Chassazhey?
Those people poured a shovel of red corals into the girl’s khurjin and sent her to the second current, where large pearls were winnowed.
- May there be good luck to you and your harvest! - said the girl. - What beautiful pearls! Would you give me a spatula too? Will you show the way to the mistress of the winds, Chassazhy?
They poured pearls into the girl’s khurjin and sent her to the third current, where they poured red gold into bags.
- May you and your harvest be happy! — the girl clasped her hands. “Will you give me a spatula too?” Can you show me the way to the mistress of the winds, Chassazhey?
They poured a shovel of red gold into the girl’s khurjin and said:
- Go ask those horses and those dogs over there! The girl went and saw: someone had given hay to the dogs and bones to the horses. She took the hay to the horses, threw bones to the dogs, and even stroked them and felt sorry for them: My poor, hungry you! And they showed the way further.
The girl came across a fast river on her way. She drank some water from it and praised: Oh, and sweet water! And the river stopped its waves, parted, showed the bottom and let the girl through.
A girl came to the Chassages’ house, opened the door, climbed the stairs and called:
- Mother of the winds Chassazhey, have mercy! Give me the wool, or my stepmother will kill me!
- I can't hear well! - Chassazhey shouted back. “Come closer.”
The girl approached, and Chassazhey ordered:
- Come on, turn everything upside down in my house!
“Okay,” said the girl. And she brought water, whitewashed the house, washed the clothes, washed everything, put it in its place...
- Well, now unravel my braids and tear my dress! - ordered Chassazhey.
And the girl fixed her clothes, gave Chassazhey a bath, combed her braids, and put her to bed.
The mistress of the winds really liked it.
- Come to me, my daughter! - she called, poured water from a jug on the girl’s head, and the girl’s braids turned golden...
The mistress of the winds did not let go of her guest for several days. And she yearned for her native place, for her little red cow.
To prevent the girl from leaving on the sly, Chassazhey hid the wool from her under the pillow. Nevertheless, the orphan seized the hour when Chassazhey fell asleep more deeply than usual, pulled out the wool from under the pillow and ran away.
The mistress of the winds woke up. He looks - there is no girl. The old woman set off in pursuit and shouted:
- Hey, muddy river, don’t let it in!..
- Hey horses, hey dogs, catch it!
-Hey, people at the currents, so that you are empty, hold up...
The girl ran to the fast river, the river parted, let her through, and even splashed out shoes with gold heels in front of her. Those shoes were outlandish: both on the toe of the right and on the toe of the left the girl saw her portrait. She took the shoes, thanked the river and ran on.
- Eat to your health! - she said to the horses that were crunching hay, and to the dogs that were gnawing bones.
And they caressed her and let her through.
A girl came running to the third current, and to the second current, and to the first current. Everywhere she wished people happiness, and people let her in and wished her a good journey.
The mistress of the winds, Chassazhey, became angry and furious.
- Hey, river! Hey horses and dogs! Hey people on the currents! How dare you disobey me! And the river said to her:
- You call me muddy, but the girl said that I’m sweet...
The dogs and horses answered her:
- You throw bones to horses, and give hay to dogs... We were dying of hunger, and the girl fed us...
The people said this:
“You never, ever wished us well!” And the affectionate girl wished us happiness... How can we not miss her?
And the mistress of the winds, Chassazhey, returned to her place with nothing.
Well, let him come back! And we'll tell you about a girl...
The orphan ran home and hugged her little red cow:
- Hello, dear little cow! Here are corals and gold, pearls and shoes with portraits! Hide it all better...
The orphan told Zaza about everything she had seen. Then she went to her stepmother and gave her the wool.
Everything went as before for them. The stepdaughter is grazing Zazu, a red cow, in the field and tugging at the goat's hair, while the stepmother's daughter is idle at home.
But then one day the stepmother asked her stepdaughter:
- Why do you tie your scarf so low?
- My head hurts, mother.
- Well, let me see! - the stepmother shouted and tore off the scarf.
When the stepmother saw the girl’s golden braids, she began to shake with envy. She pestered the orphan:
- Tell me, tell me, where did you get your golden braids from?
There was nothing to do - she was so angry, she scolded so much! - the girl had to say:
- The Mother of the Winds Chassazhey gave me golden braids...
- Who taught you to go to Chassazhei? - asked the stepmother.
- Zaza, red cow.
The stepmother did not say a word. She hurried home and brought her daughter to the field. She told her to graze the cow and at the same time pull the goat's hair. Out of nowhere, a black whirlwind flew in and carried away all the wool.
The stepmother's daughter ordered:
- Tell me, red cow, how to get my wool back!
Zaza told her everything that she told the orphan. The stepmother's daughter ran to the mistress of the Chassazhey winds.
She saw wide fields and found a current where people were raking red corals.
May it be empty for you and your harvest! - she shouted. “Give me some quick corals and show me the way to the mistress of the winds!”
- What kind of ignoramus is this? - people were surprised.
They got angry. They put her on a shovel and threw her onto the second current, where large pearls were being winnowed.
- You and your harvest would fail! - the stepmother's daughter screamed. - Quickly pour a shovelful of pearls and show the way to the mistress of the winds!
They picked her up with a shovel and threw her onto the third current, where they poured red gold into bags.
- Both you and your harvest will be lost! - the stepmother's daughter yelled. - Give me the gold quickly and show the way to the mistress of the winds!
Well, in the third round she got it! They gave me cuffs and sent me on a shovel to the horses and dogs.
And she got everything mixed up here too. She took the hay from the horses and threw it to the dogs. She grabbed the bones from the dogs and threw them to the horses.
- May you choke! - speaks.
She was bitten by dogs. The horses were beaten with their hooves. Somehow she escaped and came to the bank of a fast river.
The stepmother's daughter took a sip of water from the river and spat: Ugh! Dirty water... The river became angry, made noise, and blocked its path.
The stepmother's daughter waded across to the other bank and came, wet, dirty, covered in bruises, to the house of the mistress of the winds, Chassazhey.
She opened the door, climbed the stairs and shouted:
- May you burst, harmful Chassazhey! Give me the wool now, otherwise my mother will scold you!
- I can’t hear! — Chassazhey shouted back. “Come closer?”
The stepmother’s daughter came up, and Chassazhey said:
- Turn everything over from top to bottom in my house!
- Okay, I’ll turn it over! — the stepmother’s daughter was delighted. She destroyed everything, ruined everything, left no stone unturned...
Chassazhey didn’t scold, she just looked gloomy.
- Well, now let my braids go and tear my dress! - she ordered.
The stepmother's daughter attacked her: she pulled out her braids, tore her dress to shreds...
The mistress of the winds has darkened.
- Thank you! Get your reward! - she said. She splashed it in the girl’s face from a jug, and all her cheeks were covered with warts. Now take your wool and leave!
We won’t say how long or short the stepmother’s daughter walked... Even though she was all beaten, she still returned home.
The mother saw her pet with warts and almost lost her mind from grief.
She thought, thought about what to do, and out of spite decided to slaughter Zazu, the red cow.
“Your stepmother wants to kill me,” said the red cow to her stepdaughter. Collect my bones when they kill me, bury them in the garden under the apple tree.
Stepmother slaughtered Zazu, a red cow. Her meat was boiled and eaten together with her daughter, and her stepdaughter collected the bones and buried them in the garden under an apple tree.
Since then, the orphan has had no peace at all.
“You’re getting better and better, but my daughter is getting worse!” - the stepmother scolded and beat her stepdaughter.
One day a girl went into the garden, sat down under an apple tree and began to cry with grief.
- Don't cry, my dear! Don't cry, honey! - the cow bones responded. “Tell me, what do you want?”
And that day there was a cheerful wedding in a neighboring village. The girl really wanted to dance at the wedding.
- Give me, little cow, a beautiful dress and my shoes! - she asked.
Immediately a beautiful dress and shoes with portraits appeared in front of her. The girl dressed up and went to the wedding.
She began to cross the stream. She jumped from stone to stone, dropped one shoe, and the water carried it away. The poor thing had to return home - she never danced at the wedding...
Meanwhile, the young khan was catching trout in the stream. Suddenly he caught a shoe with a golden heel and saw on the toe of the shoe a portrait of a beautiful girl with golden braids. And the khan really wanted to find the owner of this shoe.
The khan tried on the shoe for many beautiful girls of that country, but it didn’t suit anyone.
Finally, the khan and his servants arrived in the village where the stepmother lived with her daughter and stepdaughter... He visited all the houses. The turn came to the stepmother's house. The young man had just entered the house when he saw the girl he had been looking for for so long... He put a shoe on her foot. The shoe fit just right.
The khan was delighted and asked his stepmother to give him the girl as his wife. The cunning woman hid her envy and anger and pretended to happily agree.
“I beg you, khan,” she said with a bow, “return to your father’s house!” I need to outfit the bride, and then I will bring her to you myself.
And so they did... How could the young man know about her black anger? The young khan left, and the stepmother began to fuss, as if getting her stepdaughter ready for the trip.
They finally set off on their journey. The stepmother told the girl to tie her golden shoes in a bundle, but she took nothing with her, only a piece of bread and salt.
The road was long, the places were deserted, and the day was hot. The girl was tired and wanted to eat.
- Give me something to eat, mother! - she said.
“I have nothing but bread,” answered the stepmother and gave her a salted crust.
The girl ate salty bread. Thirst began to torment her.
- Oh, how thirsty! Just a sip of water, mother!
“Be patient,” answered the stepmother, “soon there will be a well with clean, cool water.” Then you'll get drunk to your heart's content.
The well was indeed nearby. The girl put her bundle with golden shoes on the ground and ran to get a drink. But as soon as she bent over the well, her evil stepmother crept up from behind and pushed her into the water.
The stepmother grabbed her shoes and ran home. She dressed her daughter in the best dress, covered her face with a silk veil, put her on a white horse and took her to the young khan.
They were received with honor at the Khan's palace and celebrated a magnificent wedding. And when the feast was over, the khan pulled back the veil from his young wife’s face and saw her warts. There’s just nothing left to do: the wedding is over!
- This is not my favorite! - the khan shouted in despair. “I was deceived!”
“It’s your own eyes that are deceiving you, dear son-in-law!” — the stepmother smiled. “I have only one daughter, this beautiful one.”
The young khan was embarrassed. Maybe there's witchcraft here? Maybe my eyes really deceived me? - he thought.
While the wedding was being celebrated in the palace, merchants with a caravan approached the well where the stepmother had thrown her stepdaughter. They stopped at a well to rest.
One of them lowered a jug on a long rope into the well and began to pull. But the jug turned out to be so heavy that it was impossible to pull it out alone... The merchant called for help from his comrades, and they pulled out the girl and the jug.
The girl thanked the merchants and asked them:
- When I express my wish out loud, answer me, good people: May it come true!..
The merchants willingly promised to fulfill her request. The girl shouted:
- I want to become a turtle dove!
- Yes it will come true! - the merchants answered and saw that the girl was gone - she had disappeared!
She turned into a white dove, fluttered up and flew away. The merchants marveled at such a miracle and went on their way, and the turtle dove flew into the khan’s garden and sat on an almond tree.
- Gardener, gardener! - she cooed. “Let this tree wither, as I wither... Give my greetings to the young khan!”
The turtle dove flew away and the almond tree withered. Since then, every day at dawn a turtledove flew into the garden, each time sat on a new tree and cooed:
Gardener, gardener! Let this tree perish as I perish! Give my regards to the young khan!
One day the khan came to his garden and saw that the best trees had dried up - quince and almonds, figs and pomegranates, peaches and pears. He was angry with the gardener:
“You’ve completely neglected the garden, you shameless man!” The best trees have died!
- Have mercy, Khan! — the gardener pleaded. “It’s not my fault.” Every morning a turtledove flies into the garden, chooses the best tree and sits on it. And only she will say: Let this tree wither, as I wither! Give my regards to the young khan! - the tree dries immediately.
Then the khan ordered to catch the turtledove. The gardener spread his net, and the next day at dawn the Khan caught a white dove. As soon as he touched her with his hands, the turtle dove turned into a beautiful girl with golden braids. Khan immediately recognized her as his bride.
- So this is how I was deceived! - exclaimed the khan. “Come on, let’s go to the palace!” There you will tell me everything!
“A hundred years of life to you, my lord,” the girl bowed. “But what am I going to talk about?” What the eyes saw or what the ears heard?
“What is seen with the eyes is a hundred times more valuable than what is heard with the ears,” answered the young khan. “You will tell about what you saw and experienced...
- Okay! But when I tell you, let my stepmother and her daughter listen to me. And until I finish, no one should leave the palace.
The girl covered her face with a veil. They went to the palace. The khan sent a servant to wake up the evil stepmother and her daughter and bring them to him, and then gave the guard an order: not to let anyone out of the palace chambers.
Mother and daughter arrived, sleepy and angry, and the girl began her story. She told about how her evil stepmother tortured her and how she threw her into a well. As soon as the girl began to speak, the stepmother trembled, turned pale and began to stealthily make her way to the door with her daughter. But there were guards at the door, and the young khan threateningly ordered them to remain in place.
“For your malice, for your deception, you should be executed,” said the khan when the girl finished the story. -But I found my beloved. Here she is! “And the khan pulled the veil off the girl’s face. “I don’t want to overshadow the happiest day of my life with execution.” Give my fiancée your boots, leave my country and don’t be seen again! They drove the evil stepmother and her daughter out of that country in disgrace.
And the girl asked the khan to go with her to her native place. There she took her gold, and corals, and pearls. Zaza, the red cow, saved everything for her.
And so the young khan finally married his beloved.
They celebrated a cheerful wedding. Seven musicians played there. They beat seven drums there. They drank there until the wineskins were thin, and ate until the cauldrons were empty. They danced as long as they could hold their legs, they sang songs until they lost their voices.
In a word, they did everything that good people should do! I walked at their wedding and still can’t forget about it!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru