Animal milk. Animal's milk is a Russian folk tale. Russian folk tale Animal's milk

29.06.2020

Animal's milk (tale version 1)

In a certain kingdom, not in our state, there lived a king within a kingdom, a king within a kingdom, and he had children: a son, Ivan Tsarevich, and a daughter, Elena the Beautiful. An iron wool bear appeared in his kingdom and began to eat his subjects... The bear eats people, and the king sits and thinks about how he can save his children. He ordered to build a high pillar, placed Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful on it, and placed provisions for them there for five years.

The bear ate all the people, ran to the royal palace and began gnawing a broom out of frustration. “Don’t bite me, iron wool bear,” the broom tells him, “but rather go into the field, there you will see a pillar, and on that pillar are sitting Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful!” The bear ran to the post and began to swing it. Ivan Tsarevich got scared and threw him food, but the bear ate enough and went to bed.

The bear is sleeping, and Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful are running without looking back... There is a horse on the road. “Horse, horse! Save us,” they say. They had just mounted their horse when the bear caught up with them. He tore the horse into pieces, took them in his mouth and brought them to the post. They gave him food, he ate and fell asleep again. The bear is sleeping, and Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful are running without looking back... Geese are walking along the road. "Geese, geese, save us." They sat on the geese and flew, and the bear woke up, scorched the geese with a flame and brought them to the post. They gave him food again: he ate and fell asleep again. The bear is sleeping, and Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful are running without looking back... There is a bull-calf standing on the road 1. “Bull, bull! Save us: an iron wool bear is chasing us.” - “Sit on me; you, Ivan Tsarevich, sit backwards and when you see a bear, tell me.” A bear, a bull-calf, etc., will just catch up with them, and will cover his eyes. Three times the bear caught up, three times the bull covered his eyes. They began to cross the river, the bear followed them - and drowned.

They wanted to eat, so the bull said to them: “Kill me and eat me, and collect my bones and hit me; They will turn out to be a fist-sized peasant - as big as a fingernail, with a beard as big as an elbow. He will do anything for you." Time goes on and on, they ate the bull and wanted to eat again; They hit him lightly on the bones, and a small fist came out. So they went into the forest, and in that forest there was a house, and that house was a robber’s house. Kulachok killed both the robbers and the chieftain and locked them in the same room; but he didn’t tell Elena to go there. Only she couldn’t bear it, looked and fell in love with the chieftain’s head.

She asked Ivan Tsarevich to get her living and dead water. As soon as he got the living and dead water, the princess revived the ataman and conspired with him to kill Ivan Tsarevich. First of all, they agreed to send him for wolf's milk. Ivan Tsarevich went with a fist-shaped peasant; They find a she-wolf: “Give me some milk!” She asks them to take the wolf cub too, because he b….., p….., eats bread for nothing. Having taken the milk and the wolf cub, they went to Helen the Beautiful; They gave the milk to Elena, and took the wolf cub for themselves. These could not lime him; sent for bear milk. Ivan Tsarevich went with a fist-shaped peasant to get bear milk; They find a bear: “Give me some milk!” She asks to take the teddy bear too, because he... eats bread for nothing. Again, having taken the milk and the teddy bear, they went to Helen the Beautiful; They gave her the milk and took the teddy bear for themselves. And with this they could not lime Ivan Tsarevich; They sent him for lion's milk. Ivan Tsarevich went with the peasant fist; they find a lioness, take milk; She asks them to take the lion cub too, because he... eats bread for nothing. They returned to Helen the Beautiful, gave the milk, and took the lion cub for themselves.

Then the ataman and Elena the Beautiful see that even this cannot be done to kill Ivan Tsarevich; They sent him to get the eggs of the firebird. Ivan Tsarevich went with a little fist to get eggs. They found the firebird, they wanted to take the eggs, she got angry and swallowed the peasant fist; and Ivan Tsarevich went home without eggs. He comes to Elena the Beautiful and tells her that he couldn’t get the eggs and that the firebird swallowed the peasant fist. Elena the Beautiful and the ataman were delighted and said that now Ivan Tsarevich would not do anything without his fist; ordered to kill him. Ivan Tsarevich heard this and asked his sister to wash himself in the bathhouse before he died.

Elena the Beautiful ordered the bathhouse to be heated. Ivan Tsarevich went to the bathhouse, and Elena the Beautiful sent to him to tell him to wash himself quickly. Ivan Tsarevich did not listen to her; after all, he washed himself slowly. Suddenly a wolf cub, a bear cub and a lion cub came running to him; They tell him that the little fist man escaped from the firebird and will now come to him. Ivan Tsarevich ordered them to lie under the threshold in the bathhouse; but he still washed himself. Elena the Beautiful sends him again to tell him to wash himself quickly, and if he doesn’t come out soon, she will come herself. Ivan Tsarevich did not listen and did not leave the bathhouse. Elena the Beautiful waited and waited, could not wait, and went with the chieftain to see what he was doing there. He comes and sees that he is washing and does not listen to orders; I got angry and gave him a slap. Out of nowhere, a little peasant-fist ordered the wolf cub, the bear cub and the lion cub to tear the chieftain into small pieces, and he took Elena and tied her naked to a tree so that her body would be eaten by mosquitoes and flies; and he himself went with Ivan Tsarevich along the road.

We saw large chambers; says the peasant-fist: “Would you like to get married, Ivan Tsarevich? Here in this house lives a heroic girl; she is looking for such a fellow to defeat her.” So we went to that house. Before they got there a little, Ivan Tsarevich sat down on his horse, and the little peasant behind him, and they began to call the hero-girl to fight. They fought and fought; The heroic girl hit Ivan Tsarevich in the chest - Ivan Tsarevich almost fell, but his fist held him back. Then Ivan Tsarevich hit the heroic girl with a spear - and she immediately fell off her horse. As Ivan Tsarevich knocked down the heroic girl, she said to him: “Well, Ivan Tsarevich, now you can marry me.”

Soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done. Ivan Tsarevich married a heroic girl. “Well, Ivan Tsarevich,” says the little peasant, “if you feel ill on the first night, then come to me; I will help in trouble.” So Ivan Tsarevich went to bed with the heroic girl. Suddenly the heroic girl put her hand on his chest, Ivan Tsarevich felt sick; he began to ask to leave. He came out, called the peasant-fist, and told him that the hero-girl was strangling him. The peasant-fist went to the heroic girl and began to beat her and say: “Honor your husband, honor your husband!” From that time on, they began to live and live and make good things.

After the heroic girl began to ask Ivan Tsarevich to untie Elena the Beautiful and take her to live with him. He now sent to untie her and bring her to him. Elena the Beautiful lived with him for a long time. Once she says to Ivan Tsarevich: “Brother! Let me look for you.” She started looking for him and put a dead tooth in his head; Ivan Tsarevich began to die. The lion cub sees that Ivan Tsarevich is dying and pulls out his dead tooth; The prince began to come to life, and the lion cub began to die. The little bear pulled out a tooth; The lion cub began to come to life, and the bear cub began to die. The fox sees that he is dying, pulled out his dead tooth, and as she was the most cunning of all, she pulled it out and threw the tooth into the frying pan, which is why the tooth crumbled into pieces. For this, Ivan Tsarevich ordered Elena the Beautiful to be tied to the tail of a heroic horse and unlocked clean field. I was there, I drank honey, it flowed down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth.

1 That is, for the third year.

Animal's milk (tale version 2)

Once upon a time there lived two peasants: one was Anton, the other was Agathon. “Listen, brother! - says Anton. “A bad cloud is rushing towards us,” and he himself is shaking like a leaf. “Well, what a problem!” - “But there will be hail, it will destroy all the grain!” - “What hail! It will rain." - “An hail!” - “It’s raining!” - “I don’t want to talk to a fool!” - said Anton and grabbed his neighbor with his fist. There is no hail or rain, and blood is pouring from their noses and ears. This is not a fairy tale yet, but a saying; the fairy tale will be ahead - tomorrow afternoon, after eating soft bread.

There lived a man, he had two sons, a third daughter; one son is smart, the other is a fool; the eldest is married. The time has come for the man to die; So he orders the big son the whole house, and the cattle, and the land, but nothing to the fool and his sister. The daughter says: “Why are you, father, ordering everything to your elder brother, but nothing to me and the fool?” The old man looked at them and said: “If your elder brother gives you a bathhouse, live there, but if he doesn’t, then get out!” - “Well, we’re happy with that!” So a man died, a funeral was sent, the older brother said: “Fool! Get out of the house with your sister." - “Let me, brother, at least let us live in the bathhouse.” - “Well, live for now!” The fool began to go into the forest to work, and that’s how they fed.

One day the fool says: “Sister! Give me the whip; Walking through the forest, I’ll pick mushrooms.” She handed him the whip, he took it and went; I walked and wandered through the forest and got lost. He began to look for a way, got out into a meadow, looked around: on that meadow there stood a large stone house, built on three floors; the gates are locked, the shutters are closed, only one window is open, and a ladder is attached to it. The fool got into the house, opened all the windows, opened all the doors, walks around the house, looking: not a single living soul to be seen, but goodness, goodness! At least row with a shovel! Whole heaps of gold, silver, semi-precious stones, and expensive brocades were piled up. In one upper room there is a tub of wine, and a silver ladle floats in it. The fool took a chair, sat down by the tub, drank wine and sang “Dolinushka” at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly he hears a noise: twelve robbers are coming. "Brothers!" - says the chieftain. - Something is wrong here: all the windows are open! That’s right, someone came to visit.” And he sends one robber to unlock the gate. “Don’t worry, brothers! “I’ll unlock it for you,” shouts the fool. So they entered the courtyard, removed the stolen goods and came to the upper room, took a chair and all sat down near the doshnik 2; one robber lacked a chair, he approaches the fool and pushes him: “Let him go!” You took my place." And he resists. “Take hold of him, comrades! How dare he disobey in our house?” The robbers jumped up from their seats and began to bully the fool: first he would hit, then the other would slam him. Then the fool got angry, grabbed one of the robbers by the legs and began swinging them right and left, whoever he hit was immediately knocked off his feet! The chieftain sees that he is making bad jokes, he fell into the corner behind the barrels and sat there. The fool killed all the robbers and threw the bodies into the yard; then he filled the whip with gold, locked the house and went to his sister. He enters the bathhouse and shouts: “Here’s a bunch of mushrooms for you!”

The next day, my sister lit the stove, decided to peel mushrooms, took up the whip - it was heavy and wouldn’t rise; what's happened? I opened it and it was full of money. “Sister,” says the fool, “go to the city, buy some boiled and fried food; I need to do a wake for my father. And I’ll go and invite merchants, townsfolk, and all sorts of peasants to visit.” The sister bought, put on the table both drink and food, plenty of everything, and ran to call her older brother and daughter-in-law. “Oh, you poor naked people! Tea, you don’t have bread, and not just to celebrate a wake!” - said the elder brother and did not want to go. “Well, at least you, daughter-in-law, come!” - “What do you have?” - “The richer you are, the happier you are!” “Well,” the daughter-in-law thinks, “I’ll go to them, at least I’ll laugh.” He comes and sees that there is a lot of everything; began to ask: “Where did you get it?” The fool replies: “Father refused your house and all your household goods, but left us a little money.”

The guests ate their fill, got drunk and went home. The daughter-in-law returned to the hut and scolded her husband: he himself is not good, and his late father was an offender - so that he has no bottom, no cover! - he was dying, but he betrayed his soul: he gave the fool a whole lash of gold! “Don’t scold me, I’ll go and split the gold in half.” He comes to his brother: “Divide, you fool, the braid of gold, otherwise it will offend my wife and I!” The fool answers him: “What to share, better take it all!” And he took his sister by the hand and said: “Come on, sister, get out of the bathhouse; I have my own house."

So they walked and walked and came to the very house where the fool killed the robbers: “Well, sister, live, manage, take - don’t spare everything you need; and I will go hunting and kill birds and animals.” The brother went hunting, and the sister stayed at home; I started looking around the upper rooms, saw the ataman, fell in love with him, and the two of them began to think about how to kill the fool? The chieftain advises her: “Pretend to be sick and ask the fool to bring you apples from such and such a garden; there he cannot escape death!” The fool returned from hunting and saw his sister lying on the bed and groaning. “What’s wrong with you, sister?” - “I’m sick, brother!” And she began to ask him: “I saw a dream that apples grew in such and such a garden; As soon as I eat those apples, I’ll get better.”

The fool took the whip and set off on his journey through the forest; goes, and the forest becomes more and more frequent, thicker and denser; You can't go any further! The fool began to pull out trees and pave the road; I worked for an hour or two and came out into a smooth, level clearing. In that clearing there is a large stone house, built on five floors; the gates are locked, the shutters are closed, only one window is open. He climbed up the stairs, opened all the shutters, opened all the doors: wherever he looked, wherever he looked, there was visible and invisible wealth everywhere: gold, and silver, and semi-precious stones, and brocades, and expensive satins. Behind the house there is a garden growing, the apples are showing off in the sun; The fool ran into the garden, picked a bag full of apples and was about to go home, but then he got his head and said to himself: “No, I’ll wait for the owner and pay him for the apples so that he doesn’t consider me a thief.”

A little later, the tramp of horses was heard: twenty-four robbers were riding and taking with them a beautiful maiden of indescribable beauty. They entered the house, began to drink and eat, pester the red maiden and make various ridicule of her. The fool looked and looked and said to the chieftain: “Why are you offending her?” The chieftain got angry and shouted: “Hey, guys! Take him, tie him up and give him a good blow!” The robbers were about to approach the fool, but he grabbed one of them by the legs and started swinging him right and left; killed every single one. He took the red maiden by the white hands and led her to him. He comes home and says: “Here are some apples for you, sister, eat and get well; and you, beautiful maiden, be our named sister - live and don’t be bored!”

The next day the fool went hunting; and his sister ran to the chieftain; complains to him: “After all, my brother came, and even brought a beautiful maiden! What should we do with him? The chieftain replies: “Set him to play cards and make the following agreement: if anyone loses, he should tie his hands back. This is how he will lose - you drag a hair rope and twist his hands; if one rope breaks, knit with another, if another rope breaks, knit with a third; Maybe he won’t be able to cope with some! Then shout to me - I will come running with a saber and cut off his head.” The named sister overheard these evil speeches and is waiting for something to happen.

The fool returned home; his own sister sat down to play cards with him, and the named sister took a sharp saber from the wall and asked: “Brother! Give me this saber." - “Take it if you love it.” Here the sister beat her brother and tied his hands with a hair rope; the fool reached out - the rope broke. She brought a new rope, thicker than the previous one, and again tied his hands; the fool stretched - the rope was gone! She brought a third rope, thicker than the previous two, and tied her brother’s hands tightly; No matter how hard he tried, he could not break it. “Untie, sister! It cuts your hands!” - “You’ll untie it yourself!” Native sister She went to call the ataman, and the one named stood at the door: as soon as the ataman entered the upper room, she swung her saber and cut off his head. The brother became terribly angry, strained with all his might - the rope crackled and burst; then he quickly grabbed a sharp saber, cut off the evil sister’s head and threw her corpse to the forest animals to be devoured. Neither much nor little time has passed - the named sister says to her brother: “Brother! Let's go to my homeland." - “Where is your homeland?” - “My homeland is far away; I am the Tsar’s daughter, we traveled to other states; Robbers attacked us and took me away.” So they come to her father; the king was delighted and gave his daughter, the princess, to that fool. They celebrated the wedding and feasted for a long time; And I was there, I drank honey and wine, it flowed over my lips, but it didn’t get into my mouth. Yes, I left a spoon on the window; He who is light on his feet, run down the spoon!

1 Groznaya ( Ed.).

2 Large tub.

Animal's milk (tale version 3)

Once upon a time there lived a king, he had a son and a daughter. A considerable misfortune happened in a neighboring state - the entire people died out; Tsarevich Ivan asks his father: “Father! Bless me to go to that state to live.” The father does not agree. “If that’s the case, I’ll go myself!” Ivan Tsarevich went, but his sister did not want to leave him and went herself. They walked for some time. There is a hut in an open field on chicken legs and turns around; Ivan Tsarevich said: “Hut, hut! Become as old as your mother did.” The hut stopped, they went into it, and there lay Baba Yaga: in one corner her legs, in the other her head, her lips on the ceiling, her nose buried in the ceiling. “Hello, Ivan Tsarevich! What, are you torturing things or getting away with it?” - “Where I torture things, and where I get away with business; In such and such a kingdom the people have died out, so I go there to live.” She tells him: “I would have gone there myself, but in vain I took my sister; she will do you a lot of harm.” She gave them something to drink, fed and put them to bed.

The next day, the brother and sister are getting ready to go on the road; Baba Yaga gives Ivan Tsarevich a dog and a blue ball: “Wherever the ball rolls, go there!” The ball rolled up to another hut on chicken legs. “Hut, hut! Become as old as your mother did.” The hut stopped, the prince and the princess went into it, Baba Yaga lay there and asked: “What, Ivan Tsarevich, are you doing business or are you torturing business?” He told her where he was going and why. “I would have gone there myself, but it was in vain to take my sister; she will do you a lot of harm.” She gave them something to drink, fed and put them to bed. The next morning she gave Tsarevich Ivan a dog and a towel: “If you have a big river on your way, you won’t be able to cross; take this towel and wave one end - a bridge will immediately appear; and when you cross to the other side, wave the other end - and the bridge will disappear. Look, wave it furtively so that your sister doesn’t see.”

Ivan Tsarevich and his sister set off on a journey: wherever the ball rolls, that’s where they go. We came to a wide, wide river. The sister says: “Brother! Let’s sit here to rest.” She sat down and did not see how the prince waved his towel - immediately the bridge appeared. “Come on, sister! God gave us a bridge to cross to the other side.” We crossed the river, the prince furtively waved the other end of the towel - the bridge disappeared as if it had never happened! They come to the very kingdom where the people died out; there is no one, everything is empty! We settled in a little; The brother decided to go hunting, and he and his dogs went to wander through the forests and swamps.

At this time, the Serpent Gorynych flies to the river; hit the damp ground and became such a fine fellow and handsome that you couldn’t even think of it, couldn’t imagine it, only say it in a fairy tale. She calls the princess to her: “You,” he says, “have tormented me, dried me up with longing; I can not live without you!" The princess fell in love with the Serpent Gorynych and shouted to him: “Fly here across the river!” - “I can’t fly over.” - “What will I do?” - “Your brother has a towel, take it, bring it to the river and wave one end.” - “He won’t give it to me!” - “Well, deceive him, tell him that you want to wash him.” The princess comes to the palace; At that time her brother also returned from hunting. He brought a lot of game and gives it to his sister to cook for dinner tomorrow. She asks: “Brother! Do you have anything to wash black underwear?” - “Go, sister, to my room; you will find it there,” said Ivan Tsarevich and completely forgot about the towel that Baba Yaga gave, but did not order to show the princess. The princess took a towel; The next day, my brother went hunting, she went to the river, waved one end of the towel - and at that very moment the bridge appeared. The snake crossed the bridge. They began to kiss and show affection; then we went to the palace. “How can we,” says the serpent, “lime your brother?” “Think of it yourself, but I don’t know,” the princess answers. “Tell you what: pretend to be sick and wish for wolf’s milk; He’ll go get milk and maybe he’ll break his head!”

The brother returned, the sister was lying on the bed, complaining about her illness and saying: “Brother! In a dream I saw that wolf’s milk would make me healthier; Is it possible to get it somewhere? Otherwise my death comes.” Ivan Tsarevich went into the forest - the wolf was feeding the wolf cubs, he wanted to shoot her; she tells him in a human voice: “Ivan Tsarevich! Don’t shoot, don’t kill me, don’t make my children orphans; Better tell me: what do you need?” - “I need your milk.” - “If you please, milk it; I’ll also give you a wolf cub in addition; he will serve you faithfully.” The prince milked the milk, took the wolf cub, and goes home. The snake saw it and said to the princess: “Your brother is coming, carrying a wolf cub, tell him that you want bear’s milk.” He said and turned around with a broom. The prince entered the room; The dogs ran in behind him, heard the unclean spirit and started fiddling with the broom - only the rods were flying! “What is this, brother! - the princess shouted. “Quiet your desire, otherwise tomorrow there won’t be anything to sweep with!” Ivan Tsarevich calmed down his hunt and gave her the wolf's milk.

In the morning, brother asks sister: “How are you feeling, sister?” - “I feel a little better; If you, brother, had brought some more bear’s milk, I would have completely recovered.” The prince went into the forest, saw a bear feeding children, took aim, wanted to shoot her; she begged in a human voice: “Don’t shoot me, Ivan Tsarevich, don’t make my children orphans; tell me: what do you need?” - “I need your milk.” - “If you please, I’ll also give you a teddy bear in addition.” The prince milked the milk, took the teddy bear, and went back. The snake saw it and said to the princess: “Your brother is coming, carrying a bear cub; wish for more lion’s milk.” He said and turned around with a broom; she put it under the stove. Suddenly Ivan Tsarevich's hunt came running, sensed an unclean spirit, rushed under the stove and started shaking the broom. “Quiet your hunt, brother, otherwise tomorrow there will be nothing to sweep the stove with.” The prince shouted at his dogs; They lay down under the table, and they themselves growled.

The next morning the prince again asks: “How do you feel, sister?” - “No, it doesn’t help, brother! And I dreamed this night: if you got milk from the lioness, I would be cured.” The prince went into a dense, dense forest, walked for a long time - finally he saw: a lioness feeding small lion cubs, he wanted to shoot her; she says in a human voice: “Don’t shoot me, Ivan Tsarevich, don’t make my children orphans; Better tell me: what do you need?” - “I need your milk.” - “If you please, I’ll give you another lion cub in addition.” The prince milked the milk, took the lion cub, and goes home. The serpent Gorynych saw it, said to the princess: “Your brother is coming, carrying a lion cub,” and began to invent how to kill him.

I thought and thought, and finally came up with the idea of sending him to the thirtieth state; in that kingdom there is a mill behind twelve iron doors, it opens once a year - and then only a short time; Before you know it, the doors will slam shut. “Let him try and get some flour dust out of that mill!” He said these words and turned around; The princess threw him under the stove. Ivan Tsarevich entered the room, said hello and gave his sister the lion's milk; again the dogs sensed the snake spirit, rushed under the stove and began to gnaw at the grip. “Oh, brother, stop your hunt; They’ll break something else!” Ivan Tsarevich shouted at the dogs; They lay down under the table, and they themselves kept looking at the grip and growling angrily.

By morning the princess was more ill than before, groaning and groaning. “What's wrong with you, sister? - asks the brother. “Is there no benefit from milk?” - “None, brother!” - and began to send him to the mill. Ivan Tsarevich dried the crackers, took his dogs and animals with him, and went to the mill. He waited a long time until the time came and the twelve iron doors opened; The prince went inside, quickly swept up the flour dust and had just managed to get out when suddenly the doors slammed behind him, and he was left locked up in the mill. Ivan Tsarevich began to cry: “Apparently, my death is near!”

Returned home; the snake saw that he was alone, walking without hunting. “Well,” he says, “now I’m not afraid of him!” He jumped out to meet him, opened his mouth and shouted: “It took me a long time to get to you, prince! I'm tired of waiting; but I finally got there - now I’ll eat you!” - “Wait, eat me, behave better go to the bathhouse and wash yourself first.” The snake agreed and ordered him to fetch water, chop wood, and heat the bathhouse. Ivan Tsarevich began to chop wood and carry water. A raven flies in and croaks: “Kar-kar, Ivan Tsarevich! Chopping wood, but not soon; your hunt has gnawed through four doors.” Whatever he chops, he throws it into the water. A time is running yes it goes; there is nothing to do - we need to heat the bathhouse. The raven croaks again: “Kar-kar, Ivan Tsarevich! Heat the bathhouse, but not soon; your hunt has gnawed through eight doors.” I heated the bathhouse, began to wash, but kept one thing in my mind: “If only my hunt had arrived in time!” Here the dog comes running; he says: “Well, death is not scary for two!” Everyone came running after that dog.

The serpent Gorynych waited for Ivan Tsarevich for a long time, could not stand it and went to the bathhouse himself. The whole hunt jumped out at him and tore him into small pieces. Ivan Tsarevich collected those pieces in one place, burned them with fire, and scattered the ashes across an open field. He goes with his desire to the palace, he wants to cut off his sister’s head; she fell on her knees in front of him, began to cry and beg. The prince did not execute her, but took her out onto the road, sat her in a stone pillar, placed a bundle of hay next to her and placed two vats: one with water, the other empty. And he says: “If you drink this water, eat this hay and cry a vat full of tears, then God will forgive you, and I will forgive you.”

Ivan Tsarevich left his sister in a stone pillar and went with his hunt to distant lands; walked and walked, comes to a large, noble city; He sees that half of the people are having fun and singing songs, and the other is bursting with burning tears. He asked to spend the night with an old woman and asked: “Tell me, grandma, why is half of your people having fun, singing songs, while the other is crying bitterly?” The old woman answers him: “Oh-oh, father! A twelve-headed serpent has settled on our lake; it flies every night and eats people; That's why we have a queue - from which end on which day to give food. Those who have served their turn are having fun, and those who have not, those are spilling like a river.” - “Now who’s turn is it?” - “Yes, now the lot has fallen on the king’s daughter: her father has only one, and she has to give it away. The king announced that if someone is found to kill this serpent, he will reward him with half of the kingdom and give the princess in marriage; where are the heroes today? Everyone died for our sins!”

Ivan Tsarevich immediately gathered his hunt and went to the lake, and there the beautiful princess was standing and crying bitterly. “Don’t be afraid, princess, I am your defense!” Suddenly the lake became agitated and shook, and a twelve-headed snake appeared. “Ah, Ivan Tsarevich, Russian hero, why did you come here? Do you want to fight or make peace?” - “Why put up? The Russian hero is not after the right thing,” answered the prince and unleashed all his hunt on the snake: two dogs, a wolf, a bear and a lion. The animals instantly tore him to shreds. Ivan Tsarevich cut out the tongues from all twelve snake heads, put them in his pocket, dismissed the desire to go for a walk, and he lay down on the princess’s lap and fell soundly asleep. Early in the morning a water carrier arrived with a barrel, he looked - the snake had been killed, but the princess was alive, sleeping on her lap. good fellow. The water carrier ran up, pulled out a sword and cut off Tsarevich Ivan’s head, and forced the princess to swear an oath that she would recognize him as her savior. Then he collected the snake heads and took them to the king; and I didn’t even know that there were heads without tongues.

No more or less time has passed, and Ivan Tsarevich’s hunt comes running to that place; The prince lies headless. The lion covered him with grass and sat down next to him. Crows and crows flew in to peck at the carrion; The lion contrived, caught the little crow and wants to tear it in two. The old raven cries: “Don’t destroy my little one; he didn't do anything to you! If you need anything, give me an order and I’ll do it.” “I need dead and living water,” the lion answers, “bring it, then I’ll give you the little crow.” The raven flew, and the sun had not yet set - when it returned and brought two vials, dead and living water. The lion tore the little crow apart, sprinkled it with dead water - the pieces grew together, sprinkled it with living water - the little crow came to life and flew after the old raven. Then the lion sprinkled the dead and living water Ivan Tsarevich; he got up and said: “I slept for so long!” - “You would sleep forever if it weren’t for me!” - the lion answered him and told him how he found him killed and how he brought him back to life.

Ivan Tsarevich comes to the city; in the city everyone is having fun, hugging, kissing, singing songs. He asks the old woman: “Tell me, grandmother, why are you so happy?” - “Look, what an incident happened: the water carrier fought the snake and saved the princess; the king is now giving his daughter in marriage to him.” - “Can I watch the wedding?” - “If you know how to play something, then go for it; “Now they welcome all musicians there.” - “I know how to play the harp.” - “Go! The princess loves to death to hear people play the harp for her.”

Ivan Tsarevich bought himself a harp and went to the palace. He started playing - everyone listened, they were surprised: where did such a glorious musician come from? The princess pours a glass of wine and offers it to him from her hands; she looked and remembered her savior; Tears started falling from my eyes. “What are you crying about?” - the king asks her. She says: “I remembered my savior.” Then Ivan Tsarevich announced himself to the Tsar, told everything as it happened, and took snake tongues from his pocket as proof. The water carrier was grabbed by the arms, led and shot, and Ivan Tsarevich married the beautiful princess. To celebrate, he remembered his sister, went to the stone pillar - she ate the hay, drank the water, and cried a vat full of tears. Ivan Tsarevich forgave her and took her to his place; They all began to live and get along together, make good things, and enjoy life.

Animal's milk (tale version 4)

In a word, Prince-Prince Ivan-Korolich with his desire was irresistible, terrible even to the Serpent Zmeevich himself; But wasn’t he good at anything, no! How much he thought about it, how much he tried to exterminate the prince this way and that - it all failed! Yes, the princess helped. She brought her clear eyes under her forehead, lowered her white hands, and became slightly ill; The husband got scared and worried: how to treat it? “Nothing will lift me up,” she said, “except wolf’s milk; I need to wash myself and shower myself with it.”

The husband went for wolf's milk and took the hunt with him; A she-wolf came across, she just saw the prince-princely - she fell at his feet, and begged in a plaintive voice: “Prince-princely Ivan the prince, have mercy, order anything - I’ll do everything!” - “Give me your milk!” She immediately milked him for milk and gave him a wolf cub as a thank you. Ivan the prince gave the wolf cub to hunt, and brought the milk to his wife; and the wife was hoping: maybe her husband would disappear! I came - and there was nothing to do, I washed myself with wolf's milk, rolled myself around and got out of bed as if I were not sick. The husband was delighted.

Whether long or short, she fell ill again. “Nothing,” he says, “can help me; I need to go get some bear milk.” Ivan the prince took a hunt and went to look for bear's milk. The bear sensed trouble, fell at her feet, and tearfully begged: “Have mercy, whatever you order, I’ll do everything!” - “Okay, give me your milk!” She immediately milked the milk and gave him a teddy bear in gratitude. Ivan the prince again returned to his wife safe and healthy. “Well, my dear! Do some more service, in last time prove your friendship, bring me lion’s milk - and I won’t get sick, I’ll sing songs and amuse you every day.” The prince wanted to see his wife healthy and cheerful; went to look for the lioness. It was not an easy matter, the beast was overseas. He took his hunt; wolves and bears scattered across the mountains, across the valleys, a hawk and a falcon rose to the skies, scattered through the bushes, through the forests - and the lioness, like a humble slave, fell at the feet of Ivan the Prince. Ivan the prince brought lion's milk. The wife became healthier, cheerful, and again asked him: “My friend, my beloved friend! Now I am healthy and cheerful, and I would be even more beautiful if you had bothered to get me some magic dust: it lies behind twelve doors, behind twelve locks, in the twelve corners of the damn mill.”

The prince went - apparently, this was his lot! I came to the mill, the locks opened on their own, the doors opened; Prince Ivan collected dust, goes back - the doors are locked, the locks are locked; he went out, and the whole hunt remained there. It breaks, it makes noise, it fights, some break down doors with teeth, some with claws. Ivan the prince stood and stood, waited and waited, and returned home alone with grief; he felt sick in his stomach, cold in his heart, came home - and in the house his wife was running around and was cheerful and young, in the yard the Serpent Zmeevich was in charge: “Great, Ivan the prince! Here’s my greetings to you - there’s a silk loop around your neck!” - “Wait, Snake! - said the prince. - I am in your will, but I don’t want to die grieving; listen, I’ll tell you three songs.”

He sang one - the Serpent listened; and the raven, who pecked at the carrion and therefore did not fall into the trap, shouts: “Sing, sing, Ivan the prince! Your hunt has gnawed through three doors!” He sang another - the raven shouts: “Sing, sing, your hunt is already gnawing through the ninth door!” - “Enough, stop! - the Serpent hissed. “Stretch your neck, throw a noose!” - “Listen to the third, Zmey Zmeevich! I sang it before the wedding, and I will sing it before the grave.” He began the third song, and the raven shouted: “Sing, sing, Ivan the Prince!” Your hunt is already breaking the last lock!” Ivan the prince finished the song, stretched out his neck and shouted for the last time: “Farewell, white light; farewell, my hunt! And the hunt is here, it’s easy, a cloud flies like a cloud, a regiment runs like a regiment! The animals snatched the snake into pieces, the birds instantly pecked at his wife, and the prince-princely Ivan the prince was left alone with his desire to live out a century, alone to grieve, but would have been worth a better life.

They say that in the old days all these daredevils were born, but all we have left of them are fairy tales.

Have you heard about Zmey Zmeevich? If you have heard, then you know what he is like in both appearance and deed; and if not, then I’ll tell a story about him, how he, having thrown himself as a young fellow, a daring daredevil, went to see the beautiful princess. It is true that the princess was a beauty, black-browed, and inappropriately arrogant; It happened that honest people wouldn’t say a word, but ordinary people didn’t have access to her; only with Zmey Zmeevich shi-shi-shi! About what? Who knows!
And her husband, Prince-Prince Ivan the King, according to royal and noble custom, was engaged in hunting; and, to tell the truth, the hunt was no match for us! Not only dogs, and hawks, and falcons served him faithfully, but also foxes, and hares, and all kinds of animals and birds brought their tribute; whoever made something served him: the fox with cunning, the hare with agility, the eagle with its wings, the raven with its pecking ability.
In a word, Prince-Prince Ivan-Korolich with his desire was irresistible, terrible even to the Serpent Zmeevich himself; But wasn’t he good at anything, no!
How much he thought about it, how much he tried to exterminate the prince this way and that - it all failed! Yes, the princess helped. She brought her clear eyes under her forehead, lowered her white hands, and became slightly ill; The husband got scared and worried: how to treat it?
“Nothing will lift me up,” she said, “except wolf’s milk; I need to wash myself and shower with it.
The husband went for wolf's milk and took the hunt with him; a she-wolf came across, as soon as she saw the prince, she fell at his feet and begged in a plaintive voice:
- Prince Prince Ivan the King, have mercy, order something - I’ll do everything!
-Give me your milk!
She immediately milked him for milk and gave him a wolf cub as a thank you. Ivan the prince gave the wolf cub to hunt, and brought the milk to his wife; and the wife was hoping: maybe her husband would disappear! I came - and there was nothing to do, I washed myself with wolf's milk, rolled myself around and got out of bed as if I were not sick. The husband was delighted.
Whether long or short, she fell ill again.
“You can’t help me,” he says; I need to go get some bear milk.
Ivan the prince took a hunt and went to look for bear's milk. The bear sensed trouble, fell at her feet, and tearfully prayed:
- Have mercy, whatever you order, I’ll do everything!
- Okay, give me your milk!
She immediately milked the milk and gave him a teddy bear in gratitude.
Ivan the prince again returned to his wife safe and healthy.
- Well, my dear! Do another service, prove your friendship for the last time, bring me lion’s milk - and I won’t get sick, I’ll sing songs and amuse you every day.
The prince wanted to see his wife healthy and cheerful; went to look for the lioness. It was not an easy matter, the beast was overseas. He took his hunt; wolves and bears scattered across the mountains, across the valleys, a hawk and a falcon rose to the skies, scattered through the bushes, through the forests - and the lioness, like a humble slave, fell at the feet of Ivan the Prince.
Ivan the prince brought lion's milk. The wife became healthier, cheerful, and asked him again:
- My friend, beloved friend! Now I am healthy and cheerful, and I would be even more beautiful if you had bothered to get me some magic dust: it lies behind twelve doors, behind twelve locks, in the twelve corners of the damn mill.
The prince went - apparently, this was his lot! I came to the mill, the locks opened on their own, the doors opened; Prince Ivan collected dust, goes back - the doors are locked, the locks are locked; he went out, and the whole hunt remained there. It breaks, it makes noise, it fights, some break down doors with teeth, some with claws. Ivan the prince stood and stood, waited and waited, and returned home alone with grief; he felt sick in his stomach, cold in his heart, he came home - and in the house his wife was running around and was cheerful and young, in the yard Zmey Zmeevich was in charge:
- Great, Ivan the Prince! Here's my greetings to you - a silk loop around your neck!
-Wait, Snake! - said the prince. - I am in your will, but I don’t want to die grieving; listen, I'll tell you three songs.
He sang one - the Serpent listened; and the raven, who pecked at carrion and therefore did not fall into the trap, shouts:
-Sing, sing, Ivan the Prince! Your hunt has gnawed through three doors!
He sang another - the raven shouts:
- Sing, sing, your hunt is already gnawing through the ninth door!
- Enough, stop! - the Serpent hissed. - Stretch your neck, throw a noose!
-Listen to the third, Zmey Zmeevich! I sang it before the wedding, and I will sing it before the grave.
He began the third song, and the raven shouted:
-Sing, sing, Ivan the Prince! Your hunt is already breaking the last lock!
Ivan the prince finished the song, stretched out his neck and shouted for the last time:
- Goodbye, white light; goodbye my hunt!
And the hunt is here, it’s easy, a cloud flies like a cloud, a regiment runs like a regiment! The animals snatched the snake into pieces, the birds instantly pecked at his wife, and the prince-princely Ivan-Korolich was left alone with his desire to live out a century, alone to grieve, but would have been worth a better life.
They say that in the old days all these daredevils were born, but all we have left of them are fairy tales.

Animal milk

Have you heard about Zmey Zmeevich? If you have heard, then you know what he is like in both appearance and deed; and if not, then I’ll tell a fairy tale about him, how he, having thrown himself as a young fellow, a daring daredevil, went to see the beautiful princess.

It is true that the princess was a beauty, black-browed, and inappropriately arrogant; It happened that honest people wouldn’t say a word, but ordinary people didn’t have access to her; only with Zmey Zmeevich shi-shi-shi! About what? Who knows!

The fairy tale begins, unlike most, with a description of the Serpent - a negative, illusion-generating beginning. The fairy tale hints how ugly the Serpent is, but he can seduce the feminine principle - the emotional sphere under a beautiful appearance. The beautiful princess is the arrogant, inharmonious beginning of the soul, but just like the Serpent Zmeevich, under an attractive mask. Negative emotional sphere- the princess has analogies to the Serpent - chaos, so they found mutual language. The serpent Zmeevich is similar to the demon Ravana, and the princess is similar to Sita of the Indian epic. Ravana, in order to attract Sita, takes the form of a beautiful deer and steals her. Zmey Zmeevich takes on the appearance of a handsome young man.

And her husband, Prince-Prince Ivan the King, according to royal and noble custom, was engaged in hunting; and, to tell the truth, the hunt was no match for us! Not only dogs, and hawks, and falcons served him faithfully, but also foxes, and hares, and all kinds of animals and birds brought their tribute; whoever made something served him: the fox with cunning, the hare with agility, the eagle with its wing, the raven with its pecking.

Ivan the prince is consciousness sitting on his throne. A hunt consisting of different animals is clearly unusual. Foxes, hares, birds were hunted and killed. Here the prince does not kill these animals, but they serve him. Animals in in this case- symbols of Ivan’s various positive qualities - consciousness, his virtue. If in the fairy tale about the Frog Princess, Ivan gradually acquires friends - qualities of consciousness - these are a bear, a hare, a drake, a pike, then in the fairy tale "Animal's Milk" various positive principles, under the guise of hunting, initially serve Ivan the consciousness, making up his retinue.

Eagle serves as his wing, that is, he carries the qualities of the flight of thought towards perfection, the unlimitedness of his worldview. The eagle flies high and sees even a small mouse in the field - a symbol of vigilance and clarity of thinking. This is an accurate vision of the situation, forecasting.

Hare serves as agility - speed of thinking.

Dog barking warns about enemies, protects and saves from them, i.e. it is a symbol of the discriminating mind, capable of distinguishing the true from the false, chaotic and protecting itself from the latter. A dog is an intuitive understanding of events, a flair.

Fox serves as cunning - the positive part of this quality is the ability to maneuver between circumstances, to find an unexpected irrational solution.

Crow serves as a bite, that is, it destroys what is decaying and inharmonious in the consciousness, cleanses.

In a word, Prince-Prince Ivan-Korolich with his desire was irresistible, terrible even to the Snake Zmeevich himself, but wasn’t he ready for anything, no!

How much he thought about it, how much he tried to exterminate the prince this way and that - it all failed! Yes, the princess helped. She brought her clear eyes under her forehead, lowered her white hands, and became slightly ill; The husband got scared and worried: how to treat it?

“Nothing will lift me up,” she said, “except wolf’s milk; I need to wash myself and shower with it.

The husband went for wolf's milk and took the hunt with him; a she-wolf came across, as soon as she saw the prince-prince, she fell at his feet and begged in a plaintive voice:

“Prince-princely Ivan the prince, have mercy, order something - I’ll do everything!”

- Give me your milk!

She immediately milked him for milk and gave him a wolf cub as a thank you. Ivan the prince gave the wolf cub to hunt, and brought the milk to his wife; and the wife was hoping: maybe her husband would disappear! I came - and there was nothing to do, I washed myself with wolf’s milk, rolled myself around and got out of bed as if I were not sick. The husband was delighted.

In the sphere of negative emotions, the princess comes up with a plan for victory over positive consciousness.

Wolf's milk- a certain force that gives life. There is an expression - “to eat milk and honey,” that is, to absorb pure wonderful knowledge. Milk is pure knowledge and its power. The prince gets not only wolf milk, but also a wolf cub in his hunt. That is, another virtuous principle, but still young and developing (see “Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”).

Whether long or short, she fell ill again.

“Nothing,” he says, “can help me; I need to go get some bear milk.

Ivan the prince took a hunt and went to look for bear's milk. The bear sensed trouble, fell at her feet, and tearfully prayed:

- For mercy, whatever you order, I’ll do everything!

- Okay, give me your milk!

She immediately milked the milk and gave him a teddy bear in gratitude.

Ivan the prince again returned to his wife safe and healthy.

- Well, my dear! Do another service, prove your friendship for the last time, bring me lion’s milk - and I won’t get sick, I’ll sing songs and amuse you every day.

The prince wanted to see his wife healthy and cheerful; went to look for the lioness. It was not an easy matter, the beast was overseas. He took his hunt; wolves and bears scattered across the mountains, across the valleys, a hawk and a falcon rose to the skies, scattered through the bushes, through the forests - and the lioness, like a humble slave, fell at the feet of Ivan the Prince.

The bear in fairy tales is the archetype of strength, the wolf is a symbol of wisdom, the lion is the highest royal power. Ivan the prince brings milk - the power of knowledge, food of wisdom and purity. And, although the wife is washed by this cleansing knowledge, it falls off her “like water off a duck,” since the princess is not analogous to this knowledge.

Ivan the prince brought lion's milk. The wife became healthier, cheerful, and asked him again:

- My friend, beloved friend! Now I am healthy and cheerful, and I would be even more beautiful if you had bothered to get me some magic dust: it lies behind twelve doors, behind twelve locks, in the twelve corners of the damn mill.

The prince went - apparently, this was his lot! I came to the mill, the locks opened on their own, the doors opened; Prince Ivan collected dust, goes back - the doors are locked, the locks are locked; he went out, and the whole hunt remained there. It breaks, it makes noise, it fights, some break down doors with teeth, some with claws. Ivan the prince stood and stood, waited and waited, and returned home alone with grief; he felt sick in his stomach, cold in his heart, came home - and his wife was running around in the house and was cheerful and young, in the yard Zmey Zmeevich was in charge.

The wife's last task is to bring dust from the damn mill. The mill grinds grain into flour, i.e. makes it suitable for food. In popular belief, the mill is also associated with the grinding of sin. In the fall, people, carrying sacks of grain to the mill, believed that their sins committed during the year would also be ground. The devil's mill is a mill of chaos. She has twelve doors, locks and corners . Twelve- symbol of the twelve months of the year. Each month has its own door and lock. Each month, just like the day, has dual components - night and day, light and shadow, heat and cold, harmony and disharmony, order and chaos. It can be twelve night hours, as opposed to daytime. In this case, these are twelve doors-traps of the negative principle. The dust of this mill is the illusions that turn into dust after the sleep of the mind passes. You can enter these doors freely - they swing open on their own, but it is difficult to get out. Ivan-consciousness was able to leave the shadow sphere of the year, of life, but his hunt - virtues remained captive of the shadows. Therefore, consciousness is weakened and suppressed by chaotic manifestations. Ivan himself went for the dust of illusions and paid the price. As a result, on the throne of reason is the Serpent Zmeevich, chaos. Here we can compare it with the Egyptian myth of Osiris. As soon as Osiris, the king of Egypt, lay down in the sarcophagus at the suggestion of his brother Set, he was buried in it and thrown into the Nile, and the donkey-headed Set took his throne. Osiris is a symbol of wisdom and clear mind. The sarcophagus is a symbol of death. Osiris allowed illusions - Seth to deceive himself, plunging into the sarcophagus, he likened himself to death. Therefore, the throne of reason is occupied by the chaotic principle, bearing the head of instincts - the donkey.

The journey through the twelve gates also appears in Egyptian mythology. The sun god Ra with the other gods on the boat of eternity plunges into underworld to overcome the twelve gates and rise again on the horizon in the morning.

Egyptians have the idea that every hour of the day carries both positive and negative components. The negative part of each hour must be defeated, neutralized. Having won negative manifestation time, having fought with the serpent of chaos - Apep, the sun god, revived, transformed and full of strength, rose on the horizon of a new day in the form of a winged scarab - Khepri. At the same time, all the gods of the boat of eternity accompanied him - both on the night boat, helping to fight chaos, and celebrating victory together on the day boat. God Ra is accompanied by: Maat - the truth and order of the world, Thoth - the god of knowledge, wisdom, the lion-headed Sekhmet, personifying the laws of retribution for sins, Hathor - love, beauty and creativity, etc. Ra's retinue can be correlated with the hunt of Ivan, the beast-headed gods with qualities of consciousness, assistants in the form of animals - positive principles that defeat Apophis and the Serpent Zmeevich.

– Hello, Ivan the Prince! Here's my greetings to you - a silk loop around your neck!

- Wait, Snake! - said the prince. “I am in your will, but I don’t want to die grieving; listen, I'll tell you three songs.

He sang one - the Serpent listened; and the raven, who pecked at carrion and therefore did not fall into the trap, shouts:

- Sing, sing, Ivan the Prince! Your hunt has gnawed through three doors!

He sang another - the raven shouts:

- Sing, sing, your hunt is already gnawing away at the ninth door!

- Enough, stop! – the Serpent hissed. - Stretch your neck, throw a noose!

- Listen to the third, Zmey Zmeevich! I sang it before the wedding, and I will sing it before the grave.

He began the third song, and the raven shouted:

- Sing, sing, Ivan the Prince! Your hunt is already breaking the last lock!

Ivan the prince finished the song, stretched out his neck and shouted for the last time:

- Goodbye, white light; goodbye my hunt!

And the hunt is here, it’s easy, a cloud flies like a cloud, a regiment runs like a regiment! The animals snatched the snake into pieces, the birds instantly pecked at his wife, and the prince-princely Ivan the prince was left alone with his desire to live out a century, alone to grieve, but would have been worth a better life.

They say that in the old days all such and such daredevils were born, but all we have left from them are fairy tales.

The serpent of chaos is ready to kill Ivan the Prince, just like Seth Osiris, but not all virtues were captured by the damn mill, and even those who turned out to be not passive, strive to free themselves. The crow did not fly on the journey beyond the twelve doors because it was pecking at carrion, that is, it was clearing its consciousness.

Thanks to this cleansing principle, consciousness does not perish. The raven announces that the virtues of consciousness have gnawed through three doors, then nine, then twelve. His clear falcon-thoughts, discriminating mind, irrationality of thinking, intuition, wisdom break the locks of the shadow illusory principle and are freed. Having been freed, they destroy the negative principle that has ascended to the throne of the individual - the Snake, as the root of evil and the wife of Ivan the Prince - negative emotional manifestations. Clear consciousness is again installed on the throne along with the hunting virtues, but now free from the influences of the “spoiled psyche”, having learned that there is dust of illusions and having conquered them in every hour of the day and night of consciousness, every month of the year - the space of existence of consciousness.

This text is an introductory fragment. From the book of Mythology by Bart Roland

Wine and milk* Wine is experienced by the French as National treasure, like the three hundred and sixty varieties of their cheese and their culture. This is a totem drink, something like the milk of Dutch cows or tea, solemnly tasted by the royal family in England. Bachelard at the end

From the book Symbolism of fairy tales and myths of the peoples of the world. Man is a myth, fairy tale is you by Ben Anna

Milk. Boil in milk The white color of milk, in contrast to the black color, is associated with the idea of purity, innocence. Milk is the food of human and animal babies. The motive of immersing the hero in boiling milk is comparable to the motive of “creation-churning of the world (cosmogonic

From the book Star Puzzles author Townsend Charles Barry

Animal's milk Have you heard of Zmey Zmeevich? If you have heard, then you know what he is like in both appearance and deed; and if not, then I’ll tell a fairy tale about him, how he, having thrown himself as a young fellow, a daring daredevil, went to see the beautiful princess. It’s true that the princess was a beauty, black-browed, yes

From the author's book

How to deliver milk? In 1870, a great event took place in American history: the first regular railway service between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the country was opened! And then one enterprising young man decided that he could make a good

The bear ate all the people, ran to the royal palace and began gnawing a broom out of frustration.

“Don’t bite me, iron wool bear,” the broom tells him, “but rather go into the field, there you will see a pillar, and on that pillar are sitting Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful!”

The bear ran to the post and began to swing it. Ivan Tsarevich got scared and threw him food, but the bear ate enough and went to bed.

The bear is sleeping, and Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful are running without looking back... There is a horse on the road.

Horse, horse! Save us, they say.

They had just mounted their horse when the bear caught up with them. He tore the horse into pieces, took them in his mouth and brought them to the post. They gave him food, he ate and fell asleep again. The bear is sleeping, and Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful are running without looking back... Geese are walking along the road.

Geese, geese, save us.

They sat on the geese and flew, and the bear woke up, scorched the geese with a flame and brought them to the post. They gave him food again: he ate and fell asleep again. The bear is sleeping, and Ivan Tsarevich and Elena the Beautiful are running without looking back... There is a bull-calf standing on the road.

Goby, goby! Save us: an iron wool bear is chasing us.

Sit on me; You, Ivan Tsarevich, sit backwards and when you see the bear, tell me.

A bear, a bull-calf, etc., will just catch up with them, and will cover his eyes. Three times the bear caught up, three times the bull covered his eyes. They began to cross the river, the bear followed them - and drowned.

They wanted to eat, so the bull said to them:

Slaughter me and eat me, and collect my bones and strike them; They will turn out to be a fist-sized peasant - as big as a fingernail, with a beard as big as an elbow. He will do anything for you.

Time goes on and on, they ate the bull and wanted to eat again; They hit him lightly on the bones, and a small fist came out. So they went into the forest, and in that forest there was a house, and that house was a robber’s house. Kulachok killed both the robbers and the chieftain and locked them in the same room; but he didn’t tell Elena to go there. Only she couldn’t bear it, looked and fell in love with the chieftain’s head.

Give me some milk!

She asks them to take the wolf cub too, because he b….., p….., eats bread for nothing. Having taken the milk and the wolf cub, they went to Helen the Beautiful; They gave the milk to Elena, and took the wolf cub for themselves. These could not lime him; sent for bear milk. Ivan Tsarevich went with a fist-shaped peasant to get bear milk; find a bear:

Give me some milk!

She asks to take the teddy bear too, because he... eats bread for nothing. Again, having taken the milk and the teddy bear, they went to Helen the Beautiful; They gave her the milk and took the teddy bear for themselves. And with this they could not lime Ivan Tsarevich; They sent him for lion's milk. Ivan Tsarevich went with the peasant fist; they find a lioness, take milk; She asks them to take the lion cub too, because he... eats bread for nothing. They returned to Helen the Beautiful, gave the milk, and took the lion cub for themselves.

Elena the Beautiful ordered the bathhouse to be heated. Ivan Tsarevich went to the bathhouse, and Elena the Beautiful sent to him to tell him to wash himself quickly. Ivan Tsarevich did not listen to her; after all, he washed himself slowly. Suddenly a wolf cub, a bear cub and a lion cub came running to him; They tell him that the little fist man escaped from the firebird and will now come to him. Ivan Tsarevich ordered them to lie under the threshold in the bathhouse; but he still washed himself. Elena the Beautiful sends him again to tell him to wash himself quickly, and if he doesn’t come out soon, she will come herself. Ivan Tsarevich still did not listen and did not leave the bathhouse. Elena the Beautiful waited and waited, could not wait, and went with the chieftain to see what he was doing there. He comes and sees that he is washing and does not listen to orders; I got angry and gave him a slap. Out of nowhere, a little peasant-fist ordered the wolf cub, the bear cub and the lion cub to tear the chieftain into small pieces, and he took Elena and tied her naked to a tree so that her body would be eaten by mosquitoes and flies; and he himself set off with Ivan Tsarevich along the road.

We saw large chambers; says the fist man:

Would you like to get married, Ivan Tsarevich? Here in this house lives a heroic girl; she is looking for such a fellow to defeat her.

So we went to that house. Before they got there a little, Ivan Tsarevich sat down on his horse, and the little peasant behind him, and they began to call the hero-girl to fight. They fought and fought; The heroic girl hit Ivan Tsarevich in the chest - Ivan Tsarevich almost fell, but his fist held him back. Then Ivan Tsarevich hit the heroic girl with a spear - and she immediately fell off her horse. When Ivan Tsarevich knocked down the heroic girl, she said to him:

Well, Ivan Tsarevich, now you can marry me.

Soon the fairy tale is told, but not soon the deed is done. Ivan Tsarevich married a heroic girl.

Well, Ivan Tsarevich,” says the little peasant, “if you feel ill on the first night, then come to me; I will help in trouble.

So Ivan Tsarevich went to bed with the heroic girl. Suddenly the heroic girl put her hand on his chest, Ivan Tsarevich felt sick; he began to ask to leave. He came out, called the peasant-fist, and told him that the hero-girl was strangling him. The peasant-fist went to the hero-girl, began to beat her and say: “Honor your husband, honor your husband!” From that time on, they began to live and live and make good things.

Brother! Let me look for you.

She started looking for him and put a dead tooth in his head; Ivan Tsarevich began to die. The lion cub sees that Ivan Tsarevich is dying and pulls out his dead tooth; The prince began to come to life, and the lion cub began to die. The little bear pulled out a tooth; The lion cub began to come to life, and the bear cub began to die. The fox sees that he is dying, pulled out his dead tooth, and as she was the most cunning of all, she pulled it out and threw the tooth into the frying pan, which is why the tooth crumbled into pieces. For this, Ivan Tsarevich ordered Elena the Beautiful to be tied to the tail of a heroic horse and led across an open field. I was there, I drank honey, it flowed down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth.

Have you heard about Zmey Zmeevich? If you have heard, then you know what he is like in both appearance and deed; and if not, then I’ll tell a story about him, how he, having thrown himself as a young fellow, a daring daredevil, went to see the beautiful princess. It is true that the princess was a beauty, black-browed, and inappropriately arrogant; It happened that honest people wouldn’t say a word, but ordinary people didn’t have access to her; only with Zmey Zmeevich shi-shi-shi! About what? Who knows!
And her husband, Prince-Prince Ivan the King, according to royal and noble custom, was engaged in hunting; and, to tell the truth, the hunt was no match for us! Not only dogs, and hawks, and falcons served him faithfully, but also foxes, and hares, and all kinds of animals and birds brought their tribute; whoever made something served him: the fox with cunning, the hare with agility, the eagle with its wings, the raven with its pecking ability.
In a word, Prince-Prince Ivan-Korolich with his desire was irresistible, terrible even to the Serpent Zmeevich himself; But wasn’t he good at anything, no!
How much he thought about it, how much he tried to exterminate the prince this way and that - it all failed! Yes, the princess helped. She brought her clear eyes under her forehead, lowered her white hands, and became slightly ill; The husband got scared and worried: how to treat it?
“Nothing will lift me up,” she said, “except wolf’s milk; I need to wash myself and shower with it.
The husband went for wolf's milk and took the hunt with him; a she-wolf came across, as soon as she saw the prince, she fell at his feet and begged in a plaintive voice:
- Prince Prince Ivan the King, have mercy, order something - I’ll do everything!
-Give me your milk!
She immediately milked him for milk and gave him a wolf cub as a thank you. Ivan the prince gave the wolf cub to hunt, and brought the milk to his wife; and the wife was hoping: maybe her husband would disappear! I came - and there was nothing to do, I washed myself with wolf's milk, rolled myself around and got out of bed as if I were not sick. The husband was delighted.
Whether long or short, she fell ill again.
“You can’t help me,” he says; I need to go get some bear milk.
Ivan the prince took a hunt and went to look for bear's milk. The bear sensed trouble, fell at her feet, and tearfully prayed:
- Have mercy, whatever you order, I’ll do everything!
- Okay, give me your milk!
She immediately milked the milk and gave him a teddy bear in gratitude.
Ivan the prince again returned to his wife safe and healthy.
- Well, my dear! Do another service, prove your friendship for the last time, bring me lion’s milk - and I won’t get sick, I’ll sing songs and amuse you every day.
The prince wanted to see his wife healthy and cheerful; went to look for the lioness. It was not an easy matter, the beast was overseas. He took his hunt; wolves and bears scattered across the mountains, across the valleys, a hawk and a falcon rose to the skies, scattered through the bushes, through the forests - and the lioness, like a humble slave, fell at the feet of Ivan the Prince.
Ivan the prince brought lion's milk. The wife became healthier, cheerful, and asked him again:
- My friend, beloved friend! Now I am healthy and cheerful, and I would be even more beautiful if you had bothered to get me some magic dust: it lies behind twelve doors, behind twelve locks, in the twelve corners of the damn mill.
The prince went - apparently, this was his lot! I came to the mill, the locks opened on their own, the doors opened; Prince Ivan collected dust, goes back - the doors are locked, the locks are locked; he went out, and the whole hunt remained there. It breaks, it makes noise, it fights, some break down doors with teeth, some with claws. Ivan the prince stood and stood, waited and waited, and returned home alone with grief; he felt sick in his stomach, cold in his heart, he came home - and in the house his wife was running around and was cheerful and young, in the yard Zmey Zmeevich was in charge:
- Great, Ivan the Prince! Here's my greetings to you - a silk loop around your neck!
-Wait, Snake! - said the prince. - I am in your will, but I don’t want to die grieving; listen, I'll tell you three songs.
He sang one - the Serpent listened; and the raven, who pecked at carrion and therefore did not fall into the trap, shouts:
-Sing, sing, Ivan the Prince! Your hunt has gnawed through three doors!
He sang another - the raven shouts:
- Sing, sing, your hunt is already gnawing through the ninth door!
- Enough, stop! - the Serpent hissed. - Stretch your neck, throw a noose!
-Listen to the third, Zmey Zmeevich! I sang it before the wedding, and I will sing it before the grave.
He began the third song, and the raven shouted:
-Sing, sing, Ivan the Prince! Your hunt is already breaking the last lock!
Ivan the prince finished the song, stretched out his neck and shouted for the last time:
- Goodbye, white light; goodbye my hunt!
And the hunt is here, it’s easy, a cloud flies like a cloud, a regiment runs like a regiment! The animals snatched the snake into pieces, the birds instantly pecked at his wife, and the prince-princely Ivan the prince was left alone with his desire to live out a century, alone to grieve, but would have been worth a better life.
They say that in the old days all these daredevils were born, but all we have left of them are fairy tales.