In ancient times, an old man and an old woman lived on the very edge of a small town. They sold sweet toffee ame. Once upon a time in the dark winter evening a young woman knocked on the door of their shop. Standing outside the threshold, she timidly handed over a three-groschen coin.
- Here, please give me some of your ame...
- Why are you standing in the cold wind, madam? Come in, warm up while we wrap up your purchase.
- No, I’ll stand here.
The young woman took the bundle of treats and disappeared into the darkness.
- Who is she and why does she come at such a late time? Does she really have no other time?
On the second and third nights the woman came again. And on the fourth, the old people realized: she didn’t leave them a coin, but a dry piece of paper.
- Oh, liar! - the old woman cried out. “Go, old man, follow her, she hasn’t gone far yet.” If only I had better eyes, she wouldn’t have slipped me a piece of paper instead of a coin...
“Look, there are lumps of red clay at the threshold...” the old man was surprised, lighting a lantern. “And where did this woman come from?” Next door we have one white sand.
He wandered in the direction where the stranger had disappeared. He looks: no footprints are visible in the snow, only lumps of red clay show a footprint.
“But there aren’t even houses here,” the old man thinks. “Did she really go to the cemetery?” There are only grave monuments all around.”
Suddenly he heard a baby crying...
“That’s right, it seemed to me. So it’s quiet... It’s the wind whistling in the branches.”
No, the child’s cry was heard again, plaintive and muffled, as if coming from underground. The old man came closer. And sure enough, someone is crying under the fresh mound of a grave...
“Wonderful thing! - the old man thinks. - I’ll go wake up the abbot of the neighboring temple. We need to find out what the secret is. Is he really buried alive in a grave?”
He woke up the abbot. They went to the grave with a spade.
- This one, or what? “A pregnant woman was buried here several days ago,” exclaimed the abbot. “She died of some illness before giving birth.” Wasn’t it just your imagination, old man?
Suddenly, a child's cry was heard again, muffled and muffled, under their feet.
They began to hastily dig with a spade. The lid of the new coffin appeared. They pulled the lid off. They see: a young woman lies in a coffin, as if sleeping, and on the chest of the dead mother is a living baby. And he has sweet ame in his mouth.
- So that’s what she fed him! Now I understand everything! - exclaimed the old man. “Great is the miracle of mother’s love!” There is no stronger one in the world! The poor thing first gave me the coins that, according to custom, were put in her coffin, and when they ran out, she brought a dry piece of paper... Oh, unfortunate thing, she took care of her baby even beyond the coffin.
Here both old men shed tears over the open grave. They unclenched their hands dead woman, took the baby out of her arms and took him to the temple. There he grew up, and there he remained to take care of the grave of his mother, who loved him so much, all his life...
In the old days, in ancient times, an old man and an old woman lived on the very edge of a small town. They sold sweet toffee ame.
One dark winter evening, a young woman knocked on the door of their shop. Standing outside the threshold, she timidly handed over a three-groschen coin.
- Here, please give me some of your ame...
- Why are you standing in the cold wind, madam? Come in, warm up while we wrap up your purchase.
- No, I’ll stand here.
The young woman took the bundle of treats and disappeared into the darkness.
She came the next evening. The old people began to talk among themselves:
– Who is she and why does she come at such a late time? Does she really have no other time?
On the third night the woman came again. And on the fourth, the old people realized: she didn’t leave them a coin, but a dry piece of paper.
- Oh, liar! - the old woman cried. “Go, old man, follow her, she hasn’t gone far yet.” If only I had better eyes, she wouldn’t have slipped me a piece of paper instead of a coin.
“Look, there are lumps of red clay at the threshold...” the old man wondered, lighting a lantern. “And where did this woman come from?” Next door we have one white sand.
He wandered in the direction where the stranger had disappeared. He looks: no footprints are visible in the snow, only lumps of red clay show a footprint.
“But there aren’t even any houses here,” the old man thinks. “Did she really go to the cemetery?” There are only grave monuments all around.”
Suddenly he heard a baby crying...
“That’s right, it seemed to me. So it’s quiet... It’s the wind whistling in the branches.”
No, the child’s cry was heard again, plaintive and muffled, as if coming from underground.
The old man came closer. And sure enough, someone is crying under the fresh mound of a grave...
“Wonderful thing! – the old man thinks. “I’ll go and wake up the rector of the neighboring temple.” We need to find out what the secret is. Is he really buried alive in a grave?”
He woke up the abbot. They went to the grave with a spade.
- This one, or what? “A pregnant woman was buried here several days ago,” exclaimed the abbot. “She died of some illness before giving birth.” Wasn’t it just your imagination, old man?
Suddenly, a child's cry was heard again, muffled and muffled, under their feet.
They began to hastily dig with a spade. The lid of the new coffin appeared. They pulled the lid off. They see: a young woman lies in a coffin, as if sleeping, and on the chest of the dead mother is a living baby. And he has sweet ame in his mouth.
“So that’s what she fed him!” Now I understand everything! – exclaimed the old man. “Great is the miracle of mother’s love!” There is no stronger one in the world! The poor thing first gave me the coins that, according to custom, were placed in her coffin, and when they ran out, she brought a dry piece of paper... Oh, unfortunate thing, she took care of her baby even beyond the coffin.
Here both old men shed tears over the open grave. They unclenched the hands of the dead woman, took the baby out of her arms and took him to the temple.
There he grew up, and there he remained to take care of the grave of his mother, who loved him so much, all his life.
“Once upon a time there lived a mother and son. Their folder was killed in the war. And the post-war times were hungry. Mom doted on her son, she loved him so much. The best goes to him! He will tear him away from himself, but will not offend his son. It used to be that they would treat her to candy at work, but she wouldn’t eat it herself – she would bring it to Slavik. And then he’s also capricious, like, why one and not two!?
Mom tried her best to make her son feel good. Either he will do some renovation, then he will buy a new toy, or he will get the shortage.
Everything for him, everything!
The child grew up, thank God, quite healthy, and was not seriously ill.
It’s hard for a woman to raise a child alone. What's it like without a man in the house?!
She could, of course, get married, and there were suitors, but her son was so jealous that it led to a nervous breakdown. How can a loving mother do anything to the detriment of her child?
So she remained a widow.
Well, okay! If only my son was happy!
The last bell at school has already rung, and the institute is not far away.
She nurtured her beloved Slavochka, taught her, and released her into the world as a young specialist with highly educated. She went, asked, persuaded, and they took my son to work at a closed research institute. It’s not right to put it in a mechanical shop, to sharpen and saw all sorts of dirty pieces of iron!?
Time passed.
They slowly acquired property - a one-room apartment, a small dacha, some furniture, various household appliances.
In general, not bad.
son in male strength entered. Started getting married. But of course! Anyone for him, just whistle! Handsome! Blood and milk!
Mom thought and joined the housing cooperative for an apartment for Slavik.
And on time!
In general, she gave the newlyweds the keys to a brand new apartment for their wedding.
I didn’t have time to save up for a car, but my granddaughter Alyonka was already three years old. On this occasion, the son wanted to have a serious conversation with his mother.
- My granddaughter is already big, but the apartment is too small. It’s a young business, but here she is spinning around. It’s inconvenient, you know...
- I was saving for a car. If so, take what you have. You can exchange your apartment for a larger one with an additional payment! But for now I’ll take Alyonka with me.
The son hid the money in his pocket and answered as follows.
- How can you, mom!? The child must be with his parents. What did we think? Let's change our apartments to one.
- That's good too. Look, I’ll live with my granddaughter.
- I’m telling you, it’s so cramped, I have to drag you there too!
- Where am I going?! - Mom was surprised.
- What’s the use of a dacha?! She's warm. And the air is fresh! You'll have a good time there!
And my mother began to live in the country.
Everything would be fine, but only the dashing “nineties” broke out. When my son lost his job, he went into business. But either he didn’t have business acumen, or he was caught by unscrupulous partners, only he burned to the ground, and he still had to stay!
I went to my mother.
- Mom! I sold the car, but the debt still hangs.
- My poor thing!? How can I help?
- We need to sell the dacha!
- It’s necessary, it’s necessary! I'll move in with you!
- No, mom! I agreed, you will go to a nursing home. I've already paid the fee. One year ahead, for now. Everything is so expensive, it's scary!
- Okay, son! - Mom said, but she couldn’t help but cry.
- Just don't cry! When I get up, I’ll buy you a house... with a swimming pool.
Three months later, Slavik arrived at the nursing home and told his mother that he was again completely in debt, like silk. That his wife left him, taking Alena with her, and at the same time the apartment.
The mother sighed heavily, feeling sorry for her son, took out a shabby rag from her bosom and handed it to her son with words.
- Take it! I have nothing else! I got it from my mother, and she got it from my grandmother.
The son unfolded the rag and saw a platinum ring with a large diamond.
- And you were silent?! – he shouted angrily at his mother.
He spat at her feet and left.
And my mother died in the evening.”
What a sad tale! - said Vanyatka.
- This is not a fairy tale at all, but the life story of your great-great-grandmother. – Baba Alena answered with a sad smile and stroked her grandson on the head.
- How interesting! What happened to my son? Did that ring help him?
- From this moment the real fairy tale begins.
- How is this?!
- They say that mother's love is blind, but superficial people say this. A mother's love for her children is stronger than any diamond because she loves her children as they are, whether they are good or bad. Does not expect gratitude and does not demand anything in return. That's why her love is more valuable than anyone's gemstone or metal, and therefore has no price. But, like any phenomenon, this love also has a downside.
- Which?! – the grandson impatiently interrupted the grandmother.
Take your time and think about what I'm about to say. If a mother's love is not reciprocated by her children, they will not be happy. Never!
- I think I understand! That’s why you and your mother often go to your grandmothers’ graves!
- You're smart! - said Baba Alena and kissed Vanyatka on the warm top of her head. – The memory of the departed is one of the manifestations of mutual love.
- Granny! What about miracles? What is a fairy tale without miracles?
- My son gave the ring to creditors for debts. But when they unwrapped the rag, there was no ring in it, and they decided that the debtor wanted to deceive them. In the end, the beaten Slavik ended up in the city landfill, where he ended his life ingloriously.
- Where did it go?!
- Here it is! - and Baba Lena took a clean rag from the chest of drawers, in it lay a platinum ring with a large diamond.
- Indeed, miracles! Where!?
Don't know! I found it in my childhood locker the day after your great-great-grandmother's funeral. I was 8 years old then. But I think I know why it ended up with me.
- Why!?
- You see! My mother, your great-grandmother, did very bad things to your great-great-grandmother. After all, it was partly her fault that she ended up in a nursing home, because she didn’t want her to live with them. And the wonderful thing about the ring is that it cannot be sold, pawned, or turned into money in any way. It can only be protected and stored as the embodiment of maternal love. Your great-great-grandmother died because she gave absolutely everything she had, and could not live without her love.
***
- Why aren’t you sleeping? Is it too late already!? - Mom said, entering the room. She just returned from work.
- We talked about love! – answered Baba Lena.
- Isn’t it too early!?
- Just right! - Granny objected, got up and went to the chest of drawers, wrapping the ring in a rag as she went.
- Aah! You're talking about this! - Mom realized, watching her mother’s actions. - Oh, I forgot, they treated me to an apple! Take it, Vanyush, eat it.
The son took the apple, thoughtfully turned it over in his fingers, then cut it in half and handed the halves to his grandmother and mother with words.
- It is harmful for children to eat at night. I'd rather drink milk.
The women secretly looked at each other and smiled quietly at each other.
There are many stories about great power maternal love. But it happens that we, busy with our own affairs and problems, find out too late how ardently and tenderly our mothers loved us. And we repent too late that we have inflicted incurable wounds on our loving mother’s heart... But who knows, maybe, as the song says, “from somewhere above,” our mothers see our belated repentance and forgive their late-wisher children. After all, a mother’s heart knows how to love and forgive like no one else on earth...
Nina was unable to keep the secret of her baptism from her mother for long. Tatyana Ivanovna suspected something was wrong not even because her daughter suddenly stopped wearing jeans and a knitted cap with tassels, replacing them with long skirt and a handkerchief. And not because she completely stopped using cosmetics. Unfortunately, Nina, like many young converts, completely ceased to be interested in studying, deciding that it distracted her from “the one thing she needs.” And while she spent days on end studying the Lives of the Saints and the Philokalia, volume after volume, textbooks and notebooks became covered with an increasingly thick layer of dust...
More than once Tatyana Ivanovna tried to persuade Nina not to skip her studies. But everything was useless. The daughter was exclusively occupied with saving her own soul. The closer the end got academic year, and along with its approach, the number of detentions with Nina increased to astronomical figures, the more heated the clashes between Nina and her mother became. One day, enraged, Tatyana Ivanovna, gesticulating violently, accidentally brushed away with her hand the icon that was standing on her daughter’s table. The icon fell to the floor. And then Nina, who regarded her mother’s act as blasphemy against a sacred thing, hit her for the first time in her life...
Subsequently, mother and daughter became more and more alien to each other, although they continued to coexist in the same apartment, periodically quarreling. Nina equated her life under the same roof with her mother to martyrdom, and considered Tatyana Ivanovna the main obstacle to her further spiritual growth, since it was she who aroused the passion of anger in her daughter. On occasion, Nina liked to complain to her friends and Fr. Dimitri on his mother's cruelty. At the same time, hoping to evoke their compassion, she decorated her stories with such fantastic details that Tatyana Ivanovna seemed to her listeners to be a kind of Diocletian in a skirt. True, one day Father Dimitri allowed himself to doubt the veracity of Nina’s stories. Then she immediately broke up with her spiritual father and moved to another church, where she soon began singing and reading in the choir, leaving the former psalm-reader, a lonely old Ukrainian woman, almost out of work... Nina liked the new church even more than the old one, because his abbot drilled his spiritual children with penances in the form of dozens, or even hundreds of prostrations, which gave no one any reason to doubt the correctness of his spiritual leadership. The parishioners, and especially the parishioners, dressed in black and tied with dark scarves up to their eyebrows, with a rosary on their left wrist, looked not like laywomen, but like novices of some monastery. At the same time, many of them were sincerely proud that, with the blessing of the priest, they had forever expelled from their apartments the “idol and servant of hell,” colloquially referred to as a television, as a result of which they received undoubted confidence in their future salvation... However, the severity of the rector of this temple towards his spiritual children later brought good fruit - many of them, having passed in their parish primary school ascetics, subsequently went to various monasteries and became exemplary monks and nuns.
Nina was nevertheless expelled from the institute for poor academic performance. She never tried to continue her studies, considering a doctor’s degree a thing unnecessary for eternal life. Tatyana Ivanovna managed to get her daughter a job as a laboratory assistant at one of the departments of the medical institute, where Nina worked, without, however, showing much zeal for her work. Like the heroines of her favorite lives of saints, Nina knew only three roads - to church, to work and, late in the evening, home. Nina never got married, because she definitely wanted to become either a priest’s wife or a nun, and all other options did not suit her. Over the years of her stay in the Church, she read a lot of spiritual books, and memorized the Gospel texts almost by heart, so that in the inevitable disputes and disagreements in parish life, she proved her own rightness, striking down her opponents “with the sword of the words of God.” If a person refused to admit that Nina was right, then she immediately included him in the category of “pagans and publicans”... Meanwhile, Tatyana Ivanovna was getting old and increasingly thinking about something. Sometimes Nina found brochures and leaflets in her bag, which, apparently, were handed to her on the street by Jehovah's Witness sectarians. Nina scoldedly took away the dangerous books from her mother, and, calling her a “sectarian,” tore them into small pieces in front of her eyes and sent them to the trash can. Tatyana Ivanovna remained silent resignedly.
Nina’s suffering, forced to live under the same roof with her unbelieving mother, came to an end after Tatyana Ivanovna retired and began to get sick more and more often. One evening, when Nina, returning from church, was devouring the Lenten borscht her mother had cooked for her, Tatyana Ivanovna said to her daughter:
- That's it, Ninochka. I want to apply for a nursing home. I don't want to interfere with your life anymore. Do you think I should do this?
If Nina had looked into her mother’s eyes at that moment, she would have read in them all the pain of her mother’s suffering heart. But she, without raising her eyes from the plate of borscht, muttered:
- Don't know. Do as you please. I don't care.
Soon after this conversation, Tatyana Ivanovna managed to formalize everything necessary documents and moved to live in a nursing home located on the outskirts of the city, taking with her only a small suitcase with the most necessary things. Nina didn’t even consider it necessary to see her mother off. After her departure, she even felt joy - after all, it turned out that the Lord Himself had saved her from the need to continue living with her unloved mother. And subsequently - from caring for her.
After Nina was left alone, she decided that now she could arrange her own destiny the way she had long wanted. In the neighboring diocese there was a convent with strict rules and a well-established spiritual life. Nina went there more than once, and in her dreams she imagined herself as a novice of this particular monastery. True, the local abbess did not accept anyone into the monastery without the blessing of the perspicacious elder Alipius from the famous Vozdvizhensky Monastery, located in the same diocese, in the city of V. But Nina was sure that the elder would certainly bless her to enter the monastery. Or maybe even, taking into account her previous work in the temple, she will immediately be tonsured as a ryassophore? And how beautiful she will look in the clothes of a nun - in a black duckweed and hood, trimmed with fur, with long rosary in her hand - a real bride of Christ... With such rosy dreams, Nina went to the elder, buying him an expensive Greek icon as a gift in a silver robe.
To the amazement of Nina, who sought a personal conversation with the elder, he refused to accept her. But she was not going to give up, and managed to sneak into the elder with a group of pilgrims. When she saw the elder, Nina fell at his feet and began to ask for his blessing to enter the nunnery. But to Nina’s amazement, the perspicacious elder gave her a stern rebuke:
- What did you do with your mother? How can you say that you love God if you hate your mother? And don’t dream of a monastery - I won’t bless you!
Nina wanted to object to the elder that he simply had no idea what a monster her mother was. But, probably from excitement and frustration, she could not utter a word. However, when the first shock passed, Nina decided that Elder Alypius was either not as perspicacious as they say about him, or was simply mistaken. After all, there were cases when even future great saints were denied entry into the monastery...
...About six months have passed since Nina’s mother went to a nursing home. One day at this time, in the church where Nina was singing, an old Ukrainian psalmist died. The neighbors of the deceased brought her notes and notebooks with recordings of liturgical texts to the church, and the rector blessed Nina to review them and select what could be useful in the choir. Nina's attention was attracted by one of the notebooks, with a black oilcloth cover. It contained carols - Russian and Ukrainian, as well as various poems of spiritual content, which are usually called "psalms" by the people. However, there was one poem written in Ukrainian, which was not a “psalm”, but rather a legend. Its plot looked something like this: a certain young man promised his beloved girl to fulfill any of her wishes. “Then bring me your mother’s heart,” demanded the cruel beauty. And the young man, mad with love, fearlessly fulfilled her wish. But when he returned to her, carrying a terrible gift in a scarf - a mother's heart, he stumbled and fell. Apparently, it was the earth that shook under the feet of the matricide. And then the mother’s heart asked her son: “Are you hurt, son?”
While reading this legend, Nina suddenly remembered her mother. How is she? What's wrong with her? However, considering the memory of her mother to be a demonic excuse, Nina immediately reflected it with a quote from the Gospel: “... who is My Mother?... whoever does the will of My Heavenly Father is My brother, and sister, and Mother.” (Matthew 12.48, 50) And thoughts about the mother disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.
But at night Nina had an unusual dream. It’s as if someone is leading her through a beautiful Garden of Eden, buried in flowers and planted fruit trees. And Nina sees that in the middle of this garden stands beautiful house, or rather a palace. “So this is the kind of palace the Lord has prepared for me,” Nina thought. And then her companion, as if reading her thoughts, answered her: “no, this is a palace for your mother.” “What then for me?” - asked Nina. But her companion was silent... And then Nina woke up...
The dream she had had confused her. How is it that the Lord, after all that Nina did for Him, did not prepare for her a palace in paradise corresponding to her merits before Him? And why such honor to her mother, an unbeliever and not even baptized? Of course, Nina considered her dream to be an enemy’s obsession. But still, curiosity got the better of her, and, taking with her some gifts, she asked the abbot for leave and went to the nursing home to visit her mother, whom she had not seen for six months.
Since Nina did not know the number of the room in which her mother lived, she decided to start her search from the nurse's station. There she found a young nurse putting pills for patients into plastic cups. Much to Nina’s surprise, she noticed a small icon of the Kazan Church on the cabinet with medicines. Mother of God, and on the windowsill there is a book about Blessed Xenia of Petersburg with a bookmark sticking out. After greeting the nurse, Nina asked her which room Tatyana Ivanovna Matveeva lived in.
— Did you come to visit her? - asked the nurse. - Unfortunately, you are late. Tatyana Ivanovna died two months ago. She took out some magazine, and, finding in it right place, called Nina exact date her mother's death. But, apparently, at this time the nurse remembered something significant for her, and she continued the conversation herself:
- Who will you be for her? Daughter? You know, Nina Nikolaevna, how happy you are! You had a wonderful mother. I didn’t study with her, but I heard a lot of good things about her from her students. Everyone loved her here too. And she died hard - she fell and broke her leg. Then the bedsores started to develop, and I went to bandage her. You know, I have never seen such patients in my life. She didn’t cry, didn’t moan, and thanked me every time. I have never seen people die so meekly and courageously as your mother. And two days before her death, she asked me: “Galenka, bring my father to me, let him baptize me.” Then I called our father Ermogen, and the next day he came and baptized her. And the next day she died. If you could see what her face was like, bright and clear, as if she had not died, but had just fallen asleep... Just like a saint...
There was no end to Nina's amazement. It turns out that her mother believed before her death and died, having been cleansed by Baptism from all her previous sins. And the talkative nurse continued to tell:
- And you know, she often remembered you. And when Father Ermogen baptized her, she asked to pray for you. When she fell ill, I suggested that she call you. But she refused: no need, Galenka, why bother Ninochka. She already has enough to do. Yes, and I am guilty before her... And I also asked you not to tell about my death, so that you would not worry in vain. I obeyed, sorry...
This is what Nina found out about last days his mother's life. Having given away the gifts she had brought to the nurse and the old women from the neighboring rooms, she went home on foot to calm down at least a little. She wandered along deserted snowy streets, not making out the road. But what depressed her was not that she had now lost her only loved one, but the fact that she could not come to terms with how God had given such a wonderful place in heaven not to her, who had labored all her life for Him, but to her mother, who was baptized just a day before her death. And the more she thought about it, the more a murmur against God rose in her soul: “Lord, why should she, and not me? How did you allow this to happen? Where is Your justice? And then the earth opened up under Nina’s feet and she fell into the abyss.
No, it was not a miracle at all. Simply, immersed in her thoughts, Nina did not notice the open sewer hatch and fell straight into a gaping hole. From surprise, she did not have time to scream, or pray, or even be afraid. No less unexpected was the fact that her feet suddenly rested on something hard. It was probably some kind of box that someone dropped into the hatch and got stuck in it. After that, someone's strong hands grabbed Nina and dragged her upstairs. She didn't remember what happened next.
When Nina came to her senses, people crowded around her, scolding the mayor's office and the thieves who had stolen the metal manhole cover, and wondered how Nina managed to get out without outside help. Nina mechanically looked into the hatch and saw how at its bottom, deep, deep, water was splashing and some kind of pipe was sticking out. But there is no trace of any box inside. And then she lost consciousness again...
She was taken to the hospital, examined, and, finding no injuries, was sent home, advising her to take a sedative. Once at home, Nina took the pill, having previously crossed it and washed it down with holy water, and soon fell asleep. She dreamed that she was falling into an abyss. And suddenly she hears: “Don’t be afraid, daughter,” and her mother’s strong, warm hands pick her up and carry her somewhere up. And then Nina finds herself in the very garden that she dreamed about yesterday. And he sees wonderful trees and flowers. And also the palace where she was told her mother lived. And next to this palace, indeed, stands her mother, young and beautiful, as in photographs from an old album.
-Are you hurt, daughter? - Nina’s mother asks.
And then Nina realized what saved her from inevitable death. It was motherly love and mother's prayer, which “raises from the bottom of the sea.” And Nina began to sob and began to kiss her mother’s feet, watering them with her belated tears of repentance.
And then her mother, bending over her, began to affectionately stroke her already graying hair:
- Don’t cry, don’t cry, daughter... May the Lord forgive you. And I forgave you everything a long time ago. Live, serve God and be happy. Just remember: “God is love...” (1 John 4.16) If you love and have pity on people, we will meet again and will never part again. And this house will become your home.
BThere was once a large and rich kingdom in the world, ruled by a beautiful queen. She was very beautiful, smart and kind, and her subjects lived happily. The queen had five children - two princesses and three princes. The first princess loved to weave and was known as a wonderful craftswoman, the second princess sang like a nightingale, and the prince brothers most of all loved to fish.
And then one evening a misfortune happened in the palace. A terrible roar was heard in the queen’s room, and an evil sorcerer appeared - the ruler of the neighboring kingdom. This sorcerer had long wanted to marry the queen and receive her wealth, but she always refused him. The noise woke up everyone in the castle. The children ran to their mother’s room and saw that the evil sorcerer had grabbed her and was carrying her away through the air.
A big commotion began. The queen's advisors decided to gather a large army and start a war with the terrible sorcerer.
But the youngest brother said:
It takes too long to gather an army. We ourselves must go on the road and save mother.
But where to look for it? - asked the princesses.
Suddenly the queen's oldest adviser stood up and said:
Dear children, seek advice from your godmother. People in the kingdom say that she good fairy. She will definitely help you and give wise advice.
first advice.
The saddened children went to the outskirts of the city where the godmother lived. She greeted them warmly and was very upset to learn about their grief.
Tell us, godmother, where can we look for our mother?
The fairy poured spring water into a cup, blew on it and said:
Drops of water, rays of the sun, find our queen, wherever she is.
The water in the cup glowed, and the children saw their mother sitting by the window in a strange castle.
Fairy said:
Look for your mother in a distant kingdom, beyond the mountains and seas. The sorcerer cast a spell on her, and she will not remember you. In order to lift the spell, you need to prove your love to her. Go and be brave, the rays of the sun will show you the way.
And so they set off. The sun guided them until they came to a large dark forest. The children stopped at the edge of the forest, the princesses were afraid to enter the forest. But the younger prince said:
Remember what your godmother said and be brave.
And the children entered the forest. They wandered for a long time in the thicket, but could not find the road. The princesses cried bitterly. Then the brothers said:
Stay at the edge of the forest for now, and we will look for the way. Your younger brother will stay with you.
And they left.
The brothers walked for a long time through the tall grass and came to a stream.
Let’s catch some fish, they decided, “Then at least we won’t die of hunger here in the forest.”
They took fishing rods out of the linings of their hats and sat down on the bank of the stream. Suddenly one of the brothers’ line twitched, and he pulled out a large red fish. And the other brother pulled out a blue fish.
They were very happy and returned to their sisters and brother. The brothers lit a fire and were about to fry fish, when suddenly the fire began to smoke, and a terrible witch appeared from it. She screamed in a terrible voice:
How dare you come into my forest and fish from my stream?
The eldest princess was frightened and said in a trembling voice:
Forgive us, we were looking for our mother and lost our way. Please help me.
The witch looked at her and said:
Okay, I'll help you get out of the forest. But you will have to pay for help. Your sister sings like a nightingale. Let her give me her vote.
The younger sister did not want to part with her voice, but her love for her mother was stronger. Crying, she gave the witch her wonderful voice.
She remained mute, and the witch spoke in a gentle voice:
Follow me. I'll show you the way to the sea.
She turned into a nightingale and flew away.
The children ran after her. They walked and walked, and then the blue sea stretched out before them. The children stopped on the shore, not knowing what to do.
And the nightingale sang:
A wonderful land lies beyond the sea, in a castle on the seashore your mother is sad, you need to swim across the sea, you need to ask the king of the sea for help.
And the bird disappeared into the distance.
The brothers began to build a raft: they dragged logs from the forest and tied them with ropes. They built it for three days and set sail on the fourth. They float for a day, the second - the sea is calm. On the third day a terrible storm arose at sea.
The princesses, like birds, huddled together in the very middle of the raft. At this time, the brothers tried to hold the raft so that it would not capsize. Suddenly a high wave rose and two mermaids appeared from the water. They extended their hands to the girls and said sadly:
Our father sea king, terribly angry. He gave us head coverings made of thin, feather-light fabric, embroidered with pearls, and ordered us to wear them only at the bottom of the sea. We did not listen to him, we emerged to the surface of the sea, and the wind carried away the covers. Now the priest is angry, and therefore there is a storm at sea.
Then the elder sister said:
I will weave you blankets in return for these, just ask the king of the sea to calm the sea and help us get to the shore.
And she swam with the little mermaids to the king of the sea. When the sea king learned that such a craftswoman had appeared in the underwater kingdom, he instantly calmed the waves. He gave her everything she needed, and the older sister began to work. She wove bedspreads, thin and light as feathers, and embroidered them with white and pink pearls. The king looked at the bedspreads and said:
A good craftswoman, she wove bedspreads even better than before. In gratitude for your work, I give you this pearl. It will help dispel the evil spell.Go now to your relatives.
The little mermaids lifted the princess to the surface, and as soon as she climbed onto the raft, a light wind blew rock and drove the raft to the shore.
The children found themselves in a wonderful green land. There, on the seashore, stood the castle of an evil sorcerer who kidnapped their mother.
The children approached the castle gates - the gates opened. They entered the castle and climbed to the topmost tower. Here in a small room they saw their mother. But she did not recognize them, but continued to look sadly out of the window at the sea.
Dear mother! - the children shouted and rushed to hug her. But she sat there, not moving and not looking at them.
At that hour, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed - and an evil sorcerer appeared in the room. All three brothers rushed at him, but the sorcerer threw them away with one movement of his hand.
Then the elder sister took off the chain with the pearl that the sea king had given her, ran up to her mother and put it around her neck. At that same moment, the villain lost his witchcraft powers, turned into a spider and crawled into the gap.
The children ran up to their mother, hugged her, and the queen woke up from her witchcraft spell, hugged and kissed her children.
The queen began to cry with joy, and a tear fell on the face of her youngest daughter. And immediately the girl’s voice returned, and she sang with happiness.
It was a long way home, but not difficult, because now they were all together.
And when they returned to the kingdom, the people arranged wonderful holiday in honor of the return of the queen and her children.