Prophetic dream – Russian folk tale. Russian folktale
Once upon a time there lived a merchant, he had two sons: Dmitry and Ivan.
One evening their father said to them:
- Well, children, if anyone dreams of anything, tell me in the morning; and whoever conceals his dream, I will order him to be executed.
The next morning the eldest son comes and says to his father:
“I dreamed, father, that brother Ivan was flying high in the sky and twelve eagles; and it’s as if your favorite sheep has disappeared.
- What did you dream, Vanya?
- I will not say! - Ivan answered.
No matter how much his father forced him, he stubbornly resisted all the admonitions and kept repeating one thing: I won’t tell! Yes I won’t tell! The merchant got angry, called his clerks and ordered them to take his disobedient son and tie him to a post on the high road.
The clerks grabbed Ivan and, as they say, tied him tightly to a post. The good fellow had a bad time: the sun baked him, hunger and thirst tormented him.
It happened that a young prince was driving along that road; he saw the merchant’s son, took pity on him and ordered him to be released, dressed him in his clothes, brought him to his palace and began to ask:
-Who tied you to the post?
— Native father got angry.
- What have you done wrong?
“I didn’t want to tell him what I saw in my dream.”
- Oh, how stupid your father is to punish him so cruelly for such a trifle... What did you dream about?
- I won’t tell, prince!
- How can you not tell? I saved you from death, and you want to be rude to me? Speak now, otherwise it will be bad!
“I didn’t tell my father and I won’t tell you!”
The prince ordered him to be put in prison; soldiers immediately came running and took him to a stone bag.
A year passed, the prince decided to get married, got ready and went to a foreign state to woo Elena the Beautiful. That prince had Native sister, and soon after his departure she happened to be walking near the dungeon itself.
Ivan, the merchant’s son, saw her through the window and shouted in a loud voice:
- Have mercy, princess, set me free! Maybe I can come in handy too. After all, I know that the prince went to Elena the Beautiful to woo; But he won’t get married without me, and maybe he’ll pay with his head. Tea, I myself heard how cunning Elena the Beautiful is and how many suitors she sent to the next world.
“Are you going to help the prince?”
“I could help, but the falcon’s wings are tied.”
The princess immediately gave the order to release him from prison.
Ivan, the merchant's son, recruited his comrades, and there were twelve of them, including Ivan, and they looked alike like brothers - tall in height, voice in voice, hair in hair. They dressed up in identical caftans, sewn to the same size, mounted good horses and set off on their journey.
We drove for a day, and two, and three; On the fourth, they approached a dense forest, and they heard a terrible scream.
- Stop, brothers! - says Ivan. - Wait a little, I’ll follow that noise.
He jumped off his horse and ran into the forest; looks - three old men are arguing in the clearing.
- Hello, old people! What are you arguing about?
- Do you want me to separate you?
- Do me a favor!
Ivan the merchant's son pulled his tight bow, placed three arrows and launched it at different sides; He tells one old man to run to the right, another to the left, and the third he sends straight ahead:
- Whichever of you brings the arrow first will receive the invisibility cap; whoever comes second will receive the flying carpet; and let the last one take the walking boots.
The old men ran after the arrows, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, took all the wonders and returned to his comrades.
“Brothers,” he says, “let your good horses go free and sit down on my magic carpet.”
Everyone quickly sat down on the magic carpet and flew to the kingdom of Helen the Beautiful.
They flew to her capital city, landed at the outpost and went to look for the prince. They come to his yard.
- What do you need? - asked the prince.
- Take us, good fellows, into your service; We will please you and wish you well from the bottom of our hearts.
The prince accepted them into his service and distributed them: some as cooks, some as grooms, some in different places.
That same day, the prince dressed up for the holidays and went to introduce himself to Elena the Beautiful. She greeted him kindly, treated him to all sorts of dishes and expensive drinks, and then began to ask:
“Tell me, Tsarevich, honestly, why did you come to us?”
- Yes, I want, Elena the Beautiful, to woo you; will you marry me?
- I guess I agree; just complete three tasks in advance. If you do, I will be yours, but if not, prepare your head for a sharp ax.
- Give me a task!
“I’ll have it tomorrow, but I won’t say what; Manage, Tsarevich, and bring your unknown to my mate.
The prince returned to his apartment in great distress and sadness. Ivan, the merchant’s son, asks him:
- Why, Tsarevich, are you unhappy? Ali, what annoyed Elena the Beautiful? Share your grief with me, it will be easier for you.
“So and so,” the prince answers, “Elena the Beautiful asked me such a problem that not a single sage in the world could solve it.”
- Well, this is still a small problem! Get some sleep; The morning is wiser than the evening, tomorrow we will judge the matter.
The Tsarevich went to bed, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, put on an invisibility cap and walking boots - and marched to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful; went straight into the bedroom and listened. Meanwhile, Elena the Beautiful gave the following order to her beloved maid:
- Take this expensive material and take it to the shoemaker; let him make a shoe for my foot, as soon as possible.
The maid ran where she was ordered, and Ivan followed her.
The master immediately set to work, quickly made a shoe and placed it on the window; Ivan the merchant's son took that shoe and quietly hid it in his pocket.
The poor shoemaker began to fuss; his work disappeared from under his nose; He already searched and searched, searched all corners - all in vain! What a miracle! - thinks. - No way, the evil one was joking with me! There was nothing to do, I took up the needle again, the other shoe worked and carried it to Elena the Beautiful.
- What a slowpoke you are! - said Elena the Beautiful. - How long did it take to get one shoe?
She sat down at her work table and began embroidering the shoe with gold, decorating it with large pearls, and setting it with semi-precious stones.
And Ivan immediately found himself, took out his shoe and did the same: which pebble she takes, that’s what he chooses; Where she sticks a pearl, there he also plants it.
Elena the Beautiful finished her work, smiled and said:
- The prince will show up with something tomorrow!
Wait,” thinks Ivan, “it’s still unknown who will outwit whom!”
He returned home and went to bed; at dawn he got up, got dressed and went to wake up the prince; woke him up and gave him a shoe.
“Go,” he says, “to Elena the Beautiful and show her the shoe - this is her first task!”
The prince washed himself, dressed himself up and galloped off to the bride; and her room is full of guests - all boyars and nobles, people of the Duma. As soon as the prince arrived, music immediately started playing, the guests jumped up from their seats, and the soldiers stood guard.
Elena the Beautiful brought out a shoe, studded with large pearls and set with semi-precious stones; and she herself looks at the prince and grins. The prince tells her:
“It’s a good shoe, but without a pair it’s good for nothing!” Apparently, we need to give you another one just like it!
With that word, he took another shoe out of his pocket and put it on the table. Here all the guests clapped their hands and shouted in one voice:
- Oh yes, prince! Worthy to marry our empress, Elena the Beautiful.
- But we’ll see! - answered Elena the Beautiful. - Let him perform another task.
Late in the evening, the prince returned home even more gloomy than before.
- Enough, prince, to be sad! - Ivan, the merchant’s son, told him. - Go to bed, the morning is wiser than the evening.
He put him to bed, and he put on his walking boots and an invisibility hat and ran to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful. At that very time she gave an order to her beloved maid:
- Go quickly to the poultry yard and bring me a duck.
The maid ran to the poultry yard, and Ivan followed her; the maid grabbed the duck, and Ivan grabbed the drake and came back the same way.
Elena the Beautiful sat down at the work table, took a duck, decorated its wings with ribbons and its crest with diamonds; Ivan the merchant's son looks and does the same thing to the drake.
The next day, Elena the Beautiful has guests again, music again; She released her duck and asked the prince:
— Did you guess my problem?
- You guessed it, Elena the Beautiful! Here's a couple for your duck, and the drake immediately lets go...
- Well done, Tsarevich! Worthy to take Elena the Beautiful for yourself!
- Wait, the path will fulfill the third task in advance.
In the evening the prince returned home so gloomy that he didn’t even want to talk.
- Don’t worry, prince, better go to bed; morning is wiser than evening,” said Ivan, the merchant’s son.
He quickly put on his invisibility hat and walking boots and ran to Elena the Beautiful. And she got ready to go to the blue sea, got into the carriage and rushed at full speed; only Ivan, the merchant’s son, is not a step behind.
Elena the Beautiful came to the sea and began to call her grandfather. The waves swayed, and an old grandfather rose from the water - his beard was golden, his hair was silver. He went ashore:
- Hello, granddaughter! I haven't seen you for a long time: all your hair is tangled - comb it.
He lay down on her lap and fell into a sweet sleep. Elena the Beautiful is scratching her grandfather, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, is standing behind her.
She saw that the old man had fallen asleep, and plucked three silver hairs from him; and Ivan, the merchant’s son, snatched out a whole bunch of hair. Grandfather woke up and shouted:
- What you! It hurts!
- Sorry, grandpa! I haven’t scratched you for a long time, all my hair is tangled.
Grandfather calmed down and a little later fell asleep again. Helen the Beautiful tore out three golden hairs from him; and Ivan the merchant’s son grabbed him by the beard and almost tore it all off.
The grandfather screamed terribly, jumped to his feet and rushed into the sea.
Now the prince has been caught! - thinks Elena the Beautiful. “He can’t get that kind of hair.”
The next day guests gathered to visit her; The prince also arrived. Elena the Beautiful shows him three silver and three golden hairs and asks:
- Have you ever seen such a miracle?
- I found something to brag about! Do you want me to give you a whole bunch?
He took out and gave her a tuft of golden hair and a tuft of silver.
Elena the Beautiful got angry, ran to her bedroom and began to look into the magic book: was the prince guessing himself or who was helping him? And he sees from the book that it is not he who is cunning, but his servant, Ivan, the merchant’s son, who is cunning.
She returned to the guests and pestered the prince:
- Send your favorite servant to me.
- I have twelve of them.
- They came the one called Ivan.
- Yes, they are all called Ivans!
“Okay,” he says, “let everyone come!” “And in my mind I keep it in my mind: I’ll find the culprit even without you!”
The prince gave the order - and soon twelve good fellows, his faithful servants, appeared at the palace; everyone looks the same, height to height, voice to voice, hair to hair.
-Which one of you is the big one? - asked Elena the Beautiful.
They all shouted at once:
- I'm big! I'm big!
Well, she thinks, you simply won’t find out anything here! - and ordered eleven simple glasses to be brought, and the twelfth was golden, from which she always drank; I filled those glasses with expensive wine and began to treat the good fellows.
None of them takes a simple glass, everyone reaches for the golden one and lets snatch it from each other; They just made some noise and spilled the wine!
Elena the Beautiful sees that her joke was not a success; She ordered these fellows to be fed and watered and put to sleep in the palace.
This is how everyone fell asleep at night sound sleep, she came to them with her magic book, looked at that book and immediately recognized the culprit; She took the scissors and cut off his temple.
By this sign I will recognize him tomorrow and order his execution.
In the morning, Ivan, the merchant’s son, woke up, took his head with his hand, and his temple had been shorn; He jumped out of bed and let’s wake up his comrades:
- Get some sleep, trouble is coming! Take the scissors and cut your temples.
An hour later, Elena the Beautiful called them to her and began to look for the culprit... What kind of miracle? No matter who you look at, everyone's temples have been cut off. Out of frustration, she grabbed her magic book and threw it into the oven.
After that, she couldn’t make excuses; she had to marry the prince. The wedding was fun; For three days the people were having fun, for three days the taverns and taverns were open - whoever wants to come, drink and eat at the public expense!
As soon as the feasts were over, the prince got ready to go with his young wife to his state, and sent twelve good fellows ahead.
They went outside the city, spread out a flying carpet, sat down and rose above the walking cloud; They flew and flew and landed right next to that dense forest where they had abandoned their good horses.
As soon as they had time to get off the carpet, they saw an old man running towards them with an arrow. Ivan the merchant's son gave him the invisibility cap. After that, another old man came running and received a flying carpet, and then a third one - this one got walking boots.
Ivan says to his comrades:
- Saddle up your horses, brothers, it’s time to hit the road.
They immediately caught the horses, saddled them and rode off to their homeland.
They arrived and went straight to the princess; she was very happy with them and asked about her brother; How did he get married and will he be home soon?
“What should I reward you with,” he asks, “for such service?”
Ivan, the merchant’s son, answers:
- Put me in prison, in the old place.
No matter how the princess tried to persuade him, he still insisted on his own; The soldiers took him and took him to prison.
A month later the prince arrived with his young wife; the meeting was solemn: music played, cannons were fired, bells were rung, so many people gathered that you could even walk on their heads!
The boyars and all sorts of ranks came to introduce themselves to the prince; he looked around and began to ask:
- Where is Ivan, my faithful servant?
“He,” they say, “is sitting in prison.”
- Like in a dungeon? Who dared to imprison?
The princess tells him:
“You yourself, brother, took a shine to him and ordered him to be kept in tight captivity.” Do you remember how you asked him about some dream, but he didn’t want to tell?
- Is it really him?
- He is; I let him go to you for a while.
The prince ordered Ivan, the merchant's son, to be brought, threw himself on his neck and asked him not to remember the old evil.
“You know, prince,” Ivan tells him, “everything that happened to you was known to me in advance, I saw all this in a dream; That’s why I didn’t tell you about the dream.
The prince awarded him the rank of general, endowed him with rich estates and left him to live in the palace.
Ivan, the merchant's son, sent his father and older brother to live with him, and they all began to live and get along together, making good money.
Lit. monuments. - M.: Science, 1984-1985.
240
AND There was a merchant, he had two sons: Dmitry and Ivan. Once, blessing them for the night, their father said to them:
Well, children, if anyone dreams of anything, tell me in the morning; and whoever conceals his dream, I will order him to be executed.
The next morning the eldest son comes and says to his father:
I dreamed, father, that brother Ivan was flying high in the sky on twelve eagles; and it’s as if your favorite sheep has disappeared.
What did you dream, Vanya?
I will not say! - Ivan answered.
No matter how much his father forced him, he stubbornly resisted all admonitions and kept repeating one thing: “I won’t tell!” yes “I won’t tell!” The merchant got angry, called his clerks and ordered them to take his disobedient son, strip him naked and tie him to a post on the main road.
The clerks grabbed Ivan and, as they say, tied him naked to a pole tightly. The good fellow had a bad time: the sun baked him, mosquitoes bit him, hunger and thirst tormented him. It happened that a young prince was driving along that road; he saw the merchant’s son, took pity and ordered him to be released, dressed him in his clothes, brought him to his palace and began to ask:
Who tied you to the post?
My own father was angry.
What have you done wrong?
I didn’t want to tell him what I saw in my dream.
Oh, how stupid your father is to punish such a trifle so cruelly... What did you dream about?
I won’t tell you, prince!
How can you not tell? I saved you from death, and you want to be rude to me? Speak now, otherwise it will be bad.
I didn’t tell my father, and I won’t tell you!
The prince ordered him to be put in prison; soldiers immediately came running and took him, God's servant, into a stone bag.
A year passed, the prince decided to get married, got ready and went to a foreign state to woo Elena the Beautiful. That prince had a sister, and soon after his departure she happened to be walking near the dungeon itself. Ivan the merchant’s son saw her through the window and shouted in a loud voice:
Have mercy, princess, set me free; maybe I can come in handy too! After all, I know that the prince went to marry Helen the Beautiful; But he won’t get married without me, and maybe he’ll pay with his head. Tea, I myself heard how cunning Elena the Beautiful is and how many suitors she sent to the next world.
Are you going to help the prince?
I would help, but the falcon's wings are tied.
The princess immediately gave the order to release him from prison. Ivan the merchant's son recruited his comrades, and there were twelve of them and Ivan, and they looked alike like brothers - tall in height, voice in voice, hair in hair. They dressed up in identical caftans, sewn to the same size, mounted good horses and set off on their journey.
We drove for a day, and two, and three; on the fourth they approached a dense forest, and they heard a terrible scream.
Stop, brothers! - says Ivan. - Wait a little, I’ll follow that noise.
He jumped off his horse and ran into the forest; looks - three old men are arguing in the clearing.
Hello old people! What are you arguing about?
Do you want me to separate you?
Do me a favor!
Ivan the merchant's son pulled his tight bow, placed three arrows and sent it in different directions; He tells one old man to run to the right, another to the left, and the third he sends straight ahead:
Whichever of you brings the arrow first will receive the invisibility cap; whoever comes second will receive the magic carpet; and let the last one take the walking boots.
The old men ran after the arrows; and Ivan the merchant's son took all the curiosities and returned to his comrades.
Brothers,” he says, “let your good horses go free and sit down on my magic carpet.”
Everyone quickly sat down on the magic carpet and flew to the kingdom of Helen the Beautiful; They flew to her capital city, landed at the outpost and went to look for the prince. They come to his yard.
What do you need? - asked the prince.
Take us, good fellows, into your service; We will please you and wish you well from the bottom of our hearts.
The prince accepted them into his service and assigned some to cooks, some to grooms, and some to where. That same day, the prince dressed up for the holidays and went to introduce himself to Elena the Beautiful. She greeted him kindly, treated him to all sorts of foods and expensive drinks, and then began to ask:
But tell me, Tsarevich, honestly, why did you come to us?
Yes, I want, Elena the Beautiful, to marry you; will you marry me?
I guess I agree; just complete three tasks in advance. If you do, I will be yours, but if not, prepare your head for a sharp ax.
Set a task!
I'll have it tomorrow; I won’t say what; Manage, Tsarevich, and bring your mate to my unknown.
The prince returned to his apartment in great distress and sadness. Ivan the merchant's son asks him:
Why, Tsarevich, are you not happy? Ali, what annoyed Elena the Beautiful? Share your grief with me; it will be easier for you.
“So and so,” the prince answers, “Elena the Beautiful asked me such a problem that not a single sage in the world could solve it.”
Well, that's still a small problem! Pray to God and go to bed; The morning is wiser than the evening, tomorrow we will judge the matter.
The Tsarevich went to bed, and Ivan the merchant's son put on his invisible hat and boots and marched to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful; went straight into the bedroom and listened. Meanwhile, Elena the Beautiful gave the following order to her beloved maid:
Take this expensive material and take it to the shoemaker; let him make a shoe for my foot, as soon as possible.
The maid ran where she was ordered, and Ivan followed her. The master immediately set to work, quickly made a shoe and placed it on the window; Ivan the merchant's son took that shoe and quietly hid it in his pocket. The poor shoemaker began to fuss - his work disappeared from under his nose; He already searched and searched, searched all the corners - all in vain! “What a miracle! - thinks. “Did the evil spirit joke with me?” There was nothing to do, I took up the needle again, the other shoe worked and carried it to Elena the Beautiful.
What a baggy you are! - said Elena the Beautiful. - How long did it take to get one shoe?
She sat down at her work table and began embroidering the shoe with gold, decorating it with large pearls, and setting it with semi-precious stones. And Ivan immediately found himself, took out his shoe and did the same: which pebble she takes, that’s what he chooses; Where she sticks the pearl, there he also plants it. Elena the Beautiful finished her work, smiled and said:
Will the prince show up with something tomorrow?
Wait, Ivan thinks, it’s still unknown who will outwit whom!
Returned home and went to bed; At dawn he got up, got dressed and went to wake up the prince; woke him up and gave him a shoe:
“Go,” he says, “to Elena the Beautiful and show me the shoe - this is her first task!”
The prince washed himself, dressed himself up and galloped off to the bride; and her room is full of guests - all boyars and nobles, people of the Duma. As soon as the prince arrived, music immediately started playing, the guests jumped up from their seats, and the soldiers stood guard. Elena the Beautiful brought out a shoe, studded with large pearls and set with semi-precious stones; and she herself looks at the prince and grins. The prince tells her:
It's a good shoe, but without a pair it's good for nothing! Apparently, I should give you another one just like it!
With that word, he took another shoe out of his pocket and put it on the table. Here all the guests clapped their hands and shouted in one voice:
Hey, Tsarevich! Worthy to marry our empress, Elena the Beautiful.
But we'll see! - answered Elena the Beautiful. - Let him perform another task.
Late in the evening, the prince returned home even more gloomy than before.
Enough, prince, to be sad! - Ivan the merchant’s son told him. - Pray to God and go to bed; The morning is wiser than the evening.
He put him to bed, and he put on his walking boots and an invisibility hat and ran to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful. At that very time she gave an order to her beloved maid:
Go quickly to the poultry yard and bring me a duck.
The maid ran to the poultry yard, and Ivan followed her; the maid grabbed the duck, and Ivan grabbed the drake, and they came back the same way. Elena the Beautiful sat down at the work table, took a duck, decorated its wings with ribbons and its crest with diamonds; Ivan the merchant's son looks and does the same thing to the drake. The next day, Elena the Beautiful has guests again, music again; She released her duck and asked the prince:
Did you guess my problem?
You guessed it, Elena the Beautiful! Here’s a couple for your duck, and immediately lets loose a drake... Then all the boyars shouted in one voice:
Wow, well done Tsarevich! He is worthy to take Elena the Beautiful for himself.
Wait, let him complete the third task first.
In the evening the prince returned home so gloomy that he didn’t want to talk.
Don’t worry, prince, better go to bed; “The morning is wiser than the evening,” said Ivan the merchant’s son; He quickly put on his invisibility hat and walking boots and ran to Elena the Beautiful.
And she got ready to go to the blue sea, got into the carriage and rushed off at full speed; only Ivan the merchant's son is not a step behind. Elena the Beautiful came to the sea and began to call her grandfather. The waves swayed, and an old grandfather rose from the water - his beard was golden, his hair was silver. He went ashore:
Hello, granddaughter! I haven't seen you for a long time; look in my head.
He lay down on her lap and fell into a sweet sleep; Elena the Beautiful is looking in her grandfather's head, and Ivan the merchant's son is standing behind her.
She sees that the old man has fallen asleep, and plucks three silver hairs from him; and Ivan the merchant's son snatched not three hairs, but a whole bunch. Grandfather woke up and shouted:
What, are you crazy? It hurts!
Sorry, grandpa! I haven’t scratched you for a long time, all my hair is tangled.
Grandfather calmed down and a little later began snoring again. Helen the Beautiful tore out three golden hairs from him; and Ivan the merchant's son grabbed him by the beard and almost tore it all off. The grandfather screamed terribly, jumped to his feet and rushed into the sea. “Now the prince is caught! - thinks Elena the Beautiful. “He can’t get that kind of hair.” The next day guests gathered to visit her; The prince also arrived. Elena the Beautiful shows him three silver and three golden hairs and asks:
Have you ever seen such a miracle?
I found something to brag about! If you want, I'll give you a whole bunch.
He took out and gave her a tuft of golden hair and a tuft of silver.
Elena the Beautiful got angry, ran to her bedroom and began to look into the magic book: was the prince guessing himself or who was helping him? And he sees from the book that it is not he who is cunning, but his servant, Ivan the merchant’s son, who is cunning. She returned to the guests and pestered the prince:
Send your favorite servant to me.
I have twelve of them.
They came the one called Ivan.
Yes, they are all called Ivans.
“Okay,” he says, “let everyone come!” - but in his mind he keeps: “I’ll find the culprit even without you!”
The prince gave the order - and soon twelve good fellows, his faithful servants, appeared at the palace; everyone looks the same, height to height, voice to voice, hair to hair.
Which one of you is big? - asked Elena the Beautiful. They all shouted at once:
I'm big! I'm big!
Well, she thinks, you simply won’t find out anything here! - and ordered eleven simple glasses to be brought, and the twelfth golden one, from which she always drank; I filled those glasses with expensive wine and began to treat the good fellows. None of them takes a simple glass, everyone reaches for the golden one and lets snatch it from each other; They just made some noise and spilled the wine!
Elena the Beautiful sees that her thing was not a success; She ordered these fellows to be fed and watered and put to sleep in the yard. That night, when everyone was fast asleep, she came to them with her magic book, looked at that book and immediately recognized the culprit; She took the scissors and cut off his temple. “By this sign I will recognize him tomorrow and order his execution.” In the morning Ivan the merchant's son woke up, put his hand to his head - and his temple had been shorn; He jumped out of bed and let’s wake up his comrades:
Get some sleep, trouble is coming! Take the scissors and cut your temples.
An hour later, Elena the Beautiful called them to her and began to look for the culprit; what kind of miracle? No matter who you look at, everyone's temples are cropped. Out of frustration, she grabbed her magic book and threw it into the oven. After that, she couldn’t make excuses; she had to marry the prince. The wedding was fun; For three days the people drank without waking, for three days the taverns and taverns stood open - whoever you want come, drink and eat at the public expense!
As soon as the feasts ended, the prince got ready to go to his state with his young wife; and sent twelve good fellows forward. They went outside the city, spread out a flying carpet, sat down and rose above the walking cloud; They flew and flew and landed right next to that dense forest where they had abandoned their good horses. As soon as they had time to get off the carpet, they saw an old man running towards them with an arrow. Ivan the merchant's son gave him the invisibility cap. After that, another old man came running and received a magic carpet; and there was a third one - this one got the walking boots. Ivan says to his comrades:
Saddle up your horses, brothers, it's time to hit the road.
They immediately caught the horses, saddled them and rode off to their homeland. They arrived and went straight to the princess; She was very happy with them, asked about her brother, how he got married and would he be home soon?
How, he asks, should I reward you for such service?
Ivan the merchant's son answers:
Put me in prison, in the old place.
No matter how the princess tried to persuade him, he insisted on his own; The soldiers took him and took him to prison.
A month later the prince arrived with his young wife; the meeting was solemn: music played, cannons were fired, bells were rung, so many people gathered that you could even walk on their heads! The boyars and all sorts of ranks came to introduce themselves to the prince; he looked around and began to ask:
Where is Ivan, my faithful servant?
He, they say, is sitting in prison.
Like in a dungeon? Who dared to imprison?
The princess reports to him:
You yourself, brother, fell on him and ordered him to be kept in tight captivity. Do you remember you asked him about some dream, but he didn’t want to tell me.
Is it really him?
He is; I let him go to you for a while.
The prince ordered Ivan the merchant's son to be brought, threw himself on his neck and asked him not to remember the old evil.
“You know, Tsarevich,” Ivan tells him, “everything that happened to you was known to me in advance; I saw all this in a dream; That’s why I didn’t tell you about the dream.
The prince awarded him the rank of general, endowed him with rich estates and left him to live in the palace. Ivan the merchant's son sent his father and older brother to live with him, and they all began to live and get along together, making good money.
241
AND or there was a man and a woman, and at night it began to seem to them as if a fire was burning under the stove and someone was moaning: “Oh, it’s stuffy! Oh, it’s stuffy!” The man told his neighbors about this, and the neighbors advised him to go to a nearby town: the merchant Ason lives there, a master of solving every dream. So the man got ready and went into the city; He walked and walked and stopped on the road to spend the night with a poor widow. The widow had a son - a boy of about five years old; that boy looked at the man and said:
Old man! I know where you're going.
To the rich merchant Ason. Look, he will begin to unravel your dream and ask for half of what lies under the stove; Don’t give him half, give him one quarter. And if he asks who taught you, don’t tell about me.
The next morning the man got up and went further; comes to the city, finds Ason's courtyard and appears to the owner.
What do you need?
Yes, Mr. Merchant, it seems to me at night that in my hut there is a fire burning under the stove and someone is moaning pitifully: oh, it’s stuffy, oh, it’s stuffy! Is it possible to solve my dream?
It’s possible to figure it out, but will you give me half of what’s under your stove?
No, I won’t give half; You'll get even a quarter.
The merchant started to argue, but he saw that the man stood his ground firmly, and agreed; He called for workers with axes and shovels and went with them to the old man’s house. He arrived and ordered the stove to be broken; As soon as the stove was broken, the floorboards were raised, and now it turned out to be a deep pit - it would be a fathom oblique, and it was all filled with silver and gold.
The old man was delighted and began to divide this treasure into four parts. And let the merchant ask him:
Who taught you, old man, to give me a quarter and not give me half?
Nobody taught me, it just came to my mind.
You're lying! It's not with your intelligence to guess. Listen: if you admit who taught you, then all the money will be yours; I won’t take even a fourth share from you.
The man thought and thought, scratched the back of his head and said:
But as you drive home, you see a hut on the road; A poor widow lives in that hut, and she has a young son - he taught me.
The merchant immediately got into the cart and drove the horses at a fast trot. I came to the poor widow.
Let me,” he says, “rest a little and drink some tea.”
Welcome!
Ason sat down on the bench, began to drink tea, and he kept looking at the boy. At that time, a rooster ran into the hut, flapped his wings and shouted:
“Perhaps I’ll tell you,” said the boy, “the rooster says that the time will come - you will be in poverty, and I will begin to own your riches.”
The merchant drank some tea, began to get ready to go home and said to the widow:
Give me your son; He will live with me, with everything ready, in contentment, in happiness, and will not know what poverty is. And it’s better for you too - get rid of this extra burden!
The mother thought that the merchants really had a more comfortable life, blessed her son and handed him over to Ason. Ason brought the boy to his house and told him to go to the kitchen; then he called the cook and gave him the following order:
Kill me that boy, take out his liver and heart and prepare him for dinner.
The cook returned to the kitchen, took a knife and began sharpening it on a block. The boy burst into tears and began to ask:
Uncle! Why are you sharpening the knife?
I want to kill a lamb.
Your lies! You want to cut me.
The cook’s knife fell out of his hands; he felt sorry for ruining a human soul.
“I would be glad,” he says, “to let you go, but I’m afraid of the owner.”
Don't be afraid! Go and take a puppy from a bitch, take out its liver and heart, fry it and serve it to your owner.
The cook did just that, treated Ason to some dog meat, and hid the boy for the time being.
About two, three months later, the king there had the following dream: as if he had three golden dishes in his palace, dogs came running and began to lap up from those dishes. The king wondered what that dream meant? No matter who he asked, no one could judge him. So he decided to send for Ason; I told him my dream and told him to solve it, and set a deadline of three days:
If you don’t guess by that time, then I’ll take over all your property.
Ason returned from the king not himself; he walks around gloomy and angry, and slaps everyone on the wrist; and most of all he attacked the cook: why did he kill the boy from the world? I could use it now! In response to those speeches, the cook admits that the boy is alive. Ason immediately demanded him to come to him.
Well,” he says, “guess my dream; Last night I dreamed that I had three golden dishes and that dogs were lapping at the golden dishes.
The boy answers him:
You didn’t dream about this, the Emperor dreamed about this.
You guessed it, well done! What does this dream mean?
I know, but I won’t tell you; take me to the king, I won’t hide anything from him.
Ason ordered the carriage to be laid, put the boy on the back and went to the palace; drove up to the high porch, entered the white stone chambers and bowed to the king.
Hello Ason! Did you guess my dream? - asks the king.
Eh, sir! Your dream is not very complicated; Not like me, his little child can judge. If you want, call my boy; he will tell you everything as written.
The king ordered the boy to be brought, and as soon as they brought him to the palace, he began to ask about his dream. The boy answered:
Let Ason judge in advance, otherwise look what he is like! Knowing nothing, he wants to live in someone else's mind.
Well, Ason, speak first.
Ason fell to his knees and admitted that he could not guess the royal dream. Then the boy came forward and said to the king:
Sovereign! Your dream is true: you have three daughters - three beautiful princesses; They have sinned before God and before you, and one of these days they will give birth to your grandson.
As the five-year-old said, so it happened; the king took all his property from Ason and gave it to that boy.
Once upon a time there lived a merchant, he had two sons: Dmitry and Ivan. One evening their father said to them:
- Well, children, if anyone dreams of anything, tell me in the morning; and whoever conceals his dream, I will order him to be executed.
The next morning the eldest son comes and says to his father:
“I dreamed, father, that brother Ivan was flying high in the sky on twelve eagles; and it’s as if your favorite sheep has disappeared.
- What did you dream, Vanya?
- I will not say! - Ivan answered.
No matter how much his father forced him, he stubbornly resisted all admonitions and kept repeating one thing: “I won’t tell!” yes “I won’t tell!” The merchant got angry, called his clerks and ordered them to take his disobedient son and tie him to a post on the high road.
The clerks grabbed Ivan and, as they say, tied him tightly to a post. The good fellow had a bad time: the sun baked him, hunger and thirst tormented him.
It happened that a young prince was driving along that road; he saw the merchant’s son, took pity on him and ordered him to be released, dressed him in his clothes, brought him to his palace and began to ask:
-Who tied you to the post?
- My own father was angry.
- What have you done wrong?
“I didn’t want to tell him what I saw in my dream.”
- Oh, how stupid your father is to punish him so cruelly for such a trifle... What did you dream about?
- I won’t tell, prince!
- How can you not tell? I saved you from death, and you want to be rude to me? Speak now, otherwise it will be bad!
“I didn’t tell my father and I won’t tell you!”
The prince ordered him to be put in prison; soldiers immediately came running and took him to a stone bag.
A year passed, the prince decided to get married, got ready and went to a foreign state to woo Elena the Beautiful. That prince had a sister, and soon after his departure she happened to be walking near the dungeon itself.
Ivan, the merchant’s son, saw her through the window and shouted in a loud voice:
- Have mercy, princess, set me free! Maybe I can come in handy too. After all, I know that the prince went to Elena the Beautiful to woo; But he won’t get married without me, and maybe he’ll pay with his head. Tea, I myself heard how cunning Elena the Beautiful is and how many suitors she sent to the next world.
“Are you going to help the prince?”
“I could help, but the falcon’s wings are tied.”
The princess immediately gave the order to release him from prison.
Ivan, the merchant's son, recruited his comrades, and there were twelve of them, including Ivan, and they looked alike like brothers - tall in height, voice in voice, hair in hair. They dressed up in identical caftans, sewn to the same size, mounted good horses and set off on their journey.
We drove for a day, and two, and three; On the fourth, they approached a dense forest, and they heard a terrible scream.
- Stop, brothers! - says Ivan. - Wait a little, I’ll follow that noise.
He jumped off his horse and ran into the forest; looks - three old men are arguing in the clearing.
- Hello, old people! What are you arguing about?
- Do you want me to separate you?
- Do me a favor!
Ivan the merchant's son pulled his tight bow, placed three arrows and sent it in different directions; He tells one old man to run to the right, another to the left, and the third he sends straight ahead:
- Whichever of you brings the arrow first will receive the invisibility cap; whoever comes second will receive the flying carpet; and let the last one take the walking boots.
The old men ran after the arrows, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, took all the wonders and returned to his comrades.
“Brothers,” he says, “let your good horses go free and sit down on my magic carpet.”
Everyone quickly sat down on the magic carpet and flew to the kingdom of Helen the Beautiful.
They flew to her capital city, landed at the outpost and went to look for the prince. They come to his yard.
- What do you need? - asked the prince.
- Take us, good fellows, into your service; We will please you and wish you well from the bottom of our hearts.
The prince accepted them into his service and distributed them: some as cooks, some as grooms, some in different places.
That same day, the prince dressed up for the holidays and went to introduce himself to Elena the Beautiful. She greeted him kindly, treated him to all sorts of dishes and expensive drinks, and then began to ask:
“Tell me, Tsarevich, honestly, why did you come to us?”
- Yes, I want, Elena the Beautiful, to woo you; will you marry me?
- I guess I agree; just complete three tasks in advance. If you do, I will be yours, but if not, prepare your head for a sharp ax.
- Give me a task!
“I’ll have it tomorrow, but I won’t say what; Manage, Tsarevich, and bring your unknown to my mate.
The prince returned to his apartment in great distress and sadness. Ivan, the merchant’s son, asks him:
- Why, Tsarevich, are you unhappy? Ali, what annoyed Elena the Beautiful? Share your grief with me, it will be easier for you.
“So and so,” the prince answers, “Elena the Beautiful asked me such a problem that not a single sage in the world could solve it.”
- Well, this is still a small problem! Get some sleep; The morning is wiser than the evening, tomorrow we will judge the matter.
The Tsarevich went to bed, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, put on an invisibility cap and walking boots - and marched to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful; went straight into the bedroom and listened. Meanwhile, Elena the Beautiful gave the following order to her beloved maid:
“Take this expensive material and take it to a shoemaker: let him make a shoe for my foot, as quickly as possible.”
The maid ran where she was ordered, and Ivan followed her.
The master immediately set to work, quickly made a shoe and placed it on the window; Ivan the merchant's son took that shoe and quietly hid it in his pocket.
The poor shoemaker began to fuss; his work disappeared from under his nose; He already searched and searched, searched all corners - all in vain! “What a miracle! - thinks. “No way, the unclean one was joking with me!” There was nothing to do, I took up the needle again, the other shoe worked and carried it to Elena the Beautiful.
- What a slowpoke you are! - said Elena the Beautiful. - How long did it take to fiddle with one shoe!
She sat down at her work table and began embroidering the shoe with gold, decorating it with large pearls, and setting it with semi-precious stones.
And Ivan immediately found himself, took out his shoe and did the same: which pebble she takes, that’s what he chooses; Where she sticks a pearl, so he plants it.
Elena the Beautiful finished her work, smiled and said:
- The prince will show up with something tomorrow!
“Wait,” Ivan thinks, “it’s still unknown who will outwit whom!”
He returned home and went to bed; at dawn he got up, got dressed and went to wake up the prince; woke him up and gave him a shoe.
“Go,” he says, “to Elena the Beautiful and show her the shoe - this is her first task!”
The prince washed himself, dressed himself up and galloped off to the bride; and her room is full of guests - all boyars and nobles, people of the Duma. As soon as the prince arrived, music immediately started playing, the guests jumped up from their seats, and the soldiers stood guard.
Elena the Beautiful brought out a shoe, studded with large pearls and set with semi-precious stones; and she herself looks at the prince and grins. The prince tells her:
“It’s a good shoe, but without a pair it’s good for nothing!” Apparently, we need to give you another one just like it!
With that word, he took another shoe out of his pocket and put it on the table. Here all the guests clapped their hands and shouted in one voice:
- Oh yes, prince! Worthy to marry our empress, Elena the Beautiful.
- But we’ll see! - answered Elena the Beautiful. - Let him perform another task.
Late in the evening, the prince returned home even more gloomy than before.
- Enough, prince, to be sad! - Ivan, the merchant’s son, told him. - Go to bed, the morning is wiser than the evening.
He put him to bed, and he put on his walking boots and an invisibility hat and ran to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful. At that very time she gave an order to her beloved maid:
- Go quickly to the poultry yard and bring me a duck. The maid ran to the poultry yard, and Ivan followed her; the maid grabbed the duck, and Ivan grabbed the drake and came back the same way.
Elena the Beautiful sat down at her work table, took a duck, decorated its wings with ribbons, and its crest with diamonds; Ivan the merchant's son looks and does the same thing to the drake.
The next day, Elena the Beautiful has guests again, music again; She released her duck and asked the prince:
— Did you guess my problem?
- You guessed it, Elena the Beautiful! Here's a couple for your duck, and the drake immediately lets go...
- Well done, Tsarevich! Worthy to take Elena the Beautiful for yourself!
- Wait, let him complete the third task in advance. In the evening the prince returned home so gloomy that he didn’t even want to talk.
- Don’t worry, prince, better go to bed; morning is wiser than evening,” said Ivan, the merchant’s son.
He quickly put on his invisibility hat and walking boots and ran to Elena the Beautiful. And she got ready to go to the blue sea, got into the carriage and rushed at full speed; only Ivan, the merchant’s son, is not a step behind.
Elena the Beautiful came to the sea and began to call her grandfather. The waves swayed, and an old grandfather rose from the water - his beard was golden, his hair was silver. He went ashore:
- Hello, granddaughter! I haven't seen you for a long time: all your hair is tangled - comb it.
He lay down on her lap and fell into a sweet sleep. Elena the Beautiful is scratching her grandfather, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, is standing behind her.
She saw that the old man had fallen asleep, and plucked three silver hairs from him; and Ivan, the merchant’s son, snatched out a whole bunch of hair. Grandfather woke up and shouted:
- What you! It hurts!
- Sorry, grandpa! I haven’t scratched you for a long time, all my hair is tangled.
Grandfather calmed down and a little later fell asleep again. Helen the Beautiful tore out three golden hairs from him; and Ivan the merchant’s son grabbed him by the beard and almost tore it all off.
The grandfather screamed terribly, jumped to his feet and rushed into the sea.
“Now the prince is caught! - thinks Elena the Beautiful. “He can’t get that kind of hair.”
The next day guests gathered to visit her; The prince also arrived. Elena the Beautiful shows him three silver and three golden hairs and asks:
- Have you ever seen such a miracle?
- I found something to brag about! Do you want me to give you a whole bunch?
He took out and gave her a tuft of golden hair and a tuft of silver.
Elena the Beautiful got angry, ran to her bedroom and began to look into the magic book: was the prince guessing himself or who was helping him? And he sees from the book that it is not he who is cunning, but his servant, Ivan, the merchant’s son, who is cunning.
She returned to the guests and pestered the prince:
- Send your favorite servant to me.
- I have twelve of them.
- They came the one called Ivan.
- Yes, they are all called Ivans!
“Okay,” he says, “let everyone come!” - But in his mind he keeps: “I’ll find the culprit even without you!”
The prince gave the order - and soon twelve good fellows, his faithful servants, appeared at the palace; everyone looks the same, height to height, voice to voice, hair to hair.
-Which one of you is the big one? - asked Elena the Beautiful.
They all shouted at once:
- I'm big! I'm big!
“Well,” she thinks, “you won’t find out anything easily here!” - and she ordered eleven simple glasses, and the twelfth gold one, from which she always drank; I filled those glasses with expensive wine and began to treat the good fellows.
None of them takes a simple glass, everyone reaches for the golden one and starts snatching it from each other: they just made a noise and spilled the wine!
Elena the Beautiful sees that her joke was not a success; She ordered these fellows to be fed and watered and put to sleep in the palace.
That night, when everyone was fast asleep, she came to them with her magic book, looked at that book and immediately recognized the culprit; She took the scissors and cut off his temple.
“By this sign I will recognize him tomorrow and order his execution.”
In the morning, Ivan, the merchant’s son, woke up, took his head with his hand, and his temple had been shorn; He jumped out of bed and let’s wake up his comrades:
- Get some sleep, trouble is coming! Take the scissors and cut your temples.
An hour later, Elena the Beautiful called them to her and began to look for the culprit... What kind of miracle? No matter who you look at, everyone's temples have been cut off. Out of frustration, she grabbed her magic book and threw it into the oven.
After that, she couldn’t make excuses; she had to marry the prince. The wedding was fun; For three days the people were having fun, for three days the taverns and taverns were open - whoever wants to come, drink and eat at the public expense!
As soon as the feasts were over, the prince got ready to go with his young wife to his state, and sent twelve good fellows ahead.
They went outside the city, spread out a flying carpet, sat down and rose above the walking cloud; They flew and flew and landed right next to that dense forest where they had abandoned their good horses.
As soon as they had time to get off the carpet, they saw an old man running towards them with an arrow. Ivan the merchant's son gave him the invisibility cap. After that, another old man came running and received a flying carpet, and then a third one - this one got walking boots.
Ivan says to his comrades:
- Saddle up your horses, brothers, it’s time to hit the road.
They immediately caught the horses, saddled them and rode off to their homeland.
They arrived and went straight to the princess; She was very happy with them and asked about her brother: how did he get married and will he be home soon?
“What should I reward you with,” he asks, “for such service?”
Ivan, the merchant’s son, answers:
- Put me in prison, in the old place.
No matter how the princess tried to persuade him, he insisted on his own: the soldiers took him and took him to prison.
A month later the prince arrived with his young wife; the meeting was solemn: music played, cannons were fired, bells were rung, so many people gathered that you could even walk on their heads!
The boyars and all sorts of ranks came to introduce themselves to the prince; he looked around and began to ask:
- Where is Ivan, my faithful servant?
“He,” they say, “is sitting in prison.”
- Like in a dungeon? Who dared to imprison? The princess tells him:
“You yourself, brother, took a shine to him and ordered him to be kept in tight captivity.” Do you remember that you asked him about some dream, but he didn’t want to tell?
- Is it really him?
- He is; I let him go to you for a while.
The prince ordered Ivan, the merchant's son, to be brought, threw himself on his neck and asked him not to remember the old evil.
“You know, prince,” Ivan tells him, “everything that happened to you was known to me in advance, I saw all this in a dream; That’s why I didn’t tell you about the dream.
The prince awarded him the rank of general, endowed him with rich estates and left him to live in the palace.
Ivan, the merchant's son, sent his father and older brother to live with him, and they all began to live and get along together, making good money.
Folk tales embodied the wisdom and worldly experience accumulated by humanity over many centuries. " Fairy tale a lie, but there’s a hint in it...” It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of fairy tales for a child’s development: fairy tale teaches courage, honesty, kindness, and develops a sense of beauty. Tell your child a fairy tale, he will definitely learn something useful from it. In this issue Russian traditional fairy tale Prophetic dream.
Prophetic dream.
Once upon a time there lived a merchant, he had two sons: Dmitry and Ivan. One evening their father said to them:
Well, children, if anyone dreams of anything, tell me in the morning; and whoever conceals his dream, I will order him to be executed.
The next morning the eldest son comes and says to his father:
I dreamed, father, that brother Ivan was flying high in the sky on twelve eagles; and it’s as if your favorite sheep has disappeared.
What did you dream, Vanya?
I will not say! - Ivan answered.
No matter how much his father forced him, he stubbornly resisted all admonitions and kept repeating one thing: “I won’t tell!” yes "I won't tell!" The merchant got angry, called his clerks and ordered them to take his disobedient son and tie him to a post on the high road.
The clerks grabbed Ivan and, as they say, tied him tightly to a post. The good fellow had a bad time: the sun baked him, hunger and thirst tormented him.
It happened that a young prince was driving along that road; he saw the merchant’s son, took pity on him and ordered him to be released, dressed him in his clothes, brought him to his palace and began to ask:
Who tied you to the post?
My own father was angry.
What have you done wrong?
I didn’t want to tell him what I saw in my dream.
Oh, how stupid your father is to punish such a trifle so cruelly... What did you dream about?
I won’t tell you, prince!
How can you not tell? I saved you from death, and you want to be rude to me? Speak now, otherwise it will be bad!
I didn’t tell my father and I won’t tell you!
The prince ordered him to be put in prison; soldiers immediately came running and took him to a stone bag.
A year passed, the prince decided to get married, got ready and went to a foreign state to woo Elena the Beautiful. That prince had a sister, and soon after his departure she happened to be walking near the dungeon itself.
Ivan, the merchant’s son, saw her through the window and shouted in a loud voice:
Have mercy, princess, set me free! Maybe I can come in handy too. After all, I know that the prince went to Elena the Beautiful to woo; But he won’t get married without me, and maybe he’ll pay with his head. Tea, I myself heard how cunning Elena the Beautiful is and how many suitors she sent to the next world.
Are you going to help the prince?
I would help, but the falcon's wings are tied.
The princess immediately gave the order to release him from prison.
Ivan, the merchant's son, recruited his comrades, and there were twelve of them, including Ivan, and they looked alike like brothers - tall in height, voice in voice, hair in hair. They dressed up in identical caftans, sewn to the same size, mounted good horses and set off on their journey.
We drove for a day, and two, and three; On the fourth, they approached a dense forest, and they heard a terrible scream.
Stop, brothers! - says Ivan. - Wait a little, I’ll follow that noise.
He jumped off his horse and ran into the forest; looks - three old men are arguing in the clearing.
Hello old people! What are you arguing about?
Do you want me to separate you?
Do me a favor!
Ivan the merchant's son pulled his tight bow, placed three arrows and sent it in different directions; He tells one old man to run to the right, another to the left, and the third he sends straight ahead:
Whichever of you brings the arrow first will receive the invisibility cap; whoever comes second will receive the flying carpet; and let the last one take the walking boots.
The old men ran after the arrows, and Ivan the merchant's son took all the wonders and returned to his comrades.
Brothers,” he says, “let your good horses go free and sit down on my magic carpet.”
Everyone quickly sat down on the magic carpet and flew to the kingdom of Helen the Beautiful.
They flew to her capital city, landed at the outpost and went to look for the prince. They come to his yard.
What do you need? - asked the prince.
Take us, good fellows, into your service; We will please you and wish you well from the bottom of our hearts.
The prince accepted them into his service and distributed them: some as cooks, some as grooms, some in different places.
That same day, the prince dressed up for the holidays and went to introduce himself to Elena the Beautiful. She greeted him kindly, treated him to all sorts of dishes and expensive drinks, and then began to ask:
But tell me, Tsarevich, honestly, why did you come to us?
Yes, I want, Elena the Beautiful, to woo you; will you marry me?
I guess I agree; just complete three tasks in advance. If you do, I will be yours, but if not, prepare your head for a sharp ax.
Set a task!
I will have it tomorrow, but I won’t say what; Manage, Tsarevich, and bring your unknown to my mate.
The prince returned to his apartment in great distress and sadness. Ivan, the merchant’s son, asks him:
Why, Tsarevich, are you sad? Ali, what annoyed Elena the Beautiful? Share your grief with me, it will be easier for you.
“So and so,” the prince answers, “Elena the Beautiful asked me such a problem that not a single sage in the world could solve it.”
Well, that's still a small problem! Get some sleep; The morning is wiser than the evening, tomorrow we will judge the matter.
The Tsarevich went to bed, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, put on his invisible hat and walking boots - and marched to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful; went straight into the bedroom and listened. Meanwhile, Elena the Beautiful gave the following order to her beloved maid:
Take this expensive material and take it to a shoemaker: let him make a shoe for my foot, as quickly as possible.
The maid ran where she was ordered, and Ivan followed her.
The master immediately set to work, quickly made a shoe and placed it on the window; Ivan the merchant's son took that shoe and quietly hid it in his pocket.
The poor shoemaker began to fuss - his work disappeared from under his nose; He already searched and searched, searched all corners - all in vain! “What a miracle!” he thinks. “No way, the evil one was joking with me!” There was nothing to do, I took up the needle again, the other shoe worked and carried it to Elena the Beautiful.
What a baggy you are! - said Elena the Beautiful. - How long did it take to fiddle with one shoe!
She sat down at her work table and began embroidering the shoe with gold, decorating it with large pearls, and setting it with semi-precious stones.
And Ivan immediately found himself, took out his shoe and did the same: which pebble she takes, that’s what he chooses; Where she sticks a pearl, so he plants it.
Elena the Beautiful finished her work, smiled and said:
The prince will show up with something tomorrow!
“Wait,” Ivan thinks, “it’s still unknown who will outwit whom!”
He returned home and went to bed; at dawn he got up, got dressed and went to wake up the prince; woke him up and gave him a shoe.
“Go,” he says, “to Elena the Beautiful and show her the shoe - this is her first task!”
The prince washed himself, dressed himself up and galloped off to the bride; and her room is full of guests - all boyars and nobles, people of the Duma. As soon as the prince arrived, music immediately started playing, the guests jumped up from their seats, and the soldiers stood guard.
Elena the Beautiful brought out a shoe, studded with large pearls and set with semi-precious stones; and she herself looks at the prince and grins. The prince tells her:
It's a good shoe, but without a pair it's good for nothing! Apparently, we need to give you another one just like it!
With that word, he took another shoe out of his pocket and put it on the table. Here all the guests clapped their hands and shouted in one voice:
Hey, Tsarevich! Worthy to marry our empress, Elena the Beautiful.
But we'll see! - answered Elena the Beautiful. - Let him perform another task.
Late in the evening, the prince returned home even more gloomy than before.
Enough, prince, to be sad! - Ivan, the merchant’s son, told him. - Go to bed, the morning is wiser than the evening.
He put him to bed, and he put on his walking boots and an invisibility hat and ran to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful. At that very time she gave an order to her beloved maid:
Go quickly to the poultry yard and bring me a duck. The maid ran to the poultry yard, and Ivan followed her; the maid grabbed the duck, and Ivan grabbed the drake and came back the same way.
Elena the Beautiful sat down at her work table, took a duck, decorated its wings with ribbons, and its crest with diamonds; Ivan the merchant's son looks and does the same thing to the drake.
The next day, Elena the Beautiful has guests again, music again; She released her duck and asked the prince:
Did you guess my problem?
You guessed it, Elena the Beautiful! Here's a couple for your duck, and the drake immediately lets go...
Wow, well done Tsarevich! Worthy to take Elena the Beautiful for yourself!
Wait, let him complete the third task in advance. In the evening the prince returned home so gloomy that he didn’t even want to talk.
Don’t worry, prince, better go to bed; “The morning is wiser than the evening,” said Ivan, the merchant’s son.
He quickly put on his invisibility hat and walking boots and ran to Elena the Beautiful. And she got ready to go to the blue sea, got into the carriage and rushed at full speed; only Ivan, the merchant’s son, is not a step behind.
Elena the Beautiful came to the sea and began to call her grandfather. The waves swayed, and an old grandfather rose from the water - his beard was golden, his hair was silver. He went ashore:
Hello, granddaughter! I haven't seen you for a long time: all your hair is tangled - comb it.
He lay down on her lap and fell into a sweet sleep. Elena the Beautiful is scratching her grandfather, and Ivan, the merchant's son, is standing behind her.
She saw that the old man had fallen asleep, and plucked three silver hairs from him; and Ivan, the merchant’s son, snatched out a whole bunch of hair. Grandfather woke up and shouted:
What you! It hurts!
Sorry, grandpa! I haven’t scratched you for a long time, all my hair is tangled.
Grandfather calmed down and a little later fell asleep again. Helen the Beautiful tore out three golden hairs from him; and Ivan the merchant's son grabbed him by the beard and almost tore it all off.
The grandfather screamed terribly, jumped to his feet and rushed into the sea.
“Now the prince has been caught!” thinks Elena the Beautiful. “He won’t be able to get such hair.”
The next day guests gathered to visit her; The prince also arrived. Elena the Beautiful shows him three silver and three golden hairs and asks:
Have you ever seen such a miracle?
I found something to brag about! Do you want me to give you a whole bunch?
He took out and gave her a tuft of golden hair and a tuft of silver.
Elena the Beautiful got angry, ran to her bedroom and began to look into the magic book: was the prince guessing himself or who was helping him? And he sees from the book that it is not he who is cunning, but his servant, Ivan, the merchant’s son, who is cunning.
She returned to the guests and pestered the prince:
Send your beloved servant to me.
I have twelve of them.
They came the one called Ivan.
Yes, they are all called Ivans!
“Okay,” he says, “let everyone come!” - But in his mind he keeps: “I’ll find the culprit even without you!”
The prince gave the order - and soon twelve good fellows, his faithful servants, appeared at the palace; everyone looks the same, height to height, voice to voice, hair to hair.
Which one of you is big? - asked Elena the Beautiful.
They all shouted at once:
I'm big! I'm big!
“Well,” she thinks, “you won’t find out anything easily here!” - and she ordered eleven simple glasses, and the twelfth gold one, from which she always drank; I filled those glasses with expensive wine and began to treat the good fellows.
None of them takes a simple glass, everyone reaches for the golden one and starts snatching it from each other: they just made a noise and spilled the wine!
Elena the Beautiful sees that her joke was not a success; She ordered these fellows to be fed and watered and put to sleep in the palace.
That night, when everyone was fast asleep, she came to them with her magic book, looked at that book and immediately recognized the culprit; She took the scissors and cut off his temple.
“By this sign I will recognize him tomorrow and order his execution.”
In the morning Ivan, the merchant's son, woke up, put his hand to his head, and his temple had been shorn; He jumped out of bed and let’s wake up his comrades:
Get some sleep, trouble is coming! Take the scissors and cut your temples.
An hour later, Elena the Beautiful called them to her and began to look for the culprit... What kind of miracle? No matter who you look at, everyone's temples are cropped. Out of frustration, she grabbed her magic book and threw it into the oven.
After that, she couldn’t make excuses; she had to marry the prince. The wedding was fun; For three days the people were having fun, for three days the taverns and taverns were open - whoever wants to come, drink and eat at the public expense!
As soon as the feasts were over, the prince got ready to go with his young wife to his state, and sent twelve good fellows ahead.
They went outside the city, spread out a flying carpet, sat down and rose above the walking cloud; They flew and flew and landed right next to that dense forest where they had abandoned their good horses.
As soon as they had time to get off the carpet, they saw an old man running towards them with an arrow. Ivan the merchant's son gave him the invisibility cap. After that, another old man came running and received a flying carpet, and then a third one - this one got walking boots.
Ivan says to his comrades:
Saddle up your horses, brothers, it's time to hit the road.
They immediately caught the horses, saddled them and rode off to their homeland.
They arrived and went straight to the princess; She was very happy with them and asked about her brother: how did he get married and will he be home soon?
How, he asks, should I reward you for such service?
Ivan the merchant's son answers:
Put me in prison, in the old place.
No matter how the princess tried to persuade him, he insisted on his own: the soldiers took him and took him to prison.
A month later the prince arrived with his young wife; the meeting was solemn: music played, cannons were fired, bells were rung, so many people gathered that you could even walk on their heads!
The boyars and all sorts of ranks came to introduce themselves to the prince; he looked around and began to ask:
Where is Ivan, my faithful servant?
He, they say, is sitting in prison.
Like in a dungeon? Who dared to imprison? The princess tells him:
You yourself, brother, fell on him and ordered him to be kept in tight captivity. Do you remember that you asked him about some dream, but he didn’t want to tell?
Is it really him?
He is; I let him go to you for a while.
The prince ordered Ivan, the merchant's son, to be brought, threw himself on his neck and asked him not to remember the old evil.
“You know, Tsarevich,” Ivan tells him, “everything that happened to you was known to me in advance, I saw all this in a dream; That’s why I didn’t tell you about the dream.
The prince awarded him the rank of general, endowed him with rich estates and left him to live in the palace.
Ivan, the merchant's son, sent his father and older brother to live with him, and they all began to live together and make good money.
Let folk tale telling the story to your baby will become a good tradition and will bring you and your baby closer together.
Once upon a time there lived a merchant, he had two sons: Dmitry and Ivan.
One evening their father said to them:
- Well, children, if anyone dreams of anything, tell me in the morning; and who will hide his dream , I order him to be executed.
The next morning the eldest son comes and says to his father:
“I dreamed, father, that brother Ivan was flying high in the sky on twelve eagles; and it’s as if your favorite sheep has disappeared.
- What did you dream, Vanya?
No matter how much his father forced him, he stubbornly resisted all admonitions and kept repeating one thing: “I won’t tell!” yes “I won’t tell!” The merchant got angry, called his clerks and ordered them to take his disobedient son and tie him to a post on the high road.
The clerks grabbed Ivan and, as they say, tied him tightly to a post. The good fellow had a bad time: the sun baked him, hunger and thirst tormented him.
It happened that a young prince was driving along that road; he saw the merchant’s son, took pity on him and ordered him to be released, dressed him in his clothes, brought him to his palace and began to ask:
-Who tied you to the post?
- My own father was angry.
- What have you done wrong?
“I didn’t want to tell him what I saw in my dream.”
- Oh, how stupid your father is to punish such a trifle so cruelly... What did you dream about?
- I won’t tell, prince!
- How can you not tell? I saved you from death, and you want to be rude to me? Speak now, otherwise it will be bad!
“I didn’t tell my father and I won’t tell you!”
The prince ordered him to be put in prison; soldiers immediately came running and took him to a stone bag.
A year passed, the prince decided to get married, got ready and went to a foreign state to woo Elena the Beautiful. That prince had a sister, and soon after his departure she happened to be walking near the dungeon itself.
Ivan, the merchant’s son, saw her through the window and shouted in a loud voice:
- Have mercy, princess, set me free! Maybe I can come in handy too. After all, I know that the prince went to Elena the Beautiful to woo; But he won’t get married without me, and maybe he’ll pay with his head. Tea, I myself heard how cunning Elena the Beautiful is and how many suitors she sent to the next world.
“Are you going to help the prince?”
“I could help, but the falcon’s wings are tied.”
The princess immediately gave the order to release him from prison.
Ivan, the merchant's son, recruited his comrades, and there were twelve of them, including Ivan, and they looked alike like brothers - tall in height, voice in voice, hair in hair. They dressed up in identical caftans, sewn to the same size, mounted good horses and set off on the road.
We drove for a day, and two, and three; On the fourth, they approached a dense forest, and they heard a terrible scream.
- Stop, brothers! - says Ivan. - Wait a little, I’ll follow that noise.
He jumped off his horse and ran into the forest; looks - three old men are arguing in the clearing.
- Hello, old people! What are you arguing about?
- Do you want me to separate you?
- Do me a favor!
Ivan the merchant's son pulled his tight bow, placed three arrows and sent it in different directions; He tells one old man to run to the right, another to the left, and the third he sends straight ahead:
- Whichever of you brings the arrow first will receive the invisibility cap; whoever comes second will receive the flying carpet; and let the last one take the walking boots.
The old men ran after the arrows, and Ivan the merchant took all the wonders and returned to his comrades.
“Brothers,” he says, “let your good horses go free and sit down on my magic carpet.”
Everyone quickly sat down on the magic carpet and flew to the kingdom of Helen the Beautiful.
They flew to her capital city, landed at the outpost and went to look for the prince. They come to his yard.
- What do you need? - asked the prince.
- Take us, good fellows, into your service; We will please you and wish you well from the bottom of our hearts.
The prince accepted them into his service and distributed them: some as cooks, some as grooms, some in different places.
That same day, the prince dressed up for the holidays and went to introduce himself to Elena the Beautiful. She greeted him kindly, treated him to all sorts of dishes and expensive drinks, and then began to ask:
“Tell me, Tsarevich, honestly, why did you come to us?”
- Yes, I want, Elena the Beautiful, to woo you; will you marry me?
- I guess I agree; just complete three tasks in advance. If you do, I will be yours, but if not, prepare your head for a sharp ax.
- Give me a task!
“I’ll have it tomorrow, but I won’t say what; Manage, Tsarevich, and bring your unknown to my mate.
The prince returned to his apartment in great distress and sadness. Ivan, the merchant’s son, asks him:
- Why, Tsarevich, are you unhappy? Ali, what annoyed Elena the Beautiful? Share your grief with me, it will be easier for you.
“So and so,” the prince answers, “Elena the Beautiful asked me such a problem that not a single sage in the world could solve it.”
- Well, this is still a small problem! Get some sleep; The morning is wiser than the evening, tomorrow we will judge the matter.
The Tsarevich went to bed, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, put on an invisibility cap and walking boots - and marched to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful; went straight into the bedroom and listened.
Meanwhile, Elena the Beautiful gave the following order to her beloved maid:
- Take this expensive material and take it to the shoemaker; let him make a shoe for my foot, as soon as possible.
The maid ran where she was ordered, and Ivan followed her.
The master immediately set to work, quickly made a shoe and placed it on the window; Ivan the merchant's son took that shoe and quietly hid it in his pocket.
The poor shoemaker began to fuss; his work disappeared from under his nose; He already searched and searched, searched every corner - all in vain! “What a miracle! - thinks. “No way, the unclean one was joking with me!” There was nothing to do, I took up the needle again, the other shoe worked and carried it to Elena the Beautiful.
- What a slowpoke you are! - said Elena the Beautiful. —
How long did it take to fiddle with one shoe!
She sat down at her work table and began embroidering the shoe with gold, decorating it with large pearls, and setting it with semi-precious stones.
And Ivan immediately found himself, took out his shoe and did the same: which pebble she takes, that’s what he chooses; Where she sticks a pearl, there he also plants it.
Elena the Beautiful finished her work, smiled and said:
- The prince will show up with something tomorrow!
“Wait,” thinks Ivan, “it’s still unknown who will outwit whom!”
He returned home and went to bed; At dawn he got up, got dressed and went to wake up the prince; woke him up and gave him a shoe.
“Go,” he says, “to Elena the Beautiful and show her the shoe - this is her first task!”
The prince washed himself, dressed himself up and galloped off to the bride; and her room is full of guests - all boyars and nobles, people of the Duma. As soon as the prince arrived, music immediately started playing, the guests jumped up from their seats, and the soldiers stood guard.
Elena the Beautiful brought out a shoe, studded with large pearls and set with semi-precious stones; and she herself looks at the prince and grins. He tells her:
“It’s a good shoe, but without a pair it’s good for nothing!” Apparently, we need to give you another one just like it!
With that word, he took another shoe out of his pocket and put it on the table. Here all the guests clapped their hands and shouted in one voice:
- Oh yes, prince! Worthy to marry our empress, Elena the Beautiful.
- But we’ll see! - answered Elena the Beautiful. - Let him perform another task.
Late in the evening, the prince returned home even more gloomy than before.
- Enough, prince, to be sad! - Ivan, the merchant’s son, told him. - Go to bed, the morning is wiser than the evening.
He put him to bed, and he put on his walking boots and an invisibility hat and ran to the palace to see Helen the Beautiful. At that very time she gave an order to her beloved maid:
- Go quickly to the poultry yard and bring me a duck.
The maid ran to the poultry yard, and Ivan followed her; the maid grabbed the duck, and Ivan grabbed the drake and came back the same way.
Elena the Beautiful sat down at the work table, took a duck, decorated its wings with ribbons and its crest with diamonds; Ivan the merchant's son looks and does the same thing to the drake.
The next day, Elena the Beautiful has guests again, music again; She released her duck and asked the prince:
— Did you guess my task?
- You guessed it, Elena the Beautiful! “Here’s a couple for your duck,” and the drake immediately lets go...
- Well done, Tsarevich! Worthy to take Elena the Beautiful for yourself!
- Wait, let him complete the third task in advance.
In the evening the prince returned home so gloomy that he didn’t even want to talk.
- Don’t worry, prince, better go to bed; morning is wiser than evening,” said Ivan, the merchant’s son.
He quickly put on his invisibility hat and walking boots and ran to Elena the Beautiful. And she got ready to go to the blue sea, got into the carriage and rushed at full speed; only Ivan, the merchant’s son, is not a step behind.
Elena the Beautiful came to the sea and began to call her grandfather. The waves swayed, and an old grandfather rose from the water - he had a golden beard and silver on his head. He went ashore:
- Hello, granddaughter! I haven't seen you for a long time: all your hair is tangled - comb it.
He lay down on her lap and fell into a sweet sleep. Elena the Beautiful is scratching her grandfather, and Ivan, the merchant’s son, is standing behind her.
She saw that the old man had fallen asleep, and plucked three silver hairs from him; and Ivan, the merchant’s son, snatched out a whole bunch of hair. Grandfather woke up and shouted:
- What you! It hurts!
- Sorry, grandpa! I haven’t scratched you for a long time, all my hair is tangled.
Grandfather calmed down and a little later fell asleep again. Helen the Beautiful tore out three golden hairs from him; and Ivan the merchant’s son grabbed him by the beard and almost tore it all off.
The grandfather screamed terribly, jumped to his feet and rushed into the sea.
“Now the prince is caught! - thinks Elena the Beautiful. “He can’t get that kind of hair.”
The next day guests gathered to visit her; The prince also arrived. Elena the Beautiful shows him three silver and three golden hairs and asks:
- Have you ever seen such a miracle?
- I found something to brag about! Do you want me to give you a whole bunch?
He took out and gave her a tuft of golden hair and a tuft of silver.
Elena the Beautiful got angry, ran to her bedroom and began to look into the magic book: was the prince guessing himself or who was helping him? And he sees from the book that it is not he who is cunning, but his servant, Ivan, the merchant’s son, who is cunning.
She returned to the guests and pestered the prince:
- I have twelve of them.
- They came the one called Ivan.
- Yes, they are all called Ivans!
“Okay,” he says, “let everyone come!” - But in his mind he keeps: “I’ll find the culprit even without you!”
The prince gave the order - and soon twelve good fellows, his faithful servants, appeared at the palace; everyone looks the same, height to height, voice to voice, hair to hair.
-Which one of you is the big one? - asked Elena the Beautiful.
They all shouted at once:
- I'm big! I'm big!
