A Tale of Two Brothers and a Strong Will: A Tale. A tale of two brothers and lost trust A tale of two brothers, older and younger

The Tale of the Golden Cockerel Nowhere, in the distant kingdom, In the thirtieth kingdom, There lived a glorious king Dadon. In his youth he was formidable, and every now and then he boldly inflicted insults on his neighbors, but in his old age he wanted to take a break from military affairs and arrange peace for himself; There are neighbors here

“The Tale of Cinderella” If you do not meet the level of the man you dream of, you will not be able to attract him into your life. Before Cinderella attracted her Prince, she had to first get rid of the soot and dirt, change her rags to a beautiful dress, pumpkin to

A long time ago, in a distant country, there lived two brothers. They lived very friendly and did everything together. Both brothers wanted to become heroes. One brother said: “A hero must be strong and brave” and began to train strength and agility. He lifted heavy stones, climbed mountains, swam along a stormy river. And the other brother said that a hero must be stubborn and persistent, and began to train his willpower: he wanted to quit work, but he carried it through to the end, he wanted to eat pie for breakfast, but he left it for dinner; he learned to say no to his desires. .

Time passed, the brothers grew up. One of them became the strongest man in the country, and the other became the most persistent and persistent, he became a man with a strong will. But one day trouble happened: the terrible Black Dragon attacked the country. He carried away livestock, burned houses, kidnapped people

The brothers decided to save their people. “I will go and kill the Dragon,” said the first brother. “First we need to find out what his weakness is,” answered the other brother. “I don’t need to know what his weakness is,” said the strong man, “The main thing is that I am strong.” And he went to the high mountain on which stood the castle of the Black Dragon. "Hey Dragon! I have come to defeat you! Come out to fight!” the strong man shouted. The castle gates opened and the terrible Black Dragon came out to meet him. His black wings obscured the sky, his eyes burned like torches, and fire burst out of his mouth. Seeing this monster, the strong man felt fear enter his heart, he began to slowly retreat from the Dragon, and the Dragon began to grow, grow, and suddenly he flicked his tail, and the strong brother turned into stone.

Having learned about what happened to the strong man, his brother decided that it was his turn to fight the Dragon. But how to defeat him? And he decided to ask advice from the Wise Turtle, who lived on the other side of the earth.

The path to this turtle lay through three very dangerous kingdoms. The first was the kingdom of Wantkalk. A person who found himself in this kingdom immediately had many desires: he wanted to receive beautiful clothes, expensive jewelry, toys and delicacies, but as soon as he said “I want”, he immediately turned into a wisher and remained forever in this kingdom. Our hero also had many desires, but he gathered all his will and said “no” to them. Therefore, he managed to leave this country.

The second on his way was the kingdom of pokes, whose inhabitants constantly pulled each other and distracted them from business, so in this kingdom no one could do anything: neither work, nor rest, nor play. Our hero also wanted to start pulling others by the hands and pestering passers-by, but he again remembered his will and did not do this. And he did well, because otherwise he, too, would have become a poker and would have remained in this kingdom.

And finally, the third on his way was the most terrible kingdom - the kingdom of the yakalok. As soon as he entered this kingdom, he immediately wanted to shout: “I am the smartest,” “I am the bravest,” “I am the most beautiful,” “I am the very, very…”. And here he needed all the willpower that he had trained for many years. He silently passed this kingdom and found himself at the house of the Wise Turtle.

“Hello, Wise Turtle,” he said. “I came to you for advice.” Please teach me how to defeat the Black Dragon.

Only a person with a strong will can defeat the Dragon,” answered the Turtle. “You have passed through three terrible kingdoms, which means you can do it.” The stronger a person’s will, the weaker the terrible Dragon. Go, you will win.

And the Turtle closed her eyes, and our hero bowed to her and went back to his country.

He approached the gates of the castle in which the Black Dragon lived and challenged him to a fight. The dragon came out of the castle, spread its black wings and walked towards the daredevil. The hero became scared at the sight of the monster, but he gathered his will and overcame his fear, he stood still and did not retreat a single step. And suddenly... the terrible Dragon began to shrink, it became smaller and smaller until it completely disappeared! The Turtle told the truth: the stronger the will of a person, the weaker the evil Dragon.

As soon as the Dragon disappeared, his black castle also crumbled, and the living and unharmed inhabitants of the country, among whom was his brother, ran out to meet the hero. Since then they lived happily. So a strong will helped the hero defeat evil.

Exercise “My problems”

Target: Awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, positive and negative qualities; learning to recognize your problems and find ways to solve them, to overcome difficulties that interfere with full self-expression.

Time: 10 minutes.

Description: Psychologist: “Life often confronts us with serious problems and creates obstacles that must be overcome. This is what greatly stimulates personal growth and development.

Think about the obstacles you have had to overcome recently. After that, find what you have in common that helped you overcome these difficulties.

Now we will listen to everyone and pay special attention to ways to overcome obstacles. We will make a general list and call it “Overcoming.” Each of you has difficult moment our common experience of successfully overcoming difficulties will be at hand.”

– We have all read fairy tales, legends about a brave warrior killing a dragon or the Serpent Gorynych. Do you remember how scary it was when the hero cut off one head of the dragon, and another immediately grew in its place? And it seemed there would be no end to this. The dragon (aka Serpent Gorynych) is invincible. But another head flew off, and another. And suddenly it turned out that the dragon was beheaded and defeated. In modern terms, the number of spare heads was limited.

Each of us has our own dragon. He appears as a small, almost harmless dragon, but if he is not destroyed in time, he can grow and become dangerous for the person himself and all his loved ones. Almost every one of us at one point decides to kill our dragon. But in place of the severed head, another grows, then a third. And we often retreat. We don’t fight the dragon, but we tame it or try to “settle” it somehow so that no one notices it. And then one can only wonder: why clouds of flame suddenly burst out of a modest, quiet house and from time to time the roar of a wild animal is suddenly heard, and sometimes even the earth suddenly shakes. The most annoying thing is that, busy with our dragon, we cannot and do not have time to do anything else.

Therefore, it is best to fight the dragon while it is still small and while you still have enough strength. The most important thing is to remember that his number of goals is not unlimited and he can be defeated.”

Warm up your arms. Participants are invited to draw their own “dragon” and name it as a whole and each head separately.

Writing a fairy tale or story about how they will defeat their dragons. The story may be depicted as a comic strip, presented as a short story, or presented as a film script. Those who wish can unite in groups and come up with a common story, but there must be as many dragons and heroes as there are participants.

Psychologist: “What new have you learned about yourself?”

Exercise "Crossroads".

Target: Determination by participants of ways to achieve life goals.

Materials: Direction signs.

Time: 10 minutes.

Description: A chair with attached signs is placed in the middle of the room:

If you go to the right, you will choose the most difficult path, but only on it does a person, through mistakes and difficulties, have the opportunity to improve himself.

If you go to the left, you will have to make some effort.

If you go straight, it’s the easiest and shortest path, everything will happen by itself, you won’t need much effort to move along it.

Teenagers are asked to approach the “stone” at an intersection and choose which way they will go.

There is no right or wrong choice here; everyone decides which road is most attractive to him. As a result of the selection, three groups are formed. Each group is given the task to justify their choice.

Discussion.

The guys tell us why they chose this particular path, what controlled them: the desire to achieve success easily, to make some effort, or to go through a rather difficult road, but at the same time improve themselves?

Group discussion “What do you need to have to achieve what you want?”

Target: Updating ideas about personal traits, skills and knowledge necessary to achieve intended goals. Time: 10 minutes. Description: Participants are invited to discuss the following topics:

Do you need to set any goals for yourself or can you live without them?

What personal qualities do you need to have to achieve what you want?

What knowledge is needed to move towards the intended goal?

Does the result depend on the help and support of other people?

Reflection.

Target: Receiving feedback.

Time: 5 minutes.

Description: Teenagers talk about their impressions and activities.

Lesson 4.

Target: Development of skills for setting life goals and self-determination in achieving them.

Required materials: paper, pens, forms “I want - I can - I can” according to the number of participants, the text of the questionnaire “Can I take a blow”.

Time: 60 minutes.

Progress of the lesson.

Welcome ritual.

Target: Creating a friendly work environment.

Time: 5 minutes.

Exercise “I am a great master” Target: Updating ideas about your strengths. Time: 10 minutes. Description: Each participant, if desired, goes to the center of the circle and declares his skills: “I am a great master of making...” You can declare any of your abilities: cooking a dish, playing the guitar, drawing. The speaker's task is to convince others that he does something better than others. The presenter may ask: “Maybe someone knows how to do this better?” If there are no such participants and the group agrees with the statement, then the speaker is recognized as a “Grand Master” and is awarded a standing ovation.

Discussion.

Was it difficult to praise yourself and why? In what situations should you talk about your strengths?

Exercise “I want, I can, I can.” Target: Development of self-determination skills. Materials: Forms “I want - I can - I can” by the number of participants. Time: 10 minutes. Description: Presenter: “Many people, when setting goals for themselves, overestimate or underestimate their abilities. This prevents them from achieving their goals and brings them a lot of disappointments. Now we will try to practice setting simple goals and determining our ability to achieve them. (Teenagers are given forms to fill out.)

Discussion.

In the “I want” column you need to write your desire, but you should not set global goals, because this is just training. Next to it, in the “Can” column, write your personal opinion about whether it is possible to achieve what you planned. Here, note how feasible your plan is, in percentage or in one of three options: “confident”, “somewhat unsure”, “not sure”. In the “I can” column, write down your qualities that are necessary to achieve your goal and that you already have.”

Which column was the easiest to fill out and which was the most difficult? Why?

Exercise "Power of the tongue." Target: Learn manage your behavior. Time: 5 minutes.

Description: Participants work in pairs. One speaks, the other listens. The first one must pronounce three phrases, the beginning of which is different, but the continuation is the same. 1. I need... 2. I can’t... 3. I don’t want... After this, a discussion is held in which the listener says how these phrases differed from each other, what feelings were heard in the speech. After this, the pair changes roles and the exercise is repeated. Second stage. 1. I'm afraid that... 2. I would like... 3. I believe... The third stage. 1. I must... 2. I prefer... 3. I want. Reflection in a circle.

Exercise “Forbidden Desires”. Target: Developing the ability to give up what you want without much damage to yourself. Time: 5 minutes. Description: Presenter: “Probably, each of you in the “I want” column had some kind of desire that cannot be fulfilled on at the moment. Or maybe someone had desires that they didn’t write about and never told anyone about. People usually feel disappointed if they cannot achieve what they want. But sometimes you still need to give up what is currently unavailable.

Now we will have a chance to understand for ourselves what to do with such dreams.

Imagine that at the end of the room on a chair is your “forbidden” desire. Walk up to him and do whatever you want with him. Don't be afraid, we will support you if you experience difficulties. You can ask for “hall help.”

Discussion:

How did you feel when you were alone with your desire? Have you understood what you need to do to achieve your dream? How will you achieve it now?

Exercise “My Resources”. Target: Developing the ability to find resources to achieve a goal. Materials: Paper, pens. Time: 10 minutes. Description: Teenagers are asked to think about what and who can help them achieve the dream that they identified in the previous exercise. What do they already have to fulfill their plans? You can depict your qualities in the form of symbols - these are personal resources.

Discussion.

Is it possible to involve other people in achieving your goals? Or should you rely only on yourself?

Diagnosis of the level of development of volitional self-regulation(Test questionnaire by A.V. Zverkov and E.V. Eidman “Study of volitional self-regulation”) (Appendix 1)

Target: determine the level of development of volitional self-regulation.

Materials: Questionnaire text, paper, pens. Time: 10 minutes.

Discussion.

Do you agree with the survey results? What useful things have you learned?

Reflection.

Target: Receiving feedback.

Time: 5 minutes.

Lesson 5.

Target: Creating an action plan to achieve life goals.

Required materials: Paper, pens, small pillow, board.

Time: 60 minutes.

Progress of the lesson.

Welcome ritual. Target: Creating a friendly work environment. Time: 5 minutes.

Exercise “Goals and deeds.” Target: Developing skills in drawing up an action plan to achieve a goal. Materials: Paper, pens, board. Time: 15 minutes. Description: Presenter: “It is important to be able to distinguish actions from goals. Actions are things that can be done to achieve a goal. For example, if you have one goal - to have a good rest in the evening, the things leading to it can be different: invite guests, agree with friends to go to a disco, clean the room so you can watch TV in peace, etc.

Now you will need to think of the maximum number of ways you can relax in the evening within two minutes. Don’t stop your imagination, write without stopping.”

When the work is finished, the presenter writes down on the board the most popular way to relax in the evening and invites the children to make a list of things that need to be done to make the evening happen. Then the guys have to determine how much time they expect to spend on doing things and by what time these things should be completed.

Discussion.

Was it difficult to come up with an action plan? What internal and external resources were taken into account when drawing up a plan to achieve the goal?

Exercise “Complete the sentences.” Target: Updating the existing action plan to achieve life goals. Materials: Paper, pens. Time: 10 minutes.Description: Participants are asked to write endings to the sentences:

“I really want my life to have...”;

“I will understand that I am happy when...”;

“To be happy today, I must...”

Discussion.

Which proposal was easy to handle and which one was difficult? Do you see in your proposals a list of things to do?

Exercise "Magic Balls". Target: Providing an opportunity for participants to express their wishes and receive support from the group. Materials: 2 glass balls. Time: 10 minutes.

Description: Presenter: “I have magic glass balls. Everyone, if they wish, can take them in their hands and tell us about some of their desires. The one who sorts them out in his hand begins his story with the words “I want...”.

Everyone else listens carefully. The desire can be connected with anything: with your friends, with your family, with our group.”

Discussion.

How did you feel when you held the balloons? How did you feel when you heard about the desires of others, did they have any important desires? Was it difficult to muster up the courage to tell?

Exercise "Four Spheres".

Target: Self-determination, choosing life goals for the near future and building action plans for their implementation.

Materials: Paper, pens.

Time: 10 minutes.

Description: Presenter: “What would you do if you could do anything? What are your dreams, what are your desires and goals for the next five weeks, five months, five years? People invest their energy in various areas of life. The main ones among them are: body, activity, contacts, creativity. It’s good if the energy is distributed evenly between them.

Think and write how you will use your energy and time? What will you do for your body - the beauty of your face, figure, for your health? What would you like to do for your activities - study, work, career? For contacts with people - family, friends? For your creativity - entertainment, travel, hobbies? For a city, a country, humanity - for example, to achieve peace on Earth?

Discussion.

What did you find out for yourself? What did you find most important for yourself? Perhaps in the process of work you have developed life goals and have a plan of action outlined?

Exercise "Will". Target:Learn to develop willTime: 5 minutes.

Description: Spread your arms to the sides and raise them slightly. Stand like this until you want to lower them. After this, hold them in this position with willpower for 3-5 minutes. Talk about your feelings and sensations. Brainstorming "How to develop willpower."

Reflection. Target: Receiving feedback. Time: 5 minutes.

Description: Teenagers share their impressions of the lesson.

Lesson 6.

Target: Development of free choice skills, updating of knowledge acquired in classes throughout the cycle, summing up.

Required materials: Paper, pens, spreadsheets, camera.

Time: 60 minutes.

Progress of the lesson.

Welcome ritual.

Target: Creating a friendly work environment.

Time: 5 minutes.

Exercise “I must or I choose.” Target: Getting rid of the use of obligations in organizing your activities. Materials: Forms of tables by the number of participants. Time: 20 minutes.

Description: Presenter: “Since childhood, we hear the word “should” from other people so often that it sounds inside us, forcing us to obey. We can be guided by people, situations and our own moral attitudes. It happens that some part of our personality resists this “should” but, as a rule, we still suppress it and obey. If a person is guided mainly by “shoulds,” it means that the master of the situation is not he, but outside authorities, sometimes dubious. For example, in your company it is customary to smoke and drink beer, so every newcomer must do the same as everyone else, even if he doesn’t like it. Or you are told that you must study, and you obey this, every day “bringing” yourself to school by the collar, but only in order to serve the required number of hours. Someone else makes a decision for you, you obey him, but after that there remains a feeling of resentment or internal protest. Both of these ways of responding, in turn, lead to revenge.

However, when we ourselves choose our attitude towards a particular situation, we are exercising our will. To be independent in your decisions, you need to be able to focus on your own motivation for some action. Now you have to try to do this. Replace statements that force you to take action with statements that involve your own choice. Continue the list of statements given in the table.

Moving from “I have to” to “I want” means that you will find it easier to deal not only with your own debts, but also with the debts imposed on you by others. Perhaps you have several things you don't like. But one way or another, you do them. Why don't you choose a different attitude towards them, so that instead of boredom and irritation you experience pleasure? This kind of conscious choice can turn a bad day into a day of achievement. A powerless, drab existence can be transformed into a life of freedom and joy, a life of your choice.”

Discussion.

In what situations did you find it difficult to change your attitude?

Exercise “Suitcase for the road.” Target: Updating the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom.

Materials: Paper, pens. Time: 15 minutes.

Description: Presenter: “Remember what you learned in the entire cycle. What do you think will definitely be useful to you in life? In order not to forget some thoughts, I recommend that you write them down. This will be your baggage of knowledge and skills - a “suitcase” with the necessary things that will be needed on your journey along the long road of life.”

Discussion.

What did the guys put in the “suitcase”? Will their luggage really be useful in life, or is it packed just in case?

Exercise “I am a gift to humanity” Target: Increased self-esteem in achieving positive life goals. Time: 15 minutes.

Description: Presenter: “Each person is a unique being. And each of us needs to believe in our exclusivity. Think about what makes you unique and unique. Reflect on the fact that you truly are a gift to humanity. Give reasons for your statement, for example: “I am a gift to humanity because I can benefit the world in...”

After some thought, the guys in a circle express their thoughts. The group supports their comrade with statements: “It really is!”

Exercise"Transferring confidence in success"Time: 5 minutes.

Description: Success at work largely depends on your attitude and faith in each other. Let's encourage each other in the following ways. Take turns looking at your neighbor on the right, call him by name out loud and mentally say “I believe in you.” Convey that belief through a friendly pat on the back. Now let's repeat the exercise in the opposite direction (from left to right)

Parting. Target: Completing a cycle of classes, summing up, receiving feedback.

Time: 10 minutes.

Description: Leading: “Our group classes have come to an end. You have learned a lot about yourself, learned a lot. I would like this knowledge to be useful to you in life. Look into your “suitcase” more often - there is everything you need for your support and self-confidence. Don't forget that there are your faithful friends nearby who are always ready to help!

I will ask you to express your impressions in three words, as in a short telegram.”

Teenagers speak out in a circle. The facilitators thank them for participating in group work and share their impressions.

Once upon a time there lived two brothers - a poor one and a rich one. The rich man was a goldsmith and an evil, despicable one; The poor man lived only by knitting brooms, but at the same time he was both kind and honest.

The poor man had two children - twins, identical to each other, like two peas in a pod. These boys often went to the rich man’s house, and sometimes some of what was thrown out there fell into their hands for food.

So it happened one day that a poor man went into the forest for brushwood and suddenly saw a bird, completely golden and so beautiful that he had never seen before in his life. He picked up a pebble and threw it at that bird, and hit it very successfully: one golden feather fell from the bird to the ground, and the bird itself flew away.

The poor man picked up that feather, brought it to his brother, and he, looking at the feather, said: “This is pure gold,” and gave him good money for the feather.

The next morning the poor man climbed up the birch tree to cut down a couple of branches from it; and the same bird flew off from that birch tree, and when the poor man began to look around, he found its nest on the tree, and in that nest an egg, completely golden.

The poor man went into the forest for the third time and again saw a golden bird on the branch of a tree, knocked it off the branch with a stone and brought it to his brother, who gave him a whole lot of money for it. “Well, now I guess I can get some money!” - said the poor man and returned home very happy.

The rich brother was smart and cunning and knew very well what kind of bird it was. He called his wife to him and said: “Roast this golden bird for me and make sure that nothing from it is lost! I feel the urge to eat the whole thing.”

But the bird was not simple and of such an outlandish breed that whoever managed to eat its heart and liver found gold under his head every morning. The wife prepared the bird properly, stuck it on a spit and began to fry it.

So it happened that while the bird was on the fire, and the rich brother’s wife had to leave the kitchen for a minute for other work, the poor man’s children ran into the kitchen, stood near the spit and turned it twice.

And when two pieces fell out of the inside of the bird and fell on a baking sheet, one of the boys said: “Let’s eat these two pieces, I’m so hungry, and no one will notice.”

And the two of them ate both of these pieces; and then the rich man’s wife returned, saw that they were eating something, and asked: “What did you eat just now?” “We ate two pieces, which fell out of the bird’s gut,” the boys answered. “It was the heart and liver!” - she exclaimed in fear, and so that her husband would not notice this decline and would not be angry with her, she killed a cockerel, took out the heart and liver from it and placed it next to the golden bird. When the bird was fried, she served it to her husband, and he ate it whole, without any leftovers. When the next morning he put his hand under the headboard, thinking to pull out the gold from under it, there was no gold there.

And both boys could not even comprehend how such happiness befell them: the next morning, when they began to get up, something heavy fell to the ground and rang, and when they picked up what had fallen from under their headboard, they saw that it was two gold ones. They brought them to their father, who was very surprised and asked them: “How could this happen?”

When they again found two gold pieces the next morning and the same thing began to repeat every morning, then the father went to his brother and told him about the strange incident.

The rich brother immediately realized how this could happen and realized that the boys had eaten the heart and liver of the golden bird. And so, to take revenge on them for this, and simply because he was envious and hard-hearted, he said to his brother: “Your children are acquainted with the unclean; Be careful, don’t take this gold, and don’t keep them in your house for an hour, because the unclean one has power over them and will take you into his hands too.”

Since the father was afraid of the evil spirit, he, although reluctantly, nevertheless took the twins into the forest and with great sadness left them there to their fate.

So both boys began to run around the forest and look for the way home, but they could not find it and became more and more confused.

Finally they met a hunter who asked them: “Whose children are you?” “We are the children of a poor sweeper,” and they told him how their father did not want to keep them at home just because they found gold every morning under their headboard. “Well, I don’t see anything bad here yet,” said the hunter, “if only you remain honest and don’t be lazy.”

Because boys good man liked him, and besides, he didn’t have any children of his own, he took them into his house and said: “I will replace your father and raise you to adulthood.”

They began to learn his trade from him, and he began to collect and save the gold that each of them found when standing under the head of the bed for them for the future.

When they grew up big, the teacher took them with him into the forest and said: “Today you must show whether you have learned to shoot, so that I can accept you as a hunter.”

They came with him to the animal hole and wandered for a long time, and still no game appeared. The hunter looked up and saw a flock of snow geese above, flying, as always, in a triangle. “Come on,” he said to one of the boys, “shoot me one goose from each corner.” He acted as ordered, and this was a test shot for him.

Soon after that, another flock flew in and it flew in the form of the number 2; Then the hunter ordered the other brother to also shoot one bird from both ends of the village, and he also succeeded in his test shot.

“Well,” their teacher said to both brothers, “now I accept you as a hunter, since I see that you are both experienced shooters.”

Then both brothers went into the forest together, consulted with each other and agreed on something.

And when they sat down to dinner in the evening, they said to their teacher: “We will not touch the food and will not swallow a single sip until you fulfill our request.” - “What is your request?” They answered: “We have now learned from you, we need to test ourselves in the world; therefore, allow us to go wandering.”

Then the old man said to them with joy: “You speak like brave hunters; what you desire was also my desire; go, wander - and may you have success in everything!” And then they began to merrily drink and eat together.

When the appointed day arrived, the teacher gave each of the brothers a good gun and a dog and allowed them to take as much as they wanted from the chervonets he had saved.

Then he accompanied them some part of the way and, at parting, gave them a shiny hunting knife and said: “When you happen to part ways on the way, then stick this knife into a tree at the crossroads; By this knife, returning to that tree, each of you can judge how lucky the absent brother was: the side of the knife facing his path will rust if he died, and as long as he is alive, until then the blade of the knife will continue to shine.”

Both brothers went along the road together and came to a forest so large that they could not get out of it for the whole day.

They had to spend the night in the forest and eat only what they had taken with them in their hunting bag.

So they walked through the forest for another day and still could not get out of it. They already had nothing to eat, and therefore one of them said: “We need to shoot something, otherwise, perhaps, we will have to endure hunger,” loaded his gun and began to look around.

He sees a seasoned hare running past; the hunter took aim at him, but the hare shouted to him:

Have pity on me, huntsman!
Two bunnies - my ransom!

The hare immediately jumped into the bushes and carried out two little hares; and these animals played so merrily and were so nice that the brothers-hunters did not have the courage to kill them.

They left them with them, and both little hares ran after them.

Soon after, a fox ran past them; They were about to shoot that fox, but the fox also screamed:

Have pity on me, huntsman!
Two little foxes are my ransom!

And she brought two fox cubs, but the hunter brothers did not dare to kill them either, but left them with them along with the little hares, and they also ran after them.

A little later, a wolf came out of the thicket of the forest, both hunters aimed at him; but the wolf also shouted:

Have pity on me, huntsman!
Two wolf cubs are my ransom!

And the brothers-hunters joined the two wolf cubs to the rest of the animals, and they also ran after them.

Then they met a bear, who also did not mind living in this world, and shouted to the hunters:

Have pity on me, huntsman!
Teddy bears are my ransom!

And two more bear cubs were added to the rest of the animals, and thus the hunters already had eight animals in all.

Who else finally came out to meet them? A lion came out shaking his mane. But the hunters were not afraid and took aim at him; then the lion also said:

Have pity on me, huntsman!
My lion cubs are my ransom!

And he also brought them his lion cubs; and so the brothers-hunters found themselves with two lion cubs, two bear cubs, two wolf cubs, two fox cubs and two little hares, who followed them and served them.

Meanwhile, they were still tormented by hunger, and they said to their foxes: “Come on, you creeps, get us something to eat, you are by nature cunning and thieving.” They answered: “Not far from here lies a village in which we have dragged more than one chicken; We will show you the way there."

So they went to the village, bought themselves something to eat, ordered them to feed their animals, and went on their way.

The foxes knew very well in that area the yards where the chickens lived, and everywhere they could give the most correct instructions to their brother hunters.

So the brothers wandered around together, but could not find anywhere a service that they could both enter, and finally decided: “Apparently, we are destined to part.”

They divided the animals among themselves, so that each received his share of a lion, a bear, a wolf, a fox and a hare; then they said goodbye, swore to love each other brotherly until the hour of death, and stuck the knife that their teacher had given them into a tree at the crossroads; and one of them went east from that tree, and the other went west.

The younger, together with his animals, came to the city, which was completely covered with black matter. He entered one of the hotels and asked the owner if he would undertake to shelter his animals.

The innkeeper set aside a stable for them, which had a hole in the wall. The hare immediately crawled out of that hole, got himself a head of cabbage, and the fox brought herself a chicken and, having eaten it, was not too lazy to go and get the cockerel; only the wolf, bear and lion could not get out of this hole because they were too big.

Then the innkeeper took them to a field where a cow was grazing on the grass and gave them plenty to eat.

When the animals were fed, the hunter asked the owner: “Why is the whole city hung with black cloth?” - “But because tomorrow the only daughter of our king must die.” - “Why is she lying sick at the point of death, or what?” - asked the hunter. - “No, both alive and healthy; but still must die.” - “Yes, why?” - asked the hunter. “But do you see that high mountain in front of the city? There lives a dragon, to whom we must give an innocent girl every year, and if we didn’t, he would devastate our entire country. Now all the girls were sacrificed to him, only one royal daughter remained. But there is no mercy for that one either, and tomorrow we must give it to the dragon to be devoured!” - “Why don’t they kill the dragon?” - asked the hunter. “Oh, many knights have already tried this; but they only lost their lives in vain. It is not for nothing that the king promised to give his daughter as a wife to the one who defeats this dragon, and upon his death - his entire kingdom.”

The hunter said nothing more, but the next morning he took his animals with him and ascended the dragon mountain with them.

At the top of it stood a church, and on the altar there were three full cups, and with them the signature: “Whoever drinks these three cups will be the strongest of all.” strong people in the world and will freely wield the sword that is buried under the threshold of the front door.”

The hunter did not immediately decide to drink from those cups, but left the church and found a sword buried in the ground; but he couldn’t even move him.

Then he returned to the church again, drained those cups and felt so strong that he could take that sword in his hands and wield it completely freely.

When the hour came at which the young maiden was to be betrayed to the dragon, the king himself and his butler, together with the entire court, took the princess out of the city.

From a distance she saw a hunter on the dragon mountain, and it seemed to her that it was the dragon himself waiting for her; She didn’t even want to climb the mountain, but finally, remembering that the whole city was about to perish because of her, she was forced to undertake this difficult feat.

Then the king and his courtiers returned home filled with great sorrow; and the king's butler had to remain in place and observe from a distance everything that was happening on the mountain.

When the princess climbed the mountain, she saw not a dragon there, but a young hunter who tried to console her and said that he was thinking of saving her, led her into the church and locked her in it.

A little later, with a great noise and roar, a seven-headed dragon flew in. Seeing the hunter, he was surprised and said: “Why are you here on the mountain?” - “And then that I want to fight with you!” - the hunter answered boldly. “Many brave knights have been here, who paid for their courage with their lives, and I will soon deal with you too!” - the snake said mockingly and began to puff flames at him from its seven mouths.

The flame was so strong that it set the dry grass on fire, and the hunter would probably have suffocated from the heat and smoke if his animals had not come running and extinguished the flame.

Then the dragon attacked the hunter himself, but he waved his sword so that it whistled in the air, and cut off three of his heads at once.

The dragon became enraged, rose into the air, began to puff fire at the hunter again and was about to rush at him again, but the hunter swung his sword again and cut off three more heads of the dragon.

The monster immediately weakened and fell to the ground, but still advanced on the hunter; however, he, having gathered his last strength, cut off the dragon’s tail and, since he could no longer fight, he called on all his animals, and they tore the dragon into pieces.

When the battle with the dragon was over, the hunter opened the doors of the church and found the princess stretched out on the floor: she had fainted from fear and horror during the battle between the hunter and the dragon.

He carried her out into the air, and when she came to her senses and opened her eyes, he showed her the torn dragon and said: “You are freed from him!” The princess was delighted and said: “Now you will be my dearest husband, since my father promised to marry me to the one who kills the dragon.”

Then she took off her coral necklace and divided it among the animals as a reward for their help, and the lion received part of the necklace with a golden lock. And she gave her handkerchief, on which the princess’s name was embroidered, to the hunter, who approached the torn dragon and cut out the tongues from the seven mouths, wrapped them in the princess’s handkerchief and carefully hid them.

However, tired of the battle with the dragon and exhausted by the flames with which it doused him, the hunter felt so exhausted that he said to the princess: “You and I are so exhausted and tired that it would be a good idea for us to lie down to rest.”

The princess agreed with him, and they lay down on the bare ground; and the hunter said to the lion: “See that no one attacks us while we sleep,” and, having said this, he fell asleep with the queen.

The lion sat down next to them, but he, too, was so tired of the battle that he called the bear and said: “Lie down next to me; I need to sleep a little, and if anyone comes, wake me up.”

The bear lay down next to him; but he was also tired and called the wolf. “Lie down next to me,” he told him, “I’m just sleeping a little, and if anyone appears, wake me up.”

The wolf lay down next to the bear, but since he was tired, he called the fox and said: “Lie down next to me, let me sleep a little, and if something happens, wake me up.”

The fox lay down next to him, but she was also so tired that she called the hare and said: “Lie down next to him, let me sleep a little, and if someone comes up, wake me up.”

The hare lay down next to the fox, but he, poor thing, was also tired and since he could not entrust anyone with guarding, he simply fell asleep.

The princess, and the hunter, and the lion, and the bear, and the wolf, and the fox, and the hare fell asleep - and everyone slept in a deep, deep sleep.

Meanwhile, the butler, who was supposed to watch everything from afar, when he saw that the dragon was not flying away and was not carrying away the princess, and everything on the mountain was calm, he gathered his courage and ascended the mountain.

He saw there a dragon cut into pieces and torn to shreds, and not far from him - the princess, the hunter and all his animals sleeping in a row...

And everyone was immersed in deep sleep.

And since he himself was an evil and godless man, he took out his sword and cut off the hunter’s head; He picked up the princess in his arms and carried him down the mountain.

Then she woke up and was horrified; but the butler told her; “You are in my complete power! You will have to say that it was not he who killed the dragon, but I!” - “I can’t! - she said. “It wasn’t you who did it, but the hunter and his animals!”

The butler drew his sword and threatened to kill her if she did not obey his will, and thus forced her to promise to obey him.

Then he brought the princess to the king, who could not recover from joy when he saw his dear child alive, betrayed to be torn to pieces by a monster. The butler said to him: “I killed the dragon and your daughter, the maiden, and delivered your whole kingdom from the monster; and therefore I demand the hand of your daughter as a reward, as you promised.”

The king asked his daughter: “Is he telling the truth?” “It must be true,” she answered evasively, “but I’m trying to negotiate for myself permission to postpone the wedding for one year and one day.”

During this period of time, she hoped to receive at least some information about her dear hunter.

Meanwhile, on the dragon mountain, all the animals were still lying in a row near their murdered master and sleeping in deep sleep.

A large bumblebee flew in and sat on the hare's nose; but the hare fanned himself with his paw and continued to sleep. The bumblebee flew in a second time and sat down there, but the hare again fanned itself with its paw and still slept. The bumblebee flew in for the third time and stung him very painfully on the nose, so that he woke up. And as soon as he woke up, he woke up the fox, and the fox woke up the wolf, the wolf woke up the bear, and the bear woke up the lion.

When the lion woke up and saw that the princess was gone, and his master was lying dead, he began to roar terribly and exclaimed: “Who could have done this? Bear, why didn’t you wake me up?” The bear asked the wolf: “Wolf, why didn’t you wake me up?” - and the wolf asked the same question to the fox, and the fox asked the hare.

One poor hare could not blame anyone, and everyone blamed him.

They were ready to tear him to pieces, but he begged for mercy and began to ask: “Don’t destroy me, I will be able to revive our master. I know a mountain on which such a root grows that whoever holds it in his mouth is healed of all diseases and all kinds of wounds. But it’s only two hundred hours to get to that mountain.”

Leo said to him: “In twenty-four hours you must run back and forth and bring that root with you.”

The hare immediately set off and twenty-four hours later actually returned uprooted.

The lion put the hunter's head back in place, and the hare poked the root into his mouth, and instantly everything grew together again, and his heart began to beat, and life returned to him.

Then the hunter woke up from his sleep and was horrified, not seeing the princess near him; he thought: “That’s right, she left during my sleep to get rid of me.”

The lion in a hurry put his master's head facing backwards, but he, in his great sadness, did not notice this; and only at noon, when he wanted to eat, he saw that his head was upside down, he could not understand the reason for such a strange transformation and began to ask the animals what could have happened to him during sleep.

Then the lion told him that they all fell asleep near him from fatigue, and when they woke up they found him dead, with his head cut off; then he told how the hare brought the root of life, and he in a hurry put his head the other way around, facing his back, but was gladly ready to correct his mistake.

He actually tore off the hunter’s head, turned it over, and the hare healed his wounds and strengthened his head on his shoulders with the help of his root.

But the hunter became sad, went to wander around the world and everywhere forced his animals to dance in front of the audience.

And it so happened that exactly a year later he again came to the same city where he saved the princess from the dragon and saw that the whole city was hung with red cloth.

And he asked the innkeeper: “What does all this mean? Exactly a year ago your city was all hung with black... Why is it now hung with red material? “A year ago,” answered the innkeeper, “our princess had to be given to the dragon to be devoured; but our king’s butler fought with that monster and killed him, and tomorrow their wedding should take place. That’s why then the city was all hung with black, but now it’s decorated with bright red material.”

The next day, when it was time to celebrate the princess’s wedding, the hunter at lunchtime said to the innkeeper: “What do you think, sir, can I eat bread from the royal table here today?” “Well,” said the owner, “I probably wouldn’t mind betting a hundred ducats that this will never happen.” The hunter accepted the bet and laid out a wallet with one hundred gold pieces on the table. Then he called the hare and said: “Go, my dear jumper, and bring me the bread that the king himself eats.”

The hare was the youngest among the animals and did not dare to convey his instructions to anyone, but had to fulfill it himself. “Uh,” he thought, “perhaps if I walk alone through the streets, the butcher’s dogs will run after me.”

As he thought, this is what happened: the dogs started running after him through the streets and had almost completely reached his beautiful skin. But the hare then went to pee and hid in the sentry’s booth, so that he didn’t even notice how it happened.

The dogs also ran up to the booth: they really wanted to pull the hare out of it; but the soldier was on guard; Apparently, he didn’t like to joke and treated them with the butt so much that they screeched and roared.

As soon as the hare noticed that the way was open for him, he rushed to the royal castle and straight to the princess, sat down under her chair and touched her little leg with his paw.

And she says: “Get away!” — I thought it was her dog. And the hare again grabbed her leg with his paw; and she again: “Go away!” — still thinking it was a dog.

But the hare again did his thing - and for the third time he hit her leg with his paw; Just then she looked under the chair and recognized the hare by her necklace.

So she took him in her arms, carried him to her room and said: “Dear bunny! What do you want? He answered: “My lord, the same one who killed the dragon has arrived here and through me asks you to send him the bread that the king himself eats.”

The princess was very happy and ordered the baker to be called to her, and the baker ordered to bring the bread that the king himself would deign to eat. The bunny said at the same time: “But tell the baker to take this bread home to me, otherwise the butcher’s dogs will chase me again.”

The baker brought him bread to the door of the owner's room, and there the hare rose on his hind legs, took the bread with his front legs and brought it to his master.

“You see, sir,” said the hunter, “one hundred ducats are now mine.”

The owner was very surprised by this, and the hunter again said: “Well, Mr. owner, I now have bread from the royal table; but I wanted to try the king's roast."

The owner grumbled: “Well, we’ll see about that,” but he didn’t want to bet.

The hunter called the fox and said: “Fox! Go and bring me the roast that the king himself eats.”

It’s not for nothing that the fox is known as a sneaky one, she went into the corners and crannies, so that not a single dog saw her, made her way to the princess, sat under her chair and grabbed her leg with her paw!

She looked under the chair and recognized the fox by her necklace.

“Dear little fox,” said the princess, “what do you want from me?”

She answered: “My lord, the same one who killed the dragon, came here and sent through me to ask for the roast that the king himself eats.”

The princess called the cook, ordered him to prepare the roast as it was served to the king, and to take it after the fox to the very door of the inn.

At this point the fox took the dish from the cook’s hands, first swished the flies that had settled on the roast with her tail, and then brought it to her master.

“You see, sir,” said the hunter, “I now have the king’s bread and roast; But I also want to add a dish of greens, just like the king himself eats.”

He called the wolf and said: “Dear wolf, go and bring me a dish of greens, as the king himself deigns to eat.”

The wolf went straight to the castle, because he had no one to fear, and when he came to the princess’s room, he tugged her dress lightly from behind, so that she looked back.

The princess recognized him by her necklace and took him to her and said: “Dear wolf, what do you want from me?” “My lord,” answered the wolf, “the same one who killed the dragon has arrived here and through me wants to receive a dish of greens in the form the king himself eats.”

The princess ordered the cook to prepare a dish of greens, as the king himself would deign to eat, and take it after the wolf to the very doors of the inn; there the wolf accepted the dish from the cook and took it to his master.

“You see, sir,” said the hunter, “now I have bread, meat, and greens from the royal table; Well, I also want to try the royal cake.”

He called the bear and told him: “Mishenka, you are a hunter of sweets yourself! Go and bring me some cake, just as the king himself deigns to eat it.”

The bear galloped towards the castle, and everyone he met gave way to him; when he reached the castle guards, they took their guns at the ready and did not want to let him into the castle.

But he stood up on his hind legs, and with his front legs right and left he began to give everyone such strong slaps in the face that all the guards scattered, and he walked straight to the princess, stood behind her, and grumbled lightly.

She looked around, recognized the bear by his necklace, called him into her room and said: “Dear Mishenka, what do you want from me?” “My lord,” answered the bear, “the same one who killed the dragon has arrived here and asks through me to send him a cake, the same one that the king eats.”

The princess called the pastry chef and ordered him to bake a cake to the king’s taste, and follow the bear to the door of the hotel. There, the bear first licked off the dish the sugar pellets that had rolled off the cake, and then, standing on its hind legs, took the dish from the pastry chef and carried it to his master.

“You see, sir,” said the hunter, “now I have bread, meat, herbs, and cake from the royal table; but I still want to drink the wine that the king himself drinks.”

He called his lion and said to him: “Dear lion! I know you don’t mind drinking, so go and bring me the wine that the king himself deigns to drink.”

The lion walked through the streets, and all the people he met ran headlong from him.

When he came to the castle and the guards wanted to block his way, he only barked once - and everyone immediately ran away.

He knocked with his tail on the door of the royal castle, and the princess herself opened it for him.

She was not afraid of the lion only because she recognized the golden lock from her necklace on the lion's neck, called him into her room and said: “Dear lion, what do you want from me?” “My lord,” answered the lion, “the same one who killed the dragon has arrived here. He asks me to send him the wine that the king himself drinks.”

The princess ordered the crook to be called, and he was to bring the lion wine, which the king himself drinks.

“No, I’d rather go with him myself,” said the lion, “and see that he gives me the real one.” And he and the hunter went into the cellar.

And when they got down there, the king wanted to pour him the wine that the royal servants were drinking, but the lion said: “Wait! I’ll taste the wine first!”

He poured half a measure for himself and slammed it down at once. “No,” he said, “this is not the same wine.”

Kravchiy looked at him from under his brows and wanted to draw from another barrel from which the royal butler was treated to wine. “Stop! - said the lion. “I’ll taste the wine myself first,” he poured half a measure and drank it in one gulp. “It’s better,” he said, “but it’s still not the same wine.”

Then the thief got angry and grumbled: “Such a stupid animal, and there he is, sorting out the wine!”

But the lion gave him such a slap on the head that he fell to the ground, and when he got to his feet, then, without saying a word, he led the lion into a completely separate cellar.

There was royal wine there, exclusively intended for the king personally.

Leo first poured half a measure of this wine for himself, tasted it, and then said: “Yes, this could be real.”

Then he ordered the winemaker to pour six bottles of this royal wine.

So they rose from the cellar, and when the lion came out into the fresh air, he swayed from side to side and was a little tipsy; The crook had to carry the wine to him all the way to the door of the hotel, and only there the lion took the basket with bottles from his hands and handed it to his master.

“You see, Mr. Host,” said the hunter, “I have here bread, and meat, and herbs, and cake, and wine - everything from the royal table; “Now I will sit at the table with my animals,” and he sat down at the table and began to eat and drink and have fun, seeing that the princess had not forgotten him and that he was still dear to her.

Having finished his feast, the hunter said: “Mr. Master, now I have eaten and drunk, as the king himself deigns to drink and eat. Well, now I’ll go to the royal court and marry the princess.” - “How can this happen? - said the owner. “After all, she already has a fiancé, and today is the day of her agreement.”

Then the hunter pulled out of his pocket the handkerchief that the princess gave him on the dragon mountain (the seven tongues of the monster were wrapped in it), and said: “What I hold in my hand will help me in this matter.”

The owner looked at the handkerchief and said: “Well, what else, but I won’t believe this! I bet my yard and house!”

In response, the hunter took out a wallet with a thousand ducats, put it on the table and said: “This is what I bet for my part!”

Meanwhile, the king, having sat down at his royal table, said to his daughter the princess: “What did all these wild animals need that came to you today and walked back and forth through my royal castle?”

The princess answered: “I don’t dare say that; It’s better that you yourself send for the master of these animals and order him to be called here.”

The king sent one of his servants to the hotel and ordered the stranger to be invited to the palace.

The servant arrived just at the same time when the owner and the hunter were making a bet.

The hunter said to the owner: “You see, the king himself sends a servant for me and invites me; but I won’t go so easily. “And he said to the servant: “Ask the king to send me his royal dress, a carriage drawn by six horses, and servants with it to accompany me.”

Hearing this answer, the king said to his daughter: “What should I do?” She answered: “Order it to be brought as he wishes - it will be better.” So the king sent his royal dress, a carriage with six horses and servants to the hunter.

When he saw all this, he said to the owner: “You see, now they will take me, as I myself wished,” and put on the royal dress, took the handkerchief with the dragon tongues and went to the king.

The king sees him approaching the castle and says to his daughter: “How can I receive him?” And she answered him: “Go out to meet him yourself - it will be better.”

So the king came out to meet him and led him up, and all the animals followed the hunter.

The king showed him a place next to himself and his daughter; and the butler sat at the other end of the table like a groom and did not yet recognize the hunter.

During dinner, the seven heads of the dragon were brought out for display, and the king said: “My butler cut off these seven heads of the dragon, and therefore I am giving him my daughter in marriage today.”

Then the hunter got up from his seat, opened all seven mouths of the dragon, looked into them and said: “Where did the seven tongues of the dragon go?”

Here the butler became frightened, turned pale and did not know what you would answer; Finally he said in fright: “Yes, dragons don’t have tongues at all.” “It would be good if the liars didn’t have them at all,” said the hunter, “and the dragon’s tongues should serve as proof of victory.”

He unfolded the handkerchief, showed all seven tongues, put each of them into the mouth from which they were cut, and each one came in just the right amount.

Then he showed the handkerchief to the princess and asked her to whom she had given the handkerchief.

And the princess answered: “To the one who killed the dragon.” Then he called all his animals to him, took off parts of the princess’s necklace from each of them, and removed the golden lock from the lion’s neck, showed it to the princess and asked who the necklace belonged to.

The princess answered: “The necklace and lock belonged to me, and I divided it all among the animals that helped you cope with the dragon.”

Only then did the hunter say: “When I, tired of the battle with the dragon, lay down to rest and fell asleep, the butler came and cut off my head; then he carried the princess away from the mountain and forced her to recognize himself as the conqueror of the dragon; and that he lied, the tongues of the dragon, the handkerchief and the necklace serve as proof.”

He immediately told how the animals healed him with the help of a wondrous healing root, how he wandered with them around the world for a whole year and finally came here again and learned about the butler’s deception from the story of the inn owner.

“Is it really true that this man killed the dragon?” - the king asked his daughter.

“It’s absolutely true,” the daughter answered, “now I can discover the butler’s shameful act, since it came to light outside of me, but before I couldn’t, because he forced me to promise not to reveal this secret to anyone. That’s why I made a condition for myself - to get married no earlier than a year and a day later.”

Then the king ordered his twelve advisers to be called, who were to pronounce judgment on the butler, and they sentenced the villain to a cruel execution: tie him to four oxen and drive them in different directions until they tear him to pieces; and he married his daughter to the hunter, and entrusted his entire kingdom to him to manage.

The wedding was played joyfully, and the young king called his father and his teacher to the wedding and rewarded them with great riches.

He did not forget the owner of the inn, he ordered him to be called and said to him: “You see, Mr. owner, I married the princess and therefore your house and yard now belong to me.” “Yes, that’s how it should be in all fairness,” said the owner.

But the young king replied: “There is no example at mercy: let your courtyard and house remain to you, and in addition to them I also give you a thousand ducats.”

So the young king and his queen lived happily ever after. He often went hunting because he loved hunting very much, and his faithful animals had to follow him.

Close to the city there was a forest about which there were bad rumors.

People said that whoever accidentally enters it will have a hard time getting out of it.

But the young king really wanted to hunt in him, and he pestered his father-in-law the king until he allowed him to do so. So he went hunting with a large retinue.

When he approached the forest, he saw a snow-white doe in the forest and said to his people: “Stay here until I return to you, I want to hunt this beauty.”

Having said this, he rode into the forest, and only his animals followed him. The young king's retinue stood and waited for him until evening, but he did not appear from the forest; then the retinue returned home and told the young queen that her husband had chased a white doe in the magical forest and did not return from there.

And she began to worry very much about her husband. And he rode and rode in the wake of the white doe and could not catch up with her; when it seemed to him that he was approaching her just enough to shoot, she suddenly quickly eluded him and finally completely disappeared into the distance. Only then did he notice that he had gone far into the forest; he took a hunting horn and began to blow it, but no one responded to his call, because his retinue could not hear him.

Night had already fallen, and he saw clearly that he would not return home that day, and therefore got off his horse, lit a fire under a tree and prepared to spend the night under it.

He sat down by the fire, and his animals lay down around him, and suddenly he thought he heard a human voice.

He began to look around - and saw nothing. But then again he heard what seemed like someone’s sighs above his head, looked up and saw an old woman on a tree, who was quietly moaning and repeating: “Oooh! How cold I am!” He told her: “Come downstairs, auntie, and warm yourself up, if you’re cold.” But she answered: “No, your animals will bite me.” - “They won’t do anything to you, auntie, go boldly.”

And the old woman was a witch and said: “I’ll throw you a twig from the tree, hit them on the back with that twig; Then they won’t do any harm to me.”

And sure enough, she threw the twig to him, and as soon as he hit his animals with that twig, they immediately became subdued and turned into stones.

Having thus protected herself from the animals, the witch quickly jumped from the tree and touched it with a rod, turning it into stone. And she began to laugh, and dragged the young king and his animals into a deep ditch, where many similar stones already lay.

When the young king did not return home at all, the young queen’s fear and anxiety began to increase more and more.

And then it just happened that another brother, who during separation headed east, came to the same kingdom. He kept looking for a service for himself and did not find any, and he had to wander around the world and show people how his animals dance.

So it occurred to him that he should look at the knife that he and his brother stuck into the tree when they parted; he wanted to know how his brother was doing.

When he came to the tree, he saw that the knife on his brother’s side was half rusty and half still shiny.

He got scared and thought: “It’s true that a great misfortune has befallen my brother; but maybe I can still save him, because one half of the knife still shines.”

He immediately headed west with his animals, and when he arrived at the city gates, the city guards came out to meet him and asked if he would notify his wife of his arrival - the young queen had been in great alarm about him for two days already. absence and fears that he died in the magical forest.

The guards took him for their young king, he was so similar to him, and wild animals followed him in the same way as his brother.

The young man immediately realized that we were talking about his brother, and thought: “It would be best for me to pretend to be my brother, then it would be easier for me to save him.” Therefore, he allowed the guards to escort him to the castle and was received there with great joy.

The young queen mistook him for her husband and asked why he had been absent for so long. “I got lost in the forest,” he answered, “and I couldn’t get out of that forest.”

So he lived in the castle for another two days, and in the meantime he found out everything about the enchanted forest, and finally said: “I must go there again to hunt.”

No matter how hard the old king and the young queen tried to dissuade him from this intention, he insisted on his own and went hunting with a large retinue.

When he arrived in the forest, everything happened to him exactly the same as with his brother: he saw a snow-white doe in the same way and said to his people: “Stay here and wait until I return,” he rode into the forest, and the animals they ran after him.

In the same way, he could not catch up with this deer and climbed so far into the forest that he had to spend the night in it.

And when he lit the fire, in the same way he heard someone above him moaning: “Oooh, how cold I am!”

I looked up - and the same witch was sitting on a tree among the branches. “If you’re cold, come here, auntie, and warm yourself up!” “No,” she answered, “your animals will bite me.” - “They won’t touch you.” “But I’ll throw you a twig from here,” said the witch, “you whip them with that twig, so they definitely won’t touch me.”

But the hunter did not trust the old woman and said: “I will not whip my animals with your twig; come here yourself, otherwise I’ll drag you off the tree.”

Then she shouted to him: “You never know what you want! And what can you do for me?” - “Here’s the thing: if you don’t leave with good will, I’ll shoot you out of the tree.” - “Shoot, please, I’m not afraid of your bullets at all!”

He took aim at her and fired, but the witch was charmed against all lead bullets, she laughed loudly and loudly and said: “You probably won’t hit me!”

But he was no slouch: he tore three silver buttons from his clothes, loaded the gun with them (and it had no spell against a silver bullet), and as soon as he fired, the witch fell from the tree with a squeal.

Then he stepped on her with his foot and said: “Old witch, if you don’t tell me right away where you put my brother, then I’ll grab you in my arms and throw you into the fire!”

The witch got scared, began to beg for mercy and said: “He, along with his animals, lies petrified in the ditch.” Then he forced her to follow him, threatened her and said: “Old devil, now you must again revive both my brother and all those who were thrown into this ditch with him! Otherwise your only road is to the fire!”

She took a twig in her hands, touched the stones with it: and his brother came to life with his animals, and many others - merchants, artisans, shepherds; everyone rose from the ditch, thanked the hunter for their release and scattered in different directions.

And the twin brothers, seeing each other after a long separation, kissed and hugged, and rejoiced from the bottom of their hearts.

Then they grabbed the witch, tied her up and threw her into the fire, and when she burned, then the forest itself thinned out and brightened, so that through it one could see the royal castle from afar.

So both brothers went home together and on the way they told each other everything that had happened to them.

When the younger one said that he now owned the whole country instead of the old king, the older one remarked to him: “I was convinced of this when I came to your city and they accepted me there for you; I was given all sorts of royal honors, and the young queen took me for her husband and made me sit next to her at the table.”

When the younger brother heard about this, he became seething with jealousy, and in anger he pulled out a sword and cut off his brother’s head with it.

When he fell to the ground dead and his younger brother saw his blood flowing in a copious stream, then repentance overwhelmed him. “My brother saved me from the witch,” he exclaimed with loud sobs, “and I repaid him by killing him!”

But then a hare came up to him and invited him to run for the root of life; he ran and brought the root just in time: the dead man came to life, and not even a trace of his wound remained.

Then they went further, and the younger one said: “You are like me, like two peas in a pod, you are wearing the same royal dress as me, and the same animals are following you, so we will enter the two opposite gates of the city and We will arrive at the old king from opposite directions.”

With that they parted; and then two guards from two opposite gates of the city came to the old king at the same time, and each of them announced that the young king had arrived from hunting with his animals. The king said: “It can’t be! After all, these gates are an hour apart from each other!”

Meanwhile, both brothers entered the gates of the royal castle from two different sides, and both went up at the same time. Then the king, turning to his daughter, said: “Tell me, which of them is your husband? They both look the same, and I can’t tell them apart!”