About the fairy tale

The tale “Twelve Months” about human faith in miracles

The wonderful fairy tale “Twelve Months” is familiar to every adult early childhood. The great Russian poet and author of children's books wrote this fascinating story based on a Slovak folk tale.

The Soviet writer worked during the difficult war years and in 1942 adapted the Bohemian legend of the twelve months into a theatrical production for the Moscow Art Theater studio. In 1947-48 dramatic fairy tale-play was presented to young spectators on the stage of two famous theaters. The story amazed and impressed Soviet children. More than half a century has passed since then, but mischievous children never cease to be amazed by the magic of the mysterious and instructive legend.

This colorful page features “The Twelve Months.” With extraordinary illustrations that are matched to a captivating narrative, reading turns into a real journey. The child, together with his parents and grandparents, will be able to travel to huge world children's literature and immerse yourself in the rich treasury of Russian folk crafts.

Children often cannot understand why there are good and evil characters in fairy tales? To understand in a deep sense fairy tale story, you need to get to know the interesting and characteristic characters:

Evil stepmother - a frequent character in Russian fairy tales. Women in the villages worked a lot, and it happened that small children were left orphans due to the loss of their mother. Fathers remarried, and stepmothers devoted more time, love and care to their own children, while stepmothers did the hardest work and were deprived of a piece of bread.

Stepmother's own daughter - a lazy and harmful girl. The slacker, spoiled by her mother, lay on the stove all day and chewed rolls. When the stepsister managed to get snowdrops in January, out of envy she ran into the frosty forest and decided to beg mushrooms and berries from the months.

Stepdaughter – main character fairy tales According to the laws of the genre, she works all the time and endures bullying from her stepmother. When the girl was sent to fetch snowdrops in the cold cold, she resignedly obeyed and hoped only for a miracle. The stepdaughter’s pure soul, her kindness, faith and hard work helped me meet twelve months and pass this difficult test.

Three boys - March , April And May . Children around the fire symbolized spring months. At this time, the equinox arrives and the circle of life begins all over again.

Three young people - June , July , August . These are the summer months, when nature is warmed up by the generous sun, and in the fields and gardens the greenery is filled with fresh juice.

Three elderly - September , October And november . The autumn months are generous with gifts and offerings; at this time, Mother Earth gives people the fruits that she produced during the warm season.

Three old men - December , January , February . These winter elders, covering the fields and meadows with a warm blanket of snow. During these cold months, nature rests and gains new strength for the next spring revival.

The stepdaughter, on a hike for snowdrops, saw a real cycle in nature. The fire in the center of the circle symbolizes the sun, and the twelve months around it symbolize the eternal and never-ending movement of universal natural cycles.

Evil in a fairy tale will definitely be punished, as in life! And a kind girl who believes in miracles will receive a real magical reward from Mother Nature.

Read the children's story "Twelve Months" with beautiful colorful pictures And in large print free online and without registration on our website. At the end of the tale you will see links to the same name, and.

Do you know how many months there are in a year?

Twelve.

What are their names?

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

As soon as one month ends, another begins immediately. And it has never happened before that February came before January left, and May overtook April.

But people say that mountainous country Bohemia was a girl who saw all twelve months at once.

How did this happen? Here's how.

In one small village there lived an angry and stingy woman with her daughter and stepdaughter. She loved her daughter, but her stepdaughter could not please her in any way.

No matter what the stepdaughter does, everything is wrong, no matter how she turns, everything is in the wrong direction.

My daughter spent whole days lying on the feather bed and eating gingerbread.

And the stepdaughter had no time to sit down from morning to night: then fetch water.

Either bring brushwood from the forest, then wash out the laundry on the river, or weed the garden beds.

She knew winter cold, summer heat, spring wind, and autumn rain.

That’s why, perhaps, she once had the chance to see all twelve months at once.

It was winter. It was January.

There was so much snow that they had to shovel it away from the doors, and in the forest on the mountain the trees stood waist-deep in snowdrifts and could not even sway when the wind blew on them.

People sat in their houses and lit their stoves.

At such and such a time, in the evening, the evil stepmother opened the door, looked at how the blizzard was sweeping, and then returned to the warm stove and said to her stepdaughter:

And what snowdrops in the middle of winter!

They will not be born before March, no matter how much you look for them. You'll just end up lost in the forest and get stuck in the snowdrifts. And her sister tells her:

“Even if you disappear, no one will cry for you!”

- Go and don’t come back without flowers. Here's your basket.

The girl began to cry, wrapped herself in a torn scarf and walked out the door.

The wind dusts her eyes with snow and tears her scarf off. She walks, barely pulling her legs out of the snowdrifts.

It's getting darker all around.

The sky is black, not a single star looks at the ground, and the ground is a little lighter. It's from the snow.

Here is the forest. It’s completely dark here—you can’t see your hands.

The girl sat down on a fallen tree and sat. All the same, he thinks about where to freeze.

And suddenly a light flashed far between the trees - as if a star was entangled among the branches.

The girl got up and went towards this light. He drowns in snowdrifts and climbs over a windbreak. “If only,” he thinks, “the light doesn’t go out!”

But it doesn’t go out, it burns brighter and brighter. There was already a smell of warm smoke, and you could hear brushwood crackling in the fire. The girl quickened her pace and entered the clearing. Yes, she froze.

It’s light in the clearing, as if from the sun. In the middle of the clearing a large fire is burning, almost reaching to the sky. And people are sitting around the fire - some closer to the fire, some further away. They sit and talk quietly.

The girl looks at them and thinks: who are they? They don’t seem to look like hunters, even less like woodcutters: look how smart they are - some in silver, some in gold, some in green velvet.

And suddenly one old man turned around - the tallest, bearded, with eyebrows - and looked in the direction where the girl stood.

She was scared and wanted to run away, but it was too late. The old man asks her loudly:

- Where did you come from, what do you want here?

The girl showed him her empty basket and said:

— I need to collect snowdrops in this basket. The old man laughed:

The girl stands there, listening, but doesn’t understand the words—as if it weren’t people talking, but the trees making noise.

They talked and talked and fell silent.

And the tall old man turned around again and asked:

- What will you do if you don’t find snowdrops? After all, they won’t even appear before March.

The old man stroked his long beard and said:

“I would give in, but Mart wouldn’t be there before February.”

The old man fell silent, and the forest became quiet. The trees stopped crackling from the frost, and the snow began to fall thickly, in large, soft flakes.

“Well, now it’s your turn, brother,” said January and gave the staff to his younger brother, shaggy February. He tapped his staff, shook his beard and boomed:

Winds, storms, hurricanes,

Blow as hard as you can!

Whirlwinds, blizzards and blizzards,

Get ready for the night!

Trumpet loudly in the clouds,

Hover above the ground.

Let the drifting snow run in the fields

White snake!

As soon as he said this, a stormy, wet wind rustled in the branches. Snow flakes began to swirl and white whirlwinds rushed across the ground. And February gave his ice staff to his younger brother and said:

Mart grinned and sang loudly, in all his boyish voice:

Run away, streams,

Spread, puddles,

Get out, ants,

A bear sneaks through

Through the dead wood.

The birds began to sing songs,

The girl even clasped her hands.

Where did the high snowdrifts go?

Where are the ice icicles that hung on every branch?

Under her feet is soft spring soil.

The buds on the branches have puffed up, and the first green leaves are already peeking out from under the dark skin.

The girl looks - she can’t get enough of it.

The girl woke up and ran into the thicket to look for snowdrops.

On the bumps and under the bumps - everywhere you look.

She took a full basket, a full apron -

And quickly again to the clearing, where the fire was burning, where the twelve brothers were sitting.

And there is no longer a fire, no brothers: It’s light in the clearing, but not as before.

Light does not come from fire, but from full month that rose above the forest.

The girl regretted that she had no one to thank and ran home. And a month swam after her.

Not feeling her feet under her, she ran to her door - and as soon as she entered the house, the winter blizzard began to hum outside the windows again, and the moon hid in the clouds.

“Oh,” thinks the stepmother’s daughter, “why did I go into the forest!” I would be lying at home in a warm bed right now, but now go and freeze! You’ll still be lost here!”

And as soon as she thought this, she saw a light in the distance - as if a star had become entangled in the branches.

She went to the light. She walked and walked and came out into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing, a large fire is burning, and twelve brothers, twelve months old, are sitting around the fire. They sit and talk quietly.

The stepmother's daughter approached the fire itself, did not bow, did not say a friendly word, but chose a place where it was hotter and began to warm herself.

The month brothers fell silent. It became quiet in the forest. And suddenly the month of January hit the ground with his staff.

- Who are you? - asks. -Where did it come from?

“From home,” the stepmother’s daughter answers. “Today you gave my sister a whole basket of snowdrops.” So I came in her footsteps.

“We know your sister,” says January-month, “but we haven’t even seen you.” Why did you come to us?

- For gifts. Let the month of June pour strawberries into my basket, and bigger ones. And July is the month of fresh cucumbers and white mushrooms, and the month of August is of apples and sweet pears. And September is the month of ripe nuts. A October:

“Wait,” says January-month. - There will be no summer before spring, and no spring before winter. The month of June is still a long way off. I am now the owner of the forest, I will reign here for thirty-one days.

And the stepmother waited and waited for her daughter, looked out the window, ran out the door - she was gone, and that’s all. She wrapped herself up warmly and went into the forest. How can you really find anyone in the thicket in such a snowstorm and darkness!

She walked and walked and searched and searched until she herself froze.

So they both remained in the forest to wait for summer.

And they say she had a garden near her house - and such a wonderful one, the likes of which the world has never seen.

Earlier than everyone else, flowers bloomed in this garden, berries ripened, apples and pears were filled. In the heat it was cool there, in the snowstorm it was quiet.

“They’ve been staying with this hostess for twelve months at once!” - people said. At the age of twelve I began to keep a diary, poetry,...

Whoever is twelve years old is kindergarten, poetry,…

Do you know how many months there are in a year?

Twelve.

What are their names?

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

As soon as one month ends, another begins immediately. And it has never happened before that February came before January left, and May overtook April.

The months go one after another and never meet.

But people say that in the mountainous country of Bohemia there was a girl who saw all twelve months at once.

How did this happen? Here's how.

In one small village there lived an angry and stingy woman with her daughter and stepdaughter. She loved her daughter, but her stepdaughter could not please her in any way. No matter what the stepdaughter does, everything is wrong, no matter how she turns, everything is in the wrong direction.

The daughter lay on the feather bed all day long and ate gingerbread, but the stepdaughter had no time to sit down from morning to night: either fetch water, or bring brushwood from the forest, or wash out the laundry on the river, or weed the beds in the garden.

She knew winter cold, summer heat, spring wind, and autumn rain. That’s why, perhaps, she once had the chance to see all twelve months at once.

It was winter. It was January. There was so much snow that they had to shovel it away from the doors, and in the forest on the mountain the trees stood waist-deep in snowdrifts and could not even sway when the wind blew on them.

People sat in their houses and lit their stoves.

At such and such a time, in the evening, the evil stepmother opened the door and looked at how the blizzard was sweeping, and then returned to the warm stove and said to her stepdaughter:

You should go to the forest and pick snowdrops there. Tomorrow is your sister's birthday.

The girl looked at her stepmother: was she joking or was she really sending her into the forest? It's scary in the forest now! And what are snowdrops like in winter? They will not be born before March, no matter how much you look for them. You'll just get lost in the forest and get stuck in the snowdrifts.

And her sister tells her:

Even if you disappear, no one will cry for you. Go and don't come back without flowers. Here's your basket.

The girl began to cry, wrapped herself in a torn scarf and walked out the door.

The wind dusts her eyes with snow and tears her scarf off. She walks, barely pulling her legs out of the snowdrifts.

It's getting darker all around. The sky is black, not a single star looks at the ground, and the ground is a little lighter. It's from the snow.

Here is the forest. It's completely dark here - you can't see your hands. The girl sat down on a fallen tree and sat. All the same, he thinks about where to freeze.

And suddenly a light flashed far between the trees - as if a star was entangled among the branches.

The girl got up and went towards this light. He drowns in snowdrifts and climbs over a windbreak. “If only,” he thinks, “the light doesn’t go out!” But it doesn’t go out, it burns brighter and brighter. You could already smell warm smoke and hear the crackling of brushwood in the fire. The girl quickened her pace and entered the clearing. Yes, she froze.

It’s light in the clearing, as if from the sun. In the middle of the clearing a large fire is burning, almost reaching to the sky. And people are sitting around the fire - some closer to the fire, some further away. They sit and talk quietly.

The girl looks at them and thinks: who are they? They don’t seem to look like hunters, even less like woodcutters: look how smart they are - some in silver, some in gold, some in green velvet.

The young people sit near the fire, and the old people sit at a distance.

And suddenly one old man turned around - the tallest, bearded, with eyebrows - and looked in the direction where the girl stood.

She was scared and wanted to run away, but it was too late. The old man asks her loudly:

Where did you come from, what do you want here?

The girl showed him her empty basket and said:

I need to collect snowdrops in this basket.

The old man laughed:

Is it snowdrops in January? What did you come up with!

“I didn’t make it up,” the girl replies, “but my stepmother sent me here for snowdrops and didn’t tell me to return home with an empty basket.” Then all twelve looked at her and began to talk among themselves.

The girl stands there, listening, but doesn’t understand the words - as if it’s not people talking, but trees making noise.

They talked and talked and fell silent.

And the tall old man turned around again and asked:

What will you do if you don't find snowdrops? After all, they won’t even appear before March.

“I’ll stay in the forest,” says the girl. - I’ll wait for the month of March. It’s better for me to freeze in the forest than to return home without snowdrops.

She said this and cried. And suddenly one of the twelve, the youngest, cheerful, with a fur coat over one shoulder, stood up and approached the old man:

Brother January, give me your place for an hour!

The old man stroked his long beard and said:

I would have given in, but March would not be there before February.

“Okay,” grumbled another old man, all shaggy, with a disheveled beard. - Give in, I won’t argue! We all know her well: sometimes you’ll meet her at an ice hole with buckets, sometimes in the forest with a bundle of firewood. All months have their own. We need to help her.

Well, have it your way,” said January.

He struck the ground with his ice staff and spoke:

Don't crack, it's frosty,
In a protected forest,
At the pine, at the birch
Don't chew the bark!
You're full of crows
Freeze,
Human habitation
Cool down!
The old man fell silent, and the forest became quiet. The trees stopped crackling from the frost, and the snow began to fall thickly, in large, soft flakes.

Well, now it’s your turn, brother,” said January and gave the staff to his younger brother, shaggy February.

He tapped his staff, shook his beard and boomed:

Winds, storms, hurricanes,
Blow as hard as you can!
Whirlwinds, blizzards and blizzards,
Get ready for the night!
Trumpet loudly in the clouds,
Hover above the ground.
Let the drifting snow run in the fields
White snake!
As soon as he said this, a stormy, wet wind rustled in the branches. Snow flakes began to swirl and white whirlwinds rushed across the ground.

And February gave his ice staff to his younger brother and said:

Now it's your turn, brother Mart.

Took it younger brother staff and hit the ground.

The girl looks, and this is no longer a staff. This is a large branch, all covered with buds.

Mart grinned and sang loudly, in all his boyish voice:

Run away, streams,
Spread, puddles,
Get out, ants,
After the winter cold!
A bear sneaks through
Through the dead wood.
The birds began to sing songs,
And the snowdrop blossomed.
The girl even clasped her hands. Where did the high snowdrifts go? Where are the ice icicles that hung on every branch!

Under her feet is soft spring soil. There is dripping, flowing, murmur all around. The buds on the branches are inflated, and the first green leaves are already peeking out from under the dark skin.

The girl looks and can’t see enough.

Why are you standing? - Mart tells her. - Hurry, my brothers gave you and me only one hour.

The girl woke up and ran into the thicket to look for snowdrops. And they are visible and invisible! Under bushes and under stones, on hummocks and under hummocks - everywhere you look. She collected a full basket, a full apron - and quickly went back to the clearing, where the fire was burning, where the twelve brothers were sitting.

And there is no longer a fire, no brothers... It’s light in the clearing, but not as before. The light did not come from the fire, but from the full moon that rose over the forest.

The girl regretted that she had no one to thank and went home. And a month swam after her.

Not feeling her feet beneath her, she ran to her door - and as soon as she entered the house, the winter blizzard began to hum outside the windows again, and the moon hid in the clouds.

Well, - her stepmother and sister asked, - have you returned home yet? Where are the snowdrops?

The girl didn’t answer, she just poured snowdrops out of her apron onto the bench and put the basket next to it.

The stepmother and sister gasped:

Where did you get them?

The girl told them everything that happened. They both listen and shake their heads - they believe and don’t believe. It’s hard to believe, but there’s a whole heap of fresh, blue snowdrops on the bench. They just smell like March!

The stepmother and daughter looked at each other and asked:

Have months given you anything else? - Yes, I didn’t ask for anything else.

What a fool! - says the sister. - For once, I met all twelve months, but didn’t ask for anything except snowdrops! Well, if I were you, I'd know what to ask for. One has apples and sweet pears, another has ripe strawberries, the third has white mushrooms, the fourth has fresh cucumbers!

Smart girl, daughter! - says the stepmother. - In winter, strawberries and pears have no price. We would sell this and make so much money! And this fool brought snowdrops! Dress up, daughter, get warm and go to the clearing. They won’t deceive you, even if there are twelve of them and you are alone.

Where are they! - the daughter answers, and she herself puts her hands in her sleeves and puts a scarf on her head.

Her mother shouts after her:

Put on your mittens and button up your fur coat!

And my daughter is already at the door. She ran into the forest!

He follows his sister's footsteps and is in a hurry. “Hurry up,” he thinks, “to get to the clearing!”

The forest is getting thicker and darker. The snowdrifts are getting higher and the windfall is like a wall.

“Oh,” the stepmother’s daughter thinks, “why did I go into the forest! I would be lying at home in a warm bed now, but now go and freeze! You’ll still be lost here!”

And as soon as she thought this, she saw a light in the distance - as if a star had become entangled in the branches.

She went to the light. She walked and walked and came out into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing, a large fire is burning, and twelve brothers, twelve months old, are sitting around the fire. They sit and talk quietly.

The stepmother's daughter approached the fire itself, did not bow, did not say a friendly word, but chose a place where it was hotter and began to warm herself.

The month brothers fell silent. It became quiet in the forest. And suddenly the month of January hit the ground with his staff.

Who are you? - asks. -Where did it come from?

From home,” the stepmother’s daughter answers. - Today you gave my sister a whole basket of snowdrops. So I came in her footsteps.

We know your sister,” says January-month, “but we haven’t even seen you.” Why did you come to us?

For gifts. Let the month of June pour strawberries into my basket, and bigger ones. And July is the month of fresh cucumbers and white mushrooms, and the month of August is of apples and sweet pears. And September is the month of ripe nuts. And October...

Wait,” says the month of January. - There will be no summer before spring, and no spring before winter. The month of June is still a long way off. I am now the owner of the forest, I will reign here for thirty-one days.

Look, he's so angry! - says the stepmother’s daughter. - Yes, I didn’t come to you - you won’t get anything from you except snow and frost. To me summer months necessary.

The month of January frowned.

Look for summer in winter! - speaks.

He waved his wide sleeve, and a blizzard rose in the forest from ground to sky, covering both the trees and the clearing on which the moon brothers had been sitting. The fire was no longer visible behind the snow, but you could only hear a fire whistling somewhere, crackling, blazing.

The stepmother's daughter was scared. - Stop it! - shouts. - Enough!

Where is it?

The blizzard swirls around her, blinds her eyes, takes her breath away. She fell into a snowdrift and was covered with snow.

And the stepmother waited and waited for her daughter, looked out the window, ran out the door - she was gone, and that’s all. She wrapped herself up warmly and went into the forest. How can you really find anyone in the thicket in such a snowstorm and darkness!

She walked and walked and searched and searched until she herself froze.

So they both remained in the forest to wait for summer.

But the stepdaughter lived in the world for a long time, grew up big, got married and raised children.

And they say she had a garden near her house - and such a wonderful one, the likes of which the world has never seen. Earlier than everyone else, flowers bloomed in this garden, berries ripened, apples and pears were filled. In the heat it was cool there, in the snowstorm it was quiet.

This hostess has been staying with this hostess for twelve months at once! - people said.

Who knows - maybe it was so. Here we go

Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen; They lived in complete harmony and had twelve children, all of whom were boys.

So the king says to the queen: “If the thirteenth child you give birth to is a girl, then I will order all twelve boys to be killed, so that she will have more wealth, and our entire kingdom will belong to her alone.”

He ordered twelve coffins to be prepared, which were filled with shavings, and even a small headboard was placed in each one; By his order, these coffins were placed in a special locked room, the key to which the king gave to the queen and did not order anyone to tell about it.

And so the mother began to grieve for whole days, so that the youngest son, who was constantly with her (she named him Benjamin according to the Bible), asked her: “Dear mother, why are you so sad?” “My dear child,” she answered, “I don’t dare tell you this.” However, he did not leave her behind with questions until she went, unlocked the rooms and showed him twelve ready-made coffins filled with shavings. And his mother said to him: “My dear Benjamin, your father ordered these coffins to be prepared for you and for your eleven brothers, because he decided: if I have a girl, then he will order all of you to be killed and buried in these coffins.”

She said all this and cried; and the son consoled her and said: “Don’t cry, dear mother, we’ll think about ourselves somehow and leave him ourselves.”

And she answered him: “Go with your eleven brothers into the forest, and let one of you always stand on guard on the tallest tree in the forest, and let him look at the castle tower. If I have a son, I will order a white flag to be placed on the tower, and then you can all safely return home; if a daughter is born, then I will order a red flag to be placed on the tower, and then run as quickly as possible, and may God bless you. Every night I will get up and pray to God for you: in winter, so that you have a light near which you can warm up, and in summer, so that the heat does not kill you.” After that, she blessed her sons, and they went into the forest. All of them, taking turns, climbed the tallest of the forest oaks and stood there on guard, looking at the castle tower.

When eleven days had passed and it was Benjamin’s turn to climb, he saw that some kind of flag was raised on the tower: but it was not a white flag, but a red and bloody flag, announcing death to all of them!

As soon as the brothers heard about this, they all boiled with anger and said: “Are we really condemned to death because of a girl?! So we swear that we will avenge ourselves: wherever we meet the girl on our way, she must die by our hand.”

Then they went deep into the thicket of the forest and in the deepest thicket of the forest they found a small enchanted house, standing empty and empty.

Then they said: “Here we will settle, and you, Benjamin, the youngest of us and the weakest, must be here constantly and do housekeeping; and the rest of us will scour around, worry about food.”

And so they went to wander through the forest and began to shoot hares, wild goats, birds and doves that were suitable for food: they took all this to Benjamin, and he was supposed to make them a dinner from this, which they could all get enough of.

So they lived in this house for ten years, and the years passed unnoticed for them.

The daughter whom the queen gave birth to had time to grow up in the meantime and was a very kind and beautiful girl, and a golden star burned in her forehead. One day, when there was a big wash in the castle, she suddenly saw twelve men’s shirts among the linen and asked her mother: “Whose are these twelve shirts?” After all, they are too small for my father.”

Then the mother answered her with great sorrow: “Dear child, these are the shirts of your twelve brothers.” “Where are these twelve brothers? I’ve never heard of them before.” The mother answered: “ To the One God we know where they are now. They're wandering around the world somewhere."

Then she took the girl by the hand and, opening the treasured room, showed her twelve coffins with shavings and headboards. “These coffins,” she said, were intended for your brothers; but they secretly left before you were born.”

And I told her how it was.

Then the girl said: “Dear mother, don’t cry, I’ll go and find my brothers.”

And so she took twelve shirts with her and left the castle, and went straight into a large dense forest.

She walked all day, and in the evening she came to an enchanted house. She entered the house and met a boy in it who asked her: “Where are you coming from and where?” and he was quite surprised that she was so beautiful and dressed in a royal dress and had a star burning on her forehead.

Then she answered: “I am a king’s daughter and I am looking for my twelve brothers, and I will go to the ends of the world until I find them.” At the same time, she pointed to twelve rubles that belonged to the princely brothers.

Then Benjamin saw that it was their sister and said: “I am Benjamin, your younger brother.”

And she began to cry for joy, and so did Benjamin, and they kissed and loved each other with all their hearts.

Then he said: “Dear sister, there is some obstacle here... After all, we promised that every girl we meet would have to die, because because of the girl we had to leave our native kingdom.” And she responded: “So what? I will willingly die if by my death I can free my twelve brothers from exile.” “No,” he answered, “you must not die; sit down under this vat and sit until the other eleven brothers come; I’ll sort things out with them somehow.”

So she did.

As night fell, the other brothers returned from the hunt, and dinner was ready for them. And when they were sitting at the table, they asked: “What’s new?” Benjamin answered: “Do you really know nothing?” “No,” they answered; and Benjamin continued: “How is this so? You’re roaming the forest, but I’m sitting at home, but I know you better!” “Well, then tell us!”

And he answered them: “Do you promise me everything, that the first girl we meet will not be killed?” “Yes, yes,” they shouted at once, “she should be pardoned. Well, tell me!” Then he said: “Our sister is here! ", and he lifted the vat, and the princess came out from under it in her rich clothes and with a golden star on her forehead, and appeared to them so beautiful, tender and slender.

And they all rejoiced at her, threw themselves on her neck, kissed her and loved her with all their hearts.

And so she stayed with Benjamin in their house and began to help him with his work. And the remaining eleven brothers still scoured the forest, killing all sorts of game, wild goats, birds and doves, so that they would have something to eat, and sister and brother Benjamin took care of preparing food for them. She collected dead wood for fuel and roots for seasoning, and stirred pots near the fire, and dinner was always on the table when her eleven brothers returned home. She generally kept order in the house, and made their beds clean and white, and the brothers were pleased with her and lived with her in great harmony.

After some time had passed, it happened one day that Benjamin and his sister prepared an excellent meal for the brothers, and when they all came together, they sat down at the table and began to eat and drink happily.

And behind the enchanted house there was a small garden, and in that garden twelve lilies grew. The sister decided to please the brothers, picked these twelve flowers and wanted to offer each of them a flower after dinner.

But as soon as she picked the flowers, at that same moment her twelve brothers turned into twelve ravens and flew out of the forest, and the house and garden all disappeared as if they had never happened.

And the poor girl found herself alone in a wild forest, and when she began to look around, she saw an old woman nearby, who said to her: “My child, what have you done this? Why did you pick these twelve white lilies? After all, these flowers were your brothers, and now they have forever turned into ravens.”

The girl answered her with tears: “Is there really no way to save them?” “No,” answered the old woman, “there is only one remedy in the whole world, and even that is so difficult that you will not save them with this remedy... You yourself must be dumb for seven years, you must neither speak nor laugh, and if you If you utter even one word, and at least one hour is missing until you are seven years old, then all your labors are lost, and one word of yours will kill all your brothers.”

Then the girl said in her heart: “I probably know that I will save my brothers,” and she went through the forest and found herself tall tree, climbed onto him and began to spin, and did not speak, did not laugh.

It happened, however, that one king went into that forest to hunt, and that king had a large greyhound dog, which ran straight up to the tree on which the girl was sitting, began circling around it and barking upward. The king rode up to the tree, saw the beautiful princess with a golden star on her forehead, and was so delighted with her beauty that he directly shouted to her whether she wanted to be his wife. She didn’t answer him, she just nodded her head. Then he climbed the tree himself, carried her down from there, put her on his horse and brought her home.

The wedding was celebrated magnificently and cheerfully: but the king's bride did not speak or laugh.

When they had already lived for two years in complete harmony, the king’s stepmother, an evil woman, began to whisper and slander the young queen: “You took a simple beggar out of the forest, and who knows what ungodly deeds she is doing in secret from us! If she is definitely dumb and cannot speak, then at least she could laugh; well, and whoever doesn’t laugh, of course, has an unclean conscience!” The king did not want to believe these slander for a long time, but the old woman insisted on her own and accused her daughter-in-law of so many atrocities that the king finally allowed himself to be persuaded and sentenced his wife to death.

In the courtyard of the royal castle, a large fire was lit on which she was to be burned: and the king stood at the top window of the castle and looked through tears at all these preparations, because he still loved his wife very much.

When she was already tied to a post on the fire and the flames of the fire began to lick the hem of her clothes with long red tongues, the last moment of the cherished seven years had passed.

Then the whistling of wings was heard in the air, and twelve ravens appeared above the fire and sank to the ground: and as soon as they touched the ground, they turned into her brothers, who owed their salvation to her. They scattered the fire, extinguished the flames, untied their sister from the post and began to caress and kiss her.

Now, when she could open her mouth and speak, she told the king why she was mute and never laughed.

The king was glad to learn that she was innocent, and they all lived together in harmony until their death.

And the evil stepmother was brought to justice, and the court sentenced her to be put in a barrel of boiling oil and poisonous snakes, and she died an evil death.

- Do you know how many months there are in a year?

Twelve.

What are their names?

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.

As soon as one month ends, another begins immediately. And it has never happened before that February came before January left, and May overtook April.

The months go one after another and never meet.

But people say that in the mountainous country of Bohemia there was a girl who saw all twelve months at once.

How did this happen? Here's how.

In one small village there lived an angry and stingy woman with her daughter and stepdaughter. She loved her daughter, but her stepdaughter could not please her in any way. No matter what the stepdaughter does, everything is wrong, no matter how she turns, everything is in the wrong direction.

The daughter lay on the feather bed all day long and ate gingerbread, but the stepdaughter had no time to sit down from morning to night: either fetch water, or bring brushwood from the forest, or wash out the laundry on the river, or weed the beds in the garden.

She knew winter cold, summer heat, spring wind, and autumn rain. That’s why, perhaps, she once had the chance to see all twelve months at once.

It was winter. It was January. There was so much snow that they had to shovel it away from the doors, and in the forest on the mountain the trees stood waist-deep in snowdrifts and could not even sway when the wind blew on them.

People sat in their houses and lit their stoves.

At such and such a time, in the evening, the evil stepmother opened the door and looked at how the blizzard was sweeping, and then returned to the warm stove and said to her stepdaughter:

- You should go to the forest and pick snowdrops there. Tomorrow is your sister's birthday.

The girl looked at her stepmother: was she joking or was she really sending her into the forest? It's scary in the forest now! And what are snowdrops like in winter? They will not be born before March, no matter how much you look for them. You'll just get lost in the forest and get stuck in the snowdrifts.

And her sister tells her:

- Even if you disappear, no one will cry for you. Go and don't come back without flowers. Here's your basket.

The girl began to cry, wrapped herself in a torn scarf and walked out the door.

The wind dusts her eyes with snow and tears her scarf off. She walks, barely pulling her legs out of the snowdrifts.

It's getting darker all around. The sky is black, not a single star looks at the ground, and the ground is a little lighter. It's from the snow.

Here is the forest. It's completely dark here - you can't see your hands. The girl sat down on a fallen tree and sat. All the same, he thinks about where to freeze.

And suddenly a light flashed far between the trees - as if a star was entangled among the branches.

The girl got up and went towards this light. He drowns in snowdrifts and climbs over a windbreak. “If only,” he thinks, “the light doesn’t go out!” But it doesn’t go out, it burns brighter and brighter. You could already smell warm smoke and hear the crackling of brushwood in the fire. The girl quickened her pace and entered the clearing. Yes, she froze.

It’s light in the clearing, as if from the sun. In the middle of the clearing a large fire is burning, almost reaching to the sky. And people are sitting around the fire - some closer to the fire, some further away. They sit and talk quietly.

The girl looks at them and thinks: who are they? They don’t seem to look like hunters, even less like woodcutters: look how smart they are - some in silver, some in gold, some in green velvet.

The young people sit near the fire, and the old people sit at a distance.

And suddenly one old man turned around - the tallest, bearded, with eyebrows - and looked in the direction where the girl stood.

She was scared and wanted to run away, but it was too late. The old man asks her loudly:

The girl showed him her empty basket and said:

- I need to collect snowdrops in this basket.

The old man laughed:

- Is it snowdrops in January? What did you come up with!

“I didn’t make it up,” the girl replies, “but my stepmother sent me here for snowdrops and didn’t tell me to return home with an empty basket.” Then all twelve looked at her and began to talk among themselves.

The girl stands there, listening, but doesn’t understand the words - as if it’s not people talking, but trees making noise.

They talked and talked and fell silent.

And the tall old man turned around again and asked:

- What will you do if you don’t find snowdrops? After all, they won’t even appear before March.

“I’ll stay in the forest,” says the girl. - I’ll wait for the month of March. It’s better for me to freeze in the forest than to return home without snowdrops.

She said this and cried. And suddenly one of the twelve, the youngest, cheerful, with a fur coat over one shoulder, stood up and approached the old man:

- Brother January, give me your place for an hour!

The old man stroked his long beard and said:

- I would have given in, but Mart would not be there before February.

“Okay,” grumbled another old man, all shaggy, with a disheveled beard. - Give in, I won’t argue! We all know her well: sometimes you’ll meet her at an ice hole with buckets, sometimes in the forest with a bundle of firewood. All months have their own. We need to help her.

Well, have it your way,” said January.

He struck the ground with his ice staff and spoke:

Don't crack, it's frosty,
In a protected forest,
At the pine, at the birch
Don't chew the bark!
You're full of crows
Freeze,
Human habitation
Cool down!

The old man fell silent, and the forest became quiet. The trees stopped crackling from the frost, and the snow began to fall thickly, in large, soft flakes.

“Well, now it’s your turn, brother,” said January and gave the staff to his younger brother, shaggy February.

He tapped his staff, shook his beard and boomed:

Winds, storms, hurricanes,
Blow as hard as you can!
Whirlwinds, blizzards and blizzards,
Get ready for the night!
Trumpet loudly in the clouds,
Hover above the ground.
Let the drifting snow run in the fields
White snake!

As soon as he said this, a stormy, wet wind rustled in the branches. Snow flakes began to swirl and white whirlwinds rushed across the ground.

And February gave his ice staff to his younger brother and said:

- Now it’s your turn, brother Mart.

The younger brother took the staff and hit it on the ground.

The girl looks, and this is no longer a staff. This is a large branch, all covered with buds.

Mart grinned and sang loudly, in all his boyish voice:

Run away, streams,
Spread, puddles,
Get out, ants,
After the winter cold!
A bear sneaks through
Through the dead wood.
The birds began to sing songs,
And the snowdrop blossomed.

The girl even clasped her hands. Where did the high snowdrifts go? Where are the ice icicles that hung on every branch!

Under her feet is soft spring soil. There is dripping, flowing, murmur all around. The buds on the branches are inflated, and the first green leaves are already peeking out from under the dark skin.

The girl looks and can’t see enough.

- Why are you standing there? - Mart tells her. - Hurry, my brothers gave you and me only one hour.

The girl woke up and ran into the thicket to look for snowdrops. And they are visible and invisible! Under bushes and under stones, on hummocks and under hummocks - everywhere you look. She collected a full basket, a full apron - and quickly went back to the clearing, where the fire was burning, where the twelve brothers were sitting.

And there is no longer a fire, no brothers... It’s light in the clearing, but not as before. The light did not come from the fire, but from the full moon that rose over the forest.

The girl regretted that she had no one to thank and went home. And a month swam after her.

Not feeling her feet beneath her, she ran to her door - and as soon as she entered the house, the winter blizzard began to hum outside the windows again, and the moon hid in the clouds.

“Well,” her stepmother and sister asked, “have you returned home yet?” Where are the snowdrops?

The girl didn’t answer, she just poured snowdrops out of her apron onto the bench and put the basket next to it.

The stepmother and sister gasped:

- Where did you get them?

The girl told them everything that happened. They both listen and shake their heads - they believe and don’t believe. It’s hard to believe, but there’s a whole heap of fresh, blue snowdrops on the bench. They just smell like March!

The stepmother and daughter looked at each other and asked:

- Haven’t they given you anything else for months? - Yes, I didn’t ask for anything else.

What a fool! - says the sister. - For once, I met all twelve months, but didn’t ask for anything except snowdrops! Well, if I were you, I'd know what to ask for. One has apples and sweet pears, another has ripe strawberries, the third has white mushrooms, the fourth has fresh cucumbers!

Smart girl, daughter! - says the stepmother. - In winter, strawberries and pears have no price. We would sell this and make so much money! And this fool brought snowdrops! Dress up, daughter, get warm and go to the clearing. They won’t deceive you, even if there are twelve of them and you are alone.

Where are they! - the daughter answers, and she herself puts her hands in her sleeves and puts a scarf on her head.

Her mother shouts after her:

- Put on your mittens, button up your fur coat!

And my daughter is already at the door. She ran into the forest!

He follows his sister's footsteps and is in a hurry. “Hurry up,” he thinks, “to get to the clearing!”

The forest is getting thicker and darker. The snowdrifts are getting higher and the windfall is like a wall.

“Oh,” the stepmother’s daughter thinks, “why did I go into the forest! I would be lying at home in a warm bed now, but now go and freeze! You’ll still be lost here!”

And as soon as she thought this, she saw a light in the distance - as if a star had become entangled in the branches.

She went to the light. She walked and walked and came out into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing, a large fire is burning, and twelve brothers, twelve months old, are sitting around the fire. They sit and talk quietly.

The stepmother's daughter approached the fire itself, did not bow, did not say a friendly word, but chose a place where it was hotter and began to warm herself.

The month brothers fell silent. It became quiet in the forest. And suddenly the month of January hit the ground with his staff.

- Who are you? - asks. -Where did it come from?

From home,” the stepmother’s daughter answers. - Today you gave my sister a whole basket of snowdrops. So I came in her footsteps.

We know your sister,” says January-month, “but we haven’t even seen you.” Why did you come to us?

For gifts. Let the month of June pour strawberries into my basket, and bigger ones. And July is the month of fresh cucumbers and white mushrooms, and the month of August is of apples and sweet pears. And September is the month of ripe nuts. And October...

Wait,” says the month of January. - There will be no summer before spring, and no spring before winter. The month of June is still a long way off. I am now the owner of the forest, I will reign here for thirty-one days.

Look, he's so angry! - says the stepmother’s daughter. - Yes, I didn’t come to you - you won’t get anything from you except snow and frost. I need the summer months.

The month of January frowned.

- Look for summer in winter! - speaks.

He waved his wide sleeve, and a blizzard rose in the forest from ground to sky, covering both the trees and the clearing on which the moon brothers had been sitting. The fire was no longer visible behind the snow, but you could only hear a fire whistling somewhere, crackling, blazing.

The stepmother's daughter was scared. - Stop it! - shouts. - Enough!

Where is it?

The blizzard swirls around her, blinds her eyes, takes her breath away. She fell into a snowdrift and was covered with snow.

And the stepmother waited and waited for her daughter, looked out the window, ran out the door - she was gone, and that’s all. She wrapped herself up warmly and went into the forest. How can you really find anyone in the thicket in such a snowstorm and darkness!

She walked and walked and searched and searched until she herself froze.

So they both remained in the forest to wait for summer.

But the stepdaughter lived in the world for a long time, grew up big, got married and raised children.

And they say she had a garden near her house - and such a wonderful one, the likes of which the world has never seen. Earlier than everyone else, flowers bloomed in this garden, berries ripened, apples and pears were filled. In the heat it was cool there, in the snowstorm it was quiet.

- This hostess has been staying with this hostess for twelve months at once! - people said.

Who knows - maybe it was so.

That's the end of the fairy tale, and whoever listened - well done!

The Tale of the Twelve Screw Ring

The Tale of the Twelve Screw Ring

Russian folk tale

Once upon a time there lived a son and his mother in the same village, and his mother was an old, old old woman, and this son’s name was Ivan the Fool. They lived in a wretched hut with one window and in great poverty: such poverty was that besides stale bread, they barely ate anything, and sometimes they didn’t even have that. The mother is sitting, spinning yarn, and Ivan the Fool is sitting on the stove, digging in the ashes and sniffling. That's just what his mother says to him:

Why are you, Ivanushka, sitting and snoring on the stove in the ashes? Would you go somewhere, to the tavern or something; maybe someday kind person whoever caught you, he would have taken you as a farm laborer - he had at least some piece of bread! But at home we have nothing to feed ourselves.

Well, okay, I'll go! - says the fool; took it and went to the tavern. A man comes across him:

Where are you going, Ivan the Fool?

I'm going to hire myself into the service.

Go serve me: I’ll give you this much salary and everything else.

Ivan agreed and went to his service. And that man had a bitch, and this bitch gave birth; Ivanushka really liked one puppy, and he adopted this puppy. A year passes, and it’s time to pay for the service. The owner gives Ivan money, thanks him, and Ivan says to him:

I don’t need your money, but give it to me better than that puppy, that I came out to you.

He was glad that he didn’t have to pay money, so he gave him the puppy.

Ivan came home; As soon as the mother found out, let’s cry at him:

All people are like people, you’re the only fool I have! And that is, there was nothing, and now there is one more extra soul - what are we going to feed the dog?

Ivan the Fool doesn’t answer himself, he sits on the stove, sniffles and just digs in the ashes; and his dog is with him. You never know, a lot of time passes, and again his mother says to him:

Why are you sitting there uselessly? You would go to the tavern, maybe some kind person would come across and take you as a farm laborer.

Well, okay, I'll go! - says the fool, took his dog and went. Another owner meets him:

Where are you going, Ivan the Fool?

To join the service, he says, to get hired.

Come serve me!

They agreed, and the fool went back to being a farm laborer. And this owner had a cat; so she lambed. The fool fell in love with one kitten, and he took it out. The time comes for reckoning. Ivan the Fool says to the owner:

I don’t need your money, but give me that kitten.

Please! - speaks. When the fool came home, his mother began to cry even more:

All people are like people, you’re the only fool I’ve ever seen! And that is, there was nothing, and now two extra souls need to be fed.

It became bitter for Ivan to listen to this, he took his dog and kitty and went to the field. He sees a fire burning in the middle of the field and such a huge fire - huge! As he comes closer to this very fire, he sees: in it a snake is writhing and burning on hot coals. She herself is burning, and she herself screams to him in a human voice:

Hey, Ivan the Fool, save me! I will give you a large ransom for my soul.

Ivan took the club and with that club he threw the snake out of the fire. As he threw it out, he looked - and in front of him was not a snake, but a red maiden standing and herself telling him:

Well, thank you, Ivanushka! You have done me a great service, I will serve you even more! Let's go, he says, to my mother; If she gives you copper money, don’t take it, because it’s coal, not money; If he gives you silver, don’t take it either, it will be chips and not silver; he will bring you gold - don’t take it either, because instead of gold there will be skulls and bricks; and ask her as a reward for a ring with twelve screws: it will be hard to give it to her, but don’t hesitate, because she will give it for me.

That's how it all happened. Although the old woman was angry and important, she only gave him the ring.

Here Ivan walks through the field and thinks to himself:

What am I going to do with this ring now?

Just looking, this same daughter catches up with him and says:

You, Ivan, whatever you wish for, it will all be yours; Just stand on the threshold in the evening, unscrew all twelve screws - and twelve thousand people will appear before you; whatever you want, order them - everything will be done for you!

Ivan came home, didn’t say anything to his mother, but sat down on the stove, sniffling and digging in the ashes. When evening came, they went to bed; Ivan waited for the time, went out to the threshold, unscrewed all twelve screws in the ring - and twelve thousand people appeared before him:

And Ivan says to them:

Make me have a palace in this very place, the likes of which does not exist in the world, and that I sleep on a golden bed, on a swan's feather bed, and my mother the same, and that coachmen, and postilions, and footmen, and all sorts of strong And important people they would walk around my yard and serve me.

Lie down with God, people tell him, everything will be fulfilled according to your word.

Ivan the Fool wakes up the next morning and even gets scared himself; he looks: he sleeps on a golden bed, on a swan feather bed, and there are tall mansions here and so rich that even the king doesn’t have one like them, and coachmen, and postilions, and footmen, and all sorts of strong and important people walk around the yard and serve him. The fool marveled and thought:

I looked in the mirror - I couldn’t recognize myself: I became so handsome that I couldn’t describe it with a pen or tell it in a fairy tale; as a trace (follows), in the mansions and master! Only at that hour the king wakes up (and their king lived in that place), he looks: there are tall mansions opposite his palace, and they stand - they themselves seem to be burning with gold. The king sends to visit:

Whose are they? And let him, they say, come to me to show himself what he is.

They report to Ivan.

And tell him, he says, that Ivan Tsarevich is in the mansion; and if he wants to see me, the gentleman is not great, let him come himself!

There is nothing to do, the Tsar went to Ivan the Fool; They met, and after that Ivan the Fool went to the Tsar. And the king had a beautiful princess daughter. And she, this daughter, brought treats to Ivan, and then he fell in love with her. He began to ask the king to marry him.

Now the Tsar, in turn, also wanted to break down:

Give it away,” he says, “why not give it away; Only you, Ivan Tsarevich, do me a service first. My daughter is not of an ordinary family, and therefore she needs to get married in the best way possible among all the people. Make me a golden road from your palace to my palace; and across the river so that I have a bridge, and not just a simple one, but such that one side has a golden stripe, and the other side has a silver stripe, and so that all sorts of rare birds, geese and swans, swim on the river; and on the other side of the river let the church stand, not just a simple one, but all wax, and around it let the wax apple trees bloom and ripe apples bear fruit. If you do all this to me, he says, your daughter will follow you, but if you don’t do it, blame yourself!

The Tsar thinks that now he’s laughed at Ivan to his heart’s content, but Ivan doesn’t give a damn.

Okay,” he says, “if you please; prepare for the wedding tomorrow!

With that he left.

In the evening, after everyone had gone to bed, he stood on the threshold, unscrewed all twelve screws in the ring - twelve thousand people stood in front of him:

You are our master, we are your people; command us whatever your heart desires!

So and so,” he says, “I need this and that.”

Okay, they say, go to bed with God.

The king wakes up the next morning, goes to the window, and his eyes are so blinded - he jumped back three fathoms: this means that this is a bridge, one stripe is silver, the other is gold, and it burns and glows; on the river there are geese and swans and all sorts of rare birds, and on the other bank there is a white wax church, and around the church there are apple trees, only without leaves, bare twigs sticking out.

Well, the king thinks, something is wrong, he needs to equip his daughter for the crown.

We equipped ourselves and went. We left the house, and buds appeared on the apple trees; They drive along the bridge, and the apple trees are covered with leaves; they drive up to the church, and white flowers bloom on the apple trees; as soon as it was time for them to leave the crown, and then servants and all sorts of people met them and served ripe apples on a golden platter. So they began to celebrate the wedding and give feasts and balls, and they had a feast there for three days and three nights.

After that, you never know, much time passed, the queen began to pester Ivan:

Tell me, my dear husband, how do you do all this, that you build a bridge and erect a wax church in one night?

Ivan the Fool did not want to tell her for a long time; however, since he loved her very much and she asked him very much, he told her that I had a ring with twelve screws and this is how I should treat him. Well, this is how they live; Only unfortunately, the queen fell in love with one of their footmen, who was distinguished, healthy and handsome; She conspired with him to rob her husband and take away the ring from him, and they themselves would go to live overseas. Just when evening came, she slowly took out the ring, stood on the threshold, unscrewed all twelve screws - and twelve thousand people appeared before her:

You are our mistress, we are your people; command us whatever your heart desires!

She tells them:

Take this palace and move it over the sea with everything, and let the old hut with my husband Ivan the Fool be in this place.

Lie down with God, people tell her, everything will be fulfilled according to your word.

The next morning Ivan wakes up and looks: he is lying on a matting, covered with a holey zipun, but there is no trace of him. He wept bitterly and went to the Tsar, his father-in-law, came into the courtyard and asked him to report that his brother-in-law had arrived. The way he saw him:

Oh, you, so-and-so, dressless! What kind of son-in-law are you? My sons-in-law live in golden mansions and ride in silver carriages. Take him and wall him up in a stone pillar?

No sooner said than done: they took Ivan and walled him up in a stone pillar; and the dog and the cat do not lag behind him, they sit right there with him, and they dug a loophole for themselves and through it they bring him food to eat.

Just once they thought to themselves:

Why are you and I, little dog, sitting here with our hands folded! Let's run overseas and get the ring.

As they thought of it, so they did it. They swam across the sea, they saw: their tower was standing, and the princess with that footman was walking through the garden, gossiping with her husband.

Well, little dog, you wait here for now, and I’ll sneak into the mansion and get the ring,” says the cat, and she goes off to her own place.

Meow-meow! - under the door. The princess heard:

“Oh, this is that bastard’s cat,” he says, “let him in and feed her!”

So they let her in and fed her, but she kept walking around the rooms looking for the ring, all she saw was a stove, and on the stove there was a glass jar, and in that jar there was a ring. The cat was happy.

Well, he thinks, thank God! Now I just have to wait until nightfall, and then I’ll get the ring and go home.

As soon as everyone had settled down, she jumped onto the stove and knocked down a jar, the jar fell and broke, and the cat picked up the ring in her mouth and hid under the door. Everyone in the house woke up, the princess herself stood up; I saw that the jar was broken.

“Oh,” he says, “the cat must have smashed that bastard; kick her out!

They kicked the cat out, but she was happy and ran to the dog:

Well, brother dog, I got the ring! Now I just wish I could go home quickly.

And they sailed across the sea; they float and float, they float for a long time. If the dog gets tired, it will sit on the cat, and if the cat gets tired, it will sit on the dog; That's how they get by. They weren’t far from the shore, only the dog began to grow exhausted; the cat sees this and says to her:

Sit on me, you're already tired!

As she said this, the ring fell out of her mouth into the water! What to do here? They swam to the shore, walked around and cried tears, and by that hour they themselves were hungry. The dog runs across the field, catching sparrow birds, and the cat walks along the shore, catching small fish, which it dislodges with the wave; That's what they feed on. Only suddenly the cat screams:

Oh, you little dog, come to me quickly! I found the ring! She caught a fish, began to eat it, and in the fish was this ring.

Well, they were very happy, ran to Ivan and brought him the ring.

Ivan waited until evening, unscrewed all twelve screws - and twelve thousand people appeared before him:

You are our master, we are your people; command us whatever your heart desires!

“Tear down,” he says, “this stone pillar right now, so that not even ashes remain from it, and from across the sea, move my mansions with everyone who is there and how anyone sleeps there, and put them in their original place!”

Immediately this is what happened. The next morning Ivan goes to his father-in-law, the Tsar. He meets him and puts him in the first place:

Where, dear son-in-law, did you deign to visit?

“I,” says Ivan, “was overseas.

That’s it,” he says, “across the sea!” Apparently, due to the urgency of the matter, I didn’t even stop by to say goodbye to my father-in-law... And then some naked man comes to me without you and calls me my son-in-law; “I ordered him to be walled up in a stone pillar, and there he was,” he says, “and he disappeared, that’s right!” Well, and you, dear son-in-law, where have you been, what views have you seen?

“And I saw,” he says, “ different types; There was one thing overseas that no one knew how to judge.

What kind of a thing is this?

And here's what! And if you are now smart man, so judge according to your royal wisdom: a husband had a wife, she got herself a darling from her living husband, she robbed her husband with this darling and went overseas with him, and now she sleeps with him in the same bed. What do you think should be done with such a wife?

“In my royal wisdom,” he says, “I will say this: take them both, tie them to horse tails and let them go into an open field: here they will be executed!

Well, if that’s the case, then fine! - says Ivan. - Let's go visit me, I'll show you other views and another wonder.

They went, entered the bedroom: and there the princess, hugging that footman, was sleeping on a golden bed, on a swan feather bed, and knew nothing. Well, there’s nothing to be done here - according to the king’s word, they tied them to horse tails and let the stallions go into an open field: here they were executed! And Ivan later married that red, beautiful girl whom he saved from the fire, and they began to live and get along and make good things.