Ivan - peasant son and Miracle Yudo
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had three sons. The youngest was called Ivanushka. They lived - they were not lazy, they worked all day, plowed the arable land and sowed grain.
Suddenly the news spread throughout that kingdom-state: the vile miracle Yudo was going to attack their land, destroy all the people, and burn down the towns and villages with fire. The old man and the old woman began to sunbathe. And their sons console them:
- Don’t worry, father and mother, we will go to the miracle Yudo, we will fight him to the death. And so that you don’t feel sad alone, let Ivanushka stay with you: he is still very young to go into battle.
“No,” says Ivan, “it doesn’t suit me to stay at home and wait for you, I’ll go and fight the miracle!”
The old man and the old woman did not stop and dissuade Ivanushka, and they equipped all three sons for the journey. The brothers took damask swords, took knapsacks with bread and salt, mounted good horses and rode off.
They drove and drove and arrived at some village. They look - there is not a single living soul around, everything is burned out, broken, there is only one small hut, barely standing.
The brothers entered the hut. The old woman lies on the stove and groans.
“Hello, grandma,” the brothers say.
- Hello, good fellows! Where are you headed?
- We are going, grandma, to the Smorodina River, to the Kalinov Bridge. We want to fight the miracle jud and not allow it onto our land.
- Oh, well done, they got down to business! After all, he, the villain, ruined, plundered, and put everyone to cruel death. Neighboring kingdoms are like a ball. And I started coming here. I’m the only one left on this side: apparently I’m a miracle worker and not fit for food.
The brothers spent the night with the old woman, got up early in the morning and set off on the road again.
They drive up to the Smorodina River itself, to the Kalinov Bridge. Human bones lie all along the shore.
The brothers found an empty hut and decided to stay in it.
“Well, brothers,” says Ivan, “we have arrived in a foreign direction, we need to listen to everything and take a closer look.” Let's take turns on patrol so that we don't miss the miracle Yudo across the Kalinov bridge.
On the first night, the elder brother went on patrol. He walked along the bank, looked at the Smorodina River - everything was quiet, he couldn’t see anyone, couldn’t hear anything. He lay down under a broom bush and fell asleep soundly, snoring loudly.
And Ivan lies in the hut, unable to sleep. He can't sleep, he can't sleep. As time passed past midnight, he took his damask sword and went to the Smorodina River. He looks - his older brother is sleeping under a bush, snoring at the top of his lungs. Ivan didn’t bother to wake him up, he hid under the Kalinov bridge, stood there, guarding the crossing.
Suddenly the waters on the river became agitated, the eagles screamed in the oak trees - a miracle Yudo with six heads was riding out. He rode out to the middle of the Kalinov Bridge - the horse stumbled under him, the black raven on his shoulder started, and behind him the black dog bristled.
The six-headed miracle Yudo says:
- Why, my horse, did you stumble? Why did the black raven start up? Why, the black dog, bristled? Or do you sense that Ivan is a peasant’s son here? So he was not born yet, and even if he was born, he was not fit for battle. I’ll put him on one hand and slam him with the other - it’ll just make him wet!
Here Ivan, the peasant son, came out from under the bridge and said:
- Don’t boast, you filthy miracle! Without shooting a clear falcon, it’s too early to pluck its feathers. Without recognizing the good fellow, there is no point in blaspheming him. Let's try our best; whoever overcomes will boast.
So they came together, drew level, and hit each other so cruelly that the earth around them groaned.
Miracle Yud was not lucky: Ivan, a peasant son, knocked off three of his heads with one swing.
- Stop, Ivan is a peasant son! - shouts the miracle Yudo. - Give me a break!
- What a break! You, miracle Yudo, have three heads, and I have one! Once you have one head, then we will rest.
They came together again, they hit each other again.
Ivan the peasant son cut off the miracle juda and the last three heads. After that, he cut the body into small pieces and threw it into the Smorodina River, and put six heads under the Kalinov bridge. He returned to the hut himself.
In the morning the elder brother comes. Ivan asks him:
- Well, did you see anything?
- No, brothers, not even a fly flew past me.
Ivan didn’t say a word to him about this.
The next night the middle brother went on patrol. He walked and walked, looked around and calmed down. He climbed into the bushes and fell asleep.
Ivan didn’t rely on him either. As time passed past midnight, he immediately equipped himself, took his sharp sword and went to the Smorodina River. He hid under the Kalinov bridge and began to keep watch.
Suddenly the waters on the river became agitated, the eagles screamed in the oak trees - the nine-headed miracle Yudo was riding out. As soon as he entered the Kalinov bridge, the horse stumbled under him, the black raven on his shoulder started, the black dog bristled behind him... The miracle of the horse - on the sides, the crow - on the feathers, the dog on the ears!
- Why, my horse, did you stumble? Why did the black raven start up? Why, the black dog, bristled? Or do you sense that Ivan is a peasant’s son here? So he was not born yet, and if he was born, he was not fit for battle: I will kill him with one finger!
Ivan, the peasant son, jumped out from under the Kalinov bridge:
- Wait, miracle Yudo, don’t boast, get down to business first! It is still unknown whose will take it.
As Ivan waved his damask sword once, twice, he cut off six heads from the miracle-yud.
And the miracle Yudo hit Ivan on the knees and drove the earth into the cheese. Ivan, the peasant son, grabbed a handful of earth and threw it right into his opponent’s eyes. While Miracle Yudo was wiping and cleaning his eyes, Ivan cut off his other heads. Then he took the body, cut it into small pieces and threw it into the Smorodina River, and put the nine heads under the Kalinov bridge. He returned to the hut, lay down and fell asleep.
In the morning the middle brother comes.
“Well,” asks Ivan, “didn’t you see anything during the night?”
- No, not a single fly flew near me, not a single mosquito squeaked nearby.
“Well, if that’s the case, come with me, dear brothers, I’ll show you both a mosquito and a fly!”
Ivan brought the brothers under the Kalinov Bridge and showed them the miracle Yudov’s heads.
“Look,” he says, “what flies and mosquitoes fly here at night!” You should not fight, but lie on the stove at home.
The brothers were ashamed.
“Sleep,” they say, “fell over...
On the third night, Ivan himself got ready to go on patrol.
“I,” he says, “are going to a terrible battle, and you, brothers, don’t sleep all night, listen: when you hear my whistle, release my horse and rush to my aid.”
Ivan, a peasant son, came to the Smorodina River, stood under the Kalinov bridge, waiting.
As soon as it was past midnight, the earth shook, the waters in the river became agitated, violent winds howled, eagles screamed in the oak trees... The twelve-headed miracle Yudo rides out. All twelve heads are whistling, all twelve are blazing with fire and flame. Miracle Yuda's horse has twelve wings, the horse's fur is copper, the tail and mane are iron. As soon as Miracle Yudo rode onto the Kalinov Bridge, the horse stumbled under him, the black raven on his shoulder started, the black dog behind him bristled. Miracle Yudo a horse with a whip on the sides, a crow on the feathers, a dog on the ears!
- Why, my horse, did you stumble? Why did the black raven start up? Why, the black dog, bristled? Or do you sense that Ivan is a peasant’s son here? So he wasn’t born yet, and if he was born, he wasn’t fit for battle: I’ll just blow and there won’t be any dust left of him!
Here Ivan, the peasant son, came out from under the Kalinov Bridge:
- Stop boasting: so as not to disgrace yourself!
“It’s you, Ivan, the peasant’s son!” Why did you come?
“To look at you, the enemy’s strength, to test your strength.”
- Why should you try my fortress? You are a fly in front of me.
Ivan, the peasant son of the miracle, answers:
“I came neither to tell you fairy tales, nor to listen to yours.” I came to fight to the death, to save good people from you, damned one!
Ivan swung his sharp sword and cut off three heads of the miracle Yuda. Miracle Yudo picked up these heads, drew his fiery finger over them - and immediately all the heads grew back, as if they had never fallen from their shoulders.
Ivan, the peasant son, had a bad time: the miracle-yudo deafens him with a whistle, burns and scorches him with fire, showers him with sparks, drives the earth knee-deep into cheese. And he chuckles:
“Don’t you want to rest and get better, Ivan, the peasant’s son?”
- What a vacation! In our opinion - hit, slash, don’t take care of yourself! - says Ivan.
He whistled, barked, and threw his right mitten into the hut where the brothers remained. The mitten broke all the glass in the windows, and the brothers are sleeping and don’t hear anything.
Ivan gathered his strength, swung again, stronger than before, and cut off six heads of the miracle-yuda.
Miracle Yudo picked up his heads, drew a fiery finger - and again all the heads were in place. He rushed at Ivan and beat him waist-deep in the damp earth.
Ivan sees that things are bad. He took off his left mitten and threw it into the hut. The mitten broke through the roof, but the brothers were all asleep and didn’t hear anything.
The third time Ivan, the peasant son, swung even stronger and cut off nine heads of the miracle-juda. Miracle Yudo picked them up, drew them with a fiery finger - the heads grew back. He rushed at Ivan and drove him into the ground up to his shoulders.
Ivan took off his hat and threw it into the hut. That blow caused the hut to stagger and almost roll over the logs.
Just then the brothers woke up and heard Ivanov’s horse neighing loudly and breaking from its chains.
They rushed to the stable, lowered the horse, and after him they themselves ran to Ivan’s aid.
Ivanov’s horse came running and began to beat the miracle Yudo with its hooves. The miracle-yudo whistled, hissed, and began showering sparks on the horse... And Ivan, the peasant son, meanwhile crawled out of the ground, got used to it and cut off the miracle-yudo’s fiery finger. After that, let’s chop off his heads, knocked off every single one, cut his torso into small pieces and threw everything into the Smorodina River.
The brothers come running here.
- Oh, you sleepyheads! - says Ivan. “Because of your dream, I almost lost my life.”
His brothers brought him to the hut, washed him, fed him, gave him something to drink and put him to bed.
Early in the morning Ivan got up and began to get dressed and put on his shoes.
-Where did you get up so early? - say the brothers. “I would like to rest after such a massacre.”
“No,” Ivan answers, “I don’t have time for rest: I’ll go to the Smorodina River to look for my scarf,” he dropped it.
- Hunting for you! - say the brothers. - Let's go into town and buy a new one.
- No, I need that one!
Ivan went to the Smorodina River, crossed to the other bank across the Kalinov Bridge and crept to the miraculous Yuda stone chambers.
He walked up to the open window and began to listen to see if they were up to something else. He looks - three miraculous wives of Yuda and his mother, an old snake, are sitting in the chambers. They sit and talk to each other.
The eldest says:
“I will take revenge on Ivan, the peasant son, for my husband!” I’ll get ahead of myself, when he and his brothers return home, I’ll bring in the heat, and I’ll turn into a well. They will want to drink water and burst from the first sip!
- You came up with a good idea! - says the old snake.
The second one said:
“And I’ll get ahead of myself and turn into an apple tree.” If they want to eat an apple, they will be torn into small pieces!
- And you had a good idea! - says the old snake.
“And I,” says the third, “will make them sleepy and drowsy, and I myself will run ahead and turn myself into a soft carpet with silk pillows.” If the brothers want to lie down and rest, then they will be burned with fire!
The snake answers her:
- And you came up with a good idea! Well, my dear daughters-in-law, if you don’t destroy them, then tomorrow I myself will catch up with them and swallow all three of them.
Ivan, the peasant son, listened to all this and returned to his brothers.
- Well, did you find your handkerchief? - the brothers ask.
- Found.
- And it was worth spending time on it!
- It was worth it, brothers!
After that, the brothers got together and went home.
They travel through the steppes, they travel through meadows. And the day is so hot that I have no patience, I’m thirsty. The brothers look - there is a well, a silver ladle is floating in the well.
They say to Ivan:
“Come on, brother, let’s stop, drink some cold water and water the horses.”
“It’s unknown what kind of water is in that well,” Ivan answers. - Maybe rotten and dirty.
He jumped off his good horse and began to slash and chop this well with his sword. The well howled and roared in an evil voice. Suddenly the fog descended, the heat subsided, and I didn’t feel thirsty.
“You see, brothers, what kind of water there was in the well!” - says Ivan.
They drove on.
Whether long or short, we saw an apple tree. Ripe and rosy apples hang on it.
The brothers jumped off their horses and were about to pick apples, but Ivan, the peasant’s son, ran ahead and began to cut and chop the apple tree with a sword. The apple tree howled and screamed...
- Do you see, brothers, what kind of apple tree this is? Tasty apples on it!
The brothers mounted their horses and rode on.
They rode and rode and became very tired. They look - there is a soft carpet lying on the field, and there are down pillows on it.
- Let's lie down on this carpet and rest a little! - say the brothers.
- No, brothers, it won’t be soft to lie on this carpet! - Ivan answers.
The brothers got angry with him:
- What kind of a guide are you: this is not allowed, the other is not allowed!
Ivan didn’t say a word in response, took off his sash and threw it on the carpet. The sash burst into flames - nothing remained in place.
- It would be the same with you! - Ivan says to his brothers.
He approached the carpet and used a sword to chop the carpet and pillows into small pieces. He chopped it up, scattered it to the sides and said:
- In vain, brothers, you grumbled at me! After all, the well, and the apple tree, and this carpet - all were miracle wives of Yuda. They wanted to destroy us, but they didn’t succeed: they all died!
The brothers moved on.
They drove a long way or a little - suddenly the sky darkened, the wind howled and hummed: the old snake itself was flying after them. She opened her mouth from heaven to earth - she wants to swallow Ivan and his brothers. Here the fellows, don’t be stupid, pulled out a pound of salt from their travel bags and threw them into the snake’s mouth.
The snake was delighted - she thought that she had captured Ivan, the peasant’s son and his brothers. She stopped and began to chew salt. And when I tried it and realized that these were not good fellows, I rushed off in pursuit again.
Ivan sees that trouble is imminent - he set off his horse at full speed, and his brothers followed him. Jumped and jumped, jumped and jumped...
They looked - there was a forge, and in that forge twelve blacksmiths were working.
“Blacksmiths, blacksmiths,” says Ivan, “let us into your forge!”
The blacksmiths let the brothers in, and behind them they closed the forge with twelve iron doors and twelve forged locks.
The snake flew up to the forge and shouted:
- Blacksmiths, blacksmiths, give me Ivan - the peasant son and his brothers! And the blacksmiths answered her:
- Run your tongue through twelve iron doors, and then you will take it!
The snake began to lick the iron doors. Licked, licked, licked, licked - licked eleven doors. There's only one door left...
The snake got tired and sat down to rest.
Then Ivan, the peasant son, jumped out of the forge, picked up the snake and hit it with all his might on the damp ground. It crumbled into fine dust, and the wind scattered that dust in all directions. Since then, all the miracles and snakes in that region have disappeared, and people began to live without fear.
And Ivan, the peasant son, and his brothers returned home, to his father, to his mother, and they began to live and live, plow the field and gather bread.
And now they live.
IVAN - THE PEASANT'S SON AND THE MIRACLE-YUDO
Russian folktale
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had three sons. The youngest was called Ivanushka. They lived - they were not lazy, they worked from morning to night: they plowed the arable land and sowed grain.
Suddenly, bad news spread across that kingdom-state: the filthy miracle Yudo was going to attack their land, destroy all the people, and burn all the towns and villages with fire. The old man and the old woman began to sunbathe. And the elder sons console them:
- Don’t worry, father and mother! Let's go to the miracle Yudo, we'll fight him to the death! And so that you don’t feel sad alone, let Ivanushka stay with you: he is still very young to go into battle.
“No,” says Ivanushka, “I don’t want to stay at home and wait for you, I’ll go and fight the miracle!”
The old man and the old woman did not stop him and dissuade him. They equipped all three sons for the journey. The brothers took heavy clubs, took knapsacks with bread and salt, mounted good horses and rode off. Whether the ride was long or short, they met an old man.
- Hello, good fellows!
- Hello, grandfather!
-Where are you going?
“We’re going with the filthy miracle-yud to fight, to fight, to defend our native land!”
- This is a good thing! Only for battle you need not clubs, but damask swords.
- Where can I get them, grandfather?
- And I’ll teach you. Come on, you good fellows, everything is straight. You will reach a high mountain. And in that mountain there is a deep cave. The entrance to it is blocked with a large stone. Roll away the stone, enter the cave and find damask swords there.
The brothers thanked the passerby and drove straight, as he taught. They see a high mountain, with a large gray stone rolled down on one side. The brothers rolled away the stone and entered the cave. And there are all sorts of weapons there - you can’t even count them! They each chose a sword and moved on.
“Thank you,” they say, “to the person passing by.” It will be much easier for us to fight with swords!
They drove and drove and arrived at some village. They look - there is not a single living soul around. Everything is burned out and broken. There is one small hut. The brothers entered the hut. The old woman lies on the stove and groans.
- Hello, grandma! - say the brothers.
- Hello, well done! Where are you headed?
“We are going, grandma, to the Smorodina River, to the Viburnum Bridge, we want to fight the miracle of Judas and not allow it to enter our land.”
- Oh, well done, they have taken up a good deed! After all, he, the villain, ruined and plundered everyone! And he got to us. I'm the only one who survived here...
The brothers spent the night with the old woman, got up early in the morning and set off on the road again.
They drive up to the Smorodina River itself, to the Viburnum Bridge. All along the shore there are swords and broken bows, and human bones.
The brothers found an empty hut and decided to stay in it.
“Well, brothers,” says Ivan, “we have arrived in a foreign direction, we need to listen to everything and take a closer look.” Let's take turns going on patrol so that we don't miss the miracle Yudo across the Kalinov bridge.
On the first night, the elder brother went on patrol. He walked along the shore, looked across the Smorodina River - everything was quiet, he couldn’t see anyone, couldn’t hear anything. The elder brother lay down under a willow bush and fell asleep soundly, snoring loudly.
And Ivan lies in the hut - he cannot sleep, does not doze. As time passed past midnight, he took his damask sword and went to the Smorodina River.
He looks - his older brother is sleeping under a bush, snoring at the top of his lungs. Ivan did not wake him up. He hid under the Kalinov bridge, standing there, guarding the crossing.
Suddenly the waters on the river became agitated, the eagles screamed in the oak trees - a miracle Yudo with six heads was approaching. He rode out to the middle of the viburnum bridge - the horse stumbled under him, the black raven on his shoulder started, and behind him the black dog bristled.
The six-headed miracle Yudo says:
- Why, my horse, did you stumble? Why did you, black raven, perk up? Why are you, black dog, bristling? Or do you sense that Ivan is the peasant’s son here? So he wasn’t born yet, and even if he was born, he wasn’t fit to fight! I'll put him on one arm and slam him with the other!
Then Ivan, the peasant son, came out from under the bridge and said:
- Don’t boast, you filthy miracle! I didn’t shoot a clear falcon - it’s too early to pluck feathers! I didn’t recognize the good fellow - there’s no point in shaming him! Let's better try our strength: whoever overcomes will boast.
So they came together, drew level and hit each other so hard that the earth around them began to roar.
Miracle Yud was not lucky: Ivan, the peasant son, knocked off three of his heads with one swing.
- Stop, Ivan is a peasant son! - shouts the miracle Yudo. - Give me a break!
