The Idle Princess
Once upon a time, there lived a poor young man with his mother. One day, his mother fell ill and was in a very bad state."What would you like to eat, Mother?" he asked her.
"I would like some meat," she replied. "It might give me strength, and perhaps I will recover."
"But where can we get meat?" the son wondered. "We only have two oxen. If we slaughter one, who will plow the fields in the spring?"
"Well, my son, slaughter the ox, and then we'll see what God provides. Nothing is worse than death," the mother said.
So the young man slaughtered the ox, cooked the meat, and fed his mother. She recovered.
When spring came, it was time to plow the fields. The mother said to her son:
"You can't plow the field with just one ox. Let me harness myself alongside the ox, and you can plow."
They began plowing together.
At that time, the king was hunting in their area. He shot some game and ordered his servant:
"Light a fire, roast this bird for me, and make sure it doesn't burn."
The servant began roasting the bird but suddenly noticed the village boy plowing with his mother harnessed alongside the ox.
He was so mesmerized by this sight that he let the bird burn to ashes.
The king was furious.
"What have you done? Why did you burn my breakfast?" he demanded.
"Long live the king," the frightened servant replied. "I was distracted by something extraordinary: a son has harnessed his mother alongside an ox and is plowing with her."
"Bring him to me," the king ordered.
The young man approached the king, who shouted at him:
"Aren't you ashamed to drive an old woman like cattle across the field?"
The young man bowed and replied:
"Do not be angry, Your Majesty. We slaughtered our second ox to save my mother from illness. We are poor people; if we don't sow the field, we will starve."
"Unharness her immediately," the king commanded. "I will give you a young bull. If you can yoke him, I will gift him to you, and you can plow to your heart's content."
They brought the bull, but it was no ordinary bull—it was a massive, enraged beast that no one could tame.
"Don't worry," the young man said. "I'll manage somehow."
He threw a rope around the bull's horns, tied its legs, and kept it in a stall without food for three days. On the fourth day, the bull calmed down a bit, so the young man gave it half a bucket of water and a bundle of hay.
On the fifth day, he yoked the bull and made it plow. After the bull had worked, he fed it properly. The king was amazed that his fierce bull had been tamed.
"How did you manage to tame the bull?" the king asked.
"Well, just like that," the young man replied with a smile.
"Then here's what I'll do," the king said. "I have a daughter. She's so lazy that she won't lift a finger. If you can make something useful out of her, I will reward you generously. Send your mother tomorrow to propose marriage to my daughter."
The young man went home and said:
"Mother, go to the palace tomorrow and propose to the king's daughter on my behalf."
His mother waved her hands in protest: "What are you saying? I don't even have anything decent to wear!"
The son went to the market, spent his last coins on a new dress for his mother, and sent her to the palace the next morning.
The mother went to the palace but was too shy to enter, so she stood at the threshold.
The servants reported to the king:
"There's an old woman standing at our doorstep."
The king ordered:
"Bring her in."
"Long live the king," the old woman said, bowing. "I have a request, but I'm afraid to say it."
"Don't be afraid, speak."
"I've come to propose marriage. Give your daughter to my son."
"Let him take her," the king said.
They held a wedding, and the king's daughter moved into the peasant's home. Every morning, she would sit with her hands folded, refusing to do any work.
The mother said:
"Listen, my son, who have you brought into our home? We don't need someone like her in our household."
"Don't worry," the son replied. "You'll see, I'll set her straight."
The next day, he gave his wife no food, no drink, no bread, no water—nothing at all.
"My mother and I work from morning till night," he told her. "That's why we eat. But you sit idle—why should we feed you? This isn't the royal palace."
The next day, the king's daughter got up, swept the floor under her feet, and sat back down. In the evening, the son told his mother:
"Give her some water and a piece of bread."
The following day, the king's daughter swept half the room and sat down to rest again.
In the evening, her husband gave her two pieces of bread for her effort.
"This is what I've gotten myself into," she thought. "At my father's palace, I was fed without working, but here they make me work."
But there was nothing she could do: she learned to clean the house, sweep the yard, and even cook—she didn't want to starve! Soon, she began to eat the same food as her husband and mother-in-law—whatever they ate, she ate too. The king's daughter became so hardworking and diligent that they couldn't praise her enough.
One day, the king said to his wife:
"I'll go visit our lazy daughter. After all, she's still our child."
He prepared some nice gifts and arrived at the peasant's home. He saw his daughter running up to him, tying up his horse, and leading him into the house.
"Sit down," she said, "and help me. I'm cooking dinner, so you can peel the garlic for me."
The king chuckled to himself but didn't show it and started peeling the garlic.
When the mother came home, she saw the king peeling garlic.
"Daughter," she said, "you made the king himself peel garlic?"
"Well," the king's daughter replied, "otherwise, you wouldn't feed him!"
The king laughed, had dinner with them, and returned to the palace in high spirits.
"Well," he told the queen, "our daughter has completely changed. What a peasant lad!"
The king invited his daughter and son-in-law to the palace and held a grand feast.
They rejoiced, and we all rejoice with them.
More fairy tales
- The Tale of Murza, the Invisible Worker
- Two Brothers
- The Talking Fish
- The Little Goat
- The Jug of Gold
