The Golden Girl

A man became a widower and married for the second time. From his first wife, he had a daughter, whom his new wife grew to dislike intensely. One day, she said to her husband:

"I don't want that girl living in my house anymore."

"Where should I take her? Can't you see she's still just a child?" replied the father.

The stepmother answered:

"Take her wherever you want—even to the ends of the earth—just get her out of my sight."

Day after day, there were arguments, until finally the father agreed to take the girl away from home.

"Just bake her a flatbread for the journey," he said to his wife.

The stepmother baked a round millet flatbread. The father stuffed it into a sack, took the girl by the hand, and led her into the deep forest. When they reached a hill, the father took the flatbread out of the sack, rolled it down the slope, and shouted:

"Run, daughter, catch the flatbread!"

The girl ran down the hill after the flatbread and caught it among the bushes at the bottom. Meanwhile, her father slipped behind the trees and disappeared into the thicket.

"Papa, I caught the flatbread!" the girl turned around. "Papa, where are you?"

The poor girl climbed back up the hill, looked around, but saw no one. She began to cry and started searching for a path, but found nothing. She wandered the whole day. When the sun sank behind the forest and it began to grow dark, the girl got scared and cried out loud.

Deep in the forest, in a small wooden house, lived an old healer woman. Hearing a human voice, she came out of the house and shouted into the darkness:

"Who's crying there? A boy or a girl? If you're a girl, come to me; if you're a boy, go away!"

"I'm a girl, grandma," replied the orphan.

"Then come here quickly!"

The girl approached and asked:

"Why don't you want to take a boy, grandma?"

"Because I need a helper in the house, and boys don't know how to manage a household."

The girl entered the house. The old woman fed her and put her to bed. In the morning, the girl woke up early and, while the old woman was still asleep, cleaned the entire house, swept the floor, and fetched water. The old woman woke up, saw what the girl had done, smiled, but said nothing. She got dressed and prepared to go mushroom picking. Before leaving, she instructed the quick girl:

"In my cellar live snakes and lizards. Boil some bran and feed them. Don't be afraid to approach them—they don't bite."

The girl boiled the bran, cooled it, fed the old woman's pets, and, having no other work, started stringing beads onto a thread, making necklaces, and putting them on all the snakes and lizards. By noon, the old woman returned home, and the snakes and lizards crawled out to greet her, boasting:

"Look how the girl dressed us up! And how sweetly she fed us!"

"And the old woman will dress the girl up for that!" said the healer, smiling again.

Near the old woman's house flowed a magical river. Every hour, it changed its color. After lunch, the old woman brought the girl to the riverbank, sat down on the grass, and said:

"I'll take a nap, and you sing to me so I can fall asleep quickly."

The girl sat by the old woman's head and began to sing. Her song was as quiet as a bee's hum. Before falling asleep, the old woman murmured in a sleepy voice:

"Watch the river. First, blue water will flow, then red, then black. After the black, yellow water will flow. That's when you should wake me up." And she dozed off.

The girl watched the river. It changed its color every hour: first blue water flowed, then red, then black. Finally, yellow water flowed, and the girl woke the old woman. The old woman jumped up, grabbed the girl by the hair, dunked her into the river, and shouted:

"Grab whatever you can!"

The girl grabbed something underwater, and when the old woman pulled her out, she saw that the girl was holding a small chest.

"What's inside?" asked the girl.

"When you get home, open it with this key, and you'll see," replied the old woman, handing the girl a key. Then she led her out of the forest, showed her the way home, and said goodbye.

When the girl entered the house, everything around her shone, because the yellow water was golden, and the girl had turned golden after bathing in it.

The stepmother saw her and bit her lip in envy.

"What's that chest you have?" asked the father.

The girl opened the chest and lifted the lid. Everyone gasped: it was filled to the brim with gold coins.

"Tell us quickly where you've been!" the stepmother couldn't resist.

The golden girl told them everything that had happened to her.

"Take my daughter to the same forest!" the stepmother shouted to her husband—she had her own daughter.

"First, bake a flatbread," replied the husband.

The stepmother baked a large wheat flatbread. The father led his stepdaughter into the forest, climbed a hill with her, and rolled the flatbread down the slope. When the girl ran after it, he turned back home. The girl wandered the forest all day, and when it grew dark, she cried out loudly.

"Who's crying there?" the same old woman asked from the darkness. "If you're a boy, go away; if you're a girl, come to me!"

"I'm a girl!" replied the stepmother's daughter and entered the house.

The old woman fed her and put her to bed. In the morning, when the sun warmed up, the old woman got up and saw that the guest was still sleeping. She frowned but said nothing. She woke the girl and instructed her:

"I'll go mushroom picking, and you clean the house, then boil some bran, take it to the cellar, and feed my snakes and lizards. Don't be afraid, they don't bite."

The girl got up, took a broom, and started sweeping, but didn't sprinkle water on the floor. Dust rose throughout the house. Then she boiled the bran, didn't cool it, and took it to the snakes and lizards, who burned their tongues. When the old woman returned from the forest at noon, they began to complain:

"The girl burned us with hot bran! It hurts, grandma!"

"And the old woman will repay the girl in kind!" said the healer and went into the house.

After lunch, she brought the girl to the magical river and said:

"I'll take a nap, and you watch the river: if blue water flows, don't disturb me; if red flows, don't wake me; if yellow flows, don't call me; but wake me when black water flows! Now, sing me a song so I can fall asleep quickly!"

But the girl sang so poorly and so loudly that the old woman said:

"Stop! Your singing is keeping me awake."

The girl fell silent. The old woman dozed off, and the river began to change its color. When black water flowed, the girl woke the old woman. The old woman jumped up, grabbed the stepmother's daughter by the hair, dunked her into the water, and shouted:

"Grab whatever you can!"

The girl felt a chest underwater and held it tightly. The old woman pulled the girl out, gave her a key to open the chest when she got home, and then led her out of the forest and showed her the way home. It was evening, and the mother was waiting for her at the edge of the village. Seeing that her daughter had turned black and ugly, the stepmother turned green with anger but said to herself:

"Maybe she brought a chest full of gold!"

They returned home, opened the chest, and what did they see? It was filled with snakes, lizards, and crabs. Everyone screamed and ran in different directions, while the golden girl ran outside.

"Run quickly, take off her golden dress, and dress my daughter in it!" the stepmother shouted to her husband.

The father chased after his daughter. She ran from him, and he followed her. When the golden girl saw that her father was catching up, she spread her arms and flew up like a bird. She soared over houses, gardens, and mountain peaks, rising high into the sky. She turned into a golden moon and illuminated the earth.

The father stood there with his mouth open. He had never seen such a miracle before.

Since then, the golden girl appears in the night sky, lighting up the earth and searching for her homeland with her eyes.

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The Golden Girl

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