Light-Faced
A certain king had eighteen sons. Seventeen of them studied together in one school, while the eighteenth studied separately. The sons grew up.The king thought: "If I search for and arrange marriages for each of them, they'll grow old before I can marry them all off. If I have eighteen sons, surely someone has eighteen daughters. I'll send them out to search. If they find them, they'll marry and return."
So he sent seventeen sons to seek brides, providing them with horses and proper equipment, but he said nothing to the eighteenth son and left him at home.
The youngest brother, Fair-Faced, found out and was upset: "My brothers are going to get married, and they didn't even take me as a groomsman." He went to his mother and asked:
"Where are my father's horse and sword?"
"Go, my son, to the stable and the armory, take any horse and any sword," said his mother.
"No, I don't want those. Tell me where my father's horse and sword are!" the son insisted.
"Go to our pastures," said the mother, "find the shepherd, strike him so hard that three strips of skin come off him—he will show you."
Fair-Faced did as he was told. He found the horse, took the sword, mounted the horse, and rode after his brothers.
Hearing the sound of hooves, the brothers looked back and said: "Our brother Fair-Faced is coming. Well, at least he can watch over our horses." Fair-Faced caught up with his brothers and rode with them.
They rode and rode until they saw a demon's house. The demon was not home; he was out hunting. The brothers entered the house, where there was plenty of food and drink, all laid out on the table. They sat down to feast, leaving the youngest brother outside to guard the horses and bringing food out to him.
At midnight, a three-headed demon appeared and shouted:
"Who are you? Not even an ant crawls on the ground here, nor a bird flies in the sky—everyone fears me, and yet you've come into my yard, and with horses!"
As soon as he spoke, Fair-Faced's sword flew out and hung in the air, unsupported.
Fair-Faced said: "You're too far away for me to speak to you. Come closer, and I'll give you an answer."
The demon approached Fair-Faced, who grabbed his sword and with one swing cut off two of the demon's heads, leaving only one. The remaining head said:
"Do not cut me off, or you will not find what you seek."
"Speak," commanded Fair-Faced. The demon said:
"Here are the keys. Open seventeen rooms, and in the eighteenth, you will find eighteen beauties unseen under the sun."
"Give me the keys," said Fair-Faced.
He took the keys, cut off the demon's third head, and went inside. He passed through all seventeen rooms and saw that, indeed, in the eighteenth room were eighteen beauties. He looked at them, locked the door, and left.
The brothers feasted, went to sleep, and in the morning prepared to continue their journey. Fair-Faced did not tell them about the eighteen beauties.
They rode on. After some time, they came across another demon's house. Here, too, the table was set with bread, wine, and plenty of food. The demon was not home; he was out hunting. The older brothers went inside to feast, while the youngest was left outside with the horses.
At midnight, a four-headed demon appeared and saw Fair-Faced with the horses in his yard. He shouted:
"Who are you? Not even an ant crawls on the ground here, nor a bird flies in the sky—everyone fears me, and yet you've come with horses!"
Fair-Faced said: "You're too far away for me to speak to you. Come closer, and I'll give you an answer." His sword again hung in the air.
The four-headed demon approached Fair-Faced. Fair-Faced grabbed his sword and with one swing cut off three of the demon's heads, leaving only one. The remaining head said:
"Do not cut me off, or you will not find what you seek."
"Speak!" commanded Fair-Faced. The head said:
"Pass through seventeen rooms, and in the eighteenth, you will find eighteen pearls."
Fair-Faced took the keys from the demon, cut off his fourth head, and went inside. He passed through all seventeen rooms and found eighteen pearls in the eighteenth room. He locked the door again and left.
The brothers knew nothing of this.
The third morning came. The brothers rose and rode on. They traveled, searching for their brides.
Again, they came across a demon's dwelling. They entered—and here, as in the previous houses, the table was set, everything was ready, and the demon was not home; he was out hunting. Once again, the older brothers went inside, leaving the youngest outside.
Again, the sword flew up, point first, hilt down—and the demon entered.
"Hey, Fair-Faced, haven't you killed enough demons? You've come here too?"
Fair-Faced said: "You're too far away for me to speak to you. Come closer, and I'll give you an answer."
The demon approached Fair-Faced. Fair-Faced tried to grab his sword, but it wouldn't come down—it was too high. He reached and reached, but the sword wouldn't budge. The demon said:
"You won't take me with that sword, and that's why it won't come to you. You can't defeat me—I am made of iron."
Indeed, the demon was entirely made of iron—what could a sword do to him?
In the morning, the brothers went out and saw a huge iron dev sitting there, with Brightface standing before him like a boy. When they saw the iron dev, they all got scared, ran in every direction, left their hats in the yard, and dropped their belts.
Brightface said to the iron dev:
— Let me go.
— I won’t let you go, said the dev.
— Either kill me, eat me, or let me go.
— I won’t kill you, I won’t eat you, and I won’t let you go, said the dev. Then Brightface said:
— Let me go, I’ll say a word to my brothers and return.
— Fine, said the dev, but don’t think you can escape from me. I know who you are and where you live. If you try to run away, I’ll come after you, force you to roast your own mother and serve her to me, then your father, and then I’ll eat you.
Brightface went, caught up with his brothers, and said:
— Brothers, in the dev’s house where we spent the first night, open seventeen rooms. In the eighteenth, you’ll find eighteen beauties unseen under the sun. Choose wives for yourselves, but leave the youngest for me. And he gave them the keys. — In the second dev’s house, open eighteen rooms. In the eighteenth, you’ll find eighteen precious pearls. Take one each, but leave my share. I’ll go back to the iron dev: either he’ll eat me, or I don’t know what will happen.
He returned, sat down beside the dev, and said:
— Finish it, either kill me, eat me, or let me go.
— I won’t kill you, I won’t eat you, and I won’t let you go, said the dev.
— Then what do you want?
— Here’s what, said the dev. Beyond the sea, there’s a beauty unseen under the sun. Bring her to me, and I’ll let you go.
— How will I cross the sea? asked Brightface.
— I have a bridle, said the iron dev. When you reach the sea, throw it into the water, and a horse will appear in the sea, putting the bridle on itself. Command it as you wish, and it will obey. It won’t leave you. Know that no bird or beast dares disobey my will. Wherever you command, it will go.
Brightface went, threw the bridle into the sea. A sea horse emerged. Brightface bridled it, mounted it, and the sea parted in two. Brightface rode through the middle of the sea.
But Brightface grew tired: he hadn’t slept for many nights. He decided to rest, dismounted, lay down, and held the reins. He fell asleep, and the horse slipped the reins from his hand and left. Brightface was left alone in the middle of the sea. He woke up and saw the horse was gone. What to do?
Brightface looked and saw a man floating in the sea, hanging upside down in the water, with hair covering his body like a beast.
Brightface asked:
— How do you stay in the water so long, upside down?
— Ah, my son, I’m cursed. I won’t die or find peace until I see a certain beauty (the very one Brightface was seeking).
— Well, said Brightface, I’d show her to you, I’m going after her, but I don’t know how to get out of the sea.
— I’ll lead you out, said the man.
Brightface swam after him. They reached the place where the sea had parted, and there lay a stone.
— Turn over this stone, said the man to Brightface. You’ll find another bridle; take it, throw it into the sea, and another sea horse will appear. Just make sure it doesn’t escape like the last one. Let me just see that beauty, if you find her, so I can die and escape this torment.
Brightface took the bridle, caught the horse, mounted it, and rode on. He arrived at a village. He saw everyone was locked inside.
This happened every time the beauty went out; the whole village had to stay locked up so no one would see her face.
Brightface came to a house and asked to be let in.
In that house lived an old widow with two married sons.
The widow liked Brightface and let him in, saying:
— I’m the beauty’s nurse. I bring her food and everything she needs. She lives in that tower. She’s not home now; she’s out walking. Go, enter the tower, lie down, and sleep. When she comes, she’ll be happy and go with you. I’ll keep it secret, won’t tell anyone she’s been taken.
Brightface went, took the beauty unseen under the sun, and the widow only told the next day that she was gone. A chase was immediately sent after Brightface.
Brightface saw the chase coming. He led the beauty into the forest, hid her, went out, killed them all, leaving only one alive to tell of the battle.
He brought the beauty to the sea, took out the bridle, summoned the sea horse, mounted it with the beauty, and rode off. They rode across the sea, and the beauty kept looking back, afraid the chase might return.
— Why are you afraid? said Brightface. What I took on land, I’ll carry over the sea. We’ll go now, I’ll show you to an unfortunate old man who’s dying because of you.
The beauty was afraid.
— Why do this? she said. Don’t let anything happen to us! They rode and saw the man floating toward them.
— Here, old man, look, I’ve brought her! said Brightface. The old man looked and died. Brightface buried him and rode on.
They reached the shore. Brightface released the sea horse, mounted his own, and rode to the dev.
The beauty unseen under the sun said:
— You’ve deceived me, taking me to the dev! Listen, when we arrive, the dev will be lying face down. Let me go to him, then strike your horse and ride away. Hide, and in the morning, when the dev goes hunting, return.
They did so. Brightface brought the beauty, struck his horse, and rode off. Then he hid, and when the dev went hunting, he returned.
So they lived: when the dev went hunting, Brightface came, spent the day with the beauty, and left in the evening when the dev returned.
The dev said to the beauty:
— Surely, Brightface is here somewhere.
— Where could he be? said the beauty.
— You saw how he spurred his horse.
— Well, that’s true... said the dev.
The next day, the dev went hunting, and Brightface shot an arrow, hitting him in the shoulder. The dev came home angry and said:
— No, Brightface is here with you somewhere.
— You saw how he spurred his horse, said the beauty.
— Well, that's true... — the dev agreed. The beautiful maiden said to the dev:
— Tell me, where is your soul? For I am all alone, and I might at least caress it.
— In the beam of the house, — said the dev, deceiving her. She adorned the beam and waited for the dev. The dev came.
— What is this?
— You said your soul was in the beam, so I am caressing it.
— Oh, you foolish one, — laughed the dev. — Do you know where my soul truly is? Beyond the sea lives a fiery dev. In his head is a box, and in the box are two raven chicks—they are my soul. If they are killed, I will die, but if they are not, I shall never perish.
The dev went off to hunt. The Fair-Faced One came, and the maiden told him:
— Beyond the sea, in such-and-such a place, in the head of the fiery dev there is a box, and in the box are two raven chicks. If you do not destroy them, you cannot kill the iron dev.
The Fair-Faced One set off across the sea, but his path led through the kingdom from which he had taken the maiden. And there, this was happening: a neighboring king was writing letters day and night to this king, the maiden’s father, mocking and insulting him:
— What kind of king are you, letting some wanderer take your beautiful daughter away? And the Fair-Faced One had hired himself out to the maiden’s father as a swineherd.
He learned of all this, came to the king, and said:
— I will go to war against that king. The king said:
— How will you go against him, fool, when I with all my army dare not fight him?
— Just give me, — said the Fair-Faced One, — twelve Russian warriors and twelve tents, and I will take care of the rest.
The king gave him twelve Russian warriors, twelve tents, and sent him off.
He came with the warriors to the neighboring king.
The king lived up above, and below was a ravine. They pitched their tents in the ravine, and the Fair-Faced One went up to the king and said:
— Let us fight right now, this very moment.
— No, we are not ready, — said the king.
— If you are not ready, — said the Fair-Faced One, — then give me a note saying you cannot fight us.
The king gave him the note and said:
— Go, release your troops, and stay here as my guest. The Fair-Faced One went, released the warriors, and returned.
They gave him supper, but everything they served was salted, so that he would grow thirsty in the night. Outside the door stood two fire-breathing monsters. The king thought that if the Fair-Faced One went out at night, the monsters would devour him, and he would never deliver the note to the other king.
The Fair-Faced One went out at night for water, and the monsters attacked him. But he did not panic; he tore off his boots and stuffed them into the monsters’ mouths, choking them to death.
The king saw that the Fair-Faced One returned to the palace alive and unharmed and was at a loss what to do out of frustration.
The Fair-Faced One lay down and slept. Morning came, but he did not rise from his bed and was angry.
— Is this how you treat your guests? You let them stay the night and then steal their boots? How am I to go barefoot?
The king brought him new boots, but the Fair-Faced One refused them:
— These are not mine! The ones you are wearing—those are my boots. What could the king do? He had to give up his own boots.
And the Fair-Faced One pulled on the king’s brand-new boots, laughing: his own boots had been old and worn.
The Fair-Faced One rode back and brought the note to the maiden’s father. The king rejoiced and wrote a letter to the other king:
— What kind of king are you? You sent an envoy, and you steal his boots? The other king had no reply and remained silent.
The maiden’s father said to the Fair-Faced One:
— I had a daughter of unparalleled beauty, but she was stolen from me, or I would have given her to you as a wife.
— It was I who took her, — said the Fair-Faced One.
— What else can I reward you with? — asked the king.
— I need nothing, — said the Fair-Faced One, — just teach me how to find the fiery dev and give me people to show me the way.
The king gave him guides, and they led him to a mountain, saying:
— Beyond this mountain lives the fiery dev.
The dev sensed that there were people on the mountain and went up.
He came, all three of his mouths open, breathing fire—no one could get close to him. The Fair-Faced One drew his sword and flew at the dev like a moth to a flame. He swung his sword and cut off two heads, and the third head said:
— Do not cut me off, or you will never find what you came for. In my head is a box, and in it are two raven chicks—they are the soul of the iron dev.
The Fair-Faced One cut off the third head, took the box, and immediately tore the head off one raven chick. He took the other with him, thinking: if I kill this one too, the iron dev might be at home, standing in the doorway. If he dies there, he will block the entrance, and the maiden will be trapped inside, and I will not be able to enter the tower.
The Fair-Faced One walked, now tugging the raven chick’s head this way, now that, so that the iron dev would grow weak and, wherever he was, would not make it home.
He reached the sea, summoned a sea horse, mounted it, and rode on. He crossed the sea, released the sea horse, mounted his own, and continued on his way. The dev grew weak but still managed to reach his home. He sat at the threshold, dying.
The Fair-Faced One arrived and shouted to the maiden:
— Step on him and jump out!
She jumped out, and the Fair-Faced One tore off the raven chick’s head. The dev rolled and became stuck in the doorway, so that the maiden could not have escaped.
The Fair-Faced One took her to the dev’s dwelling, where the pearls were. He took his share, which his brothers had left for him, and also took the eighteenth maiden, who had been waiting for him in the dwelling of the three-headed dev.
He brought her home, married her off like a sister, and himself married the maiden of unparalleled beauty—for how much effort he had put into winning her!
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