The Blue Carpet
Once upon a time, there lived a king. He had only one son.The prince grew up and became a young man. The king looked at him with admiration and thought:
"I am growing old. It is time to pass the kingdom to my son. It would be good if he, too, had a little heir. Then I could die in peace."
One day, the king called the prince to him and said:
"Isn't it time for you, my son, to find yourself a bride? It's time to start your own family." And the king led him into a grand hall. The walls were covered with portraits—each one depicting a girl, each more beautiful and charming than the last.
"Here, my son," said the king, "choose yourself a wife."
The prince walked around the hall, examined all the portraits, and said to his father:
"No, father, I cannot choose any of them. They are all beautiful, no doubt. But my heart does not lean toward any of them. Allow me to travel across our kingdom instead. Perhaps I will meet my destined one."
The king agreed, and the prince set off on his journey.
He wandered through his homeland, through mountains and vineyards, visited ancient cities, and stopped by villages. There were many girls in his native land—many beauties, both smart and kind—but the prince's heart did not incline toward any of them.
Then, one day, in the mountains, on the edge of a poor village, he met a girl—slender as a cypress, with braids like brown silk. The prince saw her and knew he would love her for the rest of his life.
He entered her hut and sat beside her.
"Marry me, beauty," he pleaded.
"Who are you?" the girl asked.
"I am the prince."
"And what can you do? What craft do you know?"
The young man was surprised:
"I don't know any craft. I told you, I am the prince."
The girl laughed:
"Being a prince is not a profession. Today you are a prince, but tomorrow you might not be. How will you feed your family then? Go and learn a craft. If you learn one, I will marry you. If not, don't come back."
The prince hung his head and left the hut in sadness. He didn't know which craft to learn.
He returned to the palace and told his father of his sorrow. The king smiled:
"Don't grieve, my son. This can be fixed."
And he ordered craftsmen from all over the kingdom to be summoned to the palace. Blacksmiths and stovemakers, coopers and weavers, carpenters—all came to the king's call. They stood in the golden hall, whispering among themselves, unsure why the king had called them.
Then the king and the prince entered the hall.
The craftsmen bowed.
"Greetings, masters," said the king. "I have gathered you here for this reason: my son, the prince, wishes to learn a craft. Which of you can take him as an apprentice?"
The craftsmen whispered and shook their heads. It was no easy task to teach a prince a common craft.
"Well, is no one willing?" asked the king. He called over the locksmith who had installed all the locks in the palace. "I know you are a good master. Will you teach the prince the locksmith's trade?"
The locksmith was taken aback.
"Why not, Your Majesty?" he replied. "But I don't know if I will satisfy you."
"And how long will it take for him to become a good locksmith?" asked the prince.
The locksmith thought:
"About three years..."
"Well, that won't work for me," said the young man. "My bride won't wait that long."
The king called over the cooper and asked:
"How long will it take to teach the prince your craft?"
The cooper bowed to the king:
"Two years, Your Majesty."
"No, that's still too long," said the prince.
The king asked each master in turn. Finally, he came to the last one. It was an old weaver—a rare artisan. He wove carpets so beautiful that people came from other countries just to admire them.
"Well, old man, won't you help?" asked the king.
The old weaver thought, rubbed his forehead, and said:
"Very well, Your Majesty. I will teach the prince my craft."
"And how long will it take?" asked the prince.
"Three days," said the old man.
"That I can agree to," the prince said happily. "Three days is not long!"
The prince went with the old weaver and stayed with him for three days. When he returned to the palace, he could weave carpets as beautiful as those of his teacher. The prince wove a marvelous carpet and took it to show his bride.
He arrived at the village, entered the hut, and spread the carpet before the girl's eyes:
"Look, this is what I have learned. Will you marry me now?"
"Now I will," said the girl.
The prince brought her to the palace. The king and queen liked her very much. They blessed their son, and a happy wedding was held. The prince and his wife lived in peace and harmony.
Several years passed. The old king died, and the prince became king. One day, he said to his wife:
"I want to travel through my land to find out what my subjects are saying about me, and to see if anyone is plotting treason. But I will do this quietly, so no one knows."
He dressed in beggar's rags, took a bag and a staff, and set off to wander the country. He left his wife to rule the kingdom.
The king traveled for a long time through cities and villages. It was almost time for him to return home. But one evening, he got lost in the mountains and found himself in a wild gorge. It was called the Serpent's Gorge, and it had an evil reputation. The king lost his way and fell into the hands of bandits.
The bandits dragged him to their cave. The king shouted:
"Don't touch me! I am the king!"
The bandits laughed:
"What nonsense! Our king wouldn't wander the mountains in such rags!"
"If you're the king, then pay a ransom!" some shouted.
"Let's kill him. What can we get from him?" others said.
The king replied:
"I don't have any money with me, but killing me won't do you any good. I can weave a carpet like no one has ever seen. You can sell it for a lot of money."
The bandits thought:
"And how long will it take you to weave?"
"Not long. I'll finish it in three days."
"Alright," said the bandits. "We can wait three days. Get to work quickly."
They locked the king in a dungeon and gave him wool and silk.
The king began to weave the carpet.
Before the third day was over, the carpet was ready.
It was entirely blue, woven with golden flowers. Along all four edges ran intricate patterns, and among the fantastical flowers, unseen birds spread their wings.
The bandits looked at the carpet and were stunned.
"Yes, such work is worth a fortune. Let's take it to the city to sell."
They took the carpet and went to the city. All day they walked through markets and approached merchants, offering the marvelous carpet for sale. But they found no buyer. Everyone marveled at the masterful work, valuing the carpet at thousands of rubles, but no one had enough money to buy it. So the bandits returned to the mountains in the evening. Angry, they went to the king in the dungeon.
"No one can buy your carpet. Even the merchants don't have enough money. Your carpet is useless. We'll execute you tomorrow."
The king said:
"Wait a little longer. Go to the palace tomorrow and ask to be taken to the queen. She will buy my carpet."
The bandits thought it over and agreed. In the morning, two of them went to the royal palace. They arrived and asked to be taken to the queen. The courtiers refused:
"The queen is busy; she has no time for you."
The bandits unrolled the carpet.
"Look what we've brought to sell to her."
The courtiers gasped, their eyes dazzled.
"Well, for such a wonder, we'll have to inform her."
And they let the bandits in to see the queen. The queen sat sadly, crying all day. She missed her husband and worried about him. All the deadlines had passed, and still the king had not returned.
The bandits entered and bowed.
"Look, Queen, at this carpet. Will you buy it?"
The queen looked at the carpet—and froze. It was not an intricate pattern; along the edges of the carpet, strange letters were woven, forming a message:
"I am held captive by bandits in the Serpent's Gorge. Send help, or they will execute me."
The clever queen gave no sign that she had read the message. She paid the bandits without haggling, giving them the amount they asked for. As soon as they left, the queen summoned her chief commanders and ordered them to go to the mountains immediately to rescue the king.
That evening, the bandits sat in their cave, dividing the money they had received. Suddenly—noise at the door, shouts, stomping: a whole military detachment was advancing on the gorge.
The commanders burst into the cave, felt the walls, and searched for a hidden passage. They descended into the dungeon—and out came the king: pale, ragged, in tatters.
The bandits were seized, their hands tied, and they were taken to the city for trial.
The queen met her husband at the palace and said:
"I never thought I'd see you alive again."
The king rested, ate, washed, and put on his royal clothes again. In the evening, he went with the queen to the garden and sat under the rose bushes. The queen said to him:
"Well, what would you have done if you hadn't known a craft? Being a king wouldn't have saved you! The bandits would have killed you."
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