Three Brothers - Three Kings

Whether it happened or not—in a certain kingdom, there lived a poor husband and wife, and they had three sons.

The husband would go into the forest, gather firewood and branches, load them onto a donkey, take them to the city, and sell them. That’s how he fed his wife and children.

One summer day, the children asked their father:

"Father, take us to the forest."

The father didn’t want to take them, but the children begged until he agreed. When they arrived in the forest, the children ran off to look for bird nests.

The eldest son climbed a tall tree and found two very beautiful eggs in a nest.

The boy took the eggs, showed them to his father, and said:

"Father, let’s take these eggs to the market and sell them. We’ll have some money."

The father replied:

"Who would buy these eggs, son?"

But the boy wouldn’t give up and kept asking.

The father thought, "Maybe someone really will buy them, even if just as a toy," and agreed.

The next day, the poor man went to the market. He carried the firewood and took the eggs with him. He sold the firewood, took the eggs out of his basket, held them in his hand, and walked around the market once, then again. No one even glanced at the eggs.

Only one merchant noticed them. The merchant thought, "Why is he carrying them around? Who would buy them? Maybe they’re enchanted or have some power?"

He asked for the price:

"How much are you selling these eggs for?"

The poor man thought, "Why would the merchant want these eggs? He’s probably just joking," and replied:

"Leave it, you won’t buy them."

The merchant thought, "They must be very expensive," and said:

"What, do you think I don’t have money? Tell me, how much do you want?"

"Leave it, why are you bargaining for no reason? I know you’re not a buyer!" said the poor man.

The merchant thought, "He must not believe I have money." He pulled out a whole stack of money and threw it into the poor man’s basket.

"Here, take it!"

Then the poor man began to wonder—this merchant wasn’t a fool; he wouldn’t throw money away for nothing. The eggs must indeed be valuable, and he’s in a hurry to get his hands on them.

"Leave it, I’m not selling—why are you so persistent?" he said and went home.

The merchant chased after him, offering higher and higher prices. But the poor man wouldn’t sell. He brought the eggs home and said to his wife:

"Take these eggs, wife, and hide them. When our hen sits on her eggs, put these in too. Let’s see what hatches."

Meanwhile, the merchant found a beardless trickster, gave him donkeys loaded with food, clothes, and other goods, and sent him to the village, saying:

"Take all this to that poor man. But don’t take money—only exchange it for those eggs."

The beardless man drove the donkeys with all the goods to the poor man’s house.

The poor man came out and began to bargain, but the beardless man said:

"I’m not here for money; I’ll only exchange for those eggs."

"No," said the poor man, "you can sell it, but I won’t give you the eggs."

And so the trickster left empty-handed.

The beardless man wondered—why was his master giving away so much for those eggs? There must be great power in them.

He decided to get his hands on the eggs himself. He settled near the poor man’s house and began to seduce his wife:

"Why are you tied to him, old and poor? Marry me instead."

But she refused and wouldn’t listen to the beardless man.

Meanwhile, the hen sat on her eggs to hatch them. The wife added the two special eggs to the nest.

The next day, they looked and saw that all the eggs had become shiny and transparent, like little pieces of glass.

The poor man took out the glass-like objects, looked at them, and couldn’t understand what they were—they sparkled so brightly.

He took three of them and carried them to the city, bringing them to a goldsmith:

"Would you like to buy these glass pieces?"

The goldsmith looked and saw that they weren’t glass but sparkling diamonds. He was delighted and said:

"How much do you want for all three? Two thousand?"

The poor man thought he was being mocked and laughed, saying:

"Alright, deal!"

The goldsmith counted out two thousand, and the poor man gave him the glass-like objects. He ran home, overjoyed.

They began to live comfortably. They built a new house and lived without want.

Whenever they placed eggs near those special eggs, they immediately turned into precious stones. The poor man carried them to the market and sold them.

Soon, two doves hatched from those special eggs.

Everyone cared for the doves, cherishing them.

But the beardless man wouldn’t leave the poor man’s wife alone, still trying to seduce her. Now that she lived in luxury and wealth, with little work to do, she began to give in to his persuasion. She fell in love with him and turned away from her husband.

The beardless man said:

"I won’t marry you unless you kill those doves and let me eat them."

She decided to kill the doves and ordered the maid:

"Kill those doves, roast them, and serve them at the table."

The maid killed the doves, roasted them, but instead of giving them to the mistress, she gave them to the poor man’s three sons to eat. For the mistress, she killed two young hens and served them instead.

The beardless man found out and said:

"These aren’t the doves!"

The mistress called the maid:

"Where are the doves? What did you do with them?"

The maid, frightened, said:

"I left the room, and the children ate the doves."

The wife said to the beardless man:

"What should we do now? The children ate the doves."
"Kill the children and bring me their hearts!" says the beardless man. "Do this, and I will marry you. If not, I will leave, and you will never see me again."

A maid overheard everything, took pity on the children, and told them:

"Run away from the house as fast as you can, or they will destroy you."

The boys were frightened and fled from the house.

They walked for a long time or perhaps not so long—until they came to a crossroads. Three roads lay before them.

They stopped and thought about which road to take.

The eldest said:

"Let's go to the right."

The middle one said:

"Let's take the middle road."

The youngest said:

"There are three of us and three roads—let's each take a separate path, test our fate, and then find each other again."

The brothers said their goodbyes and each went their own way.

The eldest brother walked. Whether he walked for a long time or not, he eventually reached a kingdom. He saw a blacksmith's house.

He approached and asked the blacksmith:

"Father, I am tired and hungry. Give me something to eat and let me rest. In return, I will work for you."

The blacksmith was childless and was delighted by such a fine young man. He called his wife:

"Give him something to eat and let him rest. It seems God has sent him to us in our old age."

The wife was also pleased. She led him in, fed him, and put him to sleep. He slept for three days and three nights.

On the morning of the third day, she came to wake him. She pulled back the blanket and saw that he was lying in gold and precious stones.

The pigeons he had eaten had such power that whoever ate them would always lie in gold and jewels.

The wife called her husband and showed him. They gathered all the wealth and hid it.

Every night, they collected gold and diamonds and hid them, while the boy knew nothing.

The middle brother reached another kingdom. He saw a merchant walking by.

"I am hungry and tired. Feed me and let me rest tonight, and then I will serve you as you command," said the young man.

The merchant liked the young man and thought he would be useful. He took him home and said to his wife:

"Feed him and put him to sleep. Tomorrow I will take him to work."

The young man did not wake up the next morning.

The merchant's wife went to wake him. She pulled back the blanket and saw that he was lying in diamonds.

She called her husband and showed him.

They gathered all the wealth and hid it.

Later, they woke the young man, fed him, gave him drink, and dressed him richly.

He lived like this, while they collected diamonds from his bed every night and hid them. The middle brother knew nothing of it.

The youngest brother walked and walked, whether for a long time or not, until he came to another kingdom. There, he found an old widow and asked her:

"Mother, I am hungry and tired. I have been walking alone for many days. Give me something to eat and let me sleep until tomorrow, and then I will serve you as you command."

The old woman took him in, fed him, and put him to sleep.

The young man did not wake up the next morning.

The old woman was frightened—what was wrong with him? She approached and saw that he was lying in precious stones. She gathered all the wealth and hid it.

Later, she woke him and sent him to fetch firewood.

So the youngest brother lived. He worked for the old woman, while she collected diamonds every night and said nothing to the boy.

One day, the king of that city announced:

"All my subjects must appear before my palace. I will release a dove, and whoever it lands on, I will give my only daughter in marriage, and to them, I will bequeath my kingdom."

Everyone came as ordered.

The old woman was afraid that the dove might land on the boy, and she would lose him along with all his wealth. She locked him in and said:

"Stay at home, do not go out, no matter what!" She went herself to see what would happen.

The people gathered, the king came out, and released the dove.

The dove flew around the crowd, landed on no one, and flew to the old woman's house, circling and hovering over the roof.

The king sent his servants to find out what was happening.

The king's servants came and saw the young man locked inside the house. They reported to the king.

The king ordered:

"Bring him to me!"

They brought him.

The king liked the young man, gave him his daughter in marriage, and placed him on the throne.

The youngest brother lived richly and learned how precious stones appeared on his bed while he slept.

That kingdom became the richest and most powerful of all kingdoms on earth.

The middle brother, who lived with the merchant, worked for him. One day, he woke up earlier than usual and saw that his entire bed was covered in precious stones. He gathered all the wealth and hid it deep in the cellar.

He accumulated a vast amount of precious stones and decided:

"I will go and marry the king's daughter."

He went to the king and said:

"Give me your daughter in marriage."

"Very well," said the king, "but first, build me a tower worth my entire kingdom."

"Very well," said the young man. He went, retrieved his precious stones and gold, and built a tower—it sparkled brilliantly!

He went to the king:

"Please, come and see."

The king looked and was amazed. Indeed, not only was the tower worth his kingdom, but it could buy many other kingdoms as well.
The king gave his daughter in marriage to the middle brother, and he began to live like a king.

Meanwhile, the eldest brother lived with the blacksmith. One day, he learned that in that kingdom, there was a beauty unlike any other under the sun.

He came to the blacksmith and said:

— I want to marry that beauty; arrange the match for me.

— No, my son, — said the blacksmith, — that girl is a sorceress. Everyone who has courted her has never returned alive. Around her palace, human heads are displayed on spikes. She has destroyed all who sought her hand.

The young man pondered: what could it be? How does she destroy them?

So he secretly left home and went to the beauty. He approached the terrace of her palace, and she saw him, came out, and illuminated everything around her.

The beauty said:

— I know why you’ve come. But you’d better leave — see how many young men, all princes, have lost their heads here? Do you think you can succeed where they failed?

The young man replied:

— I cannot live without you. Tell me, what do you ask of me?

She said:

— Very well, I will give you three tasks. If you complete them, I am yours. If not, know that I will cut off your head.

— Speak, — said the young man.

She said:

— First, build a golden bridge across this river, one that I can walk upon freely.

The young man grew sorrowful. He returned home and told the blacksmith:

— She demands that I build a bridge of pure gold across the river.

The blacksmith said: — That’s nothing. You are gold yourself; look at all the wealth we’ve gathered over time! You could build her not just a bridge, but an entire golden city.

And the kind blacksmith told him how they had collected gold in his bed.

The young man rejoiced.

They built a bridge of pure gold. When it was finished, the young man went to the beauty and said:

— Behold, the bridge is ready!

She said:

— I can see the bridge is ready, but will it bear my weight?

She walked across the bridge. It was sturdy and entirely made of gold.

— This is good, — she said, — but the second task... go and bring me those white stones you see on that mountain.

The young man went to the blacksmith and told him what she had asked for.

— Oh! — said the blacksmith and his wife, — woe to us, you are doomed! Those mountains are impossible to reach, and even if you do, you will not return alive.

Nevertheless, the young man set off for the mountains.

He walked and walked, for a long time, and then he saw a bear. The young man drew his sword, intending to kill the bear, but the bear said:

— Do not kill me. I was once a man like you, but I wished to marry that sorceress, and she turned me into a bear. Now I roam the forests as a beast.

The young man pitied him, but how could he help? They continued together. Soon they met a deer.

The bear said:

— He, too, was a man, and that sorceress destroyed him.

The three of them traveled together.

They came to a forest, and the bear pointed to a tall tree, saying:

— Climb this tree, break off a branch, carve a club, strike me on the back, and say: become a man again. I will turn back into a man.

The young man climbed the tree, carved a club, struck the bear, and said:

— Become a man again, as you once were!

The bear turned back into a man and said:

— Now strike the deer.

The young man struck the deer and said:

— Become a man again, as you once were!

The deer turned back into a man.

They rejoiced, embraced, and kissed. The former bear said:

— You are wasting your time going for the stones. You cannot reach them, and even if you do, you cannot retrieve them. An eagle guards those stones and will not let a stranger near. Let us return to the sorceress. I will strike her with this club and turn her into a donkey. Then you must enter her room and take her carpet. Sit on the carpet, and it will carry you to the stones. Take them and bring them back.

And so they did. They returned to the city and bought an expensive basket of apples. They went to the sorceress’s palace, pretending to sell apples.

She came out to bargain for the apples, but they struck her with the club and cried:

— Become a donkey!

The beauty turned into a donkey, and the young man entered the house, took the carpet, sat on it, and flew to the mountains.

The eagle saw someone flying on the sorceress’s carpet and thought: surely, she sent this person. So it brought out and gave the young man three large stones.

The young man flew back to his companions, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not remove the stones from the carpet.

Then the young man said to the sorceress-donkey:

— I want nothing from you. I will turn you back into a woman if you remove these stones and free the carpet for us.

She agreed. The young man struck the donkey with the club, and she turned back into the beauty. She approached and removed the stones.

The three companions sat on the carpet, and the young man said:

— Fly, carpet, and take us to my brothers.

The carpet flew and brought all three companions to the middle brother.

The brothers rejoiced, embraced, and feasted heartily. Then they all sat on the carpet and flew to the youngest brother. They feasted there as well and then flew together to their homeland.

When they arrived, the three brothers went to the local king and said:

— Our mother lives here. She drove away our father and took a beardless deceiver as her husband. She wanted to destroy us all. We wish to punish them as they deserve.

The king agreed and ordered both the beardless man and his wife to be hanged.

The eldest brother forgot all about the sorceress, married the king’s daughter, and became a king himself.

The brothers found their father, then each went to his own kingdom, and they all lived happily ever after.

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• About How the Peasant Went to the Other World
• How a Woman Defeated the Devil
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