The Man Who Only Went Out at Night
In ancient times, there lived a poor fisherman with three daughters of marriageable age.One young man wanted to marry one of the daughters. But this young man only left the house at night, and people avoided him. The eldest daughter flatly refused to marry him; the middle one didn’t even want to hear about him; but the youngest agreed.
The wedding was held at night. And as soon as the newlyweds were left alone, the husband said:
"I’ll tell you a secret: I am under a spell. Only at night am I a man, but during the day I am doomed to be a turtle. And to break this spell, there is only one remedy: after the wedding, I must part with my wife and embark on a journey around the world, traveling as a man at night and as a turtle during the day. If, by the time I return, you remain faithful to me and endure all hardships in the name of love, the evil spell will be lifted, and I will regain my human form forever."
"I am ready," replied the wife.
Then the husband placed a diamond ring on her finger and said:
"This ring will help you in everything. But use it only for good deeds."
Dawn broke, and the husband turned into a turtle. With slow, turtle-like steps, he set off around the world. Meanwhile, the young wife went to the city to look for work. On the way, she met a woman with a boy who was crying nonstop.
"Give the little one to me, I’ll calm him down," she said to the mother.
"It would be wonderful if you could," replied the mother. "He’s been crying all day."
"Magic power of the diamond," whispered the young woman, "let the boy laugh, dance, and jump."
And at once, the boy began to laugh, dance, and jump.
Later, she entered a baker’s shop and said to the owner:
"Take me on as a worker—you won’t regret it." The owner agreed, and the young woman got to work, murmuring:
"Magic power of the diamond, let everyone come to this shop for bread as long as I work here!"
From that day on, the shop was swarmed with customers. One day, three young townsmen came into the shop, saw the beautiful young woman, and fell in love with her.
"Open the door for me tonight," said one, "and I’ll give you a thousand francs."
"And I," said the second, "two thousand."
"And I," blurted the third, "three thousand."
She took the money from the third man and quietly let him into the shop at night.
"Wait," whispered the woman, "I just need to prepare the dough." And then: "Do me a favor, knead it a little."
The man began to knead and kneaded and kneaded until dawn. The magic power of the diamond wouldn’t let him stop kneading.
"Finally, you’re done! You took your time," the woman smirked and kicked him out.
Then she agreed to let the second man in, took two thousand francs, and asked:
"Blow on the fire a bit so the oven doesn’t go out."
The poor man blew and blew on the fire... His cheeks puffed up like bellows. The magic power of the stone wouldn’t let him step away from the oven until dawn.
"You came to me, but spent the whole night blowing on the fire," she scolded him in the morning. "Very impressive, I must say," and she kicked him out.
The next night, she let in the man who had promised her a thousand francs.
"I’ll prepare the dough," she said to him, "and you close the door."
The man closed the door, but the magic power of the stone flung it open. And so, all night until dawn, he closed the door, only for it to swing open again.
"Well, did you finally close the door? Now open it and get out."
The three men grew angry and filed a lawsuit. In those days, there were not only male guards but also female guards. It was the latter who arrested women. And so, four female guards approached the bakery to arrest the guilty woman.
"Magic power of the diamond," whispered the woman, "let the guards quarrel and fight until morning."
And so, the guards began fiercely hitting and scratching each other.
When the guards didn’t return with the arrested woman for a long time, four male guards were sent to find them.
The woman saw them, and the magic power of the diamond made all four play leapfrog: one bent over, and the others took turns jumping over him...
Just then, a turtle crawled up to the house. It was the husband, who had traveled around the world. As soon as the turtle saw the woman, it turned into a handsome man.
And he remained that way for the rest of his days...
More fairy tales
