The Tale of the Magic Ring

Once upon a time, there lived a poor young man. One day, he said to his mother:

"Mother, I think I’ll go out into the world. In our village, I’m not even worth a dry chestnut. What good will come of me here? I’ll go and seek my fortune! Who knows, maybe happy days will come for you too, Mother."

Having said this, he set off on his journey. He reached a certain town and began wandering the streets. There, he saw an old woman struggling up a hill, carrying two large buckets of water on a yoke. She was barely able to breathe. The young man approached her and said:

"Grandmother, let me carry the water for you. It’s not right for you to bear such a burden."

He took the buckets, carried them to the old woman’s house, climbed the stairs, and placed them in the kitchen.

The kitchen was full of dogs and cats. They rubbed against their mistress’s legs, whimpering and purring.

"How can I repay you?" asked the old woman.

"Thank you," said the young man. "I don’t need anything. I just wanted to help you."

"Wait here, my son," said the old woman. She left the kitchen and returned with a ring in her hand. It didn’t look like it was worth even four soldi. She put it on the young man’s finger and said, "This ring is priceless. If you wish for something, twist it around your finger, and your wish will come true. But be careful not to lose it, or you’ll be in trouble. And to be safe, I’ll give you a cat and a dog. They’ll follow you everywhere. They’re strong animals and will surely be useful to you sooner or later."

The young man thanked the old woman and went on his way. But truth be told, he didn’t believe a single word she said and thought little of the gifts. "She’s just babbling," he thought to himself. He didn’t even consider twisting the ring to test it.

He left the town, and the cat and dog followed him. The young man loved animals and was glad to have a cat and a dog. He played with them, and they ran and jumped around. Before they knew it, they had entered a forest. Night fell, and the young man lay down to rest under a tree, with the cat and dog curled up beside him. But he couldn’t sleep because he was very hungry. Then he remembered the ring: "Why not give it a try? No harm in that." He twisted the ring around his finger and said:

"I want food and drink!"

No sooner had he spoken these words than a table and three chairs appeared before him, laden with all sorts of dishes and drinks.

The young man sat down, tied a napkin around his neck, seated the cat and dog, tied napkins around their necks too, and the three of them began to feast. Now the young man believed in the power of the ring!

After eating, the young man stretched out on the ground and began dreaming of all the wonders he could now perform. But the hardest part was choosing what to wish for: one moment he wanted piles of silver and gold, the next he preferred horses and carriages, then castles and lands. New desires kept flooding his mind.

"It’s easy to lose your head," he finally decided when he couldn’t think of anything else. "I’ve heard so many times how people lose their minds when they come into wealth. Well, I want to keep my head on my shoulders. Enough for today; we’ll see what tomorrow brings."

With that, he turned on his side and fell fast asleep. The dog lay at his feet, the cat at his head, and they guarded their master all night.

The young man woke up to the sun shining over the green trees, a fresh breeze blowing, birds singing, and all his weariness gone. He thought about wishing for a swift horse, but it was so pleasant and peaceful in the forest that he decided to walk. He thought about wishing for breakfast, but the delicious wild strawberries growing around him were all he wanted. He wished for a drink, but a nearby stream with crystal-clear water made him decide to drink from his cupped hands.

He walked through fields and meadows until he finally reached a grand palace. There, sitting by the window, was a beautiful girl. She saw the young man and smiled warmly at him. The young man looked up... Though he still had the ring, he lost his heart in that very moment.

"Now’s the time to ask the ring for help," he thought. He twisted the ring and wished:

"Let another palace rise opposite this one, even more beautiful, with everything the heart desires."

In the blink of an eye, the palace rose as if from the ground, and the young man found himself inside, as if he had lived there all his life; the dog sat in its kennel, and the cat washed itself by the window.

The young man approached the window, opened it—and there, across from him, sat the beautiful girl. They smiled at each other, sighed, and the young man decided it was time to ask for her hand. The girl was delighted, her parents agreed, and a few days later, they held a wedding.

On the very first evening, the young wife asked:

"Tell me, how did your palace spring up from the ground like a mushroom?"

The young man hesitated: should he tell her or not? Then he decided, "She’s my wife, and there’s no need to hide anything from her." So he told her about the magic ring. Then they both fell asleep.

But in the middle of the night, the wicked woman quietly slipped the ring off her sleeping husband’s finger, got up, called the servants, and ordered:

"Quick, let’s leave this palace! We’ll return to my parents’ house!"

At her parents’ house, she twisted the ring and said:

"Let my husband’s palace rise to the top of that high, rocky mountain!"

The palace vanished as if it had never existed. The young woman looked at the mountain and saw it had risen to the very peak.

The young man woke up in the morning to find his wife gone. He opened the window and saw a chasm below. He rubbed his eyes and looked again—deep, deep down, there were cracks and boulders, and all around were snowy peaks. He went to twist the ring, but the ring was gone! He called for the servants, but no one answered. Only the cat and dog came running; they had stayed in the palace because the young man had told his wife about the ring but hadn’t mentioned the cat and dog.

At first, the young man couldn’t understand what had happened, but then he realized his wife—the deceitful traitor—was to blame. But this didn’t comfort him much. He looked around to see if there was any way to descend the mountain, but all the windows and doors were above the abyss. There was only enough food in the palace for a few more days, and the young man feared he would die of hunger.

Seeing their master’s sorrow, the cat and dog approached him, and the dog said:

"Don’t grieve, master. The cat and I will find a way down the cliffs, and once we’re down, we’ll get the ring back."

"My dear animals," said the young man, "you’re my only hope. It’s better to throw myself off the cliff than to die of hunger."

The cat and dog set off on their difficult journey: they clung to rocks, slid down, leaped from ledge to ledge, and finally reached the foot of the mountain. A river flowed through the valley, and they needed to cross it. The dog carried the cat on its back and swam to the other side.

They arrived at the treacherous wife’s palace late at night when everyone was fast asleep. Quietly, the cat and dog slipped through a gap in the gate. The cat said to the dog:

"You stay here and keep watch. I’ll go see what to do next."

The cat crept up the stairs to the room where the deceitful woman slept. But the door was locked, and the cat couldn’t get in. As he pondered what to do, a mouse scurried by. The cat pounced and caught it. It was a big, fat mouse. The mouse begged for mercy.

"Fine," said the cat. "But gnaw a hole in this door so I can get in."

The mouse immediately set to work. It gnawed and gnawed, wearing down its teeth, but the hole was tiny: not even the mouse itself could squeeze through.

"Do you have any baby mice?" asked the cat. "Of course," replied the mouse. "Seven or eight of them, and each one is quicker than the last."

"Bring me one quickly," said the cat. "And don’t even think of tricking me; I’ll catch you and eat you anyway."

The mouse ran off and returned with a baby mouse.

"Listen, little one," the cat said. "If you’re clever, you’ll save your mother’s life. Crawl into the bedroom, climb onto the bed, and take the ring off the woman’s finger."

The baby mouse crawled through the hole but returned empty-handed:

"There’s no ring on her finger." But the cat wasn’t fazed:

"That means she’s keeping it in her mouth for safety! Go back and tickle her nose with your tail. She’ll sneeze and open her mouth. The ring will fall out, and you grab it and run back here."

Just as the cat said, it happened. In the blink of an eye, the baby mouse returned with the ring. The cat snatched it and raced down the stairs. He and the dog slipped out through the gate—and off they ran!

But deep down, the dog was jealous of the cat: after all, the cat had retrieved the ring!

When they reached the river, the dog said:

"Give me the ring, or I won’t carry you to the other side."

But the cat didn’t want to give up the ring. They began to argue, and the cat dropped the ring. It fell into the river, where a fish happened to be swimming by—and swallowed it. The dog grabbed the fish with its teeth and finally got hold of the ring. Overjoyed, it carried the cat to the other side. But they kept bickering until they reached the palace and returned to their master.

"Did you bring the ring?" he asked anxiously.

The dog spat out the fish, and the fish spat out the ring.

But then the cat said:

"It wasn’t the dog who got the ring—it was me! The dog took it from me!" And the dog retorted:

"If I hadn’t caught the fish, the ring would’ve been lost!" The young man patted them both and said:

"My dear friends, don’t fight. I love and cherish you both."

For half an hour, he petted and caressed the dog with one hand and the cat with the other until they made peace and became friends again. Then he stood by the window, twisted the ring on his finger, and said:

"I want my palace to return to its original place, and my wife’s palace to fly to the ends of the earth."

Both palaces immediately moved. The young man’s palace settled back in the blooming valley, while the traitor’s palace soared into the clouds—she screamed in terror.

The young man brought his mother to the palace, and she lived happily in her old age. The dog and cat stayed in the palace too, living peacefully, though they occasionally quarreled. The young man sometimes used the ring, but not often, because he rightly thought: "It’s not good for a person to get everything they desire without effort."

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The Tale of the Magic Ring

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