The Seven-Year-Old Daughter

Two brothers were traveling: one poor, the other rich. Both had horses—the poor one had a mare, and the rich one had a gelding. They stopped to spend the night nearby. During the night, the poor man's mare gave birth to a foal, and the foal rolled under the rich man's cart. In the morning, the rich brother woke the poor one:

"Get up, brother! My cart gave birth to a foal last night."

The poor brother got up and said:

"How can a cart give birth to a foal? It was my mare who gave birth."

The rich brother replied:

"If it were your mare, the foal would be lying next to her!"

They argued and went to the authorities. The rich brother bribed the judges with money, while the poor brother tried to defend himself with words.

The matter reached the king himself. He summoned both brothers and posed them four riddles:

"What is the strongest and fastest thing in the world? What is the fattest thing in the world? What is the softest thing? And what is the dearest thing?" He gave them three days to think:

"Return on the fourth day and give me your answers!"

The rich brother thought and thought, then remembered his godmother and went to her for advice.

She sat him down at the table, began to treat him, and asked:

"Why so sad, my dear?"

"The king has given me four riddles, and I only have three days to solve them."

"Tell me, what are they?"

"Well, here they are, godmother. The first riddle: what is the strongest and fastest thing in the world?"

"What a riddle! My husband has a bay mare; there's nothing faster! If you give her a whip, she'll outrun a hare."

"The second riddle: what is the fattest thing in the world?"

"Last year we had a spotted boar; it got so fat it couldn't stand on its legs!"

"The third riddle: what is the softest thing in the world?"

"Obviously, a featherbed—you can't imagine anything softer!"

"The fourth riddle: what is the dearest thing in the world?"

"The dearest thing is my little grandson, Ivanushka!"

"Well, thank you, godmother! You've taught me wisdom, and I'll never forget you."

Meanwhile, the poor brother wept bitterly and went home. His seven-year-old daughter met him:

"Why are you sighing and shedding tears, father?"

"How can I not sigh or shed tears? The king has given me four riddles, and I'll never solve them in my life."

"Tell me, what are the riddles?"

"Here they are, my dear: what is the strongest and fastest thing in the world, what is the fattest thing, what is the softest thing, and what is the dearest thing?"

"Go, father, and tell the king: the strongest and fastest thing is the wind; the fattest thing is the earth—it feeds everything that grows and lives! The softest thing is the hand: no matter where a person lies, they always put their hand under their head. And there's nothing dearer than sleep!"

Both brothers came to the king—the rich one and the poor one. The king listened to them and asked the poor man:

"Did you figure this out yourself, or did someone teach you?"

The poor man replied:

"Your Majesty, I have a seven-year-old daughter, and she taught me."

"If your daughter is so wise, here is a silk thread; let her weave me a patterned towel by morning."

The poor man took the silk thread and returned home, sad and troubled.

"Our troubles are growing!" he said to his daughter. "The king has ordered a towel to be woven from this thread."

"Don't worry, father!" replied the seven-year-old. She broke off a twig from a broom, handed it to her father, and instructed: "Go to the king and tell him to find a craftsman who can make a loom from this twig—then there will be something to weave the towel on!"

The poor man reported this to the king. The king gave him one hundred and fifty eggs.

"Give these to your daughter," he said. "Let her hatch me one hundred and fifty chicks by tomorrow."

The poor man returned home even more troubled and sad:

"Oh, daughter! We escape one trouble, and another comes our way!"

"Don't worry, father!" replied the seven-year-old. She baked the eggs and saved them for lunch and dinner, then sent her father back to the king:

"Tell him that the chicks need one-day millet: a field must be plowed, sown with millet, harvested, and threshed all in one day. Our chicks won't peck at any other millet."

The king listened and said:

"If your daughter is so wise, let her come to me tomorrow morning—neither on foot nor on horseback, neither naked nor dressed, neither with a gift nor without one."

"Well," thought the poor man, "even my daughter won't solve such a tricky task; we're doomed!"

"Don't worry, father!" said the seven-year-old daughter. "Go to the hunters and buy me a live hare and a live quail."

The father went and bought her a hare and a quail.

The next morning, the seven-year-old took off all her clothes, put on a net, took the quail in her hands, mounted the hare, and rode to the palace.

The king met her at the gates. She bowed to him.

"Here is a gift for you, Your Majesty!" she said, handing him the quail.

The king reached out, but the quail fluttered and flew away!

"Well done," said the king. "You've done exactly as I ordered. Now tell me: your father is poor, how do you make a living?"

"My father catches fish on the dry shore; he doesn't set traps in the water, and I carry the fish in my skirt and cook fish soup."

"You're foolish! How can fish live on dry land? Fish swim in water!"

"And you're clever! When has anyone seen a cart give birth to a foal?"

The king ruled that the foal should be given to the poor man, and he took the daughter into his service. When the seven-year-old grew up, he married her, and she became the queen.

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The Seven-Year-Old Daughter

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