Galina Dolbenko - Three fairy tales

Illustrator Natalia Dolbenko

Translator Natalia Dolbenko

© Natasha Dol, 2022

© Galina Dolbenko, 2022

© Natalia Kozlova, 2022

© Natalia Dolbenko, illustrations, 2022

© Natalia Dolbenko, translation, 2022

ISBN 978-5-0056-6468-6

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

In a small town lived an ugly sick girl with her parents. They loved her and felt sorry for her, brought doctors, but in vain – the girl continued to get sick and was so thin that it seemed that the wind would blow, lift her up and take her away – she was so thin. Around the house she was only allowed to brush off the dust. She could not even lift a broom – she was so weak, although she ate well. She often caught a cold, coughed.

And then one day her father was at work, and her mother was weeding the beds in the garden. The girl was sitting on the porch, playing with dolls. An unexpectedly unknown woman ran up to her, pretty, tired and all out of breath. Approached her and asked:

– Evil guys are chasing me and want to kill me, but I’m not to blame for anything. Hide me.

They had a hole in the closet under the floor, where they put supplies for the winter, if the hole in the kitchen under the floor was full. So the girl hid the woman there, and even locked the door. And she sits on the porch and plays with dolls. She poured water into a cup and watered the doll, saying:

– Drink Manyasha, beauty, or you will get sick like me.

Disheveled men run up to her, four of them, and ask menacingly:

– Well, tell us where a young woman in a flowery dress and a polka dot scarf ran.

– Uncles, I didn’t see anyone. Not even a bird flew by. Who are you looking for? Tired, probably. And let me treat you to tea, although Manyasha has already drunk everything from me.

The peasants got even more angry, pushed the girl and searched the house, but finding nothing, they did not take anything. They looked under the floors in the cellar in the kitchen, but they did not find the woman. Angry and dissatisfied, they ran to look further.

The girl rubbed her bruised places, walked around the house, making sure that the pursuers had left, opened the door in the closet and let the woman out of the darkness, and then her mother came from the garden. And heard the story:

– The pursuers are bad men. They killed a girl, my neighbor, and I myself saw everything and wanted to tell the authorities. So they chased me, but I’ve been running fast since childhood, so no one could ever catch up with me. So I came running to you. It was good that the hiding place was cunning and the killers did not find me.

The woman looked at the girl, stroked her head and said:

– I bless you for your kindness and help. I’m not a simple aunt, but a healer. I will heal you. From this day on, you will be beautiful, healthy, and when you grow up, you will marry a prince. And now I will go to the forest – there in a house in the swamps and I will live until these murderers are caught. Behind the swamp, behind the forest, my cousin lives, I can take refuge with her. For now, I can’t show myself to people, because there are envious people. They will tell the killers about me, – she tied up the scarf. – It’s already evening. I’ll go. Thank you for your help, sorry.

Then the girl’s father came, they told him what had happened. Here they all together persuaded the woman to stay overnight:

– Where are you going to go at night? Dangerously. In the morning you will start your journey.

The fugitive agreed, and early in the morning, just before dawn, the three of them went to the forest to see her off. They took a saw, an ax, a rope and left on a horse, instructing their daughter to stay at home and not go out anywhere, not let anyone in.

– Where will I go? I don’t even have girlfriends,» the girl said sadly.

So the parents went to the forest for a whole week, and the woman lived there in a hut, while they helped her repair a small hunting lodge so that she hid there, and then they rarely visited her. They just came to report that the bandits had finally been caught and she was now free to return home.

A week later, the woman returned, and not empty-handed, but with a pot of fragrant broth. And she gave a pot, instructing the girl to drink three times a day after meals with a prayer. And she said a prayer:

How strong are the grasses in the forest,

How beautifully they bloom

And so you flourish

Gain strength day by day

Never get sick again.

And at that moment the sun itself smiled out the window. Parents looked at each other: how did the sun suddenly appear on this gloomy day?

– You really are special, – said the father.

The girl has been getting better since then. She was no longer sick, she went to school, her cheeks became pale pink from eternally pale, her lips became plump bows. And she became pretty in the face, and over time she completely became a beauty, that there was no one more beautiful in the area. Parents even began to fear for her. Previously, they were worried that she was ill, but now that someone might come to steal their beloved, because their hut was on the edge of the forest, all sorts of wanderers walked by. Out of fear, they even brought in a large, vicious dog.

The girl grew up and turned into such a kind beauty, a needlewoman, like a fairy. Everything went well with her, she knew how to embroider, sew, and such things that the great masters did not even have such products.

And in this state there lived a king and a queen, a beauty, but she only did that she showed off and was jealous of her husband for everyone, did not allow him to look at others: she wanted her to be the only superstar of his eyes. She wanted to please everyone, so that everyone admired her beauty. As soon as she gets a little sick, she immediately gets into bed and dozens of doctors fuss, revolve around her. In any free time, she only did what she demanded special attention to herself and admired herself in the mirror, looking for if there were any girls more beautiful than her in the kingdom. Only what seemed pretty to her, she was immediately expelled from the state. Therefore, she kept the most unpretentious inconspicuous servants with her.

Their son grew up – soon it was time for him to marry. And the mother herself began to look for brides for him, but she looked for such ugly princesses, and wherever she found them – the king himself was surprised, but was silent. He loved her for her beauty, and she still wasn’t evil. Especially all his life, the mother did not deal with her son, he was brought up by nannies.

The subjects once brought to the queen portraits of all overseas princesses, various princely daughters. The queen sat down at the table and began to carefully examine them: one has too big, beautiful eyes, the other has a charming smile. The third camp is like a swan, and this one is just a feast for the eyes. The Queen’s head is spinning.

– Yes, what is it? Why are they all so beautiful? Everyone is trying to outshine me. It won’t work,» she shook her head.

And at this time the prince came to visit his mother and, seeing a bunch of portraits, boiled:

– Mommy, what is it with you?

And she convulsively began to rake up all the portraits in one heap: