FAIRY TALES (text) - 65. THREE BROTHERS WITH STARS AND A BOTTLE IN THE BELLY

THREE BROTHERS WITH STARS AND A BOTTLE IN THE BELLY

Once upon a time there were three brothers. 

The three of them had a star in the sky, and if one of them disappeared then his star would disappear too. The time came and the three of them got married, they had two fields.

One day, the youngest of them told his brothers:

– Will you give me a piece of land so that I go and live there with my wife?

– We can give that to you but we don’t want us to split up, – responded the brothers.

But he said that they would never split up because of the love they had for one another and so he persuaded them. The little brother built a strange room in that field and became very rich. One day he went to the goldsmith, made a ring and called it “Sultan”. A little time passed and he lost the ring. Someone found it and read the word “Sultan”. Then he thought he was the king’s and he went to give it to king. King saw it carefully and said:

– Who is this that has put my name at the ring, I’m still alive?!

He sent people to find that man, but they couldn’t. Later he called an old witch and told her the whole story, and finally said: – If you find him, I will make you very rich.

She searched for a while, then the old woman found who had that ring. She went to his house and said:

– I am a devastated old woman, if I take me home I will do the best I can for the house works.

The boy took her home and treated her well. He and his wife loved the old woman so much that they believed her about anything. One day the old woman said to the bride:

– Hey bride, tell me why is this boy so beautiful and so good?

The wife believed and loved her like her mother, so she told:

Mother, this man has a bottle in the navel and a star in the sky. If you take the bottle out of him he dies immediately, and his star will disappear.

That was all the bride said then they began another conversation.

One night the bride and old women were cooking bread, and when the dinner was ready, it was late and the boy had fallen asleep. And the old woman said to the bride:

– Go to the fountain and get some water.

The bride went to fill water. When the old witch was assured that the boy was asleep she took the bottle out of his navel. The boy died at once, but the old woman forgot the bottle at the head of the boy and when the bride came, the old woman said:

– Call your husband to come and have lunch.

The wife went to call him, but he didn’t move. Then the bride turned to old woman and said:

    Mother… but he is dead!

The old woman fakes she was surprised and a few minutes later she told the bride:

– Since you have no one else, come with me to the king and marry him.

But the bride did not listen to her and said:

– I do not want any other man to be my husband.

Then the old woman forced her to go. They traveled all night till they arrived at the room of the king. They gave the news to the king and the old witch with the young woman went inside. The bride was so beautiful that no one could compare to her, and when the king saw her he fell in love with the young lady and wanted her to be his wife. When the two brothers saw that little star of his brother had disappeared without a trace, they went immediately at his house. They found their brother dead inside the room. They looked all over the place but they didn’t see anyone else. They could see only the bottle that the witch had forgotten at the head of the boy. They took the bottle and put it in the place and the boy got up immediately and asked his brothers about what had happened, so they told him that he was dead and they didn’t find neither the bride not the old witch.

The boy was saddened by this and didn’t know what to do. At that time another old woman appeared at the door and asked if she could go inside, the boy let her in and asked:

Have you brought any news, mother?

– Yes, my son, – said the old woman. – Today in the morning had been taken a new bride to the king, an old woman brought her and people are giving gifts for the wedding.

The boy asked the old woman if she could send them a gift from him and she said “yes”. Then the boy took a chest, and wrote a letter to the bride. The old woman took the chest on the back and went to the king. There she let the chest and approached to the bride and gave her the letter and the key of the box. When she read the letter, the bride realized that her husband was alive and he was in the box.

When they fell to sleep and the king was asleep, the bride stood up and opened the box where the boy was. He ran up and killed the king, then he wore his clothes and put the king inside the chest.

He said to the old woman to take the chest and throw it in a distant abyss.

After becoming a king he ordered the soldiers to bring the old witch. When she came, he killed her and put her body in a chest, and gave it to the other old woman to throw it into the abyss. The boy told her to take his brothers on her way back to the palace. Having finished the work, the old woman took her sons and went to the royal palace. So he kept his mother close and loved her sons as his brothers.