Two little ducks went out one day
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Five Little Ducks | Kids Environment Kids Health
Five Little DucksFive little ducks went to play
Wibble wobble, wibble wobble to and fro
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack.
Quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack.
The following lyrics are also called "Five Little Ducks," but this version has a different tune, and no music has been located for it.
Written by Dorothy Aldis (Copyright Unknown)
Five little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only four little ducks came back.
Four little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only three little ducks came back.
Three little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only two little ducks came back.
Two little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack.
"
But only one little duck came back.
One little duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But none of the five little ducks came back.
Sad mother duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
The sad mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack."
And all of the five little ducks came back.
Alternate verse
Five little ducks
went out to play
Over the hills and far away
Papa duck said,
"QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!"
Five little ducks came swimming back.
For Parents
You may remember images of ducks and other wildlife covered with oil after the Gulf Oil Spill in 2010. Volunteers and workers pitched in on the clean‐up. But what might that have done to their health? NIEHS is leading a long-term research to understand the effects on clean-up workers and volunteers.
For Kids
Do you like ducks (and other web‐footed friends)? How about becoming a wetlands ecologist? Learn about what a wetland ecologist does and how to become one from Dr. Lief Sigren.
For Teachers
The Duke University Superfund Program’s Learning Barge is considered the world’s first floating wetlands classroom, powered by sun and wind and equipped with live wetlands to study. The program has provided opportunities for students, with a focus on fourth‐graders, as this article about the "Learning Barge" describes.
For Teachers
L'Oie Toulouse? Qui, Moi?
About three years ago, a white Canada goose (Branta canadensis canadensis) or perhaps an imposter appeared on our NIEHS campus.
For Teachers
Being Single is "Not for the Birds"! – Canada Geese
This update is for those of you who are still young enough to remember.
The White Goose (WG), known around campus and in the local press, as Toulouse, has spent many hours at NIEHS over the course of 4 plus years.
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DN Mamin-Sibiryak "The Gray Neck" read online with pictures
A little duck named Gray Neck could not fly with his family to warmer climes, because the Fox hurt her wing. When the duck was left alone, Gray Neck met the Hare, who warned her that she needed to be wary of the Fox. The fox came every day to the duck and waited until the whole polynya was frozen. One morning, the hunter wanted to shoot the Fox, but he saw a duck in an almost frozen hole and saved her. This is such an interesting tale.
D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak
I
The first autumn cold, which turned the grass yellow, made all the birds very anxious. Everyone began to prepare for the long journey, and everyone had such a serious, preoccupied look. Yes, it is not easy to fly over a space of several thousand miles .
.. How many poor birds will be exhausted along the way, how many will die from various accidents - in general, there was something to seriously think about.
A serious big bird, like swans, geese and ducks, was going on the road with an air of importance, realizing all the difficulty of the upcoming feat; and most of all, little birds made noise, fussed and fussed, like sandpipers, phalaropes, dunlins, blackies, plovers. They had long gathered in flocks and moved from one bank to another over the shallows and swamps with such speed, as if someone had thrown a handful of peas. The little birds had such a big job...
The forest was dark and silent, because the main singers flew away without waiting for the cold.
— And where is this trifle in a hurry! grumbled the old Drake, who did not like to disturb himself. “We’ll all fly away in due time… I don’t understand what there is to worry about.
"You've always been a lazy person, so it's unpleasant for you to look at other people's troubles," explained his wife, the old Duck.
- Was I lazy? You're just being unfair to me, nothing more. Maybe I care more than everyone else, but I just don't show it. There is little sense in this if I run from morning to night along the coast, shouting, disturbing others, annoying everyone.
The duck was generally not entirely happy with her husband, and now she is completely angry:
— Look at the others, you lazybones! There are our neighbors, geese or swans - it's nice to look at them. They live soul to soul… I suppose a swan or a goose will not leave its nest and is always ahead of the brood. Yes, yes ... And you don’t care about children. You only think about yourself to fill your goiter. Lazybones, in a word... It's even disgusting to look at you!
— Don't grumble, old woman!.. After all, I'm not saying that you have such an unpleasant character. Everyone has their shortcomings ... It's not my fault that the goose is a stupid bird and therefore nurses its brood. In general, my rule is not to interfere in other people's affairs.
For what? Let everyone live in their own way.
Drake loved serious discussions, and somehow it turned out that it was he, Drake, who was always right, always smart, and always better than anyone else. The duck had long been accustomed to this, and now she was worried on a very special occasion.
— What kind of father are you? She pounced on her husband. “Fathers take care of children, but you don’t even have grass to grow!..
— Are you talking about the Gray Sheika?” What can I do if she can't fly? It's not my fault...
Gray Sheika they called their crippled daughter, whose wing was broken back in the spring, when the Fox crept up to the brood and grabbed the duckling. The Old Duck boldly rushed at the enemy and beat off the duckling; but one wing was broken.
“It’s even scary to think how we will leave the Gray Neck alone here,” the Duck repeated with tears. Everyone will fly away, and she will be left alone. Yes, all alone ... We will fly south, into the warmth, and she, poor thing, will freeze here .
.. After all, she is our daughter, and how I love her, my Gray Neck! You know, old man, if I stay with her to spend the winter here together...
— And the other children?
— Those are healthy, they can do without me.
Drake always tried to hush up the conversation when it came to the Gray Sheika. Of course, he also loved her, but why worry yourself in vain? Well, it will stay, well, it will freeze—it’s a pity, of course, but still there’s nothing to be done. Finally, you need to think about other children. The wife is always worried, but you need to take things seriously. The drake felt sorry for his wife, but did not fully understand her maternal grief. It would have been better if then the Fox had completely eaten the Gray Neck - after all, she must die in the winter anyway.
II
The Old Duck, in view of the approaching separation, treated her crippled daughter with redoubled tenderness. The poor thing did not yet know what separation and loneliness were, and looked at the preparations of others for the journey with the curiosity of a beginner.
True, she sometimes became envious that her brothers and sisters were getting ready for departure so cheerfully that they would again be somewhere, far, far away, where there was no winter.
— You will return in the spring, won't you? Gray Sheika asked her mother.
- Yes, yes, we will return, my dear ... And again we will all live together.
To console Gray Sheika, who was beginning to think, her mother told her several similar cases when ducks stayed for the winter. She was personally acquainted with two such couples.
“Somehow, dear, you’ll get through,” the old Duck reassured. “First you get bored, but then you get used to it. If it were possible to transfer you to a warm spring, which does not freeze even in winter, it would be absolutely fine. It’s not far from here… However, what’s the point of saying something in vain, anyway we won’t be able to take you there!
“I will think of you all the time…” repeated poor Gray Sheika. - I will keep thinking: where are you, what are you doing, are you having fun? All the same, it will be, just like I am with you.
Old Duck had to muster all his strength so as not to betray his despair. She tried to appear cheerful and cried quietly from everyone. Oh, how sorry she was for dear, poor Gray Sheika ... Now she hardly noticed the other children and paid no attention to them, and it seemed to her that she did not even love them at all.
And how quickly the time flew by… There were already a number of cold matinees, and the birch trees turned yellow from the frost and the aspens turned red. The water in the river darkened, and the river itself seemed larger, because the banks were bare - the coastal growth was quickly losing foliage. The cold autumn wind tore off the withered leaves and carried them away. The sky was often covered with heavy autumn clouds, dropping a fine autumn rain. In general, there was little good, and for a whole day a flock of migratory birds had already been rushing past ... The marsh birds were the first to move, because the swamps were already beginning to freeze.
The waterfowl stayed the longest. Gray Sheika was most upset by the flight of the cranes, because they were so plaintively cooing, as if calling her with them. For the first time, her heart sank from some secret foreboding, and for a long time she followed with her eyes the flock of cranes flying away in the sky.
How good they must be, Graysheika thought.
Swans, geese and ducks also began to prepare for departure. Separate nests joined in large flocks. Old and seasoned birds taught the young. Every morning these young people made long walks with a cheerful cry to strengthen their wings for a long flight. Clever leaders first trained individual parties, and then all together. There was so much screaming, young fun and joy ... One Gray Neck could not take part in these walks and admired them only from afar. What to do, I had to put up with my fate. But how she swam, how she dived! Water was everything to her.
— We need to go… it's time! the old leaders said.
- What can we expect here?
And time flew by, quickly flew by… The fateful day also came. The whole flock huddled together in one living heap on the river. It was early autumn morning, when the water was still covered with thick fog. A duck joint has gone astray from three hundred pieces. Only the quacking of the chief leaders could be heard. The Old Duck did not sleep all night - it was the last night she spent with Gray Sheika.
“Keep close to that bank where the little key runs into the river,” she advised. - There the water will not freeze the whole winter ...
Gray Neck kept away from the school, like a stranger... Yes, everyone was so busy with the general departure that no one paid attention to her. The old Duck's whole heart ached as he looked at poor Gray Neck. Several times she decided to herself that she would stay; but how can you stay when there are other children and you have to fly with the joint? ..
— Well, move on! - loudly commanded the main leader, and the flock rose at once up.
Gray Sheika was left alone on the river and for a long time followed the flying shoal with her eyes. At first, everyone flew in one living bunch, and then they stretched out into a regular triangle and disappeared.
Am I all alone? thought Gray Neck, bursting into tears. — It would have been better if the Fox had eaten me then...
III
The river, on which the Gray Neck remained, merrily rolled in the mountains covered with dense forest. The place was deaf, and no habitation around. In the mornings, the water near the coast began to freeze, and in the afternoon, thin as glass, the ice melted.
Will the whole river freeze? thought Gray Sheika with horror.
She was bored alone, and she kept thinking about her brothers and sisters who had flown away. Where are they now? Did you arrive safely? Do they remember her? There was enough time to think about everything. She also knew loneliness. The river was empty, and life was preserved only in the forest, where hazel grouse whistled, squirrels and hares jumped.
Once, out of boredom, Gray Sheika climbed into the forest and was terribly frightened when a Hare flew head over heels from under a bush.
— Oh, how you scared me, stupid! said the Hare, calming down a little. - The soul has gone to the heels ... And why are you hustling around here? After all, all the ducks have long flown away...
— I can't fly: the Fox bit my wing when I was still very young...
— This Fox is for me!.. There is no worse beast. She has been getting to me for a long time ... You beware of her, especially when the river is covered with ice. Just grabs…
They got to know each other. The hare was as defenseless as the Gray Sheika, and saved his life by constant flight.
“If I had wings like a bird, it would seem that I wouldn’t be afraid of anyone in the world!.. Even though you don’t have wings, you know how to swim, otherwise you’ll take it and dive into the water,” he said He. - And I constantly tremble with fear ... I have enemies around me.
In the summer you can still hide somewhere, but in the winter you can see everything.
The first snow soon fell, and the river still resisted the cold. Everything that froze at night, the water broke. The fight was not on the stomach, but to the death. The most dangerous of all were clear, starry nights, when everything calmed down and there were no waves on the river. The river seemed to fall asleep, and the cold tried to bind it with sleepy ice. And so it happened. It was a quiet, quiet starry night. The dark forest stood quietly on the shore, like a guard of giants. The mountains seemed higher, as they do at night. The lofty moon bathed everything with its quivering sparkling light. The mountain river, which was seething during the day, calmed down, and the cold quietly crept up to it, firmly hugged the proud, recalcitrant beauty and covered her as if with mirror glass. Gray Sheika was in despair, because only the very middle of the river did not freeze, where a wide polynya formed.
There was no more than fifteen sazhens of free space where one could swim. The chagrin of Gray Neck reached the last degree when the Fox appeared on the shore - it was the same Fox that broke her wing.
— Ah, hello, old friend! - Lisa said affectionately, stopping on the shore. - Long time no see ... Congratulations on the winter.
“Please go away, I don’t want to talk to you at all,” answered Gray Sheika.
- This is for my kindness! You’re good, there’s nothing to say! .. But by the way, they say a lot of superfluous things about me. They themselves will do something, and then they will blame me ... For now - goodbye!
When the Fox had gone, the Hare hobbled over and said:
— Beware, Gray Neck: she will come again.
And Gray Neck also began to be afraid, as the Hare was afraid. The poor woman could not even admire the miracles that were happening around her. The real winter has come. The ground was covered with a snow-white carpet. Not a single dark spot remained.
Even bare birches, alders, willows and mountain ash were covered with hoarfrost, like silvery fluff. And firs have become even more important. They stood covered with snow, as if wearing an expensive warm coat. Yes, wonderful, it was good all around; and poor Gray Neck knew only one thing, that this beauty was not for her, and she trembled at the mere thought that her polynya was about to freeze over and she would have nowhere to go. The fox really came a few days later, sat down on the shore and spoke again:
— I missed you, duck… Come out here; If you don't want it, I'll come to you myself. I'm not arrogant...
And the Fox began to crawl carefully over the ice to the very opening. Gray Sheika's heart skipped a beat. But the Fox could not get close to the water itself, because the ice there was still very thin. She put her head on her front paws, licked her lips and said:
— What a stupid duck you are... Get out onto the ice! And yet, goodbye! I'm in a hurry about my business.
..
The fox began to come every day to see if the polynya had frozen. The cold weather has taken its toll. From the large polynya there was only one window a sazhen in size. The ice was strong, and the Fox sat on the very edge. Poor Gray Sheika dived into the water with fear, and the Fox sat and laughed angrily at her:
— It's okay, dive in, but I'll eat you anyway... You'd better come out yourself.
The Hare saw from the shore what the Fox was doing, and was indignant with all his hare heart:
— Oh, what a shameless Fox… What an unfortunate Gray Neck! The Fox will eat it...
IV
In all likelihood, the Fox would have eaten the Gray Neck when the polynya would have completely frozen, but it happened otherwise. The hare saw everything with his own squinting eyes.
It was in the morning. The hare jumped out of his lair to feed and play with other hares. The frost was healthy, and the hares were warming themselves, beating paws on paws.
Even though it's cold, it's still fun.
— Brothers, beware! someone shouted.
Indeed, the danger was on the nose. At the edge of the forest stood a hunched old hunter, who crept up on skis completely silently and looked out for a hare to shoot.
Eh, the old woman will have a warm coat, - he thought, choosing the largest hare.
He even took aim with his gun, but the hares noticed him and rushed into the forest like crazy.
- Oh, the sly ones! the old man got angry. - Here I am already ... They don’t understand, stupid, that an old woman can’t be without a fur coat. She shouldn't be cold... And you won't deceive Akintich, no matter how much you run. Akintich will be more cunning ... And the old woman punished Akintich like: Look, old man, don’t come without a fur coat! And you whitefish ...
The old man set out to look for the hares, but the hares scattered through the forest like peas. The old man was rather exhausted, cursed the crafty hares and sat down on the river bank to rest.
- Oh, old woman, old woman, our fur coat ran away! he thought aloud. — Well, I'll have a rest and go look for another...
An old man is sitting, grieving, and then, lo and behold, the Fox is crawling along the river, and crawling like a cat.
- Geh, geh, that's the thing! the old man rejoiced. “The collar crawls to the old woman’s fur coat ... It’s obvious that she was thirsty, or maybe she even decided to catch fish ...
The fox actually crawled up to the very hole in which Gray Neck swam and lay down on the ice. The old man's eyes did not see well and because of the fox they did not notice the duck.
It is necessary to shoot her in such a way that the collar is not ruined, the old man thought, aiming at Lisa. “But this is how the old woman will scold if the collar turns out to be in holes ... Also, one’s own skill is needed everywhere, but without tackle and a bug you won’t kill.
The old man took aim for a long time, choosing a place in the future collar.
Finally a shot rang out. Through the smoke from the shot, the hunter saw how something darted on the ice - and rushed with all his might to the hole; on the way he fell twice, and when he reached the hole, he only shrugged it off - his collar was gone, and only the frightened Gray Neck was swimming in the hole.
— Wow! gasped the old man, throwing up his hands. - For the first time I see how the Fox turned into a duck. Well, the beast is cunning.
“Grandfather, the Fox has run away,” Gray Sheika explained.
- Run away? Here, old woman, and a collar for a fur coat ... What am I going to do now, huh? Well, the sin came out ... And you, stupid, why are you swimming here?
- And I, grandfather, could not fly away with the others. I have one wing spoiled...
— Oh, stupid, stupid... Why, you'll freeze here or the Fox will eat you! Yes…
The old man thought and thought, shook his head and decided:
— Here's what we'll do to you: I'll take you to my granddaughters.
They'll be delighted... And in the spring you'll give the old woman testicles and hatch ducklings. Is that what I say? That's it, stupid...
The old man got the Gray Neck out of the hole and put it in his bosom. And I won’t tell the old woman anything,” he thought, heading home. - Let her fur coat with a collar still take a walk in the forest. The main thing is that the granddaughters will be delighted...
Hares saw all this and laughed merrily. Nothing, the old woman will not freeze on the stove even without a fur coat.
Finnish folk tales | Hidden love
Once upon a time there lived three maidens who, in the form of ducks, bathed in the sea. They threw their outfits on the shore, and one young man saw these outfits. He took the robe of one of them and hid it. Having bathed enough, these ducks came out of the water onto the shore and turned into people, into ordinary girls. Two of them found their dresses, the third did not find hers. She said: "If the one who took away my clothes is a guy, then bring them back, I will marry you! If you are a woman, then return them in the name of the Lord!" That young man brought her clothes, she put on her clothes, this girl, and promised: "I will come to you in the morning on three golden ships.
"
The young man waited all night, couldn't wait. A woman rose from the sea, said to him: "Let me look in your head, you want to sleep." The young man agreed, and she sorted through her hair, sorted it out, and stuck sleepy needles in his ears. When that girl sailed on three golden ships, she woke up the young man, but did not wake up. She said: "Didn't the girl like you, or dowry is missing? I can't become more beautiful than now, but if the dowry is not enough, then tomorrow I will sail on six golden ships."
The next day a maiden sailed to the young man in six golden ships. And that woman stuck sleeping needles in his ears again. The girl woke up the young man, did not wake up. She said: “Didn’t the girl like you, or dowry is missing? I can’t become more beautiful than now, but if the dowry is not enough, then tomorrow I will sail on nine golden ships.”
The young man again waited for her all night - he could not wait. For the third time, that woman rose from the sea, said: “Let me look in your head, because you want to sleep.
” Again she sorted her hair, sorted it out and put sleeping needles in his ears. The girl sailed on nine golden ships, woke up, woke up, did not wake up. She said: “Don’t you like the girl or do you lack a dowry? More beautiful than I can’t become now and I have no more good besides this. You won’t see me until you take off three pairs of iron shoes on your feet, three pairs of iron staffs you can't grind it in your hands."
The young man wondered what to do. He went to the forge, ordered to forge him three pairs of iron shoes and three pairs of staffs. He put on his shoes, took the staves in his hands, and set out on his journey. He walked, no one knows how long, no one knows how many days. The hut on the cock's leg spins, he says to her: "My hut-hut, turn around, become a traveler's shelter for the night." The hut stopped spinning. He goes inside. There, on a bench, sits an old woman with a nose like a coal poker, eyes the size of scoops. The old woman says: "Huhhuh, for thirty years there has not been a baptized spirit in my hut, now it has come into my mouth with a snack, crawled like a snake into my hands.
" The young man replies:
– What a snack, granny, not pea soup – but garbage water, instead of meat – one cartilage.
– Ohhoh, – he says, – but you are my nephew, the son of my dear brother!
He treats, gives water, puts the young man to rest. She took, put on the shoes of the young man on her feet and took his staves in her hands. All night long she whips them in the hallway, stabs them, crumbles them into dust, then throws them out of the window into the yard. The young man gets up in the morning, wakes up, puts other shoes on his feet in the morning, picks up other staffs. He asks: "Do you know, dear aunt, such and such by name, such and such a guise?" The old woman says: "No, I don't know. It's a mile away from here, my sister lives there, she must know."
He set off again, walking for a long time: either years or days, I don't know. Again the hut is spinning on a cock's leg. He tells her: "My hut, my little one, turn around, become a traveler's shelter for the night.
" The hut stopped spinning. He goes inside. The old woman is sitting in the bin, her nose is like a coal poker, her eyes are the size of scoops. Speaks:
– Huhhuh, for thirty years there was no baptized spirit in my hut, now it has come into my mouth like a snack, like a snake crawled into my hands.
– What a snack, granny, not pea soup – but garbage water, instead of meat – one cartilage.
- Ah, - says the old woman, - you are my nephew, the son of my dear brother!
Again she treats him, gives him water, puts the young man to rest; She also put the young man's shoes on her feet, and took his staves in her hands. At night, he also whips them, stabs, crumbles. When they crumbled, she again threw the pieces into the yard. The young man gets up in the morning, wakes up, puts on the last shoes on his feet, picks up the last staffs. Asks:
– Do you know, dear aunt, such and such a name, such and such a face?
– No, I don't know. My sister, who lives a mile away, she must know her.
He walked again, walked, or walked for years, or days, it is not known. Again the hut is spinning on a cock's leg. He says to the hut: "My hut, my little one, turn around, become a traveler's shelter for the night." The hut also ceased to rotate, he goes inside, the old woman sits on the stove-heater, her nose is like a coal poker, her eyes are the size of scoops. She says:
– Huhhuh, now a snack has come into my mouth, like a snake crawled into my hands.
– What a snack, granny, not pea soup – but garbage water, instead of meat, one cartilage.
- That's it, - says the old woman, - you are my nephew, the son of my dear brother!
Well, again she treats him, gives him water, puts the young man to rest. She put his iron shoes on her feet, and took his staves in her hands, began to destroy them. All night long he whips them, crumbles them, then throws the debris out of the window into the yard. The young man gets up in the morning, she gives the young man shoes on his feet and a gun in his hands, says: "Go, get game for your aunt for dinner, but there will be a bird at the fork, don't you dare touch it.
"
The young man set off on his journey, with this gun, he reached a fork in the road, where a bird, as big as a haystack, is sitting on a tree. He tried to shoot, did not shoot. I went from there to the forest, filled and shot forty, ravens, ravens, any useless bird.
Suddenly bad weather began, snowfall, unprecedented slush. A young man looks: fox cubs are dying. He took off his caftan, covered them, covered them from the rain. The fox came and said:
– Hey you villain, I'll eat you, dare to touch my cubs!
Cubs ask:
– Mother, don't eat it! The poor young man saved us, otherwise we would have frozen to death!
So the fox cubs told her, to which the fox replied: "You did good to me, I'll do it twice for you."
The young man set off on his way, then walked on. The bad weather raged again, slush, snow and rain. The young man looks: the cubs are freezing. He took them, covered them, covered them with a caftan. The she-wolf came and said:
– Goy, you villain, I will eat you, dare to touch my cubs!
The Cubs said:
– Mother, don't touch him, he protected us, otherwise we would freeze to death!
So the cubs told her, the she-wolf said: "You have done good for me, I will do you twice.
"
He started walking again, walking through bad weather, in the rain, in the snow. Looks: bear cubs freeze near the road. He again covered them with a caftan, covered them. The clubfoot came and said:
– Goy, you villain, I will eat you, dare to touch my cubs!
The pitiful cubs said:
– Mother, do not eat, the poor young man protected us, otherwise we would have frozen to death!
So the cubs told her, the bear says: "Well, you did good, I'll do it twice." That's what the clubfoot promised.
The young man went and walked on. He came to the seashore, looks: a pike was washed ashore by a spring flood, it lies there on dry ground, like a log. He took a stick, pushed the pike into the sea. She says:
- You did me good, I'll do you twice.
He went his own way. He walked, walked, returned home to his aunt, brought an armful of game, kites, and various crows. He says: "Look, I've been walking around all day, now there will be something to cook - plenty of game.
" Slept through the night, woke up in the morning, got ready to leave. I asked my aunt:
– And you, dear aunt, don’t you know such and such by name, by such and such a guise?
“I know,” she says, “you will have to overcome many difficulties,” she said. - Now you will go to a place where eight heads, taken from the shoulders of baptized people, are put on a stake, the ninth stake is for your head.
He set out on a journey, walked, walked, wandered for years or days. He looks: eight heads are put on stakes, as his aunt told him, the ninth is waiting for him. He entered the hut, the local grandmother jumped on him, saying: "The shepherd came for my horses." They slept through the night, in the morning she sends the horses into the forest and the young man says: "Go pasture!"
She launched the horses into the open paddock. The young man followed, only seeing them run away. He went into the forest, sat down on a stone and wept, wept, wept, weeping plaintively.
He looks: look, the fox drives the horses, drives them into the corral. The old woman, angry, ran into the corral, and let's beat the horses with a yoke, a yoke, she said: "Why did you return home so early! I did not plant the ninth head on a stake!"
The next day he sends horses to the forest again, followed by the shepherd. As soon as the horses were released, only the shepherd saw them. The shepherd went to that forest, sat down on a stone, cries, cries, cries, everything is gone, he cries bitterly. He looks: look, the she-wolf drives the horses, drives them into the corral. The old woman again went into the pen, began to walk the horses with a stake, said: "I did not plant the ninth head on a stake!" Those nine horses, they were the old woman's daughters.
On the third day she again sent the shepherd into the forest, the horses into the corral, only the shepherd saw how they fled. The shepherd went into the forest, goes, cries, cries, cries, laments that everything is gone.
Looks: look, the she-bear drives the horses. The old woman again went into the pen, again let the horses yoke, she says: “Oh, you came ahead of time again, I didn’t plant the ninth head on a stake!”
A young man approached the pen, one horse said:
– This night, each of us will give birth to a foal, and tomorrow they will offer you to take the best one in payment, you don’t agree to it, take the worst of all, if it gives, take it, if not, go on your way!
In the morning they go to the pen, look, nine mares each brought a foal. The old woman says:
- Now take the best of these nine foals, you graciously pastured my horses.
The young man answers:
– I will not take the best, if you give the worst, I will take it, if not, then I will go with nothing.
The old woman did not want to give away the worst, she persuades him in every way, tries to hand him the best foal. The young man did not take it for no reason, so she had to give up this worst one involuntarily.
The young man tied it with a sash, threw it on his back and went to carry it with him. I carried this foal a little along the way - such a powerful horse grew out of it that it’s scary to even look at it, such a hefty horse. This horse says: "Climb on my back, young man, and ride me to such and such a mowing, to an open field!" The young man rode on his horse to this mowing.
The horse said: "Now go to the old widow, this widow of your desired-betrothed godmother, ask this widow how you can see your desired one." The young man went to the widow and began to question her. The widow said:
– The love of your desired is laid in the sea, on an island in the blue sea, in the core of the blue stone there is an egg, inside this egg is her love. If you can get it, you can see her.
He again returned to his horse, and told him, they say, so and so. "Go to the castle, buy nine skins, buy nine straps, buy nine locks, buy a saddle! Take it, tie me up with nine skins and attach the saddle to my back with nine straps, and shut it with nine locks!" replied the horse.
"And then we will jump over the blue sea to the island."
They are already on the island. The horse stomped on the stone, the stone broke in two. As a stone split in half, an egg rolled out of the core into the sea. The young man wept and became sad. He looks: a pike rises from the sea, like a log in appearance, and in the teeth of a pike is an egg. pike said:
– You have done good to me, I am now doing you twice.
From this island, the horse galloped back to the mowing, in a clean field. The young man released the horse to graze. The horse said: "Now go to the old widow."
He went to the widow's house and brought her this egg. His widow hid him under the bed, took and boiled okroshka from this egg, and invited his desired, that girl, to have dinner. Well, I fed her this okroshka from an egg, asked the girl:
– Wouldn't you like to see your former betrothed?
The girl answered:
– Oh, if only I could see you before I die.
