EntranceFlying ship read. Children's stories online
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had three sons - the two eldest were considered smart, and everyone called the youngest a fool. The old woman loved her elders - she dressed them cleanly and fed them delicious food. And the youngest walked around in a holey shirt, chewing black crust.
“He, the fool, doesn’t care: he doesn’t understand anything, he doesn’t understand anything!”
One day the news reached that village: whoever builds a ship for the king that can sail the seas and fly under the clouds, the king will marry his daughter to him.
The older brothers decided to try their luck.
- Let us go, father and mother! Perhaps one of us will become the king's son-in-law!
The mother equipped her eldest sons, baked them white pies for the journey, fried and cooked some chicken and goose:
- Go, sons!
The brothers went into the forest and began to cut down and saw trees. They chopped and sawed a lot. And they don’t know what to do next. They began to argue and swear, and the next thing they knew, they would grab each other’s hair.
An old man came up to them and asked:
- Why are you guys arguing and swearing? Maybe I can tell you something that will help you?
Both brothers attacked the old man - they did not listen to him, cursed him with bad words and drove him away. The old man left.
The brothers had a fight, ate all their provisions that their mother gave them, and returned home with nothing...
As soon as they arrived, the youngest began to ask:
- Let me go now!
His mother and father began to dissuade him and hold him back:
- Where are you going, you fool, the wolves will eat you along the way!
And the fool knows his own thing repeats:
- Let me go, I’ll go, and don’t let me go, I’ll go!
Mother and father see that there is no way to deal with him. They gave him a crust of dry black bread for the road and escorted him out of the house.
The fool took an ax with him and went into the forest. I walked and walked through the forest and spotted a tall pine tree: the top of this pine rests on the clouds, only three people can grasp it.
He cut down a pine tree and began clearing its branches. An old man approached him.
“Hello,” he says, “child!”
- Hello, grandfather!
“What are you doing, child, why did you cut down such a big tree?”
- But, grandfather, the king promised to marry his daughter to the one who would build him a flying ship, and I am building it.
“Can you really make such a ship?” This is a tricky matter, and perhaps you won’t be able to handle it.
- The tricky thing is not tricky, but you have to try: you look, and I succeed! Well, you came by the way: old people, experienced, knowledgeable. Maybe you can give me some advice.
The old man says:
- Well, if you ask for advice, listen: take your ax and chop this pine tree from the sides: like this!
And he showed how to trim.
The fool listened to the old man and hewed the pine the way he showed. He is cutting, and it’s amazing: the ax moves just like that, just like that!
“Now,” says the old man, “finish the pine from the ends: this way and that way!”
The fool doesn’t let the old man’s words fall on deaf ears: as the old man shows, so he does.
He finished the work, the old man praised him and said:
- Well, now it’s not a sin to take a break and have a little snack.
“Eh, grandpa,” says the fool, “there’s food for me, this stale piece of meat.” What can I treat you with? You probably won’t bite my treat, will you?
“Come on, child,” says the old man, “give me your crust!”
The fool gave him some crust. The old man took it in his hands, examined it, felt it, and said:
“Your bitch is not so callous!”
And he gave it to the fool. The fool took the crust and couldn’t believe his eyes: the crust turned into a soft and white loaf.
After they had eaten, the old man said:
- Well, now let's start adjusting the sails!
And he took out a piece of canvas from his bosom.
The old man shows, the fool tries, he does everything conscientiously - and the sails are ready, trimmed.
“Now get into your ship,” says the old man, “and fly wherever you want.” Look, remember my order: on the way, put everyone you meet on your ship!
Here they said goodbye. The old man went his way, and the fool boarded the flying ship and straightened the sails. The sails inflated, the ship soared into the sky, and flew faster than a falcon. Flies a little lower than the walking clouds, a little higher than the forests standing...
The fool flew and flew and saw a man lying on the road with his ear pressed to the damp earth. He came down and said:
- Great, uncle!
- Great, well done!
- What are you doing?
“I’m listening to what’s going on at the other end of the earth.”
- What's going on there, uncle?
- What a great listener you are! Get on my ship and we'll fly together.
Rumor did not make excuses, boarded the ship, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and saw a man walking along the road, walking on one leg, and the other leg tied to his ear.
- Great, uncle!
- Great, well done!
- Why are you jumping on one leg?
- Yes, if I untie my other leg, I’ll cross the whole world in three steps!
- You're so fast! Sit down with us.
The speedboat did not refuse, climbed onto the ship, and they flew on.
You never know how much has passed, and lo and behold, there’s a man standing with a gun, taking aim. It’s unknown what he’s aiming at.
- Great, uncle! Who are you aiming at? No animal or bird is visible around you.
- What are you! Yes, I won’t shoot close. I’m aiming at a black grouse that’s sitting on a tree about a thousand miles away. This is how shooting is for me.
- Sit down with us, let's fly together!
They flew and flew and saw: a man was walking, carrying a huge sack of bread behind his back.
- Great, uncle! Where are you going?
“I’m going to get some bread for lunch.”
- What more bread do you need? Your bag is already full!
- What’s here! Put this bread in my mouth and swallow it. And to eat my fill, I need a hundred times that amount!
- Look what you are! Get on our ship and we'll fly together.
They fly over forests, they fly over fields, they fly over rivers, they fly over villages and villages.
Lo and behold: a man is walking near a large lake, shaking his head.
- Great, uncle! What is it you are looking for?
“I’m thirsty, so I’m looking for somewhere to get drunk.”
- Yes, there is a whole lake in front of you. Drink to your heart's content!
- Yes, this water will only last me one sip.
The fool marveled, his comrades marveled and said:
- Well, don’t worry, there will be water for you. Get on the ship with us, we will fly far, there will be plenty of water for you!
We don’t know how long they flew, they just see: a man is walking into the forest, and behind his shoulders is a bundle of brushwood.
- Great, uncle! Tell us: why are you dragging brushwood into the forest?
- And this is not ordinary brushwood. If you scatter it, a whole army will immediately appear.
- Sit down, uncle, with us!
They flew and flew, and lo and behold: an old man was walking, carrying a sack of straw.
- Great, grandpa, gray little head! Where are you taking the straw?
- To the village.
“Isn’t there enough straw in the village?”
- There is a lot of straw, but there is no such thing.
- What is it like for you?
- Here’s what it is: if I scatter it in the hot summer, it will suddenly become cold: snow will fall, frost will crackle.
- If so, the truth is yours: you won’t find such straw in the village. Sit down with us!
Kholodillo climbed into the ship with his sack, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and arrived at the royal court.
The king was sitting at dinner at that time. He saw a flying ship and sent his servants:
- Go ask: who came on that ship - which overseas princes and princes?
The servants ran up to the ship and saw that ordinary men were sitting on the ship.
The royal servants did not even ask them who they were and where they came from. They returned and reported to the king:
- So and so! There is not a single prince on the ship, not a single prince, and all black bones are simple men. What do you want to do with them?
“It’s shameful for us to marry our daughter to a simple man,” the Tsar thinks. “We need to get rid of such suitors.”
He asked his courtiers - princes and boyars:
- What should we do now, what should we do?
They advised:
“We need to ask the groom various difficult problems, maybe he won’t solve them.” Then we will turn the corner and show him!
The king was delighted and immediately sent his servants to the fool with the following order:
- Let the groom get us, before our royal dinner is over, living and dead water!
The fool thought:
- What am I going to do now? Yes, I won’t find such water in a year, or maybe even my whole life.
- What am I supposed to do? - says Skorokhod. - I’ll handle it for you in a moment.
He untied his leg from his ear and ran across distant lands to the thirtieth kingdom. I collected two jugs of living and dead water, and thought to myself: “There’s a lot of time left ahead, let me sit for a while and I’ll be back in time!”
He sat down under a thick, spreading oak tree and dozed off...
The royal dinner is coming to an end, but Skorokhod is gone.
Everyone on the flying ship was sunbathing - they didn’t know what to do. And Slukhalo put his ear to the damp earth, listened and said:
- What a sleepy and dozy one! He sleeps under a tree, snores with all his might!
- But I’ll wake him up now! - says Strelyalo.
He grabbed his gun, took aim and shot at the oak tree under which Skorokhod was sleeping. Acorns fell from the oak tree - right on Skorokhod’s head. He woke up.
- Fathers, yes, no way, I fell asleep!
He jumped up and at that very moment brought jugs of water:
- Get it!
The king stood up from the table, looked at the jugs and said:
- Or maybe this water is not real?
They caught a rooster, tore off its head and sprinkled it with dead water. The head instantly grew larger. They sprinkled it with living water - the rooster jumped to his feet, flapping his wings, “cuckoo!” shouted.
The king became annoyed.
“Well,” he says to the fool, “you have completed this task of mine.” Now I'll ask another one! If you are so clever, you and your matchmakers will eat in one sitting twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as was baked in forty ovens!
The fool became sad and said to his comrades:
- Yes, I won’t even eat one piece of bread in a whole day!
- What am I supposed to do? - says Obedalo. “I can handle both the bulls and their grain alone.” It won't be enough yet!
The fool ordered to tell the king:
- Drag the bulls and the grain. Let's eat!
They brought twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as had been baked in forty ovens.
Let's eat the bulls, one by one. And he puts bread in his mouth and throws loaf after loaf. All the carts were empty.
- Let's do more! - Obedalo shouts. - Why did you save so little? I'm just getting the hang of it!
But the king has no more bulls or grain.
“Now,” he says, “there is a new order for you: to drink forty barrels of beer at a time, each barrel containing forty buckets.”
“I can’t even drink one bucket,” says the fool to his matchmakers.
- What a sadness! - Opivalo answers. - Yes, I’ll drink all their beer alone, it won’t be enough!
Forty barrels were rolled in. They began to scoop up beer in buckets and serve it to Opivale. He takes a sip - the bucket is empty.
- What are you bringing me in buckets? - says Opivalo. “We’ll be messing around all day like that!”
He picked up the barrel and emptied it immediately, without stopping. He picked up another barrel, and the empty one rolled away. So I drained all forty barrels.
“Isn’t it,” he asks, another beer? I didn't drink to my heart's content! Don't get your throat wet!
The king sees: nothing can take the fool. I decided to destroy him with cunning.
“Okay,” he says, “I’ll marry my daughter to you, get ready for the crown!” Just before the wedding, go to the bathhouse, wash and steam thoroughly.
And he ordered the bathhouse to be heated.
And the bathhouse was all cast iron.
For three days the bathhouse was heated, red-hot. It radiates with fire and heat; you can’t approach it within five fathoms.
- How will I wash myself? - says the fool. - I'll burn alive.
“Don’t be sad,” Kholodilo answers. - I'll go with you!
He ran to the king and asked:
“Would you allow me and my fiancé to go to the bathhouse?” I'll put some straw on him so he doesn't get his heels dirty!
What to the king? He allowed: “That one will burn, that both!”
They brought the fool with the Refrigerator to the bathhouse and locked him there.
And Kholodillo scattered straw in the bathhouse - and it became cold, the walls were covered with frost, the water in the cast iron froze.
Some time passed and the servants opened the door. They look, and the fool is alive and well, and the old man too.
“Eh, you,” says the fool, “why don’t you take a steam bath in your bathhouse, how about riding on a sled!”
The servants ran to the king. They reported: So, they say, and so. The king was tossed around, he didn’t know what to do, how to get rid of the fool.
I thought and thought and ordered him:
- Place a whole regiment of soldiers in front of my palace in the morning. If you do, I’ll marry my daughter to you. If you don’t throw me out, I’ll throw you out!
And on his own mind: “Where can a simple peasant get an army? He won't be able to do this. That’s when we’ll kick him out!”
The fool heard the royal order and said to his matchmakers:
- You, brothers, helped me out of trouble more than once or twice... And now what are we going to do?
- Eh, you found something to be sad about! - says the old man with brushwood. - Yes, I’ll at least field seven regiments with generals! Go to the king, tell him - he will have an army!
The fool came to the king.
“I will carry out,” he says, “your order, only in last time. And if you make excuses, blame yourself!
Early in the morning, the old man with brushwood called the fool and went out into the field with him. He scattered the bundle, and a countless army appeared - both on foot and on horseback, and with cannons. Trumpeters blow trumpets, drummers beat drums, generals give commands, horses beat their hooves into the ground...
The fool stood in front and led the army to the royal court. He stopped in front of the palace and ordered the trumpets to be blown louder and the drums to be beaten harder.
The king heard it, looked out the window, and became whiter than a sheet of paper in fright. He ordered the commanders to withdraw their troops and go to war against the fool.
The governors brought out the tsar’s army and began to shoot and fire at the fool. And the foolish soldiers march like a wall, crushing the royal army like grass. The commanders got scared and ran back, followed by the entire royal army.
The king crawled out of the palace, crawled on his knees in front of the fool, asking him to accept expensive gifts and marry the princess as soon as possible.
The fool says to the king:
- Now you are not our guide! We have our own mind!
He drove the king away and never ordered him to return to that kingdom. And he himself married the princess.
- The princess is a young and kind girl. There is no fault on her!
And he began to live in that kingdom and do all sorts of things.
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had three sons - the two eldest were considered smart, and everyone called the youngest a fool. The old woman loved her elders - she dressed them cleanly and fed them delicious food. And the youngest walked around in a holey shirt, chewing black crust.
“He, the fool, doesn’t care: he doesn’t understand anything, he doesn’t understand anything!”
Then one day the news reached that village: whoever builds a ship for the king, so that he can sail the seas and fly under the clouds, the king will marry his daughter to him. The older brothers decided to try their luck.
- Let us go, father and mother! Perhaps one of us will become the king's son-in-law!
The mother equipped her eldest sons, baked them white pies for the journey, fried and cooked some chicken and goose:
- Go, sons!
The brothers went into the forest and began to cut down and saw trees. They chopped and sawed a lot. And they don’t know what to do next. They began to argue and swear, and the next thing they knew, they would grab each other’s hair.
An old man came up to them and asked:
- Why are you guys arguing and swearing? Maybe I can tell you something that will help you?
Both brothers attacked the old man - they did not listen to him, cursed him with bad words and drove him away. The old man left.
The brothers had a fight, ate all their provisions that their mother gave them, and returned home with nothing... As soon as they arrived, the youngest began to beg:
- Let me go now!
His mother and father began to dissuade him and hold him back:
- Where are you going, you fool, the wolves will eat you along the way!
And the fool knows his own thing repeats:
- Let me go, I’ll go, and don’t let me go, I’ll go!
Mother and father see that there is no way to deal with him. They gave him a crust of dry black bread for the road and escorted him out of the house.
The fool took an ax with him and went into the forest. I walked and walked through the forest and spotted a tall pine tree: the top of this pine rests on the clouds, only three people can grasp it.
He cut down a pine tree and began clearing its branches. An old man approached him.
“Hello,” he says, “child!”
- Hello, grandfather!
“What are you doing, child, why did you cut down such a big tree?”
- But, grandfather, the king promised to marry his daughter to the one who would build him a flying ship, and I am building it.
“Can you really make such a ship?” This is a tricky matter, and perhaps you won’t be able to handle it.
- The tricky thing is not tricky, but you have to try: you look, and I succeed! Well, you came by the way: old people, experienced, knowledgeable. Maybe you can give me some advice. The old man says:
- Well, if you ask for advice, listen: take your ax and chop this pine tree from the sides: like this!
And he showed how to trim.
The fool listened to the old man and hewed the pine the way he showed. He is cutting, and it’s amazing: the ax moves just like that, just like that!
“Now,” says the old man, “finish the pine from the ends: this way and that way!”
The fool doesn’t let the old man’s words fall on deaf ears: as the old man shows, so he does. He finished the work, the old man praised him and said:
- Well, now it’s not a sin to take a break and have a little snack.
“Eh, grandpa,” says the fool, “there’s food for me, this stale piece of meat.” What can I treat you with? You probably won't bite my treat?
“Come on, child,” says the old man, “give me your crust!”
The fool gave him some crust. The old man took it in his hands, examined it, felt it, and said:
“Your bitch is not so callous!”
And he handed it to the fool. The fool took the crust and couldn’t believe his eyes: the crust turned into a soft and white loaf.
After they had eaten, the old man said:
- Well, now let's start adjusting the sails!
And he took out a piece of canvas from his bosom. The old man shows, the fool tries, he does everything conscientiously - and the sails are ready, trimmed.
“Now get into your ship,” says the old man, “and fly where you want.” Look, remember my order: on the way, put everyone you meet on your ship!
Here they said goodbye. The old man went his way, and the fool boarded the flying ship and straightened the sails. The sails inflated, the ship soared into the sky, and flew faster than a falcon. It flies a little lower than the walking clouds, a little higher than the standing forests...
The fool flew and flew and saw a man lying on the road with his ear pressed to the damp earth. He came down and said:
- Great, uncle!
- Great, well done!
- What are you doing?
“I’m listening to what’s going on at the other end of the earth.”
- What's going on there, uncle?
- The vocal birds are singing and singing, one is better than the other!
- What a great listener you are! Get on my ship and we'll fly together.
Rumor did not make excuses, boarded the ship, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and saw a man walking along the road, walking on one leg, and the other leg tied to his ear.
- Great, uncle!
- Great, well done!
- Why are you jumping on one leg?
- Yes, if I untie my other leg, I’ll cross the whole world in three steps!
- You're so fast! Sit down with us.
The speedboat did not refuse, climbed onto the ship, and they flew on.
You never know how much has passed, and lo and behold, there’s a man standing with a gun, taking aim. It’s unknown what he’s aiming at.
- Great, uncle! Who are you aiming at? No animal or bird is visible around you.
- What are you! Yes, I won’t shoot close. I’m aiming at a black grouse that’s sitting on a tree about a thousand miles away. This is how shooting is for me.
- Sit down with us, let's fly together!
Shot and sat down, and they all flew on. They flew and flew, and they saw: a man was walking, carrying a huge sack of bread behind his back.
- Great, uncle! Where are you going?
“I’m going to get some bread for lunch.”
- What more bread do you need? Your bag is already full!
- What’s here! Put this bread in my mouth and swallow it. And to eat my fill, I need a hundred times that amount!
- Look what you are! Get on our ship and we'll fly together.
Lo and behold: a man is walking near a large lake, shaking his head.
- Great, uncle! What is it you are looking for?
“I’m thirsty, so I’m looking for somewhere to get drunk.”
- Yes, there is a whole lake in front of you. Drink to your heart's content!
- Yes, this water will only last me one sip. The fool marveled, his comrades marveled, and said:
- Well, don’t worry, there will be water for you. Get on the ship with us, we will fly far, there will be plenty of water for you!
Opivalo got into the ship, and they flew on. We don’t know how long they flew, they just see: a man is walking into the forest, and behind his shoulders is a bundle of brushwood.
- Great, uncle! Tell us: why are you dragging brushwood into the forest?
- And this is not ordinary brushwood. If you scatter it, a whole army will immediately appear.
- Sit down, uncle, with us!
And this one sat down with them. They flew on.
They flew and flew, and lo and behold: an old man was walking, carrying a sack of straw.
- Great, grandpa, gray little head! Where are you taking the straw?
- To the village.
“Isn’t there enough straw in the village?”
- There is a lot of straw, but there is no such thing.
- What is it like for you?
- Here’s what it is: if I scatter it in the hot summer, it will suddenly become cold: snow will fall, frost will crackle.
- If so, the truth is yours: you won’t find such straw in the village. Sit down with us!
Kholodillo climbed into the ship with his sack, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and arrived at royal palace. The king was sitting at dinner at that time. He saw a flying ship and sent his servants:
- Go ask: who came on that ship - which overseas princes and princes?
The servants ran to the ship and saw that ordinary men were sitting on the ship.
The royal servants did not even ask them who they were and where they came from. They returned and reported to the king:
- So and so! There is not a single prince on the ship, not a single prince, and all black bones are simple men.
What do you want to do with them? “It’s shameful for us to marry our daughter to a simple man,” the Tsar thinks. “We need to get rid of such suitors.”
He asked his courtiers - princes and boyars:
- What should we do now, what should we do?
They advised:
“We need to ask the groom various difficult problems, maybe he won’t solve them.” Then we will turn the corner and show him!
The king was delighted and immediately sent his servants to the fool with the following order:
- Let the groom get us, before our royal dinner is over, living and dead water!
The fool thought:
- What am I going to do now? Yes, I won’t find such water in a year, or maybe even my whole life.
- What am I supposed to do? - says Skorokhod. - I’ll handle it for you in a moment.
He untied his leg from his ear and ran across distant lands to the thirtieth kingdom. I collected two jugs of living and dead water, and thought to myself: “There’s a lot of time left ahead, let me sit for a while and I’ll be back in time!”
He sat down under a thick, spreading oak tree and dozed off...
The royal dinner is coming to an end, but Skorokhod is gone.
Everyone on the flying ship was sunbathing - they didn’t know what to do. And Slukhalo put his ear to the damp earth, listened and said:
- What a sleepy and dozy one! He sleeps under a tree, snores with all his might!
- But I’ll wake him up now! - says Strelyalo. He grabbed his gun, took aim and shot at the oak tree under which Skorokhod was sleeping. Acorns fell from the oak tree - right on Skorokhod’s head. He woke up.
- Fathers, yes, no way, I fell asleep!
He jumped up and at that very moment brought jugs of water:
- Get it!
The king stood up from the table, looked at the jugs and said:
- Or maybe this water is not real?
They caught a rooster, tore off its head and sprinkled it with dead water. The head instantly grew larger. They sprinkled it with living water - the rooster jumped to his feet, flapping his wings, “cuckoo!” shouted.
The king became annoyed.
“Well,” he says to the fool, “you have completed this task of mine.” Now I'll ask another one! If you are so clever, you and your matchmakers will eat in one sitting twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as was baked in forty ovens!
The fool became sad and said to his comrades:
- Yes, I won’t even eat one piece of bread in a whole day!
- What am I supposed to do? - says Obedalo. “I can handle both the bulls and their grain alone.” It won't be enough yet!
The fool ordered to tell the king:
- Drag the bulls and the grain. There will be!
They brought twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as had been baked in forty ovens. Let's eat the bulls, one by one. And he puts bread in his mouth and throws loaf after loaf. All the carts were empty.
- Let's do more! - Obedalo shouts. - Why did you save so little? I'm just getting the hang of it!
But the king has no more bulls or grain.
“Now,” he says, “there is a new order for you: to drink forty barrels of beer at a time, each barrel containing forty buckets.”
“I can’t even drink one bucket,” says the fool to his matchmakers.
- What a sadness! - Opivalo answers. - Yes, I’ll drink all their beer alone, it won’t be enough!
Forty barrels were rolled in. They began to scoop up beer in buckets and serve it to Opivale. He takes a sip - the bucket is empty.
- What are you bringing me in buckets? - says Opivalo. “We’ll be messing around all day like that!”
He picked up the barrel and emptied it immediately, without stopping. He picked up another barrel and it rolled away. So I drained all forty barrels.
“Isn’t there some more beer?” he asks? I didn't drink to my heart's content! Don't get your throat wet!
The king sees: nothing can take the fool. I decided to destroy him with cunning.
“Okay,” he says, “I’ll marry my daughter to you, get ready for the crown!” Just before the wedding, go to the bathhouse, wash and steam thoroughly.
And he ordered the bathhouse to be heated. And the bathhouse was all cast iron.
For three days the bathhouse was heated, red-hot. It radiates with fire and heat; you can’t approach it within five fathoms.
- How will I wash myself? - says the fool. - I'll burn alive.
“Don’t be sad,” Kholodilo answers. - I'll go with you!
He ran to the king and asked:
“Would you allow me and my fiancé to go to the bathhouse?” I'll put some straw on him so he doesn't get his heels dirty!
What to the king? He allowed: “That one will burn, that both!”
They brought the fool with the Refrigerator to the bathhouse and locked him there. And Kholodila scattered straw in the bathhouse - and it became cold, the walls were covered with frost, the water in the cast iron froze.
Some time passed and the servants opened the door. They look, and the fool is alive and well, and the old man too.
“Eh, you,” says the fool, “why don’t you take a steam bath in your bathhouse, how about riding on a sled!”
The servants ran to the king. They reported: so, they say, and so. The king was tossed around, he didn’t know what to do, how to get rid of the fool.
I thought and thought and ordered him:
- Place a whole regiment of soldiers in front of my palace in the morning. If you do, I’ll marry my daughter to you. If you don’t throw me out, I’ll throw you out!
And on his own mind: “Where can a simple peasant get an army? He won't be able to do this. Then we’ll kick him out!”
The fool heard the royal order and said to his matchmakers:
- You, brothers, helped me out of trouble more than once or twice... And now what are we going to do?
- Eh, you found something to be sad about! - says the old man with brushwood. - Yes, I’ll at least field seven regiments with generals! Go to the king, tell him - he will have an army!
The fool came to the king.
“I will carry out,” he says, “your order, just for the last time.” And if you make excuses, blame yourself!
Early in the morning, the old man with brushwood called the fool and went out into the field with him. He scattered the bundle, and a countless army appeared - both on foot and on horseback, and with cannons. Trumpeters blow trumpets, drummers beat drums, generals give commands, horses beat their hooves into the ground... The fool stood in front and led the army to the royal palace. He stopped in front of the palace and ordered the trumpets to be blown louder and the drums to be beaten harder.
The king heard it, looked out the window, and became whiter than a sheet of paper in fright. He ordered the commanders to withdraw their troops and go to war against the fool.
The governors brought out the tsar’s army and began to shoot and fire at the fool. And the foolish soldiers march like a wall, crushing the royal army like grass. The commanders got scared and ran back, followed by the entire royal army.
The king crawled out of the palace, crawled on his knees in front of the fool, asking him to accept expensive gifts and marry the princess as soon as possible.
The fool says to the king:
- Now you are not our guide! We have our own mind!
He drove the king away and never ordered him to return to that kingdom. And he himself married the princess.
- The princess is a young and kind girl. There is no fault on her!
And he began to live in that kingdom and do all sorts of things.
Fairy tale " flying ship" is a story about how the king came up with a test for his daughter's suitors: to build a flying ship. The main character was helped by his grandfather-wizard to make a wonderful flying machine, marry a princess and receive half a kingdom as a dowry.
Fairy tale The Flying Ship download:
Fairy tale The Flying Ship read
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had three sons - the two eldest were considered smart, and everyone called the youngest a fool. The old woman loved her elders - she dressed them cleanly and fed them delicious food. And the youngest walked around in a holey shirt, chewing black crust.
He, the fool, doesn’t care: he doesn’t understand anything, he doesn’t understand anything!
One day the news reached that village: whoever builds a ship for the king that can sail the seas and fly under the clouds, the king will marry his daughter to him.
The older brothers decided to try their luck.
Let us go, father and mother! Perhaps one of us will become the king's son-in-law!
The mother equipped her eldest sons, baked them white pies for the journey, fried and cooked some chicken and goose:
Go, sons!
The brothers went into the forest and began to cut down and saw trees. They chopped and sawed a lot. And they don’t know what to do next. They began to argue and swear, and the next thing they knew, they would grab each other’s hair.
An old man came up to them and asked:
Why are you guys arguing and swearing? Maybe I can tell you something that will help you?
Both brothers attacked the old man - they did not listen to him, cursed him with bad words and drove him away. The old man left.
The brothers had a fight, ate all their provisions that their mother gave them, and returned home with nothing...
As soon as they arrived, the youngest began to ask:
Let me go now!
His mother and father began to dissuade him and hold him back:
Where are you going, you fool, the wolves will eat you along the way!
And the fool knows his own thing repeats:
Let me go, I’ll go, and don’t let me go, I’ll go!
Mother and father see that there is no way to deal with him. They gave him a crust of dry black bread for the road and escorted him out of the house. The fool took an ax with him and went into the forest. I walked and walked through the forest and spotted a tall pine tree: the top of this pine rests on the clouds, only three people can grasp it.
He cut down a pine tree and began clearing its branches. An old man approached him.
“Hello,” he says, “child!”
Hello, grandpa!
What are you doing, child, why did you cut down such a big tree?
But, grandfather, the king promised to marry his daughter to the one who would build him a flying ship, and I am building it.
Can you really make such a ship? This is a tricky matter, and perhaps you won’t be able to handle it.
The tricky thing is not tricky, but you have to try: you see, and I succeed! By the way, here you are: old, experienced, knowledgeable people. Maybe you can give me some advice.
The old man says:
Well, if you ask for advice, listen: take your ax and chop this pine tree from the sides: like this!
And he showed how to trim.
The fool listened to the old man and hewed the pine the way he showed. He is cutting, and it’s amazing: the ax moves just like that, just like that!
Now, says the old man, trim the pine from the ends: this way and that way!
The fool doesn’t let the old man’s words fall on deaf ears: as the old man shows, so he does.
He finished the work, the old man praised him and said:
Well, now it’s not a sin to take a break and have a little snack.
Eh, grandpa,” says the fool, “there will be food for me, this stale piece of meat.” What can I treat you with? You probably won’t bite my treat, will you?
“Come on, child,” says the old man, “give me your crust!”
The fool gave him some crust. The old man took it in his hands, examined it, felt it, and said:
Your little bitch is not so callous!
And he gave it to the fool. The fool took the crust and couldn’t believe his eyes: the crust turned into a soft and white loaf.
After they had eaten, the old man said:
Well, now let's start adjusting the sails!
And he took out a piece of canvas from his bosom. The old man shows, the fool tries, he does everything conscientiously - and the sails are ready, trimmed.
Now get into your ship,” says the old man, “and fly wherever you want.” Look, remember my order: on the way, put everyone you meet on your ship!
Here they said goodbye. The old man went his way, and the fool boarded the flying ship and straightened the sails. The sails inflated, the ship soared into the sky, and flew faster than a falcon. It flies a little lower than the walking clouds, a little higher than the standing forests...
The fool flew and flew and saw a man lying on the road with his ear pressed to the damp ground. He came down and said:
Hello, uncle!
Hello, well done!
What are you doing?
I listen to what is happening at the other end of the earth.
What's going on there, uncle?
Wow, what an earworm you are! Get on my ship and we'll fly together.
Rumor did not make excuses, boarded the ship, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and saw a man walking along the road, walking on one leg, and the other leg tied to his ear.
Hello, uncle!
Hello, well done!
Why are you jumping on one leg?
Yes, if I untie my other leg, I’ll cross the whole world in three steps!
You are so fast! Sit down with us.
The speedboat did not refuse, climbed onto the ship, and they flew on.
You never know how much time has flown by, and lo and behold, there’s a man standing with a gun, taking aim. And what he’s aiming at is unknown.
Hello, uncle! Who are you aiming at? No animal or bird is visible around you.
What are you! Yes, I won’t shoot close. I'm aiming at a black grouse that's sitting on a tree about a thousand miles away. This is how shooting is for me.
Sit down with us, let's fly together!
They flew and flew and saw: a man was walking, carrying a huge sack of bread behind his back.
Hello, uncle! Where are you going?
I'm going to get some bread for lunch.
What more bread do you need? Your bag is already full!
What's here! Put this bread in my mouth and swallow it. And to eat my fill, I need a hundred times that amount!
Look what you are! Get on our ship and we'll fly together.
They fly over forests, they fly over fields, they fly over rivers, they fly over villages and villages.
Lo and behold: a man is walking near a large lake, shaking his head.
Hello, uncle! What is it you are looking for?
I'm thirsty, so I'm looking for somewhere to get drunk.
There's a whole lake in front of you. Drink to your heart's content!
Yes, this water will only last me one sip.
The fool marveled, his comrades marveled and said:
Well, don't worry, there will be water for you. Get on the ship with us, we will fly far, there will be plenty of water for you!
It is unknown how long they flew, they just see: a man is walking into the forest, and behind his shoulders is a bundle of brushwood.
Hello, uncle! Tell us: why are you dragging brushwood into the forest?
And this is not ordinary brushwood. If you scatter it, a whole army will immediately appear.
Sit down, uncle, with us!
They flew and flew, and lo and behold: an old man was walking, carrying a sack of straw.
Hello, grandpa, gray little head! Where are you taking the straw?
To the village.
Is there really not enough straw in the village?
There is a lot of straw, but there is no such thing.
What is it like for you?
Here's what it is: if I scatter it in the hot summer, it will suddenly become cold: snow will fall, frost will crackle.
If so, the truth is yours: you won’t find such straw in the village. Sit down with us!
Kholodillo climbed into the ship with his sack, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and arrived at the royal court.
The king was sitting at dinner at that time. He saw a flying ship and sent his servants:
Go ask: who flew on that ship - which overseas princes and princes?
The servants ran up to the ship and saw that ordinary men were sitting on the ship.
The royal servants did not even ask them who they were and where they came from. They returned and reported to the king:
So and so! There is not a single prince on the ship, not a single prince, and all black bones are simple men. What do you want to do with them?
“It’s shameful for us to marry our daughter to a simple man,” the Tsar thinks. “We need to get rid of such suitors.”
He asked his courtiers - princes and boyars:
What should we do now, what should we do?
They advised:
It is necessary to ask the groom various difficult problems, maybe he won’t solve them. Then we will turn the corner and show him!
The king was delighted and immediately sent his servants to the fool with the following order:
Let the groom get us, before our royal dinner is over, living and dead water!
The fool thought:
What am I going to do now? Yes, I won’t find such water in a year, or maybe even my whole life.
What am I supposed to do? - says Skorokhod. - I’ll handle it for you in a moment.
He untied his leg from his ear and ran across distant lands to the thirtieth kingdom. I collected two jugs of living and dead water, and thought to myself: “There’s a lot of time left ahead, let me sit for a while and I’ll be back in time!”
He sat down under a thick, spreading oak tree and dozed off...
The royal dinner is coming to an end, but Skorokhod is gone.
Everyone on the flying ship was sunbathing - they didn’t know what to do. And Slukhalo put his ear to the damp earth, listened and said:
What a sleepy and drowsy one! He sleeps under a tree, snoring with all his might!
But I’ll wake him up now! - says Strelyalo.
He grabbed his gun, took aim and shot at the oak tree under which Skorokhod was sleeping. Acorns fell from the oak tree - right on Skorokhod’s head. He woke up.
Fathers, yes, no way, I fell asleep!
He jumped up and at that very moment brought jugs of water:
Get it!
The king stood up from the table, looked at the jugs and said:
Or maybe this water is not real?
They caught a rooster, tore off its head and sprinkled it with dead water. The head instantly grew larger. They sprinkled it with living water - the rooster jumped to his feet, flapping his wings, “cuckoo!” shouted.
The king became annoyed.
Well,” he says to the fool, “you have completed this task of mine.” Now I'll ask another one! If you are so clever, you and your matchmakers will eat in one sitting twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as was baked in forty ovens!
The fool became sad and said to his comrades:
Yes, I can’t even eat one piece of bread all day!
What am I supposed to do? - says Obedalo. - I can handle both the bulls and their grain alone. It won't be enough yet!
The fool ordered to tell the king:
Drag the bulls and the grain. Let's eat!
They brought twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as had been baked in forty ovens.
Let's eat the bulls, one by one. And he puts bread in his mouth and throws loaf after loaf. All the carts were empty.
Let's do more! - Obedalo shouts. - Why did they supply so little? I'm just getting the hang of it!
But the king has no more bulls or grain.
Now,” he says, “there is a new order for you: to drink forty barrels of beer at a time, each barrel containing forty buckets.”
“I can’t even drink one bucket,” says the fool to his matchmakers.
What a sadness! - Opivalo answers. - Yes, I’ll drink all their beer alone, it won’t be enough!
Forty barrels were rolled in. They began to scoop up beer in buckets and serve it to Opivale. He takes a sip - the bucket is empty.
What are you bringing me in buckets? - says Opivalo. - We'll be messing around all day like that!
He picked up the barrel and emptied it all at once, without stopping. He picked up another barrel - and the empty one rolled away. So I drained all forty barrels.
Isn’t he, he asks, still have some beer? I didn't drink to my heart's content! Don't get your throat wet!
The king sees: nothing can take the fool. I decided to destroy him with cunning.
Okay,” he says, “I’ll marry my daughter to you, get ready for the crown!” Just before the wedding, go to the bathhouse, wash and steam thoroughly.
And he ordered the bathhouse to be heated.
And the bathhouse was all cast iron.
For three days the bathhouse was heated, red-hot. It radiates with fire and heat; you can’t approach it within five fathoms.
How will I wash? - says the fool. - I'll burn alive.
“Don’t be sad,” Kholodylo answers. - I'll go with you!
He ran to the king and asked:
Would you allow me and my fiancé to go to the bathhouse? I'll put some straw on him so he doesn't get his heels dirty!
What to the king? He allowed: “That one will burn, that both!”
They brought the fool with the Refrigerator to the bathhouse and locked him there.
And Kholodilo scattered straw in the bathhouse - and it became cold, the walls were covered with frost, the water in the cast iron froze.
Some time passed and the servants opened the door. They look, and the fool is alive and well, and the old man too.
“Eh, you,” says the fool, “why don’t you take a steam bath in your bathhouse, how about riding on a sled!”
The servants ran to the king. They reported: So, they say, and so. The king was tossed around, he didn’t know what to do, how to get rid of the fool.
I thought and thought and ordered him:
Place a whole regiment of soldiers in front of my palace in the morning. If you do, I’ll marry my daughter to you. If you don’t throw me out, I’ll throw you out!
And on his own mind: “Where can a simple peasant get an army? He won't be able to do this. That’s when we’ll kick him out!”
The fool heard the royal order and said to his matchmakers:
You, brothers, have rescued me from trouble more than once or twice... And now what are we going to do?
Eh, you found something to be sad about! - says the old man with brushwood. - Yes, I’ll field at least seven regiments with generals! Go to the king, tell him - he will have an army!
The fool came to the king.
“I will carry out,” he says, “your order, only for the last time.” And if you make excuses, blame yourself!
Early in the morning, the old man with brushwood called the fool and went out into the field with him. He scattered the bundle, and a countless army appeared - both on foot and on horseback, and with cannons. Trumpeters blow trumpets, drummers beat drums, generals give commands, horses beat their hooves into the ground...
The fool stood in front and led the army to the royal court. He stopped in front of the palace and ordered the trumpets to be blown louder and the drums to be beaten harder.
The king heard it, looked out the window, and became whiter than a sheet of paper in fright. He ordered the commanders to withdraw their troops and go to war against the fool.
The governors brought out the tsar’s army and began to shoot and fire at the fool. And the foolish soldiers march like a wall, crushing the royal army like grass. The commanders got scared and ran back, followed by the entire royal army.
The king crawled out of the palace, crawled on his knees in front of the fool, asking him to accept expensive gifts and marry the princess as soon as possible.
The fool says to the king:
Now you are not our guide! We have our own mind!
He drove the king away and never ordered him to return to that kingdom. And he himself married the princess.
The princess is a young and kind girl. There is no fault on her!
And he began to live in that kingdom and do all sorts of things.
The fairy tale tells how one day a king decided to give his daughter in marriage to someone who would build a flying ship. Made a ship junior peasant son with the help of a forest wizard. The wizard told him to call everyone on the way to his ship. Having flown on a ship, he picks up miracle companions along the way. Wonderful craftsmen (Sagittarius, Skorokhoda, Obedalo, Opivalo, Moroz-Kreskun) help the hero get married, performing difficult tasks for him, assigned by the king...
Flying ship read
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had three sons - the two eldest were considered smart, and everyone called the youngest a fool. The old woman loved her elders - she dressed them cleanly and fed them delicious food. And the youngest walked around in a holey shirt, chewing black crust.
- He, the fool, doesn’t care: he doesn’t understand anything, he doesn’t understand anything!
One day the news reached that village: whoever builds a ship for the king that can sail the seas and fly under the clouds, the king will marry his daughter to him.
The older brothers decided to try their luck.
Let us go, father and mother! Perhaps one of us will become the king's son-in-law!
The mother equipped her eldest sons, baked them white pies for the journey, fried and cooked some chicken and goose:
Go, sons!
The brothers went into the forest and began to cut down and saw trees. They chopped and sawed a lot. And they don’t know what to do next. They began to argue and swear, and the next thing they knew, they would grab each other’s hair.
An old man came up to them and asked:
Why are you guys arguing and swearing? Maybe I can tell you something that will help you?
Both brothers attacked the old man - they did not listen to him, cursed him with bad words and drove him away. The old man left.
The brothers had a fight, ate all their provisions that their mother gave them, and returned home with nothing...
As soon as they arrived, the youngest began to ask:
Let me go now!
His mother and father began to dissuade him and hold him back:
Where are you going, you fool, the wolves will eat you along the way!
And the fool knows his own thing repeats:
Let me go, I’ll go, and don’t let me go, I’ll go!
Mother and father see that there is no way to deal with him. They gave him a crust of dry black bread for the road and escorted him out of the house. The fool took an ax with him and went into the forest. I walked and walked through the forest and spotted a tall pine tree: the top of this pine rests on the clouds, only three people can grasp it.
He cut down a pine tree and began clearing its branches. An old man approached him.
“Hello,” he says, “child!”
Hello, grandpa!
What are you doing, child, why did you cut down such a big tree?
But, grandfather, the king promised to marry his daughter to the one who would build him a flying ship, and I am building it.
Can you really make such a ship? This is a tricky matter, and perhaps you won’t be able to handle it.
The tricky thing is not tricky, but you have to try: you see, and I succeed! By the way, here you are: old, experienced, knowledgeable people. Maybe you can give me some advice.
The old man says:
Well, if you ask for advice, listen: take your ax and chop this pine tree from the sides: like this!
And he showed how to trim.
The fool listened to the old man and hewed the pine the way he showed. He is cutting, and it’s amazing: the ax moves just like that, just like that!
Now, says the old man, trim the pine from the ends: this way and that way!
The fool doesn’t let the old man’s words fall on deaf ears: as the old man shows, so he does.
He finished the work, the old man praised him and said:
Well, now it’s not a sin to take a break and have a little snack.
Eh, grandpa,” says the fool, “there will be food for me, this stale piece of meat.” What can I treat you with? You probably won’t bite my treat, will you?
“Come on, child,” says the old man, “give me your crust!”
The fool gave him some crust. The old man took it in his hands, examined it, felt it, and said:
Your little bitch is not so callous!
And he gave it to the fool. The fool took the crust and couldn’t believe his eyes: the crust turned into a soft and white loaf.
After they had eaten, the old man said:
Well, now let's start adjusting the sails!
And he took out a piece of canvas from his bosom. The old man shows, the fool tries, he does everything conscientiously - and the sails are ready, trimmed.
Now get into your ship,” says the old man, “and fly wherever you want.” Look, remember my order: on the way, put everyone you meet on your ship!
Here they said goodbye. The old man went his way, and the fool boarded the flying ship and straightened the sails. The sails inflated, the ship soared into the sky, and flew faster than a falcon. It flies a little lower than the walking clouds, a little higher than the standing forests...
The fool flew and flew and saw a man lying on the road with his ear pressed to the damp ground. He came down and said:
Hello, uncle!
Hello, well done!
What are you doing?
I listen to what is happening at the other end of the earth.
What's going on there, uncle?
Wow, what an earworm you are! Get on my ship and we'll fly together.
Rumor did not make excuses, boarded the ship, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and saw a man walking along the road, walking on one leg, and the other leg tied to his ear.
Hello, uncle!
Hello, well done!
Why are you jumping on one leg?
Yes, if I untie my other leg, I’ll cross the whole world in three steps!
You are so fast! Sit down with us.
The speedboat did not refuse, climbed onto the ship, and they flew on.
You never know how much time has flown by, and lo and behold, there’s a man standing with a gun, taking aim. And what he’s aiming at is unknown.
Hello, uncle! Who are you aiming at? No animal or bird is visible around you.
What are you! Yes, I won’t shoot close. I'm aiming at a black grouse that's sitting on a tree about a thousand miles away. This is how shooting is for me.
Sit down with us, let's fly together!
They flew and flew and saw: a man was walking, carrying a huge sack of bread behind his back.
Hello, uncle! Where are you going?
I'm going to get some bread for lunch.
What more bread do you need? Your bag is already full!
What's here! Put this bread in my mouth and swallow it. And to eat my fill, I need a hundred times that amount!
Look what you are! Get on our ship and we'll fly together.
They fly over forests, they fly over fields, they fly over rivers, they fly over villages and villages.
Lo and behold: a man is walking near a large lake, shaking his head.
Hello, uncle! What is it you are looking for?
I'm thirsty, so I'm looking for somewhere to get drunk.
There's a whole lake in front of you. Drink to your heart's content!
Yes, this water will only last me one sip.
The fool marveled, his comrades marveled and said:
Well, don't worry, there will be water for you. Get on the ship with us, we will fly far, there will be plenty of water for you!
It is unknown how long they flew, they just see: a man is walking into the forest, and behind his shoulders is a bundle of brushwood.
Hello, uncle! Tell us: why are you dragging brushwood into the forest?
And this is not ordinary brushwood. If you scatter it, a whole army will immediately appear.
Sit down, uncle, with us!
They flew and flew, and lo and behold: an old man was walking, carrying a sack of straw.
Hello, grandpa, gray little head! Where are you taking the straw?
To the village.
Is there really not enough straw in the village?
There is a lot of straw, but there is no such thing.
What is it like for you?
Here's what it is: if I scatter it in the hot summer, it will suddenly become cold: snow will fall, frost will crackle.
If so, the truth is yours: you won’t find such straw in the village. Sit down with us!
Kholodillo climbed into the ship with his sack, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and arrived at the royal court.
The king was sitting at dinner at that time. He saw a flying ship and sent his servants:
Go ask: who flew on that ship - which overseas princes and princes? 
The servants ran up to the ship and saw that ordinary men were sitting on the ship.
The royal servants did not even ask them who they were and where they came from. They returned and reported to the king:
So and so! There is not a single prince on the ship, not a single prince, and all black bones are simple men. What do you want to do with them?
“It’s shameful for us to marry our daughter to a simple man,” the Tsar thinks. “We need to get rid of such suitors.”
He asked his courtiers - princes and boyars:
What should we do now, what should we do?
They advised:
It is necessary to ask the groom various difficult problems, maybe he won’t solve them. Then we will turn the corner and show him!
The king was delighted and immediately sent his servants to the fool with the following order:
Let the groom get us, before our royal dinner is over, living and dead water!
The fool thought:
What am I going to do now? Yes, I won’t find such water in a year, or maybe even my whole life.
What am I supposed to do? - says Skorokhod. - I’ll handle it for you in a moment.
He untied his leg from his ear and ran across distant lands to the thirtieth kingdom. I collected two jugs of living and dead water, and thought to myself: “There’s a lot of time left ahead, let me sit for a while and I’ll be back in time!”
He sat down under a thick, spreading oak tree and dozed off...
The royal dinner is coming to an end, but Skorokhod is gone.
Everyone on the flying ship was sunbathing - they didn’t know what to do. And Slukhalo put his ear to the damp earth, listened and said:
What a sleepy and drowsy one! He sleeps under a tree, snoring with all his might!
But I’ll wake him up now! - says Strelyalo.
He grabbed his gun, took aim and shot at the oak tree under which Skorokhod was sleeping. Acorns fell from the oak tree - right on Skorokhod’s head. He woke up.
Fathers, yes, no way, I fell asleep!
He jumped up and at that very moment brought jugs of water:
Get it!
The king stood up from the table, looked at the jugs and said:
Or maybe this water is not real?
They caught a rooster, tore off its head and sprinkled it with dead water. The head instantly grew larger. They sprinkled it with living water - the rooster jumped to his feet, flapping his wings, “cuckoo!” shouted. 
The king became annoyed.
Well,” he says to the fool, “you have completed this task of mine.” Now I'll ask another one! If you are so clever, you and your matchmakers will eat in one sitting twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as was baked in forty ovens!
The fool became sad and said to his comrades:
Yes, I can’t even eat one piece of bread all day!
What am I supposed to do? - says Obedalo. - I can handle both the bulls and their grain alone. It won't be enough yet!
The fool ordered to tell the king:
Drag the bulls and the grain. Let's eat!
They brought twelve roasted bulls and as much bread as had been baked in forty ovens.
Let's eat the bulls, one by one. And he puts bread in his mouth and throws loaf after loaf. All the carts were empty.
Let's do more! - Obedalo shouts. - Why did they supply so little? I'm just getting the hang of it!
But the king has no more bulls or grain.
Now,” he says, “there is a new order for you: to drink forty barrels of beer at a time, each barrel containing forty buckets.” 
“I can’t even drink one bucket,” says the fool to his matchmakers.
What a sadness! - Opivalo answers. - Yes, I’ll drink all their beer alone, it won’t be enough!
Forty barrels were rolled in. They began to scoop up beer in buckets and serve it to Opivale. He takes a sip - the bucket is empty.
What are you bringing me in buckets? - says Opivalo. - We'll be messing around all day like that!
He picked up the barrel and emptied it all at once, without stopping. He picked up another barrel - and the empty one rolled away. So I drained all forty barrels.
Isn’t he, he asks, still have some beer? I didn't drink to my heart's content! Don't get your throat wet!
The king sees: nothing can take the fool. I decided to destroy him with cunning.
Okay,” he says, “I’ll marry my daughter to you, get ready for the crown!” Just before the wedding, go to the bathhouse, wash and steam thoroughly.
And he ordered the bathhouse to be heated.
And the bathhouse was all cast iron.
For three days the bathhouse was heated, red-hot. It radiates with fire and heat; you can’t approach it within five fathoms.
How will I wash? - says the fool. - I'll burn alive.
“Don’t be sad,” Kholodylo answers. - I'll go with you!
He ran to the king and asked:
Would you allow me and my fiancé to go to the bathhouse? I'll put some straw on him so he doesn't get his heels dirty!
What to the king? He allowed: “That one will burn, that both!”
They brought the fool with the Refrigerator to the bathhouse and locked him there.
And Kholodilo scattered straw in the bathhouse - and it became cold, the walls were covered with frost, the water in the cast iron froze.
Some time passed and the servants opened the door. They look, and the fool is alive and well, and the old man too.
“Eh, you,” says the fool, “why don’t you take a steam bath in your bathhouse, how about riding on a sled!”
The servants ran to the king. They reported: So, they say, and so. The king was tossed around, he didn’t know what to do, how to get rid of the fool.
I thought and thought and ordered him:
Place a whole regiment of soldiers in front of my palace in the morning. If you do, I’ll marry my daughter to you. If you don’t throw me out, I’ll throw you out!
And on his own mind: “Where can a simple peasant get an army? He won't be able to do this. That’s when we’ll kick him out!”
The fool heard the royal order and said to his matchmakers:
You, brothers, have helped me out of trouble more than once or twice... And now what are we going to do?
Eh, you found something to be sad about! - says the old man with brushwood. - Yes, I’ll field at least seven regiments with generals! Go to the king, tell him - he will have an army!
The fool came to the king.
“I will carry out,” he says, “your order, only for the last time.” And if you make excuses, blame yourself!
Early in the morning, the old man with brushwood called the fool and went out into the field with him. He scattered the bundle, and a countless army appeared - both on foot and on horseback, and with cannons. Trumpeters blow trumpets, drummers beat drums, generals give commands, horses beat their hooves into the ground... 
The fool stood in front and led the army to the royal court. He stopped in front of the palace and ordered the trumpets to be blown louder and the drums to be beaten harder.
The king heard it, looked out the window, and became whiter than a sheet of paper in fright. He ordered the commanders to withdraw their troops and go to war against the fool.
The governors brought out the tsar’s army and began to shoot and fire at the fool. And the foolish soldiers march like a wall, crushing the royal army like grass. The commanders got scared and ran back, followed by the entire royal army.
The king crawled out of the palace, crawled on his knees in front of the fool, asking him to accept expensive gifts and marry the princess as soon as possible. 
The fool says to the king:
Now you are not our guide! We have our own mind!
He drove the king away and never ordered him to return to that kingdom. And he himself married the princess.
The princess is a young and kind girl. There is no fault on her!
And he began to live in that kingdom and do all sorts of things.
(Illustration by M. Belomlinsky, ed. Soviet Russia, 1987, Moscow)
Published by: Mishka 30.10.2017 11:19 10.04.2018The tale “The Flying Ship” is about how good teacher maybe even teach a fool to make a ship, but what happened then? Read and find out.
Flying ship. Fairy tale for children
Once upon a time there lived an old man and an old woman. They had three sons - the two eldest were considered smart, and everyone called the youngest a fool. The old woman loved her elders - she dressed them cleanly and fed them delicious food. And the youngest walked around in a holey shirt, chewing black crust.
He, the fool, doesn’t care: he doesn’t understand anything, he doesn’t understand anything!
One day the news reached that village: whoever builds a ship for the king that can sail the seas and fly under the clouds, the king will marry his daughter to him.
The older brothers decided to try their luck.
- Let us go, father and mother! Perhaps one of us will become the king's son-in-law!
The mother equipped her eldest sons, baked them white pies for the journey, fried and cooked some chicken and goose:
- Go, sons!
The brothers went into the forest and began to cut down and saw trees. They chopped and sawed a lot. And they don’t know what to do next. They began to argue and swear, and the next thing they knew, they would grab each other’s hair.
An old man came up to them and asked:
- Why are you guys arguing and swearing? Maybe I can tell you something that will help you?
Both brothers attacked the old man - they did not listen to him, cursed him with bad words and drove him away. The old man left.
The brothers had a fight, ate all their provisions that their mother gave them, and returned home with nothing...
As soon as they arrived, the youngest began to ask:
- Let me go now!?
His mother and father began to dissuade him and hold him back:
- Where are you going, you fool, the wolves will eat you along the way!
And the fool knows his own thing repeats:
- Let me go, I’ll go, and don’t let me go, I’ll go!
Mother and father see that there is no way to deal with him. They gave him a crust of dry black bread for the road and escorted him out of the house.
The fool took an ax with him and went into the forest. I walked and walked through the forest and spotted a tall pine tree: the top of this pine tree rests on the clouds, only three people can grasp it.
He cut down a pine tree and began clearing its branches. An old man approached him.
“Hello,” he says, “child!”
- Hello, grandfather!
“What are you doing, child, why did you cut down such a big tree?”
- But, grandfather, the king promised to marry his daughter to the one who would build him a flying ship, and I am building it.
“Can you really make such a ship?” This is a tricky matter, and perhaps you won’t be able to handle it.
- The tricky thing is not tricky, but you have to try: you look, and I succeed! By the way, you came here: old people, experienced, knowledgeable. Maybe you can give me some advice.
The old man says:
- Well, if you ask for advice, listen: take your ax and chop this pine tree from the sides: like this!
And he showed how to trim.
The fool listened to the old man and hewed the pine the way he showed. He is cutting, and it’s amazing: the ax moves just like that, just like that!
“Now,” says the old man, “finish the pine from the ends: this way and that way!”
The fool doesn’t let the old man’s words fall on deaf ears: as the old man shows, so he does.
He finished the work, the old man praised him and said:
- Well, now it’s not a sin to take a break and have a little snack.
“Eh, grandpa,” says the fool, “there’s food for me, this stale piece of meat.” What can I treat you with? You probably won’t bite my treat, will you?
“Come on, child,” says the old man, “give me your crust!”
The fool gave him some crust. The old man took it in his hands, examined it, felt it, and said:
“Your bitch is not so callous!”
And he gave it to the fool. The fool took the crust and couldn’t believe his eyes: the crust turned into a soft and white loaf. After they had eaten, the old man said:
- Well, now let's start adjusting the sails! And he took out a piece of canvas from his bosom.
The old man shows, the fool tries, he does everything conscientiously - and the sails are ready, trimmed.
“Now get into your ship,” says the old man, “and fly wherever you want.” Look, remember my order: on the way, put everyone you meet on your ship!
Here they said goodbye. The old man went his way, and the fool boarded the flying ship and straightened the sails. The sails inflated, the ship soared into the sky, and flew faster than a falcon. It flies a little lower than the walking clouds, a little higher than the standing forests...
The fool flew and flew and saw a man lying on the road with his ear pressed to the damp earth. He came down and said:
- Great, uncle!
- Great, well done!
- What are you doing?
“I’m listening to what’s going on at the other end of the earth.”
- What's going on there, uncle?
- What a great listener you are! Get on my ship and we'll fly together.
Rumor did not make excuses, boarded the ship, and they flew on.
They flew and flew and saw a man walking along the road, walking on one leg, and the other leg tied to his ear.
- Great, uncle!
- Great, well done!
- Why are you jumping on one leg?
- Yes, if I untie my other leg, I’ll cross the whole world in three steps!
- You're so fast! Sit down with us.
The speedboat did not refuse, climbed onto the ship, and they flew on.
You never know how much has passed, and lo and behold, there’s a man standing with a gun, taking aim. It’s unknown what he’s aiming at.
- Great, uncle! Who are you aiming at? No animal or bird is visible around you.
- What are you! Yes, I won’t shoot close. I’m aiming at a black grouse that’s sitting on a tree about a thousand miles away. This is how shooting is for me.
- Sit down with us, let's fly together!
They flew and flew and saw: a man was walking, carrying a huge sack of bread behind his back.
- Great, uncle! Where are you going?
“I’m going to get some bread for lunch.”
- What more bread do you need? Your bag is already full!
- What’s here! Put this bread in my mouth and swallow it. And to eat my fill, I need a hundred times that amount!
- Look what you are! Get on our ship and we'll fly together.
They fly over forests, they fly over fields, they fly over rivers, they fly over villages and villages. Lo and behold: a man is walking near a large lake, shaking his head.
- Great, uncle! What is it you are looking for?
“I’m thirsty, so I’m looking for somewhere to get drunk.”
- Yes, there is a whole lake in front of you. Drink to your heart's content!
- Yes, this water will only last me one sip.