There lived a man and a woman, and they had three sons. Two were cunning, and the third was the one everyone called the fool, because he was quiet, kind, and seemed stupid. But in reality he had a heart of gold.
Once the king proclaimed a decree throughout the kingdom: "Whoever builds a flying ship that will fly in the sky by itself, I will give him my daughter and half the kingdom as well." The people were amazed. The eldest sons gathered, asked their mother for pies for the journey, and went to seek happiness.
The youngest one even asked: «Mom, bake me some pies, I’ll go too.» His mother laughed: «What are you doing, you fool? The wind will knock you off your feet.» But she baked him some pies with potatoes, put them in a bag, and let him go.
A fool is walking through the forest, and an old grandfather with a gray beard down to his waist meets him. «Hello, son. Where are you going?» «I want to build a flying ship.» «Do you have anything with you?» «I have some pies, just plain ones.» «Will you share them with me?» «Why not share them, grandfather.».
Grandfather sat down on a stump, the fool untied his bag. And when he took out the pies, his mouth fell open. Instead of simple ones with potatoes, there were pies with chicken, with mushrooms, with cherries. "Eat, grandpa, to your health." Grandpa ate, wiped his beard, and said: "Go to the forest, son, find an old oak tree, hit it three times with an ax, and don't look at what will happen. In the morning it will become a ship.".
The fool did as his grandfather taught him. A blow, another blow, a third time - and he fell into a deep sleep. And in the morning he woke up - there was a ship with white sails, with carved sides, standing in front of him. The fool sat on it: "Well, little ship, fly." And it rose into the sky.
He flies over the field, and sees a man lying there, his ear pressed to the ground. «What, good man?» «I hear an ant singing a song at the other end of the world.» «Sit with me!» They flew on. And he sees another man hopping on one leg, the other tied. «Why is the leg tied?» «And if I untie it, I’ll go halfway around the world in a moment. I want to go slower.» «Sit!»
They flew further - and here the man walks around the lake, not getting drunk. "I've already sucked up half the lake, and I can't quench my thirst." "Sit down!" Then the man chews a whole haystack: "I'm hungry, I eat seven loaves of bread, but it's still not enough." "Sit down!" They also met an archer who shoots an entire echo into the sky with his arrow. A freezer who only smiles at the fierce frost, because he can at least freeze in the fire. And Styrkha-ukha, who, if he takes off his hat, will cover the entire region with frost. The fool put them all on a ship.
They flew to the king. The king was surprised and said: "I built a ship - good. But I will test it again. Bring me from the end of the world living and dead water by morning." The fool sent his assistants: the swift-footed one ran - in an hour he returned with two bottles. The king's eyes widened: "Then eat seven roasted oxen and twenty loaves of bread in one sitting." "Okay," said the fat one, and ate everything to his taste.
«"Then the fumes in the bathhouse - so that the oven is red-hot." And the king thought to fry them there. But the freezer came first - and in the red-hot bathhouse everything was frozen with frost. They played there as if on ice. The king did not know what to do. He called the army: "Destroy him!" And the fool shot an arrow into the sky - and such a storm, such an element, came that the army fled. The king understood that he could not overcome this boy. He gave his daughter in marriage to him, gave half the kingdom. And the fool became a wise ruler, because he had what the king lacked - a kind heart and loyal friends.
💛 A good heart and sincere help will defeat even royal arrogance.