There was once a king in a distant land. He had three daughters. One was a little girl, the other was just about to get married and the third was already getting old. The queen kept saying to her husband:

- Let's marry our daughters, or at least the eldest, she is getting older and older - it's time for her to wed.

And the king, engrossed in other things, always postponed and kept saying to the queen:

"A king's daughter is never old." Even if she is a hundred years old, if she is a maiden, there will always be someone to take her. There is no need to hurry.

That's how the days went by. One Sunday the king sat down with the queen and the princesses to have lunch. As they ate, the servants brought three watermelons to the table. They cut one and saw that it was overripe. The king looked at his eldest daughter and said to the queen:

"You were right in telling me to marry my daughters." This watermelon has gone bad: she looks like our eldest daughter. If it had been harvested before this Sunday, it would have been edible.

They cut the second one. She was well matured. The king looked at the middle daughter and said:

"This watermelon is ripe and good to eat." She's like you: you're in the best age to get married.

They cut the third. It came out completely green. The king gave it to the servants to eat, so he looked at the youngest daughter and said to the queen:

"It’s green," he said, looking like our youngest daughter. If this fruit had matured for another week or two, she would have been perfectly ripe. And now the one who has not been careful during the harvest will eat it.

At the end of the dinner, the king sent men throughout the kingdom to announce that he was going to marry his daughters, and he sent servants to the surrounding kingdoms with orders - wherever their foot could reach, to spread the news.

It was heard everywhere, and in the most distant lands, that the king was waiting for lads to come for his daughters. Royal sons, princes, kings, courtiers, heroes came to ask for the royal daughters’ hands. One wanted one of the daughters, another sought the other. The king told them that whoever each maiden chose, would take her. The eldest and the middle chose their future husbands and got married. And no one asked for the little one: everyone said that she was still young, not suitable for marriage.

But finally a man for the youngest was found. One day a large black chariot with white bats engraved on it stopped in front of the palace. Six horses were harnessed to the chariot: three white and three black; it was driven by two men, their bodies formed by charcoal and tar, dressed in eerie robes. The chariot was moving fast, but there was no noise. Everyone stopped to look at it. The king, queen, and all the courtiers looked out of the palace’s windows with great astonishment, and some even with fear: no one had ever seen such a chariot. But even more frightening was the man who came out of the chariot. He was young, all clad in gold, silk, and velvet; half of his face was white as snow and half was made from the same tar and coal as the bodies of his servants; one hand was white and the other black. He got out of the chariot, walked slowly and silently to the palace, climbed the stairs, and went straight to the palace, where the royal family resided. Everyone who saw him froze in fear and silence.

The man stood before the king, bowed to him, and said grimly:

"I come from the farthest kingdom in the world, consequently I'm late." I hope there’s a girl for me too. I am a prince of a country where half the year is day and half is night. Do not be surprised that half of my face is black and half is white; that one of my hands is black and the other is white; that one of my eyes is black; and the other white. With the black eye I see everything that happens during the day, and with the white eye - at night. With the black hand I kill, and with the white I revive. I came to ask for your youngest daughter.

Everyone in the palace was frightened at the glance of this eerie prince when they heard his words. The king and queen looked at each other; the queen whispered to her daughter:

"Daughter, don't accept: do you see how terrible he is!" Who knows what he will do to you!

The mysterious man was waiting for an answer. The king and queen were silent. They did not dare to tell him that they did not want such a son-in-law. All went silent, then the mysterious man said:

"I come from the farthest land in the world: I don't have time to wait. Answer me!”

The king said:

"You will have to ask my daughter, young prince." Here she is - ask her! My daughters choose their own husbands.

The prince turned his sight to the girl and looked at her so coldly that she froze in fear. The king saw that at that moment his daughter was not in the state to decide anything.

"Wait a minute, bright prince," he said, "until we talk to our daughter privately and she calms down, then we'll give you an answer."

"All right," said the man. "I will go and wait for the answer in the chariot." If you agree to give me the princess, tell the servants to blow silver trumpets, if you do not want to give her to me, let them blow ebony horns. I will go, and in a week I will come in a wedding chariot to take the princess away if I hear silver trumpets; and if I hear the ebony horns, I shall never  return.

When left alone, the queen and the king began to persuade their daughter not to take such a husband. But she told them:

"My sisters got married." It was reported that I would also get married. If I let this man go, rumors will spread throughout the kingdom that no one wants me. Wouldn't that be shameful? Bad or good - I will take him. That’s what fate had in store for me.

No matter how much the parents persuaded their daughter not to take the grim prince, she did not listen. They blew silver trumpets, and the man in the chariot disappeared as quietly as he had arrived. The rumor spread throughout the kingdom that the youngest princess would marry some other-worldly prince - half of his body white, and the other half black, who kills with one hand and revives with the other. The three brothers of the princesses, who were at war in distant lands, heard about it; so did both of her sisters, who got married. Everyone hurried to the palace to see the wonderful prince. It was time for him to return in a chariot to take his bride. At midnight, when the palace was already closed, there was a loud knock on the door. The guards opened to see who was coming. In front of the door stood a large black chariot with white bats painted on it, similar to the first, but larger. Twelve horses were harnessed to the chariot: six white and six black. It was driven by the same two tar-borne men who drove the first one. One came down and opened the door of the chariot. Four people came out: a large man dressed in sinister clothes, with a painted face, red eyes and a snake in his hand; a tar woman, dressed in the most luxurious clothes, a female dwarf with a yellow face and long crooked eyes: she carried a large chest with precious jewelry - a gift from the prince; a devil in colorful attire, with a big key in his hand and a black cat on his back. These odd suitors entered the palace and wanted to see the king immediately. He came. Then the man with the mottled face said:

"For the bride we come, your highness." We have a custom - the groom's father and mother take the bride out and the husband waits at home. I am the father of the prince for whom silver trumpets were played here a week ago, and this is his mother. The dwarf and the devil are courtiers. Give us the girl for we have a long way to go.

As much as the king and queen were stunned earlier when their son appeared before them, they were twice as stunned now that they saw the strange and dreadful matchmakers. The king invited them to the banquet hall and ordered the servants to treat them well, and he himself went to call his daughter. She then called her brothers and sisters. They wanted to see their sister off and see what this unearthly kingdom would be like. But the king with the mottled face said that there was only room for one person in the chariot, and after the wedding he would send the chariot to pick them up so that they could visit their sister. The brothers and sisters then went to a wizard who lived in the palace tower and asked him if he had the means to help them go with their sister to that kingdom where half a year is day and half is night.

"There is only one way," said the wizard, "to turn you into bats and butterflies with magic, land on the chariot, and reach that realm." But one thing to remember: if you arrive in the mysterious realm of Death (that's what that kingdom is called), you must not land anywhere, because you will be turned to stone and only one will be able to revive you: the man whose face is half black and half white.

He did the magic and the three brothers turned into bats and the two sisters into butterflies. They landed on the black chariot, the bride and groom’s parents went inside, and the chariot set off like a whirlwind, but there was no noise, as if both horses and chariot were flying in the air. The chariot flew for a long time - a day, two, three; it was not clear where it was going nor which path did it take. At dawn, the horses stopped in a gloomy cemetery. There the courtiers got out, opened the door and all got out of the chariot. The king clapped his hands and the chariot and the horses disappeared.. Everyone went to the cemetery. The place was eerie. Crosses could be seen everywhere - wooden and stone, tall bare trees without leaves, bushes and odourless flowers, with some hard leaves - as if made from stone. There were owls and bats perched on the trees; they sat motionless and stared with dead, glazed eyes; snakes were wrapped around the stems, still motionless, shiny, as if made of iron. Mushrooms grew on the ground with a peculiar odor, which made the bride go hazy. The bats, the princess's transformed brothers, felt their wings heavier, compressed by the thick air, which felt like a wall; they began to land one by one on the trees: whoever landed, stayed there, turned to stone. And the wings of the butterflies couldn’t take it any longer; one landed on a red flower, but felt its legs stick and could no longer separate from the flower: that's where she stayed. And the other, no matter how tired, kept flying; when she couldn’t keep up, she landed on the princess's head and rested.

The groom’s family and the bride walked for a long time in this cursed place, until they reached some high rocks. There the devil put the big key in a hole in the rock; he unlocked it and a red light ladder leading down the rocks appeared: it shone like blazing embers. Everyone entered and began descending down the stairs, but the butterfly felt its wings catching fire in the hot air, and with great difficulty flew to the outside. She barely made the leap out of the dungeon - and the rock closed again.

When the girl entered the dungeon with the strange people, she found herself in a large palace. The boy she was taken to was a vampire, a prince of the underworld. He walked the earth during the day and came home in the evening. They took the bride to a room. Only she and her mother-in-law, remained. Her mother-in-law undressed her, bathed her, and fed her a heavy, greasy dish that smelled of blood. Then she gave her some wine to drink; the bride drank the wine, felt tired, and fell asleep. She woke up in the morning without remembering anything. Seven monstrous servants stood around her. She asked them where her husband was, but they said nothing: the servants were mute. It was time for lunch. They took her to a wide hall, where long tables were arranged. At the tables sat her father-in-law, her mother-in-law, some courtiers, horned devils, men with beastly faces: all terrible and sinister diners. She asked where her husband was; they said he was on business and would be back in the evening. They put bloody human heads on the table. The bride did not eat. They put wine, she did not drink. She was asked why she did not eat or drink; she said her heart was pounding, so she wanted to take a walk outside. Her mother-in-law then said:

- We have a custom, daughter, we go for a walk only on Friday. And today is Sunday. You will wait another five days. Now eat and drink. Don't you like the dishes?

She said she was not yet accustomed to their dishes, so they were heavy for her.

"You'll get used to it, daughter , you'll get used to it," her mother-in-law comforted her.

In the evening she was bathed again, given her wine and she fell asleep. It went on like this day after day, and she didn't see her husband. On Friday, a dwarf opened the door for her to go for a walk. She went out for a walk in the cemetery. A butterfly flew up to her, landed on her shoulder, and said in a human voice:

"Sister, sister, how do you live in this damned kingdom?" I've been flying here for five days now - I hoped I would meet you, or one of our brothers, or our other sister, but I've never met anyone but sinister people carrying bags full of human heads. You must have married a vampire. How do you live down there?

The vampire’s bride told her what they ate and drank in the underground palace and what its inhabitants were like. She complained that she had never seen her husband because he went to work during the day and was given some drugged wine in the evening, which made her sleepy, so that at night she could not see who was entering or leaving the palace. Her sister advised her to put a sponge in her clothes under her neck and pour the wine there in the evening. She also told her that her brothers and her other sister must have been turned to stone by landing on the hexed trees in the cemetery: she begged her to ask how to revive them. While the sisters were talking, the dwarf came and told the princess to enter the dungeon because he would close the doors. She went home and it closed, and the butterfly flew away from the sinister places, rested in a meadow, and from there flew to her father's kingdom and landed on the tower where the wizard lived. He transformed her into a woman, and she went to the palace and told her family how their daughter lived in the vampire's underground kingdom.

And the vampire’s bride entered the palace. In the evening she was bathed and given dinner, but she ate only bread. The bread was unsalted. They gave her wine and she poured it into the sponge she hung on her throat. Then she pretended to be asleep, and the tar maids carried her to her bed. Then they went out. In the middle of the night, her husband, the vampire, came. He was covered in blood and very angry. They gave him water to get washed. He then scolded his father and mother for letting his bride walk around the cemetery and meet her sister. He forbade them to let her go another time without asking him. Then he entered the room and closed the door. His wife pretended to be asleep, but she had just slightly closed her eyes and looked through her lashes. The vampire lit a candle, left it by the bed, and began to undress. He took off his clothes and the bride saw that his skin was covered in scales like a snake, he also had wings. He took off his skin, a second one appeared under it - like a fish, with small shiny scales. He undressed it too; a shining third skin, like a lizard, and stripped it. Thus the vampire took off seven skins - and the bride saw a young man -no different from other people, but built, strong and handsome. He placed his skins and clothes on a shelf on the wall, then layed on the floor instead of the bed, wrapped himself in a thick fur, and immediately fell asleep. His bride got up, took the candle and leaned over the man to see him up close. Now he looked much more handsome than when she looked at him from a distance with narrowed eyes. She was so carried away looking at him that she did not notice how hot wax dripped from the candle and burned her husband on the forehead. The vampire jumped at once and saw his bride holding a candle over him. He thought she was preparing to burn his stripped skins, so he became very angry and asked her violently what she was doing with the candle. But the princess was so stunned and frightened that she could not say a word. Then her husband clapped his hands. A large tar-borne man came, naked, with a sword on his thigh. The vampire told him sternly and bluntly:

"Take this girl down three kingdoms!"

And fell asleep. The servant grabbed the girl and carried her into some deep darkness. She saw nothing. She could only feel the strong wind beating on her face. Thus they came to the fourth kingdom. The man took the girl to the house of an old childless woman and left her there, saying:

"I am being sent by the prince of the country, where it is half a year day and half a year night." He told me to give you this girl - to look after her as your own.

He got lost right away. And the old woman said to the princess:

"Welcome, daughter!" If the one who kills with one hand and revives with the other sends you, you will be my daughter. I don't have a child, so you will be my child.

And the girl lived with the woman. She lived there for a day, two, months, a year. In this kingdom, where they lived, the king's daughter fell ill with rabies. When she was furious, she wanted to be given three maidens so she could tear them apart. She was the king's daughter - there was nothing they could do: they were pleasing her. During some days, if not every day, three maidens were taken to her and she tore them apart to satisfy her rage. Many innocent girls' lives had already been taken  by the rabid princess. It was the turn of the old woman’s girl - the vampire’s bride. One day the royal guards took her with two other maidens to the palace, to the wicked princess’ room. But just as they entered, she was asleep. The old lady’s foster daughter looked to see if she could escape. The door was locked, but there was a hole in the ceiling. She made the two maidens stand face to face and clasp their hands tightly, climbed on top of them, reached the hole with her hands, and entered a dark room under the roof. From there she lowered her belt and pulled one girl with it, and they together  pulled the last one. They passed through the dark room and came to an opening that led to the roof. There they waited until it was dark, and when the time came, they tied their belts, then descended on them to the ground and fled outside the city, so that the royal guards would not find them.

They walked through the woods, walked and walked, then saw a fire. They went to it and saw two blind old women there. One was tying a ball of fern and the other was untying  another. The one that tied it,  was the Day, and the one that was untying it, was the Night. They basked in the fire and talked.

One of the old women thought:

"The vampire kicked his wife out because she burned his face with hot dangle wax.." I was told that she was somewhere in this kingdom. If she had known - to burn the seven skins he took off in the evening, he would have immediately become a man, and all the hexed people who got turned to stones and creatures in the cemetery would have come to life and become human.

"Ah," said the other, "if she had known, she wouldn't have even married him." But even if she burns his skins now, others will grow until the wound from the candle on his forehead heals. He puts on seven skins every morning. As the wound heals at night, it reopens during the day by rubbing into the skins.

- So how can the wound heal? The first woman asked.

"It's easy," said the second, "but you have to go down four more kingdoms where the vampire's brother lives." He knows how to heal such wounds.

The grandmothers fell silent for some time, then began to talk again.

"The king  here," said one, "his daughter is rabid from magic."

- Can it be cured? The other asked her.

"Maybe," she replied, "There is a witch in that forest three rivers away." She boils tar in the woods. When she starts the fire, the queen becomes furious and tears the maidens apart so that the curse could release her. And when the witch puts out the fire, the girl falls asleep and the demon (the curse)  leaves her for a while. If there was someone to kill the sorceress and put out the fire, the princess would be healed.

"And how can she be killed?" The first old woman asked again. "She guards herself with spells, neither iron nor arrows can penetrate them."

"It’s easy," said the other. - Two cypress branches should be cut and tied crosswise. With such a stick, as soon as you hit her, she will die immediately: all spells will be broken.

Hearing this, the girls left. The vampire’s bride told them:

"You can find me some men’s clothes, and I'll be waiting for you here, at the end of the forest." I will go to heal the king's daughter.

And the king had proclaimed throughout the kingdom that whoever healed his daughter would make him his son-in-law. Doctors and healers came to the palace every day. The girl put on the men’s clothes and went to the king; she told him that she would cure his daughter, and he replied with a bitter laugh:

"Oh, boy, boy!" How many educated doctors and old healers came to treat her, but no one could! You think you can heal her? I see that you have high hopes of becoming a royal son-in-law, but it will not be!…

And the girl told him that she would heal his daughter the next day, as long as he gave her two or three hundred soldiers and a guide. He assigned soldiers and a guide, and the girl in men’s clothes told them to take her to the forest across three rivers. They took her. She ordered the soldiers to surround the forest on all sides and not to let anyone out. Then she cut down two cypress branches, tied them crosswise, and walked with the guide through the woods. They walked, and walked and saw smoke through the trees. They were guided by the smell of tar, they approached it and saw a large cauldron with tar on the fire, but there was no one to be found. The hag who was cooking the tar had climbed a tree when she saw people coming. Then the girl poured a bucket of water into the fire and began to put it out. The witch saw this and shouted from the tree:

"Get out, you bastards!" May your hands dry up, with which you put out my fire!

But she did not come down from the tree. The girl then turned the cauldron over and spilled the tar. The hag was furious and shouted even louder from the tree.

"May you never see peace, you hangmen!" Turn black like tar - you who spilled my tar!

And she came down from the tree. Then the girl hit her from the back  with the crosswise tied sticks and the witch perished.

"Let's go!" She told the men. "The king's daughter has already recovered because the magic was in the fire, the tar, and the old witch." As soon as we put out the fire, broke the cauldron and killed the witch, the magic was broken and the queen would be healed.

They all returned to the palace. The girl dressed in men’s clothes appeared before the king and told him that she wanted to go to his daughter. He did not allow it; he told her that the rabid princess would tear him apart. The hero did not listen to him and entered, but the princess was asleep. Then the disguised girl went out and stood at the door waiting. Time passed and he entered a second time. Now the previously rabid princess was quite healthy. The king told the hero who cured his daughter that he would make him a son-in-law - to invite his family to a wedding. But wasn't the hero a girl- how would she marry the king's daughter? She said to the king:

'Let a royal boy marry your daughter, your highness; I come from a poor and humble family.

"Then," said the king, "what else do you want as a reward for healing my daughter?"

"All I want," said the hero, "is to find someone who can take me up three kingdoms."

"All right," said the king, "so be it" Just wait three days.

The hero remained in the palace waiting. And the king summoned the wisest people from his capital and asked them which one of them would take the hero up  through three kingdoms. None of the sages knew how this could happen, they looked at each other and were silent. Finally one called:

'There is, your highness, an ascetic ; he lives in a cave by the sea; there the eagles’ council gathers, and he knows the language of the birds, so he may ask if the eagles would agree to help the hero. One cannot do this unless one has wings.

"All right," said the king, "go ask the ascetic!" Tonight I want you to find me a solution.

The sages went to the fasting man and told him why the king had gathered them and what he had told them.

"Let's wait for the eagles!" Said the humble man. "Until then, let one of you run to the palace to ask the king for forty ox heads."

One went. They brought the ox heads and threw them on the surrounding rocks. When the eagles sniffed the meat, they immediately came.. The ascetic then asked them which of them would agree to take a hero up three kingdoms. A big eagle called:

"I will," he said, "just let the hero prepare meat and water for forty days, so he can get on my back and take off prepared."

The ascetic said this to the wise men, and they returned to the king. The king prepared meat and water for forty days, gave them to the hero and wished him good luck. The hero took the meat and water and mounted the eagle. The eagle flew and flew and then stopped on a high rock. He was looking for meat; the hero gave it to him. He asked for water; and he gave him water. The bird flew like this for thirty-nine days, and the hero gave it water and meat until it was done. They reached the underworld. From there to the vampire's palace was a full day's journey. The eagle asked for meat again. The hero had nothing to give him. He cut off a piece of his leg and fed it to him. The eagle was fed and flew. He took the hero to the palace and disappeared.

The bride's father-in-law and mother-in-law were very surprised to see her again in the palace.They questioned her, but she said nothing. She went into her room, dressed in women's clothes, and sat waiting for her husband. The mother-in-law bathed her again and her wound healed from the water, then she gave her food, gave her wine to drink, but she poured the wine into the sponge again. The vampire came in the middle of the night and started arguing with his father again about why they didn't send a man to tell him that his bride had returned. He returned to the room and his wife pretended to be asleep. He took off his clothes, took off his skins one by one, put them on the shelf and fell asleep. And she got up, took the candle, and walked slowly toward the vampire to see if his wound had healed. The wound was still sore and deep. The girl's heart trembled with pity and remorse, and so did her hand; wax dripped from the candle again, and a second wound opened on the vampire's forehead.

He went mad with anger: his pain was terrible. He jumped at once, clapped his hands, and the big servant reappeared. He ordered him to take the bride down seven kingdoms. The tar-borne grabbed her and carried her away; took her through the seventh kingdom to the eighth. There he took her to another old woman, whom he ordered to look after the bride as his daughter, until the vampire asked for her. The woman was childless, so she took her as a foster child. And the princess lived there for about a year.

That grandmother was a sorceress. During the day she lived with her new foster daughter and taught her various spells, and at night she vanished: when it got dark, a heavy feeling carried the bride and she would fall asleep. When she woke up at night, she was alone at home: her foster mother was nowhere to be seen. One day the sorceress said to her:

"Daughter, there is a stone in one place, neither in heaven nor on earth." The giant has thrown it, and the stone can neither fall to the ground nor be lost in the sky. Three times a year the stone begins to shake - and when it rises, it presses every bird flying in the sky, and when it goes down, it crushes every snake and lizard which crawls and every fish that swims. There is a river near this stone, which flows neither up nor down:every fish which enters it gets turned to stone. At night, when the stone moves, the river flows. If a person goes to pour water from it, he can revive a petrified person with this water. The king's daughter is very beautiful and many boys have wanted her, but once someone marries her and she kisses him, the groom turns to stone. You will put on men's clothes and go to the river that does not flow. When you see it leak, you will scoop a bowl of water and come back. Then you will go to the palace and ask the king's daughter for a wife. You will let her drink from the water - and then when you kiss her the king will see that you did not turn to stone. You will enter the marriage hall with her and pour water on all the petrified men. They will be revived, but you will not take a reward from anyone even if they want to give you a whole kingdom. If the king wants to reward you, you will tell him that you have a mother - to go ask her what reward she wants.

The vampire bride dressed in a man's dress and went to the river. A large black stone really hung in the air nearby, neither in heaven nor on earth. It was motionless, as if someone was holding it. It began to shake. Falling to the ground, it pressed all that there was around - snakes, lizards, frogs and fish. They began to scream in grief and beg the bride to save them from the stone. She asked them what to do to remove the stone. They told her to cross it three times and blow on it. That's what she did. The stone shook and rose again, then swelled as it had stood before. Snakes, lizards, frogs and fish lined up to thank the bride for rescuing them. A large snake with a crown on its head and a horn on its forehead, which was the queen of snakes, took a scale from under its tongue and gave it to the bride.

"Take this," she told her, "you'll need it." If you put this scale under your tongue, you will become invisible and you will be able to pass through the sea, through rocks, even through the thickest walls.

The king of lizards gave the bride a scale from his forehead, and said to her:

"Hold that scale." When you rub it with your finger, I will come to you wherever you are.


The queen of frogs gave the bride a diamond through which everything that could be seen on earth,  could be seen even at the end of the world. The king of the fish gave her a shell with which to listen to everything that was said, even at the end of the earth. And the king of the blindworms gave her a silken rope, which, when thrown, on it one could climb all the way to the sky. Suddenly, the bride saw that the river was bubbling and flowing. She scooped water in a bowl and took it to her grandmother, but did not show her the gifts received from the animals. The sorceress gave her a gilded bowl - to pour water into it and go to the palace. The foster daughter took the bowl and went straight to the king. At that time, the king, queen and their daughter had just sat down for dinner. The courtiers informed the king that a young man wanted to come to him. The king got up from the table and told them to let the boy come. The vampire’s bride came in, disguised as a man.

"Your highness," said the boy, "I heard that you had a daughter to marry, but her suitors did not survive." I came to be your son-in-law.

"Good," said the king. - A number of guys lined up, but no one survived. It can be seen that a hex hangs over our home - not to let the groom inside: everyone is turned to stone.

"I will break the hex," the boy said. "I'll give your daughter a drink of blessed water, and it will tire the magic that turns the men to stone."

They had a wedding - did not let anyone see or hear, because the king was afraid that this boy would have the same fate as the others. But when the bride and groom entered the wedding hall in the evening, the boy gave his bride some water, she drank, and when she kissed him, he did not turn to stone. The bride then rejoiced greatly and said:

"Thank God a man was found for me, too." We have no wedding guests: no one has ever celebrated such a quiet wedding.

"And wedding guests will come," the groom comforted her. "Don't grieve!"

Then he poured the blessed water over each of the boys turned to stone, who had lined up in the hall in the long line: to whoever he dropped a drop, he immediately came to life. The boys woke up as if from a dream and could not remember where they were. The groom told them about the miraculous transfiguration, and one by one they began to congratulate his bride and thank him for reviving them. Then great joy , songs, noise and laughter arose in the hall. The king and queen, who thought that the new bridegroom had already risen to stone, were astonished to hear the merry noise, and went to see. But their astonishment was twice as great when they saw the palace full of boys, and when they realized that the turned to stone had come to life. Then the hero in disguise said to the king:

"Congratulations my king, don't be surprised to see those who were stone until recently!" The heavy hex over this house has been shattered, but you do not know that a heavier curse weighs on me more: I have been told that if I bind a girl with a wedding ring, I will die at once. Therefore, I cannot stay with you as a son-in-law: marry your daughter to one of these noble boys and royal sons, whoever you choose, and let me go, because my path is long.

Hearing this, the boys began to stop their savior and offered him the most precious gifts to thank him for reviving them. But he would not hear of a gift. The king stopped him even more: he offered him even half of his kingdom! He wanted to adopt him, to make him the first courtier, but the boy said:

"Congratulations, King, I am an orphan." I was raised by an old woman who is my foster mother. She is a poor woman, so she will be happy with your gifts: call her and ask her what she wants you to give her. And let me go!

"All right," said the king. "Let your mother come to the palace tomorrow - I will give her whatever she wants."

The vampire bride returned to her grandmother and told her everything. The sorceress went to the palace the next day. The king was told that a poor woman wanted to come to him. The king ordered her to be brought into the palace.

"Good afternoon,your highness," said the sorceress. - May your family be healthy, may your days be long! Why did you call me?

"Are you the mother of the boy who came yesterday to ask for my daughter?"

"It's me my King."

"Good thing, Grandma, that you raised such a smart man and taught him all the secrets of medicine." He revived the boys who were petrified in the palace's marriage hall. He gave my daughter healing water, which poisoned the  curse in her, which turned the boys to stone.

"It can't be," Grandma said in surprise. - Where has it been heard and seen - a man of stone to come to life? Are you kidding me?

"It is true" Said the king. "As many of the boys were turned to stone, they all came to life." I have called you to reward you for raising such a son who has done me so much good. What do you want me to give you?

"Your highness," said the sorceress, "you can not give me what I want, and I do not need what you want to give me."

"Let's see!" Said the king. "I'll give you everything: just not my kingdom."

"There is," said the grandmother, "in your gardens a wonderful bird that speaks." I want you to give it to me.

The king did not expect to be asked for such an expensive gift. He did have such a bird, but he hadn't told anyone about it.

"How can it be," he said, "a bird that speaks?" That cannot be! There is no such bird in my gardens. Ask for something else!

"I told you, your highness," said the elderly woman,"that you will not give me what I ask of you!" And what you give me, I don't need. I want the bird.

-How can it be? - pretended to be surprised the king, - Nobody has heard nor seen - a bird to speak? Are you kidding me?

"How can it not?" Said the grandmother. "If a stone person can come to life, a bird can talk." If my son really revived those men, as you say, give me the bird!

As much as the king did not want to give the grandmother the wonderful bird, because he had already promised to give her what he asked for, he gave it to her. The sorceress took the bird and took it home, then put it in a cage, and in the evening, when her foster daughter fell asleep, she talked to the wonderful bird. The bride felt that she was falling asleep early in the evening, but she really wanted to see where her grandmother went at night and what she did. She took out the scale that the lizard king had given her, rubbed it with her fingers, and the lizard appeared.

"Why do you need me?" He asked her.

"I want you to bring me a herb which will prevent me from falling asleep," said the girl.

The lizard got lost, and after a while he reappeared and carried a blade of magical grass in his mouth. The bride ate some of the grass when it got dark and pretended to be asleep. Then the grandmother removed the cage from the window, where she hung it during the day, and began to talk to the bird.

"Tell me, little bird," she asked it, "where is my husband now and what is he doing?"

"Your husband," said the bird, "is in the uppermost earth." He married a tar-borne woman and lives with her in the realm of Death.

"Where is my son now, little bird?" The grandmother asked again. "What country is he in?"

"You have two sons," said the bird, "but they do not know you." One is with his father and stepmother, in the highest earth, in the realm of Death. And the other is here, in the cave palace, across three seas of this kingdom. And he doesn't know you.

"Tell me, little bird," said the sorceress again, "how can I banish the tar-borne woman from the realm of Death and return to where I lived years ago?"

"I don't know," said the bird. "Go ask your son, who lives in the cave palace, across three seas of this kingdom."

The grandmother hung the cage on the window, took a green bowl from the shelf and sprinkled the foster daughter with some magic water, then said:

"As deep as you sleep, may you sleep three times deeper and not wake up until morning."

Then she took a stick, which was stuck over the door, and went outside. The bride immediately put the scale given by the serpent king under her tongue and became invisible, then she followed the grandmother. The sorceress walked three times around a tree in the middle of the yard and hit herself on the arms and legs with a stick; then she returned the stick in its place, and took another from there. She hit the ground with it and instantly disappeared. Her foster daughter did the same; and she circled the tree three times, struck the stick onto her hands and feet, and then left it where she had taken it. The wand with which the sorceress struck the ground could carry a man across the sea as if on land. The bride did not have such a stick, but she looked through the diamond gifted by the frog queen to see where the grandmother was. She saw her passing through the first sea. The housewife became invisible and floated there with the power of the serpent's scale, which carried man across the sea, through rocks, and through impassable forests. She caught up with her grandmother and went past her; she crossed the three seas and stopped at some high cliffs to wait for her. The sorceress came to the rocks and tapped with the wand. A tar man appeared and opened a door in the rock. The grandmother went in, so did the bride, without anyone seeing her. The door closed and the tar man was lost. The bride found herself in a large underground palace. Grandmother walked from room to room until she reached a wide, dark lake in the middle of the palace. There she looked around the lake and said:

"As I see myself in this water, so may I see my son facing me in this very moment."

And indeed, after a while, a man in clothes made of silk, velvet and tinsel appeared. He looked very much like the vampire, the princess's husband; half of his face was white and half black. He was the vampire's brother and the sorceress's son, but he didn't know her. He asked the old woman why she had called him.

"I called you, son," she said, "to tell me if you have anything to ask of me." I am going to your brother, in the realm of Death. If you have something to say - either to your father or to your brother - tell it to me, and I will tell it to them.

"All right," said the vampire. "When you go to that kingdom, tell my brother that the wounds on his forehead will hurt, heal, and hurt again and will not heal completely until someone sticks two leaves of the mahogany tree that grows outside this cave."There is no cure for these wounds in his kingdom.

"I'll tell him," said the grandmother. "What can I say to your father?"

"Tell him that if he wants to regain his former kingdom and find the queen who reigned with him, he must look through the diamond that the queen of frogs has." Then he will see where the queen is and what she can do to regain her kingdom and not enslave her son. That's what you're going to tell him.

"Good," said the old woman.

At that moment, the whole lake suddenly shone as if the sun had risen over it, and the vampire disappeared. The sorceress walked around the palace again, room after room, until she reached the door; there she struck the rock with the stick, the tar-borne man reappeared, opened the rock, the old woman and the bride passed, and the rock closed and the man vanished. A really big red tree grew in front of the cave. Grandma's foster daughter tore off a branch from it and hurried to pull ahead of the sorceress. When she got home, she took the scale out of her mouth, hid the branch under her pillow, laid down, and pretended to be asleep.

Shortly after her came the grandmother. She removed the bird cage from the window again.

"Tell me, little bird," the sorceress asked him, "where will I find the diamond through which the frog queen looks?"

"You will find it by the stone that stands neither in heaven nor on earth," said the bird.

The woman vanished into thin air. She walked as she went, came back and took the bird out of the window again.

"You lied to me, little bird," she said, "and I will not give you a grain to eat or a drink of water today." The diamond is not with the queen of frogs: she had given it to a hero. Look where he is, tell me.

The bird said nothing. The sorceress asked it once again, but it kept quiet. She did not allow it to eat or drink water that day. When the old woman went to work, the bride opened the cage and gave the bird water and berries. He hired himself, then said to the bride:

"I didn't tell the woman where the diamond was, because if I told her it was with you, she would take it from you." She left me hungry and thirsty today, and you fed me. That's why I'll tell you why the sorceress wants the diamond! She wants to see through it where her husband is and what he is doing. Years ago, she was the queen of a great kingdom, but her husband, the king, expelled her and married another, a tar-borne woman. Then the banished queen performed magic and her husband's entire kingdom became the kingdom of Death, and her two sons became vampires. In order to break the magic, the skins of the vampire who lives in the realm of Death must be burned.

Hearing this, the bride looked through the diamond and put the shell to her ear - to see what was happening in the uppermost earth and what was being said there. She saw that her three brothers had turned into bats and remained as stone in the realm of Death, where one of her sisters, the butterfly, was also stuck. She heard her other sister tell her parents about the vampire bride's grief, and her father and mother wept over their daughter. So she took the golden bowl, which contained some of the blessed water, and threw the silken cord given to her by the blindworm. Then she began to climb it quickly, as she passed seven kingdoms and reached the eighth: there she put the serpent's shell under her tongue so that no one could see it. She reached the realm of Death at midnight and passed through the rocks to enter the palace. Shortly after her came her husband. He began to quarrel again with his father and mother:

"My bride has come, and you did not send a man to call me." Why are you hiding her? Why don't you tell me?

"No one came, son," said the vampire mother. "She has not returned since you sent her seven kingdoms down."

"You're lying, you're hiding her!" Cried the vampire. "I can smell human flesh: she's here somewhere." Tell me where you are hiding her!

"We haven't hidden her anywhere," the tar-borne woman began to excuse herself. "We haven't even seen her."

Then the vampire got angry and clapped his hands. A demon came. He told him to take the tar woman and take her through eight kingdoms down to the ninth, then entered his room. He took off his clothes and seven skins, placed the lighted candle on the floor, and decided not to sleep that night. But at the end he had fallen asleep from exhaustion. At one point he felt someone stick a sheet to his forehead and relieve his head: the pain from one wound was gone. The vampire waved his arms - to catch the one who put the leaf, but could not catch anyone. Then he sat on the bed and decided not to sleep anymore, but to watch. He watched for an hour , two, but no one entered the room. He fell asleep a second time. The bride glued a second leaf to his other wound: and it healed. The vampire felt his pain go away, woke up and said:

"Where are you, man who healed me?" Who are you, where do you come from and what is this miraculous thing? Don't be afraid: say it! I won't do you any harm. If you are a man, become my brother; if you're a woman, be my sister, but just call to let me know who you are and what you are!

But the bride did not call. The vampire fell asleep again after a while. Because his pain was gone, his sleep was deep. Then the queen took the candle, brought it closer to the skins her husband had taken off, and they were set ablaze in an instant. A heavy odor filled the room. Nothing could be seen from the thick, dark smoke. The vampire woke up, but he was no longer a vampire, but a handsome, slender, strong boy. He got up quickly and shouted:

"Where are you, man, who lit my cursed skins and destroyed the magic?" Call me, I won't do you any harm. Please tell me who you are!

But the princess did notrespond. She went outside and sprinkled the cemetery with miraculous water. And the whole ominous palace was transformed in an instant: it shone with gold, precious stones, colorful marbles, velvet and silk. The stones and cemeteries were gone. Devils, dwarves, tar-borne and yellow-faced people became courtiers, guards, soldiers and servants - with noble faces. The bride entered the throne room: there, instead of the vampire father, sat on the throne a pale-faced king with white hair, smart eyes and a meek face. Next to him sat the queen, the same sorceress who had become a foster mother of the bride in the eighth kingdom, and between them stood the king's son, who had been a vampire until recently, and talked to his father and mother. The princess came out of the palace again to see where her brothers and sister were. Where there were once cemeteries, crosses, leafless trees, stone birds, bats, snakes, mushrooms and odorless flowers, now there were beautiful gardens with deciduous trees and fragrant flowers, silver fountains, lakes with colorful fish, clean sandy paths and rocks on which sweet songbirds jumped. Men and women were walking along the paths, talking joyously to each other. And beyond the gardens were the white houses of a broad, happy kingdom: it was the kingdom that the banished sorceress queen had enchanted.

The princess saw her sister and her three brothers among the people walking in the garden. She took the snake's scales out of her mouth and they saw her. The joy of her siblings was endless. The princess took them to the palace, where the king, queen and prince, whom his wife had transformed from a vampire to a man, were waiting for them. Big celebrations and long feasts began. The king sent magnificent chariots to bring the parents and relatives of the daughter-in-law from the distant kingdom. They came and then celebrated the youngest princess’ wedding to the prince for the second time. The festivities passed, the guests parted, and the newlyweds remained to live happily ever after in that beautiful kingdom, where half the year was day and half was night.