Flint - Hans Christian Andersen
A soldier was walking along the road: one-two! one-two! A satchel behind his back, a saber at his side; he was on his way home from the war. On the road he met an old witch - ugly, disgusting: her lower lip hung down to her chest.
- Hello, serviceman! - she said. - What a nice saber you have! And what a big backpack! What a brave soldier! Well, now you will get as much money as your heart desires.
- Thank you, old witch! - said the soldier.
— Do you see that old tree over there? - said the witch, pointing to a tree that stood nearby. - It's empty inside. Climb up, there will be a hollow there, and you go down into it, to the very bottom! Before that, I will tie a rope around your waist, you shout to me, and I will pull you out.
- Why should I go there? - asked the soldier.
- For money! - said the witch. - Know that when you get to the very bottom, you will see a large underground passage; There are more than a hundred lamps burning in it, and it is completely light there. You will see three doors; You can open them, the keys are sticking out. Enter the first room; in the middle of the room you will see a large chest, and on it a dog: her eyes are like tea cups! But don't be afraid! I will give you my blue checkered apron, spread it on the floor, and quickly come up and grab the dog, put it on the apron, open the chest and take as much money from it as you can. There are only coppers in this chest; if you want silver, go to another room; there sits a dog with eyes like mill wheels! But don’t be scared: put her on the apron and take the money for yourself. If you want, you can get as much gold as you can carry; just go to the third room. But the dog that sits there on the wooden chest has eyes - each one as big as a round tower. This is a dog! Feisty-disgusting! But don’t be afraid of her: put her on my apron, and she won’t touch you, and you take as much gold as you want!
- It wouldn’t be bad! - said the soldier. “But what will you take from me for this, old witch?” Is there anything you need from me?
- I won’t take a penny from you! - said the witch. “Just bring me an old flint; my grandmother left it there when she came down for the last time.”
- Well, tie a rope around me! - the soldier ordered.
- Ready! - said the witch. - And here is my blue checkered apron!
The soldier climbed the tree, went down into the hollow and found himself, as the witch said, in a large passage where hundreds of lamps were burning.
So he opened the first door. Oh! There sat a dog with eyes like teacups, staring at the soldier.
- Well done! - said the soldier, put the dog on the witch’s apron and filled his pocket full of copper money, then closed the chest, put the dog on it again and went into another room. Ay-ay! There sat a dog with eyes like mill wheels.
“You shouldn’t stare at me, your eyes will hurt!” - said the soldier and put the dog on the witch’s apron. Seeing a huge pile of silver in the chest, he threw out all the coppers and filled both pockets and the backpack with silver. Then the soldier went to the third room. Wow, you're abyss! This dog had eyes like two round towers and spun like wheels.
- My regards! - said the soldier and lifted his visor. He had never seen such a dog before.
However, he did not look at her for a long time, but took her and sat her on the apron and opened the chest. Fathers! How much gold was there! He could buy all of Copenhagen with it, all the sugar pigs from the sweets merchant, all the tin soldiers, all the wooden horses and all the whips in the world! There would be enough for everything! The soldier threw the silver money out of his pockets and backpack and filled his pockets, backpack, hat and boots with gold so much that he could barely move. Well, finally he had money! He put the dog on the chest again, then slammed the door, raised his head and shouted:
- Pull me, old witch!
— Did you take the flint? - asked the witch.
- Oh damn, I almost forgot! - said the soldier, went and took the flint.
The witch pulled him up, and he again found himself on the road, only now his pockets, boots, knapsack, and cap were filled with gold.
- Why do you need this flint? - asked the soldier.
- None of your business! - answered the witch. - I got the money, and that's enough for you! Well, give me the flint!
- No matter how it is! - said the soldier. “Now tell me why you need it, otherwise I’ll pull out my saber and cut off your head.”
- I will not say! - the witch stubbornly resisted.
The soldier took and cut off her head. The witch fell down dead, and he tied all the money in her apron, put the bundle on his back, put the flint in his pocket and walked straight into the city.
The city was wonderful; the soldier stopped at the most expensive inn, occupied the best rooms and demanded all his favorite dishes - now he was a rich man!
The servant who cleaned the visitors' shoes was surprised that such a rich gentleman had such bad boots, but the soldier had not yet had time to get new ones. But the next day he bought himself good boots and a rich dress. Now the soldier became a real master, and he was told about all the miracles that were here in the city, and about the king, and about his lovely daughter, the princess.
- How can I see her? - asked the soldier.
- This is absolutely impossible! - they told him. “She lives in a huge copper castle, behind high walls with towers. No one except the king himself dares to enter or leave there, because the king was predicted that his daughter would marry a simple soldier, and kings do not like this!
“I wish I could look at her!” - thought the soldier.
Who would let him?!
Now he lived a happy life: he went to the theaters, went for rides in the royal garden and helped the poor a lot. And he did well: he knew from his own experience how bad it was to be penniless! Now he was rich, dressed beautifully and made a lot of friends; they all called him a nice fellow, a real gentleman, and he liked it very much. So he spent and spent money, but again there was nowhere to take it from, and in the end he only had two money left! I had to move from good rooms to a tiny closet under the very roof, clean my own boots and even patch them; none of his friends visited him - it was too high to climb to him!
One evening, a soldier was sitting in his closet; It was already completely dark, and he had no money for a candle; he remembered about the small cinder in the flint, which he took into the dungeon where the witch had lowered him. The soldier took out a flint and cinder, but as soon as he hit the flint, the door swung open, and in front of him was a dog with eyes like teacups, the same one he had seen in the dungeon.
- Anything, sir? she barked.
- That's the story! - said the soldier. - It turns out that flint is a curious little thing: I can get whatever I want! Hey, get me some money! - he said to the dog. One - there’s no trace of her, two - she’s right there again, and in her teeth she has a large purse filled with copper! Then the soldier realized what a wonderful flint he had. If you hit the flint once, a dog appears that was sitting on a chest with copper money; if you hit two, the one who was sitting on the silver appears; if you hit three, the dog that was sitting on the gold comes running.
The soldier again moved into good rooms, began to walk around in a smart dress, and all his friends immediately recognized him and loved him terribly.
So it occurs to him: “How stupid it is that you can’t see the princess. She’s such a beauty, they say, but what’s the point? After all, she sits all her life in a copper castle, behind high walls with towers. Will I really never be able to look at her with at least one eye? Come on, where’s my flint?” And he hit the flint once - at the same moment a dog with eyes like teacups stood in front of him.
“Now, really, it’s already night,” said the soldier. “But I was dying to see the princess, at least for one minute!”
The dog was immediately out the door, and before the soldier had time to come to his senses, she appeared with the princess. The princess sat on the dog's back and slept.
She was amazingly good; everyone would immediately see that this was a real princess, and the soldier could not resist kissing her - he was a brave warrior, a real soldier.
The dog carried the princess back, and over morning tea the princess told the king and queen about the amazing dream she had last night about a dog and a soldier: as if she was riding a dog, and the soldier kissed her.
- That's the story! - said the queen.
And the next night, an old lady-in-waiting was assigned to the princess’s bedside - she was supposed to find out whether it was really a dream or something else.
And the soldier was again dying to see the lovely princess. And then at night the dog appeared again, grabbed the princess and ran off with her at full speed, but the old lady-in-waiting put on waterproof boots and set off in pursuit. Seeing that the dog had disappeared with the princess in one big house, the maid of honor thought: “Now I know where to find them!” - took a piece of chalk, put a cross on the gate of the house and went home to sleep. But the dog, when he carried the princess back, saw this cross, also took a piece of chalk and put crosses on all the gates in the city. This was cleverly thought out: now the maid of honor could not find the right gate - there were white crosses everywhere.
Early in the morning the king and queen, the old lady-in-waiting and all the officers went to see where the princess had gone at night.
- That's where! - said the king, seeing the first gate with a cross.
- No, that's where it goes, hubby! - the queen objected, noticing the cross on the other gate.
- Yes, the cross is here too! - others made a noise, seeing crosses on all the gates. Then everyone realized that they would not achieve any sense.
But the queen was a smart woman, she knew how not only to drive around in carriages. She took large golden scissors, cut a piece of silk fabric into shreds, sewed a tiny pretty bag, poured small buckwheat into it, tied it on the princess’s back and then cut a hole in the bag so that the cereal could fall onto the road along which the princess was driving.
At night the dog appeared again, put the princess on her back and carried her to the soldier; The soldier fell in love with the princess so much that he began to regret why he was not a prince - he so wanted to marry her.
The dog did not even notice that cereals were falling after her all along the road, from the palace itself to the soldier’s window, where she jumped with the princess. In the morning, the king and queen immediately found out where the princess had gone, and the soldier was sent to prison.
How dark and boring it was there! They put him there and said: “Tomorrow morning you will be hanged!” It was very sad to hear this, and he forgot his flint at home, in the inn.
In the morning, the soldier went to the small window and began to look through the iron bars onto the street: people were pouring out of the city in crowds to watch how the soldier would be hanged; Drums beat, regiments passed by. Everyone was in a hurry, running. A boy shoemaker in a leather apron and shoes was also running. He was skipping along, and one shoe flew off his foot and hit right against the wall where the soldier stood and looked out the window.
- Hey, what's your hurry! - the soldier said to the boy. “The whole thing won’t get done without me!” But if you run to where I lived, for my flint, you will receive four coins. Only alive!
The boy was not averse to receiving four coins, he took off like an arrow for the flint, gave it to the soldier and... Now let's listen!
A huge gallows was built outside the city, with soldiers and hundreds of thousands of people standing around. The king and queen sat on a luxurious throne directly opposite the judges and the entire royal council.
The soldier was already standing on the stairs, and they were going to throw a rope around his neck, but he said that before executing a criminal, they always fulfill some of his wishes. And he would really like to smoke a pipe - this will be his last pipe in this world!
The king did not dare refuse this request, and the soldier pulled out his flint. He hit the flint once, twice, three times - and all three dogs appeared before him: a dog with eyes like teacups, a dog with eyes like mill wheels, and a dog with eyes like a round tower.
- Well, help me get rid of the noose! - the soldier ordered.
And the dogs rushed at the judges and the entire royal council: one by the legs, another by the nose and up several fathoms, and they all fell and were smashed to pieces!
- No need! - the king shouted, but the largest dog grabbed him and the queen and threw them up after the others. Then the soldiers got scared, and all the people shouted:
- Servant, be our king and marry the beautiful princess!
The soldier was placed in the royal carriage, and all three dogs danced in front of it and shouted “hurray.” The boys whistled with their fingers in their mouths, and the soldiers saluted. The princess left her copper castle and became queen, with which she was very pleased. The wedding feast lasted a whole week; The dogs also sat at the table and stared.
(Illustrated by V. Chizhikov, published by Malysh, 1975)
"Flint"
Once upon a time there lived a soldier, and one day he decided to leave his service and return home. But he just realized that he had nothing to return with, they gave the soldier his pennies and drove him out of sight, the war was over, and he was no longer needed. He walked along the road, depressed, not noticing anyone. Suddenly an old witch came out of the forest to meet him. She saw the soldier and began to praise him, promising mountains of gold if he fulfilled just one of her requests.
The witch needed the soldier to climb the tree and go down into the hollow. In the cave under the hollow he should have found three doors. Behind the first door sits a dog with eyes like teacups, behind the second a dog with eyes like mill wheels, and behind the third with eyes like round towers. Each of the dogs sits on a huge chest with money. It can only be moved from its place by transplanting it onto a special apron. The first dog sits on a chest with coppers, the second on a chest with silver, the third with gold.
The offer was so tempting that the soldier could not resist it. In return, the witch demanded that the servant bring her an old flint, which her grandmother allegedly forgot when she came down here last time. That's what they decided on. The witch tied a rope around him, and the soldier went down into the hollow, doing as the witch told him. After he filled his satchel full of gold coins and grabbed a flint, the witch raised him to the surface. As soon as she did this, the soldier began to ask her why she needed the flint, but the witch refused to talk. Then the soldier took out a saber and cut off the witch’s head, after which he picked up the flint, hid it in his backpack and went on his way.
He did not walk for long, got tired and stopped at a roadside hotel, asking for the best room. The hotel owner was very surprised that a man in simple clothes could pay for such an expensive bed, but still gave him the keys to the room. The next day the soldier bought himself new clothes, good boots and a lot of booze. Seeing how generous and rich he was, many wanted to make friends with him.
The soldier lived happily, walked day and night, ate delicious food and drank expensive wine. This continued until he ran out of gold coins in his backpack. As soon as this happened, all his new friends and acquaintances instantly disappeared, and the soldier had to move to a cheaper room and sell his boots. It got to the point that he couldn’t afford to buy matches to light the light.
Then the soldier remembered the old flint, took it out and rubbed it once. At that very moment a dog with eyes like teacups appeared and asked him what he wanted. The soldier was surprised, but quickly realized what was going on. He asked the dog to get him money. A moment later she returned with a wallet filled with copper coins. The soldier was delighted and began to live again the way he wanted. But the money that appeared no longer brought him joy. The soldier had a dream to see the beautiful princess, who languished in the royal castle and was never shown in public.
One day the soldier could not stand it and, hitting the flint, asked the dog to make it so that he could see the princess. The dog disappeared and appeared at the same moment with the sleeping princess on his back. The soldier could not look enough at the girl, he fell in love with her very much, but there was nothing he could do, and after kissing her, he ordered the dog to return her to the palace. Waking up in the morning, the princess told the king and queen the amazing dream she had had, but no one believed her.
The next night everything repeated itself, and so on several times in a row. Each time the princess thought that everything that was happening to her was just a dream, but her mother was cunning and wise, she realized that there was something wrong in this story. The night before, she ordered the old lady-in-waiting to keep an eye on the princess. She followed the order and came straight to the house where the soldier lived, marking it with a cross. The next morning, the king and queen went into the city to see for themselves who had violated their daughter's honor, but they could not find the soldier's house. Returning to the palace with the princess, the dog noticed a secret sign on the gate and placed the same on all the doors in the city.
Having decided to bring the princess's kidnapper to light, the queen sewed a small bag, filled it with cereal and tied it to the princess. In the darkness, the dog did not notice how a path was formed from the cereals, leading straight from the palace to the soldier’s house. In the morning the guards came and he was arrested and sentenced to hang.
That’s how the soldier’s story would have ended, but he remembered the flint and sent a street boy after him. Before hanging, the soldier asked that his last request be fulfilled - to be allowed to smoke a pipe. The king could not refuse the man sentenced to death and allowed his will to be carried out. The soldier took the flint in his hands, struck it three times, and all three dogs appeared in front of him. He asked the soldiers to ask the dogs to free him from the noose, which they did in the shortest possible time. All the guards were defeated, and the king and queen were thrown to the very clouds, where they remained. The people, seeing such a thing, rejoiced and proclaimed the soldier the new king. He married the princess, moved into the palace and ruled the domains entrusted to him long and fairly.
