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The petrified heart is a fairy tale. The Petrified Kingdom - Russian folk tale

It became difficult for the soldier, and he decided to run away; a knapsack over his shoulder, a gun on his shoulder and began to say goodbye to his comrades, and they asked him:

Where are you going? Al battalion demands?

Don't ask, brothers! Pull your backpack tighter and don’t worry about it!

And he, a good fellow, went wherever his eyes looked.

Whether he walked a lot or a little, he found himself in another state, saw a sentry and asked:

Is it possible to stop and relax somewhere?

The sentry told the corporal, the corporal told the officer, the officer told the general, the general reported to the king himself. The king ordered the servant to be called before his bright eyes.

Then a soldier appeared - properly, in uniform, he put his gun on guard and stood rooted to the spot. The king tells him:

Tell me honestly, where are you coming from and where are you going?

Your Royal Majesty, do not order the execution, order the word to be spoken.

He confessed everything to the king in good conscience and began to ask for service.

Okay, said the king, hire me to guard my garden. Now my garden is in trouble - someone is breaking my favorite trees - so try, take care of it, and for your work I will give you a considerable payment.

The soldier agreed and began to keep guard in the garden.

It has been in service for a year or two - everything is in good order; Now that the third year is coming to an end, one day I went to look at the garden and saw: half of the best trees were broken.

"My God! - thinks to himself. - What a disaster happened! When the king notices this, he now orders me to be seized and hanged.”

He took the gun in his hands, leaned against a tree and thought deeply.

Suddenly a crash and noise was heard; the good fellow woke up, lo and behold, a huge, scary bird flew into the garden and felled the trees! The soldier shot her with a gun, did not kill her, but only wounded her in the right wing; Three feathers fell out of that wing, and the bird itself took off running along the ground. The soldier is behind her. The bird's legs are fast, it quickly ran to the hole and disappeared from sight.

The soldier was not afraid and after her rushed into that hole: he fell into a deep, deep abyss, knocked off all his livers and lay unconscious for a whole day.

Then I came to my senses, stood up, and looked around. What? - and underground there is the same light.

“So,” he thinks, “there are people here too!”

He walked and walked - in front of him was a large city, at the gate there was a guardhouse, with a sentry; began to ask him - the sentry was silent and did not move; I took him by the hand - and he was completely stone!

The soldier entered the guardhouse. There are a lot of people standing and sitting, but everyone is petrified; I started wandering the streets - everywhere it’s the same: there’s not a single living human soul, everything is like stone! Here is the palace - painted, carved. March there, look - the rooms are rich, there are all sorts of snacks and drinks on the tables, and all around is quiet and empty.

The soldier ate, drank, sat down to rest, and he heard as if someone had driven up to the porch; he grabbed the gun and stood at the door.

A beautiful princess enters the room with her mothers and nannies. The soldier saluted her, and she bowed to him affectionately.

Hello, serviceman! Tell me,” he says, “by what destinies did you get here?”

The soldier began to talk:

I was hoping to guard the royal garden, and a large bird got into the habit of flying there and breaking trees. So I waylaid her, fired a gun and knocked three feathers out of her wing; I rushed after her and ended up here.

This bird is my sister; She does a lot of all kinds of evil and has sent misfortune to my kingdom - she has petrified all my people. Listen: here’s a book for you, stand here and read it in the evening until the roosters crow. Whatever passions seem to you, you know yours - read the book and hold it tightly so that they don’t tear it out, otherwise you won’t live! If you stay there for three nights, I will marry you.

OK! - answered the soldier.

As soon as it got dark, he took the book and began to read.

Suddenly there was a knocking and thundering - a whole army came to the palace, his former commanders approached the soldier and scolded him and threatened him with death for escaping; Now they are loading the guns and taking aim. But the soldier doesn’t look at it, doesn’t let go of the book, just keeps reading.

The roosters crowed - and everything disappeared at once!

The next night it was worse, and on the third it was even worse: the executioners came running with saws, axes, hammers, they wanted to crush his bones, pull out his veins, burn him on the fire, but they themselves were only thinking about how to snatch the book from his hands. There were such passions that the soldier could hardly stand it.

The roosters crowed - and the obsession disappeared!

At that very hour the whole kingdom came to life, people bustled about in the streets and in the houses, the princess appeared in the palace with her generals and her retinue, and everyone began to thank the soldier and call him their sovereign.

The next day he married a beautiful princess and lived with her in love and joy.

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a soldier; He served for a long time and blamelessly, he knew the royal service well, he came to inspections and training clean and serviceable. He began to serve for the last year - as luck would have it, his superiors, not only the big ones, but also the small ones, did not like him: every now and then he had to take the rap under sticks!

It was hard for the soldier, and he decided to run away; a knapsack over his shoulder, a gun on his shoulder and began to say goodbye to his comrades, and they asked him:
- Where are you going? Al battalion demands?
- Don't ask, brothers! Pull your backpack tighter and don’t worry about it!
And he, a good fellow, went wherever his eyes looked.
Whether he walked a lot or a little, he made his way to another state, saw a sentry and asked:
- Is it possible to take a rest somewhere?
The sentry told the corporal, the corporal told the officer, the officer told the general, the general reported about him to the king himself. The king ordered to call that servant before his bright eyes.
Here the soldier appeared, properly - in uniform, put his gun on guard and stood rooted to the spot. The king tells him:
- Tell me honestly, where are you coming from and where are you going?
- Your Royal Majesty, do not order the execution, order the word to be spoken.
He confessed everything to the king in good conscience and began to ask for service.
“Okay,” said the king, “take care of my garden; Things are not going well in my garden now - someone is breaking my favorite trees, so try and save it, and for your work I will give you a considerable payment.
The soldier agreed and began to keep guard in the garden.
It has been in service for a year or two - everything is in good order; Now that the third year is coming to an end, one day I went to look at the garden and saw that half of the best trees were broken.
"My God! - thinks to himself. - What a disaster happened! When the king notices this, he now orders me to be seized and hanged.”
He took the gun in his hands, leaned against a tree and thought deeply.
Suddenly a crash and noise was heard, the good fellow woke up, and lo and behold, a huge, scary bird flew into the garden and felled the trees. The soldier shot her with a gun, did not kill her, but only wounded her in the right wing; Three feathers fell out of that wing, and the bird itself took off running. The soldier is behind her; The bird's legs are fast, it quickly ran to the hole and disappeared from sight.
The soldier was not afraid and after her rushed into that hole, fell into a deep, deep abyss, knocked off all his livers and lay unconscious for a whole day.
Then I came to my senses, stood up, looked around - what? - and underground there is the same light. “So,” he thinks, “there are people here too!”
He walked and walked, in front of him was a large city, at the gate there was a guardhouse, with a sentry; began to ask him - the sentry was silent and did not move; I took him by the hand - and he was completely stone!
The soldier entered the guardhouse - there were a lot of people, standing and sitting, only everyone was petrified; I started wandering the streets - everywhere it’s the same: there’s not a single living human soul, everything is like a stone! Here is the palace, painted and carved, march there, look - the rooms are rich, there are all sorts of snacks and drinks on the tables, and all around is quiet and empty.
The soldier ate, drank, sat down to rest, and he heard it as if someone had driven up to the porch; he grabbed the gun and stood at the door.
A beautiful princess enters the room with her mothers and nannies; the soldier saluted her, and she bowed to him affectionately.
- Hello, serviceman! Tell me,” he says, “by what destinies did you get here?”
The soldier began to talk:
“I hired out to guard the royal garden, and a big bird got into the habit of flying there and breaking trees; So I waylaid her, fired a gun and knocked three feathers out of her wing; I rushed after her and ended up here.
- This bird is my own sister: she does a lot of all kinds of evil and has sent misfortune to my kingdom - she has petrified all my people. Listen: here’s a book for you, stand here and read it in the evening until the roosters crow. Whatever passions seem to you, know yours - read the book and hold it tightly so that they don’t tear it out; Otherwise you won't live! If you stay for three nights, I will marry you.
- OK! - answered the soldier.
As soon as it got dark, he took the book and began to read.
Suddenly there was a knocking and thundering - a whole army came to the palace, his former commanders approached the soldier, scolded him, and threatened him with death for escaping; Now they’re loading the guns, taking aim... But the soldier doesn’t look at it, doesn’t let go of the book, just knows he’s reading to himself.
The roosters crowed - and everything disappeared at once!
The next night it was worse, and the third even worse: the executioners came running with saws, axes, hammers, they wanted to crush his bones, pull out his veins, burn him on the fire, but they themselves were only thinking about how to snatch the book from his hands. There were such passions that the soldier could hardly stand it.
The roosters crowed - and the demonic obsession disappeared! At that very hour the whole kingdom came to life, people bustled about in the streets and in the houses, the princess appeared in the palace with her generals and her retinue, and everyone began to thank the soldier and call him their sovereign. The next day he married a beautiful princess and lived with her in love and joy.

The Petrified Kingdom is a Russian folk tale about a brave soldier who revived the stone kingdom and married a beautiful princess. The fairy tale The Petrified Kingdom can be read online or downloaded in PDF and DOC format.
Brief summary of the tale you can start with how one soldier left the service and went to look for happiness wherever his eyes looked. Soon he found himself in an unfamiliar kingdom, and was hired to guard the king's garden. Everything was going well until someone started breaking trees in the garden. This barbarian turned out to be a terrible bird, which the soldier chased, but did not catch, but fell into a deep abyss. There he found a large petrified city in which everything was frozen, and there was not a single living human soul. But soon a beautiful princess entered the silent kingdom and began to ask the soldier how he got here? The soldier told his story, it turned out that this terrible bird was the princess’s sister, she not only got into the habit of visiting the king’s garden, but also sent a curse to her city, because of which everything turned to stone. There was one way to get rid of this scourge, and the princess invited the soldier to complete one task, and if he was not afraid, she promised to marry him. It consisted of reading a book for three days and three nights, not paying attention to the terrible events that would happen around him. The soldier agreed without thinking and began to read the book. Whatever appeared to the soldier, one night was more terrible than the next, but he read, not letting go of the book until the roosters crowed. At that same hour the whole city came to life, the people began to bustle, and the princess appeared at the palace. The next day, the soldier and the beautiful princess got married and lived in love and joy.
The main idea of the fairy tale The Petrified Kingdom This is a struggle between good and evil, which is accompanied by the courage and resourcefulness of the Russian soldier. For the sake of saving the petrified kingdom and love for the princess, the soldier, without hesitation for a minute, went to the test, spending three terrible nights. The fairy tale also teaches that you should not be afraid of change, try yourself in life, sometimes even risk everything in search of the best. A soldier who served in one service for a long time did not sit in one place and endure the nagging of his superiors. He went to nowhere, in search of another life, because he is confident in himself and knows for sure that he will not be lost.
The fairy tale The Petrified Kingdom is a clear example of many folk proverbs: The city takes courage, It’s such a thing that you have to go boldly, There’s nothing to be afraid of who is not afraid of anything, Look fear in the eyes - don’t blink, blink - you’ll be lost, Brave eyes are a beauty for a young man, He’s not brave who didn’t know fear, and he is brave who conquered fear, Success always justifies courage, He who is brave also mounts a horse, The brave will find there where the timid will lose.

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a soldier; He served for a long time and impeccably, he knew the service well, he came to inspections and training clean and serviceable. He began to serve for the last year - as luck would have it, his superiors, not only the big ones, but also the small ones, did not like him: every now and then he took the rap under sticks.
It became difficult for the soldier, and he decided to run away; a knapsack over his shoulder, a gun on his shoulder and began to say goodbye to his comrades, and they asked him:
- Where are you going? Al battalion demands?
- Don't ask, brothers! Pull your backpack tighter and don’t worry about it!
And he, a good fellow, went wherever his eyes looked.
Whether he walked a lot or a little, he found himself in another state, saw a sentry and asked:
- Is it possible to stop and rest somewhere?
The sentry told the corporal, the corporal told the officer, the officer told the general, the general reported to the king himself. The king ordered the servant to be called before his bright eyes.
Then a soldier appeared - properly, in uniform, he put his gun on guard and stood rooted to the spot. The king tells him:
- Tell me honestly, where are you coming from and where are you going?
- Your Royal Majesty, do not order the execution, order the word to be spoken.
He confessed everything to the king in good conscience and began to ask for service.
“Okay,” said the king, “take care of my garden.” Now my garden is in trouble - someone is breaking my favorite trees - so try, take care of it, and for your work I will give you a considerable payment.
The soldier agreed and began to keep guard in the garden.
It has been in service for a year or two - everything is in good order; Now that the third year is coming to an end, one day I went to look at the garden and saw: half of the best trees were broken.
“My God!” he thinks to himself. “What a disaster has happened! When the king notices this, he will now order me to be seized and hanged.”
He took the gun in his hands, leaned against a tree and thought deeply.
Suddenly a crash and noise was heard; the good fellow woke up, lo and behold, a huge, scary bird flew into the garden and felled the trees! The soldier shot her with a gun, did not kill her, but only wounded her in the right wing; Three feathers fell out of that wing, and the bird itself took off running along the ground. The soldier is behind her. The bird's legs are fast, it quickly ran to the hole and disappeared from sight.
The soldier was not afraid and after her rushed into that hole: he fell into a deep, deep abyss, knocked off all his livers and lay unconscious for a whole day.
Then I came to my senses, stood up, and looked around. What? - and underground there is the same light.
“So,” he thinks, “there are people here too!”
He walked and walked - in front of him was a large city, at the gate there was a guardhouse, with a sentry; began to ask him - the sentry was silent and did not move; I took him by the hand - and he was completely stone!
The soldier entered the guardhouse. There are a lot of people standing and sitting, but everyone is petrified; I started wandering the streets - everywhere it’s the same: there’s not a single living human soul, everything is like stone! Here is the palace - painted, carved. March there, look - the rooms are rich, there are all sorts of snacks and drinks on the tables, and all around is quiet and empty.
The soldier ate, drank, sat down to rest, and he heard as if someone had driven up to the porch; he grabbed the gun and stood at the door.
A beautiful princess enters the room with her mothers and nannies. The soldier saluted her, and she bowed to him affectionately.
- Hello, serviceman! Tell me,” he says, “by what destinies did you get here?”
The soldier began to talk:
“I was hoping to guard the royal garden, and a big bird got into the habit of flying there and breaking trees.” So I waylaid her, fired a gun and knocked three feathers out of her wing; I rushed after her and ended up here.
- This bird is my sister; She does a lot of all kinds of evil and has sent misfortune to my kingdom - she has petrified all my people. Listen: here’s a book for you, stand here and read it in the evening until the roosters crow. Whatever passions seem to you, you know yours - read the book and hold it tightly so that they don’t tear it out, otherwise you won’t live! If you stay for three nights, I will marry you.
- OK! - answered the soldier.
As soon as it got dark, he took the book and began to read.
Suddenly there was a knocking and thundering - a whole army came to the palace, his former commanders approached the soldier and scolded him and threatened him with death for escaping; Now they are loading the guns and taking aim. But the soldier doesn’t look at it, doesn’t let go of the book, just keeps reading.
The roosters crowed - and everything disappeared at once!
The next night it was worse, and on the third it was even worse: the executioners came running with saws, axes, hammers, they wanted to crush his bones, pull out his veins, burn him on the fire, but they themselves were only thinking about how to snatch the book from his hands. There were such passions that the soldier could hardly stand it.
The roosters crowed - and the obsession disappeared!
At that very hour the whole kingdom came to life, people bustled about in the streets and in the houses, the princess appeared in the palace with her generals and her retinue, and everyone began to thank the soldier and call him their sovereign.
The next day he married a beautiful princess and lived with her in love and joy.

There lived a knight who wanted to become famous and become the first in his country. He often said that he was ready to make all sorts of sacrifices for wealth and power. Nevertheless, he was kind, just and compassionate, and he was loved by all who depended on him. By the way, he acted mercifully with one poor coal miner who lived in the forest with his family. The poor man could not pay taxes to the knight, and the managers wanted to sell all his belongings and drive him out of the forest.
Maria, the coal miner's daughter, decided to go to the knight and ask him to take pity on her father. The knight listened to her and ordered his managers not to touch the coal miner and his family. In addition, he gave her money and sent everything she needed to her sick mother.
Once a knight went into the forest to hunt. He chased a beautiful deer and got lost. Trying to get out of the thicket, he fell into a swamp and almost drowned in a viscous quagmire. When he managed to get out onto solid ground again, he noticed lights that were jumping back and forth. These were will-o'-the-wisps. And suddenly they laughed and shouted:
- You almost fell into our hands. But we don't want you to die. On the contrary, we will make you powerful and rich, just give us your heart for this. Instead, we will place a stone in your chest.
They laughed, trembled, and a whole rain of gold pieces fell all around. The offer of lights seemed tempting to the knight. He agreed, especially since the will-o'-the-wisps didn't say they would hurt him. They surrounded him and began to breathe in his face. He became dizzy and fell unconscious.
When the knight came to his senses, he noticed that everything had changed. The beauty of the forest and the sweet singing of the birds did not please him anymore, when his horse stumbled, he brutally beat it. On the high road he met peasants, they bowed to him, but he did not thank them for their greetings and only looked at them with an angry look.
And it has always been like this now. Nothing amused the knight anymore. He had forgotten how to laugh, but he was not afraid of anything, never cared about anything, was not worried, did not feel sorry for anyone, did not show compassion to anyone. And no wonder: there was a cold stone heart in his chest.
He became a cruel master for his subjects. A watchman walked around its tower, looking to see if the cart of traveling merchants loaded with goods would appear, timidly passing by the castle. When the sound of the watchman's horn was heard, the knight armed his warriors and squires and jumped on his horse. Hiding in ambush, he lay in wait for the approaching convoys and attacked them. He robbed and killed, took rich merchants to the castle and, awaiting ransom, imprisoned them in underground dungeons.
This robber appropriated all the goods, all the treasures. However, he gave a small part of the loot to his people. His prisoners sat in prisons, eating bread and water. They were released only when they managed to pay a large ransom.
The knight became unusually powerful and rich. Everyone was afraid of him, but considered him the worst of the bad. This didn't bother him. He didn't care what people thought about him. However, the looted treasures did not please him either. Now nothing gave him pleasure. He didn't love anyone, he never smiled, his heart knew only cruelty. Many became unhappy because of him, but he himself was the most unhappy of all, since a heart of stone pressed on his chest.
Everyone hated him now. Only Maria continued to love the knight and did not forget his good deeds. She was very sad when they told her about his cruelty, and without ceasing, she prayed for him, asking Heaven to make him again the same as he was before.
Once she met him in the forest. Shy and respectful, Maria stepped aside and bowed low. Noticing the basket in her hands, the knight asked what she was carrying.
“Only berries and mushrooms that I picked in the forest, dear sir,” she said.
- How dare you do this? - he shouted in rage. - Everything that grows in the forest is mine. You stole my mushrooms and berries, and I will punish you for it.
He snatched the basket from her hands, scattered mushrooms and berries, knocked the girl down with his horse, drew his sword and hit the poor thing with it. Maybe he only wanted to hit Maria with the flat of his head, but he wounded her. Blood sprayed from the girl’s body, and she fell unconscious to the ground.
The knight left without thinking about what would happen to her, and Maria came to her senses only a few hours later. She stood up with difficulty. The bleeding stopped on its own, but the wound burned fiercely, and she wanted to cool it. Not far away one could see a clearing that ended in a swamp with a stream running through it. Maria approached him and leaned towards his life-giving streams. She was told that evil forest spirits appeared in this place in the form of will-o'-the-wisps, but she had a pure heart, she relied on God and therefore was not afraid of anything.
The girl refreshed the wound with the water of the stream, but she was so weak that she could not go further, but lay down in the grass, hoping to rest. Maria fell asleep. When she opened her eyes, it was completely dark. Only in the direction of the swamp a strange light flickered. Soon the girl noticed swinging lights, which became either gigantically large or very tiny. They jumped up and down as if they were dancing, and their whispering and crackling sounded like mocking laughter.
Maria sat motionless and listened. Heavy footsteps were heard, it seemed like an armed man was walking. A moment later, a voice was heard that reminded her of a knight.
He said to the will-o'-the-wisps:
- You lied to me. I'm so unhappy that I can't live anymore. Everyone has been avoiding me since my heart of stone lies in my chest and I feel nothing.
The will-o'-the-wisps laughed, hissed, and whistled.
“After all, we gave you power, power and wealth,” they said, “and that’s what you wanted.” We kept our word.
“Wealth and power do not give me happiness,” answered the knight, “return to me my former beating, feeling heart.”
“This will never happen,” the will-o’-the-wisps laughed. - You gave it of your own free will. You can't get it back. Only if another pure heart is given to us will yours return to your chest. But the one who wants to give us his heart will die. And who will decide to sacrifice themselves for you? After all, you have become hated by everyone.
The knight sighed and was about to leave when Maria approached him. What she heard both delighted and excited her. This means that the knight was not as guilty as it seemed. In an unfortunate moment, he made a pact with the lights and became evil only because he was given a stone heart instead of a living one. Now he wanted to free himself from the terrible spell, and the girl decided to help him and die for him.
She no longer felt weak; the decision gave her strength and courage. She said:
- I am ready to give my heart for the heart of this noble gentleman.
“But it will cost you your life,” said the lights.
“I will sacrifice my life if only you promise me to return the knight his former heart.”
The lights promised her this and added:
- We give you time to think. If you do not change your mind, come here on the next full moon, and then we will do what you ask.
Maria agreed. The knight listened in silence. He wasn't even surprised that the girl he treated so cruelly wanted to sacrifice her life to save him.
As time went. Mary's wound healed thanks to medicinal herbs and ointments. Her decision did not waver. In order not to upset her parents, she did not tell them anything, and when the full moon came, she walked along the forest road. Near the swamp she saw will-o'-the-wisps and a knight. The lights asked her what she wanted, and, hearing her previous firm answer, ordered her to prepare for death.
Until now the knight had stood silent and motionless. When Maria said “yes” so calmly and firmly, something changed in his soul. Could it be that after such a long time his heart woke up? It began to beat fearfully again. When the girl finally prepared to give her heart, such terrible blows were heard in his chest that it seemed as if it would burst. The knight's heart came to life.
He rushed and shouted:
- Maria should not suffer. Do what you want with me, but I won’t give her up!
At that moment the will-o'-the-wisps went out. It was dark all around. Maria trembled like an aspen leaf and cried quietly. The knight calmed her down and led her out of the forest, carefully choosing a path for her. She was embarrassed that her sacrifice was not required, but the knight said that her desire alone had already saved him, since now a living, feeling heart was beating in his chest. He again became as kind and meek as he had been before. Soon the knight tried to make amends, and everyone fell in love with him again. He was deeply grateful to Mary, gave her a gold ring and introduced her into his home as his wife. And they lived for a long time in peace, harmony and love.