Once upon a time there was a cavalryman who served the king as a guard for twenty-five years. He was honest and loyal. He performed well, so the king ordered him to retire with honor and gave him his horse and the complete set of saddles he had used.
The soldier said goodbye to his comrades and went back to his hometown. He walked day after day, week after week, and his money was gone. He had nothing to eat, and his horse had no feed. He was still far from home. He was very hungry and saw that things were not going well. He looked to the left and right and saw a big castle. He thought to himself: Why don't I go there? I can find a temporary job and make some money.
He walked towards the castle, entered the yard, locked the horse in the stable, and put some food for the horse. He went into the house and saw wine and food on the table. He was so happy! He ate and drank until he was drunk and full. He thought to himself: Now I can have a good sleep!
A she-bear suddenly ran in and said to him:
"Don't be afraid, young man. You are in luck. I am not a man-eating she-bear, but a beautiful girl, a bewitched princess. If you can stay and sleep for three days and three nights, you can drive the devil out of me.
I will become the princess I once was and marry you."
The soldier agreed. The mother bear ran away, leaving him alone. He felt very annoyed, and the further he looked, the more annoyed he became. If he hadn't drunk a few glasses of wine, he wouldn't have been able to last the whole night.
On the third night, he could no longer bear it and decided to leave the castle. He looked for the door everywhere, but couldn't find it. He had no choice but to stay.
On the third morning, a beautiful princess came to him, thanked him for his help, and wanted to marry him. They held their wedding and lived happily without worries.
After some time, the soldier missed his hometown and wanted to go back to visit, but the princess advised him not to go back.
"Don't go back, dear, you have everything you need now."
The wife did not persuade him to leave. She sent her husband off, gave him a bag of tree seeds, and said to him:
"Scatter these tree seeds along the roadside where you pass by. The seeds will immediately grow into trees and produce precious fruits. Birds will sing in the trees and cats will tell you stories."
He rode his hard-working warhorse back to his hometown. Along the way, he scattered tree seeds on both sides of the road, and trees immediately sprouted in the field, growing upwards.
On the third day of his journey, he met a group of camels. A merchant was sitting on the grass playing cards. There was a pot hanging next to him. There was no fire under the pot, but the water in the pot was boiling and bubbling out.
The soldier thought, this is strange, there is no fire, but the boiling water in the pot is bubbling out, let me get closer and take a look. He turned his horse around and rode towards the merchant.
"Hello, dear friends!"
He didn't expect that these were devils, not businessmen.
"Your stuff is pretty good, it can boil water without fire, mine is better than yours!"
He took a seed out of the bag and scattered it on the ground. Immediately, a century-old tree grew out of it. The tree was full of precious fruits. Birds were singing in the tree and a cat was telling stories.
The devil saw this thing and recognized him.
They discussed quietly: "This is the man who rescued the princess. Let's get him drunk with medicinal wine and let him sleep here for half a year."
The devil invited the soldier to drink and made him drunk with the drugged wine. He fell on the grass and fell into a deep sleep, which could not be awakened by thunder. The merchant, the camel, and the pot all disappeared without a trace.
The princess went for a walk in the garden and found that the treetops had turned yellow. She thought to herself: Oh no, my husband is in danger.
Three months have passed and he should have come back, but there is no sign of him.
The princess set out to look for her husband. She walked along the path her husband had walked, with trees growing beside the path, birds singing in the trees, and cats telling stories.
She came to a place where there was no tree and a winding road that twisted and turned on the bare ground. She wondered where the prince was, had he gone underground? Looking carefully, she saw a strange tree nearby and her dear husband was lying under the tree.
The wife walked to her husband and pushed him, trying to wake him up, but he didn't wake up. She twisted him and pricked him with a pin, but he didn't feel any pain and didn't move at all, like a dead man. The princess got angry and started to curse:
"You damned sleepyhead! Let the wind blow you away, a hundred thousand miles away!"
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a sudden gust of wind, and her husband was blown away, and he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The princess regretted saying such unlucky words, burst into tears, and returned home, living her life alone.
The poor soldier was blown very far away by the wind and landed on a small piece of land between two seas. If he rolled to any side, he would fall into the sea and there would be no way to save him.
He slept for half a year without moving a finger. As soon as he opened his eyes, he stood up and looked around. The waves were surging on both sides and the shore was invisible. He thought for a while and said to himself: "It's strange, how did I get here ? Who sent me here?"
He walked towards an island. On the island there was a mountain, high and steep, with its peak reaching into the clouds and a large rock on the mountainside.
He walked to the foot of the mountain and saw three devils fighting, their bodies covered in blood and their clothes torn.
"Stop it! Why are you fighting?"
"My father passed away three days ago, leaving behind three treasures: a flying carpet, thousand-mile boots, and an invisible hat. They are not easy to divide."
"You damned things, fighting over such a small matter. I'll divide it among you, and I guarantee that everyone will be satisfied and no one will have any objections."
"Okay, please help me."
"Sure! Go to the woods and collect resin. Collect several thousand kilograms. Bring it back here when you have collected a hundred kilograms."
The three devils went to collect resin and collected several thousand kilograms of it. They handed it over to the soldiers.
"Now you go to hell and carry the biggest pot."
The devil brought a very large pot and poured the resin into the pot.
The soldier lit a fire. When the resin began to melt, he ordered the demons to carry the pot up the mountain and pour it down the mountain. The three demons finished the job quickly.
The soldier said, "Now, push the stone down the hill, and then chase the stone. Whoever catches up with the stone first can pick up any one of the three treasures. Whoever catches up with the stone second can pick up any one of the two treasures. The last person to catch up with the stone can take the remaining one."
The devil pushed the stone hard, and the stone rolled down the hill very fast. Three devils ran to chase it, and one caught up with it and reached out to grab the stone. The stone rolled back a bit, pinning the devil down and rolling into the resin. The other two devils also caught up with the stone, but the result was the same, they were stuck tightly by the resin.
The soldier picked up his thousand-mile boots and invisibility cap, sat on the flying carpet, and flew to his own country.
He flew for a while and came to a small house. Inside the house sat an old witch with missing teeth. She was very old. He walked into the house and asked the witch:
"Grandma, please tell me how to find my wife, she is a beautiful princess."
"I don't know, dear. I don't know her. If you go to look for my second sister, you will have to cross several seas and walk a long way to find her. She knows more than I do and may be able to give you some advice."
He took the flying carpet and continued to fly to the mountain tomb ghost mother . After flying for a long time, he was hungry and thirsty. He put on the invisibility hat, landed in a city, walked into a store, grabbed some things he wanted, and took the flying carpet to continue flying.
He flew to a small house and walked in. Inside the house sat a toothless witch who was very old.
"Hello, grandmother. Please tell me where to find my wife, she is a beautiful princess."
"I don't know, dear. I have a sister, and I have to cross several seas and walk a long way to find her. She may know."
He got on the flying carpet and went to find the witch's eldest sister.
He flew for a long time, across several seas, and a long way, until he reached the horizon. There was a small house. He could not go any further, and it was pitch black in front of him, and he could not see anything. He thought to himself: If I can't get any answers here, there is no other way.
He walked into the house. In the house was a white-haired witch with missing teeth.
"Hello, old lady. Please tell me where to find my wife, she is a princess."
"Wait a moment. I'll ask the wind. It blows all over the world. It should know where your wife is."
She walked up the steps and shouted, then blew a loud whistle. Suddenly, a strong wind blew from all directions, shaking the cottage.
"Shave it less, shave it less!" said the witch.
"My great wind, have you traveled all over the world? Have you ever seen a beautiful princess?"
"No, I've never seen it before." All the big winds said in unison.
"Are you all here?"
"Only the south wind hasn't arrived yet."
The South Wind was late. The Witch asked it:
"Where have you been? You come only now. I've been waiting for you for a long time."
"I'm sorry, old lady. I went to a newly established kingdom. There was a beautiful princess there. Her husband was missing, and many kings and princes from different countries proposed to her."
"How far is it from here?"
"It would take thirty years to walk there, ten years to fly there, but I can get there in three hours."
The soldier begged the south wind with tears to take him away.
"I can send you there, but you have to promise me to spend three days and three nights in your country."
"Three weeks doesn't matter!"
"Okay, I'll rest for two or three days, and then we'll leave after I'm fully rested."
Nanfeng rested well and regained his energy. He said to the soldiers:
"Hey, buddy, pack up and get going. Don't be afraid, I won't let you fall."
Suddenly, a strong wind blew up and swept the soldier into the air, over the mountains, across the oceans, and through the clouds. After three hours, he arrived at where his wife was.
The south wind said to him:
"Good-bye, young man. I pity you, and I won't hang around here any more."
"Why?"
"For when I start to wander, the houses in the city and the trees in the garden will be turned upside down, and nothing will be left."
"Thank you, and I wish you a safe journey." The soldier said, put on the invisibility hat, and walked towards the palace.
After the soldier disappeared, the leaves in the garden dried up. When he returned, they turned green again.
He walked into the hall, where the king and the prince who came to propose marriage were drinking happily. Whenever someone poured wine or raised a cup, the soldier raised his fist and knocked it away. The guests were surprised, but the princess immediately understood. She thought to herself that her husband had returned.
She looked out the window and saw that the trees in the garden had turned green. She posed a riddle to her guest:
"I have a little box with a golden key. I lost the key and thought I could never find it again, but it reappeared by itself. I will marry the one who can answer this riddle."
The king and the prince thought about it for a long time, but they couldn't guess it. The princess said:
"Honey, please come out."
The soldier took off his invisible cap, took his wife's hand and kissed her.
"That is the answer!" the princess said to her guest. "The box is me, and the golden key is my husband.
The suitor had no choice but to turn around and go home. The princess and her husband lived happily ever after.