The Story of Ivan and the Queen

Once upon a time there was a businessperson whose wife died and left behind a son named Ivan. He entrusted his son to his younger brother to raise, and soon he married again.

　　Ivan has grown up and is handsome, and his stepmother likes him very much.

　　Once, Ivan and his uncle rowed a small raft out to sea to hunt birds, and found thirty boats coming towards them. There was a queen and her thirty dry sisters on board. When the raft approached the boat, all thirty boats broke down.

　　Ivan and his uncle were invited to the best boat, and the queen and her thirty dry sisters came out to meet them. The queen told Ivan that she loved him very, very much and came to see him specially.

　　They were engaged at the time.

　　The queen said goodbye to Ivan, and told him to come back to this place at this time the next day and drive the boat away. Ivan went home, had dinner, and went to bed.

　　The stepmother called Ivan's uncle into her house, got him drunk, and asked him if anything happened when he was shooting birds. The uncle told her all about it.

　　After hearing this, the stepmother took out a big head and said to the uncle, "Tomorrow, when those ships are coming towards you, pin this pin to Ivan's clothes." Uncle agreed to do so.

　　In the morning, Ivan got up to hunt birds. The fleet came, and the uncle hurriedly took out a pin and pinned it to Ivan's clothes.

　　"Oh, I'm so sleepy," Ivan said. "Uncle, I'm going to sleep for a while, please wake me up when the time comes."

　　"Okay, I'll wake you up."

　　The fleet approached and dropped anchor. The queen sent someone to invite Ivan to meet on the boat immediately. Ivan slept very hard, no matter how he called or pushed, he didn't wake up. The visitor had to leave. The queen told Ivan's uncle that Ivan should come here tomorrow, and then ordered the anchor to be lifted and the sail set sail.

　　Uncle took out the pin, Ivan woke up and called the queen back, but the queen was far away and could not hear.

　　He came home, sullen.

　　The stepmother called Ivan's uncle into her house, got him drunk, asked him about the situation in detail, and told him to pin a pin to Ivan's clothes tomorrow.

　　The next day, Ivan went to hunt birds, but he didn't wake up again and didn't see the queen. The queen told Ivan's uncle to ask Ivan to do it again.

　　On the third day, Ivan and his uncle went birding again, went to the old place, and saw the fleet in the distance. The uncle immediately took out a pin and pinned it to his clothes, and he fell asleep again.

　　The fleet came over and stopped at anchor. The Queen sent someone to invite her fiancé to be a guest on the boat. No matter what he called, Ivan still didn't wake up.

　　The queen saw the trick of Ivan's stepmother and the deception of his uncle, and wrote to Ivan to tell him to cut off his uncle's head, and if he still loved her, he would go to a country 108,000 miles away to find her.

　　The fleet raised its sails and sailed into the middle of the sea, and the uncle took the pin from Ivan. Ivan woke up and shouted the queen's name, but the ship was far away and the queen heard nothing.

　　The uncle handed the queen's letter to Ivan. After reading the letter, he drew his saber, cut off the bad uncle's head, and hurried ashore. He returned home, said goodbye to his father, and set off to find the queen.

　　Thaksin walked, walked for a long time, and saw a tall hut. He entered the house and saw a very powerful old witch.

　　"Ho ho, I haven't smelled the smell of Russians, and I haven't seen the appearance of Russians." The old woman said, "Now I'm here by myself, did I come voluntarily, or did someone call you here, good boy?"

　　"It can be said that I came voluntarily, or it can be said that someone else called me here. Do you know, grandma, what country is far away?"

　　"I don't know, I've never heard of it." The old witch asked him to ask his second sister to see if she knew.

　　Ivan thanked the old witch and continued on. He walked and walked, walked for a long time, and came to the same hut again. He walked in, and there was also a powerful old witch here.

　　"Ho ho," said the old witch, "I have never smelled the smell of Russians, I have never seen their appearance, and now I have brought them to my door. Did you come voluntarily, or did someone call you here?"

　　"I came voluntarily, and I was called by someone else. Do you know what country is far away?"

　　"I don't know, I haven't heard of it." The old witch replied, asking Ivan to ask her little sister, maybe she knew. "If she's angry with you and wants to eat you, pick up her three trumpets and blow, the first one doesn't blow very loudly, the second one blows a little more, and the third one blows louder."

　　Ivan thanked the old witch and kept going.

　　He walked and walked, and finally saw a tall hut. He went in, and there was another great old witch here.

　　"Ho ho, I haven't smelled the smell of Russians, I haven't seen their appearance, and now I'm here!" The old witch said and grinded her teeth to eat this uninvited guest.

　　Ivan picked up her three trumpets, the first blowing lightly, the second blowing with more force, and the third blowing with more force.

　　At this time, many birds flew from all directions, and the firebirds also came.

　　"Sit on my back and let's fly away," Firebird said, "or the old witch will eat you!" As soon as Ivan sat up, the old witch came, grabbed Firebird's tail, and tore off a lot of hairs.

　　The firebird carried Ivan and flew in the air for a long time, and finally flew to the shore of the sea.

　　"Hey, Ivan, the other side is the country you're going to. I can't carry you there. You can think of a way."

　　Ivan got off the back of the firebird, thanked him, and walked along the shore.

　　He walked for a while, saw a hut, and went in. An old woman greeted him, gave him food, gave him drink, and asked him where he was going and what he was doing. He told the eldest woman that he was going to a far country to find the queen, his fiancée.

　　"Oh," said the old woman, "she doesn't love you anymore. If she sees you, she will kill you. She has long hidden her love for you."

　　"How can I find it?"

　　"Wait, my daughter is with the empress. She said she would come today and ask her about it."

　　In the evening, the old woman's daughter came. The mother asked her if she knew where the queen's love was hidden.

　　"I don't know," the daughter replied, promising to find the queen to test it out.

　　The next day, the daughter came back and told her mother: "There is a tree on the other side of the sea, there is a box on the tree, there is a rabbit in the box, there is a duck in the rabbit's belly, there is an egg in the duck's belly, the queen's love is hidden in the egg."

　　Ivan took some bread and walked to the place the old woman's daughter said. He found the tree, took off the box, took the rabbit from the box, took the duck from the rabbit's belly, took the egg from the duck's belly, and came back to the old woman with the egg.

　　The old woman was about to have her name day, and she invited the Queen and her thirty dry sisters to attend. She cooked the eggs and hid Ivan in beautiful clothes.

　　At noon, the queen and the dry sisters came, took their seats, and had lunch. After dinner, the old woman placed an ordinary egg in front of everyone, and gave the queen the egg that Ivan took out of the duck's belly. The queen ate this egg and fell in love with Ivan deeply.

　　The old woman called Ivan out, and everyone was beaming and elated. The Queen and Ivan returned to their country for their wedding and lived a happy life.