Platonov Ivan the mediocre and Elena the wise read. Online reading of the book Ivan Bestalanny and Elena the Wise Andrey Platonov

Once upon a time there came a great devastation in one land because of a wild boar. The boar spoiled the peasants' fields, destroyed livestock, and tore people apart with its fangs. And so the king promised that whoever freed the land from such a scourge would receive a great reward. But the beast was so huge and strong that no one dared to come close to the forest where it lived. Finally the king announced that whoever catches or kills a wild boar will have it as his wife. only daughter.

And at that time there lived in this land two brothers, the sons of one poor man. So they came and decided to dare this dangerous undertaking. The elder was cunning and smart and agreed to this out of daring, but the younger was simple-minded and stupid and went for it from the bottom of his heart. And the king said:

To catch the animal more accurately, enter the forest from different sides.

And the elder brother went into the forest in the evening, and the younger brother in the morning. The younger brother walked a little, and lo and behold, he came up to him little man, he had a black spear in his hand, and said:

I give this spear to you because you have good and pure heart. With this spear you can calmly go after a wild boar - it will not cause you any harm.

The younger brother thanked the little man, put the spear on his shoulders and moved on without any fear. Soon he noticed an animal rushing at him, but he held out a spear towards him, and the animal, in blind rage, rushed at the spear with such force that his heart was torn in two. He then put the monster on his shoulders and went home to take it to the king.

He came out of the forest on the other side and saw a house standing at the edge of the forest, people having fun in it, dancing and drinking wine. His older brother also went there; Considering that the boar would not run away from him anyway, he first wanted to get drunk for greater courage.

He noticed younger brother, who came out of the forest, loaded with booty, and there was no rest for his envious and evil heart. He called out to him:

Dear brother, come here, rest and refresh yourself with a cup of wine.

The younger brother, not suspecting anything wrong, went into the house and told his brother about the kind little man who gave him a spear, with which he killed the boar. The elder brother persuaded the younger brother to stay here until the evening, and then they set off together.

At dusk they approached a bridge over a stream, and the older brother invited the younger brother to go forward; and when he reached the middle of the bridge, his elder brother hit him from behind so hard that he fell down dead. He buried it under the bridge, then took the boar, brought it to the king and began to claim that it was he who killed him; and for this he received the king's daughter as a wife.

When the younger brother did not return, the elder said:

It was a wild boar that tore it apart, and everyone believed it.

But nothing remains hidden from God; so this dark matter was bound to come to light. Many years later, one day a shepherd was driving his flock across a bridge and noticed a bone, white as boiling water, on the sand below and decided that it would make a good cigarette holder. He went down, picked it up and cut out a mouthpiece for his horn. So he tried to play on it, and the bone, to the great surprise of the shepherd, began to sing itself:

Ah, my dear shepherd boy,

You're playing your horn on a bone,

My brother killed me

Buried under the bridge, -

Because of the evil boar

For the sake of the king's daughter.

What kind of magic horn is this, - said the shepherd, - it sings by itself, you will have to take it to the king.

He came to the king and sang his song again with the horn. Then the king understood everything and ordered the ground to be dug up under the bridge, and the bones of the murdered man were found there.

And the evil brother could not deny his crime, and so they sewed him into a sack and drowned him alive, and buried the bones of the murdered brother in a cemetery in beautiful coffin to eternal rest.

Once upon a time there came a great devastation in one land because of a wild boar. The boar spoiled the peasants' fields, destroyed livestock, and tore people apart with its fangs. And so the king promised that whoever freed the land from such a scourge would receive a great reward. But the beast was so huge and strong that no one dared to come close to the forest where it lived. Finally, the king announced that whoever caught or killed a wild boar would receive his only daughter as his wife.

To catch the animal more accurately, enter the forest from different sides.

And the elder brother went into the forest in the evening, and the younger brother in the morning. The younger brother walked a little, and lo and behold, a little man came up to him, he had a black spear in his hand, and said:

I give this spear to you because you have a kind and pure heart. With this spear you can calmly go after a wild boar - it will not cause you any harm.

He noticed his younger brother coming out of the forest, loaded with booty, and there was no rest for his envious and evil heart. He called out to him:

Dear brother, come here, rest and refresh yourself with a cup of wine.

When the younger brother did not return, the elder said:

It was a wild boar that tore it apart, and everyone believed it.

Ah, my dear shepherd boy,

You're playing your horn on a bone,

My brother killed me

Buried under the bridge, -

Because of the evil boar

For the sake of the king's daughter.

What kind of magic horn is this, - said the shepherd, - it sings by itself, you will have to take it to the king.

And the evil brother could not deny his crime, and so they sewed him into a sack and drowned him alive, and buried the bones of the murdered brother in a cemetery in a beautiful coffin for eternal rest.

In one country, a big disaster happened: a wild boar appeared in it, which blew up the fields of the villagers, beat the cattle and ripped open the bellies of the people they met with its tusks. The king of that country promised a great reward to the one who would save his kingdom from this disaster: however, the beast was so large and strong that no one even dared to approach the forest in which he prowled.

Finally, the king announced that if anyone caught or killed this boar, he would marry his only daughter to such a daredevil.

So two brothers volunteered for this brave task - the children of a poor man who lived in that country. The eldest of them was cunning and had his own mind and did it out of vanity, and the younger, a simple and narrow-minded man, decided on it out of the kindness of his heart.

The king said to the brothers: “To make it easier for you to find the beast, go into the forest from two opposite sides.”

So they entered the forest - the eldest from midnight, and the youngest from noon. And after the younger man had already walked some distance through the forest, a little man suddenly approached him, and in his hand he had a black spear. The little man said: “I give this spear to you because you have a simple and kind heart; With this spear, boldly go against the boar - no harm will happen to you from it.”

The good fellow thanked the little man, took the spear on his shoulder and fearlessly walked forward.

A little time passed before he saw the beast, which rushed at him, but the brave man put his spear forward, and the boar, in a blind rage, ran into this spear so hard that it pierced his very heart.

Then the young man put the killed monster on his shoulders, turned to the exit from the forest and was going to take his prey straight to the palace to the king.

Arriving at the outskirts of the forest, he saw a house there in which people were having fun: drinking wine and dancing.

And his elder brother went there, thinking that the boar would not leave him, but he would drink first for courage!

When he saw his younger brother coming out of the forest, loaded with his booty, his envious and evil heart began to trouble him.

He shouted to his brother: “Come here, dear brother, rest and refresh yourself with a cup of wine.”

The younger brother, not suspecting anything wrong, came in and told his brother about the kind little man who gave him a spear in the hands of the boar to his death.

The elder brother detained him until the evening, and they went out together. When they, already in the dark, came to a bridge spanning a stream, the elder let his younger brother go ahead and, as soon as they reached the middle of the bridge, dealt him such a blow that the young man immediately fell dead.

The murderer buried his brother under the bridge, then took the boar and brought it to the king, to whom he declared that he himself had killed the beast; after that the king gave his only daughter in marriage to him. And since the younger brother did not return, the elder said: “That’s right, the boar ripped open his stomach with its fangs.” And everyone believed him.

But nothing remains hidden from God, and therefore this dark matter also had to come to light.

Many years later, it happened one day that a shepherd was driving his flocks across this bridge and saw: under the bridge in the sand there lay a little white bone.

He thought that this bone could make an excellent tip for a pipe.

He went under the bridge, picked up a bone and cut out a tip for his horn.

And as soon as he put that horn to his lips for the first time, the bone, to the great amazement of the shepherd, began to sing on its own.

This is what he heard:

Ah, my dear shepherdess!

Listen to me, my friend:

My brother killed me here,

He buried it under the bridge.

And deceiving himself into his wife

I picked up the princess.

“What a strange horn: it sings songs on its own! - said the shepherd. “I should show it to the king.”

He came to the king with this horn, and the horn again sang its song in front of the king.

The king understood the meaning of the song, ordered to dig up the ground under the bridge, and there they dug up the bones of the murdered brother.