Read the Russian folk tale "The Talentless Ivan and the Wise Elena." Russian folk tale “Ivan the Talentless and Elena the Wise”

In a certain kingdom-state, in one village, an elderly widow lived and raised her son Ivan. And now the time has come - Ivan has grown up. The mother is both happy and sad about this at the same time. He rejoices that his son was born big and handsome, but he grieves because everything falls out of his hands - he grew up mediocre. I went to plow the field, turned the clay out from under the ground, sowed the seeds, but they didn’t grow. It’s the same in any other business - he wants to do what’s best, but everything turns out wrong. Ivan has no intelligence, no luck, no talent.

The mother doesn’t sleep at night, she’s always thinking about how to accommodate Ivan. I decided to marry him: a reasonable wife will always have a son with enough to eat. But who would take someone untalented as a husband?

While his mother was sad, Ivan sat on the rubble and did not grieve about anything. Suddenly he sees an old man walking, unsightly, decrepit.

“Feed me, son,” the old man asks, “I have grown thin for long journey, there is nothing left in the bag.

“And we, grandfather, don’t even have a crumb of bread in our hut,” Ivan answers him. - If I had known that I would meet you, I wouldn’t have eaten the last piece yesterday - I would have saved it for you. Let’s go, I’ll at least wash you off the road and rinse out your shirt.

Ivan heated the bathhouse, washed and steamed the old man, washed his shirt, and put the wanderer to bed. In the morning the old man says to him:

- I will remember your kindness. If you feel bad, go to the forest. When you reach the place where two roads part, you will see a gray stone lying there. Push him with your shoulder and call me. I'll come to you.

So the old man left, and Ivan and his mother continued to live in hunger and great need. Now that there wasn’t a grain left in the house, the mother was prepared to die by starvation. But he asks his son to go around the world to find a bride. Ivan sighed and went into the forest. He found a gray stone, touched it with his shoulder and called his grandfather.

An old man appeared and led Ivan into the reserved forest. And there are rich huts. The kind owner fed and gave Ivan something to drink, but he still asks for more.

- Why, Ivan, have you grown so big, but you can’t feed your mother and yourself? - the old man asks. - Just look - you’ll get married soon, how will you feed your family?

- I don’t know, grandfather, and I don’t have a wife!

- What a disaster! - the owner says. - I’ll give you my daughter as a wife. She's a smart girl, she's smart enough for both of you.

The old man called his daughter. Elena the Wise entered, Ivan was dumbfounded - he had never seen such beauty, and did not even know that it existed in the world.

The beauty accepted her father's will, and so they got married. They live richly, well-fed, the wife rules the house. But the old owner is rarely at home - he wanders around the world, looking for wisdom among people, and when he finds it, he returns home and writes it down in a book. But he doesn’t show anyone what he brings from his travels - he hides everything, and even takes care of his book of wisdom.

Ivan’s mother lived in prosperity, but she did not want to move into Ivan’s house. And Ivan himself began to think: everything seems to be fine with him, his wife is beautiful, affectionate, but Ivan feels as if he is always cold. And he lives half-living with his young wife.

One day my father-in-law comes to Ivan and says:

“I’m going far as I’ve never walked before, and I’m leaving you the key to my barn - I’m afraid I’ll lose it on the way.” Take care of the key and don’t open the barn. If you can’t bear it and open it, then don’t take your wife with you. And if you do take your wife with you, then don’t give her a colored dress. Time will come, I’ll give it to her myself, and I’ll save it for her. Complete everything. what I said, otherwise you will lose your life.

The old man left, but Ivan keeps his word and doesn’t go near the barn. More time passed, Ivan could not resist - he went to the barn alone, without his wife. And in the barn there is darkness of gold and precious stones. Ivan sees another door in the corner - to the closet. As soon as he crossed the threshold he shouted:

- Elenushka, my wife, come here quickly!

In that closet there hung a semi-precious dress. It shone like a clear sky, and the light, like a living wind, moved across it. Ivan was delighted - such a dress would suit his wife.

Ivan remembered what his father-in-law had punished him, but what would happen to the dress if Elena saw it? And Ivan loved his wife - where she smiles, he will be happy.

My wife came. She saw the dress and clasped her hands:

- Apparently you don’t love me if you’re hiding such a dress! Let me at least put my hands through the sleeves!

Ivan’s wife persuaded him to first put his hands through the sleeves, then put his head through the collar, and then the dress fastened itself. Elena is standing in it - such a beauty that you can’t tell it in a fairy tale or describe it with a pen! She felt for a mirror in her pocket, looked into it and said:

- Oh, and I’m a beauty, but I live with a mediocre husband! If I could become a bird, I would fly far, far away from here!

Ivan began to burn, and did not save his wife and violated his father-in-law’s order. “One word – mediocre,” he cried. But no one heard him or consoled him. With nothing to do, Ivan got ready to hit the road and went to look for his wife.

He walks through fields, forests, seas, grieving and missing his wife. Suddenly he sees a pike lying near the water, almost not breathing, and cannot reach the water on its own. “There are people in the world who are even worse than me!” thought Ivan and threw the pike into the water. She immediately perked up, came to life, swam to the shore and whispered: “I will not forget your goodness, Ivan, it will be difficult - call me!”

Ivan sighed, ate a piece of bread and continued on his way. Suddenly he sees that a kite has caught a sparrow, holds it in its claws, and wants to peck it. “Here,” Ivan thinks, “I have trouble, and the sparrow is dead!” Ivan drove away the kite, which released the sparrow from its claws. He sat down on a branch and said:

- I will not forget your kindness, Ivan. If you have a need, call me!

Ivan spent the night under a tree, and in the morning he moved on. The road is not close. He walked for almost a year, became emaciated, and his clothes were worn out. Finally, he walked around the whole earth, he reached the sea - there was nowhere to go further. He asks the local residents whose land this is. And they answer:

“Elena the Wise lives among our queens: she knows everything - she has a book where everything is written; she sees everything - she has a magic mirror. She sees you now too.

Ivan realized that he had found his wife. Yes, and Elena saw him in her mirror. Ivan approached the royal court. And that one is fenced with a high fence - on each stake there is a human head, only one stake is empty. A local resident told Ivan:

- These are the suitors of our queen, Helen the Wise, who wooed her. Our queen is of indescribable beauty and a sorceress in mind. So different suitors woo her - noble and daring ones. And she needs a groom who will outwit her. And those who do not outwit her, she punishes with death. Now there is one more stake left - for whoever else comes to woo her.

- Yes, here I come! - Ivan says.

“So the empty stake is for you,” the resident answered and went on his way.

Ivan came to Elena, and she was sitting in the royal room dressed in her father’s dress. So beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off her.

-What do you want? Why did you come? - she asks Ivan.

“Look at you, I miss you,” Ivan answers.

“And they missed me too,” Elena says and points to the stakes with her hand.

“Ali, are you not my wife anymore?” – asks Ivan.

“I was your wife, but now I’m not the same.” What kind of husband are you to me, a mediocre man! If you want me as your wife, first earn it! If you don’t deserve it, take your head off your shoulders! There's an empty stake sticking out.

“The empty stake doesn’t miss me,” Ivan says. - Make sure you don't miss me. Tell me: what do you want to do?

“But hide from me wherever you want, even at the end of the world, so that I don’t find you, but if I did find you, I wouldn’t recognize you.” Then you will be smarter than me, and I will become your wife. If you don’t know how to be secret, I’ll tell you, you’ll lose your head.

“Allow me to sleep on the straw and eat your bread until the morning, and in the morning I will fulfill your desire.”

In the evening, the servant Daria laid straw in the entryway and brought a crust of bread and a jug of kvass. Ivan lay down and thought - what will happen tomorrow? And he sees that Daria came, sat down on the porch in the hallway, laid out Tsarina’s dress and began to sew up a hole in it. He darns and sews, but the needle does not sew it, but only rips it apart. The dress is so delicate, even with a needle it tears. Daria cries, says goodbye to life - the queen promised to execute her in the morning if she doesn’t sew up her dress.

Ivan approached her, consoled her as best he could, and agreed to help. But he’s a mediocre guy, he can’t do anything, his dress is torn even more. Daria sobs more than ever and says goodbye to life. And Ivan dropped the needle and began tying the threads in the hole with his fingers.

So Ivan worked with desire and patience all night. The moon was shining from the sky for him, and the dress itself glowed as if alive, and he saw every thread. By the morning dawn, Ivan had managed. He lifted the dress into his hand and felt it was heavy. He found his father-in-law's book and a magic mirror in his pockets. I looked into it - I just saw dregs, read the book - I didn’t understand anything. “Apparently, it’s true, I’m untalented!” Ivan sighed.

And Daria examined the dress, was satisfied, and said:

- Thank you, you saved me from death, I will remember your kindness.

And Ivan looked around the yard - he was thinking where to hide. He climbed into a haystack, but only Daria screamed at him from the porch to get out. If she saw him, then the queen even more so. Ivan thought and thought, and then he clicked on the pike. She turned him into a fish, dragged him to the bottom of the sea, hid him in the sand, and muddied all the water around him. Elena the Wise took her mirror, pointed it at the earth - no Ivan, pointed it at the sky - no Ivan, pointed it at the sea - no Ivan. “I’m smart and cunning, and Ivan is not so simple,” thought the queen.

She opened her father’s book of wisdom and reads: “The cunning of the mind is strong, and good is stronger than cunning, even the creature remembers good.” Elena read these words, first according to the written word, then according to the unwritten word, and realized where Ivan was hiding. She called the pike and demanded that Ivan be given it, threatening to cook it. The pike got scared and brought Ivan to Elena.

The beauty did not immediately execute her husband - they are not strangers to each other. I gave Ivan another try. He called the sparrow. He turned Ivan's sparrow into grain and held it in his beak. Again Elena pointed the mirror at the earth, sky and water. She searched and searched, but got angry and threw away the mirror. Then she opened her father’s book and found out where Ivan was. Elena ordered to give the grain to the sparrow, otherwise the kite would eat him. The sparrow got scared and released the grain.

And Elena gave Ivan the third attempt - he couldn’t hide - his head was off his shoulders.

Ivan doesn’t know what to do. But then Daria came to him, she blew in his face and Ivan disappeared, he turned into a woman’s warm breath. Daria inhaled it, went to the upper room, opened Tsaritsyn’s book and blew into it. Immediately her breath turned into a new capital letter. This is how Ivan became a letter.

Elena slammed the book and threw it on the ground. From that blow, all the letters in the book crumbled, and the capital letter was hit so hard that it turned into Ivan.

Ivan looks at Elena the Beautiful, his wife, and he can’t take his eyes off. The queen also stared at Ivan, and after staring, she smiled at him. And she became even more beautiful than before.

“And I thought my husband was a mediocre man!” – Elena laughed. - And he’s from magic mirror hid himself and outwitted the book of wisdom!

They began to live in peace and harmony. Here Ivan’s mother and Elena’s father came to visit them. Father-in-law Ivanov knew shortcuts. Ivan bowed at the feet of his mother, and fell at the feet of his father-in-law:

- It’s bad, father! I did not comply with your ban. Forgive me, mediocre!

“Nothing, son,” father-in-law Ivanov answered and hugged his son-in-law. “There was charm in the treasured dress, wisdom in the book, and all the appearance of the world in the mirror.” I thought that I had collected a dowry for my daughter, I just didn’t want to give it to her before the time. I collected everything for her, but didn’t give it to her. what was in you - the main talent. I followed him far away, but he turned out to be close. Apparently it is not placed, not given, but obtained by the person himself.

Here Elena the Wise began to cry, kissed Ivan, her husband, and asked him for forgiveness. Since then they began to live gloriously - both Elena and Ivan, and their parents - and they still live. 14
This tale, retold by A.P. Platonov, can be found in the collection “Russians fairy tales» St. Petersburg, Lenizdat, 1994

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How did this story resonate in your heart? Perhaps she reminded you of the story of your own relationship? Or have you encountered something similar before while observing others?

One way or another, we need to figure out what kind of talent Ivan had? After all, his father-in-law did not give a definition, saying only: “I collected everything for her, but I didn’t include what was in you - the main talent. I followed him far away, but he turned out to be close. Apparently it is not placed, not given, but obtained by the person himself.”

On a social level, Ivan is poorly adapted to life. He is a bad owner, incapable of peasant labor. Whatever he undertakes does not work out. He cannot feed himself, nor his mother, nor his future family.

If this were not a fairy tale, but usual life, few would deign such a man with their attention. His SOCIAL POWER level is low. This means it will be difficult for him to survive.

AND to the fabulous Ivan, and it is difficult for an ordinary man with such a low level of social power to find a wife. He is a loser, untalented. But for some reason he came into this world, he was endowed with some abilities. True, it is very difficult to see them.

Many women have, first of all, social expectations from a man. He must earn good money, stand on his own two feet, be able to feed his family, and pay for his children’s education. He is obliged to protect his wife and family from all misfortunes. And for this he must have great social power.

Ivan does not meet women's expectations at all. Why exactly does he become a hero? fairy tale story? Yes, he does not have social power, but he has enough SPIRITUAL POWER. He is a kind of “enlightened one” who trusts the flow of life. His pattern of destiny contains no tangled threads of hatred or envy, fear or malice. He's calm. He is not afraid of work and takes on it with joy. It doesn't matter that he can't do anything. It's more likely his mother's concern. While she is sad, he sits on the rubble and does not grieve about anything.

One cannot call him indifferent - he sincerely empathizes with his mother, understands her fear of starvation and lack of prospects. He empathizes with his mother, but he himself does not have this fear. He is free and brave, just like Sigurd. And this is the main resource of his masculine strength.

Many young men who do not have a good social start (connections, money, support from high-status parents) and being “talentless” poison their hearts with experiences of the injustice of the world order, envy, anger, and fear. And gradually they turn into complete losers. Or, thanks to their anger, they often “become popular.”

Our Ivan is not like that. It doesn’t matter that he is the son of a poor widow and he does not have the resources for a decent social start. But Ivan has a good position for a spiritual start - his mother’s love and her belief that he must get married. In other words, the mother is ready to let her son go, she allows him to build a relationship with a woman.

It must be said that in modern world This is less common than we would like. Stories about the “Oedipus complex” and how mothers do not allow their sons to marry and are jealous of young girls are well known today. So, in this regard, our hero was lucky.

Ivan is a symbolic male figure. It symbolizes a man's need to build relationships with a woman, to realize himself through these relationships. Therefore, he really needs a wife. And it shouldn't be ordinary woman, burdened with social expectations from a man. A woman who can see his resource of spiritual strength should be next to Ivan. That is we're talking about O « law of similarity" often manifested in relationships: like attracts like. But what will happen if “like things are attracted”?

Eat certain type girls and women with pure soul, and inclined to see in a man, first of all, his spiritual abilities. Often these girls and women are quite naive and endow a man with subtle qualities that they do not possess. But this type of woman is not often “attracted” to the “talentless Ivans.” They, ironically, are classified by the flow of life as male predators. This makes their destiny pattern more interesting.

On the other hand, if sensitive and thin girl immediately met and fell in love with her “talentless Ivan”, could they together maintain the vibration of Love against the backdrop of hunger and other harsh demands of survival? After all, young, sensitive girls, just like the “talentless Ivans,” do not have much social power. So the law of “similarity” can play a cruel joke on partners.

At the level of development from which Ivan starts, most often, another law of relations operates - "law of complement" . According to this law, Ivan, as a man who has a small amount of social power, but a decent resource of spiritual power, should be “attracted” to a woman who has a decent amount of social power and a small amount of spiritual power.

This is what happens. Elena, thanks to her father, supports high level social power. Lives in abundance, has a good education, decently brought up. There is no need to “feed” it. Next to her, Ivan is not burdened with questions of survival.

Analogues of this fabulous situation are easy to find in life. A handsome young man, often from the provinces, who does not have any particularly outstanding talents other than a pretty appearance, finds a girl from a “decent family.” They get married, he is connected or not allowed to family business. And here it all begins: dissatisfaction with one’s position, “second roles,” dependence on the wife’s parents, and so on. So, instead of enjoying life, young spouses live “half-life, half-life,” often fighting with each other, parents and the whole world. The young wife is offended, withdraws into herself, and complains to her parents. In a word, she behaves like a little girl. Meanwhile, the situation requires her to perceive and act from the position of a wise woman. But this requires spiritual strength. And the young woman hasn’t “woke up” yet...

But let's return to our fairy tale. Ivan lives with his young wife “half-life-half-life.” This occurs due to Elena's lack of spiritual strength. After all, at that time her father did not give her the main dowry is female spiritual strength. And can it be transmitted by the father?

Spiritual strength in women is associated with emotions, the ability to feel sensitively, to experience Love. Women's spiritual strength is most often transmitted from the mother. But mothers are different. Some have a high emotional culture, others do not.

High emotional culture refers to a woman’s ability to know her feelings and manage them; fill relationships with Love; promptly “cleanse” your sphere of feelings from old grievances, disappointments, anxieties, fears, envy and anger; actively build a sense of perspective and self-esteem within yourself and your loved ones.

Low emotional culture means emotional coldness or promiscuity; underdevelopment of feelings and inability to manage them; frequent sudden mood swings or whims unjustified by situations; constant experience of guilt, fear; “obsession” with one’s grievances and disappointments; emotional and moral oppression, suppression of your loved ones.

If the mother is a spiritually and emotionally developed woman, she will be able to pass on her strength to her daughter by inheritance. Mothers with low emotional culture are not able to convey female spiritual strength to their daughter.

The fairy tale says nothing about the mother of Elena the Wise. But from the actions of the heroine it follows that her mother did not inherit her spiritual feminine power. Maybe she died too early. Or maybe because she didn’t have it herself. By the way, this explains the fact that Ivan’s father-in-law is always traveling... Our heroine did not receive a woman’s inheritance from her mother, and her father hid the dowry for the time being. What can Elena do? Gain spiritual strength through a relationship with a man or go to a monastery. A woman has no other options...

A young woman who receives feminine spiritual power from her mother becomes a real sorceress. The magic happens thanks to her developed emotions and feelings. When she loves, the whole world changes around her, and her lover feels a surge of warmth and energy. When she is sad, the colors around her fade. When she is afraid or anxious, the environment around her becomes cold and uncomfortable. When she gets angry, lightning flickers around and thunder is heard.

Immersed in this or that emotional condition, a woman creates a special reality around herself. A finely tuned woman who knows how to manage her own feelings is able to maintain Love in her heart and form a special reality in a relationship with a man. Such fine tuning appears in a woman as her spiritual strength remains.

With a low level of spiritual strength, it is difficult for a woman to manage her emotions. In addition, it tends to produce destructive experiences: anger, envy, jealousy, fear, anxiety, resentment, guilt, etc. Because of these feelings, women, as a rule, “nag” their husbands, turning their life together into a battlefield.

Therefore, with a low level of spiritual strength, a woman needs some kind of “restraining factor.” That is, a condition under which a woman can restrain her own process of producing destructive experiences. This “restraining factor” is either respect for some authority or fear of someone or something. A woman may experience real fear of her husband or mother-in-law, mother or father; or she may be afraid of losing something significant to her (an apartment, registration, etc.).

The “restraining factor” for Elena is her father’s will, her respect for him, perhaps her dependence on him. Therefore, she does not “nag” Ivan all day long for his “lack of talent,” but treats him kindly. For the time being, for the time being.

Therefore, Ivan and Elena are “cold”: “everything seems to be fine with him, his wife is beautiful, affectionate, but Ivan feels as if he is always cold.” Elena's heart, the center of spiritual, emotional power, is closed. She cannot even, as they advise in fairy tales, listen to her heart.

When a woman’s “heart sleeps,” power in the inner space is seized by her ego, which, moreover, is not always healthy. 15
You can read about the female ego, healthy and sick, in the book by D. Frolov and T. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva “The Mystery of Femininity, or How a Woman Reveals Her Strength and Becomes a Mistress own life": series "The Value of Every Day". St. Petersburg, “Rech”, 2005

Javascript:ShowPopupNote(\"idm1463776\") The female ego makes sure that she is adapted to society and feels prosperous and protected. A healthy ego helps a woman “know her worth,” choose and create for herself Better conditions social life. The ego helps to meet the expectations of society, to play social roles, forms in a woman her expectations from others, as well as the desire to achieve social success (career, good house, prestigious spouse and social circle, wealth, etc.).

But the female ego often gets sick. This manifests itself in such “symptoms” as: increased need for attention and love, desire for control over loved ones, vindictiveness, lack of self-confidence, the feeling that “all the time is not enough”, 16
Like the Old Woman from the fairy tale “Golden Fish”.

Javascript:ShowPopupNote(\"idm1468992\") inadequate change in self-esteem towards overestimation. The last “symptom” of a sick ego manifested itself in Elena so actively that she wanted to leave native home, create even better living conditions for yourself.

So, it was no coincidence that Ivan and Elena were “attracted” to each other. They owe the plot of their relationship to the “law of complementation.” It complements his low social strength. He is her low spiritual strength. Thus, the “law of complement” ensures a balance of forces. And for some time the couple can live quite well. Perhaps this would have continued for quite a long time if it were not for the action of EVOLUTIONARY LAWS.

According to evolutionary laws, everyone must realize the maximum of their potential, learn what they cannot do, and also develop in themselves the strength that, according to external signs, they do not have.

It turns out that sooner or later, according to evolutionary laws, Ivan and Elena would DEFINITELY have a situation that provoked an increase in their strength.

Both in a fairy tale and in life, there is always a separation between the heroes. This situation symbolizes an invitation to growth, a challenge to the exam of the next level of development. That's why It doesn’t matter how the separation happens, what matters is WHY.

According to fairy tale tradition, the heroes violate the ban. This situation has ancient roots: even Adam and Eve had to beware of fruits from the Tree of Knowledge. If in a story, no matter whether it’s a fairy tale or a real one, there is a prohibition, this is a veiled provocation. The ban symbolizes the invitation of heroes to Knowledge. In this case, it is an invitation to begin a journey along the roads of Love and self-discovery.

The same thing happens in life. Two spouses live. Everything seems to be fine, “everything is like with people.” They work, raise children, save for an apartment, go for walks together or visit relatives on weekends. Everyone around them considers them a “happy family.” At the same time, both She and He do not feel happy. Their feelings for each other are cooling. The vibration of Love, barely born at the beginning of a relationship, is replaced by everyday worries.

Happening substitution of base life together. They could not hold back the vibration of Love, and worries, everyday troubles and everyday joys naturally took its place. Both worries and troubles, and even more so, the joys of life, are wonderful. Provided that the main basis of the relationship remains Love. But if not...

In this situation, the most important thing is honesty. Few people are so honest that they admit to themselves - yes, love is gone. This kind of discovery causes panic. Remember, in the legendary film by L. Gaidai “The Diamond Arm”: “Chief, everything is lost! The plaster is removed, the client leaves!”

This is especially true for women. Some people think that if “love has passed”, then it is impossible to live further. Therefore, many responsible mothers, thinking about their children, drive away “gloomy thoughts” in order to “somehow move on with their lives.” However, you shouldn’t continue to live “somehow”...

The plot of “Two Weddings” encrypts two extremely important ideas for us.

1. Symbolic separation, that is, distance between spouses, is a normal and natural process, a necessary stage in the evolution of relationships and the personal evolution of each partner.

2. Love, if it was present in a relationship, even to a small extent, does not go away. If it seems that “the love is gone,” this means that the relationship was originally built on something else: naive expectations, falling in love, compensation for loneliness, the desire to prove something to someone. Therefore, when there is a feeling that “something has left” the relationship, this is indeed so. Illusions are gone, worries have come. It just has nothing to do with Love.

Our ideas, thoughts, illusions, expectations, feelings have a certain “expiration date”. When it expires, our “psychic products” are no longer usable. Some products have a very short shelf life, others have a longer shelf life - they probably contain preservatives. In any case, it is not recommended to consume products after their expiration date. In this sense, The separation of the heroes of the fairy tale symbolizes getting rid of “mental products” that have become unusable. Both in fairy tales and in life, spouses at a certain point in their life together rethink their relationship with each other. Their task is to rise to the next level of relationship culture, freeing themselves from old models of interaction.

As for Love, it has nowhere to go. If only on the grounds that it permeates all aspects of our existence. It doesn't matter whether we notice it or not. The sages say that the frequency of Love is the primary frequency from which all things are produced. Love permeates everything around and is constantly changing due to the action of different forces. Including the relationships between lovers.

A woman and a man can close yourself from Love, experiencing fear, pain, disappointment. Imagine, Love is the Sun, and a man takes two lead clouds in his hands and covers himself with them. sun rays. Is this possible in nature? Certainly not. We are not allowed to hide behind clouds from the sun. Nature protects us from such unreasonable actions. But in the psychic space it is only up to us whether to allow Love to reach us or not.

Of course, it is difficult to open up to Love when your partner inflicts the gravest offense. “Oh, what a beauty I am, but I live with a mediocre husband!” exclaims Elena. Could Ivan experience pain, resentment, or anger from these words? Undoubtedly! Could you close yourself off from Love? Certainly! Could you stay at home, taking advantage of your father-in-law's wealth? Maybe! Could he have said: “Well, since you did this to me, wife, now live on your own as you want - I won’t go looking for you!”? It's possible.

When your partner hurts, it's easier close yourself off from love. And this most dangerous trap. Unfortunately, many people fall into this. A woman and a man, severely offended by their spouses, having separated from them, transfer their fear of pain to new partners. They close themselves off from Love already in new relationships. Fairy-tale heroes act fundamentally differently, bypassing this trap.

Resentment and pain experienced due to the actions of a partner determine the distance of the relationship, but do not close you off from Love. This is the “formula” for getting out of the trap.

When Elena puts on a dress and looks in the magic mirror, she indirectly receives an insult from Ivan. Indeed, there is a discrepancy between the levels of hers and her husband’s. She can't stand it. Therefore, he sharply increases the distance between himself and Ivan - he turns into a bird and flies away.

In situations of mutual grievances, the vibration of Love is preserved due to the increase in distance between spouses. It's strange, surprising, but true. This is a fabulous code. Love is a subtle substance. Therefore, increasing the distance between conflicting partners protects it from deformations. Each of them must be alone with himself. To put your thoughts and feelings in order, to cleanse yourself, gain new knowledge, change, and realize the importance of your partner in your life. Only after this is it possible for the spouses to reunite. Love has no “expiration date”, it only changes and becomes more refined. Thanks to separation, Love is purified and becomes a guiding thread of mutual search for each other.

A sense of responsibility for Elena also helps Ivan avoid the trap of being “closed off” from Love. “I didn’t save my wife and violated my father-in-law’s orders.” Is it possible to succumb to the feeling of guilt in such a situation? We need to get ready for the road and act. Which is exactly what happens. Ivan accepts the invitation of evolutionary forces and sets off.

We talked about how Ivan lacks social strength. In theory, his journey should reflect its gradual build-up. He would have to engage in battle with the enemy and win, serve the king and receive at least half the kingdom as a reward. And in the end, being in a state of social success, find Elena, prove that he is worthy of her.

But in our fairy tale everything is different. The road does not invite Ivan to develop his social strength. Why? Because there is no need to develop what is too little and leave without movement what is given in abundance. This is one of the laws of evolution - first what is given initially develops.

Given a lot of intelligence, the mind will develop. Given a lot of social power - there will be career. Given a lot of cunning, corresponding adventures will come. The fact is that each of us at the first stage of development needs to learn to use our own Power, our own gift. To do this, at a minimum, you need to know him. Primordial Strength, primordial talent set the direction of our evolution.

That is why Ivan does not increase his social power. His task is to understand the QUALITY of his own spiritual power. Find out your talent, learn to use it in difficult life situations.

So, we returned to the question with which we began our reasoning: what kind of talent did Ivan have? If we answer this question, we will understand WHY Ivan was offered his adventure, his Path.

One answer to our question is this. Ivan has one of the rarest spiritual talents - the TALENT OF “KIND HEART”. It was this talent that helped him win the favor of his future father-in-law and “marry profitably.” This talent protects his heart from offense and helps him forgive easily. Such a spiritual gift is the basis for Love.

Ivan’s task is to develop his own talent so much that he can use it to solve complex social and life situations.

In fact, the technology for developing the talent of a “kind heart” is encrypted in the fairy tale. First, Ivan compares his misfortune with someone else’s and comes to the conclusion that someone else’s misfortune is worse. This is a symbolic renunciation of selfishness. The experience of his own loss narrowed Ivan’s consciousness. The world, through a meeting with a pike and a sparrow, shows him the variety of tragic situations. Because to develop the talent of a “kind heart” you need EMPATHY. Selfishness, “obsession” with one’s own problems and destructive feelings, blocks empathy.

It is empathy that gives rise to the impulse to take feasible actions towards another. Ivan helps the pike, the sparrow, the servant Daria and, thereby, creates the foundation for reciprocal help for himself.

So, the first steps along the road to developing the talent of a “kind heart” are renunciation of selfishness, empathy and feasible actions towards others. But main lesson“Ivan’s desire and patience” passes when he begins to tie the threads in the hole in his dress with his hands.

The symbolic language of this test is very interesting in itself. The magic dress, according to Ivanov’s father-in-law, is a delight. On the other hand, the dress is the reason for the separation of the heroes. On the third hand, the dress is also the pride of Helen the Wise. On the fourth side, the dress, like clothing, symbolizes social status, social affiliation, social strength of the heroine. A hole in a dress is a symbol of aging, lack, loss of perfection. And Elena’s beauty, pride, and social strength fade with the arrival of Ivan. Why? In fairy tales, the talent of a “kind heart” is primary in relation to all other virtues and achievements.

The hole cannot be mended with a regular needle. Here we also encounter amazing fairy-tale encryption. The fabric of the dress, like the fabric of relationships, like the fabric of Love, is torn from painful influences. The needle pricks the fabric, creating new holes. Sewing with a needle is an old way. He is not suitable for a new level of relationship. The fabric of a relationship can only be restored with the help of great patience and desire, tying each broken thread in turn. Forgiving and letting go of every offense, thanking your partner for every little thing. An old fairy tale gives us such symbolic recommendations.

« Kind heart“Ivana is facing a real test in this situation. After all, the dress, the mirror and the book, which made his wife “wise” and distant, end up in his hands. In other words, Elena's resources are at his mercy. But he doesn't know how to use them. They are not for him.

Ivan Bestalanny and Elena the Wise

There lived a peasant woman, a widow, in one village. She lived a long time and raised her son Ivan.

And now the time has come - Ivan has grown up. His mother is happy that he has become big, but it’s bad that he grew up with no talent. And it’s true: every business gets out of Ivan’s hands, not like people do; every matter is not in his favor and for the future, but everything is against him. It used to be that Ivan would go to plow, and his mother would say to him:

At the top, the earth has gone wrong, at the top it has been eaten up by bread, you, son, plow it a little deeper!

Ivan will plow the field deeper, reach right down to the clay and wrap the clay around it; Then he sows bread - nothing will be born, and the seeds will be destroyed. So it is in another matter: Ivan tries to do what is best, what is best, but he has no luck and little intelligence. But my mother has become old, the work is too much for her. How should they live? And they lived poorly, they had nothing.

They finished the last piece of bread, the very last one. The mother thinks about her son - how he will live, he is mediocre! It would be necessary to marry him: a reasonable wife, it seems, has an unemployed husband who works on the farm and does not eat bread for nothing. But who, however, will take her untalented son as a husband? Not only the red-haired maiden, but also the widow, I’m sure she won’t take it!

While his mother was spinning like this, Ivan sat on the rubble and did not grieve about anything.

He looks - an old man is walking, he is shabby, covered in moss, and the earth has eaten into his face, the wind has caught him.

“Son,” the old man says, “feed me: I have grown thin during the long journey, and there is nothing left in my bag.”

Ivan answered him:

And we, grandfather, don’t have a crumb of bread in our hut. If I had known that you were coming, I wouldn’t have eaten the last bit myself just now, I would have left it for you. Go, I’ll at least wash you and rinse your shirt.

Ivan heated the bathhouse, washed an old man passing by in the bathhouse, washed off all the dirt from him, steamed him with a broom and then rinsed his shirt and ports clean and put him to sleep in the hut.

So the old man rested, woke up and said:

I will remember your kindness. If you feel bad, go to the forest. You will reach the place where two roads part, you will see a gray stone lying there - push that stone with your shoulder and click: grandfather, they say, - I will be here. The old man said so and left. But Ivan and his mother felt very bad: they collected all the scraps from the chest and ate all the crumbs.

Wait for me, mother,” said Ivan. - Maybe I'll bring you some bread.

Yes, where are you! - answered the mother. - Where can you, mediocre, get bread? At least you can eat, but I’ll probably die without eating... If only I could find a bride somewhere, look, with a wife, if she turns out to be wise, you’ll always have bread.

Ivan sighed and went into the forest. He comes to the place where the roads part, touched the stone with his shoulder, the stone and moved. That grandfather came to Ivan.

What do you want? - speaks. - Has Al come to visit?

Grandfather took Ivan into the forest. Ivan sees rich huts in the forest. Grandfather takes Ivan to one of the huts - to know that he is the boss here.

The old man ordered the kitchen guy and the old cook to fry a lamb for the first task. The owner began to treat the guest.

Ivan has eaten and asks for more.

“Roast,” he says, “and give me another sheep and a piece of bread.”

The grandfather-owner ordered the kitchen guy to fry another sheep and serve it with a loaf of wheat bread.

If you please,” he says, “help yourself to the best of your ability.” Al not full?

“I’m full,” Ivan replies, “I thank you, but let your fellow take a piece of bread and a lamb to my mother, she lives without eating.”

The old owner ordered the kitchen guy to tear down two rugs for Ivan’s mother white bread and a whole ram. And then he says:

Why do you live with your mother without eating? Look, you've grown up big, look - when you get married, how will you feed your family?

Ivan answered him:

I don’t know how, grandpa! Yes, I don’t have a wife.

What a woe! - said the owner. - And I’ll give my daughter to you in marriage. She's a smart girl, she's enough intelligence for both of you.

The old man called to his daughter. Here a beautiful maiden appears in the upper room. No one had ever seen such beauty, and it was unknown that it existed in the world. Ivan looked at her, and his heart stopped.

The old father looked at his daughter with severity and said to her:

Here is your husband, and you are his wife. The beautiful daughter just lowered her gaze:

Your will, father. So they got married and began to live and live well. They live well-fed, richly, Ivan’s wife rules the house, and the old master is rarely at home: he walks around the world, looking for wisdom among the people, and when he finds it, he returns to the court and writes it down in a book. And one day the old man brought a magic round mirror. He brought it from afar, from a master wizard from the cold mountains - he brought it and hid it. Ivan’s mother now lived well-fed and contented, and she lived as before in her hut in the village. The son invited her to live with him, but her mother did not want to: she did not like life in the house of Ivan’s wife, with her daughter-in-law.

“I’m afraid, son,” mother said to Ivan. - Look, Elenushka, your wife, what a beauty she is, rich and noble, what did you do to deserve her? Your father and I lived in poverty, and you were born without a destiny at all.

And Ivan’s mother stayed to live in her old hut. But Ivan lives and thinks: mother speaks the truth; He seems to have enough of everything, and his wife is affectionate, she won’t say a word against him, but Ivan feels as if he is always cold. And he lives like this with his young wife, half-living, but not at all well. One day an old man comes to Ivan and says:

I will go farther, further than I went before, I will not return soon. Here, take the key from me. I used to carry it with me, but now I’m afraid of losing it: the road is long for me. Take care of the key and don’t open the barn with it. And if you go to the barn, don’t take your wife there. And if you can’t stand it and lead your wife on, then don’t give her a colored dress. The time will come, I will give it to her myself, and I will save it for her. Look, remember what I told you, otherwise you will lose your life in death!

The old man said and left. More time has passed. Ivan thinks:

“Why so! I’ll go to the barn and see what’s there, but I won’t take my wife!”

Ivan went to that barn that was always locked, opened it, looked - there was a lot of gold there, it lay in pieces, and the stones burned like heat, and there was also goodness, which Ivan did not know the name of. And in the corner of the barn there was also a closet or a secret place, and a door led there. Ivan had only opened the door to the closet and had not even had time to step into it when he accidentally shouted:

Elenushka, my wife, come here quickly!

In that closet there hung a semi-precious women's dress. It shone like a clear sky, and the light, like a living wind, moved across it. Ivan was glad to see such a dress; it will just fit his wife and she will like it.

Ivan remembered that the old man had not ordered him to give the dress to his wife, but what would happen to the dress if he just showed it! And Ivan loved his wife: where she smiles, there is happiness for him.

My wife came. She saw this dress and clasped her hands.

“Oh,” he says, “what a good dress!”

So she asks Ivan:

Dress me in this dress and smooth it out so that it fits well.

But Ivan doesn’t tell her to wear a dress. Then she cries:

“You know,” he says, “you don’t love me: you regret such a good dress for your wife.” Let me at least put my hands through it, I’ll feel what the dress is like - maybe it’s not suitable. Ivan told her:

Pull it through, he says, and try how it will feel for you.

The wife put her hands into the sleeves and again to her husband:

Nothing in sight. They told me to put my head in the collar. Ivan ordered. She stuck her head in, and pulled the dress over herself, and wrapped herself all in it. She felt that there was a mirror in one pocket, took it out and looked.

“Look,” he says, “what a beauty, but she lives behind a mediocre husband!” If I could become a bird, I would fly far, far away from here!

She screamed in a high voice, clasped her hands, and lo and behold, she was gone. She turned into a dove and flew out of the barn far, far into the blue sky, wherever she wanted. You know, she put on a magical dress. Ivan was sunbathing here. Why grieve? He had no time. He put some bread in his knapsack and went to look for his wife.

“Oh,” he said, “what a villain, she disobeyed her father and left her parents’ yard without permission!” I’ll find her and teach her senses!

He said this, but remembered that he himself lived without talent, and began to cry.

Here he is walking the path, walking the road, walking the path, he feels bad, he grieves for his wife. Ivan sees a pike lying by the water, completely dying, but cannot get into the water.

“Look,” thinks Ivan, “I feel bad, and she’s even worse.” He picked up the pike and threw it into the water. The pike now dived into the depths and back up, stuck its head out and said:

I will not forget your kindness. If you feel bitter, just say: “Pike, pike, remember Ivan!” Ivan ate a piece of bread and moved on. He walks and walks, and it’s already nightfall.

Ivan looks and sees: the kite has caught a sparrow, holds it in its claws and wants to peck it.

“Eh,” Ivan looks, “I’m in trouble, but the sparrow is dead!”

Ivan scared the kite, which released the sparrow from its claws.

The sparrow sat on a branch and said to Ivan:

If you need to, call out to me: “Hey, sparrow, remember my goodness!”

Ivan spent the night under a tree, and the next morning he moved on. And he had already moved far from his home, he was all tired and his body had become skinny, so that he supported his clothes with his hand. But he had a long way to go, and Ivan still walked whole year and six months. He walked all over the earth, reached the sea, and had nowhere to go further.

He asks a resident:

Whose land is this, who is the king and queen here?

The resident answers Ivan:

Elena the Wise lives among our queens: she knows everything - she has a book where everything is written, and she sees everything - she has a mirror. She probably sees it now.

Indeed, Elena saw Ivan in her mirror. She had Daria, a servant. So Daria wiped the dust off the mirror with a towel, looked into it herself, first admired herself, and then saw a strange man in him.

No way, a stranger is coming! - said the servant to Helen the Wise. - Apparently, he’s coming from afar: he’s thin and all over the place, and he’s worn out his sandals.

Elena the Wise looked in the mirror.

And then,” he says, “a stranger!” It was my husband who appeared. Ivan approached the royal court. He sees that the yard is fenced with a fence. And in the tine there are stakes, and on the stakes are human dead heads; only one stake is empty, there is nothing.

Ivan asks a resident - what is this, they say?

And the resident told him:

And these, he says, are the suitors of our queen, Helen the Wise, who wooed her. Our queen - you have not seen her - is of indescribable beauty and a sorceress in mind. So suitors, noble and daring, woo her. And she needs a groom who will outwit her, that’s what it is! And whoever does not outwit her, she will execute them by death. Now there is only one stake left: this is for the one who will come to her as a husband.

Yes, I’m going to marry her! - said Ivan.

Therefore, the stake is empty for you,” answered the resident and went to where his hut stood.

Ivan came to Helen the Wise. And Elena is sitting in her royal chamber, and she is wearing her father’s dress, which she voluntarily put on in the barn.

What do you need? - asked Elena the Wise. - Why did you come?

Look at you,” Ivan tells her, “I miss you.”

“They missed me too,” said Elena the Wise and pointed to the wall outside the window, where there were dead heads.

Then Ivan asked:

Are you not my wife anymore?

“I was your wife,” the queen tells him, “but now I’m not the same.” What kind of husband are you to me, a mediocre man! If you want me as your wife, earn me again! If you don’t deserve it, take your head off your shoulders! There's an empty stake sticking out in the tyne.

The empty stake doesn’t miss me,” said Ivan. - Make sure you don't miss me. Tell me: what do you want to do?

The queen answered him:

And do as I command! Hide from me wherever you want, even at the end of the world, so that I don’t find you, and even if I did find you, I wouldn’t recognize you. Then you will be smarter than me, and I will become your wife. If you don’t know how to be secret, I’ll tell you, you’ll lose your head.

“Allow me,” Ivan asked, “to sleep on the straw until morning and eat your bread, and in the morning I will fulfill your desire.”

So in the evening the servant Daria laid out straw in the entryway and brought a crust of bread and a jug of kvass. Ivan lay down and thought: what will happen in the morning? And he sees that Daria came, sat down on the porch in the hallway, spread out the queen’s light dress and began to mend a hole in it. Daria darned and darned, sewed and sewed up the hole, and then she began to cry. Ivan asks her:

Why are you crying, Daria?

“How can I not cry,” Daria replies, “if tomorrow I die!” The queen told me to sew up a hole in my dress, but the needle does not sew it, but only rips it open: the dress is so delicate, the needle tears open. If I don’t sew it up, the queen will execute me the next morning.

“Let me try to sew,” says Ivan, “maybe I’ll sew it up, and you don’t have to die.”

How can I give you a dress like that? - Daria says. - The queen said: you are a mediocre man. However, try it a little and I’ll see.

Ivan sat down at the dress, took a needle and began to sew. He sees that, indeed, the needle is not sewing, but tearing: the dress is light, like air, and the needle cannot be accepted in it. Ivan threw down the needle and began to tie each thread with another thread with his hands. Daria saw it and got angry with Ivan:

You have no skill! But how can you tie all the threads in the hole with your hands? There are thousands of them here!

And I will tie them up with desire and patience! - Ivan answered. - And you go and go to bed, by the morning, look, I’ll get off.

Ivan worked all night. The moon shone from the sky for him, and the dress glowed on its own, as if alive, and he saw every thread of it.

By the morning dawn, Ivan had managed. He looked at his work: there were no more holes, the dress was now whole everywhere. He lifted the dress into his hand and felt that it seemed to become heavy. He looked at the dress: in one pocket there was a book - in it the old man, Elena’s father, wrote down all the wisdom, and in the other pocket there was a round mirror that the old man brought from the master wizard from the cold mountains. Ivan looked in the mirror - it was visible in it, but dimly; He read the book but didn’t understand anything. Ivan thought then: “People say I’m untalented, and that’s true.”

The next morning Daria the servant came and took ready-made dress, examined him and said to Ivan:

Thank you. You saved me from death, and I will remember your goodness.

Now the sun has risen above the earth, it’s time for Ivan to go to a secret place where Queen Elena will not find him. He went out into the yard and saw a haystack standing there; He lay down in the hay, thought he had completely hidden himself, but the yard dogs barked at him, and Daria shouted from the porch:

What a mediocre one! I even see you, not just the queen! Get out of there, don’t muddy the hay with your bast shoes!

Ivan got out and thought: where should he go? I saw that the sea was close.

He went to the sea and remembered the pike.

Pike, he says, pike, remember Ivan!

The pike stuck out of the water.

Go,” he says, “I’ll hide you at the bottom of the sea!”

Ivan threw himself into the sea. The pike dragged him to the bottom, buried him in the sand, and muddied the water with his tail. Elena the Wise took her round mirror and pointed it at the ground: Ivan was missing; pointed to the sky: Ivan is not there; I pointed out to the sea at the water: and Ivan was not to be seen there, only the water was muddy. “I’m cunning, I’m smart,” the queen thinks, “and he’s not simple, Ivan the Talentless!” She opened her father’s book of wisdom and read there: “The cunning of the mind is strong, and good is stronger than cunning, even the creature remembers good.” The queen read these words, first according to the written word, and then according to the unwritten one, and the book said to her: Ivan lies in the sand at the bottom of the sea; Click on the pike, tell it to get Ivan from the bottom, otherwise, they say, I’ll catch you, pike, and eat you for lunch.

The queen sent Darya the servant and told her to call a pike from the sea, and let the pike lead Ivan from the bottom.

Ivan appeared to Helen the Wise.

Execute me,” he says, “I don’t deserve you.” Elena the Wise came to her senses: she would always have time to execute, and she and Ivan were not strangers to each other, they lived in the same family.

She says to Ivan:

Go and cover yourself again. Whether you outwit me or not, then I will either execute you or have mercy. Ivan went to look for a secret place so that the queen would not find it. Where will you go? Queen Helena has a magic mirror: she sees everything in it, and what is not visible in the mirror, a wise book will tell her about it. Ivan called:

Hey sparrow, do you remember my goodness?

And the sparrow is already here.

Fall to the ground, he says, and become a grain!

Ivan fell to the ground, became a grain, and a sparrow pecked him.

And Elena the Wise pointed the mirror at the earth, at the sky, at the water - Ivan was not there. Everything is in the mirror, but what you need is not there. Got angry wise Elena, threw the mirror on the floor, and it broke. Then Daria the servant came to the upper room, collected the fragments from the mirror in the hem and took them to the black corner of the yard. Elena the Wise opened her father's book. And he reads there: “Ivan is in the grain, and the grain is in the sparrow, and the sparrow is sitting on the fence.”

Then Elena ordered Daria to call the sparrow from the fence: let the sparrow give up the grain, otherwise the kite will eat him.

Daria went to the sparrow. The sparrow heard Daria, got scared and threw the grain out of its beak. The grain fell to the ground and turned into Ivan. He became as he was.

Here Ivan appears again before Helen the Wise.

Execute me now,” he says, “it’s clear that I’m truly untalented, and you’re wise.”

“I’ll execute you tomorrow,” the queen tells him. - Tomorrow I will hang your head on the remaining stake. Ivan lies in the hallway in the evening and thinks about what he should do when he has to die in the morning. He then remembered his mother. He remembered, and it became easy for him - he loved her so much.

He looks - Daria is coming and bringing him a pot of porridge.

Ivan ate porridge. Daria says to him:

Don't be afraid of our queen. She's not very evil. And Ivan to her:

A wife is not scary to her husband. I just wish I had time to teach her some sense.

“Don’t rush to execution tomorrow,” Daria tells him, “but tell him, you have something to do, you can’t die: you’re waiting for your mother to visit.”

The next morning Ivan says to Elena the Wise:

Let me live a little longer: I want to see my mother, maybe she will come to visit. The queen looked at him.

You can’t live for nothing,” he says. - And you hide from me for the third time. I won’t find you, live, so be it.

Ivan went to look for himself secret place, and Daria the servant meets him.

Wait,” she orders, “I’ll cover you.” I remember your kindness.

She blew into Ivan's face, and Ivan disappeared, he turned into the warm breath of a woman. Daria inhaled and pulled it into her chest. Then Daria went to the upper room, took the Tsarina’s book from the table, wiped the dust off it, opened it and blew into it: immediately her breath turned into a new capital letter of that book, and Ivan became a letter. Daria folded the book and went out. Soon Elena the Wise came, opened the book and looked at it: where is Ivan. But the book doesn't say anything. What he will say is not clear to the queen; Apparently there was no point in the book. The queen did not know that because of the new capitalization of the letter, all the words in the book had changed.

Elena the Wise slammed the book shut and hit it to the ground. All the letters scattered from the book, and the first, capital letter, both hit and turned into Ivan.

Ivan looks at Elena the Wise, his wife, and cannot take his eyes off. The queen also stared at Ivan, and after staring, she smiled at him. And she became even more beautiful than before.

“And I thought,” she says, “my husband is a mediocre man, but he hid from the magic mirror and outwitted the book of wisdom!”

They began to live in peace and harmony and lived like that for the time being. Yes, one day the queen asks Ivan:

Why doesn’t your mother come to visit us? Ivan answers her:

And that's true! But your father has been gone for a long time! The next morning I’ll go get my mother and my father.

And the next morning, just before light, Mother Ivana and Father Elena the Wise came to visit their children. Elena’s father knew the closest route to her kingdom; They walked a short distance and did not get tired.

Ivan bowed to his mother, and fell at the old man’s feet.

It’s bad,” he says, “father! I did not comply with your ban. Forgive me, mediocre!

The old man hugged him and forgave him.

“Thank you,” he says, “son.” There was charm in the treasured dress, wisdom in the book, and all the appearance of the world in the mirror. I thought, I collected a dowry for my daughter, I just didn’t want to give it to her until the time came. I collected everything for her, but I didn’t include what was in you - the main talent. I followed him far away, but he turned out to be close. Apparently, it is not placed or given, but obtained by the person himself.

Here Elena the Wise began to cry, kissed Ivan, her husband, and asked him for forgiveness. Since then they began to live gloriously - both Elena and Ivan, and their parents - and they still live.

Fairy tale "Ivan the Talentless and Elena the Wise", read the text online on our website for free.

Platonov

Summary of "Ivan the Talentless and Elena the Wise":

In one village there lived an old woman with her son. The son's name was Ivan, and he was so untalented that nothing worked for him, no matter what he took on. His old mother lamented this and dreamed of marrying him to a business wife.

One day, when the mother and son had finished everything that was in their house, the old woman again began to lament over her unlucky son, while Ivan, meanwhile, was sitting on the rubble. An old man passed by and asked for food. Ivan honestly answered that everything edible in their house had run out, but he washed the old man in the bathhouse and put him to sleep on the stove. And in the morning, grandfather promised Ivan that he would not forget his kindness and would definitely thank him.

The next day, Ivan promised his mother that he would get bread and went to the old man. The old man brought him to his hut in a forest village, fed him a roasted lamb with bread, and sent two pieces of bread and another lamb to Ivan’s mother. After talking and learning that Ivan was not married, the grandfather called his daughter and married her to Ivan.

The old man’s daughter was very smart and her name was Elena the Wise. She and Ivan lived well, Ivan’s mother became well-fed and contented. Grandfather sometimes went on the road, where he collected wisdom and wrote it down in his book of wisdom. One day he brought a magic mirror through which you could see the whole world.

Soon the grandfather got ready for another trip for wisdom, called Ivan and gave him the key to the barn, but strictly forbade him to let Elena try on the dress that hung in the far corner. When his grandfather left, Ivan went to the barn and found chests with gold and other goods there, and in the far closet a magical Nice dress made of gems, I couldn’t resist and called Elena.

Elena really liked the dress and persuaded Ivan to let her try it on. Having put on a dress and expressed a wish, she turned into a dove and flew away from Ivan. Ivan got ready to hit the road and went in search of Elena the Wise. On the road, he saved a pike and a sparrow from death, who promised to thank him.

Ivan walked for a long time and reached the sea. There he met local resident and learned that Elena the Wise lived in this kingdom and came to her palace. There was a palisade around the palace on which were planted the heads of Elena's suitors, who could not prove their wisdom to her. Ivan met with Elena and she gave him the task of hiding so that she could not find him.

At night, Ivan helped the maid Daria mend magic dress Helen the Wise, for which she was very grateful to him. And in the morning Ivan began to hide. At first he hid in a haystack, but Daria shouted to him from the porch that even she could see him< так как его выдавали собаки. Тогда Иван позвал щуку, которая спрятала его на дне.

However, Elena took advantage of her magic items- a mirror and a book of wisdom and found him. The first time she forgave him and allowed him to hide again. Then Ivan asked the sparrow for help. The sparrow turned Ivan into grain and hid it in his beak. But Elena the Wise found him again with the help of the book of wisdom, breaking her mirror, which could not find Ivan.

And for the second time, Elena did not execute Ivan, but allowed him to hide. This time he was helped by Daria, whom he saved from death by sewing up her dress. Daria turned Ivan into the air and breathed into herself, and then exhaled into the book of wisdom and Ivan became a letter. Elena the Wise looked at the book for a long time, but could not understand anything. Then she threw the book on the floor, the letters scattered and one of them turned into Ivan.

Then Elena the Wise realized that her husband Ivan was not so mediocre, since he was able to outwit the magic mirror and the book of wisdom. And he again began to live, live and make good. And the next morning their parents came to visit them and were happy for them. And Ivan the mediocre and Elena the Wise lived happily ever after, and so did their parents.

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"Ivan the Talentless and Elena the Wise" - read:

There lived a peasant woman, a widow, in one village. She lived a long time and raised her son Ivan.

“And these,” he says, “are the suitors of our queen, Helen the Wise, who wooed her.” Our queen - you have not seen her - is of indescribable beauty and a sorceress in mind. So suitors, noble and daring, woo her. And she needs someone like him, a groom to outwit her, that’s what he is! And whoever does not outwit her, she will execute them by death. Now one stake remains; this is for whoever else comes to marry her.

- Yes, I’m going to marry her! - said Ivan.

“So the stake is empty for you,” answered the resident and went to where his hut stood.

Ivan came to Helen the Wise. And Elena sits in her royal chamber; and she is wearing her father’s dress, which she wore without permission in the barn.