Kotyhoroshko

Kotyhoroshko

A widow once lived in a village with two sons and a daughter. The children were close, worked together, and always came home before supper. But one day the older children went beyond the village and did not return. Their mother searched the roads, called across the fields, and asked everyone she met. No one knew anything. It was as though the path beyond the forest had swallowed them. Time passed. One day a round green pea rolled across her floor. She picked it up and ate it. Later, a strong, cheerful son was born to her. She named him Kotyhoroshko. He grew not by the day, but by the hour. Things that two other children could scarcely lift, he moved with ease. Yet he never boasted of his strength. What he loved best was listening to his mother's stories. One evening he noticed three children's shirts in a chest. “Mother, did I have brothers and a sister?” She was silent for a long time, then told him about the missing children. “Then I'll go and find them,” he said. “Alone? The road is dangerous.” “Being alone is hardest when you don't know why you're traveling. I know.” Before leaving, he asked a blacksmith to forge him a heavy iron staff. The smith gathered iron, lit his furnace, and for days the ring of hammers filled the forge. When the staff was ready, Kotyhoroshko threw it high into the sky. It rose above the clouds and came down so fast that the ground hummed. He caught it in one hand. “Good,” he said. “Now I can set off.” Beyond the forest, a path led to a stone house. There he found his sister. At first she did not recognize him, for he had not yet been born when she disappeared. “I am Kotyhoroshko,” he said. “Mother sent me—not with words, but with her sorrow. I've come to take you home.” His sister wept with joy, then whispered: “A wicked sorcerer lives here. He keeps me prisoner and has hidden our brothers underground beneath a spell.” Soon the sorcerer returned. He saw the visitor and smiled unpleasantly. “Who has come to my house?” “The brother of the girl you have no right to keep here.” The sorcerer challenged him to a contest of strength. They struggled from morning until evening, then through another day. At dawn on the third, Kotyhoroshko pinned his opponent to the ground with his iron staff. “Enough,” he said. “Release everyone, and never lure another traveler onto your path.” The sorcerer lost his power and fled beyond the mountains. Underground, Kotyhoroshko found his brothers lying motionless in an enchanted sleep. His sister brought a jug of living water from the sorcerer's storeroom. He sprinkled their faces, and they woke as though from a long sleep. “Where are we?” “On our way home,” their youngest brother said with a smile. In the storeroom they found money and belongings taken from travelers. They carried away only enough to help their family begin again, and set off home. But envy entered the older brothers' hearts. They were ashamed that the youngest had rescued them all, and feared he would receive all the praise. When Kotyhoroshko fell asleep beneath a pear tree, they bound him with strong strips of bark and went on ahead. He woke and pulled at the bonds, but they held. Then he braced his feet against the ground and strained until he uprooted the young tree, ropes and all. He came home, gave his mother his share of the recovered goods, and said: “I'm glad everyone is safe. But I want to find companions who won't betray me out of envy.” So he went out into the world again. Among high mountains he met a man bracing his shoulders against a cliff. “What is your name?” asked Kotyhoroshko. “Rozvernyhora. I can move a mountain if it blocks the road.” He pushed the rock, opening a passage between two mountains. “Come with me,” Kotyhoroshko said. “Strength is useful when it knows whom it is helping.” Farther on they reached a rushing river. Another mighty man stood on the bank. “I am Zavernyvoda,” he said. “I can turn aside a river so people can cross on dry ground.” He raised his hands. Water drew back from a stony path, and the three travelers crossed. Now Kotyhoroshko had two companions. One evening they found an empty cottage in the forest and stayed the night. The next day, Kotyhoroshko and one companion went to gather food while the third remained to cook. He had just set the pot on the fire when a tiny old woman arrived. “Help me over the threshold, my son.” While the cook turned away, she ate nearly all the dinner and vanished. The same thing happened to the other companion the following day. Both were too embarrassed to tell the truth. On the third day Kotyhoroshko stayed by the stove. The old woman returned and began ordering him about. “Carry me over the threshold. Set me on the bench. Bring me a bowl.” “If you can walk here, you can cross the threshold yourself,” he answered calmly. She darted toward the pot. “Aha! So you're the one who's been taking our dinner!” He blocked her path. She flung a handful of ash at him and fled. He chased her and threw his staff, but she disappeared into a deep ravine. The staff fell after her. “I'll have to go down.” His companions made a long rope and lowered him into the ravine. Below, he found underground halls. In one room sat three young women whom the old witch kept from returning to the world above. “She'll come back!” they warned. And there she was in the doorway. “Have you come for your staff? First you must defeat me!” This time Kotyhoroshko would not be tricked. They struggled for a long time, each trying to outwit the other, hold a door, or reach the magic key. At last he snatched the key from her belt and locked her in an empty room. “You'll stay there until you learn not to steal or imprison people.” He freed the young women and signaled to his companions. They hauled up the first, then the second, then the third. With the last he sent a sack of belongings found below. But above ground, envy tempted Rozvernyhora and Zavernyvoda. “What if he comes back and everyone says it was all his doing?” one whispered. They decided to leave him underground and run away. Suspecting trouble, Kotyhoroshko filled the basket with stones instead of climbing in. His companions pulled it halfway up, then let go of the rope. The stones crashed down. “Betrayal again,” he said sadly. “Strength is easy to find. Loyalty is harder.” He wandered the underground world for a long time, until he saw an enormous oak. At its top was the nest of Arop, a giant bird. A storm was coming, so Kotyhoroshko sheltered the chicks with broad branches to protect them from hail. When Arop returned, the chicks told him about the kind man. “How can I thank you?” the great bird asked. “Carry me back to the sunlit world.” “It is a long journey. Gather food and water, climb onto my back, and hold tight.” They flew for a long time. Kotyhoroshko fed the bird small portions of their supplies. When only one crust remained, he broke it in half. “Half for you, half for me. We'll make it together.” Arop smiled in his own birdlike way, spread his great wings, and with one last powerful stroke carried him out of the ravine into the sunshine. Kotyhoroshko found the rescued women and his former companions. Rozvernyhora and Zavernyvoda lowered their eyes. “We behaved shamefully.” “You are strong,” he said. “But true strength begins when you overcome your own envy.” He did not take revenge. He gave each a chance to make things right. In time he married one of the young women he had rescued, with whom he had formed a special friendship on their journey. And whenever anyone asked who was strongest of all those he had met, he answered: “Mountains are great, water is mighty, and iron is hard. But the greatest strength is never abandoning your friends in trouble, and never becoming like those who once betrayed you.”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨