The Golden Duck

The Golden Duck

Once upon a time, a king had four sons. When the youngest, Raduz, grew up, his mother said:

“Every child should one day see the world beyond a palace window. Let Raduz travel, work, meet different people, and return wiser.”

Raduz had long dreamed of it himself. He said farewell to his family, packed the essentials, and followed the road wherever it led.

He walked for a long time through the plains and forests, until one evening he reached a high mountain. On the slope stood a lonely house. Raduz knocked.

Three people lived there: a stern sorceress named Yezibaba, her quiet wizard husband, and their daughter Ludmila. Unlike her mother, Ludmila was gentle and thoughtful, and hated seeing anyone mistreated.

“I’m looking for work,” said Raduz. “I’m willing to work hard, even at difficult tasks.”

Yezibaba squinted.

“Difficult? That's good. Let's see how brave you are.”

The next morning she took him to the window.

“See that rocky slope? Turn it into an orchard by morning. I want grown trees, blossoms, and ripe fruit. Here’s a wooden hoe.”

Raduz barely managed to hit the stones with his hoe a few times when it cracked in half.

“A fine start,” he sighed, sitting under a beech. “All I’ll grow by morning is a mountain of broken pieces.”

At noon Ludmila came. She brought him her lunch and said quietly:

“Don’t lose heart. My mother likes tasks that cannot be done in an ordinary way. But I know another way.”

She touched the earth with her wand, and the rocky slope seemed to wake. Grass sprang up among the stones, then young trees. Flowers covered their branches, and in a moment ripe apples, pears, and plums hung there.

“What an orchard!” Raduz whispered in wonder.

“Now don’t forget a basket of fruit,” said Ludmila with a smile. “My mother values proof more than miracles.”

Yezibaba was dissatisfied, but she couldn’t find fault.

The next day, Yezibaba demanded a vineyard by morning. Again it was impossible, and again Ludmila helped. They shared lunch and talked of distant countries. Then her wand touched the soil, and green vines heavy with ripe grapes spread across the slope.

On the third day, Yezibaba pointed to a bare stone cliff.

“Turn this stone into flour and bake me bread. I won’t give you any tools.”

Raduz knew whom he could turn to. This time, though, Ludmila looked anxious when she arrived.

“My mother suspects I’ve been helping you.”

“Then don't risk it for me.”

“Too late,” replied Ludmila. “I’ve already decided I won’t leave you on your own.”

She waved her wand. The stone cliff turned into sacks of grain, a mill rattled nearby, and soon the smell of fresh bread came from the small oven.

Looking at Ludmila, Raduz realized that the greatest wonder on this mountain was no wand. It was the girl who had helped him three times when she could so easily have walked away.

Yezibaba had realized something too: Ludmila must have helped him.

She decided to give Raduz another test, a truly dangerous one. Ludmila heard about it and that same night said:

“We have to go. Not tomorrow. Now.”

“Only if we go together,” answered Raduz.

“Then promise that you will not forget me, even when you return to your palace.”

“How can you forget the one who saved you from the impossible three times?”

Before they fled, Ludmila left a handkerchief in her room, and Raduz his cap in his. She enchanted them to answer a few times when the household called. For a while the next morning, voices still came from the rooms:

“I'm getting up already!”

“Just a minute!”

“I’m coming!”

When Yezibaba finally opened the door, the rooms were empty.

First, her husband set off in pursuit on a black magic horse. Ludmila sensed the danger before Raduz saw a dark cloud in the sky.

“Quick!” she said.

The wand touched the ground. Ludmila became a wide rye field, and Raduz — a reaper with a sickle.

The wizard descended from the cloud and asked:

“Have you seen two young people?”

“Yes,” answered the ‘reaper’ calmly. “They passed when I was just sowing this rye.”

The wizard looked at the ripe field and decided that it was a long time ago. Thus the fugitives bought time.

When the pursuer came back, Ludmila became a tiny fly, Raduz a hermit, and a little chapel appeared beside the road. Once again, he found nothing.

Then Yezibaba herself sat on the fiery horse.

The sky turned red. The air became hot.

“This will be harder,” said Ludmila. “There’s a lake ahead. I’ll become a golden duck. Hide in the water near the shore. When my mother steps away from her horse, seize its bridle.”

The wand flashed, and a small golden duck appeared on the lake. It shone as if each of its feathers held a ray of sunlight.

Yezibaba went down to the water and stretched out her hands.

“Come here, little bird… a little more…”

The duck swam close, and then swam further away. The sorceress moved away from the horse step by step.

Raduz sprang from the water and caught the bridle. The golden duck flew up beside him and became Ludmila again. They mounted the magical horse and sped above the lake.

Yezibaba could not catch up with them, but she managed to shout a spell in pursuit:

“If another woman kisses you before the wedding, Raduz, you will forget Ludmila! And the memory will not return immediately!”

Raduz only squeezed Ludmila's hand tighter.

“This will not happen.”

Soon the towers of his native city appeared. Raduz asked Ludmila to wait near the forest clearing.

“I’ll tell my parents I’m back, fetch you some fine clothes, and return at once.”

Everyone at the palace rejoiced. His mother embraced him, but Raduz remembered the curse and gently turned away when she tried to kiss him.

But after a long journey, Raduz fell asleep. The queen entered the room, saw her sleeping son and quietly kissed him on the cheek.

And at that moment, the memory of Ludmila seemed to disappear behind a thick fog.

Next morning, he recalled mountains, the journey, and strange tasks, but could not remember whom he was meant to fetch from the forest clearing.

Ludmila waited until evening, then night. At last, she understood that the spell had taken hold.

She did not get angry. She knew that Raduz had forgotten her not of his own free will.

At first, Ludmila turned into a slender poplar tree near the road to the palace. When Raduz passed by, he felt sad and warm at the same time. But a strong wind damaged the tree, and Ludmila changed her appearance.

She became a little pear tree beneath a palace window. Golden fruit appeared on its branches every morning. The king loved the tree, but its strangeness worried the old queen, who ordered it moved farther from the palace.

Years passed. The spell was weakening.

One spring morning, a golden duck appeared on the lake under the palace windows.

Raduz saw it and froze.

“I’ve seen you before,” he whispered. “Where? When?”

The bird let nobody approach. Fishermen brought boats and hunters brought nets, but she always slipped away.

“Enough,” said Raduz. “I’ll go to it myself. And without nets.”

He sat down on the shore and held out his hand.

“If I ever hurt you, even though I don’t remember how, don’t run away. Give me a chance to remember.”

The duck swam closer. Then closer still. Finally, it touched his hand with its beak.

The world seemed to blaze with light.

Raduz saw a rocky slope, a garden, a vineyard, fresh bread, a dark cloud, a chapel, a fiery horse and a lake.

“Ludmila!”

The golden feathers shone and melted away. Ludmila stood before him.

“I waited for you to remember everything we shared, rather than only my face,” said Ludmila.

“Forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive. You didn’t choose to forget.”

Raduz brought her to the palace and told his family everything. The queen was the first to ask forgiveness for unwittingly setting the curse in motion.

Soon Raduz and Ludmila married. What people remembered best, though, was the golden duck that glided on the sunlit lake for several more days.

Ever since, children in that kingdom have heard that true loyalty means remembering kindness when the other person cannot, rather than holding someone by force.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨