Once upon a time there lived an old woman and an old man. They were very old. They were 90. They had nine sons and since it was difficult to find names for all of them they simply called them First, Second, and so on.
The children however were very lazy. Only the youngest son – the Ninth one, who was 20 years old, helped the old people. The others were lying the whole day waiting everything to be done.
The old people got tired of thinking how to feed the children. Every day the old woman went to beg for bread. People were saying her:
‘It is too much, old woman! We could give bread to you but not to your sons! They should look after you, it is not that you should be their servant!’
This happened once, happened twice … The mother gathered her sons and told them:
‘I am very old, I can not see well. Your father is also old and could hardly stand still. We can not provide you with food any more. Therefore, pack and go around the world to look for your happiness!’
The brothers had no other choice but to follow their mother’s advice. They made big sables, put ropes and instruments in their bags. The youngest brother went to the blacksmith and asked him to make him a sable that could cut stones, iron, wood and everything else.
‘Wear it in health, and let it bring you happiness!’ – the blacksmith wished him giving him the sable.
On the morning they were ready to go. Their mother came to see them off and told them:
‘You will reach the neighbouring village tonight. You will pass a big meadow, but do not spend the night there. Go near the village where you can see the lights. This meadow has a bad fame that many people have vanished there without a trace.”
Only the ninth brother listened carefully to their mother’s orders. The rest were preparing their bags and did not hear a word. They even told him off for not doing his job.
The brothers hit the road and on the evening they reached the meadow their mother told them about. It was such a nice meadow, beautiful and wide, that the eldest brother said:
‘Let’s stop and spend the night here!’
‘Do not do this, brothers! – the Ninth brother said. – Let’s go and spend the night over there, at the end of the village, where you see the lights! This is what our mother ordered us.’
The brothers however did not listen to him. They told him:
‘Are you afraid? Do not worry. We are nine brothers. We have nine sables! What are you afraid of? Come and sleep here among us!’
The Ninth brother got angry at their stupidity but he had no choice. He lay among them but stayed awaken. Suddenly, at midnight a big cloud approached them. It was not a cloud however but a goblin with nine heads. The monster was the master of the weird meadow and had already taken many victims who had spent the night there. It had taken them to the other world and had petrified them. There had already been created a whole world with such people.
The youngest brother saw the demon, immediately took the sable and approached him. The dragon only laughed as he saw that a boy has been coming against him with a sable. He was about to petrified him. The Ninth did not get frightened. He raised his sword and cut one of the nine heads. Then the second, and the third… until only one head has left.
‘Cut the last one, boy! – the dragon asked. – You have started it, at least finish it – kill me!
But the ninth brother knew that if he would cut the last head, immediately other nine would grow instead. Therefore he said:
‘ You will not lie to me, monster! Go back to your kingdom!
The monster fell on the ground and crawled to the cave where he had come from. He climbed down and opened enormous iron gates that were leading to the underground city. He started to groan and moan. The birds of prey perched him and started to eat him.
Meanwhile, the Ninth took the heads and put them by his brothers’ heads. They were sleeping and did not see anything. Early in the morning the eldest brother got up and started to wake the others. The Ninth brother has just fallen asleep.
‘Hey, Ninth, wake up! – the First started to tell him off. – Wasn’t the night enough for you?’
Then the Ninth brother got up and said:
‘I have not slept the whole night, brothers! I have told you this is not a good place. The whole night I was fighting a dragon!’
The others laughed at him:
‘What a dragon? You have dreamt it!’
‘Then turn around and see what is near you heads!’
They turned around and saw the heads. The got frightened and ran away.
‘Stop, brothers! Do not be afraid! – the Ninth said. – The dragon has run away and is already dead probably!’
After this he told them the whole story and they followed the bloody traces to the cave of the dragon. But since the brothers were afraid only the Ninth decided to enter it. He ordered his brothers to stay in front, take the ropes they have taken out of the bags, tie him, and let him down in the cave.
‘When I reach the bottom I will shake the rope and you will understand I have stepped in the underground world. But do not pull the rope back! I will just have a look there, free the stony people and you will pull them out in our world!’
The Ninth brother got down, passed the iron gate and saw a whole town petrified by the goblin monster. Everything was petrified: walking people, carriages with horses, streets, shops, fountains, everything… Walking along the street, the Ninth saw a pile of gold, diamonds and other treasures also petrified.
Finally he reached the palace. There were nine sisters there who the monster had also petrified. But the youngest sister was so beautiful that the cast of the goblin could turn only half of her to stone – from the chest to the heels. Her heart and head however were still alive.
When the youngest sister saw the Ninth brother she warned him:
‘Run away, Lad! The king of this town is a terrible dragon! He has petrified everything. He will do the same with you!’
‘Do not be afraid, girl! – he calmed her. – The dragon is already dead, a hundred of animals are eating him at the iron gates. I will take you there to see it by yourself.’
‘I can not come, I am half stone!’
‘How can I help you and the other people?’
‘Look at the cupboard against me! There is a book there and the dragon used to read all his magic from it. Every time before he opened it he was saying ‘Oh, My Lord, forgive us!’ and a black Arab was coming out of it. He was asking how he could serve his master.’
The Ninth brother took the book and said: ‘Oh, My Lord, forgive us!’ And really – a black Arab with big mouth appeared and asked:
‘Master, what will you ask me?’
‘I want you to make this girl human again in the same way you had petrified her!’
The Arab touched the girl and she immediately turned into human again.
‘Now do the same with her sisters! – the Ninth ordered. – And after this with the whole town!’
And the Ninth, the youngest sister, and the Arab went through the town. Wherever they went they were setting people free. The people were grateful. They said:
‘This are our new king and queen!’
The Arab touched the stony treasures and they turned into gold, silver, and diamonds again.
Then the Ninth brother told the sisters:
‘I have to go back to my brothers because they are waiting for me. This town is nice but it is nicer up in my country. My mother and father are there, old and weak, I have to help them!’
‘We will come with you!’ – the sisters said.
‘All right, you will marry my brothers: the eldest to my eldest brother and the youngest to me!’
They filled the bags with precious stones and went to the rope. The Ninth brother tied the eldest sister with the rope, gave her a bag and wrote a notice: ‘First, this girl and the bag are for you!’
So the brothers pulled out eight of the sisters. Only the youngest one left. She was for the Ninth. He tied her with the rope and shook it. The brothers started to pull it. When the girl approached the eldest brother said:
‘Is this a sun that glitters like this!’
As he saw the beautiful girl he immediately decided to kill his brother and keep her as his wife. So he let the rope again. The Ninth tied himself. The First started to pull him but as the Ninth reached the middle he cut the rope. The Ninth fell again down the precipice. The youngest sister saw this and tried to jump in as well, but the First caught her, tied her and took her home.
So eight brothers came home with nine sisters. They started to build big palaces. They announced that everyone has found a wife. The First married to the youngest sister and made the eldest a servant.
According to the custom however they had to live with their future wives for a whole year and marry after this. The year almost passed but the youngest sister did not want even to see the First. He locked her in a room, nailed the windows and the door and waited the year to pass.
Meanwhile, the Ninth was in the underground world. He could hardly survive falling from such a height but the people found him and healed him. Everybody loved him because they owed him their freedom. Therefore they found good doctors. They were curing him eleven months, but on the twelfth he was already healthy. He called the Arab and asked him:
‘You can do everything on this world but can you take me back to my world?’
‘I can, my master!’
A moment later the Ninth was in the upper world. He immediately took the road home. As he was walking he got tired. He took the book and he said ‘Oh, My Lord, forgive us!’ and the Arab appeared.
‘I want a carriage with the fastest horses!’ – the Ninth ordered.
He got on the carriage and he soon reached his village. There was big noise there. These were the eight weddings of his eight brothers. Dressed in gold the Ninth entered his mother’s house which looked like a hut compared to his brothers’ ones. He heard his mother crying from the distance.
‘Lord, Lord, what happened! My youngest son is not here and the First wants to marry a girl who doesn’t even look at him!’
‘I am here, Mother!’ – the Ninth cried.
His mother and father ran to him. They started to hug and kiss him. And he ordered the Arab to make them younger. Then he asked:
‘Tell me, who the First is marrying to?’
‘He is marrying to the youngest, to the most beautiful – the father said, - but she does not want him. She cries all the time and asks for you!’
The Ninth brother went out to the village square. His parents followed him. When the neighbours saw them they also went.
The reached the square. When the people saw the Ninth (who they thought for dead) they got silent. The music got silent as well. Everybody gazed at him.
‘I am coming back from the Other world! – the Ninth said. – My brothers left me there. But I can not forget my mother and father, I can not forget my girl. Let her come to me!’
The youngest sister ran to him as she heard his voice and hugged him.
‘Let my eldest brother come now!’
The First was shaking of fear but he had no choice. The people pushed him in front.
‘Let my other brothers come now!’ – the Ninth ordered.
They stayed in front of him.
‘You brothers did not even come to underground world but you decided to leave me there. I will show you now how it was there!’
Then he took out the book and said:
‘Oh, My Lord, forgive us!’
Suddenly the Arab appeared:
‘At your orders, master!’
‘Show my brothers what the underground world looked like before I came there!’
The Arab touched them and their houses and they turned to stones. Then the Ninth married to the youngest sister and they lived happily.