Once upon a time there was a poor man. He was so poor that he could not yearn money even for bread. He had one son. When his son grew up he decided to give him as an apprentice to some rich man. They went to find him. They were going, going on when they got tired. They sat near a well and the father murmured from tiredness:
‘Oh, Oh!’
Everything was all right but Oh was the name of the giant who was living in the well. The giant went out as he heard his name.
‘Why do you call me?’ he asked.
‘I did not call you! - answered the frightened father. I just said ‘Oh, I got tired!’
‘What did you get tired from? Where are you going?’
‘I am looking for a place for this lad to become an apprentice.’
‘For how much money?’
‘For a handful of coins.’
He giant gave him two handfuls of coins. He took the boy, jumped with him into the well, and went to the other world. The giant was living there in a big house with a big yard. He had one daughter. As she saw the girl she liked him very much. When the giant got tired and went to sleep she went to the boy and told him:
‘Boy, what are you doing here? Why have you come here as an apprentice? My father will learn you magic, but when he learns you he will eat you! That’s why every time he asks you ‘Have you learned what I have taught you?’ you will answer ‘I do not know anything!’ If you tell him you know everything he will cut your throat!’
Thus the boy started to live in the giant’s house. Everyday he taught him magic and since the boy was very smart he learnt quickly. But he remembered the words of the giant’s daughter and was always saying the same:
‘I haven’t learnt anything yet! I do not know anything!’
A lot of time passed. Once, when the giant was sleeping, his daughter went to the boy and said:
‘Boy, have you already learnt all the magic? My father does not believe you any more and he will soon eat you. So I will open the gates and you run away!’
The boy ran away from the giant’s house, went back to upper world and went to his father’s house.
‘Father, I see that you are still very poor but I will help you. There is a market tomorrow in Popovo. I will turn into a big ram. You will sell me but you will not sell the magic reins! The reins you will take home!’
And since he had learnt the magic he turned to a big ram. His father took him to the market. The customers liked him and surrounded him. They started to bid. A rich villager bought the ram for a lot of money. But during the night he turned to a man again and went to his father’s house.
‘Father, there is a big market in Popovo tomorrow. I will turn to the best horse. You will sell me but again you will not sell the reins!’
On the morning the father went out, took him to the market and sold him very expensively. During the night again he turned to a man and went to his father’s house.
He did this many times. The giant however heard this and guessed that this was the boy. He decided to go and find him.
There was a market on the other day again.
‘Father, I will turn to a cow tomorrow, but dry one, so the rich will buy me for slaughtering.’
The merchants started to bid for the cow. Then the giant came.
‘How much do you want for this cow?’ He asked.
‘Two handfuls of coins.’
‘I will give you four but you will give me the reins!’
When he heard about this big amount of money, the father forgot his son’s order and sold the cow together with the reins. The giant quickly went home to the lower world and tied the cow to a stake. He called his daughter:
‘Look daughter I bought this dry cow from the market to slaughter it. Now I will go to sleep for a while and you prepare the knives and hot water!’
‘All right, father.’ – the daughter answered but she immediately guessed this was the boy.
The giant went to have some sleep. The girl approached the tied cow and said:
‘Boy, I will pretend you hit me with the horns and you run away for my father made me to prepare the knives to slaughter you.’
Then she took the reins from the cow’s neck. The boy ran away and the giant ran after him. Since the giant was running quickly and the cow was running slowly he almost approached it. Then the boy turned to a hen and ran away again. But the giant turned to a fox and almost approached the hen. The boy turned to a bird and flew to the sky. The giant threw grain and the bird started to eat it.
The giant’s daughter saw this and understood that her father would kill the boy. She made magic, threw fire from her mouth and burned the giant. Then the lad married her and they started to live happily.