...Hardly anyone will remember how long ago it was. But the nearest villages still say by their names that there was once a vast swamp here. So, one day, young people and small children gathered in this very swamp for cranberries. One of the local girls, picking berries, moved a little to the side and saw that an old tree, obsolete, had fallen on the swamp hummocks, pressing the leg of an old grandfather. He was small in stature, with a gray beard. The girl began to call for help, and apparently her friends and girlfriends had already gone far away.
and then she began to rake the hummock with her bare hands and somehow freed the unfortunate man. To his savior's delight, he presented her with a basket made of wicker vines. And in words, he added that he was not easy: the basket itself would become full, only the girl would collect something from him. One request is not to tell anyone about the divine basket, otherwise it will lose its power. Grandpa limped his savior out to the edge of the swamp and said goodbye. That's how it happened with the girl, as grandpa told me. Any berry, either from the garden or from the garden, was only worth putting in a basket – and it immediately became full to the brim. time passes, and our heroine fell in love with a young man, a neighbor across the street, who had paralyzed legs. We don't know if he was born like this or what kind of misfortune happened to him. no matter how her parents and friends dissuaded the girl from such a choice, she insisted on her own. At the call of her heart, she got married, and the young couple settled in a separate house. Despite his injury, the young master turned out to be a real master. He was especially successful at weaving Boxes and baskets out of vines. He did them well, and the goods were in great demand, did not stagnate, bringing in considerable income here and there. The man worked hard, sparing no effort-just bring the material, a vine from a nearby swamp. The young wife began to prepare it. and then one day, when she had cut and assembled a good bundle of vines, she wanted to put it on her back, suddenly out of nowhere - the same old man from "#39; appeared. It's like coming out of the ground. With a beard and a long whip... The old man cracked his long whip and asked angrily: "how could you carry vines out of my swamp in huge bundles without my permission?" But the girl was not afraid, she began to ask, they say, what right does he have to not allow the vine to carry home? The old man got angrier than ever and jumped up on a tree stump. "I," he says, "am Lozovik, the owner of these places. Everything here is as far as the eye can see, it's my property!" - Well, if that's the case, – the girl bowed, - then forgive me, unreasonable, and let me knit the vine in small bundles. Lozovik immediately relented, invited him to sit on a stump with him, and began asking questions. And the girl told him everything: about her recent marriage, and about her husband, a young master, and about his bad legs. "that's what," Lozovik said here, finally becoming kinder, "I always like artisan and hardworking people. He's like that himself. I've been weaving different things from the vine all my life. It's probably not for nothing that you were chosen to be your husband's wife with a gentle soul. I want to give you another gift-wonderful bast shoes, or rather, to your Master. But on the condition that you return my basket back. And your husband, as soon as he puts on his bast shoes, he'll start walking right away. The girl was delighted, and hugged her grandfather with tears. - wait, - says the forest owner, - there is another feature in these bast shoes, which may be unpleasant for you. Your Betrothed will walk in my gift and, eventually, will come to me in the swamp for eternal service. So take your time, think about it. The choice is yours.he said that and disappeared from sight. Only the bast shoes and the basket on the marsh hummock remained. The unfortunate woman burst into tears... But then I wiped my tears, took my bast shoes and went home, leaving the basket for my grandfather.
Her husband told her how she met him and why she made such a choice. "I'll always like you, but I really want you to get rid of the disease." Even if you go to the owner of the swamp. I'm going to go to the woods, maybe I'll have to see you sometimes," she said, burst into tears, hid her face in her hands and ran out of the house. And when, after crying a little, she returned, she saw the bast shoes she had brought from the swamp burning in the stove. the girl rushed into the arms of her sweet husband. They sat there, hugging each other, until deep dusk, realizing without words that, having lost Lozovik's gifts, they had not lost each other. Having made their own choices, they kept the main thing-love and devotion. They did not see that a small old man was watching them from the street, hiding through the window. He was squinting, either from the fire in the stove, where the bast shoes were burning down, or he was smiling like that. and only in the morning, having opened the door wide to welcome the new day, the happy couple saw on the porch of their house a familiar basket of vines filled to the brim with ripe cranberries.