Part - 3
Meanwhile, the dzhigit who stole the stone and threw Chotur into the well arrived in Baghdad and presented the magical stone to the Baghdad padishah. In gratitude for the gift, the padishah appointed him as his vizier. Soon, Chotur also reached Baghdad. The treacherous dzhigit saw him, went to the padishah, and said:
— A homeless young man has arrived in our city. He is plotting evil against you. He must be killed at all costs!
The padishah ordered to capture Chotur and throw him into a deep dungeon at the edge of the city. They did just that. The poor young man lay at the bottom of the dungeon and thought. And he remembered the magical word that the snake had taught him and pronounced it. A minute later, the snake crawled to him.
— My dear friend, — Chotur pleaded, — I am in danger! Help me!
— You have returned my life, now I will save you from death, — said the snake. — I will go and bite the padishah's daughter. And no one but you will be able to heal her. Now remember the spell that I will teach you. With this spell, you will heal the padishah's daughter. I will go to the palace now, and you, after a while, shout with all your might: “I can heal the padishah's daughter!”
So said the snake, and after teaching the young man the spell, it crawled away. The snake crawled into the palace and bit the sleeping padishah's daughter on the heel.
The girl screamed in pain. Her maids rushed in and saw that the padishah's daughter's leg was swollen. The padishah then sent messengers for doctors and healers. Each tried their remedy, but nothing helped. And the girl's condition worsened; she was on the verge of death.
Then the padishah commanded the heralds to announce:
“Whoever heals my daughter, I will marry her to him!”
Meanwhile, Chotur lay at the bottom of the dungeon and shouted:
— I can heal the padishah's daughter!
A shepherd who was grazing sheep nearby heard these cries and, returning to the city, told the people.
The people rushed to the padishah and told him what the shepherd had heard. The padishah immediately sent his servants to the dungeon. They pulled Chotur out and brought him to the palace.
— Can you really heal my daughter? — asked the padishah Chotur.
— I can, — the young man confidently replied.
— If you heal her, I will marry her to you, — said the padishah and led Chotur to his daughter. — But if you do not heal her, I will order your execution.
The young man approached the sick girl, whispered the spell that the snake had taught him, and the girl was immediately healed.
The padishah rejoiced, ordered the young man to be taken to the bathhouse, washed, dressed in fine clothes, and settled in the best house in the city. And preparations for the wedding began in the palace. The treacherous dzhigit, the padishah's vizier, learned of this and said:
— O esteemed padishah! Are you really going to give your beloved daughter to a homeless young man?
The padishah listened to the vizier and fell into thought.
Seeing that his words disturbed the ruler, the treacherous dzhigit continued:
— O esteemed padishah, order to find four girls in the city who resemble your daughter, wrap these girls and your daughter in identical shawls, seat each on a black horse, and command the young man to identify your daughter. He will not be able to do it, and then you, without breaking your padishah's word, will refuse to give your daughter to him.
The cunning courtier's advice pleased the padishah, and he ordered to find four girls in Baghdad who resembled his daughter.
Chotur learned of the padishah's intentions and was saddened. Suddenly, he remembered the revived wasp and decided:
— I will call my friend the wasp. Maybe she will help me.” He burned a few hairs in the fire, and the wasp immediately flew in, along with several others. Chotur told her about the padishah's intentions. The wasp thought and said:
— When the girls are seated on the horses, keep an eye on us: we will fly and buzz over the horse on which your bride will be sitting. Then you can confidently approach and point her out.
So five girls were brought out from the padishah's palace, seated on horses, and Chotur was called and told to identify his bride. The young man, without hesitation, approached the girl over whom the wasps were flying.
— It seems that what is destined must come to pass, — sighed the padishah.
Then he ordered Chotur to be taken back to the same rich house and commanded to place an honor guard at his door. Soon the padishah's vizier came there and, pushing aside the guards, entered to see Chotur. The guards were surprised to hear the vizier crying before the young man and cursing himself with the worst words, and they hurried to report everything to the padishah.
The padishah summoned the vizier to himself.
— What were you discussing with my future son-in-law? — asked the padishah.
— He told me that the stone I gifted you belongs to him! And I, esteemed padishah, entered into an argument with him, — replied the vizier.
The padishah remained silent but thought to himself: “I will talk to this young man myself.”
When Chotur appeared in the palace, the padishah began to ask him about his former life, and the young man told everything he had experienced. He also told how he received the magical stone as a gift from a frog, how he revived a human skull with its help, and how that dzhigit later threw him into the well, and everything that happened after that. As soon as Chotur finished his story, the vizier, who had been eavesdropping at the door, exclaimed:
— This is all made up! Every word he says is a lie!
— Do not argue! — the padishah stopped the vizier. — Go and each perform ablution. After that, touch the magical stone, and we will see then to whom the stone belongs.
The vizier and the young man left, performed ablution, and when they returned, the padishah ordered the vizier to touch the stone first. As soon as the vizier touched the stone, his hand turned into a black coal!
— And now, my son, you touch it! — ordered the padishah to Chotur. — And if the stone belongs to you, the vizier's hand will return to its normal state.
The young man confidently touched the stone, and the vizier's hand came back to life. At that moment, the padishah realized the vizier's deceit and ordered his execution.
Then the Baghdad padishah married his daughter to the orphan Chotur. This wedding lasted for forty days, after which the padishah elevated his son-in-law to the throne and retired to rest.
Having become the padishah, Chotur generously rewarded his adoptive father — Aalibay. He sent him a caravan of a thousand camels loaded with gold as a gift.
Thus, Musabay's son, Chotur the Orphan, became the ruler of Baghdad. And he ruled for a long time and justly.
The Tale of Chotur the Orphan. Part - 2