Good Advice
Once upon a time there lived a young orphan. He was very poor, and hunger was his friend every day. So he decided to wander around the world; maybe he could get some food. He wandered and wandered, and in the evening, hungry and tired, he found himself in a deep forest. Suddenly he saw a forest bird beating in a snare. The orphan was delighted.
“I'll cook myself a roast.”
And then the bird spoke with a human voice, “Don't kill me, dear traveler, let me free.”
The young orphan had a kind heart and let the bird go free. It spread its wings and said:
“I'll give you advice in gratitude. Follow this path until you see a big oak, climb on it and sit on the branches all night. And then you will see what will happen.”
The young man followed the path, saw a tree, climbed it, sat on a strong branch, and waited. And the young man felt that someone was talking under the oak tree. He listened to; that's right, three dwarves were talking.
“Hear that? The stream in the King's Park has dried up, the water in it used to be so clear! Whoever knows how to fell the pine tree that grows beside the stream, and dig up its roots, will bring the water back.”
“And I know a secret,” another said, "There used to be a lot of moose in the King's woods, and now there are none. And the king does not know that animals are afraid of moose antlers at the gates of the park. If we could take these horns off, the moose would come back.”
“I know something, too,” the third said. “The king's only daughter has been sick for years. No doctor can cure the princess. But if you take her to the park before sunrise and sprinkle dew on her, the princess will immediately recover.”
The dwarves talked and left. The young man remembered everything, climbed down from the tree in the morning and went to the king’s palace to apply for work.
“Do you want to work as a water carrier? We now carry water to the palace from afar. There used to be a stream in the park, but it dried up.”
The young man looked at the place where the stream was, saw a pine tree nearby, and said:
“If you fell this pine tree, dig up its roots, water will appear again.”
They felled the tree, dug up the roots, and crystal water appeared in the creek again.
The king called the young man and asked:
“Do you know how to bring the moose back to us? Before they used to roam here in herds, and now they have disappeared.”
“Easy, Your Majesty,” the young man smiled. “You only have to remove the moose antlers from the gates of the park. That's all.”
The king ordered to take off the horns, and here they were, moose. They were walking in the park again.
“You are a good counsellor,” said the king graciously, "but will you help me to cure my daughter of her grave illness? She has been sick for many years.”
“Take the princess to the park before sunrise and sprinkle dew on her,” recommended the young man, “And she will recover.”
The king took the princess to the park and sprinkled dew on her; the girl immediately recovered.
The king wanted to thank the young man.
“Stay at the palace,” he said, “You will be my first counsellor.”
Since then, the young man lived in the palace and was happy to the end of his days.
