Little Ivanko was the strongest man in seven countries. Mariyka was very impressed.
But the two little brothers, Ivanko and Mariyka, after being cruelly abandoned by their father, needed to find food and shelter. They had headed for the field they were now in from a dark forest, but now they desperately needed shelter.
It was at that moment that they saw a bright light shining from deep in the forest, in a place they had not been, and ran towards it. They got closer and found it to be a giant glowing crystal. Ivanko kicked him and with his force he turned him into dust. Below were some stairs that led to a large cavern, where they found a beautiful young woman tied up.
Ivanko ran to untangle the girl.
“Thank you, dear boy,” said the girl. “I am a princess, daughter of the Tsar, and twelve evil bandits kidnapped me for ransom. You have saved me. Is there any way I can repay you?”
“We are starving, your highness. Is there any food around here?” Ivanko said.
“Yes,” replied the princess, “deep in the cavern is a chamber that is filled with enough food to last a lifetime, as well as gold and the finest clothing. Farewell, my friends.”
Shortly after the princess left, and having eaten their fill, the twelve bandits returned.
“Who has invaded our air?!” they shouted
The boy jumped up and shouted:
“It is I, Ivanko, the strongest man in seven countries, and you villains have met your end.”
And with that he took his sword and killed eleven of them. The twelfth he had singled out but, being the smartest among his cohorts, he pretended to be dead.
Ivanko dragged all the bodies into a small room.
The next day, when Ivanko was away from that room, the only bandit alive whispered to Mariyka.
“Girl, beautiful girl. Can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to have me as your husband?”
“Oh yes,” exclaimed the girl.
“Very well, but you must kill your brother, otherwise he will never allow it. Just follow my instructions. Tell him that you are sick and that you need the meat of a wolf cub. The mother wolf will kill him.”
The next day, Mariyka applied. Ivanko went looking for a wolf pup, but just as he was about to shoot it, the mother wolf passed by.
“Ivanko, stop. Take my puppy alive to your sister. She will reject it and you can rest easy.”
As the mother wolf predicted, Mariyka would not harm the cub. The bandit was furious and every day he warned the girl about a different animal, and in all cases the mother gave the same solution, until she exhausted all the animals in the forest.
Finally the bandit got impatient and told Mariyka:
“Since this can’t be done the right way, we must take matters into our own hands. Tell him you’ve recovered. Run him a milk bath. Then, when he’s out of his straitjacket and drowsy for milk, you’ll let me out and I’ll cut his throat.
Mariyka agreed and did as she was told. But at the last moment she felt sorry for him and begged the bandit to forgive him. She agreed and simply gouged out the boy’s eyes. She dragged him to a well deep in the woods and dumped him there. Satisfied that he was no longer a threat, he happily returned to his new wife.
Meanwhile, Ivanko was wallowing at the bottom of the well, unsuccessfully trying to escape, and when a woodcutter fetching water found him there, he ran screaming.
“The well is cursed! There is a demon at the bottom!”
But when the loggers went to kill any godforsaken creature lurking in the background, Ivanko yelled:
“No! Don’t kill me! I’m a child, not a demon!”
They rescued him, and for 3 years they cared for him. But he began to feel guilty about the burden he placed on them. So one night he ran away and wandered blindly through a swamp. He was running as fast as he could, and finally he tripped and fell on a spring.
But it was a magical spring, made from the water of life, and when it fell, all his wounds were healed and his blindness was healed.
He returned to the loggers and for the next 9 years he worked among them. In the tenth year he decided to hit the road and seek his fortune.
He did not walk far before he met an old beggar, who was well over 100 years old.
“Old man, what would you say if I told you that I can make you young again?”
“Don’t bother me, boy, there is no potion that can do that. There is only this one, which makes you old.”
Ivanko produced a vial of the magical spring’s water of life and they agreed to exchange some of their potions. Thus, the old man became young, and Ivanko now an old man.
Old Ivanko returned to the bandit cave, and his sister, who did not recognize him, kindly offered him shelter. But when she and the bandit fell asleep, he took what was left of the water of life from her and poured it on himself, restoring her youth. He then grabbed his magical shirt, gun, and sword, and announced himself.
They were both very scared. But Ivanko promised not to harm them, despite the harm they had inflicted on him. But his old animal friends, who found out that he had returned, had entered the cave and hearing the story could not contain his anger and tore the bandit to pieces.
Ivanko had been restored to his former glory and walked out of the cavern into the wide world.