Narrator: Once upon a time there was the cobbler Dratewka. He was very poor. His clothes were old and worn out and he has got only a small piece of bread in his bag. He was wandering from village to village and repaired old shoes to earn for life. One day he was walking through the forest when he saw the ruined ants’ nest.
Cobbler: It must have been the beer who ruined this nest. Poor ants! They’re working very hard now! I must help them!
Narrator: So he felt pity to the ants, took his hat off and with its help grabbed ( took) the nest together. Then the ants mother appeared and was very grateful.
Ants’ mother: Thank you, good man! If you need our help, please, let us know and we will help you.
Cobbler: You’re so small. How can you help me.
Narrator: Cobbler Dratewka smiled, bowed to ants and went further. He was walking through the green, green forest when he saw the damaged bees’ nest.
Cobbler: It must have been the beer again. It likes honey. Poor bees! They do their best to repair the nest. I will help them! I will take the wax and honeycombs into the hole again.
Narrator: Then the Queen Bee appeared and was very grateful to him.
Queen Bee: Thank you, kind man! If you need our help, please. Let us know and we will fly to help you.
Cobbler: You’re so small. How can you help me?
Narrator: Dratewka smiled again, bowed and went further. A few days later he was going on a wide dyke between the ponds. There were wild ducks swimming in the ponds. When they saw Dratewka , they cried loudly and hid in the reeds, because they were afraid of hunters.
Cobbler: Don’t be afraid of me. I’m not going to shoot you but I want to admire your beauty, I’m not going to kill you but I want to feed you with some bread.
Narrator: So Dratewka threw the bread into the water. The ducks have never eaten so tasty food before. The oldest duck appeared and was very grateful:
Oldest Duck: Thank you, good man! We’re very happy because you came not to kill us but to feed us. If you need our help, please, let us know and we come to help you.
Cobbler: Thank you. I wonder how you can help me. You won’t repair boots instead of me.
Narrator: He smiled and went further. He was walking and walking when he reached the country in which there was a castle, and a tower inside the castle. There was the young girl prisoner in this tower and she was guarded by the witch. And there were people near the tower and Dratewka heard that they say if somebody would marry the girl, he could save her. And only this person can marry her who do two works and solve the puzzle.
Cobbler: Maybe, I will try.
Narrator: But people advised him not to be so brave. If somebody will go and won’t do the works , the witch will tear his head off. But Dratewka was stubborn and decided to go.
Cobbler: But I will go and try.
Narrator: Dratewka knocked the door of the castle. The witch came out and asked
Witch: Are you a man? Or are you an animal? Why are you knocking? What do you want?
Cobbler: I want to marry the girl who is prisoner in the tower.
Witch: If you do two works and guess the puzzle, you will marry her.
Cobbler: Ok. I will try.
Narrator: The witch let him go into the castle, took him into the room locked with seven keys and iron bars in the window and gave him the first work.
Witch: Here is sand mixed with poppy seeds and you must sort them out until dawn. If not I will tear your head off.
Narrator: The witch went out and locked him in the room. Dratewka sat down and was in despair.
Dratewka: So much little things. The man will need the whole year to do this work and she says me to do it till the morning. It’s impossible. Oh, poor me!
Narrator: But suddenly he heard strange noise as something was crawling on the wall. He look at the window and was surprised, the ants were running one after the other into the room. So they took sand and poppy seeds separately very quickly. When it started to get light the witch opened the door and was surprised but didn’t show this.
Witch: Ok. But today you have the other task to do. The girl had golden earring. When she was swimming she lost it. Find the key on the bottom of the pond. If not, I will tear your head off.
Narrator: Dratewka went to the pond, stood on the dyke and was very sad. The pond was very big and he didn’t know where the girl lost it. And he didn’t know how deep was the pond. He was in despair. But suddenly the oldest duck appeared
Oldest duck: Why are you so sad our good friend? What do you need?
Cobbler: I must find the golden earring. The girl from the tower lost it somewhere here. If I don’t find it till the morning, the witch will kill me.
Oldest duck: Don’t worry, good man! All ducks and fish will dive and look for it. We will bring the earring to you.
Narrator: The reeds moved, the water waved, the ducks swam on the pond and fish went down on the depth. Some time passed and the fish found the earring. Then he gave it to the duck and duck brought it to the cobbler Dratewka.
Oldest duck: Don’t be unhappy. We found the earring. Here you are.
Cobbler: Dratewka thanked to the duck, took the earring and ran to the witch. Even more surprised was the witch this time but she didn’t want to show this.
Witch: Golden earring, golden door, who of us will die , you or me?
Narrator: She ordered Dratewka to follow her. They negotiated seven hundred seventy seven stairs and stood at the top of the tower. The witch opened the door with golden key and they entered the room. There were nine girls, dressed in white and with covered faces sitting on the bench in this room.
Witch: And now the third task. Either you win or lose. It will be morning very soon and you must guess who of them is the girl from the tower. If you won’t guess I will tear your head off.
Narrator: Dratewka looks carefully at every of the girls, trying to recognize the girl from the tower. But bad luck! They are alike like geese in the meadow. Now he’s got a real problem.
Cobbler: This time I will die.
Narrator: But suddenly the bees flew inside the room through the open window and began to circle over the last girl.
Cobbler: This is she. She is the girl from the tower.
Narrator: And he ran to this girl. The girl stood up, threw the cover and embraced Dratewka .
Girl: Oh, my dear! You save my life. You saved me from slavery.
Narrator: When the witch saw this, she turned into a black bird and flew away. And nobody saw her any more. Dratewka and the girl from the tower married and lived happily .