The herdsman and the snake

Воловарот и змијата

The herdsman set his oxen to graze in the meadow. A blackberry bush is burning in the meadow. Something screamed over there, so he went to see. He saw a snake. After he saved it, the snake said to him:

"What do you want from me as a reward?"

"Give me a certain word, which whenever I say it everyone will respect me."

"What word do you want to say?"

"Whenever I say 'stick' everything will stick together."

"Ok, that's fine."

The herdsman went to yoke his oxen. The oxen were far from the yoke. He called out "stick" and they harnessed themselves. He was invited to a wedding. At the wedding there was already great celebration and dancing. But he was to have been the groom of the young woman, the bride. And since he couldn't take her, when the bride and groom lay together, he said ‘stick’, and they stuck together.

Hey now, the godfather, the groom's father - they wondered what to do. The bride and groom were stuck together and couldn't be separated.

"Ah, there is an old woman, she can disenchant them, but someone will have to go fetch her," they said.

The herdsman said:

"I'll go."

He went after the old woman. Along the way she asked him:

"Well, so what's this all about?"

"Oh, such and such. It's shameful, old woman. You should see how it is."

"So, and how is it?"

"The bride and groom are stuck together and can't be separated."

"Oh, so is that how it is?"

The old woman came on by donkey. They saw an aga with a long pipe walk past them. The herdsman called out ‘stick’ and the pipe stuck to the aga's mouth. He called out ‘stick’ again and the pipe stuck to the old woman's ass. The mouth stuck to the pipe, the pipe stuck to the ass, and so he led the donkey.

They continued on, and he led them over there. What a party there was to see: the young man and the bride, the old woman and the donkey, the aga with his long pipe, everyone was stuck to each other, I'm telling you! He said:

"I can separate everyone. But can I take the bride with me?"

"Yes!" shouted the one who was supposed to marry the bride.

"Well, if you can..."

He said ‘separate’ and everyone separated. The aga went to the mosque, the donkey bellowed, the old woman set off. Everyone went home.