Once upon a time there was a man who had a lot of all kinds of good: he had beautiful houses in the city and outside the city, gold and silver dishes, embroidered chairs and gilded carriages, but, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard, and this beard gave him such an ugly and formidable appearance that all the girls and women, it happened, as soon as they envy him, God forbid, legs as soon as possible.
One of his neighbors, a lady of noble birth, had two daughters, perfect beauties. He got married to one of them, not choosing which one, and leaving the mother herself to choose a bride for him. But neither one nor the other agreed to be his wife: they could not decide to marry a man whose beard was blue, and only quarreled with each other, sending him to each other. They were embarrassed by the fact that he already had several wives and no one in the world knew what had become of them.
Bluebeard, wanting to give them the opportunity to get to know him shorter, took them along with their mother, three or four of their closest friends and several young people from the neighborhood to one of his country houses, where he spent a whole week with them. The guests walked, went hunting, fishing; dances and feasts did not stop; there was no sleep at night; everyone made fun, invented funny pranks and jokes; in a word, everyone was so happy and cheerful that the youngest of the daughters soon came to the conclusion that the owner's beard was not at all so blue and that he was a very amiable and pleasant gentleman. As soon as everyone returned to the city, the wedding was immediately played.
After a month had passed, Bluebeard told his wife that he was forced to be absent for at least six weeks for a very important business. He asked her not to be bored in his absence, but on the contrary, to try in every possible way to dissipate, invite her friends, take them out of town, if she pleases, eat and drink sweetly, in a word, live for her own pleasure.
“Here,” he added, “are the keys to the two main storerooms; here are the keys to gold and silver dishes, which are not put on the table every day; here from the chests with money; here from boxes with precious stones; here, finally, is the key with which you can unlock all the rooms. But this little key unlocks the closet, which is located below, at the very end of the main gallery. You can unlock everything, enter everywhere; but I forbid you to enter that little room. My prohibition on this score is so strict and formidable that if it happens to you - God forbid - to unlock it, then there is no such misfortune that you should not expect from my anger.
Bluebeard's wife promised to follow his orders and instructions exactly; and he, kissing her, got into the carriage and set off. Neighbors and friends of the young woman did not wait for the invitation, but they all came by themselves, so great was their impatience to see with their own eyes those innumerable riches that were rumored to be in her house. They were afraid to come until the husband left: his blue beard frightened them very much. They immediately went to inspect all the chambers, and there was no end to their surprise: everything seemed so magnificent and beautiful to them! They got to the storerooms, and what they did not see there! Lush beds, sofas, rich curtains, tables, tables, mirrors - so huge that you could see yourself in them from head to toe, and with such wonderful, extraordinary frames! Some of the frames were also mirrored, others were of gilded carved silver. Neighbors and girlfriends incessantly praised and extolled the happiness of the hostess of the house, but she was not in the least amused by the spectacle of all these riches: she was tormented by the desire to open the closet below, at the end of the gallery.
Her curiosity was so strong that, not realizing how impolite to leave guests, she suddenly rushed down the secret staircase, nearly breaking her neck. Having run to the door of the closet, she, however, stopped for a moment. Her husband's prohibition came to her mind. "Well," she thought, "I will be in trouble for my disobedience!" But the temptation was too strong - she could not cope with it in any way. She took the key and, trembling like a leaf, unlocked the closet. At first she could not make out anything: it was dark in the closet, the windows were closed. But after a little while she saw that the whole floor was covered with caked blood, and in this blood the bodies of several dead women, tied along the walls, were reflected; these were the former wives of Bluebeard, whom he slaughtered one after another. She almost died on the spot from fear and dropped the key from her hand. Finally she came to her senses, picked up the key, locked the door and went to her room to rest and recover. But she was so frightened that in no way could she completely come to her senses.
She noticed that the key to the closet was stained with blood; she wiped it off once, twice, three times, but the blood did not come off. No matter how she washed it, no matter how rubbed it, even with sand and crushed brick - the blood stain still remained! This key was magical, and there was no way to clean it out; the blood came off on one side and came out on the other.
That evening, Bluebeard returned from his trip. He told his wife that on the way he received letters from which he learned that the case in which he had to leave had been decided in his favor. His wife, as usual, tried in every possible way to show him that she was very glad of his imminent return. The next morning he asked her for the keys. She gave them to him, but her hand trembled so much that he easily guessed everything that had happened in his absence.
- Why, - he asked, - the key to the closet is not with the others?
“I must have forgotten it upstairs, on the table,” she answered.
- Please bring it, do you hear! Said Bluebeard.
After several excuses and postponements, she should finally bring the fateful key.
- Why is this blood? - he asked.
“I don’t know why,” the poor woman answered, and she herself turned pale as a sheet.
- You do not know! Said Bluebeard. - Well, so I know! You wanted to enter the closet. Well, you will go in there and take your place next to the women you saw there.
She threw herself at the feet of her husband, wept bitterly and began to ask him for forgiveness in her disobedience, expressing the most sincere remorse and grief. It seems that the stone would have been moved by the pleas of such a beauty, but Bluebeard's heart was harder than any stone.
“You must die,” he said, “and now.
“If I have to die,” she said through tears, “give me a minute to pray to God.
“I'll give you exactly five minutes,” said Bluebeard, “and not a second more!
He went downstairs, and she called her sister and said to her:
- My sister Anna (that was her name), please climb to the very top of the tower, see if my brothers are on their way? They promised to visit me today. If you see them, give them a sign to hurry. Sister Anna ascended to the top of the tower, and the poor wretched thing from time to time shouted to her:
- Sister Anna, don't you see anything?
And sister Anna answered her:
Meanwhile, Bluebeard, grabbing a huge knife, yelled with all his might:
- Come here, come, or I'll go to you!
“Just a minute,” his wife answered and added in a whisper:
And sister Anna replied:
- I see the sun is clearing and the grass is turning green.
- Go, go quickly, - shouted Bluebeard, - otherwise I'll go to you!
- I'm coming! - answered the wife and again asked her sister:
- Anna, sister Anna, don't you see anything?
“I see,” answered Anna, “a large cloud of dust is approaching us.
- Are these my brothers?
- Oh, no, sister, this is a herd of sheep.
- Will you come at last! Yelled Bluebeard.
- Just a little second, - his wife answered and again asked:
- Anna, sister Anna, don't you see anything?
- I see two horsemen who are jumping here, but they are still very far away. Thank God, ”she added after a little while. - These are our brothers. I give them a sign to hurry as soon as possible.
But then Bluebeard raised such an uproar that the very walls of the house trembled. His poor wife went downstairs and threw herself at his feet, all torn to pieces and in tears.
“It won't do anything,” said Bluebeard. “Your hour of death has come.
With one hand he grabbed her by the hair, with the other he raised his terrible knife ... He swung at her to chop off her head ... The poor thing turned her dying eyes to him:
- Give me one more moment, just one moment, to gather my courage ...
- No no! - he answered. - Entrust your soul to God!
And he raised his hand ... But at that moment such a terrible knock rose at the door that Bluebeard stopped, looked around ... The door opened at once, and two young men burst into the room. Drawing their swords, they rushed straight for Bluebeard.
He recognized the brothers of his wife - one served in dragoons, the other in horse huntsmen - and immediately pricked up his skis; but the brothers caught up with him before he could run behind the porch. They pierced him through with their swords and left him dead on the floor.
Bluebeard's poor wife was barely alive herself, no worse than her husband: she did not even have enough strength to rise and embrace her deliverers. It turned out that Bluebeard had no heirs, and all his property went to his widow. She used one part of his wealth to marry her sister Anna into a young nobleman who had long been in love with her; for the other part she bought the brothers' captain's ranks, and with the rest she herself married a very honest and good man. With him, she forgot all the grief that she endured as the wife of Bluebeard.
Once upon a time there was a man who had a lot of all kinds of good: he had beautiful houses in the city and outside the city, gold and silver dishes, embroidered chairs and gilded carriages, but, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard, and this beard gave him such an ugly and formidable appearance that all the girls and women, it happened, as soon as they envy him, God forbid, legs as soon as possible.
One of his neighbors, a lady of noble birth, had two daughters, perfect beauties. He got married to one of them, not choosing which one, and leaving the mother herself to choose a bride for him. But neither one nor the other agreed to be his wife: they could not decide to marry a man whose beard was blue, and only quarreled with each other, sending him to each other. They were embarrassed by the fact that he already had several wives and no one in the world knew what had become of them.
Bluebeard, wanting to give them the opportunity to get to know him shorter, took them along with their mother, three or four of their closest friends and several young people from the neighborhood to one of his country houses, where he spent a whole week with them. The guests walked, went hunting, fishing; dances and feasts did not stop; there was no sleep at night; everyone made fun, invented funny pranks and jokes; in a word, everyone was so happy and cheerful that the youngest of the daughters soon came to the conclusion that the owner's beard was not at all so blue and that he was a very amiable and pleasant gentleman. As soon as everyone returned to the city, the wedding was immediately played.
After a month had passed, Bluebeard told his wife that he was forced to be absent for at least six weeks for a very important business. He asked her not to be bored in his absence, but on the contrary, to try in every possible way to dissipate, invite her friends, take them out of town, if she pleases, eat and drink sweetly, in a word, live for her own pleasure.
Here, ”he added,“ are the keys to the two main storerooms; here are the keys to gold and silver dishes, which are not put on the table every day; here from the chests with money; here from boxes with precious stones; here, finally, is the key with which you can unlock all the rooms. But this little key unlocks the closet, which is located below, at the very end of the main gallery. You can unlock everything, enter everywhere; but I forbid you to enter that little room. My prohibition on this score is so strict and formidable that if it happens to you - God forbid - to unlock it, then there is no such misfortune that you should not expect from my anger.
Bluebeard's wife promised to do exactly what he ordered and instructed; and he, kissing her, got into the carriage and set off.
Neighbors and friends of the young woman did not wait for the invitation, but they all came by themselves, so great was their impatience to see with their own eyes those innumerable riches that were rumored to be in her house. They were afraid to come until the husband left: his blue beard frightened them very much. They immediately went to inspect all the chambers, and there was no end to their surprise: so everything seemed to them magnificent and beautiful! They got to the storerooms, and what they did not see there! Lush beds, sofas, rich curtains, tables, tables, mirrors - so huge that you could see yourself in them from head to toe, and with such wonderful, extraordinary frames! Some of the frames were also mirrored, others were of gilded carved silver. Neighbors and girlfriends incessantly praised and extolled the happiness of the hostess of the house, but she was not in the least amused by the spectacle of all these riches: she was tormented by the desire to open the closet below, at the end of the gallery.
Her curiosity was so strong that, not realizing how impolite to leave guests, she suddenly rushed down the secret staircase, nearly breaking her neck. Having run to the door of the closet, she, however, stopped for a moment. Her husband's prohibition came to her mind. "Well," she thought, "I will be in trouble. For my disobedience!" But the temptation was too strong - she could not cope with it in any way. She took the key and, trembling like a leaf, unlocked the closet.
At first she could not make out anything: it was dark in the closet, the windows were closed. But after a little while she saw that the whole floor was covered with caked blood, and in this blood the bodies of several dead women, tied along the walls, were reflected; these were the former wives of Bluebeard, whom he slaughtered one after another. She almost died on the spot from fear and dropped the key from her hand.
Finally she came to her senses, picked up the key, locked the door and went to her room to rest and recover. But she was so frightened that in no way could she completely come to her senses.
She noticed that the key to the closet was stained with blood; she wiped it off once, twice, three times, but the blood did not come off. No matter how she washed it, no matter how rubbed it, even with sand and crushed brick - the blood stain still remained! This key was magical, and there was no way to clean it out; the blood came off on one side and came out on the other.
That evening, Bluebeard returned from his trip. He told his wife that on the way he received letters from which he learned that the case in which he had to leave had been decided in his favor. His wife, as usual, tried in every possible way to show him that she was very glad of his imminent return.
The next morning he asked her for the keys. She gave them to him, but her hand trembled so much that he easily guessed everything that had happened in his absence.
Why, - he asked, - the key to the closet is not with the others?
I must have forgotten it upstairs, on the table, ”she answered.
Please bring it, do you hear! said Bluebeard. After several excuses and postponements, she should finally bring the fateful key.
Why is this blood? - he asked.
I don’t know why, ”the poor woman answered, and she herself turned pale as a sheet.
You do not know! said Bluebeard. - Well, so I know! You wanted to enter the closet. Well, you will go in there and take your place next to the women you saw there.
She threw herself at the feet of her husband, wept bitterly and began to ask him for forgiveness in her disobedience, expressing the most sincere remorse and grief. It seems that the stone would have been moved by the pleas of such a beauty, but Bluebeard's heart was harder than any stone.
You must die, ”he said,“ and now.
If I have to die, ”she said through tears,“ give me a moment to pray to God.
I'll give you exactly five minutes, ”said Bluebeard,“ and not a second more!
He went downstairs, and she called her sister and said to her:
My sister Anna (that was her name), please climb to the very top of the tower, see if my brothers are on their way? They promised to visit me today. If you see them, give them a sign to hurry.
Sister Anna ascended to the top of the tower, and the poor wretched thing from time to time shouted to her:
Sister Anna, don't you see anything?
And sister Anna answered her:
Meanwhile, Bluebeard, grabbing a huge knife, yelled with all his might:
Come here, come, or I'll go to you!
This very minute, - answered his wife and added in a whisper:
And sister Anna replied:
I see the sun is clearing and the grass is turning green.
Go, go quickly, ”shouted Bluebeard,“ or else I'll go to you!
I'm coming! - answered the wife and again asked her sister:
Anna, sister Anna, don't you see anything?
I see, - answered Anna, - a large cloud of dust is approaching us.
Are these my brothers?
Oh no, sister, this is a herd of sheep.
Will you come at last! yelled Bluebeard.
Just a little second, '' his wife answered, and again asked:
Anna, sister Anna, don't you see anything?
I see two horsemen riding here, but they are still very far away. Thank God, ”she added after a little while. - These are our brothers. I give them a sign to hurry as soon as possible.
But then Bluebeard raised such an uproar that the very walls of the house trembled. His poor wife went downstairs and threw herself at his feet, all torn to pieces and in tears.
It will serve nothing, ”said Bluebeard,“ your hour of death has come.
With one hand he grabbed her by the hair, with the other he raised his terrible knife ... He swung at her to chop off her head ... The poor thing turned her dying eyes to him:
Give me one more moment, just one moment, to gather my courage ...
No no! - he answered. - Entrust your soul to God!
And he raised his hand ... But at that moment such a terrible knock rose at the door that Bluebeard stopped, looked around ... The door opened at once, and two young men burst into the room. Drawing their swords, they rushed straight for Bluebeard.
He recognized the brothers of his wife - one served in dragoons, the other in horse huntsmen - and immediately pricked up his skis; but the brothers caught up with him before he could run behind the porch.
They pierced him through with their swords and left him dead on the floor.
Bluebeard's poor wife was barely alive herself, no worse than her husband: she did not even have enough strength to rise and embrace her deliverers.
It turned out that Bluebeard had no heirs, and all his property went to his widow. She used one part of his wealth to marry her sister Anna into a young nobleman who had long been in love with her; for the other part she bought the brothers' captain's ranks, and with the rest she herself married a very honest and good man. With him, she forgot all the grief that she endured as the wife of Bluebeard.
Once upon a time there was a man. He was very rich: he had beautiful houses, many servants, gold and silver dishes, gilded carriages and magnificent horses. But, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard. This beard made him so ugly and scary that all the girls and women, seeing him, were frightened and hid in their homes. This man was given the nickname - Bluebeard.
One of his neighbors had two daughters, wonderful beauties. Bluebeard wanted to marry one of them and told his mother to marry him anyway. But none of the sisters agreed to marry a man with a blue beard. They were also frightened by the fact that he already had several wives, but they all disappeared somewhere, and no one in the world knew what became of them.
So that the girls could get to know him better, Bluebeard brought them along with their mother, girlfriends and several young neighbors to his country castle and stayed there with them for a whole week.
The guests had a lot of fun: they walked, went hunting, feasted all night long, forgetting about sleep.
Bluebeard had fun with everyone, joked, danced and was so kind that the youngest girl stopped being afraid of his beard and agreed to marry him.
The wedding was celebrated immediately upon returning to the city, and the younger sister moved to Bluebeard's castle.
A month after the wedding, Bluebeard told his wife that he had to leave for a long time on a very important matter.
He tenderly said goodbye to his wife and persuaded her not to be bored without him, but to have fun as she pleases.
- Here, - he said, - to
Hello dear reader. Charles Perrault's Bluebeard tale is probably taken from an old Breton legend. Many motives of this tale are contained in folk songs-complaints. Take, for example, a song that is quoted in the book by J. Thiersot, about a girl whom someone like Bluebeard brings to the river bank: See, there is a river, Fourteen ladies are drowned in it, You will be the fifteenth. Here is a song recorded in the Lozere Mountains, which tells the story of three brothers who married their sister to a villain. He beats her up. The blood is still pouring, the blood is still pouring Into the cup its blood flows ... The husband forces, the husband forces this blood to drink instead of wine. The girl tries to wash her dress in the river. Her brothers skip past, not recognizing the girl. She complains to them about her husband's villain. Knights gallop, knights gallop, They gallop to the castle as soon as possible. They are looking everywhere, looking everywhere, They found a husband in the tower ... With a sharp sword, a sharp sword They took their head away to my husband. Here the motives of the race and retribution are already evident. Let's compare with the text of the fairy tale: “I see two horsemen, they are galloping here ...” - “Thank God!., These are my brothers”; "They pierced him through and through with their swords, and he fell down dead." The psychoanalytic conclusion from this tale is as follows: nothing is perfect in the sublunary world and the secrets of the male subconscious should not be misused, since sadism and a lust for blood can be hidden behind love. The key with indelible blood stains is essential: it is foolish to ignore the danger while being around a serial killer. The heroine of the fairy tale is saved by brotherly love, not love for a man. The peculiarity of this tale is that the title character had a real historical prototype. On October 26, 1440, Baron Gilles de Ré was executed in the central square of Nantes. Michelet, for example, wrote about this. In all cities and large villages of France, a court order was read out that the executed man had killed many innocent children in order to obtain gold with the help of diabolical tricks. Subsequently, a legend about a bloodthirsty villain was formed, which was reflected in the tale of Bluebeard. However, the real Gilles de Rais is a talented military leader who, at the age of twenty-five, became a Marshal of France, an associate of Jeanne d'Arc. He was born into a wealthy and noble family and received an excellent education. He was married for the only time to a contemporary of Catherine de Toire, who, we note, outlived her husband, later marrying John II, Duke of Vendome. After the execution of Jeanne d'Arc, Gilles de Rais became interested in alchemy, spends huge sums on experiments, trying to get the Philosopher's Stone. Four years later, Gilles de Rais shows, in the presence of the king, a grandiose performance of "The Siege of Orleans": one hundred and forty actors read twenty thousand five hundred poems dedicated to the Virgin of Orleans. The production was defiantly luxurious, even theatrical rags were made of expensive fabric. These enormous costs at the court of 1440 figured in the speeches of the baron's accusers. The process took place in a huge hall with a large crowd of people. Many of those present were the parents of the missing children. The unfortunate people gathered throughout the country were able to convince that the culprit of their grief was none other than the baron. His servants, who were carefully "processed" in the basements of the Inquisition, also acted as witnesses; they told such things that made the hair stand on end. The castles were thoroughly searched. But, contrary to rumors about the basements of the castle, full of bones, not a single corpse was found there. Nevertheless, after a series of meetings, to which, in violation of all existing rules, neither a lawyer nor a notary was allowed, an accusation was brought, which boiled down to three main points: insulting a minister of the Church, summoning demons, killing children, accompanied by bullying and sexual perversion. ... Gilles de Rais said that the indictment was sheer slander, and began insistently demanding another court. He even agreed to a hot iron test. But his protest was declared unfounded, and the bishop solemnly excommunicated him from the Church. Under threat of torture, the accused confessed to the murders, alchemy and sodomy. It remains only to wonder how Gilles de Rais turned into Bluebeard from folk tales. Meanwhile, in one Breton ballad, the names Bluebeard and Gilles de Rais are so intertwined in verses that the two characters seem to have merged into one. The allegedly tortured children turned into murdered wives. And the blue color of the beard probably comes from another legend altogether. In 1866, Abbot Bossard wrote a voluminous book about a man nicknamed Bluebeard, where he devoted considerable space to the famous trial, judges, charges and sentence. In the 20th century, researchers have repeatedly asked the question: "Was Gilles de Rais really guilty of the crimes attributed to him?" - and each time they came to the conclusion that most likely not. The baron was accused of the death of seven or eight hundred boys, however, as follows from the materials of the case, not a single body or skeleton was found in the castle. It is not for nothing that the verdict of the court speaks only of thirty-four cases. However, this accusation was not supported by real evidence, except for the confession of the defendant himself, obtained under torture. In the testimony of witnesses the same thing varies: - there was a boy (good, small, capable, like an angel, little white); - once he left (to graze sheep; to the city for bread, to school; to the castle for alms; they took him to study; disappeared without explanation); - his parents did not see him anymore (but someone heard from someone that he was in the castle of the Syrah de Ré). Meanwhile, it is known that in France in the 15th century, up to thirty thousand children a year disappeared, and no one was looking for them especially. Historians argue only about the motives that gave impetus to the prosecution of Gilles de Rais and the subsequent trial. Was it a "witch hunt" or was it politically motivated? Or maybe someone was impatient to profit from the property confiscated from the convict? It is known that Gilles de Rais inherited a huge family fortune, his lands were not inferior in size to the possessions of the Duke of Breton himself and even surpassed them. By the way, the widow of the executed a year later remarried. In 1992, on the initiative of the Vendée historian-writer Gilbert Prutaud, a new trial took place, which fully exonerated Gilles de Rais. Documents extracted from the archives of the Inquisition confirmed that there were no tortured children or terrible experiences. Researchers took into account a lot, including the testimony of contemporaries. For example, in the 15th century chronicle written by Monstrelet, the verdict handed down to Gilles de Ré states the following: “Most of Brittany's nobles, especially those who were related to him, were in the greatest sadness and embarrassment from his shameful death. Before these events, he was much more famous as the most valiant of the knights. " Before reading this fairy tale to their children, we advise parents to first get acquainted with its content themselves, and then, having made the appropriate decision, read the Bluebeard fairy tale online with pictures and illustrations from famous books to young children. In our opinion, it is more suitable for teenagers.
There was one rich and noble man. He had a lot of everything: both estates, and houses, and gold, and silver, one problem - his beard was completely blue and from this he was so ugly and terrible that everyone ran from him as from a scarecrow.
A noble lady lived next to him, and she had two beautiful daughters. So Bluebeard decided to marry one of them: but neither one nor the other wanted to marry him, because they were afraid of his beard, and besides, they knew that he had several wives, but no one knew, what happened to them.
To get to know his neighbors better, Bluebeard invited them, along with their mother and friends, to his estate, where they spent a whole week.
It was so much fun that at the end of the week, the younger sister stopped being afraid of Bluebeard and agreed to marry him.
As soon as we returned to the city, the wedding took place.
A month after the wedding, Bluebeard told his wife that he had to leave for six weeks on one important matter. He asked her not to be bored, invite her friends, ride, have fun and not deny herself anything. In doing so, he gave her the keys.
- Here, - he said, - the keys to the pantries: here is the key to the gold and silver dishes, this is from the chests with money, this is from the boxes with precious stones, with this key you can unlock all the rooms, this same key is from the small rooms on the ground floor. You can unlock everything, go everywhere, only I strictly forbid you to enter this room, and if you enter it, expect severe punishment.
The young woman promised to do everything, and Bluebeard, kissing her, got into the carriage and left.
Neighbors and girlfriends did not wait for the invitation and themselves came to the young man: they had long wanted to see her innumerable riches, but they were afraid of Bluebeard. The friends immediately ran to inspect the rooms, which were one more beautiful than the other, then moved on to the storerooms. There was so much of it: magnificent carpets, sofas, curtains, tables and mirrors, in which one could see oneself from head to toe, in wonderful silver and gilded frames. The guests did not cease to gasp and envy their friend: but she was not happy with her riches - she wanted to open the room in the lower floor as soon as possible.
Finally, she could not stand it, left her guests and went downstairs. Running to the room, she seemed to stop, remembering her husband's threat. But she so wanted to know what was in this room that she could not resist, took out the key and unlocked the door.
At first she could not see anything, as the windows in the room were closed. But then she noticed that the entire floor was covered with blood, and the bodies of dead women lay against the wall: these were all Bluebeard's wives, whom he had slaughtered one after another. The poor thing almost died on the spot from fear and dropped the key on the floor.
Recovering a little, the young woman picked up the key, locked the door and went to her room.
Then she noticed that the key to the room was stained with blood. She began to wipe it off, but the blood did not come off. No matter how much she washed, no matter how much she rubbed with sand and crushed brick, the stain did not diminish. The fact is that the key is magic and it could not be cleaned: on one side, the blood was erased, and on the other, it protruded.
That same evening, Bluebeard returned from his trip. He told his wife that on the way he found out that the matter was already over and he hurried to return home. The wife tried in every possible way to show that she was glad of his return.
The next morning, Bluebeard demanded her keys back. When she served them, her hands trembled so much that he immediately guessed that she had disobeyed him.
- Why, - he asked, - there is no key to the room?
“That's right, I left it in my room on the table,” she replied.
“Well then, bring it in now,” said Bluebeard. Willy-nilly, I had to bring the key. Bluebeard examined him.
- Why is there blood on the key? He asked his wife.
“I don’t know,” the poor woman answered, turning pale as death.
- How you do not know? - cried Bluebeard. - Well, I'll tell you from what. You wanted to enter the room. Well, my dear, you will go in there,
yes you will stay there.
The poor thing threw herself at his feet and began to ask for forgiveness with tears. But Bluebeard didn't want to listen to anything.
- No no. You must die now, ”he said.
“If I must absolutely die,” she said through tears, “then give me at least a prayer to God.
- Okay, pray, I'll give you 7 minutes, - said Bluebeard, - but not a second more.
Left alone, she called her sister and said to her:
- My sister Anna, go to the very top of the tower and see if my brothers are coming. They promised to visit me today. If you see them
give them a sign to hurry.
The sister went up to the top of the tower, and the poor thing every minute asked her:
And sister Anna answered:
“All I see is dust sparkling in the sun and green grass. Meanwhile, Bluebeard took a large knife and shouts to his wife:
- Come here quickly, or I'll go up to you.
“Give me just one more minute to pray,” his wife answered, and then quietly asked:
- Anna, my sister, do you see nothing?
And Anna answered:
All I see is dust sparkling in the sun and green grass.
- This very minute come here, or I'll come to you myself! - shouted Bluebeard.
- I'm going, I'm going, - said the wife and quietly asked her sister:
- Anna, my sister, do you see nothing?
- Now I see, - answered Anna, - a large cloud of dust, which is approaching from that side ...
- Thank God, my brothers are coming.
- Oh, no, my sister, this is a herd of sheep.
- Will you get off at last? - shouted Bluebeard.
“One more minute,” his wife begged, and again asked her sister: “Anna, my sister, don't you see anything?
“I see two horsemen, but they are still very far away ... Thank God,” she exclaimed, a little later, “these are our brothers. Now I will give them a sign to hurry ...
But then Bluebeard raised such a scream and noise that the whole house trembled. The poor woman went downstairs and threw herself at his feet, begging to forgive her.
“Well, you can't help matters with tears,” said Bluebeard: “you must die.
And he, grabbing her by the hair, took a knife and swung, was to chop off her head. But the poor woman asked him to give her another minute to gather her courage.
“No, that's enough,” he answered: “pray to God,” and brandished his knife.
But at that moment the brothers burst into the room and rushed with swords directly at Bluebeard.
Bluebeard, recognizes them, rushed to run. But the brothers caught up with him and pierced him through with their swords. The poor woman was barely alive with fear: she could not even get up from her place to hug and thank her brothers.
Once upon a time there was a man six feet tall with a blue beard to the waist. That was his name, Bluebeard. He was as rich as the sea, but he never gave alms to the poor, never set foot in church. It was said that Bluebeard was married seven times, but no one knew where his seven wives had gone.
Eventually, the thin word of Bluebeard reached the King of France. And the king sent many soldiers and ordered them to seize this man. The chief judge in red robe went with them to interrogate him. For seven years they searched for him in the forests and mountains, but Bluebeard hid from them no one knows where.
The soldiers and the chief judge returned to the king, and then Bluebeard reappeared. He became even more ferocious, even more terrible than before. It got to the point that not a single person dared to come closer than seven miles to his castle.
One morning Bluebeard rode across the field on his mighty black horse, and his dogs ran after him - three Great Danes, huge and strong like bulls. At this time, a lonely young and beautiful girl was walking by.
Then the villain, without saying a word, grabbed her by the belt, lifted her up and, putting her on a horse, took her to his castle.
- I want you to be my okay. You will never leave my castle again.
And the girl involuntarily had to become the wife of Bluebeard. Since then, she lived as a prisoner in the castle, enduring the torment of mortals, crying out her eyes. Every morning, at dawn, Bluebeard mounted his horse and left with his three huge dogs. He returned home only for dinner. And his wife did not leave the window all day. She looked into the distance, at her native fields, and was sad.
Sometimes a shepherdess would sit down with her, meek as an angel and so beautiful that her beauty gladdened the heart.
“Madam,” she said, “I know what you are thinking. You do not trust the servants and maids in the castle - and you are right. But I am not like them, I will not betray you. Madam, tell me about your grief.
The lady was still silent. But then one day she spoke:
- Shepherdess, beautiful shepherdess, if you betray me, God and the holy virgin will punish you. Listen. I will tell you about my grief. Day and night I think about my poor father, about my poor mother. I think of my two brothers who have served the King of France for seven years in a foreign land. Beautiful shepherdess, if you betray me, the Lord God and the holy virgin will punish you.
- Madam, I will not betray you. Listen. I have a talking bird-jay, she does whatever I tell her to. If you want, she flies to your two brothers, who serve the king of France, and tell them everything.
- Thank you, shepherdess. Let's wait for an opportunity.
From that day on, Bluebeard's young wife and the handsome shepherdess became very good friends. But they no longer spoke, fearing lest they would be betrayed by the corrupt servants.
Once Bluebeard said to his wife:
- Tomorrow morning, at dawn, I am leaving for a long journey. Here are seven keys. Six large open doors and wardrobes in the castle. You can use these keys as long as you like. And the seventh, smallest key, opens the door to that closet over there. I forbid you to enter there. If you disobey, I will find out about it, and then you will be uncomfortable.
The next morning, barely light, Bluebeard rode off on his black horse, and his three Great Danes, huge and strong as bulls, ran after him.
For three whole months, Bluebeard's wife did not violate her husband's orders. She only opened the rooms and lockers with six large keys, but she thought a hundred times a day: 'I would like to know what is in the closet.'
This could not last long.
- Oh, come what may! She said one day. - I'll see what it is! Bluebeard won't know anything.
No sooner said than done. She called the handsome shepherdess, took out a key and unlocked the closed door.
Holy Virgin! Eight iron hooks! Seven of them have seven dead women hanging from them!
Bluebeard's wife tried to lock the door. But at the same time, the key fell to the floor. The comely shepherdess lifted him up. And - woe! - a small key was stained with blood.
Locking the door, bringing the shepherdess and her mistress to a close, they erased the bloody stain from the key until sunset. They rubbed it with vinegar, horsetail and salt, washed it off with hot water. Nothing worked. The more the poor thing scratched the stain, the redder it became and the more noticeably it stood out on the gland.
- Rub, women. Rub as much as you like. The stain on me will never be erased. And in seven days, Bluebeard will return.
Then the handsome shepherdess said to her mistress:
“Madam, it's time to send my talking jay. Ha! Ha!
At her call, the jay flew through the window.
- Ha! Ha! Ha! Good-looking shepherdess, what do you want from me?
- Jay, fly to foreign lands. Fly to where the army of the king of France is. There tell the two brothers of my mistress: 'Hurry up to help your sister, a prisoner in Bluebeard's castle.'
On a black night, the talking bird flew faster than the wind and, at sunrise, did what it was ordered to do.
Seven days later, Bluebeard returned to his castle.
- Wife, give me my seven keys!
The poor woman brought him six large keys to the rooms and lockers.
- Scoundrel, not all the keys are here! Where is the smallest? Give it here!
Trembling, the unfortunate woman handed him the key, soaked in blood.
- You scoundrel, you looked into the closet! In an hour, you'll be hanging dead on the eighth hook!
Bluebeard went into the castle courtyard to sharpen his long knife on the stone.
Sharpening a knife, he said:
- Sharpen, sharpen, knife. You will cut my wife's throat.
And the wife and the handsome shepherdess heard this and trembled with fear.
- Shepherdess, dear shepherdess, climb quickly to the very top of the tower!
The shepherdess did what her mistress told her. And in the courtyard, Bluebeard was sharpening his long knife on the stone.
- Shepherdess, dear shepherdess, what do you see from the high tower?
- Madam, from the high tower I can see the sun shining. I see the sea. I see mountains and valleys.
The lady climbed the stairs seven steps. And in the courtyard, Bluebeard was sharpening his knife on the stone: - Sharpen, sharpen, knife. You will cut my wife's throat.
- Shepherdess, beautiful shepherdess, what do you see from the high tower?
- Madam, from the high tower I see there, in the distance, your two brothers on horseback. They gallop at full speed.
Then the lady climbed seven more steps.
And in the courtyard, Bluebeard was sharpening his knife on the stone.
- Shepherdess, beautiful shepherdess, what do you see now from the high tower?
“Madam, your brothers are already a mile away. Save your life.
In the courtyard Bluebeard finished sharpening his knife on the stone.
- Go downstairs, you scoundrel!
But his wife climbed seven more steps.
- My friend, give me time to pray! Shepherdess, what do you see from the high tower?
- Madam, your brothers are already very close. Save your life if you can.
Then Bluebeard's wife climbed to the very top of the tower. Her two brothers dismounted in front of the castle gates.
And in the courtyard Bluebeard shouted:
- Go, you scoundrel! Go, or I'll come up to you! Bluebeard climbed the tower, swinging his sharpened knife.
- Go ahead, brothers! For help!
Bluebeard let go of his wife and whistled for his three dogs, large and strong as bulls.
Both brothers with sabers already ran into the platform of the tower.
For an hour, people and animals fought on the tower. Finally, Bluebeard fell dead beside his three Great Danes.
- Sister, this villain and his dogs are no longer dangerous to anyone. Let's get out of here.
The older brother put his sister on the horse, and the younger one a handsome shepherdess. At sunset they arrived at their parents' castle.
- Hello, father. Hello mother. You mourned me as dead, and I would now be lying dead in Bluebeard's castle, if not for the friendship of this beautiful shepherdess.
Everyone hugged, rejoicing at the date. At dinner, the younger brother said:
- Listen to me, father. Listen, mother. I am in love with a beautiful shepherdess. If you will not allow me to marry her, I will go to war tomorrow, and you will never see me again.
- Son, do as you want. Your beautiful shepherdess will receive Bluebeard's castle as a dowry.
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