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 made their way to 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 they ran towards it. They got closer and found that it was a giant glowing crystal. Ivanko kicked him and with his force he turned him into dust. Below were 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 wicked 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 they had eaten their fill, the twelve bandits returned.

“Who has invaded our air?!” they shouted

The boy jumped up and yelled:

“It is I, Ivanko, the strongest man in seven countries, and you villains have met your end.”

And with that he took up his sword and killed eleven of them. The twelfth he had only wounded 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 living bandit whispered to Mariyka.

“Girl, beautiful girl. Can you hear me?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you like to have me as your husband?”

“Oh yes,” the girl exclaimed.

“Very good, but you must kill your brother, otherwise he will never allow it. Just follow my instructions. Tell him that you are sick and need the meat of a wolf cub. The mother wolf will kill him.”

The next day, Mariyka made the request. Ivanko went out looking for a wolf cub, but just as he was about to shoot her, the mother wolf walked by.

“Ivanko, stop. Take my live cub 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 of a different animal, and in every case the mother gave the same solution, until she exhausted all the animals in the forest.

Finally the bandit got impatient and said to Mariyka:

“Since this cannot be done properly, we must take matters into our own hands. Tell him that you have recovered. Prepare him a milk bath. Then, when he has removed his straitjacket and is numb from milk, you will let me out and I will 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 trying unsuccessfully to escape, and when a woodcutter fetching water found him there, he ran away screaming.

“The well is cursed! There is a demon at the bottom!”

But when the loggers went to kill whatever godforsaken creature lurked at the bottom, Ivanko shouted:

“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 of the water of life, and when he fell, all his wounds were healed and his blindness was healed.

He returned to the loggers and for the next 9 years worked among them. At the tenth year he decided to set out on the road and seek his fortune.

He did not walk far before he came across an old beggar, who was many years 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’s no potion that can do that. There’s only this one, it makes you old.”

Ivanko took out a vial with the water of life from the magical spring and they agreed to exchange some of their potions. Thus, the old man became young, and Ivanko now old.

The old man Ivanko returned to the bandits’ 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 her water of life and poured it on himself, restoring her youth. He then took his magic shirt, gun and sword, and announced himself.

They were both very scared. But Ivanko vowed 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 upon hearing the story could not contain his anger and tore the bandit to pieces.

Ivanko had been restored to his former glory and stepped out of the cavern into the wide world.