1 ***

Near an ivy-covered green gazebo in the shade of old elms stood two. The young man and the beautiful girl looked into each other's eyes and held hands. They had to part. The young man left, but promised to return to his bride.

— I'm forever yours, — he said.

— I'll wait for you, — she said.

— I'll be back very soon, I promise you.

— I believe you, darling.

— We will be happy.

— We'll be happy, — she repeated.

The water of a forest stream gurgled, birds sang, and the lovers were sure that they were alone in the whole world.

Years passed.

The young man did not return to the shade of the old elms, where a beautiful girl was waiting for him near the gazebo. He did not keep his word, did not fulfill his other vows. He promised not to stay in foreign lands, but stayed there forever. He promised not to forget his beloved, but soon forgot her. He promised that no treasures would seduce him or make him forget the goal he was trying to achieve. But, not listening to the voice of his heart, he became deaf to everything that was happening around and inside him, although he imagined that he hears well. The glitter of gold and honor blinded him, and he became blind to all human troubles, although he imagined that he could see well. So he remained in a foreign country, where he soon achieved a prominent position in society.

Then it happened that the king of that country himself noticed him and brought him closer to him. The young man became his main hunter — the head of the royal hunt. On the day that he swore allegiance to his new country, the king gave a great hunt.

The chief hunter rode in front of everyone and blew his horn. A line of magnificently dressed horsemen drove into the forest ravine.

— You know, they say in this ravine is a strange echo, — said one young royal page. — They say that if you call out to him, the echo answers not with the words that you call him, but with those that you have ever said in your life. It is able to tell the most secret about a person and always shows what a person really is.

— This cannot be, — said the chief hunter. — Echo — is an echo. Repeats what they tell him.

— The old people say the echo here is special. It is like a conscience.

— Yes, yes, and I heard, — confirmed the other hunters.

— Let's see, — the chief hunter exclaimed self-confidently. He raised a golden hunting horn to his lips and sounded the rally signal.

From the depths of the ravine, the echo of a golden hunting horn sounded very clearly. The sound rolled from wall to wall of the ravine, and it seemed that several hundred hunters would come out to meet you now.

— Indeed, an amazing echo! — noticed the chief hunter. — But not terrible at all. Well, what will it say now?

And turning to everyone, he raised his hand and shouted loudly:

— Long live the king!

Everyone listened. The king smiled graciously, expecting thunderous praise from the forest echo. But they heard a clear young voice, like a voice waking an echo, say, reflecting off the walls of the ravine:

— I am forever yours, — sounded in the rocky ravine.

And the echo of another voice, a woman's, answered him:

— I'll wait for you…

— I'll be back very soon, I promise...

— I believe you, darling...

— We will be happy... We will be happy!.. We will be happy... — echoed in the ravine.

And when the last echoes of their voices died down, the hunters looked around in surprise, as if they had woken up. Everyone was here only the main hunter was missing. He disappeared and no one knew what happened to him, he was never seen again.

The echo in the ravine continued to live and speak the truth. And some people, in spite of this, and now do not keep their promises, even given to themselves. But the echo doesn't sleep. The time will come it will remind us of everything...

(original in Russian and Ukrainian).