Once upon a time, - There were trhee boys

A family of very humble magicians. They helped noble warriors and heroes, but they never charged anything. Well, they believed they would always be rewarded.

For this reason, they lived in a very humble condition, even though they were mighty magicians.

The magician couple's children were three. None of them wanted to follow the wizard's path, as they assumed they would be miserable like their parents. Igor was the older one, he was the tallest of the brothers. He had the same brown hair and dark eyes as his parents. He considered himself the smartest of the three, but he always ended up being the most selfish as well.

Allan was the middle brother, he looked like his Igor, but he was stronger. Always energetic, Allan could be very naive at times, as he trusted people too easily.

Gawain is the name of the younger brother, the smallest of them all, shy and full of freckles. He was always the last to do anything, his brothers called him a coward.

Later, when the boys' mother had long since perished, and the father was extremely ill, the children decided to go their way.

In his last words before leaving for a new life, the boys' father explained to them that he had left an inheritance of equal value for each of them in the stable. The three boys spent the rest of the day mourning their father's death and preparing his burial. As they were very exhausted, as soon as they finished they went to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

At dawn the next day, the boys awoke to a loud howl coming from their stable. Alarmed, Igor took the wood chopping ax, the middle one the meat chopping knife, and Gawain was unarmed, hiding behind the brothers.

The three boys slowly walked to the stable, which had never been used.

To their amazement, there was a warhorse and a hunting dog decently waiting for them in the stable.

The brother was quick and grabbed the horse's reins to make it his own. Igor sulked. He asserted that he should have been the first to choose and that it was unfair for the firstborn to have the minor inheritance. But when he leaned against a pile of straw that was leaning against the barn, he didn't feel the soft straw, but something hard. He tried to take a thread from the straw, and the straw turned into a pile of gold coins!

The youngest who didn't have much choice went to the dog and named him Ivan, a popular name among princes at the time.

At that very moment, the dog grew until it was the size of the warhorse. Gawain is startled and falls to the stable floor, scratching himself on a rock.

The dog gently remembers the boy's wound, and it heals immediately. The other brothers are petrified.

Then the Allan starts complaining that his inheritance did not have the same value as the brothers, as his father had said.

But when he felt irritated, the horse cursed the boy and said, yes, that he had as much value as a pile of gold or a magic dog.

The brothers weren't even so amazed that the horse spoke after what happened as a dog.

The Allan then asked the horse if he was incredibly fast.

The horse said no.

He asked if he could fly or heal.

Again, the horse replied that it was just a normal talking horse.

The boy questioned the horse once more about its value.

The horse said he knew something worth more than any pile of gold.

The three brothers moved closer to the horse to hear what it was.

The horse told of a bird of fire that would bring them great riches with a single feather, and that could easily be found if they followed towards the setting sun for three days.

The three brothers share the food and water they have in the house and start searching immediately. The middle one rides the horse and the smaller one his dog.

The eldest goes into town with his pockets full of money and buys the fastest horse in the state, so he soon makes up for lost time and catches up with the brothers.

On the first day, they meet a hungry old woman on the road. Igor like the fastest horse ignores the old woman. Following the horse's advice, the Allan stops on his way and offers bread and water. He thanks him and asks if he can take him into town. Allan puts the old woman on the back and heads towards town. Gawain chooses to follow Igor searching for the firebird.

Not long after, Allan catches up with his other brothers.

The little brother asks how and Allan tells that the old woman was a witch who offered him a potion that made her fast and tireless. Allan then leaves Gawain behind and catches up with Igor who asks the same question, and gets the same answer.

Even though he has the fastest mount, Allan accompanies his other brothers instead of shooting ahead.

On the second day, they pass a merchant who was being attacked by a tribe of wolves. Igor, even though he has bought armor, sword, and shield, passes by the merchant without blinking and continues on his way.

Allan, once more on the horse's advice, stops his journey to fight the wolves with his horse and wood chopping ax.

Gawain this time chooses to follow Allan.

Allan banished his mite and yelled to scare the wolves. Gawain on the other hand froze in fear and just watched while all the wolves attacked his brother.

One of the wolves bit Allan on the ember and knocked him off his horse. Allan took the opportunity and sliced ​​open the wolf's head with the hatchet. This one fell to the ground dead instantly. Seeing their leader die and continue to bleed from the head, the other wolves fled. Gawain, feeling guilty for having done nothing, asked the dog to recall Allan's wounds, and so the dog did.

The merchant, deeply grateful, offered Allan a complete armor, made of the purest steel, but enchanted to be as light as leather.

Allan gave the sword of the set to Gawain as thanks for having healed him, and the two returned to their journey.

Allan went to tell what had happened to Igor, who turned yellow with envy because his armor was heavy and hurt his back.

On the third day, they came to an orchard of golden apples that belonged to a nearby king. They went to the palace and asked for fresh water and supplies. Igor, with his money and luxurious clothes, was made very welcome. Allan in shining armor and a talking horse was greeted as a hero. However, they preferred not to let Gawain enter.

The horse tells that Gawain was the brother of Allan and Igor and their faithful squire in many glorious battles. With this lie, the king let Gawain in.

The king prepares a feast for his guests and tells them that his beautiful orchard was being robbed by a red-feathered thief. Igor, Allan, and Gawain knew immediately that the thief was the firebird, but they said nothing.

The king offered a reward to the brother who caught the thief and brought it to him. The brothers accepted with great happiness.

On the first night, Igor is chosen to watch over the orchard. He spends the entire afternoon among the golden trees. But he can't resist his scent and appearance. He takes an apple from the tree and eats it. It was the tastiest apple he'd ever eaten, sweeter and tastier than any dessert. He doesn't resist and takes one more, and one more. When a sentry passes by to bring water for Igor, he catches Igor picking up another apple from the foot while. There were golden apple kernels all over the floor.

Igor is banished from the castle and says goodbye to the brothers, saying that he would go to town to try his luck with his fortune.

The second one choose to guard the orchard was Gawain. Not wanting to make the same mistake as his brother, Gawain resists the temptation to eat the apples. He manages to resist until nightfall, when hunger takes over and Gawain decides to take a nap to calm his thoughts.

Unfortunately, when Gawain opens his eyes, it is morning, and he has let the thief escape.

Then finally comes Allan's turn, who was extremely anxious to catch the bird and neither slept nor felt hungry because of it. The horse always brought Allan back into focus when he got distracted. When midnight came, Alan saw a radiant light falling from the sky. As the light approached, he recognized the bird's shape and grabbed it by the tail. The bird flailed a lot and such was its strength that it dragged Allan from one side to the other, but with a kick from the horse he was knocked unconscious.

Allan ran to the palace and showed what he had brought to the king.

The very surprised king told Allan to kill the bird, so he could have all its feathers.

At that moment, the bird woke up from its fainting and begged that if dead, it would be reborn from the ashes, but it needed its feathers to fly and feed its young.

Kill him! Kill him! He advised Allan's horse. Allan then raised his ax to rip the bird's neck. The bird released a jet of fire from its beak, Allan dodged it, but the jet hit his horse which instantly turned to ashes. Allan was shocked. The horse had become his faithful companion and loyal friend in recent days. He could not bear the loss of his most precious possession and burst into tears. The bird turned to Gawain and asked if he wanted his feathers too. Gawain honestly replied that he would rather help the bird out of the castle than try to steal its feathers. The bird accepted the help and mounted his dog with the bird in his hands. The king ordered the soldiers to follow him, but the dog jumped over them and left the castle. Before the bird flies away, he tells the boy about a witch who owns her a priceless horse that could be found if they followed the setting moon for three days.

Gawain asks Allan if he wants to take the journey with him, but Alan, desolate as he was, replies that he doesn't want any more adventures and that he would try his luck in the city with Igor.