Once upon a time, there lived a King who had three sons: the eldest Szabo, the second Warza, and the youngest Iwanich.
One spring morning, while walking in the gardens, they came upon a piece of waste land with three splendid trees. The King looked at them sadly. When his sons asked why, he told them a story: The trees were planted from seeds given by a magician, who promised they would bear the world's finest fruit. However, the magician warned that if one unripe fruit were plucked, all would rot. For years, on the very night the fruit ripened to golden perfection, it was mysteriously stolen by an invisible hand, despite all guards.
Szabo, the eldest, volunteered to guard the trees that night. He climbed a tree but fell asleep at midnight and awoke to find all fruit gone. The next year, Warza tried and failed similarly.
The third year, Iwanich took his turn. At midnight, a gentle wind shook the tree, and a snow-white swan-like bird alighted on his breast. He seized it, and to his astonishment, found himself holding a beautiful girl named Militza. She explained that an evil magician had stolen the seeds from her dying mother, who had bid Militza reclaim the fruit each year. Iwanich fell in love with her. Before dawn, Militza gave him a diamond ring to guide him to her kingdom and vanished.
The fruit remained, and the King was overjoyed. Iwanich, however, invented a story about fighting a wasp and soon left secretly to find Militza, guided by the ring.
After three months, he reached a terrifying forest. An old beggar warned him of fierce beasts and gave him a bag of breadcrumbs and a live hare. Following the advice, Iwanich distracted the beasts with the food and the hare, escaping unharmed. He then met a strange, prickly little man with two lions tethered to his beard. Grateful for the fed "body-guard" beasts, the man gave Iwanich a lion as a protector through the forest.
Upon leaving the forest, the lion departed as instructed. Iwanich soon found a beautiful white palace where he was reunited with Militza. They married and lived happily for three months.
Then, Militza had to visit her aunt. Before leaving, she gave Iwanich all the castle keys but begged him never to open a small iron door in the north tower, secured with seven locks and bolts.
Overcome by curiosity, Iwanich eventually opened the door. Inside, he saw a man chained in a cauldron of boiling pitch. Pleading for relief, the man asked for water. Moved by pity, Iwanich sprinkled water on him, causing a catastrophic crash. The palace vanished, and Iwanich found himself alone on a desolate heath.
Wandering in despair, he found shelter with the same old beggar from the forest. The beggar directed him to seek work with the witch Corva.
Iwanich found Corva's dreadful house, surrounded by a fence adorned with human skulls. He agreed to serve her for a year, tending her pitch-black mare and foal. The condition was harsh: if either horse escaped, his head would join the others on the fence.
During his service, Iwanich kindly helped three animals in distress: a fish, an eagle, and a fox. Each gave him a token (a scale, a feather, and two hairs) and promised future help.
As the year neared its end, the witch, plotting against him, used magic to make Iwanich sleep. The horses then hid—first in a river, then in the clouds, and finally in a royal hen-house. Each time, using the tokens, Iwanich summoned the help of the fish, the eagle, and the fox to recover them.
After the final success, the mare advised Iwanich to demand her foal as his reward, warning that the witch would try to dissuade him. He did so, and despite the witch's claims that the foal was worthless, he insisted.
The witch, forced to comply, revealed the truth: the man in the cauldron was a mighty magician who had captured Militza. Iwanich was the only one who could kill him. She warned him not to speak to the magician but to seize him by the beard and dash him to the ground.
Iwanich mounted the magical foal, which sped through the air. He intercepted the magician flying in an owl-drawn carriage. Remembering the witch's advice, he seized the magician by the beard without a word. The foal helped finish him.
Instantly, Iwanich was reunited with Militza in her palace. They lived in peace and happiness for the rest of their lives.