The plot of “The Tales” is based on the oral traditions that existed in Southeastern Europe about the Romanian prince Vlada, who ruled in 1456-1462 and in 1477, who for his cruelty was nicknamed Tepes (“The Plotter for the Count”) and Dracula (“Dragon "). The author of the Russian legend about him was, most likely, the clerk of Grand Duke Ivan III Fedor Kuritsyn, who headed in 1482-1484. Russian embassy with the Hungarian king Matthias.
There was a voivode on the Mungian land (region of Romania, the eastern part of Wallachia), a Christian of the Greek faith, his name is in Wallachian Dracula, and in our opinion the Devil. So cruel and wise was that what was the name, such was his life. Once ambassadors from the Turkish king came to him and, entering, bowed according to their custom, but they did not remove the caps from their heads. Dracula asked them why they had done so; such disgrace was inflicted on him. They answered that this is their custom. And he said to them: "And I want to confirm your law so that it is held tight." And he ordered that the caps be nailed to their heads with iron nails, saying at the end: “Pass on your sovereign, let him not send your custom to appear to other sovereigns, but he will observe him.” The king was very angry and went to Dracula war. The same, having gathered all his army, attacked the Turks at night and killed them. But he could not defeat a huge army with his small army and retreated.And when he again went to war against the Turks, he said so to his soldiers: "Whoever thinks of death, let him not come with me, but stay here." The king, having heard about this, turned back with great shame, not daring to speak out against Dracula. And the king sent an ambassador to Dracula, demanding tribute from him. Dracula paid lavish honors to the Ambassador, showed him his wealth, saying that he was not only ready to pay tribute to the king, but with all the troops was ready to go to his service.
The king was delighted and ordered to announce in all his cities that when Dracula went, no one would harm him, but, on the contrary, would meet him with cordiality. Dracula, having gathered the army, set off on the road and, delving into Turkish soil for five day crossings, he suddenly turned back and began to ruin the cities and villages. He planted some Turks on stakes, others cut them in two and burned, not sparing even infants. He left nothing in his path, turned the whole earth into a desert, and took away the Christians who lived there and settled on his land. And he returned home, capturing countless riches, and released the bailiffs of the king, parting: “Go and tell your king about everything that you saw: as you could, served him. And if my service is in love with him, I’m ready and also serve him the same way, how much my strength will become. The king could not do anything with him, only disgraced himself.
Once Dracula declared throughout his land: let all who are old, or weak, or sick than, or poor, come to him. And a myriad of beggars and tramps gathered to him, expecting generous mercy from him. He ordered them to bring plenty of food and wine, and then asked if they wanted to be happy.Hearing in response, "we want, sovereign," Dracula ordered the mansions to be locked up and set on fire. And all those people burned. And Dracula said to his boyars: “Know why I did this: first, let them not bother people, and there will be no beggars on my land, but all will be rich; secondly, I myself freed them: let none of them in this world suffer from poverty or disease. "
And so Dracula fought for order on his land, that if someone commits a crime, then he will not escape his death. Whether he was a noble nobleman or a simple person, he still could not pay off death - Dracula was so formidable. One day a merchant arrived from Hungarian land. And, as was the case with Dracula, he left the cart with the goods on the street in front of the house, and he went to bed in the house. And someone stole a cart of one hundred and sixty gold ducats. The merchant informed Dracula about the loss, and he comforted him, saying that gold would be found. And he ordered all over the city to look for a thief, threatening: "If you do not find a criminal, I will destroy the whole city." And he ordered that night to put gold on the cart and add one extra ducat. The next morning, the merchant, having counted the gold, immediately returned the excess to Dracula. At this time, they brought a thief with stolen gold. And Dracula said to the merchant: “Go in peace! If he had not informed me of an extra ducat, he would have put you on a stake with this thief. ”
Once, the Hungarian king Matyash went to Dracula with a war. Dracula came forward to meet him, they converged, fought, and gave Dracula traitors alive into the hands of the enemy. They brought the prisoner to the king, and he ordered him to be thrown into prison.And he spent there, in Vysehrad on the Danube, four miles above Buda, twelve years. And in Muntian land, the king appointed another governor. When he died, the king sent Dracula to prison to say that if he wants to be governor, as before, then he will accept the Catholic faith, and if he does not agree, then die in prison. And Dracula chose the joy of the bustling world eternal, and changed Orthodoxy. The king not only returned the province to him, but also gave his sister to his wife, from whom Dracula had two sons.
When the king freed Dracula from prison, they brought him to Buda and took him to his house in Pest, but Dracula was not yet allowed to the king. And then it happened that a robber ran into the yard to Dracula and hid there. The persecutors came, began to look for the criminal and found him. Then Dracula jumped up, grabbed the sword, cut off the head of the bailiff holding the robber, and he let go. In response to the king’s question, why did he commit such a crime, Dracula said: “I didn’t commit any evil, but the bailiff killed myself: this is how anyone who, like a robber, breaks into the house of the great sovereign must die. If he came to me and announced what had happened, then I would find a villain in my house and either betray him or forgive him. ” The king laughed and marveled at the disposition of Dracula.
The end of Dracula was this: when he already lived in his province, the Turks attacked the land and began to ruin it. Dracula rebuffed the enemies - and they fled. And he himself, rejoicing, galloped up the mountain to see how the Turks were being chopped, and moved away from his army.Some took him for a Turk, and one of them hit him with a spear; Dracula, seeing that they were killing him, killed five of his killers with a sword, but he was also pierced with several spears, and so he was killed. The king took his sister and his two sons to the Hungarian land, in Buda.
