In a far-off kingdom, a peasant soldier leaves for war, entrusting his pregnant wife with the home and fifty rubles for their future child. She bears twin sons, both named Ivan. Gifted and strong, the boys excel beyond their noble peers, earning resentment and punishment until they finally fight back. They are arrested, but the tsar pardons them, admiring their courage.

As they grow, they set off to find horses, eventually gaining magical steeds and swords from a mysterious old man. At a crossroads, they part ways: one Ivan chooses the path “to become tsar,” the other the path “to be slain.” The first fulfills the prophecy—he marries a princess and rules a kingdom. The second enters a sorrowful land plagued by a twelve-headed dragon. Three times, he slays a dragon and rescues a tsar’s daughters, but each time a deceitful water carrier takes credit and claims the tsar’s reward.

Eventually, the youngest princess exposes the fraud during a wedding feast, and the true hero, Ivan, is honored and married to her. Meanwhile, his brother Ivan Tsarevich goes hunting, follows a magical stag, and is devoured by a maiden who transforms into a lioness—the sister of the slain serpents.

Sensing his brother’s death through a blood-soaked handkerchief, the soldier’s son sets out to find and revive him using the waters of healing and life. He defeats the lioness, who turns into a beautiful maiden and begs for mercy. He spares her, and the brothers joyfully reunite and part ways once more.

However, both eventually meet a tragic end: each gives alms to a beggar who transforms into a lion—another serpent sibling—and is torn to pieces. Thus, both heroes perish, victims of the revenge of the serpents’ family.