Russian Fairy Tales Part 5

"Well, look here; he says, 'Go to market, drive those sheep thither and make a profit out of them, but so that thou and the sheep shall grow fat upon it, and the sheep be brought back whole, all down to the last one, and yet be sold for ready money.'"

"Well, that's no very tricky task," replied the damsel. "Shear the sheep, take the fleeces to market and sell them, then thou wilt make a profit out of them, and the sheep will remain whole, and thou wilt be able to feed thyself on the profits."

The youth thanked the damsel and did as she said. He sheared the sheep, sold their fleeces at the market, drove home the flock, and gave the money he had made out of them to his uncle. "Good," said the uncle to the nephew; "but I am sure thou didst not work this out with thine own wits, eh? Didn't some one or other teach it thee?" The youth confessed: "Well, I certainly did not do it by my own wits, but a lovely damsel came by and taught me."--"Well, then, thou must take this sage young damsel to wife. 'Twill be a very good thing for thee, for here art thou an orphan with neither stick nor stone of thy own, and nothing much in the way of wits either!"--"I don't mind if I do marry her,"

said the nephew to his uncle.--"All right, but thou must render me this one service. Take corn to town to the bazaar. According as thou dost sell it and return again, I'll wed thee to this damsel."

So the nephew went to town to sell the uncle's corn, and on the way he met a rich miller.--"Why art thou off to town?" said the miller.--"I am going to the bazaar to sell my uncle's corn."--"Then we'll go to town together."--So they went along the road together, the miller in his gig with his plump brown horse, and the orphan in his little cart with his thin gray mare. They encamped side by side in the open field to pa.s.s the night there, took out the horses, and themselves lay down to sleep. And it happened that self-same night the gray mare dropped a foal. The rich miller woke earlier than the orphan, saw the foal, and drove him beneath his gig. When the orphan awoke a hot dispute arose between them. The orphan said: "It is my foal, because my mare dropped it." The covetous miller said: "No, 'tis mine, because thy mare dropped it beneath my gig." They wrangled and wrangled till they resolved to go to law about it, and when they arrived in town they went to the court to fight the matter out there. And the judge said to them: "In our town we have introduced this custom into the tribunals, that whoever wants to go to law must first of all guess four riddles. So tell me now: what is the strongest and swiftest thing in the world; what is the fattest thing in the world; and what is the softest and what the sweetest of all?" The judge gave them three days to guess, and said: "If you guess my riddles, I will judge betwixt you according to law; but if not, don't be angry if I drive you away."

The rich miller went to his wife and told her how the matter stood, and what riddles the judge had given him to guess. "All thy riddles are but simple ones," replied the miller's wife; "if they ask thee what is the strongest and swiftest thing in the world, tell them that my father has a dark-brown horse so strong and nimble that it can run down a hare. And if they ask thee what is the fattest thing in the world, dost thou not know that in our stall we are fattening up a two-year-old boar, and he's getting so fat that his very legs won't be able to hold him up? And as for the third riddle, what is the softest thing in the world, why it's quite plain that that's a down pillow; thou canst not imagine anything softer than that. And if they ask thee what is the sweetest thing in the world, say: 'Why, what sweeter thing can a man have than the wife of his bosom?'"

But the orphan went out of the town into the fields and sat by the roadside and racked his brain. He sat and thought of his misery; and along the road, close to him, pa.s.sed the self-same lovely damsel. "Why art thou so racking thy brains again, good youth?"--"Why, look here, the judge has given me four such riddles to guess that I shall never be able to guess them all my days," and he told the damsel all about it. The damsel laughed, and said to him: "Go to the judge and say to him, that the strongest and swiftest thing in the world is the wind; that the fattest of all is the earth, for she feeds everything that lives and grows upon her; the softest of all is the palm of the hand, for however soft a man may lie he always puts his hand beneath his head; and there's nothing sweeter in the whole world than sleep." The poor little orphan bowed to the very girdle to the damsel, and said to her: "I thank thee, thou sagest of maidens, for thou hast s.n.a.t.c.hed me from very ruin."

When the three days had pa.s.sed, the miller and the orphan appeared in court, and told the court the answers to the riddles. Now the Tsar chanced to be on the bench at that time, and the answers of the orphan so pleased him that he ordered that the cause between them should be given in his favour, and that the miller should be driven with shame from the court. After that the Tsar said to the orphan: "Didst thou hit upon these answers thyself, or did some one else tell thee?"--"To tell the truth, they are not my own; the lovely damsel taught me these answers."--"She has taught thee well too, sage indeed must she be. Go to her and tell her in my name that if she be so wise and sensible she must appear before me to-morrow: neither on foot nor on horseback, neither naked nor clothed, and with a present in her hand that is no gift. If she accomplish this I will reward her as becomes a Tsar, and make her higher than the highest." Again the orphan went out of the town, and again he fell a-fretting, and he said to himself: "Why, I don't even know how and have no idea where to find this lovely damsel; what sort of a task is this that I am bidden to give her?" No sooner had he thought this than the sage and lovely damsel again pa.s.sed by that way. The orphan told her how his guesses had pleased the Tsar, and how he wanted to see the damsel himself and have proof of her wisdom, and how he had promised to reward her. The damsel thought a bit, and then said to the orphan: "Fetch me a long-bearded billy-goat, and a big net for catching fish, and catch me a pair of sparrows. To-morrow morning we'll meet here, and if I get a reward from the Tsar, I'll share it equally with thee."

The orphan carried out the orders of the damsel, and waited for her next morning at the roadside. The damsel appeared, stripped off her sarafan, [58] and wound herself in the long fis.h.i.+ng-net from head to foot; then she sat on the goat, took a sparrow in each hand, and bade the orphan lead the way to town. The young man brought her to the Tsar at court, and she bowed low to the Tsar and said: "Behold, O sovereign Tsar! I come to thee neither on foot nor on horseback, neither naked nor clothed, and I have brought a present in my hand which is no gift."--"Where is it?" asked the Tsar. "Here!" and she gave the Tsar the live sparrows, and he was about to take them from her hands when the sparrows wriggled out and flew away. "Well," said the Tsar, "I see thou canst vie even with me in wit. Stay at my court, and look after my children, and I'll give thee a rich recompense."--"Nay, my sovereign lord and Tsar, I cannot accept thy gracious favour; I have promised this good youth to share my reward with him for his services."--"Look now! thou art witty and wise; but in this matter thy head is turned, and thou dost not judge according to reason. I offer thee a high and honourable place with a great recompense; why then canst thou not share this reward with this youth?"--"But how can I share it then?"--"How, thou sage damsel? Why if this good youth be dear to thee, marry him; for honour and recompense, and labour and sorrow and bright-faced joy are shared by husband and wife half and half."--"Thou too art wise, I see, O sovereign Tsar, and I'll gainsay thee no longer," said the lovely damsel. So she took the orphan for her husband, and though the orphan had no very great mind, his heart was simple and good, and he lived with his sage wife all his life in contentment and happiness.

THE PROPHETIC DREAM.

There was once upon a time a merchant, and he had two sons, Dmitry and Ivan. Once the father bade his sons good-night, sent them off to bed, and said to them: "Now, children, whatever you see in your dreams, tell it all to me to-morrow morning, and whichever of you hides his dream from me, no good thing will befall him." In the morning the eldest son came to his father and said: "I dreamed, dear father, that my brother Ivan flew high into the sky on twenty eagles."--"Very good!" said the father; "and what didst thou dream, Vania?" [59]--"Well, such rubbish, father, that it is impossible to tell it."--"What dost thou mean? Speak!"--"No, I'll not!"--"Speak, sir, when I bid thee!"--"No, I won't speak, I won't." The father was very angry with his youngest son, and resolved to punish him for his disobedience, so he sent for his overseers and bade them strip Ivan naked and tie him to a post at the crossways as tightly as possible. No sooner said than done. The overseers seized hold of him, dragged him far, far away from home to the crossways, where seven roads crossed, tied him by the hands and feet to the post, and left him alone to his fate. The poor youth fared very badly. The sun scorched him, the gnats and flies sucked his blood, hunger and thirst tortured him. Fortunately for Ivan, a young Tsarevich happened to be going along one of these seven roads; he saw the merchant's son, had compa.s.sion on him, and bade his attendants untie him from the post, dressed him in his own clothes, and saved him from a cruel death. The Tsarevich took Ivan to his court, gave him to eat and drink, and asked him who had tied him to the post. "My own father, who was angry with me."--"And wherefore, pray? Surely thy fault was not small?"--"Well, in fact, I would not obey him; I would not tell him what I saw in my dreams."--"And for such a trifle as that he condemned thee to so cruel a punishment! The villain! But surely he has outgrown his wits! But what then didst thou see in thy dream?"--"I saw what I cannot even tell unto thee, O Tsarevich!"--"What! Not tell? Not tell me? me, the Tsarevich? What! I saved thee from a cruel death, and thou wilt not do this trifle for me in return? Speak immediately, or it will not be well with thee!"--"Nay, Tsarevich! I stick to my word. I haven't told my father, and I'll not tell thee."--The Tsarevich boiled over with unspeakable rage, and shrieked to his servants and attendants, "Hi! my faithful servants, take this good-for-nothing boor, put heavy irons on his hands, weld grievous fetters to his legs, and cast him into my deep dungeon!" The servants did not think twice about their master's commands; they seized Ivan the merchant's son, loaded his hands and feet with fetters, and put him as G.o.d's slave in the stone sack. A little and a long time pa.s.sed by, and the Tsarevich thought of marrying the thrice-wise Helena, the first maiden in the whole earth for beauty and wisdom, so he made ready and went into the strange country far away to marry this thrice-wise Helena. Now it happened that the day after he had gone, his sister the Tsarevna went walking in the garden hard by the very same dungeon in which Ivan the merchant's son had been put. He saw the Tsarevna through the little grated window, and cried to her with a lamentable voice: "Dear mother Tsarevna, thy brother will never be married without my help."--"Who art thou?" answered the Tsarevna. Ivan named his name and added: "I suppose thou hast heard, O Tsarevna, of the trickeries and the cunning wiles of the thrice-wise Helena? I have heard not once nor twice that she has expedited many wooers into another world; believe me that thy brother also will not be able to marry her without me!"--"And thou art able to help the Tsarevich?"--"Able and willing, but the falcon's wings are bound, and no way for him is found."--The Tsarevna bade them release Ivan from his dungeon, and gave him full liberty to do what was in his mind so long as he only helped the Tsarevich to marry. And then Ivan the merchant's son chose him comrades first of all, one by one, and added youth to youth, and they were all as like to each other as if they had been born brothers. He dressed them in mantles of one kind, sewn in one and the same fas.h.i.+on; he mounted them on horses of one colour, and like each other to a hair, and they all mounted and rode away. Twelve was the number of the young comrades of Ivan the merchant's son. They rode for one day, they rode for another day, and on the third day they entered a gloomy forest, and Ivan said to his comrades: "Stay, my brothers, there is here, on the verge of the precipice, an old tree; a hollow, branchless tree; I must look into its hollow trunk and find my fortune there." So he went to the tree he had described and plunged his hand into the hollow trunk, and drew out of it an invisible cap, hid it in his bosom, and returned to his comrades.

And they came to the realm of the thrice-wise Helena, went straight into the capital, sought out the Tsarevich, and begged him: "Take us into thy service, O Tsarevich; we will serve thee with a single heart." The Tsarevich thought the matter over and said: "How can I help taking such gallant youths into my service? perhaps in a strange land they may be of service to me." And to each of them he a.s.signed his post; he made one his equerry, another his cook, but Ivan he bade never to depart from his side.

The next day the Tsarevich attired himself in festal raiment, and went forth to woo the thrice-wise Helena. She received him courteously, regaled him with all manner of rich meats and drinks, and then she said to the Tsarevich: "I don't at all mind being thy wife, but first of all thou must accomplish these tasks. If thou do them I will be thy faithful wife, but if not, thy haughty head shall wag no more on thy stalwart shoulders."--"Why be afraid before the time? tell me thy tasks, thrice-wise Helena!"--"This then is my first task for thee: I shall have ready by to-morrow what I will not tell thee, and for what purpose I do not know; show thy wit, then, and bring me the fellow of it, of thine own devising." The Tsarevich went home from the court by no means happy; his haughty head hung lower than his stalwart shoulders. And Ivan met him and said: "Halve thy grief with me, O Tsarevich, and it will be better for thee."--"Well, look now,"

said the Tsarevich, "Helena has set me a task that not a single wise man in the world could do"--and he told Ivan all about it. "Well,"

said Ivan, "'tis not such a great matter after all! Pray to G.o.d and lie down to sleep; the morning is wiser than the evening--to-morrow we'll consider the matter." The Tsarevich lay down to sleep, but Ivan the merchant's son put on his invisible cap, went as swiftly as possible to the palace, ran through all the chambers, and made his way right into the bedchamber of the thrice-wise Helena. And then he heard her giving these orders to her favourite servant: "Take this cloth-of-gold to my shoemaker, and let him make me shoes for my feet as soon as possible." The servant ran with all her might, and behind her ran Ivan. The cobbler set to work; the work seemed to burn his fingers, so quickly did he do it; he beat the stuff with his little hammer and st.i.tched it with his needle; a little shoe was quickly ready, and he put it on the little window-sill. Ivan the merchant's son took the little shoe and hid it in his bosom. The shoemaker was in great consternation: what was the meaning of it? His work had vanished from before his eyes. He searched and searched. He rummaged in every corner, but it was all in vain. "What marvel is this?" thought he; "can the unclean spirit [60] be playing his tricks with me?" There was no help for it. He set to work again with his awl, finished the other slipper, and sent it by the servant-maid to the thrice-wise Helena. But Ivan was after her again, crept like a shadow into the palace in his invisible cap, stood behind the shoulders of the thrice-wise Helena, and saw that she sat behind her little table and began to cover the slipper with gold, embroider it with large pearls, and set it thickly with precious stones. Ivan the merchant's son drew his own slipper out of his bosom and began to do the like with it; whenever she took up a little gem, he chose out just such another; wherever she threaded a pearl, he took another and sewed that on too. The thrice-wise Helena finished her work, looked at the slipper, and couldn't admire it enough. She smiled, and thought to herself: "We will see what the Tsarevich will present himself with to-morrow morning." But Ivan the merchant's son awoke the Tsarevich very early next morning, took the slipper from his bosom, and gave it to him. "Go to thy lady and show her this slipper," said he; "there thou hast her first task!" The Tsarevich washed and dressed himself, hastened to his lady, and found her apartments full of Boyars and Grandees, and her Councillors were all a.s.sembled there down to the very last one. There was a noise of melody, there came a crash of lively music, the doors of the inner chambers were thrown open, and out came the thrice-wise Helena, sailing along like a white swan. She bowed on all sides, but particularly to the Tsarevich: then she drew out of her pocket the shoe, set with large pearls and adorned with precious stones, and she looked at the Tsarevich with a mocking smile, and all the Boyars, the Grandees, and the Councillors who were in the palace looked intently at the Tsarevich. And the Tsarevich said to the thrice-wise Helena: "Thy slipper is very fine, but 'tis no good at all unless it have a fellow. Well, here it is, and I give thee the other, which is exactly like it." And he drew out of his pocket the slipper, and placed it by the side of the other one. The whole palace heaved a great "Oh!" The Boyars, Grandees, and Councillors exclaimed with one voice: "Thou art indeed worthy, O Tsarevich, to wed our Tsarevna, the thrice-wise Helena."--"Not so quick, please," cried the Tsarevna; "let us see what he'll make of the second task. I shall await thee to-morrow in this self-same place, Tsarevich, and this is my task for thee: I shall have an unexplainable somewhat disguised in feathers and in stones; bring thou also just such another unknown, somewhat disguised in just such feathers and stones." The Tsarevich bowed and went out, looking much blacker than the evening before. "Well," thought he, "now indeed my shoulders will not support my head very much longer." And again Ivan the merchant's son met him and consoled him with a friendly smile: "Come, Tsarevich, wherefore grieve? Pray to G.o.d and lie down to sleep, the morning is wiser than the evening." Ivan made the Tsarevich lie down, then he quickly took his invisible cap, darted into the palace, and arrived just in time to hear the Tsarevna give this command to her favourite servant: "Go into the fowl-yard and bring me hither a duck." Off went the servant to the fowl-yard and Ivan after her; she put a duck under her arm, but Ivan hid a drake in his bosom, and they came back the same way. The thrice-wise Helena again sat down at her little table, took the duck, adorned its wings with ribands and its little tail with amethysts, and fastened a necklace of pearls round its neck; and Ivan saw it all, and did just the same to his drake.

The next day the Tsarevich again went up to the palace, and again all the Boyars and Grandees were a.s.sembled there; again there was a crash of music, and the doors of the inner chambers opened, and the thrice-wise Helena came forth strutting along like a pea-hen. Behind her came the maids of honour bearing a golden dish, and they all saw that upon this dish beneath the white cloth some living thing was moving about. Softly, very softly, the Tsarevna raised the cloth from the dish, took out the duck, and said to the Tsarevich: "Well, didst thou guess my riddle?"--"How could I help guessing it?" replied the Tsarevich, "there's nothing so very knowing in such a task as that," and forthwith he put his hand into his cap and drew out his dressed-up drake.

All the Boyars and Grandees cried "Oh!" and with one voice exclaimed: "Well done, young hero Tsarevich! Thou art indeed worthy to take Helena the thrice-wise to wife." But Helena the thrice-wise knit her brows and said: "Stop a bit! Let him first fulfil my third task. If he be such a hero, let him fetch me three hairs from the head, and three hairs from the beard, of my grandfather, the Sea-king, and then I am ready to be his wife." The Tsarevich returned home gloomier than an autumn night: he would look at nothing and speak to n.o.body. "Don't fret, Tsarevich!" whispered Ivan the merchant's son in his ear, and he seized his invisible cap, and was in the palace in a trice, and saw the thrice-wise Helena sitting in her state-coach and preparing to drive to the blue sea. And our Ivan, in his invisible cap, took his seat in the very carriage, and the fiery horses of the Tsar carried them in hot haste to the blue sea.

So the thrice-wise Helena arrived at the blue sea, sat under a rock by the sh.o.r.e on a large stone, turned her face to the blue sea, and began to call her dear grandad the Sea-king. The blue sea boiled as in a storm, and despite a great calm, the depths of the sea were disturbed by a huge wave; a crest of silvery foam worked its way up, rolled along the sh.o.r.e as if caressing it, broke up gradually on the golden beach, scattering crystal jets and pearly sh.e.l.ls on the sh.o.r.e, and there rose out of the water, up to the waist, the old, old grandfather. On his head heaps and heaps of gray locks sparkled like silver in the sun, dripping wet, and great tufts of hair hung over his brows; but his face was covered with a thick, thick golden beard like moss; he rode up to the breast in a broad big wave which swept over his shoulders and hid his body to the waist. The ocean grandfather leaned against a stone with his goose-like paws, looked with his green eyes into the eyes of the thrice-wise Helena, and cried: "Hail, granddaughter of my desires. 'Tis a long time since I have seen thee; 'tis a long time since thou hast visited me. And now, please, comb my little head for me." And he leaned his unkempt head against the knee of his granddaughter, and dozed off into a sweet sleep. But the thrice-wise Helena began smoothing her grandfather's hair and winding his gray locks round her fingers to curl them, and whispering soft words in her grandfather's ear, and lulling him to sleep with gentle songs; and as soon as she saw that her grandfather was asleep she tugged three silver hairs out of his head. But Ivan the merchant's son, slipping his hand below hers, wrenched out a whole handful. The grandfather awoke, looked at his granddaughter, and said sleepily: "Art thou mad? It hurts me horribly!"--"Pardon, dear grandfather," said the thrice-wise Helena, "but it's such a long time since I did thy hair, that it is quite tangled." But the grandfather did not hear her to the end; he was already snoring, and shortly afterwards the Tsarevna pulled three golden hairs out of his beard. Ivan the merchant's son thought, "I must have some of that too," seized the grandfather by the beard, and tore out a good piece of it. The sea-grandfather roared aloud, awoke from his sleep, and dived into the depths like a bucket--only bubbles remained behind.

Next day the Tsarevna entered the palace and thought: "The Tsarevich really will fall into my clutches now." And she showed the Tsarevich the three golden hairs and the three silver ones: "Well, Tsarevich, hast managed to pick up such wonderful things as these?"--"Well, Tsarevna, that's a lot to boast of, I must say! Why, I'll give thee whole handfuls of such rubbish if thou wilt." And the whole palace resounded with cries of amazement when the Tsarevich drew from his breast the grandfather's hairs. The thrice-wise Helena was very wroth; she rushed off to her bedroom, looked into her magic books, and saw that it was not the Tsarevich who was so knowing, but his favourite servant, Ivan the merchant's son. She returned to her guests and said in soft and wheedling tones: "Thou hast not guessed my riddles and done my tasks of thine own self alone, Tsarevich, but thy favourite servant Ivan has helped thee. I should like to look at the good youth. Bring him to me quickly."--"I have not one servant but twelve servants, Tsarevna."--"Then bring him hither whose name is Ivan!"--"They are all called Ivan."--"Then let them all come," said she, but she thought to herself: "I'll pick out the guilty party, I know." The Tsarevich sent for his servants, and the twelve youths appeared at court. They were all of one face and one stature; their voices were all alike, and there was not a hair's difference between them. "Which among you is the biggest?" And they all cried with a loud voice: "I am the biggest, I am the biggest!"--"Well," thought Helena, "I can't catch you this way, but I'll manage it somehow." And she bade them bring eleven common drinking-cups, but the twelfth of pure gold; she filled the drinking-cups full with good wine, and gave them to the good youths to drink. But not one of them would look at the common cups, and all stretched out their hands towards the golden cup, so in struggling for it they only made a great clamour, and all the wine was spilled. The Tsarevna perceived that her artifice had failed, so she invited all the servants of the Tsarevich to pa.s.s the night at the palace. All the evening she gave them as much as they could eat and drink, and then she gave them soft downy beds to lie upon. And when all the good youths were sound asleep, then the thrice-wise Helena came to them in their bedroom, looked into her magic book, and immediately discovered which of them was Ivan the merchant's son. Then she drew out her penknife and cut off the lock of hair over his left temple, and she thought to herself: "By that mark I shall know you in the morning and have you punished." But in the morning, Ivan the merchant's son awoke before them all, clapped his hand to his head, and saw that he was shorn of his lock. He immediately rose from his bed and awoke all his comrades: "Quick, my brothers! take your knives and shear off your locks." In an hour's time they were summoned to the presence of the thrice-wise Helena. The Tsarevna looked and saw that all of them had their locks shorn off. Full of rage, she seized her magic book, pitched it into the fire, called the Tsarevich to her, and said to him: "I'll be thy wife, make ready for the wedding!" And the Tsarevich sent for his good youths, and said to Ivan: "Go to my sister and bid her make ready everything for the wedding." Ivan went to the Tsarevna, told her of her brother, and gave her his command. "I thank thee, thou good youth and faithful servant, for thy services,"

said the Tsarevich's sister to Ivan, "but say now, how shall I reward thee?"--"How shalt thou reward me?" answered Ivan the merchant's son; "why, bid them put me again in my old dungeon." And do what the Tsarevna would to persuade him, he insisted upon it.

The Tsarevich and his bride arrived, and the Boyars, the Grandees, and the festal guests came out to meet them, wished them health and happiness, and presented them with bread and salt, and there were so many people pressed together that you could have walked on their heads. "But where is my faithful servant Ivan?" asked the Tsarevich; "how is it I do not see him here?" The Tsarevna answered him: "Thou thyself hadst him put into a dungeon because of a certain dream."--"What! surely this is never the same person!"--"It's the very same; I only let him out for a time to go and help thee." The Tsarevich bade them bring Ivan to him, threw himself on his neck, burst into tears, and begged him not to think evil of him. "But dost thou know, O Tsarevich," said Ivan, "that I did not tell thee this dream of mine because I saw beforehand in my slumbers all that has now happened to thee. Judge now thyself and tell me, wouldst thou not have thought me half mad if I had told thee all?" And the Tsarevich rewarded Ivan, and made him the greatest in the realm after himself; but Ivan wrote to his father and his brother, and they all lived together and had no end of good things, and lived happily ever after.

TWO OUT OF THE KNAPSACK.

There was once an old man whose wife was exceedingly quarrelsome. The old man had no rest from her day or night; she nagged and nagged at him at every little trifle, but if the old man ventured to gainsay her in anything, she immediately caught up a broomstick, or something else, and chased him out of the kitchen. The old man had only one consolation; he would leave his old woman and go into the fields to set snares and bird-traps, hang them up on the branches of all the trees, and entice into his snares every bird that G.o.d has made, and so he would bring home a great booty, and give his old woman enough to last her for a whole day, or even two, and then he would for once enjoy a day in peace.

One day he went out into the fields and set his snares, and caught in them a crane. "What a stroke of luck!" thought the old man; "when I take home this crane to my old woman and we kill and roast it, she won't row me for a long time." But the crane guessed his thoughts, and said to him with a human voice: "Don't take me home and kill me, but let me go and live at liberty as before; thou shalt be dearer to me than my own father, and I will be as good as a son to thee." The old man was amazed at these words and let the crane go.

But when he returned home with empty hands, the old woman nagged at him so frightfully that he dared not go into the house, but pa.s.sed the night in the courtyard beneath the staircase. Very early in the morning he went out into the fields, and was just about to lay his snares when he saw the crane of the evening before coming towards him, holding in its long beak a sort of knapsack. "Yesterday," said the crane, "thou didst set me free, and to-day I bring thee a little gift. Say 'thanks' for it. Just look at it!" It placed the knapsack on the ground and cried: "Two out of the knapsack!" And whence I know not, but out of the knapsack leaped two youths, brought oaken tables, covered them with dishes, and on them was flesh and fowl of every description. The old man ate his fill of such delicacies as it had never been his luck to see all his life even from afar; he ate and drank without stopping, and would only rise from the table when the crane cried: "Two into the knapsack!" And the tables with all the flesh and fowl were as if they had never been. "Take this knapsack," said the crane, "and give it to thy old woman." The old man thanked him and went home. But all at once the desire seized him to brag about his booty to his G.o.dmother. So he went to his G.o.dmother, inquired after the healths of herself and her three daughters, and said: "Give me a little supper, according as G.o.d has blessed thee!" The G.o.dmother put before him what was on the stove, curtseyed, and bade him fall to. But the G.o.dson turned up his nose and said to the G.o.dmother: "Thine is sorry fare! Why I have as good as that when I'm on the road. I'll stand treat to thee."--"Very well, do so." The old man immediately brought out his knapsack, placed it on the ground, and the moment he cried: "Two out of the knapsack!" two youths, whence they came I know not, leaped out of the knapsack, placed the oaken tables, covered them with carved dishes, and placed upon them all sorts of flesh and fowl, such as the G.o.dmother had never seen from the day of her birth. The G.o.dmother and her daughters ate and drank their fill, and her thoughts were not good; she meant to deprive her G.o.dson of his knapsack by subtlety. And she began flattering her G.o.dson, and said to him: "My dear little dovey G.o.dson, thou art tired to-day, wilt thou not stop and have a bath? We have everything handy to warm the bath-room for thee." The G.o.dson did not say no to a bath, hung up his knapsack in the hut, and went into the bath-room to bathe. But the G.o.dmother immediately bade her daughters sew together in hot haste just such another knapsack as the old man's, and when they had finished it, she foisted her knapsack on the old man, and took his knapsack for herself. The old man noticed nothing, and went home cheerily-cheerful; he sang songs and whistled all the way, and no sooner did he get home than he cried to his old woman: "Wife, wife, congratulate me upon the gift which I have got from the son of the crane!" The old woman looked at him and thought: "You've been drinking somewhere to-day, I know; I'll give you a lesson!" The old man when he got into the hut immediately placed his knapsack in the middle of the floor and cried: "Two out of the knapsack!" But out of the knapsack came n.o.body at all. A second time he cried: "Two out of the knapsack!" And again there was n.o.body. The old woman when she saw this let loose the full flood of her abuse upon him, flew at him like a whirlwind, caught up a wet mop on her way, and it was as much as he could do to escape from her and dash out of the hut.

The poor fellow fell a-weeping, and went to the self-same spot in the fields, thinking: "Perhaps I may meet the crane and get another such knapsack from him!" And indeed the crane was there, and was waiting for the old man with just such another knapsack. "Here is just such another knapsack, and it will be of as good service as the former one." The old man bowed to the very girdle and ran off home at full speed. But on the way a doubt occurred to him: "If now this knapsack be not quite the same as the other one, I shall get into a mess again with my old woman--and this time I shall not be able to hide my head from her even under the ground. Come along then: 'Two out of the knapsack!'" Immediately two young men leaped out of the knapsack with long sticks in their hands and began to belabour him, crying: "Don't go to thy G.o.dmother; don't be fooled by honeyed words!" And they kept on beating the old man till he bethought himself to say: "Two into the knapsack!" Then the young men hid themselves in the knapsack. "Well,"

thought the old man, "I cracked up the other knapsack to my G.o.dmother like a fool, but I shall not be a fool if I crack up this to her also. I wonder if she would like to filch this one from me also? She'd thank me on the other side of her mouth." So he went quite cheerily to his G.o.dmother, hung up the knapsack on the wall, and said: "Pray, heat me a bath, G.o.dmother."--"With pleasure, G.o.dson." The old man got into the bath and had a good wash, staying as long as he could. The G.o.dmother called her daughters, placed them behind the table, and said: "Two out of the knapsack." And out of the knapsack leaped the young men with the long sticks and began beating the G.o.dmother and crying: "Give the old man back his knapsack." The G.o.dmother sent her eldest daughter to the old man and said: "Call our G.o.dson out of the bath; say that these two are beating me to death." But the G.o.dson replied out of the bath: "I have not finished bathing yet!" The G.o.dmother sent her youngest daughter, but the G.o.dson replied out of the bath: "I have not washed my head yet!" But the two youths kept beating the G.o.dmother all the time and saying: "Give back the old man's knapsack!" The G.o.dmother's patience was quite tired out, and she bade her daughters bring the stolen knapsack, and throw it to the old man in the bath-room. Then the old man got out of his bath and cried: "Two into the knapsack!" And the young men with the long sticks were no more.

Then the old man took both the knapsacks and went home. He approached the house and again began crying: "Congratulate me, wife, on the gifts I have got from the son of the crane!" The old woman flared up at once and got her broom ready. But the old man when he came in, cried: "Two out of the knapsack!" and immediately the tables appeared before the old woman, and the two young men placed on the tables flesh and fowl in abundance. The old woman ate and drank her fill, and became quite mild and tender. "Well, dear little hubby, I'll thwack thee no more." But the old man after dinner took this knapsack and put it away, and unexpectedly got out the other, and placed it on the bench in the hut. The old woman wanted to see for herself how the old man's knapsack set to work, so she cried: "Two out of the knapsack!" Immediately the two young men with the long sticks popped out, and fell to beating the old woman, crying all the time: "Don't beat thy old man! Don't curse thy old man!" The old woman screeched with all her might, and called to her old man to help her. The old man took pity on her, came into the hut, and said: "Two into the knapsack!" and the two disappeared into the knapsack.

From henceforth the old man and the old woman lived together in such peace and quietness that the old man is always praising his old woman to the skies, and so this story ends.

THE STORY OF MARKO THE RICH AND VASILY THE LUCKLESS.

Not in our time, but a long time ago, in a certain realm, lived a very rich merchant, Marko by name, and surnamed the Rich. Cruel and hard was he by nature, greedy of lucre and unmerciful to the poor. Whenever the lowly and the needy came begging beneath his window he sent his servants to drive them away, and let loose his dogs upon them. There was only one thing in the world he loved, and that was his daughter, the thrice-fair Anastasia. To her only he was not hard, and though she was only five years old, he never gainsaid her one of her wishes, and gave her all her heart's desire.

And once on a cold frosty day, three gray-haired men came under the window and asked an alms. Marko saw them, and ordered the dogs to be let loose. The thrice-fair Anastasia heard of it, and implored her father and said: "My own dear father, for my sake don't drive them away, but let them pa.s.s the night in the cattle-stall." The father consented, and bade them let the poor old beggar-men into the cattle-stall for the night. As soon as every one was asleep Anastasia rose up, made her way on tiptoe to the stall, climbed up into the loft, and looked at the beggars. The old beggar-men were crouching together in the middle of the stall, leaning on their crutch-staves with their wrinkled hands, and over their hands flowed their gray beards, and they were talking softly among themselves. One of the old men, the oldest of them all, looked at the others and said: "What news from the wide world?" The second one immediately replied: "In the village Pogoryeloe, [61] in the house of Ivan the Luckless, a seventh son is born; what shall we call him, and with what inheritance shall we bless him?" And the third old man, after meditating a little, said: "We'll call him Vasily, and we'll enrich him with the riches of Marko the Rich, under whose roof we are now pa.s.sing the night." When they had thus said they prepared to depart, bowed low to the holy ikons, and with soft footsteps prepared to depart from the stall. Anastasia heard all this, went straight to her father, and told him the words of the old men.

Marko the Rich thought deeply over it. He thought and thought, and he went to the village Pogoryeloe. "I'll find out for certain," thought he, "whether such a babe really has been born there." He went straight to the priest and told him all about it. "Yes," replied the priest, "yesterday we had a babe born here, the son of our poorest serf; I christened him Vasily, and luckless he certainly is; he is the seventh son in the family, and the eldest son of the family is only seven years old; the sons of this poor peasant are wee, wee little things; there is next to nothing to eat and drink there; and such hunger and want is in the house that there's none in the village who will even stand sponsor." At this news the heart of Marko the Rich began to ache. Marko thought of the unhappy youngster, declared he would be G.o.dfather, asked the priest's wife to be G.o.dmother, and bade them make ready a rich table; and they brought the little fellow, christened him, and sat down and feasted.

At the banquet Marko the Rich spoke friendly words to Ivan the Luckless, and said to him: "Gossip, thou art a poor man, and cannot afford to bring up thy son; give him to me; I will bring him up among well-to-do people, and I will give into thy hand at once for thine own maintenance one thousand rubles." The poor man thought the matter over, and then shook hands upon it. Marko gave gifts to his fellow-sponsor, took the child, wrapped him in fox furs, put him in his carriage, and drove homewards. They had got some ten versts from the village when Marko stopped the horses, took up the child, went to the brink of a great precipice, whirled the child over his head, and pitched it down the precipice, exclaiming: "There you go, and now take possession of my goods if you can!"

Shortly after that some merchants from beyond the sea chanced to be travelling by the self-same road; these merchants brought with them twelve thousand rubles which they owed to Marko the Rich. They pa.s.sed along by the side of the precipice, and they heard within the precipice the crying of a child. They stopped their horses, went to the precipice, and looked amongst the snowdrifts of the green meadows, and on a meadow a little child was sitting and playing with flowers. The merchants took up the child, wrapped him round with furs, and went on their way. They came to the house of Marko the Rich, and told him of their strange discovery. Marko immediately guessed that the matter concerned his own little serf boy, and he said to the merchants: "I should very much like to look at your foundling; if you will give him to me out and out I'll forgive you your debt to me." The merchants agreed, gave the child to Marko, and departed. But Marko that same night took the child, put it in a little cask, tarred it all over, and threw it into the sea.

The cask sailed and sailed along, and at last it came to a monastery. The monks happened to be on the sh.o.r.e just then; they were spreading out their fis.h.i.+ng-nets to dry, and all at once they heard the crying of a child. They guessed that the crying came from the cask, and they immediately seized the cask, broke it open, and there was the child. They took the child to the abbot, and as soon as the abbot heard that the child had been cast upon the sh.o.r.e in a cask, he decided that the youngster's name should be Vasily, and that he should be surnamed the Luckless. And henceforth Vasily lived in the monastery till he was sixteen years old, and he grew up fair of face, soft of heart, and strong in mind. The abbot loved him because he learned his letters so quickly that he was able to read and sing in the church better than all the others, and because he was deft and skilful in affairs. And the abbot made him sacristan.

And it happened that once Marko the Rich was travelling on business, and came to this very monastery. The monks treated him with honour as a rich guest. The abbot commanded the sacristan to run and open the church; the sacristan ran at once, lit the candles, and remained in the choir, and read and sang. And Marko the Rich asked the abbot if the young man had dwelt there long, and the abbot told him all about it. Marko began to think, and it struck him that this could be no other than his serf-boy. And he said to the abbot: "Would that I could lay my hands upon such a smart young fellow as your sacristan, I would place all my treasures beneath his care; I would make him the chief overseer of all my goods, and you know yourselves what goods are mine." The abbot began to make excuses, but Marko promised the monastery a donation of ten thousand rubles. The abbot wavered; he began to consult the brothers, and the brothers said to him: "Why should we stand in Vasily's way? let Marko the Rich take him and make him his overseer." So they deliberated, and agreed to send away Vasily the Luckless with Marko the Rich.

But Marko sent Vasily home in a s.h.i.+p, and wrote to his wife this letter: "When the bearer of this letter reaches thee, go with him at once to our soap-works, and when thou dost pa.s.s the great boiling cauldron, shove him in. If thou dost not do this I will punish thee severely, for this youth is my prime enemy and evil-doer." Vasily duly arrived in port and went on his way, and there met him in the road three poor old men, and they asked him: "Whither art thou going, Vasily the Luckless?"--"Why, to the house of Marko the Rich, I have a letter for his wife."--"Show us the letter," said the old men. Vasily took out the letter and gave it them. The old men breathed on the letter and said: "Go now, and give the letter to the wife of Marko the Rich--G.o.d will not forsake thee."

Vasily came to the house of Marko the Rich and gave the letter to his wife. The wife read Marko's letter, and called her daughter, for she could not believe her own eyes, but in the letter was written as plain as plain could be: "Wife, the next day after thou dost receive this my letter, marry my daughter, Anastasia, to the bearer, and do so without delay. If thou doest it not thou shalt answer to me for it." Anastasia looked at Vasily, and Vasily stared at her. And they dressed Vasily in rich attire, and the next day they wedded him to Anastasia.

Marko the Rich came home from the sea, and his wife with his daughter and son-in-law met him on the quay. Marko looked at Vasily, fell into a furious pa.s.sion with his wife, and said to her: "How darest thou wed our daughter away without my consent?" But the wife replied: "I dared not disobey thy strict command!" and she gave the threatening letter to her husband. Marko read the letter, and saw that the handwriting was his own if the intention was not, and he thought to himself: "Good! thrice hast thou escaped ruin at my hands, but now I will send thee where not even the ravens shall pick thy bones."

Marko lived for a month with his son-in-law and treated him and his daughter most kindly; from his face n.o.body could have thought that he nourished evil thoughts against him in his heart. One day Marko called Vasily to him and said to him: "Go to the land of Thrice-nine, in the Empire of Thrice-ten, to Tsar Zmy [62]; twelve years ago he built a palace on my land. Thou therefore take rent from him for all the twelve years, and get news from him concerning my twelve s.h.i.+ps, which have been wrecked about his kingdom for the last three years, and have left no trace behind them." Vasily dared not gainsay his father-in-law, but prepared for his journey, took leave of his young wife, took a sack of sweetmeats as provision by the way, and set out.

He went on and on, and whether it was long or short, far or near, matters not, but anyhow at last he heard a voice which said: "Vasily the Luckless, whither art thou going? is thy journey far?"--Vasily looked around him on all sides and answered: "Who called me? speak!"--"'Tis I, the old leafless oak, and I ask thee whither art thou going, and is thy journey far?"--"I am going to Tsar Zmy to collect arrears of rent for the last twelve years." And again the oak said to him: "If thou arrivest in time, think of me and ask him: here the old leafless oak has been standing all these three hundred years, and is withered and rotten to the very root--how much longer must he be tormented in this wide world?" Vasily listened attentively, and then went further. He came to a river and sat in the ferry-boat, but the old ferryman looked at him and said: "Is thy journey before thee a long one, Vasily the Luckless?"--Vasily told him. "Well," said the ferryman, "if thou art in time, remember me, and say to him I have been ferrying here all these thirty years; how much longer, I should like to know, shall I have to go backwards and forwards?"--"Good!" said Vasily, "I will say so."

He went on to the straits of the sea, and across the straits a whale-fish was lying stretched out, and a road marked out by posts went across its back, and people pa.s.sed to and fro there. When Vasily stepped on to the whale, the whale-fish spoke to him with a man's voice and said: "Whither art thou going, Vasily the Luckless, and is thy journey far?" Vasily told it everything, and the whale-fish said again: "If thou art in time, remember me; the poor whale-fish has been lying across this sea these three years, and a road marked out by posts goes across its back, and horse and foot trample into its very ribs, and it has no rest night or day; how much longer, pray, is it to lie here?"--"Good!" said Vasily, "I will say so," and went on further.