The tsar realized that the peasant had not abided by the imperial command, and ordered that he be brought to court. The peasant appeared before the tsar and at once admitted that he had told everything to the boyar. “Well, brother, for such an offense I must order you put to death, and you have only yourself to thank for it.” “Your Majesty, I am not guilty of any offense, because I told everything to the boyar in your presence.” As he said this, the peasant drew from his pocket a silver ruble with the tsar’s likeness on it, and showed it to the tsar. “You speak the truth,” said the tsar. “This is my person.” And he generously rewarded the peasant and sent him home.
THE ENCHANTED RING
IN A CERTAIN LAND, in a certain big village, there lived a peasant who was neither poor nor rich. He had a son, and bequeathed to him three hundred rubles, saying: “Here, my son. I give you my blessing, with three hundred rubles when you come of age.” The son grew up, came to the age of reason, and said to his mother: “I remember that my deceased father gave me his blessing with three hundred rubles; now give me at least one hundred of them.”
She gave him a hundred rubles, and he took to the road. He met a peasant leading a flap-eared dog. He said: “Peasant, sell me that dog.” The peasant said: “Give me a hundred rubles for it.” He gave his hundred rubles for the dog, led him home, and gave him food and drink. Then he asked his mother for another hundred rubles. The mother gave him another hundred rubles, and he took to the road. Again he met a peasant, this time a fellow leading a cat with a golden tail. He said: “Peasant, sell me that cat.” The peasant answered: “Buy him!” “And what do you want for him?” The peasant answered: “If you want him, give me a hundred rubles.” And he gave him the cat for a hundred rubles. The young man took the cat, led her home, and gave her drink and food. Then he again asked his mother for a hundred rubles. The mother said to him: “My beloved child, what do you spend the money on? Your purchases are useless.” “Eh, mother, do not worry about the money; somehow it will come back to us.” She gave him the third hundred, and he again took to the road.
So far, so good. Then, in a certain land, in a certain city, a princess died, and on her hand was a golden ring; our youth wanted badly to get this ring from her finger. He bribed the sentries to let him come near the princess’ bier; he came very close to her, took the ring off her finger, and went home to his mother. No one had stopped him.
He lived at home for some time, a long time or a short time; then he went out on the porch and moved the ring from one hand to the other. Three hundred strong men and a hundred and seventy knights jumped out of the ring and said: “What work do you order us to do?” “This is what I order you to do. First, knock down my old hut and on the same spot build a stone house, and let my mother know nothing about it.” They did this task in one night. His mother arose, and asked, surprised: “Whose house is this?” Her son answered: “Mother, be not surprised, but pray to God. This house is ours.” And so they lived in it for some time, a long time or a short time, until the youth came to manhood and wanted to take him a wife.
In a certain kingdom in a certain land a certain king had a daughter, and our young man wanted to marry her. He said to his mother: “In such and such a kingdom, such and such a king has a beautiful daughter. Woo her for me, mother.” The mother answered him: “My beloved child, how can such as we get a princess?” He answered her: “Mother, my good parent! Pray to the Savior, drink kvass, and go to bed. The morning is wiser than the evening.” The good youth himself went on the porch, moved the ring from one hand to the other, and three hundred strong men and a hundred and seventy knights jumped out and asked him: “What do you order us to do?” “Find for me things so precious that the king does not have them, and bring them to me on golden trays; I must give presents to the king and his daughter.” They straightway brought him such things, and he sent his mother to the king to make the match for him.
The mother came to the king and he said with surprise: “Old woman, where did you get these things?” The princess came out, looked at them, and said: “Well, old woman, tell your son to build in one night in the king’s sacred meadow a new palace more splendid than my father’s own, and to hang a crystal bridge from one palace to the other, and to cover the crystal bridge with all kinds of embroidered rugs. If he does all this I will marry him. If he does not, there will be no pardon for him, and he must lay his rash head on the block!”
The old woman went home in tears and said to her son: “My beloved child, I told you not to seek the princess in marriage. Now she has ordered me to tell you that if you want to marry her, you must build a new palace in the sacred meadow in one night, and it must be more splendid than her father’s own, and a crystal bridge must lead from one palace to the other, and this crystal bridge must be covered with all kinds of embroidered rugs; and if you fail to do these things you must lay your rash head on the block! Now what are you going to do, my child?” He answered: “Mother, my parent! Have no misgivings, pray to the Savior, drink kvass, and go to bed. The morning is wiser than the evening.”
Our youth himself went on the porch, moved the ring from one hand to the other, and three hundred strong men and a hundred and seventy knights jumped out and asked: “What do you order us to do?” He said to them: “My dear friends, try in one night to build for me a new palace in the king’s sacred meadow, and let it be more splendid than the king’s own, and let a crystal bridge hang between one palace and the other, and let this bridge be covered with all kinds of embroidered rugs.” In one night the strong men and knights built everything they were commanded to build. In the morning the king rose, looked at his sacred meadow through a spyglass, marveled at the new palace more splendid than his own, and sent a messenger to tell the good youth that he could come to woo the princess and that the princess had agreed to marry him. So the match was made, the wedding was celebrated, and a great feast was held.
They lived together for some time, a long time or a short time, and then the princess asked her husband: “Please tell me how you accomplished such a thing in one night? From now on we shall think together.” She flattered him, exhorted him, and served him all kinds of liquors. She made him dead drunk, and he told her what she wanted to know: “I did it with this ring!” She took the ring from the drunken man, moved it from one hand to the other, and three hundred strong men and a hundred and seventy knights jumped out and asked her: “What do you command us to do?” “This I command. Take that drunkard and throw him on my father’s meadow, and carry me with the whole palace beyond thrice nine and three lands, beyond the tenth kingdom, to such and such a king.” In one night they carried her to where she bade them.
In the morning the king arose, looked through the spyglass at his sacred meadow, and there was no palace and no crystal bridge; only one man was lying there. The king sent forth messengers, saying: “Find out what man is lying there.” The messengers went there, came back, and said to the king: “Your son-in-law is lying there alone!” “Go and bring him to me.” They brought him and the king asked: “What did you do with the princess and the palace?” He answered: “Your Majesty, I do not know; it is as though I lost her while I was asleep.” The king said: “I give you three months’ time to discover where the princess is—else I will put you to death.” And he put the good youth into a strong dungeon.
Then the cat said to the flap-eared dog: “Imagine it! Our master is in prison. The princess deceived him, took the ring off his finger, and went away beyond thrice nine lands, beyond the tenth kingdom. We must get the ring; let us run together!” They ran; whenever they had to cross a lake or a river, the cat sat on the neck of the flat-eared dog, and the dog carried her to the other side. After some time, a long time or a short time, they ran beyond thrice nine lands, beyond the tenth kingdom. The cat said to the dog: “If someone from the king’s kitchen sends for wood, do you run at once. I will go to the pantry, to the housekeeper; whatever she wants, I will serve.”
They began to live in the king�
�s palace. The housekeeper said to the king: “In my pantry there is a cat with a golden tail; whatever I want, she serves!” The cook said: “And I have a flap-eared dog; when I send the boy for wood, he rushes out and gets it.” The king answered: “Bring the flap-eared dog to my bedroom.” And the princess said: “And to me bring the cat with the golden tail.” The dog and cat were brought, and stayed in the palace night and day. But whenever she went to sleep, the princess put the ring in her mouth. One night a mouse ran across the princess’ chamber and the cat snatched him by the neck. The mouse said: “Do not harm me, cat! I know what you have come for; you have come for the ring, and I will get it for you.” The cat let him go; he jumped on the bed, straight on the princess, stuck his tail into her mouth and wiggled it; the princess spat and spat out the ring. The cat snatched it and cried to the flap-eared dog: “Hurry!”
They jumped out of the window and ran. They ran over land and swam across lakes and rivers; they arrived in their kingdom and went straight to the prison. The cat climbed in; her master saw her and began to stroke her. The cat sang songs and put the ring on his hand; the master was overjoyed and moved it from one hand to the other, and three hundred strong men and a hundred and seventy knights jumped out and said: “What do you order us to do?” He said: “To ease my grief, I want magnificent music played for a whole day.” The music began to play. And the king sent a messenger to him to ask whether he had considered the matter. The messenger went and became absorbed in listening to the music; the king sent another messenger, and he too became absorbed in listening; the king sent a third one, and he too became absorbed in listening. Then the king himself went to his son-in-law, and the king too was bewitched by the music. As soon as the music stopped, the king began to question his son-in-law, who answered: “Your Majesty, free me for one night, and in a trice I will get your daughter.”
He went on the porch and moved the ring from one hand to the other. Three hundred strong men and a hundred and seventy knights jumped out and asked him: “What do you order us to do?” “Bring back the princess, with the entire palace, and let everything be in the old place and done in one night.” The princess arose in the morning, saw that she was in the old place, and became frightened because she did not know what would happen to her. Her husband came to the king. “Your Majesty,” he asked, “what punishment shall we give the princess?” “My dear son-in-law, let us exhort her with words, and then do you two live together and prosper!”
FOMA AND EREMA, THE TWO BROTHERS
OH, Foma and Erema, two brothers they were
Alike in body, alike in mind.
Alike their noses, their eyes, their hair—
Oh, two such brothers you’ll seldom find.
One day the two went to church to pray,
One in a pew, the other at the altar.
Erema took hymnal, Foma took psalter;
Erema recited and Foma prayed
And this was heard by priests who stayed
On hilltops, learnéd priests devout
Who came to church and kicked them out,
One out the window and one out the door,
And they hastened away for evermore.
They went to the woods where later they met
And there they decided gray rabbits to get,
Gray rabbits, fast runners, to hunt and to kill,
But none could they find in hollow or hill.
Instead they went to the river banks steep,
To river banks steep where waters ran deep.
Two ducks a-swimming they saw down below,
One duck was white, the other like snow.
Erema took stick, and Foma grasped knife,
Each was longing to take a duck’s life.
But Foma threw far, Erema too near,
And the ducks swam away, swam away from there.
The brothers then thought to catch some fish,
To catch some fish was now their wish.
Oh, Erema sat in a deep-bottomed boat,
But the boat had no floor and would not float.
And Foma did sit him down in a barge
That had no bottom but was very large.
Three years they sank but could not drown;
Three devils in vain tried to pull them down.
The brothers now wished their bodies to feed,
To feed their bodies was now their need.
They made up their minds to plow their fields
To take whatever the good earth yields.
To market went Foma, Erema to fair,
A foal and a colt the brothers bought there.
Erema’s colt refused to work,
And Foma’s foal his tasks did shirk.
The brothers then slew their horses, they say,
And ran from the fields, oh, quickly away!
THE JUST REWARD
THE KING OF A CERTAIN COUNTRY lost his ring while on a drive through his capital. He at once placed a notice in the newspapers, promising that whoever might find and return the ring would receive a large reward in money. A simple private was lucky enough to find it. “What shall I do?” thought the soldier. “If I report my find at regimental headquarters, the whole affair will be referred to my superiors, each in his turn, from the sergeant to the company commander, from the company commander to the battalion commander, from the battalion commander to the colonel, and from the colonel to the brigadier general—there will never be an end to it. I would rather go straight to the king.”
He came to the palace. The officer on guard asked him: “What do you want here?” “I have found the king’s ring,” said the soldier. “Very well, brother! I will announce you, but only on condition that I get half the reward that the king gives you.” The soldier thought to himself: “For once in my life I have had a piece of luck, and now I have to share it!” However, he answered the officer on guard: “Very well, I agree. Only give me a note stating that half the reward is for you and half for me.”
The officer gave him the note and announced him to the king. The king praised the soldier for having found the ring. “Thank you, brave soldier!” he said. “I shall give you two thousand rubles as a reward.” “No, Your Royal Majesty! That is not a soldier’s reward. A soldier’s reward is two hundred lashes.” “What a fool you are!” said the king, and ordered that the sticks be brought in.
The soldier began to undress, unbuttoned his tunic, and the note dropped on the floor. “What paper is that?” asked the king. “Your Majesty, that is a note stating that only half the reward is for me, and that the other half must go to the officer on guard.” The king laughed, called the officer on guard, and ordered that he be given a hundred lashes. The order was carried out, and when it was time to count the last ten lashes, the soldier drew near to the king and said: “Your Majesty, since he is so greedy, I will give the other half of the reward to him too.” “How kind you are!” said the king, and ordered that the officer on guard be given the second hundred lashes. After this reward the officer could hardly crawl home. As for the soldier, the king gave him an honorable discharge from the service and presented him with three thousand rubles.
SALT
IN A CERTAIN CITY there lived a merchant who had three sons: the first was Fyodor, the second Vasily, and the third Ivan the Fool. This merchant lived richly; he sailed in his ships to foreign lands and traded in all kinds of goods. Once he loaded two ships with precious merchandise and sent them beyond the sea with his two elder sons. Ivan, his youngest son, always went to inns and alehouses, and for that reason his father did not trust him with any business; but when Ivan learned that his brothers had been sent beyond the sea, he straightway went to his father and begged him to be allowed to show himself in foreign lands, see people, and earn money by his wits. For a long time the merchant refused, saying: “You’ll spend everything on drink and come home without your head!” However, when he saw that his son persisted in his prayers, he gave him a ship with the very cheapest cargo—beams, boards, and planks.
/> Ivan made ready for the voyage, lifted anchor, and soon overtook his brothers. They sailed together on the blue sea for one day, two days, three days; but on the fourth strong winds arose and blew Ivan’s ship to a remote and unknown island. “Very well, boys,” cried Ivan to his crew, “make for shore!” And they reached the shore. Ivan stepped out on the island, told his crew to wait for him, and started walking along a path. He walked and walked until he reached a very high mountain. And he saw that in this mountain there was neither sand nor stone but pure Russian salt. He returned to the shore and ordered his sailors to throw all the beams and planks into the water and to load the ship with salt. As soon as this was done, Ivan lifted anchor and sailed away.
After some time, a long time or a short time, and after they had sailed some distance, a great distance or a short one, the ship approached a large and wealthy city, sailed into its harbor, and cast anchor. Ivan, the merchant’s son, went into the city to make obeisance to the king of the country and to obtain permission to trade freely, and he took a bundle of his merchandise, Russian salt, to show to the king. His arrival was immediately reported to the sovereign, who summoned him and said: “Speak! What is your business, what do you want?” “Just this, Your Majesty! Permit me to trade freely in your city!” “And what goods do you sell?” “Russian salt, Your Majesty.” The king had never heard of salt; in his kingdom the people ate without salt. He wondered what this new and unknown merchandise might be. “Come,” he said, “show it to me.” Ivan, the merchant’s son, opened his kerchief; the king glanced at the contents and thought to himself: “This is only white sand!” And he said to Ivan with a smile: “Brother, this can be had here without money!”
Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) Page 3
