Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

by Afanas'Ev, Aleksandr

  The tsar took thought, sent couriers out in all directions to summon his councilors, generals, and highest officers, and questioned everyone, humble and great, about the hero who had conquered the Saracen knight. No one knew who he was; the higher ranks referred the question to the middle ranks, the middle ranks referred it to the lower ranks, and from the lower ranks there was no answer. So the tsar sent the messenger back without an answer. The Saracen champions approached and began to lay waste cities and villages and to set them on fire. Know Not lay on the stove, his fiery heart boiling with rage, and spoke thus to his wife: “My beloved wife, unloved by her father, come to the country with me, life here has become uncomfortable.” The tsar’s daughter answered: “I will not go to the country, I would rather die here.” Know Not came down from the stove and said, sighing heavily: “Farewell, my beloved wife. If your father is killed, you will not remain alive either.”

  He dressed in peasant clothes, put a cap on his head, took a stick in his hand, and went out and looked around, trying not to be seen. The tsar noticed him from the balcony. “What is the matter with this simpleton?” he said. “He wants to run away, but he does not realize that if anything happens every member of our family will be ferreted out!” The elder sons-in-law stood beside him, thinking how they might show their valor. “Father, our sovereign, assemble a host of troops and the mounted guard. We shall help you in your need.”

  The tsar set about assembling an army and organizing regiments. His sons-in-law summoned their own troops and marched to the field of battle. The Saracen champions rushed on these forward regiments, smote them terribly with swords, and trampled twice as many with their steeds; blood flowed in rivers, the moans of the wounded resounded. Know Not heard them, rushed to their help, came to a high hill, and shouted a hero’s shout and whistled a mighty whistle. At his call the good steed came running from the open field; as he ran he stumbled. “Ah, you carcass for wolves, you bag of weeds,” cried Know Not, “why do you stumble? Do you smell misfortune?” The good steed answered: “There will be blood on both the horse and the master!” Know Not put on his horse a bridle, saddlecloths, blankets, and a German saddle. He tightened the twelve saddlegirths, and put the thirteenth on the horse’s chest. All the girths were of white Persian silk, the buckles of red Arabian gold, the clasps of steel from far-off lands, not for the sake of beauty, but for heroic strength; for silk does not tear, steel does not bend, and red gold does not rust. He accoutered his steed, then began to accouter himself: he donned the knight’s garment and the steel armor, took the steel shield and the battle mace in his hand, hooked the long, strong spear to his legs, the sharp saber to his waist, and the steel sword behind him.

  Then he mounted his good steed, put his nimble feet into the German stirrups, took a silken riding crop and lashed his steed on his slender flanks, cutting his skin. The steed flew into a passion, rose from the damp earth higher than the standing trees, lower only than the moving clouds. He jumped from mountain to mountain, straddling rivers and lakes with his legs, sweeping deep marshes with his tail. From his mouth a flame streamed, from his nostrils sparks flew, from his ears curling smoke rolled out, beneath his hoofs enormous clumps of earth were dug up and underground springs gushed forth. Know Not shouted a mighty shout, whistled a mighty whistle, and the water in the lakes surged forth, mixing with the yellow sand; old oaks shook, bending their tops to the ground. In the open field, the Saracen knight sat on his horse, firm as a heap of hay. His steed flew like a falcon without touching the damp earth, and the knight himself boasted that he would swallow Know Not whole.

  When the two knights met, Know Not’s horse said: “Well, master, bend your head over my mane, perhaps you will be saved.” Know Not had no sooner lowered his head than the Saracen hero swung his sword, wounded Know Not’s left arm, and cut off his horse’s left ear; at the same time Know Not thrust his spear into the Saracen knight’s chest below the neck and turned him over like a sheaf of corn. The Saracen fell on the damp earth, lay there and wallowed in his hot blood. Soon the host of troops moved up, the mounted guard galloped forth, and Know Not rode on his good steed to the tsar’s palace and shouted in a loud voice: “My good people, do not let me die in vain, stop my hot blood from flowing!” All the tsar’s retinue rushed from the balcony, and the princess, Know Not’s wife, was the first to reach him. With her own handkerchief she bandaged his left arm. But she failed to recognize her husband, for he was wiping the sweat from his brow, thus hiding his face.

  Know Not rode to his hut, left his horse without tying him, entered the hall, fell on the floor, and covered his face with his hand. The tsar knew nothing; he stood on the balcony and watched his sons-in-law finishing the battle. But Know Not’s wife approached the hut and beheld the hero’s steed with full accouterment at the entrance, and the hero himself lying in the hall. She hurried home and told her father everything. Straightway the tsar went to the hut with his retinue, opened the door, fell on his knees, and spoke kind words: “Tell us, good knight, of what family and tribe are you? What is your name, what is your father’s name?” Know Not answered: “Ah, my God-given father and sovereign—do you not recognize me? You have always called me a simpleton.” Then all recognized him and paid him homage as a mighty hero. And the elder sons-in-law, as soon as they heard of this triumph, packed up their belongings and went with their wives to their own homes. Know Not soon recovered from his wounds, drank green wine, and made a great feast for all. And after the tsar’s death he ascended the throne and his life was long and happy.

  THE MAGIC SHIRT

  A BRAVE SOLDLIER, while serving in his regiment, received a hundred rubles from home. The sergeant got wind of it and borrowed this money from him. When the time came to settle the debt, instead of paying it, he gave the soldier a hundred blows on his back with a stick, saying: “I never saw your money. You invented the whole thing!” The soldier became enraged and ran away into a deep forest; he was about to lie down to rest under a tree when he saw a six-headed dragon flying toward him. The dragon stopped beside the soldier, questioned him about his life, and said: “Why should you trudge through the woods like this? Instead, come and serve me for three years.” “With pleasure,” said the soldier. “Sit on me, then,” said the dragon. The soldier began to load all his belongings on the dragon. “Eh, veteran, why are you taking all this trash with you?” “How can you ask that, dragon? A soldier gets flogged for losing even a button, and now you want me to drop all my belongings!”

  The dragon brought the soldier to his palace and charged him as follows: “Sit by the kettle for three years, keep the fire going, and cook my kasha!” The dragon himself went to travel in the world during all that time. The soldier’s work was not hard: he put wood under the kettle and sat beside it drinking vodka and eating tasty snacks—and the dragon’s vodka was not like ours, all watered down, but quite strong! After three years the dragon came flying home. “Well, veteran, is the kasha ready?” “It must be, for all these three years my fire did not go out once.” The dragon ate the whole kettleful in one meal, praised the soldier for his faithful service, and hired him for the next three years.

  These years passed too, and the dragon ate his kasha again and left the soldier for still another three years. For two years our soldier cooked the kasha, and toward the end of the third began to think, “Here I am living with the dragon for the ninth year, cooking his kasha all the time, and I don’t even know what it tastes like. I must try it.” He raised the lid and found his sergeant sitting in the kettle. “Ah, my friend,” thought the soldier, “now I’m going to give you a good time; I’ll pay you back the blows you gave me.” And he began to drag in wood and put it under the kettle, as much as he could, and made such a fire that he cooked not only the flesh but even the bones of the sergeant to a pulp. The dragon returned, ate the kasha, and praised the soldier: “Well, veteran, the kasha was good before, but this time it was even better. Choose whatever you like as your reward.” The soldier looked around a
nd chose for himself a mighty horse and a shirt of thick cloth. This shirt was not an ordinary shirt, but a magic one: he who put it on became a mighty champion.

  The soldier then went to a king, helped him in a difficult war, and married his beautiful daughter. But the princess disliked being married to a common soldier. So she intrigued with a neighboring prince, and in order to find out whence came the soldier’s mighty strength, she coaxed and flattered him. Having discovered what she wanted, she seized the opportunity when her husband was asleep to remove his shirt and give it to the prince. The prince put on the magic shirt, took a sword, cut the soldier into little pieces, put them in a hempen bag, and said to the stableboys: “Take this bag, tie it to some battered jade, and drive her into the open field!” The stableboys went to carry out this order, but meantime the soldier’s mighty steed had turned himself into a battered jade and put himself in the stableboys’ path. They took him, tied the bag to him, and drove him into the open field. The mighty steed darted off faster than a bird, came to the dragon’s castle, stopped there, and for three nights and three days neighed without ceasing.

  The dragon was sound asleep, but he was finally awakened by the horse’s loud neighing and stamping, and came out of his palace. He looked into the bag and groaned aloud! He took the pieces, put them together, washed them with the water of death—and the soldier’s body was joined together. He sprinkled it with the water of life, and the soldier came to. “Fie,” he said, “I have slept a long time!” “You would have slept very long indeed without your good horse!” answered the dragon, and taught the soldier the difficult science of assuming different shapes. The soldier turned into a dove, flew to the prince with whom his faithless wife now lived, and sat on the sill of the kitchen window. The young cook saw him. “Ah,” she said, “what a pretty little dove!” She opened the window and let him into the kitchen. The dove struck the floor and became a goodly youth. “Do me a service, lovely maiden,” he said, “and I will marry you.” “What shall I do for you?” “Get from the prince his shirt of thick cloth.” “But he never takes it off, except when he bathes in the sea.”

  The soldier found out at what time the prince bathed, went out on the road, and turned into a flower. Soon the prince and the princess came to the beach, followed by the cook carrying clean linen. The prince noticed the flower and admired it, but the princess guessed at once what it was: “Ah, that accursed soldier must have turned himself into this!” She picked the flower and began to crumple it and pluck the petals, but the flower turned into a little fly and without being noticed hid in the cook’s bosom. As soon as the prince undressed and went into the water, the fly flew out and turned into a bright falcon. The falcon snatched the shirt and carried it away, then turned into a goodly youth and put it on. Then the soldier took a sword, put his treacherous wife and her lover to death, and married the lovely young cook.

  THE THREE PENNIES

  A WEALTHY MERCHANT hired an unknown man to work for him. The man worked for a year, then asked the merchant to settle his account. The merchant gave him the wages he had earned, but the worker took only one penny for his work, went to the river, and threw the penny into the water. “If I have served faithfully and truly,” he said, “my penny will not sink.” The penny sank. Again he went to work for the same merchant. He worked for a year and the merchant again gave him his due, but the worker took only one penny, went to the same place, and threw the penny into the water. The penny sank. So he went to work for the merchant for a third time; he worked for a year, and the merchant gave him more money than before as a reward for his zealous service. But the worker again took only one penny, went to the river, and threw it into the water—and lo and behold, all three pennies rose to the surface! He took them and went along the road to his own village.

  Suddenly he met a merchant who was going to mass; he gave the merchant a penny and asked him to put a candle before the icons on his behalf. The merchant went to the church, took money from his pocket for candles, and accidentally dropped the worker’s penny on the floor. Suddenly a fire arose from this penny. The people in the church were surprised and asked who had dropped the penny. The merchant said: “I dropped it, but it is not mine: a worker gave it to me to buy a candle for him.” Each of the worshipers took a candle and lit it from this penny. Meanwhile the worker continued on his way.

  He met another merchant who was going to the fair; he drew a penny from his pocket and gave it to the merchant, saying: “Buy some merchandise for me at the fair.” The merchant took the penny, bought the merchandise he wanted for himself, and wondered what he should buy for the worker’s penny. Just then he happened to meet a boy who wanted to sell a cat and asked for it no more and no less than one penny. The merchant could find no other suitable merchandise, so he bought the cat.

  This merchant sailed with his ships to trade in another kingdom. Now, that kingdom was overrun with countless rats. The merchant’s ships stopped at the port and every now and then the cat ran away from the ships and ate the rats. The king was told about this, and asked the merchant: “Is this beast expensive?” The merchant said: “It is not my beast; a certain young man asked me to buy it.” Then he added in a calculating tone: “That cat is worth three ships.” The king gave the merchant three ships and took the cat. The merchant returned, and the worker went to the market, found him, and asked: “Did you buy any merchandise for my penny?” The merchant answered: “There’s no use denying it, I bought three ships.” The worker took the three ships and sailed on the sea.

  After some time, a short time or a long time, he came to an island. An oak stood on this island; he climbed up on the oak and heard the devil below boasting to his comrades that the next day he would steal the king’s daughter in broad daylight. His comrades said to him: “If you do not get her, we shall whip you with iron rods!” After this conversation they left. The worker climbed down the oak and went to the king’s palace. He drew the last penny from his pocket and lit it. The devil also ran to the palace, but could not steal the king’s daughter. He returned to his brothers, who began to lash him with iron rods; they lashed and lashed him, and then threw him down into a nameless place. But the worker married the king’s daughter and prospered the rest of his days.

  THE PRINCESS WHO WANTED TO SOLVE RIDDLES

  ONCE THERE WAS an old man who had three sons, of whom the third was called Ivan the Simpleton. At that time there was a certain tsar—for this was long ago—who had a daughter. She said to her father: “Permit me to solve riddles, father. If I solve a man’s riddles, let his head be cut off; but him whose riddle I cannot solve, I will marry.” Immediately they sent forth a call. Many men presented themselves and all of them were put to death, for the princess was able to solve their riddles. Ivan the Simpleton said to his father: “Give me your blessing, father! I want to go to the tsar’s court and propound riddles.” “What an absurd idea, you fool! Better men than you have been put to death!” “If you give me your blessing, I will go; if you do not, I will go anyway!” So the father gave him his blessing. Ivan the Simpleton set out. On his way he saw a field of grain, and in the field a horse. He drove the horse away with his whip to prevent him from trampling the grain, and said: “Here I have a riddle!” He went on farther, saw a snake, pierced it with his spear, and thought: “Here is another riddle!”

  He came to the tsar’s palace, was received by the princess, and was told to propound his riddles. He said: “On my way here, I saw a good thing, and in this good thing a good thing, and I took a good thing and drove out the good thing from the good thing; and the good thing ran away from the good thing out of the good thing.” The princess rushed to look for this riddle in her book, but it was not there. She did not know how to solve it, so she said to her father: “Father, I have a headache today, my ideas are all confused, I will solve this riddle tomorrow.” So the audience was postponed till the next day. Ivan the Simpleton was given a room and he sat there smoking his pipe. The princess chose a faithful chambermaid, and
sent her to Ivan. “Go,” she said, “ask him the answer to this riddle, promise him gold and silver, as much as he wants.”

  The chambermaid knocked at his door. Ivan the Simpleton opened it; the maid entered and asked the answer to the riddle, promising him mountains of gold and silver. Ivan the Simpleton answered: “What do I need money for! I have plenty of my own. Let the princess stand all night in my room without sleeping, then I will tell her the answer to my riddle.” The chambermaid told the princess this answer; she accepted, and stood all night in Ivan’s room without sleeping. In the morning Ivan the Simpleton told her that the answer to his riddle was that he had driven a horse out of the grain. So the princess was able to solve the riddle before the tsar and his court.

  Then Ivan the Simpleton proposed another riddle: “On my way here I saw an evil thing, so I struck it with an evil thing, and the evil thing died from the evil thing.” Again the princess looked in her book, but could not solve the riddle, and asked for a postponement till the next morning. At night she sent her chambermaid to get the answer from Ivan the Simpleton. “Promise him money,” she said. “What do I need money for!” said Ivan. “I have plenty of my own. Let the princess stand all night in my room without sleeping, then I will tell her the answer.” The princess agreed, did not sleep during the night, and was thus able to solve the riddle before the tsar and his court.