Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

by Afanas'Ev, Aleksandr

  The shoemaker left Elena the Fair and his head hung low. His friends met him. “Well, brother?” they asked. “I am lost! Tomorrow I shall be quartered. She gave me such a task that no devil could do it.” “Oh, stop worrying! The morning is wiser than the evening; let us go to the alehouse.” “Yes, let us go; I should at least have a good time before I die.” So they drank and drank; by night the shoemaker had drunk so much that he had to be led home. “Farewell, little fellow,” he said to Prince Ivan, “tomorrow I shall be put to death.” “Is there a new task to perform?” “Yes.” And he told his journeyman what it was. Then the shoemaker lay down and began to snore. Prince Ivan went straight to his room, blew his reed pipe, and Lame and One-eyed appeared. “What do you wish, Prince Ivan?” they asked. “You must do this and this for me.” “Yes, Prince Ivan, here at last is a real task! Well, what must be done must be done. Tomorrow everything will be ready.”

  Next morning at daybreak Prince Ivan woke up and looked out of the window. Heavens above! Everything was ready; the golden castle was gleaming like fire. He roused his master, who jumped up in haste. “What is it?” he said. “Have they come for me? Quick, some wine! Let me be drunk when they put me to death.” “But the palace is ready.” “What are you saying?” The shoemaker looked out of the window and gasped in amazement. “How was it done?” “Don’t you remember how we toiled together?” “Ah, I must have slept soundly; I can hardly remember.” They ran to the golden palace and found in it wealth undreamed, unheard of. Prince Ivan said: “Here is a broom for you, master. Go and dust the railings of the bridge. And when anyone comes and asks you who lives in the palace, do not say anything, but give him this little note.”

  The shoemaker went to dust the railings of the bridge. In the morning Elena the Fair woke up, saw the golden palace, and ran straightway to the king. “Look, Your Majesty!” she said. “See what is happening here! a golden palace has been built on the sea. From the palace a bridge seven versts long reaches to here. Around the bridge there are marvelous trees, and songbirds are singing in many voices.” The king at once sent men out to ask what all this meant, and whether there was not some mighty hero come to his kingdom. The messengers came to the shoemaker and began to question him. He said: “I do not know the answer, but I have a letter for your king.” In this letter Prince Ivan told his father everything that had happened: how he had rescued his mother and won Elena the Fair, and how his older brothers had deceived him. With the messengers Prince Ivan sent golden carriages and asked the king and the queen, Elena the Fair, and her sisters to come to him; and he asked that his brothers be brought behind them in simple carts.

  All of them made ready at once and set out; Prince Ivan met them with joy. The king wanted to put his elder sons to death for their perfidy, but Prince Ivan obtained pardon for them from his father. Then a grand feast began: Prince Ivan married Elena the Fair, the queen of the silver kingdom married Prince Piotr, and the queen of the copper kingdom married Prince Vasily. The shoemaker was made a general. I was at that feast and drank mead and wine; it ran down my mustache but did not go into my mouth.

  THE COCK AND THE HAND MILL

  ONCE THERE LIVED an old man and his wife. They were poor, very poor people. They had no bread; so they went to the woods, gathered acorns, brought them home, and began to eat them. They ate for a long time or a short time, but at one point the old woman let an acorn fall and it dropped into the cellar. The acorn struck root and in a short time grew as high as the floor. The old woman noticed this and said: “Old man, we must cut the floor. Let the oak grow higher; once it has grown, we shall not have to go to the woods to pick acorns, we shall gather them at home.” The old man cut the floor; the tree grew and grew till it reached the ceiling. The old man hammered out the ceiling, and later removed the roof; the tree kept on growing and growing till it reached the sky. The old man and woman had by now eaten up their supply of acorns, so the old man took a bag and climbed up the tree.

  He climbed and climbed and finally reached the sky. He walked and walked there and finally saw a little cock with a golden crest, a buttery head, and a hand mill stood near by. The old man did not think too much about it; he simply took the cock and the hand mill and climbed down to his house. When he reached the ground he said: “Now, old woman, what shall we do, what shall we eat?” “Wait,” said the old woman, “let me try the hand mill.” She took the hand mill and began to grind: at each turn a pancake and a pie came out, at each turn a pancake and a pie. And she fed the old man his fill.

  A certain nobleman drove by and stopped at the old couple’s house. “Do you have anything to eat?” he asked. The old woman said: “What shall I give you, my good man? Would you like some pancakes?” She took the hand mill and turned the handle: pancakes and pies fell out. The traveler ate them and said: “Grandmother, sell me your hand mill.” “No,” said the old woman, “it is not for sale.” So the guest stole her hand mill. When the old man and woman discovered the theft, they began to grieve greatly. “Wait,” said Little Cock Golden Crest, “I will fly after the thief and catch him.” He came to the boyar’s house, perched on the gate, and crowed: “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Boyar, boyar, give us back our sky blue golden hand mill! Boyar, boyar, give us back our sky blue golden hand mill!” When the boyar heard this he commanded: “Eh, little fellow, throw him into the water.”

  The cock was caught and thrown into the well. He began to say: “Little beak, little beak, drink the water! Little mouth, little mouth, drink the water!” And he drank all the water. Having drunk it he flew to the boyar’s house, perched on the balcony, and crowed again: “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Boyar, boyar, give us back our sky blue golden hand mill! Boyar, boyar, give us back our sky blue golden hand mill!”

  The boyar ordered the cook to throw him into a hot stove. The cock was caught and thrown into a hot stove, straight into the fire. And he began to say: “Little beak, little beak, pour water! Little mouth, little mouth, pour water!” and he quenched all the fire in the stove. Then he took wing, flew into the boyar’s room, and crowed again: “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Boyar, boyar, give us back our sky blue golden hand mill! Boyar, boyar, give us back our sky blue golden hand mill!” The guests heard him and ran away from the house; the master ran after them to bring them back; Little Cock Golden Crest snatched the hand mill and flew with it to the old man and woman.

  TERESHICHKA

  AN OLD MAN and his wife led a miserable existence. They had lived together all of their lives, yet had no children. In their younger days they had managed somehow to struggle along; but now that they were old there was no one to give them drink, and they grieved and lamented. One day they cut a little block of wood, wrapped it in swaddling clothes, put it in a little cradle, and began to rock it and sing lullabies to it; and in place of the block of wood there began to grow in the swaddling clothes a little son, Tereshichka, a real little jewel.

  The boy grew and grew and reached the age of reason. His father made him a little boat. Tereshichka went to catch fish and his mother brought him milk and curd cheese. She would go to the shore and call: “Tereshichka, my little son, sail, sail to the little shore; I, your mother, have brought you milk.” Tereshichka would hear her voice from afar, sail to the shore, pour out his catch of fish, eat and drink, and go back to fish again. One day his mother told him: “My darling little son, be careful, Chuvilikha, the witch, is after you; do not fall into her clutches.” Having said this she left. Chuvilikha came to the shore and called in a terrible voice: “Tereshichka, my little son, sail, sail to the little shore; I, your mother, have brought you milk.” But Tereshichka was not deceived and said: “Sail farther, farther, my little boat! This is not the voice of my dear mother, but that of Chuvilikha, the wicked witch.”

  Chuvilikha heard him, ran away, found a skillful singing teacher, and got herself a voice like that of Tereshichka’s mother. The mother came and called her son in a soft voice: “Tereshichka, my little son, sail, sail to the little shore; I, your mother, have brough
t you milk.” Tereshichka heard her and said: “Sail closer, closer, my little boat; this is the voice of my dear mother.” His mother gave him food and drink and he went again to fish. Chuvilikha, the witch, came, and chanted in the voice she had acquired, exactly like his own mother. Tereshichka was deceived and came close to shore; she snatched him, put him in a bag, and darted off. She came to a little hut on chicken legs, told her daughter to roast him, and left to get other booty. Tereshichka was not a fool; he did not let the girl hurt him. Instead, he put her to roast in the oven and climbed up a tall oak.

  Chuvilikha came back, jumped into the house, ate and drank, went out into the courtyard, rolled and wallowed, and said: “I will roll and wallow, having eaten of Tereshichka’s flesh.” And he cried to her from the oak: “Roll, witch, wallow, witch, having eaten your own daughter’s flesh!” She heard him, raised her head, looked in all directions—there was no one to be seen anywhere! Again she intoned: “I will roll and wallow, having eaten of Tereshichka’s flesh.” And he again answered: “Roll, witch, wallow, witch, having eaten your own daughter’s flesh.” She took fright, looked up, and saw him in the tall oak. She jumped up and rushed to the blacksmith, crying: “Blacksmith, blacksmith, forge me an ax!” The blacksmith forged an ax for her and said to her: “Do not cut with the edge but with the butt end.”

  She did as he had told her, knocked and knocked, cut and cut, but could not achieve anything. She clung to the tree and sank her teeth in it, and the tree cracked. Gray geese flew in the sky. Tereshichka saw that he was in trouble, beheld the geese, and began to implore them:

  Geese, gray geese, take me with you!

  Take me on your wings

  To my father, to my mother,

  They will give you food and drink.

  The geese answered: “Qua-qua! There is another flock flying, hungrier than we, they will take you home!” Meanwhile the witch was gnawing so that splinters flew, and the oak cracked and shook. The second flock came. Tereshichka cried again:

  Geese, gray geese, take me with you!

  Take me on your wings,

  To my father, to my mother,

  They will give you food and drink.

  “Qua-qua!” answered the geese. “A little plucked goose is following us, he will take you home!” The little goose did not come, and the tree cracked and shook. The witch would bite a while, then look at Tereshichka, lick her lips, and gnaw the tree again; any time now he would fall down. Fortunately, the little plucked goose came, flapped his wings, and Tereshichka implored him:

  My little goose, take me with you!

  Take me on your wings

  To my mother, to my father,

  They will give you food and drink

  And wash you in clean water.

  The little plucked goose pitied him. They flew to the window of his own father’s house and sat on the grass. Meanwhile the old woman had fried pancakes and had invited guests, and was serving Tereshichka’s funeral repast, saying: “This pancake is for you, my little guest, and this one for you, my husband, and this one for me.” Tereshichka said beneath the window: “And which one is for me?” “Look out, old man, who wants a pancake there?” the old woman asked. The old man went out, saw Tereshichka, took him in his arms, brought him to his mother—and hearty embraces were exchanged all around. As for the little plucked goose, he was given food and drink and set free. And thereafter he spread his wings wide, flew at the head of the flock, and remembered how he had rescued Tereshichka.

  KING BEAR

  ONCE THERE LIVED a tsar and a tsarina who had no children. One day the tsar went out to hunt fur-bearing animals and migratory birds. It was hot and he wanted to drink some water. He saw a well off to one side, approached it, bent over it, and was about to drink when King Bear seized him by the beard. “Let me go,” begged the tsar. “Not unless you give me the thing in your own home that you do not know is there.” “What is there in my own home that I don’t know is there?” thought the tsar. “I think I know everything. I’d rather give you a herd of cows,” he said. “No, I do not want even two herds.” “Well, take a herd of horses.” “Not even two herds; but give me the thing that you do not know is there in your own home.”

  The tsar agreed, released his beard, and rode home. As he entered the palace he was informed that his wife had given birth to twins, Prince Ivan and Princess Maria; they were what he had not known was in his own home. The tsar wrung his hands and wept bitterly. “Why are you so distressed?” the tsarina asked him. “How can I help weeping? I have given my own children to King Bear.” “How did that happen?” “In such and such a manner,” answered the tsar. “But we won’t give them away!” “Oh, there is no way out of it! In the end he would destroy the whole kingdom, and take them none the less.”

  They thought and thought about what they should do and at last hit upon a plan. They dug a very deep ditch, furnished it, adorned it like a palace, and stored it with supplies of every sort and sufficient food and drink for a long sojourn. Then they put their children into the ditch, built a ceiling on top of it, threw earth over it, and leveled off the ground around it very smoothly.

  Soon afterward the tsar and tsarina died. Their children grew bigger and bigger. Finally King Bear came for them. He looked everywhere—but no one was there! The palace was deserted. He walked and walked, went all over the house, and thought to himself: “Who will tell me where the tsar’s children are?” Lo and behold, there was a chisel stuck in the wall. “Chisel, chisel,” said King Bear, “tell me, where are the tsar’s children?” “Take me out into the yard and cast me on the ground; where I stick, do you dig.” King Bear took the chisel, went out into the yard, and cast it on the ground; the chisel turned, whirled, and stuck fast right above the place where Prince Ivan and Princess Maria were hidden. The bear dug up the earth with his paws, broke the ceiling, and said: “Ah, Prince Ivan, ah, Princess Maria. So there you are! So you were hiding from me! Your father and mother tried to cheat me, and in revenge I will eat you!” “Ah, King Bear, do not eat us! Many chickens and geese and other goods and chattels were left to us by our father; there is enough to satisfy you.” “Well, so be it! Sit upon me; I will take you to be my servants.”

  They sat upon him, and King Bear carried them to such steep and high mountains that they seemed to be going up to the very sky; the place was utterly deserted, no one lived there. “We are hungry and thirsty,” said Prince Ivan and Princess Maria. “I will run and get you something to eat and drink,” answered the bear. “Meanwhile, you stay here and rest.” The bear ran off to get food and the prince and princess stood there and wept. Out of nowhere, a bright falcon appeared, shook his wings, and said these words: “Ah, Prince Ivan and Princess Maria, what fate has brought you here?” They told him. “Why has the bear taken you?” “To serve him in various ways.” “Do you want me to carry you away? Sit upon my wings.” They seated themselves upon him; the bright falcon rose higher than standing trees, lower only than moving clouds, and set out for distant lands. At that moment King Bear came back, sighted the falcon in the skies, struck his head against the damp earth, and sent a flame straight to the falcon’s wings. The falcon’s wings were singed and he dropped the prince and princess on the ground. “Ah,” said the bear, “so you wanted to flee from me; for that I will eat you up with all your little bones.” “Do not eat us, King Bear; we shall serve you faithfully.” The bear forgave them and took them to his own kingdom; there the mountains were even higher and steeper.

  Some time, a short time or a long time, went by. “Ah,” said Prince Ivan, “I am hungry.” “I too,” said Princess Maria. King Bear went off to get food and told them sternly to stay where they were. They sat on the green grass and wept bitter tears. From nowhere an eagle appeared; he dropped from behind the clouds and asked them: “Ah, Prince Ivan and Princess Maria, what fate has brought you here?” They told him. “Do you want me to carry you away?” “Impossible! The bright falcon tried to carry us away, but he could not, and you can’t
either!” “The falcon is a small bird; I will fly higher than he. Sit upon my wings.” The prince and princess seated themselves upon him; the eagle spread his wings and soared higher than the falcon. The bear came back, sighted the eagle in the skies, struck his head against the damp earth, and singed the eagle’s wings with a flame. The eagle dropped Prince Ivan and Princess Maria to the ground. “Ah, so you again tried to run away!” said the bear. “Now I will really eat you.” “Do not eat us, please; the eagle lured us with false promises. We shall serve you in faith and in truth.” King Bear forgave them for the last time, gave them food and drink, and took them farther away.

  Some time, a short time or a long time, went by. “Ah,” said Prince Ivan, “I am hungry.” “I too,” said Princess Maria. King Bear went off to get them some food. They sat on the green grass and wept. Out of nowhere appeared a bullock who waved his head and asked: “Prince Ivan, Princess Maria, what fate has brought you here?” They told him. “Do you want me to carry you away?” “Impossible! The falcon and the eagle tried to carry us away but could not; you can do it even less than they.” And they were so drowned in tears that they could hardly speak. “The birds couldn’t carry you away, but I will! Sit on my back.” They mounted the bullock and he ran off at a not very fast pace. The bear saw that the prince and princess were trying to get away from him and rushed to pursue them. “Ah, bullock, bullock,” cried the tsar’s children, “the bear is after us.” “Is he far behind us?” “No, quite close.”