Bonus story

The daughter-in-law

Once there lived an old man and an old woman. They had a son, and they married the son to a young woman.

The mother-in-law sent her daughter-in-law to shear the sheep. But she didn’t have sheep, she had bears. So the daughter-in-law sat down on an oak and called, “My teddies, my gray ones, come shear yourselves!” They came and they sheared themselves. Then she went back, and she took the wool to her mother-in-law. Then the mother-in-law sent her to milk the cows. But she didn’t have cows, she had wolves. She sat down on an oak and called, “Bossies and brownies! Come milk yourselves!” They came and they milked themselves.

Then she took the milk to her mother-in-law.

Then the mother-in-law sent her to see her sister, who was a witch, to ask for some loom reeds. She came to that witch’s house. “Auntie!” she said, “Give my mother some reeds!”

“Niece! Sit down, do some weaving for me.”

Then the witch went into the cellar to sharpen her teeth. She sharpened and sharpened for a while and said,“Niece! Are you here?”

“I’m here, auntie!”

Then she (the niece) spat in all four directions.

The witch asked,“Niece! Are you here?”

“Here, auntie.”

Then the niece left for home. She gave the cat a lump of butter, she put a stag-beetle in the house with a prayer. She sprinkled the door with water and closed it with a prayer. And she gave a piece of beef to the dog, and she left.

Baba Yaga came. She saw that the girl was gone. “Cat, why did you let her go?”

He said, “She gave me a lump of butter. I’ve lived with you so long, and I’ve never seen even a burnt crust.”

Then she said,“Stag-beetle, why did you let her go?”

It said,“I’ve lived an age with you, and I never saw a burnt crust. But she put me here with a prayer!”

“Door, why did you let her go? You could have slammed on her!”

It said, “I’ve lived with you for an age, I never saw a burned crust; but she closed me with a prayer!”

“You, dog, why didn’t you bite her?”

It said,“I’ve lived for an age with you, I’ve never seen a burnt crust; but she gave me a piece of meat!”

So the daughter-in-law got away.