Go I don’t know where,
Bring I don’t know what
(Part 2)
The musketeer came out of the cave, looked behind and there was nothing . . .“Shmat-Razum! Are you here?”
“Here! Don’t fear, I won’t fall behind you.”
“All right!” said the musketeer and sat down on the frog. The frog puffed herself up and jumped across the fiery river. He put her back into the jar and set off on his journey back.
He came back to his mother-in-law and made his new servant give a good treat to the old woman and her daughters. Shmat-Razum showed them such a time that the old woman almost started to dance with joy, and the frog, as a reward for her faithful service, was to be given three jars of milk every day.
The musketeer said good-bye to his mother-in-law and set off for home. He walked and walked and got very tired; his swift feet were weary, and his white arms drooped. “Eh,” he said. “Shmat-Razum! If you knew how tired I am. My legs are just paralyzed.”
“Why didn’t you say so a long time ago? I’d have gotten you there in no time.”
He immediately picked the musketeer up like a restless whirlwind and carried him through the air so fast that his hat fell off.“You reached for it too late, my lord! Now your hat’s five thousand vyorsts behind us.” Cities and villages, rivers and forests flickered before his eyes . . .
The musketeer was flying over a deep sea, and Shmat-Razum said to him,“Would you like me to build a golden pavilion on this sea? You could rest and have some good luck.”
“All right, do it!” said the musketeer, and he began to sink toward the sea. Where the waves had been rising a minute before, a little island appeared, and a golden pavilion appeared on the island. Shmat-Razum said to the musketeer, “Sit down in the pavilion, rest, and watch the sea. Three merchant ships will sail by and come to anchor by the island. You invite the merchants in, treat them as guests, and trade me for the three wonders the merchants are carrying with them. I’ll return to you in my own good time!”
The musketeer watched, and he saw three ships sailing from the west. The sailors saw the island and the golden pavilion.“What a wonder!” they said.“How many times have we sailed here, and there was nothing but water, but now just look here! A golden pavilion has appeared. Let’s anchor by the shore, brothers, take a look and admire.” At once they stopped the course of the ships and threw down their anchors. The three merchant masters got into a light boat and sailed to the island.“Hello, good man!”
“Hello, merchants from foreign lands! Welcome; please take a walk, enjoy yourselves, catch your breath. The pavilion is built expressly for passing guests.”
The merchants came into the pavilion and sat down on a bench.“Hey, Shmat-Razum!” cried the musketeer, “give us something to eat and drink.” A table appeared, on the table wines and dishes, as much as the soul could desire—all ready in a moment!
The merchants simply gasped.“Let’s trade!” they said.“You give us your servant, and for that take any wonder that we have.”
“But what kinds of wonders do you have?”
One of the merchants pulled a tiny box out of his pocket, and the moment he opened it a wonderful garden immediately grew up, with flowers and with paths, but when he closed the little box the garden disappeared.
The second merchant pulled an axe from under the hem of his coat and began to chop. Chop and chop—he’d made a boat! Chop and chop—an- other boat! He chopped a hundred times and made a hundred boats, with sails, with cannon, and with sailors. The boats sailed around: they shot their cannons, and they asked the merchant for his orders . . . When he’d had enough of the amusement, he hid his axe—and the ships disappeared, as if they’d never been there!
The third merchant took a horn, blew into one end, and all at once an army appeared, infantry and cavalry, with rifles, with cannon, with banners. All the regiments sent couriers to the merchant, and he gave them orders. The regiments marched, music thundered, the banners unfurled . . . When the merchant had had enough fun, he took his trumpet, blew into the other end—and there was nothing; where had all the forces gone to?
“Your wonders are just fine, but I don’t need them!” said the musketeer. “Armies and ships are tsars’ business, and I’m a simple soldier. If you want to trade with me, then give me all three wonders for my one invisible servant.”
“Won’t that be too much?”
“Well, as you prefer; otherwise, I won’t trade!”
The merchants thought to themselves, “What good is that garden to us, these regiments and warships? Better to trade; at least we’ll be fed and drunk without any effort at all.” They gave the musketeer their wonders and said,“Hey, Shmat-Razum! We’re taking you with us; will you serve us with faith and truth?”
“Why shouldn’t I serve you? It’s all the same to me who I live with.”
The merchants returned to their ships and started to treat all the mariners to food and drink.“Well then, Shmat-Razum, stir your stumps!”
They all drank until they were drunk and fell fast asleep. But the musketeer sat in his golden pavilion, started thinking, and said,“Ah, it’s too bad! Where’s my faithful servant Shmat-Razum now?”
“I’m here, sir!”
The musketeer was delighted.“Isn’t it time for us to get home?”
No sooner had he said it than he was picked up by a restless whirlwind and carried through the air.
The merchants woke up, and they wanted to drink some more. “Hey, Shmat-Razum, give us something for our hangovers!” No one answered: no one was serving them. No matter how much they shouted, no matter how they gave orders, it was no use. “Well, gentlemen! That swindler cheated us. Now only the devil will find him! The island’s disappeared, and the golden pavilion, too.” The merchants grieved and grieved for a while, lifted their sails, and set off for where they were supposed to be going.
The musketeer quickly flew to his own land and came down beside the blue sea in a deserted place. “Hey, Shmat-Razum! Couldn’t we build a palace here?”
“Why not? It will be ready right away.”
In a wink there was such a delightful palace that it can’t even be described, twice as good as the king’s. The musketeer opened the little box, and around the palace a garden appeared with rare trees and flowers. The musketeer sat there at the open window and admired his garden. Suddenly a mourning dove flew in at the window, struck the floor, and turned into his young wife. They embraced, said their greetings, and began to ask each other questions, tell each other everything. The wife said to the musketeer, “Since the very moment when you left home, all that time I’ve been flying through the forests and groves as a lonely mourning dove.”
The next morning the king came out on his balcony, looked toward the blue sea, and saw that a new palace was standing on the very shore of the sea, and around the palace a green garden.“What ignoramus got the idea of building on my land without permission?”
The couriers went running, found out everything, and reported that the palace had been built by the musketeer, and that he himself was living in it with his wife at his side. The king became even more enraged and ordered an army collected and sent to the shore, to raze the garden to its foundations, to break the palace up into little pieces, and to put the musketeer himself and his wife to a cruel death. The musketeer observed that the king’s strong army was marching on him, and he quickly grabbed the axe. Chop and chop—out came a ship! He chopped a hundred times and made a hundred ships. Then he took out the horn, blew into it once—the infantry tumbled out of it; he blew twice and out tumbled the cavalry.
The commanders of the regiments came running to him, and the ships were waiting for his orders. The musketeer ordered them to enter the battle. At once music began to play, they beat the drums, and the regiments moved. The infantry smashed the king’s soldiers; the cavalry chased them the rest of the way, took them captive, and the cannons from the ships rained fire on the capital city. The king saw that his army was running away; he wanted to rush and stop the army—but how could he? Before even a half-hour had passed, he himself was killed.
When the battle ended, the people gathered and asked the musketeer to take the whole kingdom into his hands. He agreed to that and became the king, and his wife became the queen.
Go I don’t know where,
Bring I don’t know what
(Part 1)
In a certain state there lived a king who was an unmarried bachelor, and he had a whole company of musketeers. The musketeers would go out hunting, shoot migratory birds, and provide the ruler’s table with game. A fine young musketeer by the name of Fedot served in that company. He had a sharp eye for shooting game: it was almost as if he never missed, and for that the king loved him more than all of his comrades.
One time it happened that he went out to hunt early-early in the morning, at the crack of dawn. He walked into a dark thick forest and saw a mourning dove sitting on a tree. Fedot brought up his weapon, aimed, fired, and broke the bird’s wing. The bird fell from the branch to the damp earth. e musketeer picked up the bird, was about to tear off its head and put it into his sack.
The mourning dove spoke to him. “Ah, you fine young musketeer, don’t tear off my wild head, don’t make me part from the white world. Better take me alive, bring me into your home, put me on the windowsill and watch. The moment I start to fall asleep, at that very time swing your right hand and strike me—and you’ll win yourself great happiness!”
The musketeer was mightily surprised. “What is this?” he thought. “It looks just like a bird, but it speaks with a human voice! I’ve never seen anything like this before . . .”
He took the bird home, put it down on the windowsill, and stood there waiting. A little while passed, the mourning dove put its head under its wing and dozed off. The musketeer lifted his right hand, swung it, and hit the bird lightly. The mourning dove fell to the ground and turned into a beautiful girl, such a beautiful one that you couldn’t imagine her, or guess, but only tell it in a fairy tale! There was no other beauty in the world to equal her!
She said to the fine young man, the king’s musketeer, “You were able to catch me, so now figure out how to live with me. You’ll be my betrothed husband, and I your God-given wife!” And they agreed on that. Fedot got married and lived well. He amused himself with his young wife, but he didn’t forget his duties. Every morning, before the sun rose, he would take his weapon, go into the forest, shoot all kinds of game, and take it over to the king’s kitchen.
His wife saw he was exhausted from hunting, and she said to him, “Listen, my friend, I’m sorry for you. Every livelong day you’re put to trouble, you wander through the forest and the swamps, you always come home soaking wet, but we have no gain from it. What kind of a trade is that! I know something here that will not leave you without profit. Get hold of a hundred or two hundred rubles, and we’ll arrange the whole business.”
Fedot ran to his comrades. He borrowed a ruble from one, two rubles from another, and got together exactly two hundred rubles. He brought them to his wife. “Well,” she said, “now buy all kinds of silk with those two hundred rubles.” The musketeer bought two hundred rubles’ worth of silk. She took it and said,“Don’t fret, say a prayer and go to bed. Morning’s wiser than the evening!”
The husband fell asleep, and the wife went out onto the porch. She opened her magic book, and all at once two unknown young men appeared before her. Tell them whatever you want! “ Take this silk here and in a single hour make me a carpet, and such a wonderful one that its like has never been seen in the whole world. Let the whole kingdom be embroidered on the carpet, with cities, and with villages, and with rivers, and with lakes.” They set to work and not only within an hour, but in ten minutes they had finished a carpet to make everyone marvel. They handed it over to the musketeer’s wife and disappeared in a wink, as if they had never been there!
In the morning she handed the carpet over to her husband.“Here,” she said.“Take this to the bazaar and sell it to the merchants, but listen: don’t set your own price, but take what they offer.”
Fedot took the carpet, unrolled it, hung it over his arm, and went to the tradesmen’s rows. A merchant saw it, came running over, and asked,“Listen, honored sir! Are you selling this?”
“I’m selling it.”
“And what does it cost?”
“You’re a tradesman, you set the price.”
The merchant thought and thought, but he couldn’t set a price on the carpet—not at all! Another merchant jumped up, a third one after him, a fourth . . . and a huge crowd of them gathered, looking at the carpet, marveling, but they couldn’t set a price on it. Meanwhile, the court commander was riding past the tradesmen’s row when he caught sight of the crowd and wondered what the merchants were talking about. He got out of his carriage, walked over, and said, “Hello, merchants and tradesmen, guests from overseas! What are you speaking about?”
“It’s like this, we can’t set a price on the carpet.”
The commander looked at the carpet and he himself began to marvel. “Listen, musketeer,” he said. “Tell me the honest truth, where did you get such a marvelous carpet?”
“My wife embroidered it.”
“What are you asking for it?”
“I myself don’t know the price. My wife ordered me not to haggle, but
whatever I’m offered, we’ll take it!”
“Well, here are ten thousand for you!”
The musketeer took the money and handed over the carpet. But that commander was always near the king—he drank and ate at his table. So he rode off to the king’s to dine and took along the carpet.“Would your majesty care to see what a wonderful carpet I bought today?”
The king took a look: he saw his whole kingdom, as if on the palm of his hand, and he gasped!
“Now that is a carpet! I’ve never seen anything so cunning in my life. Well, commander, ask whatever you want, but I won’t give the carpet back to you.” Here the king took out twenty-five thousand and gave it to him, from hand to hand, but he hung the carpet up in his palace.
“ That’s all right,” thought the commander. “I’ll order another one for myself, an even better one.”
He rode right to the musketeer’s, searched out his house, walked into the main room, and the moment he saw the musketeer’s wife, at that moment he forgot both himself and his business. He himself didn’t know why he had come. ere before him stood such a beauty that he could have stared at her for a hundred years without ever looking away! He looked at the other man’s wife, and in his head thought after thought, “Who has ever seen, who has ever heard of a simple soldier having possession of such a treasure? Even though I serve the king himself, and I hold the rank of general, I’ve still never seen such a beauty!”
The general could barely force himself to come to his senses, and he went back home against his will. From that time, from that hour he was be- side himself. Asleep or awake, he could only think of the musketeer’s splen- did wife. When he ate he could not be sated, and when he drank he could not drink his fill, her image kept appearing to him!
The king noticed this and asked him, “What’s happened to you? Is it some kind of grief?”
“Ah, your highness! I saw the musketeer’s wife. There’s no other such beauty in the world. I keep thinking about her: I can’t be satisfied by food and drink, I can’t be delighted by any kind of nourishment!”
The king felt the wish to admire her himself. He ordered his carriage prepared and rode to the musketeer’s part of town. He came into the main room and saw an indescribable beauty! No matter who looked at her, an old man or a young man, everyone fell madly in love. He was crushed by the fever in his heart.“What?” he thought to himself.“Why am I walking around an unmarried bachelor? I would like to marry this beauty; why should she be a musketeer’s wife? She was destined from birth to be a queen.”
The king returned to his palace and said to the commander,“Listen! You knew how to show me the musketeer’s wife, an unimaginable beauty. Now figure how to get rid of her husband. I want to marry her myself . . . And if you don’t get rid of him, you’ll have yourself to blame. Even though you’re my faithful servant, you’ll swing on the gallows!”
The commander went out, even more sorrowful than before. He couldn’t figure out how to get rid of the musketeer.
He walked through empty lots, back alleys, and he met a Baba Yaga. “Stop, servant of the king! I know all your thoughts. Would you like me to help your inescapable grief?”
“Help me, grandmother! I’ll pay you whatever you want.”
“ The king has told you his order, that you should get rid of Fedot the musketeer. at would be no great matter, he’s simple himself, but his wife’s awfully sly! Still, we’ll set such a task that he won’t be able to handle it quickly. Go back to the king and tell him this: over thrice-nine lands, in the thrice-tenth land there’s an island. On that island walks a stag with golden horns. Let the king gather fifty sailors—the most useless, hopeless drunks—and let him order an old, rotten ship that’s been considered retired for thirty years prepared for the quest. Let him send Fedot the musketeer on that ship to get the stag Golden Horns. In order to get to the island, he’ll have to sail neither much nor little—three years, and then three years back from the island—six years altogether. When the ship goes to sea, it will serve for a month, and then it will sink. The musketeer, the sailors—they’ll all go to the bottom!”
The commander listened to these words, thanked the Baba Yaga for her advice, rewarded her with gold, and ran to the king.
“Your highness,” he said, “it’s like this, and like that—we can surely get rid of the musketeer.”
The king agreed to the plan, and he gave the order to his navy at once: to prepare for the quest an old, rotten ship, load it up with six years’ worth of provisions and find a crew of fifty sailors—the most debauched and bitter drunks. The heralds ran through all the taverns and got together such sailors that it was a treat to see: one had two black eyes, one had his nose punched sideways. As soon as they reported to the king that the ship was ready, at that moment he ordered the musketeer to come to him.“Well, Fedot, you’re a fine young man, the best musketeer in the company. Do me this favor: sail over thrice-nine lands, and in the thrice-tenth kingdom there’s an island. On that island walks the stag Golden Horns. Catch him alive and bring him here.”
The musketeer thought about it. He didn’t even know what to answer. “ Think or don’t think,” said the king,“but if you don’t do this deed, then my sword will take your head off your shoulders!”
Fedot turned around leftward and went out of the palace. That evening he came home sorely sorrowful, he didn’t want to say even a word.
His wife asked,“What are you sad about, my dear? Has something bad happened?”
He told her everything in full.
“So you’re grieving about that? No wonder! That’s a great service, not a small one! Say a prayer and go to sleep. Morning’s wiser than the evening: e musketeer lay down and fell asleep, and his wife opened her magic book. Suddenly two unknown young men appeared before her. “What do you need, what do you wish?”
“Go over thrice-nine lands, to the thrice-tenth kingdom—to the island, catch the stag Golden Horns and bring him here.”
“We obey! By sunrise it will all be done.”
They flew off like a whirlwind to that island, caught the stag Golden Horns, and brought him straight to the musketeer’s yard. An hour before dawn they had done the whole deed and vanished, as if they had never been there.
The musketeer’s beautiful wife woke her husband extra early and told him, “Go and look, the stag Golden Horns is strolling in your yard. Take him on the ship with you, sail away for five days, and on the sixth day turn back.” The musketeer put the stag in a thick, closed cage and put it on the ship.“What’s this?” asked the sailors.
“All kinds of provisions and food. The way is long, we’re likely to need all kinds of things!”
When the time came for the ship to leave the dock, many people came to see it off. The king himself came, said good-bye to Fedot, and made him the commander of all the sailors. For five days the ship sailed over the sea; they were already far from shore. Fedot the musketeer ordered a forty- bucket cask of wine rolled onto the deck and said to the sailors, “Drink, lads! Don’t stint yourselves: the soul’s your measure!” And they were glad of this: they rushed over to the cask and started drinking the wine, drinking so much that they toppled over and fell into a sound sleep right there beside the cask. çe musketeer took hold of the wheel at the helm, turned the ship, and sailed back. To keep the sailors from noticing this, he kept them full of wine from morning to night.Th e moment they pried their eyelids open from one spree, a new cask would be ready—good reason to take a hair of the dog that bit them.
On exactly the eleventh day the ship hove to the dock, threw up its flag, and began to fire its cannons. The king heard the firing, got angry, and jumped on Fedot with all possible severity.“How dare you return before the time was up?”
“But where was I supposed to go, your highness? Perhaps some fools would sail around for ten years without doing anything sensible, but instead of ten years we took only ten days to make the voyage and do the deed. Wouldn’t you like to have a look at the stag Golden Horns?”
They immediately brought the cage off the ship, let out the golden- horned stag. The king saw that the musketeer was right; you couldn’t blame him for anything! He allowed him to go home, but he gave the sailors who had voyaged with him freedom for a whole six years. No one could dare ask them to come and serve, for the very reason that they had already served those years.
The next day the king summoned the commander and went for him with threats. “Why did you allow this?” he said. “Or are you playing a joke on me? Your own head’s not dear to you, it seems! Do whatever you can, but find a way to send Fedot the musketeer to an evil death.”
“Your royal majesty! Allow me to think. Perhaps this can be remedied.”
The commander set off through empty lots and back alleys, and he saw the Baba Yaga coming to meet him. “Stop, servant of the king! I know your thoughts; would you like me to ease your grief?”
“Ease it, grandmother! For the musketeer has returned and brought the stag Golden Horns.”
“Oh, I already heard! He himself is a simple man. It wouldn’t be hard to get the better of him—just like sniffing a pinch of snuff! But his wife’s a real crafty one. Well, we’ll set her another task, one she won’t be able to handle so quickly. Go to the king and tell him to send the musketeer I don’t know where, to bring back I don’t know what. He won’t be able to complete this task for all of eternity. Either he’ll disappear without a trace or he’ll come back empty-handed.”
The commander rewarded the Baba Yaga with gold and ran to the king. The king heard him out and ordered the musketeer brought to him. “Well, Fedot! You’re a fine lad, the first musketeer in the company. You’ve done me one service—you got the stag Golden Horns. Now do me another service: go I don’t know where and bring back I don’t know what. But remember, if you don’t bring it then my sword will see your head off your shoulders!”
The musketeer turned around leftward and left the palace. He came home sorrowful and pensive. His wife asked him, “Why, my dear, are you grieving? Has there been another misfortune?”
“Eh,” he said, “I shook one piece of bad luck off my neck, but another came falling on me. e king is sending me I don’t know where, and he orders me to bring back I don’t know what. Because of your loveliness I have to bear all kinds of misfortunes!”
“Yes, this service is no small one! In order to get there, you’ll have to travel for nine years, and nine years back—altogether eighteen years. And God only knows whether you’ll have any use from it!”
“What can I do, how should I act?”
“Say a prayer and go to sleep. Morning’s wiser than the evening. Tomorrow you’ll find out everything.”
The musketeer lay down to sleep, and his wife waited until nightfall, opened her magic book, and at once the two lads appeared before her.
“What do you wish, what do you need?”
“Do you happen to know how to go I don’t know where, to bring back I don’t know what?”
“No, we don’t!”
She closed the book, and the lads disappeared before her eyes.
In the morning the musketeer’s wife woke her husband.“Go to the king, and ask him for golden treasure for the road. After all, you’ll have to wander for eighteen years. When you get the money, come say good-bye to me.”
The musketeer visited the king, got a whole sack of gold from the treasury, and came back to say good-bye to his wife. She gave him a piece of cloth and a ball. “When you leave the city, throw this ball ahead of you. Wherever it rolls, you walk that way. And here is some of my handiwork for you. Wherever you may be, whenever you go to wash, always dry your face with this cloth.”
The musketeer said good-bye to his wife and to his comrades, bowed in all four directions, and set off to the edge of town. He threw the ball ahead of him. The ball rolled and rolled, and he followed after it.
About a month had passed, the king called the commander and said to him, “ The musketeer has set out for eighteen years to drag around the white world, and all the signs are clear that he won’t remain alive. After all, eighteen years isn’t two weeks. All kinds of things can happen on the road! He’s carrying a lot of money. Perhaps robbers will fall upon him, rob him, and subject him to an evil death. It seems that now I can get started on his wife. You take my carriage, drive to the musketeers’ part of town, and bring her here to the palace.”
The commander drove to the musketeers’ part of town, came to the house of the musketeer’s beautiful wife, walked into the house, and said, “Hello, clever woman. The king has ordered you to present yourself at the palace.”
She came to the palace. The king welcomed her with joy, led her into gilded chambers, and said these words to her: “Would you like to be the queen? I’ll marry you.”
“Where is it seen, where is it heard of, to try to take the wife away from a living husband! No matter who he is, even just a simple musketeer, but to me he’s my lawful husband.”
“If you won’t come of your own free will, I’ll take you by force!”
The beauty smiled, struck the floor, turned into a mourning dove, and flew out the window.
The musketeer passed through many lands and kingdoms, but the ball kept on rolling. When they met a river, there the ball would cast itself across as a bridge. When the musketeer wanted to rest, there the ball would turn into a feather bed. For a long time, for a short time—quickly may a tale be spun, but not so soon a deed is done—the musketeer came to a great, beau- tiful palace. The ball rolled up to the gates and disappeared.
So the musketeer stood and thought, “Let me go straight ahead!” He went up the stair into the rooms, and there he met three maidens of indescribable beauty.“Where are you come from, young man, and why have you come to visit?”
“Ah, fair maidens, you didn’t let me rest after the long journey, but you started to ask questions. If you gave me food and drink first, laid me down to rest, then you could ask me for news.” They immediately set the table, sat him down, fed him and gave him drink, and put him to bed.
The musketeer slept his fill and rose from the soft bed. The fair maidens brought him water and an embroidered towel. He washed up with spring water, but he didn’t take the towel. “I have my own cloth,” he said, “I have something to wipe my face.”
He took out the cloth and began to wipe his face. e fair maidens asked him, “Good man! Tell us: where did you get that cloth?”
“My wife gave it to me.”
“ Then you must be married to our own dear sister!”
They called their old mother. As soon as she took one look at the cloth, she said right away, “ That’s my daughter’s handiwork!” She began to ask their guest about everything. He told her how he had married her daughter and how the tsar had sent him I don’t know where, to bring I don’t know what. “Ah, my dear son-in-law! But even I haven’t heard of that wonder! Wait here, perhaps my servants know.”
The old woman went out onto the porch, called in a loud voice, and suddenly—where did they come from?—all kinds of beasts ran up, and all kinds of birds came flying.“Greetings, forest beasts and birds of the air! You beasts search everywhere, you birds fly everywhere: have you heard how to get I don’t know where and to bring back I don’t know what?”
All the beasts and birds answered in one voice, “No, we’ve never heard of that!”
The old woman sent them back to their own places, in overgrown plac- es, in forests, in groves. She returned to the main room, got out her magic book, opened it—and right away two giants appeared to her.“What do you wish, what do you need?”
“Here’s what, my faithful servants! Take me along with my son-in-law to the wide ocean-sea and stand exactly in the middle—on the very surface of the waves.”
They immediately picked up the musketeer and the old woman, carried them off as if they were restless whirlwinds to the wide ocean-sea, and stopped in the middle—on the very surface of the waves. They themselves stood like pillars, and they held the musketeer and the old woman in their arms.
The old woman called with a loud voice, and all the monsters and fish of the sea swam to her: they were just teeming!Their bodies hid the blue sea!“Hail, monsters and fish of the sea! You swim everywhere, you visit all the islands. Have you heard how to go to I don’t know where, and to bring back I don’t know what?”
All the monsters and fish answered in one voice,“No! We’ve never heard of that!”
Suddenly an old lame frog, who had been living in retirement for thirty years already, pushed her way forward, and she said,“Kva-kva! I know where to find such a marvel.”
“Well, my dear, you are the one I need,” said the old woman. She picked up the frog and ordered the giants to take her and her son-in-law back home. In a moment they found themselves back in the palace. e old wom- an started to ask the frog questions. “How and by what road must my son-in-law go?”
The frog answered, “ This place is on the edge of the world—far, far away! I would come along myself, but I’m already mighty old. I can barely move my legs, I couldn’t hop there if I had fifty years.” The old woman brought a large jar, filled it with fresh milk, put the frog in it, and gave it to her son-in- law. “Carry this jar,” she said, “and let the frog show you the way.”
The musketeer took the jar with the frog, said good-bye to the old woman and her daughters, and set off on his way. He walked along, and the frog told him which way to go.
Close or far, long or short, he came to a fiery river. Beyond that river stood a high mountain, and you could see a door to the inside of the mountain. “Kva-kva!” said the frog. “Let me out of the jar; we have to cross the river.” The musketeer took her out of the jar and put her on the ground. “Well, fine young lad! Sit down on me, and don’t feel pity. You won’t be able to squash me!”
The musketeer sat down on the frog and squashed her into the earth. The frog started to puff up. She puffed and puffed until she was as big as a haystack. All the musketeer could think of was how to keep from falling off. “If I fall, I’ll be smashed to death!”
The frog puffed up and made such a jump that she jumped all the way across the fiery river, and then she turned small again.“Now, good lad, go in that door, and I’ll wait for you here. You’ll go into a cave, and hide yourself well in there. After a while two old men will come in. Listen to what they say and do, and after they leave you do the same thing!”
The musketeer went up to the mountain, opened the door—and the cave was awfully dark, as if you’d poked your eyes out! He walked crouching over and started feeling with his hands. He felt an empty space, sat down in it, and hid himself. Then a little bit later two old men came and said,“Hey, Shmat-Razum! Give us something to eat.”
That very moment—out of nowhere!—the chandeliers began to burn, plates and dishes rattled, and all kinds of wine and food appeared on the table. The old men ate and drank their fill and then ordered,“Hey, Shmat- Razum! Clear everything away.” Suddenly everything disappeared—the table, the wines, the food—and the chandeliers went out.
The musketeer heard the two old men leave, got out of the cupboard, and shouted,“Hey, Shmat-Razum!”
“What do you wish?”
“Feed me!” Again the lit chandeliers appeared, and the laden table, and all kinds of drinks and foods.
The musketeer sat down at the table and said,“Hey, Shmat-Razum! Sit down with me, brother, let’s eat and drink together, it’s boring by myself.”
An unseen voice answered, “Ah, good man! Where did God bring you from? I’ve been serving the two old men in faith and truth for nearly thirty years, and in all that time they’ve never asked me to sit with them.”
The musketeer took a look and was surprised. He couldn’t see anyone, but it was as if someone was sweeping food from the plates with a little broom, and the bottles of wine lifted themselves, poured themselves into the goblets, and look—they were already empty! The musketeer ate and drank his fill and said,“Listen, Shmat-Razum! Would you like to serve me?I have a good life.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to! I’ve been bored here for a long time, and I can see that you’re a good man.”
“Well, gather up everything and come along with me!”
(To be continued)
The frog princess
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state there lived a king who had three sons. One day he called his sons to him and said, “Dear children! Now you’re of age, it’s time for you to think about marriage. Each of you make an arrow, go out into the secluded meadows, and shoot in different directions. Each one’s arrow will land by a house, and the one who shot the arrow will find his bride in that house.”
Each prince made himself a bow, went out into the secluded meadows, and took his shot. The eldest brother shot to the right, the middle one to the left, and the youngest one, who was called Ivan-Bogatyr, let his arrow go straight ahead. After that they went in the different directions to search for their arrows. The big brother found his arrow at a court minister’s house, while the middle one found his at a general’s house. The princes married their beautiful daughters.
But for a long time Ivan-Bogatyr couldn’t find his arrow, and he was exceedingly sorrowful. For two whole days he walked through the forests and mountains, but on the third day he went through a swamp and saw a big white frog, holding in its mouth the arrow he had shot. Ivan-Bogatyr wanted to run off and get away from what he had found, but the frog cried out,“Kvaa-kvaa, Ivan-Bogatyr! Come here and take your arrow, or else you’ll be trapped in the swamp forever.”
After saying these words, the frog flipped over, and at that very moment a decorated gazebo appeared. Ivan-Bogatyr went into the gazebo. “I know you’ve had nothing to eat for three days,” said the frog. “Wouldn’t you like something to eat?” Then the frog flipped over again, and all at once a table appeared with all kinds of dishes and drinks. Ivan-Bogatyr sat down at the table, ate and drank his fill.
“Listen,” the frog told him. “I’m the one who found your arrow, so you have to marry me. And if you don’t marry me you’ll never get out of this swamp!” Ivan-Bogatyr grew sorrowful and didn’t know what to do. He thought a bit and took the frog with him back to his own state. The brothers and their brides started to laugh at him.
The day came when Ivan-Bogatyr was to get married. He set off in a carriage, but the frog was carried to the palace on a golden saucer. When night came and the bride and groom went into their rooms, the frog took off her frog skin and became a beautiful woman, but by day she turned into a frog. Ivan Bogatyr lived with her in good fortune and happiness.
After a certain time the king ordered his sons to come to him and said to them, “Dear children! Now all three of you are married. I’d like to wear shirts made by each of your wives, my daughters-in-law.” He gave each of them a piece of linen and said that the shirts must be ready by the next day. The elder brothers took the cloth to their wives, and they started to call their nannies, their nurses, and the lovely chambermaids, to help them sew a shirt. Their nannies and their nurses came running right away and got to work. One would cut, while another would sew.
At the same time they sent a scullery maid to see how the frog would sew the shirt. The girl came to Ivan-Bogatyr’s rooms as he brought in the cloth and put it on the table with a sorrowful look.
“Why are you so sad, Ivan-Bogatyr?” asked the frog.
And he answered her, “How can I help being sad? My father has ordered that a shirt be sewn for him from this cloth by tomorrow.”
“Don’t cry, don’t grieve,” said the frog.“Lie down and go to sleep; morning’s wiser than the evening. Everything will be done properly!” She grabbed the scissors, cut all the cloth up into tiny scraps, then opened the window, threw them into the wind and said, “Wild winds! Take away these scraps and sew my father-in-law a shirt.” The scullery maid went and told the princesses that the frog had cut all the cloth into little pieces and thrown them out the window. They laughed at the frog and said,“And what will her husband bring the king tomorrow!”
The next day Ivan-Bogatyr woke up, and the frog gave him a shirt.“Here, my dear Ivan-Bogatyr! Take this shirt to your father.”
Ivan-Bogatyr took the shirt and brought it to his father. The older brothers brought their shirts, too. The first to present his shirt was the big brother. The king took a look and said, “ This shirt is sewn the way people usually sew.” He looked at the second son’s shirt and said that shirt was sewn no better. But when his youngest son handed him the shirt, the king could not marvel enough. You couldn’t see a single stitch in the shirt, and he said, “Bring me this shirt for the greatest holidays.”
The king called his sons a second time and said to them,“My dear children! I want to know whether your wives know how to sew with gold and silver. Take some silk, some gold and silver thread, and let each of you have a carpet ready by tomorrow.”
The wives of the elder brothers began to call nannies, nurses, and lovely chambermaids to help them embroider the carpets. Right away the nannies, nurses, and lovely chambermaids came and began to embroider the carpets, one with silver, one with gold, and another with silk. They sent the scullery maid again to take a look at what the frog would do.
Ivan-Bogatyr brought the gold, silver, and silk to his rooms and was most sorrowful. The frog, sitting on a chair, said,“Kvaa-kvaa-kvaa! Why are you sorrowing so, Ivan-Bogatyr?”
“How could I help being sorrowful?” he answered. “Father has ordered that a carpet be embroidered with this silver, gold, and silk by tomorrow.”
“Do not weep and do not grieve,” said the frog. “Lie down to sleep. Morning’s wiser than the evening!” She herself took the scissors, cut up all the silk, tore up the silver and gold, threw it all out the window, and said, “Wild winds! Bring that carpet my father used to cover the windows.” The daughters-in-law, hearing all that from the scullery maid, got the idea of doing the same thing themselves. They waited for a long time, but once they saw that the winds were not bringing them any carpets, they sent out to buy gold, silver, and silk and began embroidering carpets the way they had been doing it before.
In the morning, as soon as Ivan-Bogatyr got up, the frog gave him the carpet. So all three brothers brought their carpets to their father. He took the carpet first from the eldest, looked at it, and said,“ This carpet would do to cover a horse from the rain.” He took a look at the middle son’s and said, “ This carpet could be put in the entryway, for people to wipe their feet on.” Then he took the carpet from the youngest son, marveled at it, and said, “But this carpet may be spread on my table on the most festive days.” The king ordered that Ivan-Bogatyr’s carpet be put away and carefully kept, but he gave the carpets back to the other sons. “ Take them to your wives,” said the king,“and tell them to keep them for themselves.”
For a third time the king spoke to his sons. “Now, my dear children, I want to have a loaf of bread made by your wives’ hands.” When the princesses heard this from their husbands, they immediately sent the scullery maid to see what the frog would do. Just then, Ivan-Bogatyr came into his rooms most sorrowful.
“Kvaa-kvaa-kvaa! Why are you sorrowing?” the frog asked him.
“How could I not be sorrowful? Father has ordered you to bake a loaf of bread.”
“Don’t weep, don’t grieve, everything is done!” and she ordered yeast, flour, and water brought. She poured the flour into the yeast, poured in the water, opened the oven door, poured it into the cold stove, closed the oven door, and said,“Bake, bread, clean, delicate, and white as snow!”
The scullery maid went back to the daughters-in-law and said, “I don’t know why the king keeps praising the frog. It doesn’t know how to do anything!”
Once they heard all this, the daughters-in-law thought they would do the same thing as the frog. They dissolved the flour in cold water and poured it into cold stoves. But, seeing that their mixtures had poured flat, they ordered still more flour, mixed their dough with warm water, and put it into heated stoves. They were afraid they wouldn’t finish in time and they hurried, so one’s bread burned, while the other’s came out half-baked. The frog pulled her bread out of the stove, and it was clean and delicate, white as snow.
The brothers went to their father and brought their loaves. The king took the loaf from his big son, took a look, and said,“You’d eat that kind of bread only in great poverty!” He took the middle son’s loaf and said, “ This bread is no better!” Then he took the bread from the youngest son and ordered that this bread be served at his table when he had guests. “My dear children!” the king continued.“Your wives have done everything for me that I ordered, and therefore I ask you and your wives to come to the palace tomorrow for dinner.” The princes went back to their wives.
Ivan-Bogatyr was greatly sorrowed, and he thought, “How will I take a frog with me?”
But the frog, sitting in a chair, asked, “Kvaa-kvaa-kvaa! Ivan-Bogatyr, what are you so sorrowful about?”
Ivan-Bogatyr answered,“How could I help being sorrowful? Father has ordered us all to come to his palace tomorrow and bring their wives. But how can I bring you?”
“Do not weep, do not grieve,” said the frog. “Morning’s wiser than the evening. Lie down and sleep!”
The next day Ivan-Bogatyr got ready and went to the palace, but the daughters-in-law sent the scullery maid again to watch. What would the frog be traveling in? Just then the frog opened the window and called out in a loud voice. “Ah, you wild winds! Fly to my country and tell them to send a rich carriage, with the whole set, with lackeys, with haiduks,with heralds and with horsemen.” After that she slammed her window shut and sat down on the chair.
Everyone had already ridden to the palace; they were only waiting for the frog. Suddenly they saw footmen running, horsemen galloping, and up drove an extremely rich carriage. The king thought some other king or queen must be coming to visit him, and he went out to meet them. “Don’t trouble yourself, Father!” said Ivan-Bogatyr. “ That just means my froggie’s dragging along in a box.”
The carriage drove up, and Ivan-Bogatyr’s wife got out, such a beauty that everyone began to marvel. They sat at the table. Whatever the frog didn’t finish drinking, she poured into her sleeve, and she put the bones in her other sleeve. The other daughters-in-law saw and started to do the same thing. Whatever they didn’t finish drinking, they would pour into one sleeve, and whatever they didn’t finish eating they put into the other. When they got up from the table, music began to play, and the frog went to dance. She waved one sleeve, and suddenly water stood one arshin high, she waved the other sleeve, and geese and swans sailed off across the water. When they saw this, no one could marvel enough at her cunning. But when she stopped dancing, it all disappeared—the water, the geese, and the swans.
Then the other daughters-in-law went to dance, and when they waved their sleeves they slopped and sprayed on everyone and almost knocked people’s eyes out with the bones!
Just then Ivan-Bogatyr headed home, took the frog’s skin, and burned it right away. His wife came home and ran to find her frog skin. She couldn’t find it, and she said, “Well, Ivan-Bogatyr! Since you couldn’t wait for even a little time, then search for me over thrice-nine lands, in the thrice-tenth kingdom, in the sunflower kingdom, and know that I am called Vasilisa the Wise.” She said this, and then she suddenly disappeared.
Ivan-Bogatyr began to cry inconsolably and set off to search for Vasilisa the Wise. He walked for a long time or a short time, near or far—quickly may a tale be spun, but not so fast a deed is done!—and he came to a little house that stood on chicken legs and spun around by itself. Ivan-Bogatyr said, “Little house, little house! Stand with your back to the woods, your front to me!” And at his words the little house stopped.
Ivan-Bogatyr went into the house and saw a Baba Yaga sitting in the front corner. She spoke up in an angry voice. “Until now the Russian spirit was unheard by the hearing and unseen by the sight, but nowadays the Russian spirit appears before my eyes! What are you doing, Ivan-Bogatyr? By free will or by compulsion?”
Ivan-Bogatyr answered that it was this much by free will, but twice as much by compulsion, and he told her everything that had happened.
“I’m sorry for you,” said the Baba Yaga.“Be my guest, I’ll do you a good turn, I’ll show you Vasilisa the Wise. She comes flying to see me every day to take a rest. When she comes flying, you try to catch her by the head. When you catch her she’ll start to turn into a frog, a toad, a snake, and other kinds of unclean creatures, and last of all she’ll turn into an arrow. You take that arrow and break it in two, and she’ll be yours forever. Just take care: once you catch your wife don’t let her go!”
Then Baba Yaga hid the prince, and hardly had she managed to hide him when Vasilisa the Wise came flying. Ivan-Bogatyr went over to her softly and grabbed her by the head. She began to turn into a frog, a toad, and finally a snake. Ivan-Bogatyr was frightened and loosened his grip. That very moment Vasilisa the Wise disappeared.
Baba Yaga said to him,“If you couldn’t hold her, you’ll never see her here again. But if you wish, go see my sister. Vasilisa the Wise goes to visit her, too, to rest.” Ivan-Bogatyr set off to see the second Baba Yaga, and there too he couldn’t keep hold of Vasilisa the Wise. He went to see the third Baba Yaga sister.
“If you let Vasilisa the Wise go this time, then you’ll never find her again,” she said. is time, no matter what Vasilisa the Wise turned into, Ivan-Bogatyr didn’t let her out of his hands. Finally she turned into an arrow. Ivan-Bogatyr took the arrow and broke it in two. That very moment Vasilisa the Wise appeared before him and said,“Well, Ivan-Bogatyr, now I give myself to your will!”
The Baba Yaga gave them a flying carpet, and they flew off on the flying carpet to their own state. Three days passed, and on the fourth the carpet landed right in the palace. The king met his son and daughter-in-law with great joy, held a great feast, and afterward made Ivan-Bogatyr king after him.
The firebird
In a certain kingdom, but not in our country, there lived a tsar. is tsar had three sons, Prince Pyotr, Prince Dimitrii, and Prince Ivan. They had an orchard, too. An apple tree grew in that orchard with golden apples on it. Only the tsar began to notice that every night one apple would disappear. A certain amount of time passed, and a lot of the apples were already missing. So he called his sons together and said,
“My dearest children! If you love me, then stand guard and catch this thief. If one of you catches this thief, I’ll give that one half the kingdom.”
On the first night the eldest brother went out. He sat until twelve o’clock, but after twelve he fell asleep. When he woke up in the morning, he looked and saw that one more apple was missing. He went to his father and told him about everything in detail. On the second night the middle brother went out. The very same thing happened with him.
On the third night the youngest brother started to ask to go out, but his father would not agree to let him go. He said, “You’re very small,” and “Something could frighten you.” But the prince begged persuasively to be let out. At last his father agreed and let him go, so he went out to the garden and sat down under the apple tree.
He had been sitting for only a little while when the whole garden was lit up. Prince Ivan saw the Firebird flying. He hid beneath the tree, and the bird flew up and sat on a branch. Just as she was about to peck at an apple, the youngest brother crept up to her and grabbed her by the tail. She tore loose and flew away, but one feather was left in his hand. He wrapped the feather right up in a handkerchief and stayed there until morning.
In the morning he went to his father. His father asked,“What then, my dear son—did you see the thief?”
“I saw it,” said Prince Ivan, and then he unwrapped the handkerchief. The feather just lit up the whole room. “Ah, my dear son!” said the tsar. “What kind of bird was it?”
After that the father called the other two sons. “Well, my good children,” he said.“We’ve seen the thief but we haven’t caught it. But now I beg you: go out on a journey and find me this Firebird. If one of you finds it, I’ll give that one the whole kingdom.”
The older two got ready to set out, but the father wouldn’t let the youngest go. He started to beg. His father didn’t agree for a long time, then finally he agreed, blessed them all, and they all set out on the journey.
They rode for a long or a short time, and they rode up to a pillar. ree roads led away from this pillar, and on the pillar was written: “If you ride to the right, you’ll be killed; if you ride to the left, you’ll be hungry yourself; if you take the middle road, your horse will be hungry.” They thought over who should go which way. The youngest brother went to the right, and the other two took the other roads.
Finally the youngest brother was riding along for a while, and he saw a little house on chicken legs standing by the road; it was turning around by itself. Prince Ivan said,“Little house, little house! Turn your face to me and your back to the woods!” The little house turned its face toward him.
He stepped up into the house. On the stove lay Baba Yaga, bony leg, she had her nose stuck in the ceiling, and she yelled from there,“What is it here that smells of Russian spirit?”
And he shouted at her,“Here! I’ll knock you off your seat on the stove, you old she-devil!”
She jumped down off the stove and began to beg him, “Young man, don’t beat me. I’ll come in handy to you.”
He said to her,“Instead of yelling at me, you’d do better to feed me, give me something to drink, and put me to bed.”
She began to ask him,“Who are you?”
He said,“I’m Prince Ivan.”
Then she fed him, gave him something to drink, and made up a bed for him.
In the morning Prince Ivan woke up, washed, dressed, prayed to God, and asked her,“Do you happen to know where the Firebird is?”
She answered him, “I don’t know, but you ride on farther. My middle sister will be there, she’ll tell you. And here, take this ball of thread. When you take away the Firebird, they’ll chase after you, so you say, ‘Little ball, little ball, turn into a mountain!’ It’ll turn into a mountain, and you’ll ride
on farther.” Then he thanked her and rode on farther to her sister’s house.
He rode for a while, and on the road stood a little house on chicken legs, turning around by itself. Prince Ivan said, “Little house, little house! Turn your face toward me, and your back to the woods.” The little house turned its face toward him.
He went into the house. On the stove lay a Baba Yaga, the middle sister, bony leg, her nose stuck into the ceiling, and she shouted from there,“What is it here that smells like Russian spirit?”
“Here,” he said,“I’ll knock you off the stove, you old she-devil!”
She jumped down off the stove, fed Prince Ivan, gave him something to drink, and put him to bed. In the morning he got up and asked the Baba Yaga,“Where’s the Firebird?”
She told him, “Ride on farther to my older sister!” Here she gave him a comb. “When you ride off with the Firebird,” she said, “they’ll chase after you, and you say,‘Little comb, little comb! You turn into an impassible forest!’ It’ll turn into a forest, and you’ll ride away.” So he thanked her and rode on to see the oldest sister.
He rode along for a while, and then he saw another little house on chicken legs. “Little house, little house! Turn toward me with your front, but to the woods with your back!”
He went into the house. On the stove lay a Baba Yaga, bony leg, with her nose poked up into the ceiling, and she yelled from there, “What is it here that smells of Russian spirit?”
“Here,” he said,“you old she-devil, I’ll knock you off the stove!”
She jumped down off the stove, fed Prince Ivan, gave him something to drink, and put him to bed. In the morning Prince Ivan got up, prayed to God, and started asking her about the Firebird.
She gave him a brush and said, “When they chase after you, you say: ‘Little brush, little brush, you turn into a fiery river!’ And it will turn into a fiery river, and you’ll ride farther. And when you come close to such- and-such a kingdom, there’ll be a fence, and in that fence there’ll be a gate. Behind that gate three cages are hanging. There’s a raven in the golden cage, a rook in the silver one, and the Firebird in the copper one. But you keep this in mind: don’t take the silver cage, and don’t take the golden or the copper ones either, but open the little door, pull out the Firebird, and tie it up inside a handkerchief.”
Prince Ivan thanked her and set off on his way.
He rode up to the kingdom and saw a stone wall. There was no way to climb over it and no way to pass through the gates: there were lions standing there. He just took a look and said, “Ah, my horse, my true horse! Jump over the wall and let me get the Firebird!” He rode back a bit, broke into a gallop, and jumped over the wall. Then he saw that the Firebird was very big, there was no way to tie it in a handkerchief. He thought a bit and then took the whole copper cage. Suddenly little bells began to jingle, and the lions started to roar. en he was afraid they would catch him; he broke into a gallop, jumped over the wall, and galloped on with the Firebird.
He had ridden only a little way when he saw them chasing after him. He took out the ball of thread.“Little ball, little ball, turn into a mountain!” The ball of thread turned into a mountain, and he went on. The army galloped up to the foot of the mountain and saw that the mountain was impassible, so they (the army) turned back, took spades, rode up to the mountain, and dug it up. They went back to chasing after Prince Ivan.
As soon as Prince Ivan saw they were after him, he took the comb and said, “You, little comb, turn into an impassible forest!” It turned into one. The army galloped into the forest and saw that it was an impassible forest. They turned back, got axes, and chopped a road through for themselves. They galloped off again after him.
Prince Ivan saw them chasing him, so he took the brush and said,“Little brush, you turn into a fiery river!” The army galloped up and saw that it was a fiery river. But just past the river Prince Ivan lay down to take a rest. The army found that no matter which of them tried to cross over, they would get scalded right away. There was nothing they could do, so the army headed back. Prince Ivan got his rest and then set off on his way.
He’d been riding for a only a little while when he came up to that very same pillar. A tent was pitched by the pillar, and in that tent sat two fine young men. He walked up to them and saw that it was his brothers. He was very glad at this chance, greeted them, and told them about everything in detail. Then he lay down to rest with them.
But the brothers were envious that he, the youngest brother, would bring the Firebird home to their father. “ Then we, the older ones, will ride home and without bringing anything.” They agreed to throw him into a ditch. They threw him all sleepy into the ditch: there were all kinds of vermin in that ditch, beasts, and you couldn’t even see the light of the sun from down there. But when he had nothing to eat and drink, he fed himself on dirt, and he got the idea of digging and climbing upward. As soon as he started to climb, he dug with his hands and climbed higher and higher. Finally he climbed higher and higher and saw from there a ray of sunlight. Then he climbed farther and came out at the top. He rested for a while next to the ditch and then he went on.
As soon as he came close to one city, he saw a crowd of people standing in the city. He went up to the people and asked, “What does this mean— you’re standing by the lake?”
They answered him,“We’re waiting for a six-headed dragon to come out of there. We’re supposed to throw him a maiden, but he’s eaten up all our maidens one after the other, so now we have to throw in the tsar’s daughter.”
But he said to them, “Ah, that makes me so sorry! But show me, where are the tsar and his daughter?” When the tsar and his daughter came out, he went up to them.“I can save your daughter!” he said.
The tsar said,“ That’s impossible now, because of that dragon!”
But Prince Ivan said again, “I’ll save your daughter for you, just order them to bind up three bundles of honeysuckle sticks!”
When they were done binding them, they brought them. Suddenly the dragon came swimming, it whistled and roared in all kinds of voices. The moment it opened its mouth, Prince Ivan cut off two of its heads with one bundle, two more with the second bundle, and two more with the third. He cut off all six heads.
Then the tsar began right away to rejoice, he hurried to kiss him and asked him to visit his palace. All the residents were overjoyed that he had conquered the dragon, and they held a feast right away. And that princess, his daughter, was such a raving beauty that there are few like her in the world. The tsar suggested that Prince Ivan should marry her. They had the wedding. After marrying them, the tsar began to ask Prince Ivan, “What kingdom are you from?”
He answered, “From such-and-such a kingdom, the son of such-and- such a tsar.”
The tsar began to suggest,“Wouldn’t it be good to go see your father? And if you’d like to go see your father, I’ll give you two ravens. Take a seat on those ravens, and once you’re on them then say,‘To such-and-such a kingdom,’ and they’ll take you straight there.” So the tsar gave them the ravens. They climbed on them and flew off.
But the two older brothers took the Firebird and brought it straight to their father. Their father was happy to see the Firebird. The day after that the Firebird turned into a crow. They were so surprised, and their father was surprised, too.“What could something like this mean?”
However, their father hung the crow up in his room. It hung there looking just like a crow. When Prince Ivan began flying closer to his father’s palace, then it suddenly turned from a crow back into the Firebird. The father was very surprised to see that it had suddenly turned from a crow back into the Firebird. Then he saw two ravens flying, and a man and a young woman riding on the ravens. The father was very frightened at this. He thought, “Can they have come after the Firebird, and did she turn from a crow into the Firebird because her own people were coming?”
But suddenly Prince Ivan came in with his spouse, threw himself on his father’s neck, and begged forgiveness for marrying without his permission. The father didn’t recognize him at all. “Ah, you’re my son! Why were you gone for so long? Your brothers came back, they got the Firebird.”
“No,” he said.“It wasn’t my brothers. I was the one who got the Firebird. I rode out with them, they threw me into a deep ditch while I was sleeping, and they took the Firebird away from me.” And then he told his father everything in detail.
Then the father made his two older sons herd cattle, and he gave his whole kingdom to the youngest. Then they had a great feast. I was there, I drank wine and beer, it ran down my mustache, but it didn’t go into my mouth.
The enchanted princess
Once in a certain kingdom there was a soldier who served in the king’s horse guard. He served out his twenty-five years in faith and truth. For his honest conduct, the king ordered him discharged and granted him full retirement. As a reward, he gave the soldier the same horse he used to ride in his regiment with the saddle and all the gear. The soldier said farewell to his comrades and rode off to his homeland.
He rode for a day, a second, and a third. Soon a whole week had passed, and a second week, and a third. The soldier didn’t have enough money. He had no way to feed himself or his horse, and his home was still far, far away! Things looked very bad for him. He wanted very much to get something to eat. He started to look around, and he saw a great castle off to one side. “Well, now,” he thought.“Shouldn’t I head that way? Perhaps at least they’ll take me into service for a short time, and I can earn a little something.”
He turned toward the castle, rode into the courtyard, put his horse in the stable, and gave her some feed. He himself went into the chambers. In the chambers stood a laden table, and on the table both food and wine, everything your soul could desire! The soldier ate and drank his fill. “Now I can have a bit of a nap, too!” he thought.
Suddenly a she-bear came in. “Don’t be afraid of me, fine young man. It’s good that you’ve come here. I’m not a wild bear, but a fair maiden—an enchanted princess. If you can stand to stay here for three nights, then the enchantment will be broken. I’ll turn into a princess as I was before, and I’ll marry you.”
The soldier agreed. The she-bear went out, and he was left there alone. Here such a longing fell upon him that he would rather have died, and the longer it lasted the stronger it got. If it weren’t for the wine, it seemed, he wouldn’t have been able to hold out for a single night! On the third day it got to the point where the soldier decided to give it all up and run out of the castle, but no matter how he struggled, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t find any way out. There was nothing he could do: he had to stay there against his will. He spent the third night, too. In the morning a queen of indescribable beauty appeared, thanked him for his service, and told him to get dressed for the wedding. Then they held the wedding and began to live together, and they had nothing to complain of.
After a certain time the soldier started to think about his native land, and he felt the desire to spend a bit of time there.
The queen tried to talk him out of it. “Stay here, my friend, don’t go away. What do you lack here?”
No, she couldn’t talk him out of it. She said good-bye to her husband and gave him a little sack; it was full of seed. She said,“Whatever road you ride on, toss this seed to either side. Wherever it falls, trees will grow up that very minute. Rare fruits will begin to glow on the tree branches, all kinds of birds will sing songs, and cats from overseas will tell fairy tales.” The fine young man mounted the horse he had served on and set off on his way. Wherever he rode, he threw seeds to both sides, and forests rose up in his tracks as if they were crawling up out of the damp earth!
He rode for one day, a second, a third, and he saw a caravan standing on the grass in an empty field. There were merchants sitting on the ground and playing cards, while a cauldron hung beside them. Even though there was no fire under the kettle, the broth was boiling hard.“What a marvel!” thought the soldier. “ There’s no fire, but broth’s boiling up in the kettle like a spring. Let me take a closer look.” He turned his horse to the side, rode over to the merchants, and said,“Hello, honest gentlemen!”
But he didn’t realize that they weren’t merchants, they were unclean spirits.“ That’s a good trick, a kettle that boils without fire! But I have a better one.” He pulled one grain of the seed out of his little bag and threw it to the ground—and that instant a thousand-year tree grew up, precious fruits glowed on the tree, all kinds of birds sang songs, and cats from overseas told tales.
The unclean ones recognized him by his boasting.“Ah,” they said among themselves.“Why, this must be that same one who rescued the queen. Let’s put him to sleep with a potion, brothers, and let him sleep for half a year.” They started offering him food and drink, and they plied him with magical herbs. The soldier fell down on the grass and fell into a sound, unwaking sleep, but the merchants, the caravan, and the kettle disappeared in an instant.
Not long after that the queen went out to take a walk in her garden. She looked and saw that all the tops of the trees had begun to wither. “ That’s a bad sign!” she thought. “I can tell something bad has happened to my husband. Three months have passed, it’s time for him to be coming back, but there’s no sign of him!” The queen prepared her things and set off to find him. She rode along the same road where the soldier had made his way, with trees growing on both sides, and birds singing, and the cats from overseas meowing. She came to a place where the trees stopped and the road wound off through the open field. She thought, “Where could he have gotten to? The earth can’t have swallowed him up!” She looked to one side and saw the same kind of wondrous tree, with her dear friend lying under it.
She ran up to him and began to shake and poke him, but no, he wouldn’t wake up. She started to pinch him, to prick his side with pins, she pricked and pricked him, but he didn’t feel the pain either, he lay there as if he were dead and didn’t stir.
The queen got angry, and in her anger she spoke a curse.“You worthless sleepy-head, may the wild whirlwind pick you up and carry you off to unknown lands!” No sooner had she said it than suddenly the winds began to rustle and whistle, and in one moment they had picked up the soldier with a wild whirlwind and carried him out of her sight. The queen realized too late that she had said a bad thing. She went back home and started to live all on her own.
But the whirlwind carried the poor soldier far, far away, over thrice-nine lands, and it threw him onto a neck of land between two seas. He fell on the narrowest spit of land. If he had rolled to the left or if he had turned over to the right in his sleep, he would have fallen right into the sea, and that would have been the end of him! The fine young man slept for half a year without moving even a finger. But when he awoke he jumped right to his feet and took a look: on either side he saw waves rising, and there was no end in sight to the wide sea. He stood there deep in thought and asked himself, “What miracle brought me here? Who lugged me all this way?” He walked along the spit of land and came out onto an island. there was a steep, high mountain on that island. Its summit reached up to the clouds, and on the mountain lay a great boulder.
He walked over to that mountain and saw three devils brawling. Blood was pouring from all of them, and tufts of fur were flying! “Wait, you evil ones! What are you fighting about?”
“Well, you see, our father died three days ago, and he left us three marvelous things, a flying carpet, seven-league boots, and an invisible hat. So we can’t divide them up.”
“Oh, you cursed ones! You’ve started a battle over such trifles. If you want, I’ll divide everything for you. You’ll be satisfied—I won’t slight anyone.”
“Well then, countryman, divide it all, please!”
“All right! Run off right now to the pine forests, gather a hundred pounds of pitch, and bring it here.”
The devils raced off to the pine forests, gathered three hundred pounds of pitch, and brought it to the soldier
“Now bring the very biggest cauldron in Hell.”
The devils dragged up a huge cauldron—forty barrels would have fit inside it!—and they poured all the pitch into it.
The soldier started a fire, and as soon as the pitch was melted he ordered the devils to drag the cauldron up the mountain and pour the pitch down it from top to bottom. The devils did this at once.“Well, then,” said the soldier.“Now tip over that boulder there. Let it roll down the mountain, and you three go running after it. The first of you to catch it will be the first to choose one of these three marvelous things. The second one to catch it will be the second to have his choice of the two objects left. And then the last marvelous thing will go to the third.”
The devils tipped over the boulder, and it went rolling off down the mountain. All three raced after it. One devil caught up with it and grabbed the boulder, but the boulder turned right over, flipped him under it, and smashed him down into the pitch. The second devil caught up to it, and then the third, and the same thing happened to them! They were stuck to the pitch, firmly as could be! The soldier took the seven-league boots and the invisible hat under his arm, took a seat on the flying carpet, and flew off to look for his own kingdom.
After a long time or for a short time, he flew up to a little house and went inside. In the house sat a Baba Yaga, bony leg, old and toothless. “Hello, granny! Tell me, how can I find my beautiful queen?”
“I don’t know, dear! I haven’t seen any sight of her, nor heard any news of her. Off you go and cross over so many seas, over so many lands; my middle sister lives there. She knows more than I do, perhaps she’ll be able to tell you.”
The soldier took a seat on the flying carpet and flew off. He had to wander for a long time through the white world. If he started to get hungry and thirsty, he’d put on the invisible hat right away, fly down into some city, go into the shops, take whatever his heart desired, get back on the carpet, and fly on farther. He flew up to another little house and went in. A Baba Yaga was sitting there, bony leg, old and toothless.“Hello, granny! You don’t happen to know where I could find my beautiful queen?”
“No, dear, I don’t know. You must travel over so many seas, over so many lands. My older sister lives there, perhaps she knows it.”
“Eh, you old grouch! You’ve lived in the world so many years, all your teeth have fallen out, but you don’t know anything useful.” He took a seat on the flying carpet and flew off to see the oldest sister.
He wandered for a long, long time, saw many lands and many seas, and finally flew to the end of the world. There was a little house standing there, but there was nowhere farther to go—nothing but pitch darkness, you couldn’t see a thing! “Well,” he said.“ If I can’t get an answer here, there’s nowhere else to fly!”
He went into the little house, and there he saw a Baba Yaga, bony leg, gray and toothless.“Hello, granny! Tell me, where’s my beautiful queen!”
“Wait a bit, let me call all the winds together, and I’ll ask them. After all, they blow all over the world, so they ought to know where she’s living now.” The old woman went out on the porch, shouted in a loud voice, and whistled a bogatyr whistle. Suddenly the restless winds appeared and started to blow from all directions, so that the house started to shake! “Softer, softer!” shouted Baba Yaga. And as soon as the winds had gathered she started asking them, “My wild winds, you blow over the whole world. Have you seen the beautiful queen?”
“No, we haven’t seen her anywhere!” the winds answered in unison. “And are you all present?”
“All of us, except the south wind.’
The south wind came flying a little bit later. The old woman asked it, “Where were you all this time? We almost stopped waiting for you!”
“I’m to blame, granny! I dropped by a new kingdom, where a beautiful queen lives. Her husband disappeared without a trace, so now she’s being courted by all kinds of tsars and tsars’ sons, kings and princes.”
“And how far is it to the new kingdom?”
“On foot you’d have to go thirty years, on wings you would have to fly for ten, but if I blow I can get you there in only three hours.”
The soldier began to plead tearfully for the south wind to take him to the new kingdom. “Certainly!” said the south wind. “I’ll take you there, if you give me leave to stroll as much as I wish in your kingdom for three days and three nights.”
“Stroll for three weeks if you want!”
“All right. I’ll just rest for a day or two, to gather my strength, and then we’ll be on the road.”
The south wind rested, gathered his strength, and said to the soldier, “Well, brother, get ready, we’re leaving now. And listen, don’t be afraid. You won’t get hurt!” Suddenly a fierce whirlwind began to rustle and whistle; it lifted the soldier into the air and carried him over mountains and seas beneath the very clouds, and after exactly three hours he was in the new kingdom, where his beautiful queen lived.
The south wind said to him, “Farewell, fine young man! I’ve taken pity on you, I won’t go strolling in your kingdom.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, if I started strolling, not a house would be left in the city, and not a tree would be left in the gardens. I’d turn everything upside-down!”
“Farewell then! Thank you!” said the soldier. He put on his invisible hat and went into the white stone chambers.
Now, while he was away from the kingdom all the trees in the garden had stood with withered leaves, but as soon as he appeared they came to life at once and started to flower. He came into the great room, and there at the table sat all kinds of tsars and tsars’ sons, kings and princes, who had come to pay court to the beautiful queen. They sat there and treated themselves to sweet wines. Whenever a suitor poured a glass, the moment he lifted it to his lips the soldier would immediately whap! the glass with his fist and knock it right away. All the guests were surprised at this, but the beautiful queen guessed at once.“It must be that my friend has returned!” she thought.
She looked out the window. All the treetops had come to life in the garden, and she began to tell a riddle to her guests.“I had a handmade casket with a golden key. I lost the key and had no hope of finding it, but now that key has shown up by itself. Whoever can guess that riddle, I will marry him.” The tsars and tsars’ sons, the kings and princes cracked their heads over this riddle for a long time, but there was no way they could solve it. The beautiful queen said, “Show yourself, my friend!”
The soldier took off the invisible hat, took her by the white hands and began to kiss her sugared lips. “And there’s the solution for you!” said the beautiful queen. “ The handmade casket—that’s me, and the little golden key—that’s my faithful husband.” The suitors had to turn their carriages around. They all drove off to their own homes, but the queen began to live with her husband and to earn riches.