And then the warriors were gone.
The wind was chasing, in its sport,
A little ship far out from port,
So that it seemed to dance and skip
Upon the waves, the little ship;
It reached the steep-cliffed isle on which
Now stood a city proud and rich;
Cannon smoking on the quay
560Bade the ship put in from sea.
The visitors took food and rest,
A merchant was an honoured guest
For Prince Guidon. He asked them straight:
‘Where are you bound? And what’s your trade?’
They told him what they bought and sold:
‘We have sailed around the world;
In silver and in gold we deal;
We also trade in Damask steel.
Our time is nearly up now, though,
570For we have many leagues to go
Beyond this island of Buyan
On to the realm of Tsar Saltan.’
This reply made Prince Guidon:
‘I wish you, sirs, fair passage on
The seas and oceans to Saltan;
My greetings to the great Saltan.’
The merchants bade the prince farewell
And then, their thoughts on home, set sail.
The prince was by the sea once more –
580The swan came swimming to the shore.
With all his yearning soul astir
He instantly appealed to her …
The friendly creature wasn’t slow
To sprinkle him from head to toe:
Once more he shrank immediately;
And he became a bumble-bee.
Loudly he buzzed, and off he flew;
He caught the ship without ado,
Made for the stern, then rubbed his back
590And settled down inside a crack.
Merrily the sea-wind blew
And merrily the ship sped too,
Beyond the island of Buyan
On to the realm of Tsar Saltan.
The country of the glorious Tsar
Was duly sighted from afar;
And when the merchants stepped ashore
The Tsar was waiting at his door.
He signalled them to come to him;
600Our tiny traveller followed them.
Before his court and everyone
The Tsar was seated on his throne,
Upon his head a shining crown,
Upon his brow a heavy frown.
And those two still, the cook and weaver
And Widow Baba Babarikha
Sat, the three of them, beside
The Tsar and gazed at him, four-eyed.
Saltan made sure his guests were seated
610And were supplied with all they needed.
‘Have you been long,’ he asked, ‘at sea?
Where will your next landfall be?
What is it like where you have been?
Tell me what wonders you have seen.’
And this is what the merchants told:
‘We have sailed around the world;
In other lands life isn’t bad,
This wonder, though, made us most glad.
There is an island in the sea,
620A city sprung from one lone tree,
Where every day you see a wonder:
The ocean swells and bursts asunder,
Froths and boils, begins to roar,
It crashes on the empty shore –
And from the thundering foam appear
In scaly chain-mail bright as fire
Three-and-thirty warriors bold,
Out of legends told of old,
Young and handsome and defiant,
630Each of them a mighty giant,
Closer-matched you never saw.
The silver-bearded Chernomor
Leads them two by two in column
Out of the ocean, and they follow him
And round that island they patrol;
They perfectly perform their role –
Bolder, braver, trustier
Than any guards that ever were.
There lives the young and worthy Prince
640Guidon; he sends his compliments.’
The Tsar was lost in wonder: ‘While
I live,’ said he, ‘that splendid isle
I’ll surely visit, and anon
I’ll be the guest of Prince Guidon.’
The cook, however, and the weaver
Said nothing. Baba Babarikha
It was who spoke, and with a smirk:
‘That’s not, you know, how wonders work!
Warriors from the sea – how droll!
650And turning into a patrol!
Whether it’s true or false, it’s clear
There isn’t any wonder here.
Who will believe it? Very few.
Listen to me now. This is true:
There dwells a princess far from here,
No eye can take itself from her;
She puts in shade the light of day,
By night she makes the daylight stay;
Moonbeams shimmer in her hair,
660On her forehead shines a star;
With a peahen’s grace she walks,
You hear a brook flow when she talks.
This time I can vouch to you –
There is a wonder, I speak true.’
The guests, in such a peaceful harbour,
Would not dispute this with the baba.
While Tsar Saltan was lost in wonder
Prince Guidon raged, raged in thunder,
Sparing both the eyes, however,
670Of his excited grandmother;
He buzzed and circled round and round –
Plumb on her nose he settled down,
Our princely hero, stung her nose
And on that nose a swelling rose.
And once more, panic and alarm:
‘God spare us all from serious harm!
Fetch the guards! Quick! Catch it! Catch it!
Just you wait, you … Squash it! Smash it!’
But on the instant he was off
680And homeward hardly soon enough.
The prince was walking on the shore
Beside the dark blue sea once more
When on the billows of the sea
He saw the white swan swimming; she
Greeted him: ‘Prince, my brave one – why
As gloomy as a cloudy sky?
What troubles you?’ The prince replied:
‘A yearning gnaws me deep inside –
Everyone I see is wed;
690I am the only one unwed.’
‘Who is it who has won your heart?’
‘There is a princess, I have heard,
Who dwells in some land far from here;
No eye can take itself from her;
She puts in shade the light of day,
By night she makes the daylight stay;
Moonbeams shimmer in her hair,
On her forehead shines a star.
With a peahen’s grace she walks,
700You hear a brook flow when she talks …
Can all this be,’ the prince asked, ‘true?’
He burned to hear the white bird’s view …
The swan was silent, searched her head
In careful thought, and then she said:
‘Yes, I know of such a maiden.
But now a wife is not a mitten,
To be put on, removed and held
And then tucked back inside your belt.
Let me give you some advice:
710Do not decide this in a trice;
Be sure to think about it first,
And not be sorry afterwards.’
‘I’ve thought about it long and hard,’
Replied the prince, ‘the choice I’ve made;
Never, I swear, shall I regret
That choice of mine; I must be wed.’
The pr
ince declared he’d never cease
His quest for the far-off princess,
He’d walk the mountains, plains and sands
720The length of three-times-thirty lands.
The swan politely listened. ‘Why
So far?’ she answered with a sigh.
‘Your wish will soon come true, you’ll see;
For that princess of yours – is me.’
And then she beat her wings and flew
High up above the watery blue
Until she came down on the land
Amongst some bushes near at hand.
She started, shook her feathers off,
730And stepped, a princess, from the fluff:
Moonbeams shimmered in her hair
And on her forehead shone a star;
With a peahen’s grace she walked,
One heard a brook flow when she talked.
The prince embraced the fair princess;
Her white breast to his own he pressed,
And straightway led her to his mother.
Kneeling, ‘Your Majesty – dear Mother!’
The son implored her. ‘See, my bride,
740And faithful daughter at your side.
We ask your blessing, may we live
Our life in harmony and love.’
On two bowed heads the mother shed
Her tears of grateful joy and said,
Beneath a holy image, ‘God
Will grant you, dear ones, his reward.’
Without ado the pair were wed,
A fruitful, happy life ahead.
The wind was chasing, in its sport,
750A little ship far out from port,
So that it seemed to dance and skip
Upon the waves, the little ship;
It reached the steep-cliffed isle, on which
Now stood a city proud and rich;
Cannon smoking on the quay
Bade the ship put in from sea.
The visitors took food and rest,
A merchant was an honoured guest
For Prince Guidon. He asked them straight:
760‘Where are you bound? And what’s your trade?’
They told him what they bought and sold:
‘We have sailed around the world,
A handsome profit we have made:
Contraband has been our trade.
Our home is in the east, and so
We still have many leagues to go
Beyond this island of Buyan
Back to the realm of Tsar Saltan.’
This reply made Prince Guidon:
770‘I wish you, sirs, fair passage on
The seas and oceans to Saltan;
But please remind your Tsar Saltan:
He promised he would visit us
And now he has forgotten us.
Our greetings to the great Saltan.’
The merchants sailed, but Prince Guidon
This time was content to bide
At home with his beloved bride.
Merrily the sea-wind blew
780And merrily the ship sped too,
Beyond the island of Buyan
Back to the realm of Tsar Saltan.
The country of the glorious Tsar
Was duly sighted from afar;
And when the merchants stepped ashore
The Tsar was waiting at his door.
From there he welcomed everyone,
And then he sat upon his throne,
While those two still, the cook and weaver
790And Widow Baba Babarikha
Sat, the three of them, beside
The Tsar and gazed at him, four-eyed.
Saltan made sure his guests were seated
And were supplied with all they needed.
‘Have you been long,’ he asked, ‘at sea?
Where will your next landfall be?
What is it like where you have been?
Tell me what wonders you have seen.’
And this is what the merchants told:
800‘We have sailed around the world,
In other lands life isn’t bad,
This wonder, though, made us most glad.
There is an island in the sea,
A city sprung from one lone tree
Stands there with its towers and arches,
Churches and monasteries and gardens,
In one of which a fir-tree grows
Over a little crystal house,
And there a squirrel lives – none tamer!
810And such a marvellous entertainer!
There that cheery squirrel squats,
Singing songs and gnawing nuts;
You never saw, though, nuts like those –
Where they come from no one knows:
The nutshells are of solid gold,
And kernels of pure emerald.
A guard is always on his beat
And serves that squirrel’s every need.
That isle contains another wonder:
820The ocean swells and bursts asunder,
Froths and boils, begins to roar,
Crashes on the empty shore,
And from the thundering foam appear
In scaly chain-mail bright as fire
Three-and-thirty warriors bold,
Out of legends told of old,
Young and handsome and defiant,
Each of them a mighty giant,
Closer-matched you never saw,
830Under their leader Chernomor;
Bolder, braver, trustier
Than any guards that ever were.
A wife the prince has, not from there –
No eye can take itself from her;
She puts in shade the light of day,
By night she makes the daylight stay;
Moonbeams shimmer in her hair,
On her forehead shines a star.
That isle is ruled by Prince Guidon,
840And he is praised by everyone;
He sends his friendly greetings – though,
We have to say, reproaches you:
You promised once to visit him
And now you have forgotten him.’
No moment longer could he wait,
The Tsar at once prepared his fleet.
Again those two, the cook and weaver
And Widow Baba Babarikha
Tried with every kind of wile
850To head the Tsar off from that isle.
The Tsar, however, paid no heed;
He it was who took the lead;
This time he shouted, he was wild:
‘Who am I? Tsar am I or child?
I shall sail this minute’ – slammed
The palace door, and off he stamped.
Beneath a window, gazing on
The sea in silence sat Guidon:
It was silent, like a mirror,
860But showed the very slightest tremor;
For out upon the azure deep
Sailed Tsar Saltan with all his fleet:
Out of the blue from far away
His ships began to fill the bay.
Up from his seat leapt Prince Guidon,
And with a mighty shout he ran:
‘My own princess, my dearest mother!
Look over there! Here comes my father!’
The fleet came closer to the isle;
870Guidon looked through his spyglass, while
The Tsar stood up before the mast
And looked at them through his spyglass,
With him those two, the cook and weaver
And Widow Baba Babarikha –
All of them agog to see
The wondrous city in the sea.
Cannon smoked along the quay,
Church bells rang in harmony;
Out stepped Guidon upon the shore
880To give his greeting to the Tsar,
Also to the cook and weaver
And Widow Baba Babarikha;
Into his land, without, thus far,
&n
bsp; A single word, he led the Tsar.
They enter through the palace gate;
By shining shields their eyes are met,
By three-and-thirty warriors bold,
Out of legends told of old,
Young and handsome and defiant,
890Each of them a mighty giant,
Closer-matched you never saw,
Under their leader Chernomor.
And there beneath a stately tree
A squirrel sings a melody
And gnaws gold nuts; it takes from each
An emerald, filling many a pouch;
Discarded nutshells lie around
In golden masses on the ground.
The guests press on – what next to see?
900The princess comes before them – she
With moonbeams shimmering in her hair,
Upon her brow a shining star;
With a peahen’s grace she walks,
One hears a brook flow when she talks.
She leads the mother of Guidon;
In wonderment the Tsar looks on –
And thunderously his heart now beats:
Who is this he sees? It’s … it’s …
His scalding tears he cannot hide,
910Embracing wife and son and bride.
The moment was a fit occasion
For right and proper celebration –
From which those two, the cook and weaver
With Widow Baba Babarikha
Took flight down some deserted track –
But they were found and soon brought back,
Broke down in sobs, and one by one
Confessed to everything they’d done.
Overcome by joy, Saltan,
920Wishing the three of them no harm,
Had them sent home; then left the feast
And laid his merry head to rest.
I too enjoyed that mead and fare,
Though scarcely wet my whiskers there.
1831
The Tale of a Fisherman and a Little Fish
This tale was written during the most productive of Pushkin’s autumns spent at his father’s estate of Boldino in the autumn of 1833. It takes its storyline from ‘The Fisherman and his Wife’ by the Brothers Grimm, with significant changes. In the Grimms’ tale, the magic agent that grants the escalating wishes of the fisherman’s wife, covetous beyond her station, takes the unaesthetic form of a flounder (a prince in disguise); Pushkin makes it a golden fish – traditionally a symbol of wealth and success in Russian folk tales. In Pushkin’s tale the wife receives punishment (by ultimate return to her original situation) not only for her overweening ambition but also for treating her husband with marked cruelty in each new station she is initially granted.
In the autumn of 1833, Pushkin wrote two prose works dealing with the reign of Catherine the Great (r. 1762–96), the story The Queen of Spades and his history of the Pugachev Rebellion of 1773–5, and his skazka also has this empress in mind, satirising the costly ambitions that led her to undertake two wars (1768–74 and 1787–92) against Turkey with the aim of ruling over the Black Sea, and her ruthlessness in coming to the throne by having her husband Tsar Peter III murdered.
Selected Poetry (Penguin) Page 20