Ivan left the palace feeling very downcast. Then it occurred to him to go to the king’s kitchen and see how the cooks prepared meals there and what kind of salt they used. He went into the kitchen, asked to be allowed to rest for a while, sat on a chair, and watched. The cooks ran back and forth: one was busy boiling, another roasting, another pouring, and still another crushing lice on a ladle. Ivan, the merchant’s son, saw that they were not the least bit concerned with salting the food. He waited till a moment came when everyone else was out of the kitchen; then he seized the chance to pour the proper amount of salt into all the stews and sauces. The time came to serve the dinner, and the first dish was brought in. The king ate of it, and found it savory as never before. The second dish was served, and he liked it even better.
Then the king summoned his cooks and said to them: “I have been king for many years, but never before have you cooked me such savory dishes. How did you do it?” The cooks answered: “Your Majesty, we cooked as of old and did not add anything new. But the merchant who came to ask permission to trade freely is sitting in the kitchen. Perhaps he has added something.” “Summon him to my presence!” Ivan, the merchant’s son, was brought before the king to be questioned. He fell on his knees and asked forgiveness. “Your Majesty, I confess my guilt. I have seasoned all the dishes and sauces with Russian salt. Such is the custom in my country.” “And for how much do you sell this salt?” Ivan realized that his business was in a fair way and answered: “It is not very dear—for two measures of salt, one measure of silver and one of gold.” The king agreed to this price and bought the whole cargo.
Ivan filled his ship with silver and gold and sat down to wait for a favorable wind. Now the king of that land had a daughter, a beautiful princess. She wanted to see the Russian ship and asked her father’s permission to go down to the port. The king gave her permission. So she took her nurses, governesses, and maidservants with her and drove forth to see the Russian ship. Ivan, the merchant’s son, showed her every part and told her its name—the sails, the rigging, the bow, and the stern—and then he led her into the cabin. He ordered his crew to cut away the anchor, hoist the sails, and put out to sea; and since they had a good tail wind, they were soon a good distance from the city. The princess came up on deck, saw only the sea around her, and began to weep. Ivan, the merchant’s son, spoke to her, comforted her, and urged her to dry her tears; and since he was handsome, she soon smiled and ceased grieving.
For some time, a long time or a short time, Ivan sailed on the sea with the princess. Then his elder brothers overtook him, learned of his audacity and good fortune, and greatly envied him. They came on board his ship, seized him by his arms, and threw him into the sea; then they cast lots between them and divided the booty: the eldest brother took the princess, and the second brother took the ship full of silver and gold.
Now it happened that when they flung Ivan from the ship he saw one of the boards that he himself had thrown into the sea. He clutched this board and for a long time drifted on it above the depths of the sea. Finally he was carried to an unknown island. He went ashore and walked along the beach. He met a giant with an enormous mustache, on which hung his mittens, which he was drying thus after the rain. “What do you want here?” asked the giant. Ivan told him everything that had happened. “If you so desire, I will carry you home. Tomorrow your eldest brother is to marry the princess. Sit on my back.” He took Ivan up in his hands, seated him on his back, and ran across the sea. Ivan’s cap dropped off. “Ah me,” he said, “I’ve lost my cap!” “Never mind, brother,” said the giant, “your cap is far away now, five hundred versts behind us.” He brought Ivan to his native land, put him on the ground, and said: “Now promise that you will not boast to anyone about having ridden on my back; if you do boast, I shall crush you.” Ivan, the merchant’s son, promised not to boast, thanked the giant, and set out on the homeward journey.
When he arrived, everyone was already at the wedding table, preparing to go to church. As soon as the beautiful princess saw him, she jumped from her seat and threw herself on his neck. “This is my bridegroom,” she said, “and not he who sits here by my side.” “What is this?” asked the father. Ivan told him everything—how he had traded in salt, how he had carried off the princess, and how his elder brothers had pushed him into the sea. The father was very angry at his elder sons, drove them out of the house, and married Ivan to the princess.
Now a gay feast began. The guests got drunk and began to boast, some about their strength, some about their wealth, and some about the beauty of their young wives. And Ivan sat and sat and then drunkenly boasted: “What are your boasts worth? I have something real to boast about. I rode horseback on a giant across the entire sea!” The moment he said these words, the giant appeared at the gate. “Ah, Ivan, son of the merchant,” he said, “I told you not to boast about me. Now what have you done?” “Forgive me,” Ivan implored him, “it was not I who boasted, but my drunkenness!” “Come, show me. What do you mean by drunkenness?”
Ivan gave orders that a hundred gallon barrel of wine and a hundred gallon barrel of beer be brought. The giant drank the wine and the beer, got drunk, and began to break up and ruin everything in his path; he knocked down trees and bushes and tore big houses asunder. Then he fell down and slept three days and nights without awakening. When he awoke, he was shown all the damage he had done. The giant was terribly surprised and said: “Well, Ivan, son of the merchant, now I know what drunkenness is. Henceforth you may boast about me all you like.”
THE GOLDEN SLIPPER
AN OLD MAN and his old wife had two daughters. Once the old man went to town and bought a fish for the elder sister and a fish for the younger sister. The elder sister ate her fish, but the younger one went to the well and said: “Little mother fish, what shall I do with you?” “Do not eat me,” said the fish, “but put me into the water; I will be useful to you.” The maiden dropped the fish into the well and went home.
Now the old woman had a great dislike for her younger daughter. She dressed the elder sister in her best clothes, made ready to take her to mass, and gave the younger one two measures of rye, ordering her to husk it before their return from church.
The young girl went to fetch water; she sat on the edge of the well and wept. The fish swam to the surface and asked her: “Why do you weep, lovely maiden?” “How can I help weeping?” answered the maiden. “My mother has dressed my sister in her best clothes and gone with her to mass, but she left me home and ordered me to husk two measures of rye before her return from church.” The fish said: “Weep not; dress and go to church; the rye will be husked.” The maiden dressed and went to mass. Her mother did not recognize her. Toward the end of the mass, the girl went home. Very soon her mother too came home also and said: “Well, you ninny, did you husk the rye?” “I did,” the daughter answered. “What a beauty we saw at mass!” her mother went on. “The priest neither chanted nor read, but looked at her all the time—and just look at you, you ninny, see how you’re dressed!” “I wasn’t there, but I know all about it,” answered the maiden. “How could you know?” asked her mother.
The next day the mother dressed her elder daughter in her best clothes, went with her to mass, and left three measures of barley for the younger one, saying: “While I pray to God, you husk the barley.” So she went to mass, and her younger daughter went to fetch water at the well. She sat down at the edge and wept. The fish swam to the surface and asked: “Why do you weep, lovely maiden?” “How can I help weeping,” the maiden answered. “My mother has dressed my sister in her best clothes and taken her to mass, but she left me at home and ordered me to husk three measures of barley before she returns from church.” The fish said: “Weep not. Dress and go to church after her. The barley will be husked.”
The maiden dressed, went to church, and began to pray to God. The priest neither chanted nor read, but looked at her all the time. That day the king’s son was attending mass; our beautiful maiden pleased him tremendo
usly and he wanted to know whose daughter she was. So he took some pitch and threw it under her golden slipper. The slipper remained when the girl went home. “I will marry her whose slipper this is,” said the young prince. Soon the old woman too came home. “What a beauty was there!” she said. “The priest neither chanted nor read, but all the time looked at her—and just look at you, what a tatterdemalion you are!”
In the meantime the prince was traveling from one district to another, seeking the maiden who had lost her slipper, but he could not find anyone whom it fitted. He came to the old woman and said: “Call your young daughter hither; I want to see whether the slipper fits her.” “My daughter will dirty the slipper,” answered the old woman. The maiden came and the king’s son tried the slipper on her: it fitted. He married her and they lived happily and prospered.
I drank beer at their wedding; it ran down my lips, but never went into my mouth. I was given a flowing robe to wear, but a raven flew over me and cawed: “Flowing robe! Flowing robe!” I thought he was crying: “Throw the robe!” So I threw it away. I asked for a cap but received a slap. I was given red slippers, but the raven flew over me and cawed: “Red slippers! Red slippers!” I thought he was crying: “Robbed slippers!” So I threw them away.
EMELYA THE SIMPLETON
ONCE THERE WERE three brothers of whom two were wise and the third a simpleton. The wise brothers went to buy merchandise in the towns and told the simpleton: “Now mind, simpleton! Obey our wives and respect them as you would your own mother. We shall buy you red boots, a red caftan, and a red shirt in return.” The simpleton said: “Very well, I will respect them.” Having thus instructed the simpleton, the brothers went to the towns and the simpleton lay down on the stove and stayed there. His sisters-in-law said to him: “What are you doing, simpleton? Your brothers told you to respect us and promised to bring you gifts in return, but you are lying on the stove and doing no work at all; at least go and fetch water.”
The simpleton took the pails and went to fetch water. He drew water, and a pike got into one of the pails. The simpleton said: “Thanks be to God! Now I shall cook this pike, I shall eat my fill, and I will not give any to my sisters-in-law, for I am angry at them.” The pike said to him with the voice of a man: “Simpleton, do not eat me; put me back into the water, and you will be happy!” The simpleton asked: “What happiness will you give me?” “This happiness I’ll give: whatever you say will come to pass. For instance, say now: ‘By the pike’s command, by my own request, go, pails, go home by yourselves, and stand in your accustomed place.’ ”
As soon as the simpleton said this, the pails straightway went home and stood in their place. The sisters-in-law beheld this and marveled. “He is not a simpleton at all,” they said. “He is so clever that his pails have come home by themselves and stand in their place!” Then the simpleton came home and lay down on the stove. Again his sisters-in-law said to him: “Why do you lie on the stove, simpleton? We have no wood. Go and fetch wood!” The simpleton took two axes, sat in the sled, but did not harness the horses to it. “By the pike’s command, by my own request,” he said, “roll, sled, into the woods!”
The sled rolled speedily forward as though someone were driving it with a horse. The simpleton had to drive through the town, and without a horse he ran over so many people that it was a disaster. Everyone cried: “Stop him, catch him!” But they could not catch him. The simpleton entered the woods, got off his sled, sat down on a tree trunk, and said: “Let one ax cut from the root, let the other ax chop wood!” And the wood was chopped and loaded on the sled. The simpleton said: “Now, ax, go and cut a stick for me, so that I will have something to lift the load with.” The ax cut a stick for him; the stick came and lay on the sled. The simpleton sat in the sled and drove homeward. He passed through the town, but there the people had assembled to wait for him; they caught him and began to belabor him. The simpleton said: “By the pike’s command, by my own request, go, stick, and take care of this mob!”
The stick jumped up and set about hitting and thrashing to left and to right, till it had beaten up a great multitude of people, who fell to the ground like sheaves of grain. Thus the simpleton got rid of them and came home, stacked up the wood, and sat on the stove.
Now the inhabitants of the town went to the king with a petition against him. “He should be seized,” they said. “He must be lured by a stratagem, and best of all would be to promise him a red shirt, a red caftan, and red boots.” The king’s messengers came to the simpleton. “Go to the king,” they said, “he will give you red boots, a red caftan, and a red shirt.” The simpleton said: “By the pike’s command, by my own request, stove, go to the king!” He sat on the stove, and the stove went. The simpleton arrived at the king’s. The king wanted to put him to death, but his daughter conceived a great liking for the simpleton and began to beg her father to let her marry him. Her father grew angry, wedded them, and had them both put in a barrel. Then he had the barrel covered with pitch and thrown into the sea.
For a long time the barrel sailed on the water. Finally the simpleton’s wife asked him: “Make that we be thrown out on the shore.” The simpleton said: “By the pike’s command, by my own request, let this barrel be thrown on the shore and broken to pieces.” They climbed out of the barrel, and now the simpleton’s wife asked him to build some kind of hut. The simpleton said: “By the pike’s command, by my own request, let a marble palace be built, and let this palace be right opposite the king’s palace!” All this was accomplished at once; next morning the king saw the new palace and sent someone to find out who was living in it. As soon as he heard that his daughter was living there, he demanded that she and her husband appear before him. They came; the king forgave them, and they began to live happily together and to prosper.
THE THREE KINGDOMS
ONCE UPON A TIME there lived an old man with his old wife. They had three sons—Egorushko the Nimble, Mishka the Bandy-legged, and Ivashko Lie-on-the-Stove. Their father and mother wanted to marry them off. They sent their eldest son to find a bride for himself. He walked and walked for a long time; wherever he looked at the girls, he could not choose a bride for himself, because none was to his liking.
Then he met a three-headed dragon on the road and was frightened. The dragon said to him: “Where are you going, my good fellow?” Egorushko answered: “I have set out to get married, but I cannot find a bride.” The dragon said: “Come with me; I will lead you. We shall see whether you can get a bride.” They walked and walked, until they came to a big stone. The dragon said: “Turn up the stone; there you will get what you wish.” Egorushko tried to turn it up, but could not move it. The dragon said to him: “There is no bride for you!” Egorushko returned home and told his father and mother what had happened.
Again the father and mother pondered over what they should do, and then sent their middle son, Mishka the Bandy-legged, to find a bride. The same thing happened to him. The old man and his old wife thought and thought and wondered what to do; for if they sent Ivashko Lie-on-the-Stove, he surely would not accomplish anything!
However, Ivashko Lie-on-the-Stove began to beg for a chance to have a look at the dragon. His father and mother at first would not let him go, but later they consented. Ivashko too walked and walked, and met the three-headed dragon. The dragon asked him: “Whither are you going, my good fellow?” Ivashko answered: “My brothers wanted to get married but could not find a bride; now it is my turn.” “Come with me, then; I will show you whether you can get a bride.” And so the dragon went along with Ivashko and they came to the same stone, and the dragon told him to turn up the stone from its place. Ivashko took hold of it, and the stone rolled off. There was a hole in the ground, and near it some thongs were fixed. The dragon said: “Ivashko, sit on the thongs; I will lower you, then you will come to three kingdoms, and in each of them you will see a maiden.”
Ivashko was lowered, and started on his way. He walked and walked, until he came to the copper kingdom. He ente
red it and saw a beautiful maiden. She said: “Welcome, rare guest! Come in and sit down where you see a smooth place, and tell me whence you come and whither you are going.” “Ah, fair maiden,” said Ivashko, “you have not given me food nor drink, yet you ask me questions.” The maiden placed all sorts of food and drink on the table; Ivashko ate and drank and told her that he was seeking a bride for himself. “And if I find favor with you,” he said, “please be my wife.” “No, my good man,” said the maiden. “Travel on still farther. Then you will come to the silver kingdom; there lives a maiden even more beautiful than I.” And she gave him a silver ring. The gallant youth thanked the maiden for her hospitality, said farewell to her, and went on.
He walked and walked and came to the silver kingdom. He entered it and saw a maiden even more beautiful than the first. He asked a blessing and made obeisance: “I salute you, fair maiden!” She answered: “Welcome, strange youth! Sit down and boast about who you are, and whence and for what business you have come here.” “Ah, fair maiden,” said Ivashko, “you have not given me food nor drink, yet you are asking me questions.” The maiden set the table and brought all kinds of food and drink; Ivashko ate and drank as much as he wanted, then told her that he had set out to find a bride and asked her to be his wife. She said to him: “Go on still farther; beyond there is a golden kingdom, and in it lives a maiden even more beautiful than I.” And she gave him a golden ring. Ivashko said farewell to her and went on.
Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) Page 4