Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

by Afanas'Ev, Aleksandr

  Gavrilo took the handkerchief, went to the house, and the hostess asked him: “What do you want?” Gavrilo said: “Thus and so, Madam! I sold your husband a hide for two rubles and a half, and a full glass of wine in addition; he sent me here to give you this handkerchief and ask you to serve me the wine.” The hostess immediately poured a glass, but not quite a full one, and offered it to Gavrilo; he drank it and stood there. The hostess asked him: “Why are you still standing there?” Gavrilo answered: “Our agreement was for a full glass of wine.” At that time the merchant’s wife had her lover in the house; he heard Gavrilo’s words and said: “Pour him some more, sweetheart!” She poured him half a glass; Gavrilo drank it and still stood there. Again the hostess asked him: “What are you waiting for now?” Gavrilo answered: “Our agreement was for a full glass, and you gave me half a glass.” The lover told her to serve him for the third time; then the merchant’s wife took the wine decanter, put the glass in Gavrilo’s hand, and poured so much wine that it overflowed the rim. Gavrilo had no sooner drunk his wine than the merchant knocked at the door. The wife did not know where to hide her lover and began to cry: “Where shall I put you?” The lover ran back and forth in the room, and Gavrilo after him, crying: “And where shall I go?” The woman opened the trapdoor and pushed them both in.

  The merchant came in, bringing guests with him. When they had drunk some liquor they began to sing songs, and Gavrilo, sitting in the pit, said to his companion: “Do what you will, but this is my father’s favorite song, and I shall sing it too.” “For heaven’s sake, please, don’t sing! Here are a hundred rubles for you, only keep quiet.” Gavrilo took the money and kept quiet. After a short time the merry band above them began another song. Gavrilo again said to his companion: “Do what you will, but this time I must join them: that is my mother’s favorite song!” “Please, don’t sing! Here are two hundred rubles for you.” This suited Gavrilo: he now had three hundred rubles; he put the money in his pocket and kept quiet. Soon the guests began a third song. Gavrilo said: “This time give me four hundred rubles, else I’ll sing.” The lover begged him not to, and said that he had no more money. The merchant’s wife heard them wrangling in the cellar, opened the trapdoor, and whispered: “What is the matter?” Her lover asked her for five hundred rubles; she quickly returned with the money, and Gavrilo took it and kept quiet.

  After a while he noticed a pillow and a barrel of tar in the pit; he ordered his companion to undress. After the lover had undressed, Gavrilo smeared him with tar, then cut open the pillow, and ordered him to roll in the feathers. After the man had rolled himself in the feathers, Gavrilo opened the trapdoor, sat himself astride his companion, and rode out, crying: “The ninth devil is leaving this house!” The guests became frightened and rushed home, thinking that devils had come. After all of them were gone, the merchant’s wife said to her husband: “I told you that strange things were going on here.” The merchant foolishly believed her and sold his house for a song.

  Gavrilo came home and sent his eldest son to ask Danilo to come to him and help him count his money. But Danilo laughed in his nephew’s face. “What is there to count?” he said. “Can’t your father count two and a half rubles?” “Oh no, uncle, father has brought home lots of money!” Then Danilo’s wife said: “Go there, at least to make fun of him.” Danilo heeded his wife and went to his brother’s. When Gavrilo poured out the pile of money before him, Danilo was surprised and asked: “Brother, where did you get so much money?” “What do you mean, where? I slaughtered my cow, and sold its hide in town for twenty-five rubles; for this money I bought five cows, slaughtered them, and sold their hides at the same price; and so on.” Upon hearing that his brother had made a fortune so easily, Danilo went home, slaughtered all his cattle, and began to wait for market day; and since it was summer, the flesh of the slaughtered animals rotted. When he brought his hides to town, no one wanted to give him more than two and a half rubles for each. He was forced to sell them at a loss, and began to live more miserably than Gavrilo had ever lived. But Gavrilo became a sharp merchant and amassed a large fortune.

  THE CROSS IS PLEDGED AS SECURITY

  IN A CERTAIN TOWN there lived two merchants at the very edge of the river. One was Russian, the other Tartar; both were extremely wealthy. Now it came to pass that the Russian merchant went bankrupt as a result of some unfortunate dealings, and nothing was left of his wealth: all his possessions were seized. He was now in bad straits, and as poor as a churchmouse. He went to his friend the Tartar and asked him to lend him some money. The Tartar said: “Who will be your guarantor?” “Whom shall I name? I have no one left. But wait a minute—let the life-giving cross on the church be your security.” “Very well, my friend,” said the Tartar, “I will trust your cross; what you believe in is good enough for me.” And he gave the Russian merchant fifty thousand rubles. The Russian took the money, said farewell to the Tartar, and again set out to trade in foreign lands.

  At the end of two years he had earned one hundred and fifty thousand rubles with the original fifty thousand. He happened to be sailing with his goods on the Danube, from one town to another; suddenly a storm came up and the ship seemed about to founder. The merchant then recalled that he had borrowed money against the security of the life-giving cross, and had not paid his debt; he decided that this was the reason for the storm. He had no sooner come to this conclusion than the storm began to subside. The merchant took a barrel, counted out fifty thousand rubles, wrote a note to the Tartar, put it in the barrel with the money, and threw the barrel into the water, thinking, “Since I gave the cross as security, the cross will deliver the money to its rightful owner.”

  The barrel sank to the bottom at once, and everyone thought that the money would be lost. But instead, what happened? The Tartar had a Russian cook. One day she went to fetch water at the river. She saw a barrel floating; she waded into the river and tried to grasp it, but every time she came close to it, it moved away; when she waded from the barrel to the bank, it followed her. She struggled with it for some time, then went home and told her master about it. At first he did not believe her, but then decided to go to the river and see this barrel for himself. He came, and saw that the barrel was really floating near the bank. He undressed, went into the water, and no sooner had he begun to wade than the barrel drifted to him by itself; the Tartar took it home, opened it, and found the money and the note. He read the note, which ran thus: “My dear friend, I am returning to you the fifty thousand rubles that I borrowed from you against the security of the life-giving cross.”

  The Tartar read the note and was amazed at the power of the life-giving cross. He counted the money: the whole sum was there. Meanwhile the Russian merchant, having traded for about five years, had earned a handsome little fortune. He returned to his own town, and thinking that his barrel had been lost, decided that his first duty was to settle his debt to the Tartar; so he came to him and offered him the money. Then the Tartar told the merchant everything that had happened, and how he had found the barrel with the money and the note in the river. He showed the Russian the note and asked: “Is this really in your hand?” The Russian merchant answered: “It is.” Everyone was amazed at the miracle, and the Tartar said: “So you see, brother, you don’t owe me any money; take it back.” The Russian merchant offered a thanksgiving service to God. The next day the Tartar had himself and his family baptized. The Russian merchant was his godfather, and the cook his godmother. After that both merchants lived long and happily; they reached a ripe old age and died in peace.

  THE DAYDREAMER

  A POOR PEASANT walking in a field saw a hare under a bush and was overjoyed. He said: “Now I’m in luck! I will catch this hare, kill him with a whip, and sell him for twelve kopeks. For that money I will buy a sow, and she will bring me twelve piglets; the piglets will grow up and each bring twelve piglets; I will slaughter them all, and have a barnful of meat. I will sell the meat, and with the money will set up housekeeping and get married. My
wife will bear me two sons, Vaska and Vanka. The children will plow the field, and I will sit by the window and give orders. “Hey, you boys!” I will cry. “Vaska and Vanka! Don’t overwork your laborers; apparently you yourselves have never known poverty!” And the peasant shouted these words so loudly that the hare was startled and ran away, and his house with all his riches and his wife, and his children were lost.

  THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

  MARTYNKO WAS LONELY. He decided to get married and went to propose to the priest’s daughter, Ustinia. The priest told him: “Eh, Martynko, I would gladly give her to you, but how will you live with her? She is so capricious!” Martynko answered him: “Father, I am alone; with her there will be two of us, but there will be no one to be angry at and no one to quarrel with.” The priest agreed to give Ustinia to Martynko, and they were married. Martynko took his wife to his house. She asked: “When you get angry, what do you do?” He said: “When I am angry, I get drunk on water!” Then he asked Ustinia: “And you, Ustinia, what do you do when you get angry?” “When I am angry, I sit on the stove with my face to the corner and put the front of my headband to the back.” Next morning our Martynko took his piebald horse to plow for the spring sowing. Ustinia made curd cakes and brought them to her husband, crying: “Peasant, come and eat!” He pretended not to hear and went on plowing. Ustinia grew angry, went home, ate her cakes, and sat on the stove, turning her face to the corner. When Martynko came home, he drank two jugs of water, took a lamb and tore it asunder, started to climb up to his wife on the stove, fell down, rolled on the floor as far as the door, and began to snore. His wife quietly got down from the stove, did not dare open the door, got wood through the window, made a fire in the stove, and cooked dinner for Martynko. He awoke, she served him his dinner, and asked him to take her to visit her father. Martynko harnessed his piebald mare to the sledge—although it was spring—and they set out. On the way their mare refused to pull, so Martynko cut off her head and harnessed his Ustinia to the sledge. He drove to his father-in-law’s house; the priest’s wife and her daughters saw that Ustinia was dragging Martynko. They rushed out to meet the two; some of them pulled the shafts and some the ropes, to help Ustinia; and the priest thanked Martynko for having given a lesson to all shrews. They came to the priest’s house; Ustinia asked her family to keep water out of sight and to serve only wine and beer, saying that when Martynko drank water, he was terribly angry. The next day a cook left a pail of water in the entrance hall. Martynko drank some water, became as foolish as a drunken man, and ordered Ustinia to harness herself to the sledge; she trembled, and begged her father to give them his chestnut horse. The priest made them a gift of a horse; Martynko and Ustinia drove home, and to this day they are still living and chewing bread. And Ustinia is a most obedient wife.

  QUARRELSOME DEMYAN

  ONCE THERE WAS a peasant who liked to pick a fight; he invited another peasant to his house, told his wife to set the table, and asked his guest to sit down. The guest said politely: “You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble, Demyan Ilyich.” Demyan Ilyich slapped him in the face and said: “Always obey the master when you’re in someone else’s house.” The guest sat down, the host offered him food, and he ate. The host began to cut numberless slices of bread. The guest said: “Why do you cut so much bread, Demyan Ilyich?” Demyan Ilyich gave him another slap in the face, saying: “Don’t give advice in someone else’s house. Do what the host tells you.” The guest became unhappy, and when offered food did not eat it, thus disobeying Demyan, who kept beating him and saying: “In someone else’s house, obey the master!”

  At that moment another fellow, shabbily dressed, but lively and robust, opened the gate, and without being invited, rode into the yard. Demyan went out on the porch and saluted him: “Welcome, welcome!” For he wanted to thrash this guest, too! The fellow was not backward. He removed his hat and said: “Forgive me, Demyan Ilyich, for having come without first asking permission.” “Never mind, you are welcome, please come in!” The fellow came in. The host bade him sit down at table and ordered his wife to serve the dishes and bring bread. The fellow ate and ate, without contradicting his host. No matter how Demyan tried to provoke this guest, he could not find a pretext for striking him. Finally he resorted to tricks; he brought out his very best clothes and said to the stranger: “Take off what you are wearing, put this on.” He thought to himself: “He will refuse out of politeness, and then I will thrash him.” But the fellow did not refuse; he put on the clothes that his host gave him. Demyan offered him this and that; still the fellow did not quarrel. Demyan brought out a good horse, saddled it with his best saddle, put a good bridle on it, and said to his guest, “Take my horse, yours is a poor jade”—thinking to himself that the man would surely refuse. But the fellow mounted the horse. Demyan told him to ride forth; he silently urged on the horse, went out of the yard, and said: “Farewell, Demyan! The devil didn’t send me, I came here of my own accord.” And he was never heard of again. Demyan followed him with his eyes, clapped his hands, and said: “Well, at last I’ve found my equal! Not he, but I was fooled—I wanted to thrash him, and instead I lost my horse.” And his horse with its trappings was worth perhaps as much as a hundred and fifty rubles.

  THE MAGIC BOX

  AN OLD COUPLE had a son. When he grew up, his father did not know what trade to teach him, but finally decided to apprentice him to a master who made all kinds of objects. He went to town and agreed with the master that the boy should be his apprentice for three years and come home only once during that time. Then he brought his son to the master. The young fellow lived with him for one year, then for another. Soon he learned how to make precious things and surpassed his master. Once he made a clock worth about five hundred rubles, and sent it to his father. “Perhaps he can sell it,” he said, “and ease his misery.” But the father would not even think of selling it. He could not feast his eyes enough on that clock, because his son had made it. Finally the day came for the young fellow’s visit to his parents. His master was a magician and said: “Go! I give you three hours and three minutes; if you fail to return on time, you will die.” The son thought: “How will I travel so many versts to my father?” Answering his thoughts, the master said: “Take this carriage; as soon as you sit down in it, blink your eyes.”

  Our fellow did this, and no sooner did he blink his eyes than he found himself at his father’s house. He stepped down from the carriage and came into the room, but no one was there. His father and mother, seeing a carriage drive up to their house, had been frightened and hid themselves in the cupboard near the stove. It took their son a long time to persuade them to come out. They greeted one another. The mother wept, for they had not seen each other in a long time. The son gave them the presents he had brought for them. While they exchanged blessings and conversed, time passed by. Three hours passed; only three minutes remained—now only two—now only one! An evil spirit whispered to the young man: “Hurry up, else your master will take you to task!” The young man was worried, said farewell to his parents, and left. Soon he arrived at his master’s house, and an evil spirit tormented his master because the apprentice was late. The young man apologized to his master, fell at his feet, and said: “Forgive me for being late, I’ll never do it again!” The master only chided him and truly forgave him.

  Our young man resumed his former life and began to make all sorts of things better than anyone else. The master thought: “If the young man leaves me, he will take all my trade away, for he is now better than his master!” So he commanded him: “Worker! Go to the underground kingdom and bring me a little box that stands on the king’s throne!” So together they made a long ladder by sewing one thong to another, and attached a little bell at each seam. The master lowered his apprentice into a ravine and told him to pull one thong as soon as he got the box; this would set the bells to ringing and the master would hear him. The young man went down into the earth, saw a house, and entered it. A score of peasants rose from their seats, b
owed to him, and in one voice said: “Welcome, Prince Ivan!” The young man was surprised: what an honor! He entered another room that was full of women; they too stood up, bowed to him, and said: “Welcome, Prince Ivan!” All these people had been sent there by the master. Then the young man went into a third room; there he saw a throne, and on the throne a box; he took the box, went from the house, and all the people followed after him.

  They came to the thong ladder, shook it, tied a man to it, and the master pulled it. The apprentice intended to tie himself to the ladder, with the box, when all the others had been raised up. The master pulled out half the people. Suddenly one of his workers came running to tell him that an accident had happened in his shop. The master ordered his worker to pull everyone out from underground except the peasant’s son, and left the spot. So all the people were pulled out by the thongs and only our young man was left. He walked and walked in the underground kingdom and at last happened to shake the box. Thereupon a dozen strong fellows appeared and asked: “What is Prince Ivan’s desire?” “Pull me up to the surface!” The men seized him and lifted him out. He did not go to his master, but to his father. Meanwhile the master remembered the box, ran to the ravine, and shook and shook the ladder—but his apprentice was gone. The master thought: “Apparently he has gone off somewhere! I must send someone for him.”