After some time the peasant’s son chose a fertile spot, tossed the box from hand to hand, and suddenly twenty-four strong fellows appeared: “What is your desire, Prince Ivan?” “Build a kingdom on this spot and let it be better than all other kingdoms.” In no time the kingdom was there! Our young man established himself there, married, and began to live gloriously.
In his kingdom there was a little fellow, quite insignificant, whose mother often came to Prince Ivan begging for alms. Her son said to her: “Mother, steal the little box from our king.” One day Prince Ivan was not at home; his wife gave the old woman alms and left the room. The old woman snatched the box, put it in a bag, and brought it to her son. He tossed the box from hand to hand and the same strong fellows jumped out. He ordered them to cast Prince Ivan into a deep ditch, where only cattle carcasses were thrown, and disposed of his wife and parents—he made them lackeys or banished them somewhere. He himself became king.
And so the peasant’s son sat in the ditch a whole day, then a second, then a third. How could he get out? He saw a huge bird dragging a carcass. Just then a dead animal was thrown into the ditch, so he tied himself to it. The bird swooped down, snatched the carcass, carried it out, and perched on a pine tree. Prince Ivan dangled there, for he could not untie himself. A huntsman appeared, took aim, and shot. The bird took wing and flew away, dropping the dead cow from its claws. The cow fell and Prince Ivan fell with it. He untied himself and walked down the road, wondering how to recover his kingdom. He felt in his pocket—there was the key of the box! He tossed it, and two strong men jumped out. “What is your desire, Prince Ivan?” “You see, brothers, I am in trouble!” “We know it, and it is lucky that we two remained with the key.” “Couldn’t you bring me the box, brothers?” Prince Ivan had no sooner said this than the two men brought him the box. When he beheld it he took heart, ordered the beggar woman and her son to be put to death, and became king as before.
BUKHTAN BUKHTANOVICH
IN A CERTAIN KINGDOM in a certain land there lived one Bukhtan Bukhtanovich, who had a stove built on pillars in the middle of a field. He lay on the stove in cockroach milk up to his elbows. A fox came to him and said: “Bukhtan Bukhtanovich, would you like me to marry you to the tsar’s daughter?” “What’s that you’re saying, little fox?” “Do you have any money?” “I have one five kopek piece.” “Hand it over!” The fox took the coin, exchanged it for smaller coins—kopeks, pennies, and halfpennies, went to the tsar, and said: “Tsar, give me a quart measure to measure Bukhtan Bukhtanovich’s money.” The tsar said: “Take one!” The fox took it home, stuck one kopek behind the hoop around the measure, brought it back to the tsar, and said: “Tsar, a quart measure is not big enough; give me a peck measure to measure Bukhtan Bukhtanovich’s money.” “Take one!” The fox took it home, stuck a kopek behind the hoop of the measure, and brought it back to the tsar. “Tsar, a peck measure is not big enough; give me a bushel measure.” “Take one!” The fox took it home, stuck what remained of his coins behind the hoop, and brought it back to the tsar. He said: “Have you measured all his money, little fox?” The fox answered: “All of it Now, tsar, I have come for a good purpose: give your daughter in marriage to Bukhtan Bukhtanovich.” “Very well; show me the suitor.”
The fox ran home. “Bukhtan Bukhtanovich, have you any clothes? Put them on.” He dressed and, accompanied by the fox, went to the tsar. They walked along the market place and had to cross on a board over a muddy ditch. The fox gave Bukhtan a push and he fell into the mud. The fox ran to him. “What is the matter with you, Bukhtan Bukhtanovich?” Saying this, the fox smeared him with mud all over. “Wait here, Bukhtan Bukhtanovich, I shall run to the tsar.” The fox came to the tsar and said: “Tsar, I was walking with Bukhtan Bukhtanovich on a board over a ditch—it was a wretched little board; we were not careful enough and somehow fell into the mud. Bukhtan Bukhtanovich is all dirty and unfit to come to town; have you some clothes you could lend him?” “Here, take these.” The fox took the clothes and came to Bukhtan Bukhtanovich. “Here, change your clothes, Bukhtan, and let us go.”
They came to the tsar, and at the tsar’s palace the table was already set. Bukhtan did not look at anything except himself: he had never seen such clothes in his life. The tsar winked to the fox: “Little fox, why does this Bukhtan Bukhtanovich look only at himself?” “Tsar, I think he is ashamed to be wearing such clothes; never in his life has he worn such mean garments. Tsar, give him the garment that you yourself wear on Easter Sunday.” And to Bukhtan the fox whispered: “Don’t look at yourself!”
Bukhtan Bukhtanovich stared at a chair—it was a gilded one. The tsar again whispered to the fox: “Little fox, why does Bukhtan Bukhtanovich look only at that chair?” “Tsar, in his house such chairs stand only in the bathhouse.” The tsar flung the chair out of the room. The fox whispered to Bukhtan: “Do not look at one thing; look here a bit and there a bit.”
They began to talk about the purpose of their visit, the match. And then they celebrated the wedding—does a wedding take long in a tsar’s palace? There no beer need be brewed, no wine distilled—everything is ready. Three ships were loaded for Bukhtan Bukhtanovich and they traveled homeward. Bukhtan Bukhtanovich and his wife were on one of the ships, and the fox ran along the shore. Bukhtan saw his stove and cried: “Little fox, little fox, there is my stove.” “Be quiet, Bukhtan Bukhtanovich, that stove is a disgrace.”
Bukhtan Bukhtanovich sailed on, and the fox ran ahead of him on the shore. He came to a hill and climbed it. On the hill stood a huge stone house, and around it was an enormous kingdom. The fox went into the house and at first saw no one; then he ran into a chamber, and there in the best bed lay Dragon, Son of the Dragon, stretching himself. Raven, Son of the Raven, was perched on the chimney, and Cat, Son of the Cat, sat on a throne. The fox said: “Why are you sitting here? The tsar is coming with fire and the tsarina with lightning, they will scorch and burn you.” “Little fox, whither shall we go?” “Cat, Son of the Cat, go into the barrel.” And the fox sealed him up in the barrel. “Raven, Son of the Raven, go into the mortar!” And the fox sealed him up in the mortar; then he wrapped Dragon, Son of the Dragon, in straw and took him out into the street.
The ships arrived. The fox ordered all the beasts to be thrown into the water; the Cossacks threw them in at once. Bukhtan Bukhtanovich moved all his possessions into that house; there he lived happily and prospered, ruled and governed, and there he ended his life.
THE FOX AND THE WOODCOCK
A FOX WAS RUNNING in the woods; she saw a woodcock on a tree and said to him: “Terenti, Terenti, I’ve been to town!” “Bu-bu-bu, bu-bu-bu, if you’ve been, you’ve been!” “Terenti, Terenti, I learned about a new law!” “Bu-bu-bu, bu-bu-bu, if you’ve learned, you’ve learned!” “A law forbidding you woodcocks to perch on trees, and ordering you always to walk in the green meadows!” “Bu-bu-bu, bu-bu-bu, to walk is to walk!” “Terenti, who is coming over there?” asked the fox, hearing the trampling of horses’ feet and the barking of dogs. “A peasant.” “Who is running after him?” “A colt.” “And how does he hold his tail?” “It’s twisted to one side.” “Now farewell, Terenti, I have urgent business at home!”
THE FOX AND THE CRANE
THE FOX AND THE CRANE used to be good friends, they even stood godparents for the same child. The fox wanted to treat the crane to dinner and invited him to her house: “Come to see me, gossip! Come, my dear, you’ll see how nicely I’ll entertain you!” So the crane came to her house. Meantime the fox had cooked gruel and spread it over a dish. She served it and urged her guest: “Eat, my darling, I cooked it myself.” The crane pecked with his bill, knocked and knocked at the dish, but nothing got into his mouth, while the fox lapped and lapped the gruel until she had eaten it all. After the gruel was gone, the fox said: “I’m sorry, dear friend, but that’s all I have to offer you.” “Thank you, my friend, for what you have given me. You must come to visit me soon.”
The next day the fo
x came to the crane’s house. The crane had made a soup and put it in a pitcher with a narrow neck. She placed it on the table and said: “Eat, my friend, that’s all I have to offer you.” The fox began to trot around the pitcher, she approached it from one side, then from another, she licked it and smelled it, but all to no avail. Her snout could not get into the pitcher. Meanwhile the crane sucked and sucked until he had drunk all the soup. “I am sorry, my friend, that’s all I have to offer you.” The fox was greatly vexed; for she had thought she would eat for a whole week, and now she had to go home with a long face and an empty stomach. It was tit for tat; and from that moment on the friendship between the fox and the crane was over.
THE TWO RIVERS
FOR A LONG TIME the Volga River and the Vazuza River disputed as to which of them was the cleverer, stronger, and deserving of the greater honors. They argued and argued and neither would give in to the other. Finally they decided to settle the matter in this way. “Let us lie down to sleep,” they said, “and whichever of us wakes up and reaches the Khvalinsky Sea first will be considered the cleverer, stronger, and deserving of the greater honors.”
The Volga lay down to sleep and so did the Vazuza. In the middle of the night the Vazuza rose quietly, ran away from the Volga, chose a short, straight road to the sea, and started flowing. The Volga, upon awakening, flowed neither too slowly nor too fast, but just as a river should flow. At Zubtsov she overtook the Vazuza with such force that the Vazuza was frightened by her younger sister, and begged her, the Volga, to take her, the Vazuza, in her arms and carry her to the sea. Nevertheless, it is still the Vazuza that wakes first in the spring and rouses the Volga from her long winter sleep.
NODEY, THE PRIEST’S GRANDSON
IN A CERTAIN KINGDOM, in a certain land, there lived a widowed priest and his daughter. He took very good care of the girl, and whenever he went to see someone in his parish he always brought her presents; his parishioners knew that our priest had a daughter and that she expected presents. One day he went to a village of his parish about twelve versts away, to give someone communion, and was received very hospitably. He forgot to ask for a present for his daughter, and set out for home. As he was riding on the road, he beheld a human head burning—in fact, it was almost all burned, only ashes remained. At first he passed it by, but then he changed his mind. “Here is a human head burning,” he thought. “I will take it, put the ashes in my pocket, bring them home, and place them in the cellar.”
He picked up the ashes, mounted his horse again, and rode home. His daughter came out to meet him in the yard and helped him down from his horse; he had a headache, probably from the wind, and she put him to sleep in the featherbed. But then she thought: “My father must have brought me a present.” She looked into his pocket; meanwhile the ashes he had picked up had turned into a box. She took out this box and said: “Oh, this is a fine box; what shall I do with it?” She touched it with her tongue and became pregnant. What other women bear after long weeks, she bore in hours; her time for delivery came, and she gave birth to a boy. He was christened at once and named Nodey, the priest’s grandson.
The boy began to grow; what other boys achieve in years, he achieved in hours; at six weeks he went out into the street to play ball with the other boys. When he hit a ball, it flew, one heard it buzz through the air, but one did not see it. If he struck someone in the leg, the leg came off; if he struck someone in the arm, the arm came off; and when he struck someone in the head, the poor fellow’s head came off. The fathers of these children came to the priest and said to him: “Father, please do not allow your grandson to go into the street to play with the other children; he has done a great deal of damage.” One would complain that his boy had lost his head, another that his child had lost an arm. “Please, Father,” they said, “keep him in the house.”
So the priest kept Nodey at home until summer came; by then he had grown quite big, and said: “Dear grandfather, what work shall we do now?” The priest was overjoyed and said to his daughter: “My beloved daughter, God be thanked for having given us an heir; he is a godsend, he is so strong. Now what shall we undertake? Let us work.” And he said to his grandson: “Come, grandson, let us clear some marshy ground.” “Let us go, grandfather.”
So they went to the marshes and chose a place; the grandfather began to cut a pine tree, and Nodey said: “Grandfather, don’t you work, but give me your blessing.” “Well,” said the grandfather, “may God bless you.” And the boy set to work with such vigor that the woods began to tremble; he gave one blow with his ax, and the tree flew down. Before noon he had cleared about four acres of marshy ground. The grandfather said: “Now we have to chop the wood and burn it.” He answered: “Grandfather, let us simply pile it up.”
After three days the former wilderness had become farmland. With the help of his grandfather Nodey sowed oats, and the oats throve beautifully, as never before. Now a bear began to haunt that field of oats. The priest went to inspect the new field and found that much of the grain had been eaten. He returned home, and his grandson asked him: “Well, grandfather, how is our field?” “Very fine, little grandson, only some wild horse has begun to frequent it—he has an enormous appetite and has done much damage.” “Do you mean to say, grandfather, that after all the work I did, a good-for-nothing like that has done so much damage? I’ll go catch him. Find me some hemp, as much as you can.”
He sat down, wove a hempen bridle, and having eaten his dinner, went to the woods. When he saw the field, he was amazed at the sight. “My God,” he said, “what mischief this horse has done! it’s frightful!” And he sat down on a tree stump in the field. As he sat thus, the bear came out of the woods, went straight into the oat field, and began to trample the plants. Our brave youth was surprised. “What a strange creature!” he said. “I never saw such a horse. And how he spoils the oats!” Meanwhile the bear came close to him; he was not frightened by the man on the tree stump, but took him to be part of it. When he came quite close, Nodey jumped down and—one, two, three—caught the bear by the ears, hugged him tight, and pressed him to the ground. The bear thought to himself: “What’s this?” He tried to get up; but Nodey would not let him; he put the hempen bridle on him, and led him home. And while he was leading him, whenever the bear caught on a tree, the tree was uprooted.
Well, Nodey brought him home, tied him to a pillar in the middle of the yard, and went into the house. “Lord, what a horse that was, grandfather! How tired I am from dragging him home!” The priest looked out into the yard and gasped. “Look, my daughter,” he said, “what your little son, my grandson, has done!” And for a long time they gazed in admiration. Nodey said: “Don’t stare, but tell me what we will do with this horse, what work we will give it, for it is very strong.” “Use it to bring wood,” said the grandfather.
So Nodey took the bear, harnessed him to a cart, and began to use him to carry wood. In three days he had carted off the whole village. The villagers did not venture to go out, for the entire village had disappeared. They came to the priest and said to him: “Put him wherever you will, but he must not stay here; what kind of behavior is this? In three days he has taken the whole village away. We cannot go out for fear of him.”
“Ah, my daughter,” said the priest, “what are we to do? I am sorry for your son, my grandson, but we must send him away; let him go wherever you will.” And he called his grandson to him and said: “Well, my beloved grandson, the villagers have come with a request that we send you away; I am sorry for you, but you must go.” “Eh, my beloved grandfather, you should have told me that long ago, and I would have gone without delay. My beloved mother, bake a loaf of bread for me!” His mother baked a loaf of bread for him and put it in his knapsack.
He rose very early and washed himself clean. Then he put his knapsack on his back and asked for a blessing: “My beloved mother and my dear grandfather, give me your blessing for my journey.” He said his prayers and set out; he came to the open field, and instead of taking a
road or a path, went through thick forests and deep swamps and walked for seven days, with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out. And he came to the thrice ninth land, to the thrice tenth kingdom, and found himself in an open field, near a steep mountain, and saw there Gorynya, the mighty hero, who kicked mountains about like balls.
Nodey, the priest’s grandson, went to him and said: “God be with you, Gorynya, mighty hero! What immense strength is in you, that you can kick mountains about like balls!” Gorynya answered him: “Eh, brave youth, do not admire my strength! It is said that beyond thrice nine lands, in the thrice tenth kingdom, there is a certain Nodey, a priest’s grandson, who is much stronger than I. He brought a bear from the woods and on this bear loaded his entire village. His bones will not be carried by a raven, he will not be borne by a good young steed!” And Nodey answered him: “Ah, brother Gorynya, mighty hero! The raven did not carry his bones, but he himself is here.” Gorynya said: “Ah, brother, so you are Nodey, the priest’s grandson! Take me with you as your younger brother!” Nodey took him, and they traveled to many far lands and conquered many mighty knights and captured many cities; then they both got married, and they and their brides prospered.
Russian Fairy Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) Page 16