{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26789/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26789","id":"gutenberg_26789","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26789","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Humour","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Russian Literature","Tales -- Russia"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1913 Thomas J. Wise pamphlet by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                            EMELIAN THE FOOL\n                                A TALE\n\n\n                      _Translated from the Russian_\n                                    BY\n                              GEORGE BORROW\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                     PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION\n\n                                   1913\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe tale of _Emelian_, of which we give here a version, is highly popular\namongst the peasantry of Russia, and is told by them at their\nmerry-makings from the upper shores of the Gulf of Finland to the Ural\nMountains.  It bears some resemblance to the tale of _Aladdin_, the pike\nplaying in the Russian story much the same part as the lamp in the\nArabian one, and it is by no means impossible that both tales are derived\nfrom the same myth.  But from whatever source the story of _Emelian_ may\nhave sprung, the manner in which it is wrought is essentially Russian,\nand from it, as here rendered, the English reader may form a better idea\nof the way of life, and the feelings of the Russian mujiks, or peasantry,\nthan from a dozen common books of travels in Russia.  Emelian is\nrepresented as a fool, but there is much in what he says and does common\nto the Russian mujik in general.  He lies in the izbushka, or cabin, upon\nthe petsch, or stove, and when told to get up, he says: \u201cWhat should I\nget up for?\u2014Mnie zdies teplo, i ia lieni\u00f3s\u2014\u2019tis warm here, and I am\nlazy.\u201d  There spoke the genuine mujik, the most prominent features of\nwhose character are a love of warmth and a hatred of exertion, though,\nwhen he chooses to get up and rouse himself, he is capable of very great\nthings, can outwit the tchort himself, bear hunger and fatigue better\nthan any other man, and contend even with the Briton at the game of the\nbayonet.  Perhaps we may hereafter present to the public in an English\ndress some other popular tales illustrative of the manner of life and\nideas of the mujiks, to whom the attention of the English public has of\nlate been much directed, owing to the ukase of the present Tsar, by which\nthey are emancipated from serfdom,\u2014a measure likely to be productive of\nmuch weal or woe throughout his extensive dominions.\n\nThe tale is as follows:\u2014\n\n\n\n\nEMELIAN THE FOOL\n\n\nIn a certain village there lived a mujik, or yeoman, who had three sons;\ntwo were clever, but the third was a fool, who was called Emelian.  When\nthe good man had reached an extreme old age, he called all his sons to\nhim, and said:\n\n\u201cDear children, I feel that I have not long to live; I therefore leave\nyou house and cattle, which you will divide in equal portions.  I also\nleave you money: a hundred roubles for each.\u201d\n\nSoon after these words he died, and his children, having given him a\ndecent funeral, lived very comfortably.  After a little time, the\nbrothers of Emelian took it into their heads to start for the city, and\nemploy in traffic the three hundred roubles which their father had left\nthem; so they said to the fool Emelian:\n\n\u201cHarkee, fool, we are going to the city, and will take your hundred\nroubles with us, and if our traffic goes on profitably we will buy you a\nred caftan, a red cap, and red boots; but do you remain at home, and if\nyour sisters-in-law, our wives (for they were married) order you to do\nanything, be sure you do it.\u201d\n\nThe fool, wishing to receive the red caftan, red cap, and red boots, told\nhis brothers in reply that he would do whatever his sisters-in-law should\norder him.  After this, his brothers set out for the city, and the fool\nremained at home, and lived with his sisters-in-law.  After some time, on\na certain day, when it was winter, and there was a terrible frost, his\nsisters-in-law told him to go for water; but the fool, who was lying on\nthe petsch, or stove, said:\n\n\u201cYes, indeed, and why not you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not we, you fool?\u201d cried the sisters-in-law; \u201cdon\u2019t you see what a\nfrost it is? and that none but a man can go out in such weather?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said he, \u201cI am lazy.\u201d\n\n\u201cLazy?\u201d screamed his sisters-in-law; \u201cwon\u2019t you presently want something\nto eat?  And if there be no water how can we boil anything?\u201d  Thereupon\nthey added, \u201cVery well, when our husbands come home with the red caftan\nand cap they promised him, we will tell them to give him nothing.\u201d\n\nWhen the fool heard this he thought it best to go, for he wished very\nmuch to get the red caftan and cap.  So getting down from the petsch he\nbegan to put on his stockings and boots, and to dress himself; and when\nhe was quite dressed, he took with him a couple of pails and a hatchet,\nand went to the river: for the village in which they lived stood very\nnear the river.  When he had come to the stream, he began to hew away at\nthe ice, and when he had made a very big hole, he filled his pails with\nwater, and placing them on the ice, he stood beside the hole, and looked.\nNow as the fool stood and looked he saw a very large pike swimming in the\nhole.  Fool as Emelian was, he nevertheless wished to catch the pike.  He\ntherefore advanced softly, and coming near to it, seized it suddenly with\nhis hand, and pulling it out of the water, placed it in his bosom, and\nbegan to make for home.  But the pike said to him:\n\n\u201cHow\u2019s this, fool? for what do you seize me?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor what?\u201d said he; \u201cI shall carry you home, and tell my sisters-in-law\nto boil you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so, fool, don\u2019t carry me home, but put me back into the water, and I\nwill make you a rich man.\u201d\n\nBut the fool did not believe him, and was making for home.  The pike,\nseeing that the fool did not let him go, said:\n\n\u201cListen, fool, do but put me into the water, and I will do for you\nwhatsoever you wish, so that every desire of your heart shall be\nfulfilled.\u201d\n\nThe fool, hearing these words, was very glad; for, as he was excessively\nlazy, he thought to himself\u2014\n\n\u201cIf the pike does whatever I ask all will be got ready for me, and I\nshall have no need to work.\u201d\n\nHe therefore said to the pike:\n\n\u201cI will let you go, only do what you promise.\u201d\n\nThereupon the pike made answer:\n\n\u201cFirst place me in the water, and I will fulfil my promise.\u201d\n\nBut the fool said to him that he must first of all perform his promise,\nand that he would then let him go.\n\nThe pike, seeing that he would not put him into the water, said:\n\n\u201cIf you wish me to do for you what you want, you must now tell me what it\nis that you desire.\u201d\n\nThe fool said:\n\n\u201cI desire that my pails of water should march of themselves up the hill\u201d\n(for the village stood upon a hill), \u201cbut so that none of the water be\nspilt out of them.\u201d\n\nThe pike immediately said to him:\n\n\u201cRemember, Emelian, the words which I am about to say to you, and the\nwords are as follows: \u2018At the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, march,\npails, by yourselves up the hill.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe fool repeated the words after the pike:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request march, pails, by yourselves up\nthe hill.\u201d\n\nForthwith the pails, and the yoke by which he was wont to carry them,\nmarched of themselves up the hill.  Emelian, seeing this, was very much\nsurprised, and said to the pike:\n\n\u201cWill it always be so?\u201d\n\nTo which the pike made answer:\n\n\u201cAll things you wish will be done, even as this has been done: only don\u2019t\nforget the words which I have taught you.\u201d\n\nThereupon he released the pike into the water, and went himself after his\npails.  The neighbours, seeing what was going on, were filled with\nwonder, and said, amongst, themselves\u2014\n\n\u201cWhat is the fool about?  The pails of water walk of themselves, and he\nwalks after them.\u201d\n\nBut Emelian, without saying anything to them, went home, and the pails\nwent of themselves into the keeping-room, and placed themselves on the\nbench, while the fool mounted upon the petsch.  A little time after, his\nsisters-in-law said to him again:\n\n\u201cEmelian, what do you lie there for? go and cut some wood.\u201d\n\nBut the fool said:\n\n\u201cYes, indeed, and why not you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe?\u201d screamed his sisters-in-law; \u201cit is now winter, and if you do not\ngo and cut some wood you will soon be cold.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am lazy,\u201d said the fool.\n\n\u201cLazy?\u201d said his sisters-in-law to him, \u201cthen you will be frozen.\u201d\n\nThereupon they added:\n\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t go and cut wood we will tell our husbands not to give you\nthe red caftan, nor the red cap, nor the boots.\u201d\n\nThe fool, from the desire which he felt to obtain the red caftan, cap,\nand boots, was obliged to comply with their request.  But as he was\nthoroughly lazy, and did not wish to get down from the petsch, he said\nthese words softly as he lay:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, go, hatchet, now, and cut down\nwood; and do you, wood, come of yourself to the room, and stow yourself\nwithin the stove.\u201d\n\nForthwith, the hatchet, without anyone taking it, hopped forth, and began\nto cut away, and the wood of itself came into the room, and stowed itself\nin the stove, at the sight of which the sisters-in-law wondered much at\nthe craft of Emelian; and every day, when the fool only ordered the\nhatchet to go out and cut wood, the hatchet went and cut some.  And in\nthis manner he lived with his sisters-in-law for some time.  At length,\nhis sisters-in-law said to him:\n\n\u201cEmelian! we have no wood, so pray go out into the forest and cut some.\u201d\n\nThe fool said: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you go yourselves?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow should we go?\u201d replied his sisters-in-law; \u201cthe forest is a great\nway off, and as it is now winter, it is too cold for us to go to the\nforest for wood.\u201d\n\nBut the fool said to them:\n\n\u201cI am lazy.\u201d\n\n\u201cLazy!\u201d cried his sisters-in-law; \u201cif you don\u2019t go you will soon be cold.\nBut if you refuse to go, when your brothers, our husbands, come home we\nwill order them to give you neither red caftan, red cap, nor red boots.\u201d\n\nThe fool, wishing to obtain the red caftan, cap and boots, felt obliged\nto go to the forest for wood, and getting up from the petsch, he began to\nput on his stockings and boots, and to dress himself; and when he was\nquite dressed he went out into the court, and drawing the sledge out of\nthe shed, and taking with him a rope and hatchet, he mounted the sledge,\nand bade his sisters-in-law open the gate.  The sisters-in-law, seeing\nthat he got into the sledge without putting the horses to it, for the\nfool did not lead out the horses, said to him:\n\n\u201cHow is this, Emelian? you have got into the sledge without putting the\nhorses to it.\u201d\n\nBut he said to them that he had no need of horses, and only wanted them\nto open the gate.  The sisters-in-law did so, and the fool as he sat in\nthe sledge, said:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, set forward, sledge, to the\nforest.\u201d\n\nAt these words the sledge forthwith went forth.  The country people\nliving around were quite astounded to see Emelian riding in the sledge\nwithout horses, and going with such speed that, even if the best pair of\nhorses in the world had been fastened to the sledge, it would have been\nimpossible to go quicker.  Now as it was necessary for the fool, in order\nto reach the forest, to go through the town, he drove through it at full\nspeed; but as he did not know that it was necessary for him to cry out,\nin order that the people might not be run over, he drove through the city\nwithout crying to the people to get out of the way, and ran over a great\nnumber of them, and although they gave chase to him, yet it was\nimpossible to overtake him.  Emelian, having passed through the city and\nreached the wood, stopped the sledge.  The fool then getting out of the\nsledge, said:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, fall, hatchet, now to cutting\nwood; and do you, wood, gather yourself into the sledge and be corded.\u201d\n\nScarcely had the fool said these words when the hatchet began to cut\nwood, and the wood, gathering itself up, placed itself in the sledge, and\ntied itself with the cord.  After he had cut as much wood as he wanted,\nhe ordered the hatchet to cut down a small oak; and when the hatchet had\ndone so, he placed himself upon the load, and said:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, O sledge, now travel home.\u201d\n\nThe sledge instantly set off very briskly.  But when Emelian arrived at\nthe city in which he had run over so many people, the folks were waiting\nfor him in order to seize him, and as soon as he drove into the city they\nset about dragging him off the load and began to belabour him.  The fool,\nseeing that they were pulling him and beating him, said these words, in\nan undertone:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, now, sapling, break their arms\nand legs.\u201d\n\nForthwith the sapling, springing out, began to beat them in a pretty\nmanner, and the people taking to flight, the fool drove out of the town\nto his own village, whilst the sapling drubbed all soundly, and went in\npursuit of them.  Emelian, on reaching his home, mounted upon the petsch.\n\nIn the meantime, after he had driven out of the city, there was much talk\nof him everywhere,\u2014not because he had driven over a number of people, but\nbecause he had come driving to the city on a sledge without horses; and\nby degrees the news reached the court, and came to the ears of the king\nhimself.  The king, on hearing the story, felt no little desire to see\nthe fool, and sent an officer with some soldiers to seek him.  The\nofficer proceeded without delay out of the city, taking the road by which\nthe fool had travelled in order to go to the forest.  On arriving at the\nvillage where Emelian lived, the officer sent for the starost, or head\nman of the village, and said to him:\n\n\u201cI am sent by the king to take your fool, and convey him to his\npresence.\u201d\n\nThe starost immediately showed him the house where Emelian lived, and the\nofficer, going into the kitchen, demanded\u2014\n\n\u201cWhere\u2019s the fool?\u201d\n\nThe fool, who was lying on the petsch, answered\u2014\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that to me?  Dress yourself quickly that I may carry you to the\npresence of the king.\u201d\n\nQuoth Emelian:\n\n\u201cWhat have I to do there?\u201d\n\nThe officer, enraged at his answering so disrespectfully, struck him on\nthe cheek.  The fool, feeling himself struck, said softly:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, oak sapling, break their hands\nand shins.\u201d\n\nThe sapling hopping forth, began to beat them, drubbing them all\npreciously, both officer and soldiers, so that the officer was obliged to\nreturn discomfited.  Arriving at the city, he related to the king how the\nfool had beaten them all.  The king was very much astonished, and did not\nbelieve it possible that he could have beaten so many.  The king,\nhowever, selected a prudent man, whom he sent with an injunction to bring\nthe fool to him if possible, even though he should have recourse to\ndeceit.  The king\u2019s envoy, arriving at the village where Emelian lived,\nsent for the starost, and said to him:\n\n\u201cI am sent by the king to fetch your fool; but first of all, bring before\nme the people with whom he lives.\u201d\n\nThe starost instantly ran and brought the sisters-in-law; and the envoy\nasked them\u2014\n\n\u201cWhat does the fool like?\u201d\n\nThe sisters-in-law replied:\n\n\u201cGracious, sir, our fool likes to be intreated to do a thing; he refuses\nonce and twice in order to be entreated a third time, when he never\nrefuses, but does all that he is asked,\u2014but he does not like to be spoken\nto roughly.\u201d\n\nThe envoy then dismissed them, warning them not to tell Emelian that he\nhad sent for them.  After that, having bought some raisins, prunes, and\ndried figs, he proceeded to the house of the fool, and on his arrival he\nwent up to the petsch, and said:\n\n\u201cHow\u2019s this, Emelian, why are you lying on the petsch?\u201d\n\nThen, giving him the raisins, prunes, and dried figs, he said:\n\n\u201cCome, Emelian, I will carry you to the king.\u201d\n\nBut the fool answered:\n\n\u201cI am warm here,\u201d for he loved nothing but warmth.\n\n\u201cLet us go, Emelian,\u201d said the envoy, \u201cyou will be quite comfortable\nthere.\u201d\n\n\u201cAye,\u201d said the fool, \u201cbut I am lazy.\u201d\n\nThereupon the envoy began to beseech him once more.\n\n\u201cPray let us go, Emelian, the king has ordered a red caftan to be made\nfor you, and also a red cap, and red boots.\u201d\n\nThe fool, hearing that a red caftan had been ordered to be made for him,\nprovided he went, said: \u201cDo you go before, and I will follow.\u201d\n\nThe envoy, not wishing to trouble him any more, left him, and asked\nprivately of the sisters-in-law whether the fool would not deceive him;\nbut they assured him that he never deceived anybody.  The envoy then set\nforth on his return, and the fool, placing himself once more on the\npetsch, said:\n\n\u201cO how I wish that I had not to go to court, but was there already.\u201d\n\nThereupon he said:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, move straight, O petsch, to the\ncity.\u201d\n\nThereupon the walls of the room gave a crack, and the petsch sallied\nforth, and when the petsch was clear of the house it drove along with\nsuch rapidity that it was impossible to overtake it.  On the road it\novertook the envoy, and drove in his company to the court.  The king,\nbeing told that the fool had arrived, went out to look at him, with all\nhis ministers, and seeing that Emelian came on the petsch, he was filled\nwith wonder.  As for the fool, he lay still, and said nothing.  After a\nlittle time the king asked him why he had run over so many people when he\nwent to the forest for wood.\n\n\u201cHow could I help it?\u201d said Emelian; \u201cwhy did they not get out of my\nway?\u201d\n\nJust then, the king\u2019s daughter came to a window, and looked at the fool.\nEmelian, chancing to turn his eye to the window from which she was\nlooking, and seeing that she was very handsome, said in an undertone:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, may yon beauty fall in love\nwith me.\u201d\n\nNo sooner had he pronounced these words than the daughter of the king\nfell in love with him as she gazed upon him.  And the fool, after that,\nsaid:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, move back, petsch, to our own\nhouse.\u201d\n\nThe petsch, without a moment\u2019s delay, marched out of the court, drove\nthrough the city, and made for home, where, on arriving, it resumed its\nformer place.\n\nAfter that Emelian lived for some time quite at his ease; but the king,\nin the city, fared very differently, for the princess, having fallen in\nlove with the fool at the words which he had uttered, began to beg of her\nfather to give her the fool for a husband.  The king was very much\nincensed both against her and the fool, and wished very much to lay\nviolent hands on the latter, but did not know how.  Thereupon the king\u2019s\nministers proposed that the officer who had before gone for Emelian, and\nhad failed to bring him, should be sent again for him on account of his\nformer failure.  The king, approving of their counsel, summoned the\nofficer to his presence, and when he appeared before him, the king said:\n\n\u201cListen, friend, I sent thee for the fool before: but thou didst not\nbring him; now for that offence I will send thee a second time, and in\norder that thou mayest bring him without fail, I tell thee that if thou\ndost bring him thou shalt be rewarded, and if thou dost not thou shalt be\npunished.\u201d\n\nThe officer, on hearing the words of the king departed without delay in\nquest of the fool, and having arrived at the village, he sent again for\nthe starost, and said to him:\n\n\u201cHere is money for you, buy all that is necessary for a good dinner\nto-morrow, invite Emelian, and when he is dining with you ply him with\ndrink until he falls under the table.\u201d\n\nThe starost, knowing that he was sent by the king, did not dare to\ndisobey him, but purchased all that was necessary, and invited the fool.\nEmelian having promised to come, the officer expected him with great joy;\nand the fool coming the next day, they plied him so hard with drink that\nEmelian lay down and fell dead asleep.  The officer, seeing that he was\nasleep, immediately ordered his kabitka to be got ready, and to draw up\nto the door, and when it drew up they placed the fool in it.  After that\nthe officer got into the kabitka, and carried him straight to the court.\nThe ministers forthwith gave information to the king of the arrival of\nthe officer, and the king no sooner heard of it than he gave orders for a\ngreat barrel to be well fenced with iron hoops, which was forthwith done,\nand the barrel was brought to the king, who, seeing that all was ready,\nordered his daughter and the fool to be placed in the barrel, and the\nbarrel to be covered with pitch.  No sooner had this been done than he\ncommanded the barrel to be cast into the sea, and was forthwith obeyed.\nThe king then returned to his palace, and the barrel, abandoned to its\nfate, floated about for some hours.  The fool all this time was asleep;\nawaking, however, at last, and perceiving that he was in darkness, he\nasked of himself\u2014\u201cWhere am I?\u201d for he imagined that he was alone.\n\n\u201cYou are in a barrel, Emelian,\u201d said the princess; \u201cand they have placed\nme with you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd who are you?\u201d asked the fool.\n\n\u201cI am the king\u2019s daughter,\u201d she replied; and then she related on what\naccount she had been placed in the barrel with him.\n\nThereupon she begged him to deliver himself and her from the barrel.  But\nthe fool made no other reply than\u2014\n\n\u201cI am warm enough here.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray have mercy upon me,\u201d said the princess.  \u201cTake compassion on my\ntears, and deliver me out of this barrel.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll do no such thing,\u201d said Emelian, \u201cI am lazy.\u201d\n\nThe princess began again to beseech him:\n\n\u201cHave mercy upon me, Emelian; save me out of this barrel, and do not let\nme die.\u201d\n\nThe fool, being moved by her entreaties and tears, said to her:\n\n\u201cVery well, I will do this one thing for you.\u201d  After that, he said\nsoftly to himself: \u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, cast up, O\nsea, this barrel, in which we lie, on some dry place, as near as possible\nto our own country; and do thou, barrel on coming to dry ground, go to\npieces of thyself.\u201d\n\nScarcely had the fool uttered these words when the sea began to heave,\nand forthwith cast the barrel on dry ground, whereupon the barrel went to\npieces of itself.  Emelian arose, and went with the princess farther up\nthe land on which they were cast, and the fool perceived that they were\nupon a very beautiful island, on which were a great number of trees of\ndifferent kinds, and with all kinds of fruits; and the princess, seeing\nthese things, was very much rejoiced that they were upon so beautiful an\nisland.  In a little time, however, she said:\n\n\u201cBut Emelian, where are we to live, for here I don\u2019t see a hut or any\nkind of shelter?\u201d\n\nBut the fool said:\n\n\u201cYou are already hankering for something more.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo be so kind, Emelian, as to order some kind of house to be built,\u201d\nsaid the princess, \u201cin order that we may have some place to take shelter\nin when it rains;\u201d for by this time the princess knew that he could do\nanything if he did but please.\n\nBut the fool said:\n\n\u201cI am lazy.\u201d\n\nWhereupon she began to beseech him again, and Emelian, touched by her\nentreaties, was obliged to do what she desired; and going a little way\napart from her, said:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, may there be erected, in the\nmidst of this island, a palace which shall be twice better than the\nking\u2019s; and may there be from the palace a crystal bridge to cross the\nwater by; and may there be in the palace all kinds of servants.\u201d\n\nScarcely had he pronounced these words when an enormous palace with a\ncrystal bridge made its appearance.  The fool and the princess, entering\nthe palace, perceived that there was plenty of magnificent furniture in\nthe rooms, and that there were numbers of people, both lackeys and\nofficers, of various descriptions, who were awaiting the commands of the\nfool.  The fool, seeing that all these people had a decent and honourable\nappearance, and that he alone was a lout, wished to be made better, and\ntherefore said:\n\n\u201cAt the pike\u2019s behest, and at my request, be I now made a youth so\nhandsome as to have no equal, and possest of the very best of\nunderstandings.\u201d\n\nThese words were scarcely uttered when he became so handsome and\nintelligent that everybody wondered.  After this, Emelian sent one of his\nservants to the king, to invite him and all his ministers to the palace.\nThe messenger of Emelian rode to the king over that same crystal bridge\nwhich the fool had built.  On his arrival at court the ministers\npresented him to the king, whom the messenger addressed in this manner:\n\n\u201cGracious sir, I am sent by my master with his humble compliments to\ninvite you to dinner.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is thy master?\u201d demanded the king.\n\nBut the messenger replied:\n\n\u201cI cannot tell you, gracious sir, anything of my master\u201d (for the fool\nhad forbidden him to say who he was); \u201cbut after you have dined together\nhe will give you a full account of himself.\u201d\n\nThe king, filled with curiosity to know who it could be that invited him\nto dinner, told the messenger that he would come without fail; and the\nmessenger forthwith returned.  Scarcely had he arrived when the king,\nwith all his ministers, came riding over the bridge to dine with the\nfool.  On the arrival of the king at the palace Emelian went out to meet\nhim, took him by the hand white as snow, kissed him on the mouth sweet as\nsugar, and leading him into his palace of white marble, set him down to\nthe oaken table to the feast of sweet things and mead; and the king and\nhis ministers, sitting at the table, drank, ate, and were merry.  Now\nwhen they got up from table, and sat in their places, the fool said to\nthe king:\n\n\u201cGracious sir; do you know me, and who I am?\u201d\n\nBut as Emelian was then in a splendid dress, and moreover as his face was\nvery handsome, it was impossible to recognise him.  Therefore the king\nsaid that he did not know him.  But the fool said to him:\n\n\u201cGracious sir, do you not remember how a certain fool came driving to\nyour court on a petsch, and how you shut him up with your daughter in a\nbarrel, which you covered over with pitch, and cast out upon the sea?\nKnow now that I am that very same Emelian.\u201d\n\nThe king, seeing that it was the fool who was now before him, was very\nmuch frightened, and did not know what to do.  But the fool at that\nmoment went for the princess, and led her before the king.  The king on\nseeing his daughter was very much delighted, and said to the fool:\n\n\u201cI have sinned grievously against you; I therefore give you my daughter\nas a wife.\u201d\n\nThe fool, on hearing these words, most humbly thanked the king; and as\nEmelian had everything ready for the marriage, it was celebrated that day\nwith great magnificence.  On the next day the fool gave a magnificent\nbanquet to all the ministers, whilst for the common people hogsheads were\nbrought out, full of all kinds of drinks.  When the rejoicing was over\nthe king offered to resign his kingdom to him, but he refused to accept\nit.  Thereupon the king returned to his dominions.  But the fool remained\nin his palace, and lived in great happiness and prosperity.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  LONDON\n               Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.\n                   _Edition limited to Thirty Copies_.","title":"Emelian the Fool: a tale","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":4967}