{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_45214/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_45214","id":"gutenberg_45214","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45214","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Humour","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Russian Literature","Slavs -- Folklore"],"text":"THE RUSSIAN GRANDMOTHER'S WONDER TALES\n\n\n                                   BY\n                        Louise Seymour Houghton\n\n                             ILLUSTRATED BY\n                              W. T. BENDA\n\n\n\n                        CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS\n                                NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   TO\n\n                         THE FIVE GRANDCHILDREN\n\n                     PHILLIPS, SHERRILL, MARGARET,\n                         RUSSELL, AND CAROLINE\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe stories which the Russian grandmother told will be found, with\nmany others, in a German collection of \"Tales and Legends of South\nSlavonia,\" put forth in Vienna some twenty years ago by Dr. Friedrich\nKraus, an ardent student of folk-lore. I have sketched in a slight\nbackground of peasant village life as it still exists in some parts of\nSouthern Russia, because this is the proper setting of these stories;\nand I have been careful to clothe them as nearly as I might in the\nsimple language in which they are told to-day by many a village\nfireside in South Slavonia.\n\nI frankly confess to having received from Mr. Joel Chandler Harris\nthe suggestion which I have thus carried out. It was an unerring\nliterary instinct which impelled him to put upon the lips of Uncle\nRemus and in the environment of a Southern country home of half\na century ago the stories which he had found among the colored\npeople of the South. Folk-tales, of whatever character, speak the\nmore directly home to the hearts of children, whatever their own\nintellectual environment, in proportion as their setting is most\nnearly that which naturally belongs to them. Just as the highest\nvalue of the Homeric poems is their revelation of the heart of man,\nshowing that in all ages and under all conditions heart answers to\nheart as face answers to face in water, so the folk-tales of all\npeoples in their native form have a higher function than simply to\namuse, a higher than mere literary value; they are the child's best\nintroduction to the study of human nature.\n\nThe children will not be the less interested in the stories which\nthe Russian grandmother told to the little peasant boy if they\ndiscover in her wonder-tales some analogies with stories that they\nalready know. The adventures of Master Reinecke and Mrs. Petz, of\nIsegrim and Lampe, will surely remind them of the Uncle Remus tales;\nthey will find some suggestion of Kamer-es-zaman and the Princess\nBudoor in the story of \"The Beg and the Fox,\" a hint of the \"City\nof Brass,\" in that of \"The Vila in Muhlenberg,\" a faint reflection\nof the \"Arabian Nights\" story of the Fisherman in the tale of the\n\"Three Eels,\" and they will be especially pleased to recognize\ntheir old friend--and Sindbad the Sailor's--the roc, in the bird\nKumrikusha. The transformations which are so enchanting a feature of\nthe \"Arabian Nights\" are here suggested in the story of \"Steelpacha,\"\nwhile the dress of feathers, most universal of folk-fancies, found\namong every people in the world, and most perfectly developed in the\nArabian \"Story of Hassan of Bassora,\" here appears in the tale of\n\"The Golden Apple-tree and the Nine Pea-hens.\"\n\nThat these stories originated in that fountain-head of wonder-tales,\nthe East, is very evident. They give more than a few suggestions of\nbiblical story: the servant sent to announce the readiness of the\nfeast (a courtesy of which I was myself the recipient in Syria last\nwinter), the Delilah-like importunities by which the youngest sister\nlures from Steelpacha the secret of his strength, are perhaps the\nmost striking instances.\n\nAlthough this preface is not written for the children, yet as there are\nchildren who occasionally dip into prefaces, let me call the attention\nof such to the difference, both in style and point of view, between\nthese stories and those which they have received from the brothers\nGrimm, from Hans Andersen, and from a host of later writers. All of\nthese drew their material from the same sources as those of the Russian\ngrandmother; but their cultivated minds have worked this material into\nexquisite literary forms. Not so your own nurses, or even your mothers,\nwho told you wonder-tales before you were old enough to read. Not so\nthe village story-tellers in far-away parts of the world, who, like\nthe Russian grandmother, still hand down to the children the stories\nthey received from parents and grandparents. These sometimes lose the\nconnection; they add little local touches--sweet wine from Zagorj\u00e9,\ngoing home to Varazdin, and the like--they give to certain incidents\nthe setting with which they are themselves familiar; most artlessly\nthey interweave such results of modern invention and discovery as are\nfamiliar to them, with such blank ignorance of physical facts as is\nshown by bringing in the sun, the moon, the winds, as persons. Many of\nyou know how beautifully George Macdonald did this sort of thing in his\nstory \"At the Back of the North Wind,\" and you perfectly well perceive\nthe difference between that story and such a tale as, for instance,\n\"So Born, So Die,\" in this book. When you are older you will recognize\nthat it is precisely the difference between literature and folk-lore.\n\nThat many of these wonder-tales passed through Mohammedan minds on\ntheir way to the Russian grandmother, or her great-grandmother, is\nevident. \"The Beg and the Fox\" is a striking case in point; it almost\nseems as if the story ought, like the stories of the \"Arabian Nights,\"\nto close with the exclamation, \"There is no God but God, the High,\nthe Great!\"\n\nThe humor of these stories, however, is unmistakably Slavonic. There\nis a fine pungency--not Oriental, though Oriental humor is very\npungent--in certain of the endings, \"I have heard a lie, I have told\na lie, and God give you joy!\" or after a peculiarly impossible story,\n\"Whoever believes it will be blessed!\" The underlying pathos of the\nstory of the Basil-plant suggests the exquisite sentiment of Hans\nAndersen's \"Steadfast Tin Soldier\"; but its excessive simplicity,\nits dropped threads of thought, forbid the idea that it has been\nworked over by any more sophisticated mind than that of the Russian\ngrandmother.\n\nIn this simple-hearted story-teller I have tried to reproduce some\nlineaments of the peasant mother to whom, he tells us, Dr. Kraus owes\nhis first impulse to folk-lore research. She was one of nine children\nof a poor pedler, brought up in a village of charcoal burners,\ndeep in a Slavonian forest. She was illiterate, like our Russian\ngrandmother, but like her intelligent and learned in the wonder-lore\nof her people. Her son pays her a lovely tribute in the preface to\nthe first volume of his collection:\n\nShe grew up like a flower in the hedge-row, among the simple peasant\nfolk whose manners and spirit she made entirely her own. The villagers,\nwho had a little education, therefore called her, contemptuously,\nbaba vracana (the little old sorceress), but the illiterate peasants\nlovingly named her nas\u00e1 baba Eva (our little mother Eve). But for once\nthe villagers were right, my mother is a sorceress; else, how comes it\nthat I so constantly fall under the spell of her enchantments ... I\nsolemnly declare that if there is a true word in metempsychosis, and\nit is left to our choice to return to the present state of existence,\nnothing would so sorely tempt me back, no crown, not even that of\nlearning--as the simple assurance of the All-Father that he would\ngive me again the same dear mother, though I were to go begging with\nher through the world.\n\n\nL. S. H.\n\nNew York, September 1, 1906.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n    CHAPTER\n\n    I. The Little Boy and the Grandmother\n        The Wolf as a Roman\n\n    II. The Mother's F\u00eate-Day\n        The Sick Lion\n\n    III. Saturday Afternoon\n        Whiteling's War with Isegrim\n\n    IV. The Fire of Shavings\n        The Bear, the Boar, and the Fox\n\n    V. Frost-Bitten Toes\n        The Man, the Hare, the Fox, and the Bear\n\n    VI. After Supper\n        Reinecke's Revenge on Isegrim\n\n    VII. The Snowy Day\n        The Bird, the Fox, and the Dog\n        The Fox and the Dove\n\n    VIII. The Election Meeting\n        The Fox and the Hedgehog\n        Master Reinecke and Gockeling, the Cock\n        The Disappointed Bear\n\n    IX. Cat and Dog\n        Why the Dog Cannot Endure the Cat, nor the Cat the Mouse\n\n    X. A Pleasant Surprise\n        The Fox and the Badger\n        The Stag and the Hedgehog\n\n    XI. The Patient Little Boy\n        The Cock and the Hen\n\n    XII. The Sheep-Play\n        The Beg and the Fox\n\n    XIII. Getting Ready\n        The Seven Stars\n\n    XIV. Mother's-Mother\n        The Vila of Muhlenberg\n\n    XV. The Little Boy Homesick\n        A Short Story\n        The Golden Apple-Tree and the Nine Peahens\n        The Wonderful Story\n        The Youth and the Vila\n\n    XVI. The Little Boy Sleepless\n        The Vila in the Golden Castle\n\n    XVII. Home Again\n        Prince Hedgehog\n\n    XVIII. The Betrothal\n        The Deserter\n\n    XIX. In the Fields\n        The Hunter\n        The Watch-Tower between Earth and Heaven\n        The Bridge\n\n    XX. Trinity-Monday\n        So Born, So Die\n        The Enchanted Lambs\n        The Knot-Grass\n\n    XXI. Threshing-Time\n        \"The Three Eels\"\n\n    XXII. The Korowai\n        Morning-Dew\n\n    XXIII. The Wedding\n        \"Young Neverfull\"\n        The Basil-Plant\n\n    XXIV. After the Wedding\n        Steelpacha\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE RUSSIAN GRANDMOTHER'S WONDER-TALES\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE LITTLE BOY AND THE GRANDMOTHER\n\n\nThe little boy's father was starosta, that is, Elder of the village,\nand the house the little boy lived in was grander than any other,\non whichever side of the long street you might look. For it had\ntwo rooms opening into the court, and all the other houses, even\nthat of the pop, who said Mass in the church on Sunday, had only\none. And this grand house was not crowded like the other houses,\nwhere the grandparents and the parents and all the married sons and\ntheir wives and children lived in the one room. The starosta was not\na bolshak, or head of a family, of the old-fashioned sort. He did\nnot consider that he had a right to rule his children like a despot\nand make them work for him, however old they might be, as many of the\nfathers in the village did. He even approved of young people setting\nup housekeeping by themselves. Therefore, though some of the older\nbolshaks shook their heads and said harm would come of it, when the\nlittle boy's elder brother married he permitted him to have a house\nof his own. It was at the far end of the village.\n\nThus, in the little boy's house there were only the grandmother, the\nfather and mother, the three daughters, the half-grown son, and the\nlittle boy. They were not at all crowded, you see, for they had two\nrooms. The cowherd woman and the two moujiks who helped the starosta\non the land, slept, of course, in the stalls with the cattle under the\nshed that went around three sides of the court. In their warm sheepskin\ncoats, made with the wool outside, they would not have been at all\ncold, even if the cows beside which they slept had not kept them warm.\n\nThe family always slept warm, too, for father, mother, and all the\nchildren slept on the great tile stove which occupied the centre of the\nlarger room, and in this stove the fire never went entirely out. The\ngrandmother did not sleep on this stove, however. The starosta greatly\nhonored his old mother, and to her he gave the second room in the\nhouse for herself alone. She had a stove all to herself, and slept\non it all alone, except when the little boy ran away from the great\nroom and cuddled down beside his grandmother for the night.\n\nShe did not tell him stories then, for night is the time for sleeping,\nand grandmother was tired after a long day in the fields. But on rainy\ndays, when the starosta would not permit his old mother to do field\nwork, grandmother would sit at home and spin, and then for happy times!\n\nIt was growing cold weather; the harvests were all in, the rains had\nbegun, and grandmother was sitting by the stove, with her distaff\nand spindle and a basket of wool by her side. In came the little\nboy, settled himself in a snug place on the stove-top, and said,\nvery coaxingly:\n\n\"Tell me a story, little grandmamma!\"\n\nThe grandmother ceased the song she had been singing, and answered:\n\n\"Shall I tell you about the Wolf that wanted to be a Roman?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, yes!\" exclaimed the little boy. \"Tell me about the wolf!\"\n\nSo the grandmother began.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WOLF AS A ROMAN\n\nOnce upon a time, Isegrim, the Wolf, sat in the forest and thought\nto himself, \"Why should I be a wolf and go around devouring the other\nbeasts? It would be much better for me to go out into the world. What\nif I should go to Rome? Yes, that's it, I will be a Roman!\"\n\nOff he set in the best of spirits, and on the way he met a Sow. The Sow\nbristled up in terror, but Isegrim cried out, \"Don't be frightened,\nGruntelind! I am done with Gruntelinds forever. I am going to be\na Roman.\"\n\nNot long after he met a He-goat. The He-goat was greatly frightened\nwhen he saw Isegrim, but the Wolf cried out, \"Don't be frightened,\nLongbeard! I'm not bothering myself with Longbeards. I am going to\nbe a Roman.\"\n\nNext he met an old Mare. She was horribly frightened, but he quieted\nher, saying, \"Don't be frightened, Skinny-bones! I don't waste my\ntime with old jades like you. I am going to be a Roman.\"\n\nOn went the Wolf for two whole days, when he began to feel a mighty\nhunger. So he turned back, and presently he came to the pasture where\nhe had met the old Mare. Now was the Mare terrified. She quaked with\nfear, and well she might, for the Wolf said to her, \"Mare, I am going\nto devour you!\"\n\n\"How dare you say so!\" exclaimed the Mare. \"You told me you were\na Roman.\"\n\n\"Roman here or Roman there,\" snarled Isegrim, \"I am going to gnaw\nyour bones.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" returned the Mare; \"if there is no help for it, come\nagain by and by, when I am plumper and juicier.\"\n\nSo the Wolf went on his way. Presently he met the He-goat. \"Ho,\nLongbeard,\" cried he, \"your time has come!\"\n\n\"I dare you to touch me!\" replied the He-goat. \"You are not a Wolf;\nyou are a Roman.\"\n\n\"Roman here or Roman there,\" retorted the Wolf, \"I shall dine on\nyou to-day.\"\n\n\"What must be, must,\" replied the He-goat; \"but since you are bound\nto eat me, just grant me life till the woods are green again.\"\n\nThe Wolf was beguiled, and on he went till he met the Sow. \"Listen to\nme, Gruntelind,\" said he; \"I am going to make short work with you now.\"\n\n\"You daren't do it,\" replied the Sow. \"You are no Wolf; you are a\nnoble Roman.\"\n\n\"Roman here or Roman there,\" said the Wolf, \"I am bound to eat you.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" replied the Sow; \"since you insist, come another day,\nwhen I am fatter.\"\n\nThe Wolf consented, and away he went to look for that Mare again.\n\n\"Listen now, Skinny-bones,\" said he; \"you are to die on the spot.\"\n\n\"If your mind is really made up,\" replied the Mare, \"I have nothing to\nsay; but first look at my left hind hoof, for my master had me shod\nthe other day, and the smith marked my age upon the horseshoe. Read\nhow old I am, and then you will be able to boast what an old Mare\nyou have eaten.\"\n\nThe Wolf thought this a fine plan, and he drew near. Then the Mare\nraised her hoof and dealt Isegrim so smart a blow on the head that\nhe ran off with a cracked crown, as fast as his heels could carry him.\n\nOn the way he met the Sow. \"See here, Gruntelind,\" he said to her,\n\"there is no escape this time.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" replied the Sow; \"since there is no help for it, just\nlead me around by the ear until I say good-by to all my kith and kin.\"\n\nIsegrim seized her by the ear, when she set up so shrill and piteous\na squealing that the Swine all rushed to the spot from far and near,\nand falling upon Cousin Isegrim they almost tore him in pieces. Mangled\nand bleeding, he made his escape, and meeting the He-goat, he said,\n\"Your time has come.\"\n\n\"If that is the case,\" replied the He-goat, \"just stand in the middle\nof the field, with your mouth wide open, and my brothers and I will\njump down your throat, one after the other. Then you won't be hungry\nagain for many a long day.\"\n\nThis plan greatly pleased Isegrim, and he took his place in the middle\nof the field, with his mouth wide open. Then all the He-goats ran\nagainst him, butting at him, before and behind, till he could neither\nhear nor see, and it was all he could do to escape to the nearest wood.\n\nThere he spied a Cock, and said to him, \"Now, see here, Gockeling,\nI am not to be fooled by you, at any rate.\"\n\nThe Cock replied, \"Just look at me once, how thin I am and what big\nfeathers I have. Why should you bother to pluck me? It would save\nyou a world of trouble if I got up into this tree and just flew down\nyour throat.\"\n\nIsegrim thought this a fine idea. So Gockeling flew up into the\ntree. He hopped from branch to branch until he was in perfect safety,\nand then crowed loud and lustily to proclaim his escape.\n\nAt this the Wolf sank into deep thought. \"My father lived comfortably,\"\nhe said to himself, \"and was never a Roman; neither should I have\nbeen one--it has served me right. My father was no expert in Mares'\npaces, yet he lived in peace and happiness; neither should I have\nbeen one--it has served me right. My father was no Swine musician,\nbut he lived well for all that; neither should I have been one--it\nhas served me right. My father never measured a field with He-goats,\nbut he grew gray honorably for all that; only one thing rankles--that\nthis scoundrel up in the tree crows over me so. It would be none too\ngood for me if some one should jump from behind the tree and knock\nme over the head.\"\n\nAs luck would have it, a moujik was standing behind the tree, and he\nfetched the Wolf a blow on the head with his axe. Then Isegrim cried\nout with his last breath, \"Well, I vow, on this blessed day one can't\neven talk to himself without being made sorry for it!\"\n\n\n\nThe little boy was thoughtful for a few minutes. \"Did you know that\nWolf, little grandma?\" he asked at length.\n\n\"No, not I,\" replied the grandmother; \"it was my\ngreat-great-grandmother who knew him.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE MOTHER'S F\u00caTE-DAY\n\n\nIt was the f\u00eate-day of the little boy's mother, and she was dressed in\nthe beautiful clothes that had been her mother's and her grandmother's\nfestival clothes. Her gown, which she called her sarafam, was of\na lovely light-blue stuff, and on her head she wore a diadem of\ngold, all studded with little pearls. Many of the village people\ncame to kiss the baboushka's hand and to bring her gifts, so that\nthe house was quite crowded with people drinking coffee and talking\nloudly. When the baboushka went to church to offer thanks she put on\nher long fur-trimmed chougaii (we should call it a coat), and over\nthat a thick, wadded duchegreika, or hug-me-tight. It was a cold day,\nand she was not too warmly clothed, but if her f\u00eate-day had come in\nthe heat of summer she would have worn these things just the same.\n\nThe little boy went to church with his mother, and when they came\nback he was very hungry. But the feast-table was not yet spread, for\nthe starosta and the older children were still in the fields pulling\nstubble. The grandmother was not in the fields, for the day was too\ncold, so the little boy went into her room. She had on her festival\nclothes in honor of the feast, but she was spinning as usual and\nhumming a little song.\n\n\"I'm so hungry, grandmother,\" said the little boy.\n\n\"Would you spoil the feast by eating now?\" asked the grandmother. \"The\nbest way is to forget all about being hungry till the feast begins.\"\n\n\"How can I forget?\" asked the little boy. \"My mouth cries 'food!'\"\n\n\"If little grandmother puts a story in your ears will your mouth\ncease crying?\" asked the grandmother.\n\n\"Oh, yes, yes!\" cried the little boy.\n\nSo grandmother told the story of\n\n\n\n\nTHE SICK LION\n\nOnce upon a time a Lion lay sick in his den. Master Petz, the Bear,\ncalled to pay his respects; whereupon the Lion thus spoke:\n\n\"Dear Bruin, tell me the honest truth--is it, or is it not very close\nin this den?\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed!\" replied Petz, \"it does smell horribly here.\" Upon this\nthe Lion flew into a rage and tore the Bear into a thousand pieces.\n\nLampe, the Hare, was standing near the door of the den, and observed\nthis mishap. Tremblingly he approached the Lion, who asked him,\n\"Tell me, dear Lampe, is it not close in my den?\"\n\n\"Oh, dear, no!\" replied the Hare; \"why should it be close? On the\ncontrary, the air seems to me delightfully fresh.\"\n\n\"You lie!\" retorted the Lion, in high dudgeon; \"it is not delightfully\nfresh; on the contrary, it is disgustingly close,\" and he tore the\nHare limb from limb.\n\nIsegrim, the Wolf, saw and heard all this, for he was standing near\nthe door of the den. He stepped in, and bowed low before the Lion,\nwho immediately put the same question to him, \"See here, Isegrim,\ntell me truly and honestly, is it close in my den or not?\"\n\n\"Neither, sire!\" replied the obsequious Wolf.\n\n\"Oh, you good-for-nothing liar!\" roared the Lion, \"it must be either\none or the other; either it is close or it is not,\" and he seized\nhim and tore him to pieces.\n\nReinecke, the Fox, was looking in from outside, and now he drew near\nto pay his respects. So the Lion asked him, \"See here, Master Reinecke,\ndo you tell me now, is it close in my den or not?\"\n\n\"Pardon me, august monarch,\" replied Reinecke very humbly, \"but by\nall I hold blessed I am not able to tell you, for I have taken such\na cold that, upon honor, I cannot smell. But I do hate a lie from\nthe bottom of my heart.\"\n\nAnd the Lion spared Reinecke's life because he had such a clever wit.\n\n\n\n\"Will the B\u00e1by and the little boy graciously come to supper?\" asked\nthe cow-herd woman, opening the door. \"The gracious baboushka's feast\nis ready.\"\n\nSo the little boy and his grandmother, whom they call the B\u00e1by in\nRussia, gayly went in to the feast.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nSATURDAY AFTERNOON\n\n\nIt was Saturday afternoon, and the little boy had been with his\nmother to the village vapor-bath. After that he had been dressed in\nhis Sunday clothes. His white shirt, which he called his roubachka,\nhung outside of his best portki, or loose, colored trousers. His legs\nwere wound round with many bands of colored cloth, called onontchi,\nand on his feet he wore bachmaki, or shoes. When he grew to be a man he\nwould wear very high, large-topped sapoghi, with his trousers tucked\ninto them, like his father, and then he would not need onontchi on\nhis legs. But he was only a little boy yet.\n\nThe popod'ya had come to call on his mother. She was the priest's\nwife, and was very old, and the little boy did not care for what\nshe and his mother were talking about. So he stole away into his\ngrandmother's room. The grandmother was kneeling before the ikon,\nthe sacred picture of the Virgin and Child, which hung on the wall\nwith a tiny lamp lighted before it. The little boy would not disturb\nhis grandmother while she was saying her Saturday evening prayer, but\nhe hoped she would not be long. Perhaps she was almost through, for\npresently she rose from her knees, lifting herself by her stick. The\nlittle boy ran to help her, and led her to the stove. She sat down\nupon it, for her knees were cold from the clay floor, and the little\nboy climbed up beside her.\n\n\"Now the work is all done, little grandma,\" he said, putting his\nhands on either side of her face, \"and you can tell me a long story,\ncan't you?\"\n\n\"Hum, hum!\" said the grandmother, pretending to look cross. \"Why\nshould I tell you a long story?\"\n\n\"Oh, because I have my Sunday clothes on, and must not play in the\ndirt!\" replied the little boy. \"Don't you know a long story, grandma?\"\n\n\"Would you like to hear about\n\n\n\n\n\"WHITELING'S WAR WITH ISEGRIM?\"\n\nasked the B\u00e1by.\n\n\"Yes, indeed, that I should!\" cried the little boy.\n\nSo the grandmother began:\n\nOnce upon a time there was a moujik who had a perfectly white Dog,\nwhich he called Whiteling. Now Whiteling had struck up a great\nfriendship with Isegrim, the Wolf, and one day each made a solemn\ncompact never to betray the other in any of their stealings.\n\nNot long after, Isegrim said to Whiteling one day, \"I intend to make\na call upon your master's swine to-night; so do you keep no watch,\nbut just lie as still as possible, and don't wake up the whole family\nwith your barking, as you usually do, for you know that they will\nmove heaven and earth to capture me.\"\n\n\"Kill all the swine, if you like,\" replied Whiteling; \"I won't\nbetray you.\"\n\n\"A word is enough, brother; I shall be there,\" said Isegrim; and so\nthe friends parted.\n\nPunctually at nightfall Isegrim appeared and greeted Whiteling\nheartily, saying, \"I gave you my word, and as you see, here I am.\"\n\n\"Get to work, then,\" replied Whiteling; \"you have nothing to fear\nfrom me.\"\n\nIsegrim crept cautiously to the swine-pen. He had all the work in\nthe world to get in, and once in, he had hardly begun his meal when\nthe swine broke out in fearful squealings and gruntings. Whiteling,\nat the house-door, no sooner heard the noise than he began to bark\nand whine with all his might, waking all the family with his noise.\n\n\"What makes our Whiteling howl so?\" they said. \"We must go out and\nsee what the trouble is.\"\n\nSo all the family went out, and hearing the squealing of the swine,\nthey hastened to the pigpen. Peeping in, they saw the Wolf and set\nupon him with clubs and fists, belaboring him so soundly that he\nbarely escaped with a whole skin.\n\nWaiting till the family had returned to bed, Isegrim crept back,\nand seizing Whiteling by the throat, \"Aha!\" he cried, \"I have caught\nyou now. You pledged me your word not to bark, and you broke your\npromise. No, I'll never forgive you. Just look at me once, what a\nplight I'm in.\"\n\nWhiteling began to beg. \"Ah, let me go, let me go, dear, sweet brother\nIsegrim; forgive me just this once; I'll never do it again; come\nagain and steal whenever you like; you may be perfectly sure of me!\"\n\n\"Will you ever play me another such trick?\" asked Isegrim.\n\n\"Never, never again!\" said Whiteling.\n\n\"Very well, then,\" said the Wolf, \"you may go free this once; but\nnext time, remember, hold your tongue!\"\n\nA few days later Isegrim paid the swine a second visit, but he had\nhardly crept into the pen when Whiteling set up a howl so loud and\nclear that all the household sprang out of bed to see what was the\nmatter. A second time they found the Wolf, fell upon him, and beat\nhim half-dead. The unlucky visitor barely escaped with his life, and\nfull of wrath, he hid behind the hedge and waited till the household\nwere asleep. Then, seeing Whiteling before the house-door, he cried to\nhim, \"Just wait once, Whiteling; your last half-hour strikes when you\nfall into my clutches! If you weren't just where you are, safe at the\nhouse-door, I'd soon pay you off; but my time will come before long.\"\n\nAgain Whiteling began to beg. \"Dearest Isegrim, it is indeed true\nthat I have brought you into a terrible pickle, but don't kill me;\nlet me go this time. I'll never do it again.\"\n\nBut the Wolf replied, \"Neither now nor ever; you cheated me out of\nthat meal of swine's flesh, and three days from now you must meet me\nin battle. I will summon my forces, and do you summon yours--that is,\nif you can muster any. If you don't show up, I'll soon know where to\nfind you, and I'll drag you there myself!\"\n\n\"All right,\" returned Whiteling, \"come what may, I'll be there\nwithout fail.\"\n\nSo Isegrim hastened away to get his troops together, and meeting the\nWild Boar he said to him, \"Will you be on my side? There is going to\nbe war between me and Whiteling three days from now.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" replied the Wild Boar, \"indeed I will be on your side!\"\n\nA little farther Isegrim met Master Petz, the Bear, told him the\nwhole matter, and begged him to be on his side. Petz most cheerfully\npromised his help.\n\nLater, he met Reinecke, the Fox, and told him the whole story. Reinecke\nassured him that he might certainly count upon his help--how could\nhe ever hesitate to stand by his old crony against the common enemy?\n\nThen said Isegrim, \"Now we are quite enough; but I must spy out\nWhiteling and learn what forces he has. Then I will let you know that\nwe are all ready for war.\"\n\nIsegrim betook himself to Whiteling's house, and standing in the lane\nlooked over the hedge. \"Are you ready, Whiteling?\" he asked. \"To-morrow\nis the day.\"\n\n\"I shall be ready,\" replied Whiteling in a tone of deepest dejection;\n\"but tell me precisely, where is the battle to be?\"\n\n\"You know very well,\" replied Isegrim; \"yonder, under the tree we\nagreed upon.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said the Dog, and slunk sorrowfully away to the other\nside of the farm-yard. There the Tomcat met him and said, \"Why,\nmy dear Whiteling, what can be the matter, what makes you so sad?\"\n\nAnd Whiteling answered, \"My dear Grimalkin, you don't know where the\nshoe pinches. Will you come to my aid?\"\n\n\"Why, what are you talking about?\" asked the surprised Cat.\n\n\"Just think of it,\" replied the Dog, \"to-morrow I have to fight\nIsegrim; we have declared war to the knife.\"\n\n\"Oh, oh, my Whiteling, cheer up! I'll stand by you to the death. Just\nyou go to friend Quacker, the Drake, and engage his help.\"\n\nWith a lighter heart Whiteling sought friend Quacker and begged his\nfriendly aid.\n\n\"To be sure, to be sure; I am your comrade. Why should I leave a\nfriend in the lurch? Go to friend Ganner, the Gander, and ask him if\nhe feels like having a part in the war.\"\n\nSo said and so done. Whiteling found the Gander, explained the affair\nand begged for his help. \"Of course, why should I not be ready to\nhelp? Aren't you our guard every night to keep Reinecke from making\noff with us?\"\n\n\"Now,\" said Whiteling, \"I think we are strong enough.\"\n\nEarly next morning Isegrim met his allies upon the battle-field under\nthe appointed tree. He hid the Wild Boar beneath a thick bed of moss\nwhich grew upon the ground, and bade Reinecke climb into the tree,\nsaying, \"You must be our sentinel, Master. Keep watch when Whiteling\nappears with his troop, and give us secret intelligence. You, too,\nPetz, must scramble up the tree, but I will crouch down in ambush\nbehind the trunk.\"\n\nMeanwhile Whiteling was also disposing his forces. \"Grimalkin and\nGanner, you are the infantry. I see that your weapon is ready,\nGrimalkin\" (for Grimalkin held his tail upright, by way of musket);\n\"and you, Ganner, must hiss your very best. Quacker, you shall be the\ndrummer. I reserve to myself the command. March according to orders,\nand fall to when I give the word.\"\n\nSo Whiteling and his comrades went gayly to the battle--Whiteling\nand his drummer in front, Grimalkin and Ganner bringing up the\nrear. Quacker drummed his prettiest--\"Quack-quack, quack-quack,\nquack-quack!\" The Gander hissed and the Tomcat strutted along in\ndignified silence, carrying his tail straight upright like a musket.\n\nWhen Reinecke perceived the approaching company he cried to Isegrim,\n\"Cousin, cousin, here come two soldiers with a drummer and a captain!\"\n\n\"What's that you say?\" asked Isegrim in dismay.\n\n\"I say, here come two soldiers with a drummer and a captain,\" replied\nReinecke. \"The soldier is loading his gun, he takes aim, he is about\nto fire----\"\n\n\"Alas! woe be to us poor fellows,\" moaned the Wild Boar from under\nthe moss. \"It's all over with us! We fight with unequal forces!\"\n\n\"Courage, courage, fellows,\" cried Isegrim, trying to rally his troops;\n\"just bear yourselves bravely; all is not lost; we'll make short work\nof them yet!\"\n\nIn the midst of all this confusion Whiteling and his troops reached\nthe spot unperceived. Grimalkin, catching a glimpse of the Wild Boar's\near sticking out of the moss, took it for a mouse, and springing\nupon it, bit into it with his sharp teeth. The Wild Boar sprang\nup in terror and took wildly to flight, while Grimalkin, no less\nterrified, scrambled frantically up the tree into the very face of\nMaster Petz. The Bear, not prepared for this unexpected encounter,\nlost his balance and tumbled to the ground, half-killing himself by\nthe fall. More frightened than ever, the Tomcat scrambled blindly up\nto the tree-top.\n\n\"Now, it's my turn,\" thought Reinecke to himself, and immediately\ntumbled down in affright. Grimalkin tumbled after, while the Drake\nkept drumming, \"Quack-quack, quack-quack, quack-quack,\" and Ganner\nhissed with all his might. Thus was Isegrim's host ignominiously\nrouted. The Wolf himself, however, still cowered behind the tree,\nhis head buried in the moss.\n\nWhen the besiegers had withdrawn, Isegrim's scattered forces drew\ntogether and began to count their honorable scars. Said Master Petz,\n\"More dead than alive from my heavy fall, I barely managed to make\nmy escape.\"\n\n\"A piece of my ear is gone,\" said the Boar. \"He cut it off with\nhis sword.\"\n\n\"Let us be thankful, fellows,\" concluded Reinecke, \"that we are no\nworse off, for if they had been able to fire off one more cannon we\nshould have been hopelessly lost!\"\n\n\n\n\"I wish I knew that Dog,\" said the little boy. \"I think he is wiser\nthan our Watch.\"\n\n\"The beasts were wiser those days,\" replied the grandmother. \"That\nwas my great-great-grandmother's time.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nTHE FIRE OF SHAVINGS\n\n\nThe snow had fallen heavily, and some of the sheep were missing. The\ntwo moujiks put on their warm sheepskin clothes and went to look for\nthem, taking Watch, the sheep-dog, with them. The starosta sat in\nthe house, making a plough-handle out of a tree-branch which he had\ncut down one day long ago because he saw it was the right shape for a\nplough-handle in case he should ever need a new one. The little boy\ngathered up the shavings that fell from under the long, two-handled\nknife. He played with them until he was tired of them, and then he\ngathered them all in the skirt of his shirt and carried them to his\ngrandmother's room.\n\n\"I have brought you some shavings to make you warm, grandmother,\"\nhe said.\n\nHis grandmother opened the stove-door, where the fire was smouldering,\ncarefully covered up, for fuel is dear. The little boy put his\nshavings in, one by one, and watched them as they slowly caught fire\nand broke into a blaze. When they were all burned up he went and\nstood by his grandmother.\n\n\"Did they make you warm, little grandma?\" he asked.\n\n\"Nice and warm,\" answered the grandmother. \"Now, what can I do for\nyou in thanks?\"\n\n\"A story, a story!\" cried the little boy, climbing upon the stove to\nbe comfortable. And the grandmother told the story of\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEAR, THE BOAR, AND THE FOX\n\nA Bear, a Boar, and a Fox once went into partnership to till a field\nand raise some wheat, that they might earn their bread honestly. Said\nthe Boar, \"I will break into a granary and steal the seed, and with\nmy snout I will plough up the field.\"\n\n\"I will be the sower,\" said the Bear; and Reinecke added, \"I will\nspread the earth over the seed with my tail.\"\n\nSo the field was ploughed and the seed sown. By and by came\nharvest-time, and the friends took counsel together as to the\nreaping. Said the Boar, \"I will cut the grain.\" Said the Bear, \"I will\nbind the sheaves.\" And the Fox said, \"I will glean the scattered ears.\"\n\nThe grain was cut and the sheaves set up. The next thing was the\nthreshing. Said the Boar, \"I will provide the threshing-floor.\" \"I\nwill carry the sheaves,\" said the Bear, \"and will do the threshing\ninto the bargain.\" \"I'll shake out the sheaves,\" said the Boar,\n\"and break off the ears from the stalks.\" \"I will clear away the\nchaff with my tail,\" said the Fox.\n\n\"I will winnow the grain,\" said the Boar, \"and separate the straw from\nthe wheat;\" and Gossip Petz added, \"And I will attend to the dividing.\"\n\nAnd so the grain was threshed.\n\nNext came the Bear to do the dividing, but he was neither fair nor\nhonest, for he gave the Boar all the straw and kept all the grain for\nhimself, not leaving the least thing for the Fox. At this Reinecke\nflew into a rage and threatened them both with the law, saying he\nwould bring the emperor's officer to divide it all fairly and squarely.\n\nAway he went for the officer, leaving the Boar and the Bear greatly\nterrified. Said Master Petz to the Boar, \"Just bury yourself in the\nstraw, my child, while I clamber up into yonder pear-tree.\" The Boar\nat once vanished under the straw, while the Bear scrambled up into\nthe pear-tree.\n\nMeanwhile Reinecke set out, and on the way he met a Cat, whom he\ninvited to come and hunt mice with him upon a certain threshing-floor.\n\nThe Cat gladly accepted the invitation, for she full well knew that\nthere are plenty of mice in a threshing-floor; but on the way she\nkept hunting birds in the bushes along the roadside. The Bear, who\nwas watching from the pear-tree, espied her from afar, and called\ndown to the Boar:\n\n\"We are in a pretty scrape, dear Boar, for here comes Master Reinecke\nand a fearful monster with him. He wears the fur coat of a Marten\nand is killing birds upon the wing all along the way.\"\n\nBy this time the Bear lost sight of the Cat, which had reached the\nthreshing-floor under cover of the grass, and was creeping about\nin the straw in search of mice. Full of curiosity, the Boar stuck\nhis head out a little way to see what was going on; when the Cat,\nmistaking his snout for a mouse, sprang forward and buried her claws\nin it. At this the Boar gave a fearful grunt, and rushed frantically\ninto a neighboring stream, while the Bear, who, from the uproar,\nconcluded that the Cat had killed the Boar and would seize him next,\ntumbled headlong from the pear-tree in terror, and breaking his neck\nby the fall, perished miserably.\n\nSo Master Reinecke got all the grain and the straw into the bargain.\n\n\n\n\"I am glad he got it all,\" said the little boy. \"It wasn't fair of\nPetz and the Boar to serve Reinecke that way.\"\n\n\"Master Reinecke is generally able to look out for himself,\" said\nthe grandmother.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nFROST-BITTEN TOES\n\n\nThere was a great shouting and hurrahing in the court, for the moujiks\nhad found the sheep and were driving them home. The little boy ran\nout to see them come in. They were trembling with cold and looked\nvery weak, for they had had nothing to eat for two days. They had\nbeen buried under the snow, and it had taken all that time to find\nthem. They were glad to go into their pen, and the little boy was glad\nwhen his father gave him a pail with food in it and let him help the\nmoujiks feed them.\n\nThe cow-herd woman came to watch. \"You should not have come out in\nbare feet,\" she said to the little boy. \"Where are your bachmaki?\"\n\n\"Your feet are bare,\" replied the little boy.\n\n\"I am old and am used to it,\" said the cow-herd woman. \"You will\nfreeze your toes.\"\n\nWhen the sheep were all fed the little boy's toes began to ache, and\nhe ran into the house. \"Keep away from the fire,\" said his eldest\nsister, who was weaving at the loom in the corner. \"If you go near\nthe fire your toes will sting.\"\n\nThe little boy's toes were stinging already, and he began to cry.\n\n\"Run away to grandmother,\" said the eldest sister. \"She will warm\nyour toes with her hands.\"\n\nThe grandmother heard the little boy crying and she came to the door\nto see what was the matter, for it makes a grandmother's heart ache\nto hear a child's cries. When she saw the bare toes, white with cold,\nshe gathered the little boy up in her arms and carried him to her\nroom. There she sat down, far away from the fire, took the cold feet\nin her hands and rubbed them to make them warm. Then the little boy\nstopped crying.\n\n\"They are warm now,\" he said. \"But I don't want to get down. It is\nnice in your lap.\"\n\n\"You may sit here while I tell you a story,\" said the\ngrandmother. \"Then you must get down, for I haven't finished my stint\nof spinning.\"\n\n\"I will,\" said the little boy; and the grandmother told him the\nstory of\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN, THE HARE, THE FOX, AND THE BEAR\n\nNot far from a Hare's form a Bear once had her den, and Master Lampe\noften gave himself the treat of visiting the den in Petz's absence\nand teasing the little Petzes.\n\n\"You dear little birds,\" he would say, \"do let me hear your enchanting\nsongs!\" And he would spit at them, and make all manner of game of\nthem into the bargain.\n\nWhenever Mrs. Petz came home the young ones would bitterly complain\nhow a little Hare had been there making game of them. At this old\nPetz waxed very angry, and growled, \"Just wait once, wait, Master\nLampe! I'll catch you yet and fling you into a hole.\"\n\nSo Mrs. Petz hid herself in the back of the den, and sure enough\nalong came Master Lampe and began to tease the young bears. No\nsooner did Mrs. Petz hear him than she sprang upon him from her\nhiding-place. But, quick as lightning, Lampe was off in the woods,\nwith Mrs. Petz after him. Lampe fled through bush and brier, Petz\nalways close upon his heels.\n\nAt last Lampe sprang through a cloven tree and Petz followed\nhim. Unluckily she stuck fast in the narrow cleft and, do what she\nwould, she could not escape from her prison.\n\nPresently a Man came along, and Mrs. Petz implored him thus:\n\n\"Ah, Man, do set me free! I know where there is a hollow tree full\nof honey in the forest; you could bring a great cask and fill it as\nfull as you like.\"\n\n\"Are you telling the honest truth?\" asked the Man.\n\n\"The honest truth,\" replied Mrs. Petz. \"I can make you rich in honey,\nand all I have to say is to give you this warning: Never, if you love\nyour own life, do you tell a living soul how a miserable little Hare\nmade a fool of a strong She-bear.\"\n\nThe Man promised her, trust and true, and lifting his axe he struck\na blow at the cloven tree. The tree fell apart, Petz was again free,\nand she at once led the Man to the honey-tree. The Man returned home,\nyoked up his oxen, put a cask in the cart, and went to the wood for\nthe honey. When he had filled the cask he returned home.\n\nMeantime it had grown dark, and Petz crept noiselessly behind the\ncart and crouched down under the peasant's window, saying to herself,\n\"Just wait, you fellow, till I listen a little!\"\n\nThe Man brought the cask of honey into the house, and the children,\nseeing the prize, crowded around the father with questions. \"O little\nfather, where did you get that honey?\"\n\n\"I found it in the forest, dear children.\"\n\nThen the wife put in her word. \"Tell me, father, how did you come by\nso much honey?\"\n\nAnd the Man replied, \"Oh, don't bother me! It was an old trotter\nof a Bear that was chasing a little Hare and got stuck fast in the\ncleft of a tree. Then I came along and helped her out of the scrape,\nand for thanks she showed me the hollow tree where the honey was. So\nI brought it home. But it served her right, the lazy old fat tramper;\nwhat business had she chasing a Hare?\"\n\nMrs. Petz did not lose a word of all this, and she growled to herself,\n\"Just wait once, wait! I'll be even with you with a vengeance for\njeering at me.\"\n\nShe went away home, and presently the Man, wife, and children all\nwent to bed. Early next morning the Man got up and went out to till\nhis field. He yoked his oxen, filled a sack with grain, put it and\na plough into the cart, and with a \"Gee-up, you oxen!\" set out for\nhis field, which lay on the edge of the forest. He was just about to\nbegin ploughing when Mrs. Petz came along.\n\n\"Oho, cousin, so there you are! Didn't you promise me, trust and true,\nnot to say a word to mortal soul of what had happened to me, and didn't\nyou go home and tell the whole story to your wife and children? Hey?\"\n\nBut the Man replied, \"Friend, what an idea! I haven't said a word to\nany one.\"\n\n\"Silence!\" interrupted the Bear. \"I was listening under your window.\"\n\nThen the Man thought to himself, \"Well, the cat is out of the bag,\nsure enough. She knows the whole story.\"\n\n\"And now,\" said Mrs. Petz, \"it is all up with you.\"\n\nNow little Master Reinecke was listening to all this, and he rustled\nin the bushes with his tail, and cried:\n\n\n        Man, Man!\n        Wit in the head\n        And a club in the hand!\n\n\nFor, in fact, the moujik had a mighty ox-goad in his hand, and he stood\nthere quaking with fear of the enraged She-bear, and trying to contrive\nhow he should get out of the scrape. Reinecke never stopped crying:\n\n\n        Man, Man!\n        Wit in the head\n        And a club in the hand!\n\n\nAt this a bright thought struck the Man, and he resolved to try his\nluck. So he poured the grain from his sack upon the ground and said\nto Petz:\n\n\"I am a pious Christian and have not yet prepared for death, either\nby confession or penance. So do you, Mrs. Petz, step into this sack,\nand as penance for all my sins I will carry you around the field,\nheavy as you are. When I have gone around the field two or three\ntimes with you on my back, you may do with me what you like.\"\n\n\"Gracious Heaven,\" cried Mrs. Petz, \"how high I shall hold my head\nwhen people say that a man carried me around upon his shoulders!\" But\nscarcely had she crawled into the sack when the Man tied it up tight\nand belabored her head with his ox-goad until she gave up the ghost.\n\nThen Reinecke stepped up to the Man and asked, \"And what am I to get,\nMan, for the good counsel I gave you?\"\n\n\"What shall I give you?\" asked the Man. \"Will you have geese?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Ducks?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Hens?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Then what the mischief do you want?\"\n\n\"I want to bite off your nose.\"\n\nAt this the man thought to himself, \"What the dickens! How should I\nlook going around without a nose?\"\n\nCold sweat broke out all over him, and he cried aloud in\nagony. Reinecke heard him, and said, \"Oho, what does this mean?\"\n\nThe Man gave a second and a third cry; it startled the Master, and\nhe asked, \"Now what's all this about?\"\n\n\"Oh, nothing,\" replied the Man; \"only last evening I fed nine\nhunting-dogs, and they are trying with all their might to get out!\"\n\nBut Reinecke interrupted him: \"The cuckoo take your nose and all the\nrest of you, only don't let your hunting-dogs come out here until I\nhave put my hide in safety!\" And away he went, across lots and out\nof sight.\n\nSo the Man saved his nose, and full of joy he went home that night,\ncarrying Petz with him.\n\n\n\n\"Master Reinecke wasn't so clever that time,\" said the little boy.\n\n\"He is not always clever,\" said the grandmother. \"But he was very\nclever when he took revenge on Isegrim.\"\n\n\"Oh, tell me that, tell me that!\" cried the little boy.\n\n\"Not now,\" said the grandmother. \"Did I not tell you that I had not\ndone my stint of spinning? Come this evening after supper and I will\ntell you. Now run away home.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nAFTER SUPPER\n\n\nThe little boy could hardly eat at supper-time, and as soon as possible\nhe ran to his grandmother's room. She was knitting in the dark, for the\nstock of candles was getting low, and she could knit without looking.\n\n\"Have you come for the story?\" she asked. \"I was expecting you.\"\n\nSo the little boy climbed to his place on the stove, and the\ngrandmother began the story of\n\n\n\n\nREINECKE'S REVENGE ON ISEGRIM\n\nOnce upon a time Reinecke kneaded mud-cakes, baked them, and spread\nthem with honey. When they were all ready he betook himself to the\nturkey-tenders and begged them to give him a turkey in exchange for\nhis honey-cakes. The turkey-tenders were not to be so easily hoaxed,\nand they sent him to the swine-herds, assuring him that the swine-herds\nwould give him a sucking pig for his honey-cakes.\n\nHe therefore sought the swine-herds and begged for a sucking pig in\nexchange for his cakes. The swine-herds would give him none, but sent\nhim to the cow-herds, who might give him a calf in exchange for the\ncakes. So he went to the cow-herds and begged them to give him a calf\nand take his honey-cakes in exchange.\n\nThe cow-herds declined, and sent him to the stable-boys, who would\nsurely give him a colt in exchange for the honey-cakes. So he went\nto the stable-boys and offered to exchange his honey-cakes for\na colt. They gave him a beautiful colt and took in exchange the\nhoney-cakes. So Reinecke went away, leading the colt, and leaving\nwith the stable-boys a strict injunction on no account to break one\nof the cakes until he should have disappeared behind a certain hill.\n\nThe stable-boys obeyed the behest, but when they afterward tried the\ncakes and broke their teeth upon them, they perceived that they were\nmade of clay, and they at once set off in pursuit of the Fox. But\nMaster Reinecke had so much the start of them that they were obliged\nto turn back, weary and overheated, having had their trouble for\ntheir pains.\n\nNow when Reinecke reached home he made a stall of wicker-work for\nthe colt, and devoted himself entirely to the care of him. Day after\nday he brought him green, juicy grass and cool, refreshing drink, and\nwhenever he brought them he always called to the colt in these words:\n\n\n        O colt, tender little colt,\n          Open the door for me!\n        Juicy grass and cooling drink\n          Bring I here for thee!\n\n\nThen the colt would open the door. Reinecke gave the colt very\nstrict instructions on no account to open the door to any other voice\nor words.\n\nOne day Isegrim came. He had often heard Reinecke call to the colt\nto open the door, and now he began to call in his coarse voice:\n\n\n        O colt, tender little colt,\n          Open the door for me!\n        Juicy grass and cooling drink\n          Bring I here for thee!\n\n\nBut the colt at once perceived that this was not Reinecke's voice,\nand it did not stir to open the door.\n\nThen Isegrim hid himself cunningly behind the stable-wall to wait\nfor a better chance.\n\nPretty soon along came Reinecke with grass and water. As soon as he\nreached the stable he cried in his soft treble voice:\n\n\n        O colt, tender little colt,\n          Open the door for me!\n        Juicy grass and cooling drink\n          Bring I here for thee!\n\n\nThe colt recognized the voice, opened the door at once, and began\nto tell how some one had been there and asked him to open the door,\nbut he had not opened because the voice sounded rough. Upon this\nReinecke said, \"On no account open the door to a rough voice, but\nonly to a soft one.\"\n\nThe next day, when Reinecke was gone, along came Isegrim, who had\noverheard the whole conversation from behind the stable-wall. He\ncrouched down as low as possible, and cried, in a very soft voice:\n\n\n        O colt, tender little colt,\n          Open the door for me!\n        Juicy grass and cooling drink\n          Bring I here for thee!\n\n\nThe unhappy colt was deceived and opened the door. Alas! Isegrim fell\nupon him, seized him by the throat, and ate him up--all but the head\nand the tail, which he left lying there. Then he made off, having\nclosed the door behind him, that nothing might be seen from without.\n\nWhen Reinecke came home he began to call, as usual:\n\n\n        O colt, tender little colt,\n          Open the door for me!\n        Juicy grass and cooling drink\n          Bring I here for thee!\n\n\nBut no one asked him in nor opened the door. So he peeped in between\nthe osiers, and when he saw nothing in the stall but the colt's head\nand tail he knew all that had happened and had not the least doubt\nas to who had brought this great misfortune upon him. He tore the\ndoor open and set up a long, woe-begone howl. Then he went out quite\nheart-broken and laid himself down in the road for dead.\n\nAfter a while a man came by in a wagon, and finding Reinecke in\nthe road he picked him up and threw him into the wagon, intending\nto strip off his skin as soon as he reached home. Now this man had\nthree cheeses in a knapsack in his wagon, and presently Reinecke\nroused himself from his feigned death, arose softly, stole the three\ncheeses out of the knapsack, and made off. As soon as he had reached\na safe distance he devoured two of the cheeses and went on his way,\nholding the third under his chin.\n\nIn the course of his travels he met friend Isegrim, who had eaten his\nbeloved colt. Isegrim no sooner saw Reinecke with the cheese than his\nmouth began to water, and he asked him how he had come by it. Then\nReinecke, truthful as usual, replied that he had sucked it up out of\na brook.\n\n\"And where may that brook be found?\" asked Isegrim hastily.\n\n\"Follow me,\" answered Reinecke; \"I will lead you to it.\"\n\nNow it happened that this meeting took place at the full of the moon,\nabout midnight, and a beautiful, star-bestrewn sky shed a magical\nhalf-darkness over everything. Reinecke led Isegrim to a brook and,\nshowing him the reflection of the moon mirrored in the flowing water,\nsaid:\n\n\"Do you see that great cheese there in the water? Now suck up the water\nin great gulps and you will suck up the cheese at last, just as I did.\"\n\nSo simple Isegrim sucked up the water in great gulps, until it began\nto run out at his ears. Reinecke very kindly plugged up his ears and\ncried to him:\n\n\"Keep on sucking, dear Isegrim; you'll soon have it!\"\n\nSimple Isegrim went at it again, and sucked until the water ran out\nof his eyes. At once Reinecke stopped up his eyes, crying again:\n\n\"Keep on, dear Isegrim, you'll soon have it now!\"\n\nPoor Isegrim sucked on, until the water ran out at his nose. Then\nReinecke stopped up his nose and climbed upon his back, saying he\nwas sick and could not walk, and Isegrim must carry him.\n\nThe Wolf, in very woful plight, set out to carry the Fox, when Reinecke\ntuned up and sang:\n\n\n        The sick is carrying the well!\n        The sick is carrying the well!\n\n\nAnd he kept on repeating the same words until Isegrim asked:\n\n\"What's that you're singing, cousin?\"\n\n\"Nothing, nothing, dear Isegrim; they are only the fantasies of\nillness!\" and he kept up his song:\n\n\n        The sick is carrying the well!\n        The sick is carrying the well!\n\n\nSo it went on till they came to a house where a wedding was being\ncelebrated. When the wedding-guests heard Reinecke's song they came\nout of the house and praised his singing. Thereupon he said that he\ncould sing a better song than that if they would let him go into the\nhouse and up into the loft. To this they agreed.\n\nWhen Isegrim, with all the trouble in the world, had carried Reinecke\nup into the loft, which was floored only with loose planks, then\nReinecke opened all the places he had plugged up, and the water ran out\nof Isegrim's eyes and ears and nose and poured down through the cracks\nupon the wedding-guests below. The guests ran nimbly up into the loft,\nbut Reinecke still more nimbly made his escape through the window,\nwhile Isegrim was half-beaten to death by the enraged wedding-guests\nand his body thrown out into the road.\n\nThen Reinecke came creeping back and taunted Isegrim. \"This long\ntime I have been wearing out shoe-leather to get the best of you,\nbecause you ate up my colt!\"\n\nAnd with these words away he went, leaving Isegrim to his fate.\n\n\n\n\"That served Isegrim right,\" said the little boy. \"He had no business\nto eat up Reinecke's little colt.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nTHE SNOWY DAY\n\n\nThe grandmother sat in her room spinning, and singing a sad little\nsong. Grandmother's songs were always sad, for that is the way with\nthe songs of the Russian peasant women, whose lives are very hard. But\nthe little boy had never heard any other kind, and he was very fond\nof hearing his grandmother sing. He was lying on the stove, watching\nher spin, for it was still snowing, and he was tired of playing alone\nin the court. The snow was so deep now that none of the mothers would\nlet their little children go into the street. The big children were\nall at work. Only little children play every day in Russia. The big\nchildren work, except on holidays.\n\n\"Do you know any more stories about Master Reinecke, little\ngrandma?\" the little boy finally asked.\n\n\"Perhaps I do,\" replied the grandmother. \"Let me see; did I ever tell\nyou about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE BIRD, THE FOX, AND THE DOG?\"\n\n\"No,\" said the little boy. \"Do tell that, please!\"\n\nSo the grandmother began:\n\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Bird which built her nest in a hedge,\nlaid her eggs there, and began to brood over them. Now a little Fox\ngot wind of the matter, and he thought to himself, \"Aha! there's a\nfine breakfast for me!\" So he left the Bird to brood over her eggs,\nwaiting for the time when the young ones should hatch out.\n\nWhen that time came he paid a visit to the Bird, which was singing\ngayly in the hedge, and said to her:\n\n\"Good-morning, dear cousin. Oh, how beautiful you are and how sweet\nis your song! But still more enticing are your young ones in the nest,\nand I mean to eat them up!\"\n\nThe little Bird answered, smiling, \"Ah, ah, you are not as clever as\nI thought you, if you are thinking of eating these tiny birds! They\nwould not make you a mouthful. Just wait awhile till they are grown;\nthen come, and you may eat both them and me.\"\n\nSo the Bird appointed a day, and Reinecke went off in high glee,\nwhistling merrily.\n\nIn the meantime the Bird went to a Dog and promised him a delicious\nmeal--nothing other than Reinecke, in fact--telling him that he had\nnothing to do but hide in the bushes on the appointed day, and he\ncould easily master the Master. The Dog smiled blissfully at the\nnews, saying:\n\n\"This is what I call a stroke of luck! I'll tell you what, little Bird,\nI'll hide in the bushes, and when Reinecke comes, do you beg him to\nlet you sing one last song. Then perch yourself on a twig and sing\nout loud and clear. That shall be the signal for me, and I will spring\nout of my ambush, and--snap!--all will be over with Master Reinecke.\"\n\nWhen the appointed day arrived Reinecke came gleefully along, trolling\nthis lay:\n\n\n        \"Fat little birds are right good cheer,\n        So here I am, my Gossip dear!\n\n\nWell, Gossip, how goes it?\"\n\n\"As well as possible,\" answered the little Bird. \"What I have promised\nI will perform; I have only one last boon to crave: let me sing my\nfavorite song just once more!\"\n\n\"Sing away, for all I care,\" answered Reinecke; \"only make it short.\"\n\nSo the little Bird perched herself upon a twig and began her song. In\na twinkling the Dog rushed out upon Reinecke, but the Master was on\nthe alert and took to flight, with the Dog close upon his heels. At\nlast Reinecke took refuge in a hole, while the Dog hid himself at\nthe entrance, keeping up a sharp lookout.\n\nThen Reinecke began to talk to himself, and said to his feet:\n\n\"Well, my fine feet, how have you got on?\"\n\n\"Finely,\" answered the feet; \"we did our very best to outrun the Dog.\"\n\n\"Good, good! You deserve all praise! And you, my good ears, how did\nyou behave yourselves?\"\n\n\"Very well; we listened most intently to know whether that dreadful\nDog was close behind us.\"\n\n\"Good! That was gallant! And how did you behave, my dear, sweet eyes?\"\n\n\"Oh, we spied around in every direction to discover the first hole!\"\n\n\"Bravo! That was good of you.\" Then Reinecke looked at his long tail\nand asked:\n\n\"And how is it with you, my beautiful, long, bushy tail?\"\n\nAnd the tail answered, \"Very badly; I am your steering rudder, and\nyou rushed along so unmercifully, dragging me through bush and brier,\nthat I am miserably scratched and torn. Really, I should not have\nbeen worse off if the Dog had caught me.\"\n\n\"Aha!\" cried Reinecke, in high displeasure, \"so you are my open enemy,\nare you? All the others are faithful; you alone would willingly have\nbetrayed me. Out with you, out, my declared foe! You shall no longer\nstay under the same roof with me!\"\n\nSo Reinecke thrust his tail out of the hole. Snap!--the Dog had it\nbetween his teeth, dragged the Fox out of his retreat, tore him in\npieces, and was thus rewarded for all his trouble. And the little\nbirds were rid of their enemy.\n\n\n\n\"It was not nice of Reinecke to want to eat little birds,\" said the\nlittle boy. \"I think he deserved to be punished.\"\n\n\"He got off without punishment another time,\" observed the grandmother.\n\n\"How was that?\" asked the little boy eagerly. \"Won't you tell me that\nstory? Do! It is not supper-time.\"\n\n\"No, it is not supper-time, and the story is a short one,\" said the\ngrandmother. \"So I will tell you about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE FOX AND THE DOVE\"\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Dove which built her nest in a high\ntree. Every year, about the time when her young ones were beginning\nto get feathers, Reinecke would come along and say to the Dove:\n\n\"Give me your young ones to eat; throw them down to me of your own\naccord, or I will gobble you up as well as them!\"\n\nThe Dove, frightened at the threat, would throw down the young\nbirds. Thus it had happened year after year.\n\nNow one day, as the Dove sat most melancholy upon her nest, a Great\nBird flew up and asked why she was so sad and down-cast. And the Dove\nanswered that it was because Reinecke would soon come and eat up her\nyoung ones.\n\nUpon this the Great Bird replied, \"Oh, you goose! Why do you throw\nthem down to him? Just bid your good friend to please give himself\nthe trouble to come after them. Then you'll soon see him sneak away\nwith his tail between his legs, for Reinecke cannot climb a tree.\"\n\nSo when the time came round and Reinecke again presented himself,\nthe Dove said to him, \"If you want meat for dinner, just be so kind\nas to come up and help yourself.\"\n\nWhen the Fox saw that he must go away empty he asked the Dove who\nhad counselled her to speak thus, and she answered:\n\n\"That Great Bird that has a nest yonder near the stream.\"\n\nReinecke at once betook himself to the stream and remonstrated with\nthat Great Bird for building his nest in so exposed a place, asking\nwhat he did in case of a high wind.\n\nThe Great Bird answered, \"When the wind blows from the right I turn\nto the left; when it blows from the left I turn to the right.\"\n\n\"But what do you do when it blows from all sides?\" asked the Fox.\n\n\"Then I stick my head under my wing,\" said the Great Bird, showing\nhow he did it. But quick as a wink, when the Great Bird stuck his\nhead under his wing, the Master sprang upon him and seized him, saying:\n\n\"You know how to give counsel to others, but not to advise yourself!\"\n\nSo he ate him up.\n\n\n\nThe little boy pondered this story for a while. At last he said,\n\"Grandmother, why did that Great Bird say that Reinecke could not\nclimb a tree? He has climbed a tree a great many times.\"\n\n\"This one was not a story of this mir,\" replied the grandmother. \"It\nis a story from another mir, where my mother's mother was born. The\nfoxes there are different.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nTHE ELECTION MEETING\n\n\nThere were many men gathered in the little boy's house, for the time\nof the zemstvo was drawing near, and the men of the village must\nchoose one of their number to go away to the large city which was\nthe capital of the district to help make laws for the district. That\nis what the zemstvo is for. The noblemen go, of course, and every\nvillage chooses one villager to go.\n\nThey met in the little boy's house to choose their delegate, partly\nbecause the little boy's father was starosta, and partly because his\nhouse was the largest. Though they were many, there was room for them\nall on the bench of masonry that ran around the four walls of the room,\nand was covered in the most honorable places with bright calico. It was\na very cold day, and the bench was as far as possible from the stove,\nbut they were not cold, for the chinks between the upright boards which\nmade the walls of the starosta's house were well stopped with tow,\nand, besides, the men all had on their warm kaftans, or over-blouses,\nand their fur-lined boots.\n\nThere was a great deal of talking, and the little boy's mother and\nsisters were very busy with the samovar, making tea and handing it\nround. They had to be very careful to keep the water in the samovar\nboiling madly, for tea is not good unless it scalds your mouth. At\nleast so they think in the little boy's village.\n\nThe little boy had been told that he must keep very still; but it is\nas hard to keep a little Russian boy still as a little American boy,\nfor both are very fond of play. The little boy did not find it amusing,\nand presently he crept very quietly toward the door.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" asked his mother.\n\n\"To see grandmamma,\" answered the little boy.\n\n\"Be careful not to disturb her; she is busy,\" said the mother.\n\nThe little boy ran quickly out of the room.\n\nThe grandmother was indeed busy. She had her short skirt turned back,\na short-handled broom of twigs in her hand, a great earthen jar of\nwater beside her, and she was hard at work scrubbing the floor.\n\n\"Wipe your feet very clean,\" she said, \"and don't bring dirt upon my\nnice floor.\"\n\nThe little boy wiped his feet very clean, and tiptoed across to the\nstove. It was really quite amusing to watch his grandmother scrub,\nespecially when the water made little pools in the hollows, worn by\nmany years of walking over the clay floor, and she had to flirt it\nout with little whisks of the broom. He watched her very quietly until\nshe had shaken out her broom and emptied the jar into a great tub in\nthe court. Then she came back and sank heavily into her chair, saying:\n\n\"Ouf! little grandmother is tired!\"\n\n\"Too tired to spin, little grandma!\" exclaimed the little boy eagerly.\n\nThe grandmother smiled. \"But not too tired for a story--is that what\nthe little boy means?\"\n\n\"Oh, you're not, you're not!\" cried the little boy gleefully.\n\n\"Listen then, and I will tell you about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE FOX AND THE HEDGEHOG\"\n\nA Hedgehog met Master Reinecke in a field, and said to him, \"Hello,\nMaster! Whither away?\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm just loafing around!\" answered the Fox.\n\n\"Tell me, now,\" said Reinecke after a while to the Hedgehog, \"how\nmanifold is your understanding?\"\n\n\"Threefold,\" answered the Hedgehog.\n\n\"Why, how is that?\" asked the Fox.\n\n\"Why, you see, I have one sense above, one below, and the third\neverywhere,\" replied the Hedgehog; and added, \"And how manifold is\nyour understanding?\"\n\n\"Oh, mine is seventy-sevenfold,\" answered the Fox.\n\n\"Well, well!\" said the Hedgehog.\n\nThereupon they walked along through the fields, and so eagerly were\nthey talking that they gave no heed to the way, and presently stumbled\ninto a Wolf's den. Then was good counsel precious! How should they\never get out of this scrape?\n\nSaid Reinecke to the Hedgehog, \"Come now, search around in your\nhead-piece for a means of getting out of this pickle.\"\n\n\"I should have done that before,\" answered the Hedgehog, \"but I\nwas afraid that by and by you would curse me. How shall I, a little\nHedgehog, with only a threefold understanding, devise anything better\nthan you, who have a seventy-sevenfold understanding?\"\n\nHowever, after talking back and forth a long time, the Hedgehog made\nthis suggestion, \"Say, Reinecke, just seize me by the ear and throw\nme up out of the den, because I am the smaller.\"\n\n\"Yes, but how shall I get out?\"\n\n\"Oh, just stick up your tail and I will pull you out!\"\n\nSo Reinecke seized the Hedgehog by the ear and tossed him up out\nof the den. Then he called upon him to keep his word. \"Hello there,\nGossip, now pull me out!\"\n\n\"Do you know what,\" answered the Hedgehog, \"I'll tell you something. I\nhave only a threefold understanding, and yet I found a way of\nhelping myself. Now do you help yourself with your seventy-sevenfold\nunderstanding.\"\n\nBy this time a moujik came along, and finding the Fox in the den he\nmade short work with him. But the Hedgehog crept away through the\nthicket with his threefold understanding, while Reinecke, with all\nhis seventy-sevenfold understanding, was carried off by the moujik.\n\n\n\n\"Reinecke was too proud of himself,\" said the little boy.\n\n\"It is a great sin to be proud,\" observed the grandmother. \"The pop\nsaid so on Sunday in church.\"\n\nThere was a pause. Then the little boy said coaxingly:\n\n\"You are tired yet, little grandmother!\"\n\n\"It was a short story,\" replied the grandmother, patting the little\nboy on the shoulder, \"and grandmother is a little tired still. She\nwill tell you the story of\n\n\n\n\n\"MASTER REINECKE AND GOCKELING, THE COCK\"\n\nOnce upon a time, Reinecke, the Fox, met Gockeling, the Cock, and\nsaid to him, \"Come, show me how your hens cackle!\"\n\nThe Cock, quite willing, stretched out his neck and began to crow,\nwhen in a trice Reinecke pounced upon him and seized him by the throat.\n\n\"O Reinecke!\" cried the Cock, \"first give thanks to God, who has sent\nyou so good a meal!\"\n\nAnd Reinecke fell into the Cock's trap, for he stood upon his hind\nlegs and began to give thanks. Quick as thought the Cock flew up into\nthe nearest tree, and cried to Reinecke:\n\n\"Well, cousin, how does my fresh meat taste?\"\n\n\n\n\"That was very clever of the Cock,\" said the little boy. \"But,\ngrandmother, I don't think that Fox belonged to our mir, for he was not\nat all clever. He must have belonged to your mother's mother's mir.\"\n\n\"You are perfectly right,\" replied the grandmother. \"That is a story\nfrom her mir. And as it is a very short story, I shall tell you just\none more.\"\n\nSo the grandmother told the story of\n\n\n\n\nTHE DISAPPOINTED BEAR\n\nOnce upon a time a little old woman, who was walking in the forest,\nclimbed up into a wild-cherry tree to gather cherries. Now a Bear\nespied her, and he came under the tree and cried, \"Come down, old\nwoman, that I may eat you!\"\n\n\"Go along with you!\" answered the old woman. \"Why should you eat a\nscrawny old woman like me? Here, gnaw upon my shoe till I come down,\nand I will take you to my house; I have two little children there,\nnamed Janko and Mirko; they will make you a right savory dish. So\nhave patience till you get them.\"\n\nSo said the little old woman and threw down one of her shoes. Master\nPetz gnawed and gnawed upon it, but the more he gnawed the hungrier\nhe grew. Greatly enraged, he screamed up to the old woman:\n\n\"Come down, you old wench, and let me eat you!\"\n\n\"Just wait a little longer, till the old wench has gathered enough\ncherries,\" she answered. \"Here, gnaw this other shoe awhile; she'll\nsoon come down and show you the way to her house.\" So saying, she\nthrew down the other shoe.\n\nWhen Petz found that the second shoe was no juicier than the first he\nmade no further effort, but contented himself with thinking of the\nfat little children at the old woman's house. When she had gathered\ncherries enough, down she came and went home, the Bear tramping along\nbehind her.\n\nWhen they reached the house the old woman said, \"I'll tell you what,\nfirst let me give the children a good supper, that they may be all\nthe fatter; and meanwhile do you run about till evening to get up a\nbetter appetite.\"\n\nSo Petz went away and ran about in the woods all the rest of the day,\nand at evening he came back to the hut.\n\n\"Here I am, little mother!\" he cried; \"now bring out Janko and Mirko,\nand see me polish them off. I am starving to death!\"\n\n\"Oho!\" answered the little old woman from within, \"Janko has made the\ndoor fast with bolts, and I have just put Mirko to sleep. I couldn't\nthink of waking him. And little mother is so old and weak that she\ncan't unbolt the door alone. Come some other day.\"\n\nThen Master Petz perceived that he had been fooled, and he walked\nreluctantly away, with drooping snout and an empty stomach.\n\n\n\n\"I'm glad he didn't get Janko and Mirko,\" said the little boy.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nCAT AND DOG\n\n\nThe little boy was playing in the court with the moujik's dog that\nhelped to guard the sheep. It was a clear, cold day, but the little\nboy was not cold, for he had on his warm quilted kaftan, or blouse,\nhis cap, which he called his chapka, on his head, and on his feet\nwere sandals made of the tough bark of the linden-tree. He was not\ngoing to risk frozen toes another time!\n\nThe sheep-dog was old and rather cross, but he was always kind to the\nlittle boy. But when the house-cat followed the cow-herd woman out of\nthe house, where she had gone to carry some milk, the dog bristled up\nand growled. The cat spat at him, and this was too much. He sprang\nat her, but kitty was too quick for him. She flew across the court\nand scrambled nimbly up to the shed roof by one of the supporting\npoles. The dog was too old and heavy to follow her, and he sat on his\nhaunches in the court below, bristling and snarling, the cat spitting\nback at him and evidently enjoying the fun. The cow-herd woman and\na moujik who was at work in the court were laughing heartily; the\nlittle boy's brother, who was cutting wood in the shed, came out to\nsee what it was all about. The little boy was highly excited, and he\nran to call his grandmother to come and see.\n\nBut by the time the grandmother had risen slowly from her chair--for\nher rheumatism was bad that day--and had gone to the door, leaning on\nher stick, the fun was all over. The cat had gone around to another\nside of the shed, and lay basking in the sun, out of the dog's sight;\nthe moujik, the cow-herd woman, and the little boy's brother had gone\nback to their work. Only the dog remained, looking up at the deserted\nroof and growling at nothing.\n\nThe little boy went with his grandmother into the house.\n\n\"Grandmamma,\" he asked, \"why does the dog always quarrel with the cat?\"\n\n\"My great-grandmother told me why,\" replied the grandmother. \"I will\ntell you that story now, if you like.\"\n\n\"Oh, do, do!\" cried the little boy.\n\n\"It is the story,\" said the grandmother, \"of\n\n\n\n\n\"WHY THE DOG CANNOT ENDURE THE CAT, NOR THE CAT THE MOUSE\"\n\nIn olden times, as my great-grandmother told me, dogs enjoyed great\nfreedom, and among other privileges they had a right to all the meat\nthat fell from the table. To guard this right for all time they drew\nup a manifesto, and copied it upon parchment. In this manifesto this\nright was expressly made known. For a long time the King of the Dogs\nhad charge of this document, but finally he confided it to the care\nof his private secretary, the Tomcat. And the Tomcat carried the\nproclamation up into the garret and hid it behind a beam where no\none could possibly find it.\n\nNow it happened that behind the beam dwelt a young Mouse, and on\none of his walks he stumbled upon the roll. He tried to drag it from\nits hiding-place, but the stiff parchment stuck fast, and he could\nnot pull it out. But it was quite within reach of his little teeth,\nand the Mouse was highly delighted with his lucky find, for now he had\nsomething to nibble upon. Day by day he paid a visit to the parchment\nand whetted his teeth upon it.\n\nNow it presently happened that one day a Dog picked up a piece of\nmeat and was caught and his paw well rubbed with hot ashes. Weeping,\nhe appeared before the King and told him the whole story.\n\nThen the King immediately summoned his private secretary, the Tomcat,\nand commanded him to show the proclamation. The Tomcat hastened to\nbring the parchment without delay; but, to his misfortune, what did\nhe find? Only a few fragments!\n\nIt was at once clear to him that this was the deed of some little\nMouse. He told the story to all the other Cats, who, to express\ntheir grief and sorrow, began to mew most piteously. When they had\nsufficiently expressed their feelings they declared war against\nall Mice.\n\nAfter this the Tomcat made his report to the King of the Dogs, and\nthe King immediately summoned the Dog-zemstvo. The Dogs came together\nfrom all parts--sheep-dogs, wolf-dogs, boar-hounds, house-dogs; and\nto them all the King gave command that from thenceforth and forever\nthey should treat the Cat as the common enemy. Thus all cats would\nbe made to rue that Tomcat's carelessness.\n\nAnd that is the end of the story.\n\n\n\n\"Now I understand all about it,\" said the little boy.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nA PLEASANT SURPRISE\n\n\nA very delightful surprise awaited the little boy. A few days after\nthe meeting in his house his mother told him that the mir had elected\nhis father deputy to the zemstvo. In a few days he must go to the\ncapital of the district, and he had decided to take the little boy\nand his mother with him. That was news indeed! The little boy ran to\ntell his grandmother. Or, rather, he hopped on one foot all the way,\nfor he was so glad that he had to do something unusual.\n\nThe grandmother was delighted with the news. \"You will go on the\nrailroad,\" she said. \"That is a great thing. There were no railroads\nwhen I was young, and I should not like to travel on one. A good sledge\nwith three horses is far safer, I think. But the railroad is faster,\nyour father tells me, and that is something in cold weather.\"\n\nThe little boy ran back to find out how soon they were to go. \"Shall\nwe go to-day?\" he asked his mother.\n\n\"Oh, no, not to-day!\" she answered.\n\n\"To-morrow, then?\"\n\n\"Not to-morrow, but perhaps the day after to-morrow.\"\n\n\"That is a long time!\" sighed the little boy.\n\n\"You must have patience,\" said the mother. \"There is no virtue so\nnecessary in this world as patience.\"\n\nThe little boy wandered back to his grandmother's room.\n\n\"Grandmamma,\" he said, \"mother says I must have patience; but I don't\nknow how. We are not going to start on the journey for two whole days.\"\n\n\"Perhaps I can help you,\" said the grandmother. \"If I were to tell\nyou a story now?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, that would help, little grandma!\" cried the little boy. \"I\ncan be very patient when you tell me stories.\"\n\n\"This one,\" said the grandmother, \"is about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE FOX AND THE BADGER\"\n\nA Fox and a Badger met in the mountains and made an alliance, agreeing\nthat whichever of them found anything good to eat should share it\nwith the other, like a brother.\n\nNow the Master knew where there was a trap set and baited with a\ngreat piece of meat. He therefore led the Badger there and showed\nhim the meat.\n\n\"See, dear nephew,\" said he, \"how your clever uncle has led you\nto a place where we can both have a grand feast. But you are more\nlimber than I, so just slip gently in and pull out the meat, while\nI keep watch that the moujik who put it here does not suddenly catch\nus napping.\"\n\nThe Badger agreed without further words. He slipped into the trap, and\nwas about to pull the meat from the hook, when--snap!--his forefoot\nwas fast in the trap. The Badger broke out into a howl of distress,\n\"Help, uncle, help! I am lost!\"\n\nReinecke ran quickly to the trap, but instead of freeing the Badger\nhe at once began to gnaw the meat.\n\n\"Just have a little patience,\" he said, \"till I have eaten this morsel\nbefore some one comes from the village. Then I will pull your leg\nout of the trap.\"\n\nNow Graybeard saw plainly that the Master had played a trick upon\nhim, and he quickly seized him by the nape of the neck. At this\nmoment the moujik came running up, crying from afar, \"Hold on, my\nfalcon-badger! By my faith, I will not rumple a hair of your head!\"\n\nSo the moujik killed the Fox and stripped off his skin, saying to the\nBadger, \"You may go free; his skin is worth five kopeks, but yours\nonly two. Go, in God's name!\"\n\n\n\n\"It wasn't fair of Reinecke,\" observed the little boy.\n\n\"No, it wasn't fair, and so he got punished,\" said the grandmother.\n\nThe little boy was silent for a few minutes. Then he said:\n\n\"Little grandma, I am not patient yet.\"\n\n\"Oho!\" said the grandmother, \"if my stories don't help you to be\npatient, there is no use in my telling them.\"\n\n\"But they do help, grandmamma,\" said the little boy. \"I am a little\npatient now, just a very little. If you told me another story I should\nbe more patient still.\"\n\nThe grandmother laughed. Then she told the story of\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAG AND THE HEDGEHOG\n\nA Stag and a Hedgehog were once standing upon a steep hill, and the\nHedgehog invited the Stag to roll down with him into the ditch.\n\n\"Do you roll down first,\" replied the Stag.\n\nWithout further words the Hedgehog rolled himself into a round ball\nand rolled down the slope. The Stag followed and broke his neck.\n\nThen thought the Hedgehog, \"What shall I do with you now?\" At last\nthe thought occurred to him to call a butcher, and he immediately\nset out to seek one. On the way he met a Fox.\n\n\"Whither away?\" asked Reinecke; and the Hedgehog answered, \"To seek\na butcher.\"\n\n\"Gossip,\" said the Fox, \"I am a butcher.\"\n\n\"Then show me your teeth, Master,\" said the Hedgehog.\n\nReinecke showed his teeth, but the Hedgehog told him they were not\nsharp enough, and went on his way.\n\nAfter a while he met a Wolf, who asked him, \"Whither away, Gossip?\"\n\n\"To seek a butcher,\" said the Hedgehog.\n\n\"I am a butcher, sure enough,\" said the Wolf.\n\n\"Then show me your tools.\"\n\nIsegrim showed his teeth, and the Hedgehog, well pleased, said to him,\n\"Follow me, then.\"\n\nThe Wolf followed him, and they came to the dead Stag. In a trice the\nWolf had torn him in pieces, and inviting all his kindred to the feast,\nhe gave each of them a fine morsel, and kept a whole leg for himself,\nwithout the least consideration for the Hedgehog.\n\n\"Well, and what am I to get?\" asked the Hedgehog, quite vexed; and\nthe Wolf replied, \"The entrails.\"\n\nThis seemed to the Hedgehog very unfair, and he began to reason with\nIsegrim. But the Wolf only answered, \"If you aren't satisfied, go to\nthe judge and make a complaint.\"\n\nSo the Hedgehog went to seek a judge, and the Wolf followed after. Now\nthe Hedgehog knew where there was a trap, and he led Isegrim in that\ndirection. The Hedgehog tapped lightly upon the knocker, but this\nquite disgusted Isegrim.\n\n\"Wait, let me knock!\" said he, and he thumped with all the strength\nof his paw. So he was caught, and the Hedgehog ran away laughing.\n\nThe story is done.\n\n\n\n\"It is done too quick, little grandmother,\" observed the little boy\nafter a moment's thought. \"I am not patient yet.\"\n\n\"Then my medicine is not the right kind,\" said the grandmother. \"Run\naway home and hold some yarn for your sister. I heard her say that\nshe was going to knit some warm mittens for you to wear on the\njourney. Holding yarn is an excellent school for patience.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nTHE PATIENT LITTLE BOY\n\n\nThe door of the grandmother's room opened very slowly, and the little\nboy peeped in.\n\n\"Grandmother, I did hold the yarn, and I am very patient now. Do you\nthink you could tell me another story?\"\n\n\"It is such a good thing to be patient,\" said the grandmother,\n\"and so hard to learn, that I am sure you deserve a reward. So come\nin and shut the door tight, and I will tell you about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE COCK AND THE HEN\"\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man who had lived many years in peace and\nquietness with his wife. At last, however, they fell into a violent\nquarrel and decided to separate at bed and board and to divide their\ngoods between them.\n\nShort hair is soon brushed, and the division was soon made, for their\nwhole possessions consisted of a Cock and a Hen. And the wife said,\n\"I'll take the Hen for my share, and you may have the Cock.\"\n\nBy and by the husband fell ill, and he went to beg his wife to give\nhim just one little egg, for he was very hungry. But she answered\nhim scornfully:\n\n\"Hum, hum, where is your Cock? Let him lay you a little egg; if he\nwon't do it, kill him!\"\n\nAt this the man returned home quite crestfallen, and said to his Cock,\n\"Come, my fine fellow, this can't go on any longer! You do nothing\nbut eat and drink, and never bring me so much as a bright penny. Go\nout into the world and seek your fortune!\"\n\nIn deep dejection the Cock sighed, \"Ah, where shall I find anything?\"\n\nHowever, he sallied forth sturdily, and in the forest he met\nIsegrim. The Wolf said to him, \"Whither away, my fine fellow?\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm going out into the world to seek my fortune!\"\n\n\"May I go with you?\"\n\n\"Not another word; be my comrade.\"\n\nSo the two travelled up and down the world until Isegrim was too\ntired to go another step, and the Cock said to him:\n\n\"Well, dear uncle, can't you walk farther than this?\"\n\n\"Alas, no!\" said the Wolf.\n\n\"Then slip yourself into me.\"\n\nIn a trice Isegrim was in the body of the Cock, who went on, quite\nat his ease.\n\nShortly after he met Reinecke, and said to him, \"Whither away, Master?\"\n\n\"Whither away? Into the world to seek my fortune.\"\n\n\"Then join my company,\" said the Cock.\n\nSo they went up and down the world until Reinecke was quite exhausted\nand could go no farther.\n\n\"What, Master!\" said the Cock, \"do you give out so soon? Well, just\nslip yourself into me and I'll carry you.\"\n\nMaster Reinecke slipped quickly into the Cock, who bravely went on\nhis way.\n\nAfter a time he came to a little Brook. \"Little Brook, whither away?\"\n\n\"Oh, through the world!\"\n\n\"Come with me, then, and be my comrade.\"\n\nSo they went forward until the little Brook, for very weariness,\ncould go no farther.\n\n\"Does your strength give out so soon, my little Brook?\" asked the Cock.\n\n\"Alas, yes!\" replied the little Brook.\n\n\"Then slip into me; I'll carry you,\" and in a moment the Brook had\nslipped into the Cock.\n\nIn the course of time the Cock met a swarm of Bees. \"Whither away?\" he\nasked.\n\n\"Oh, into the wide world to seek a shelter!\"\n\n\"Then come along; be my comrades.\"\n\nThey had not gone far before the swarm of Bees grew tired and could\ngo no farther, and the Cock invited them to crawl into his body.\n\nSo the Cock, carrying the swarm of Bees, the Brook, the Fox, and the\nWolf in his body, arrived at a great city. In this city reigned a\nKing and his wife, the Queen. The Cock flew straight to the roof of\nthe royal palace and spent the night there. At early dawn he began\nto crow lustily:\n\n\n        Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!\n        One kick for the King, for the Queen two!\n\n\nThis enraged the King terribly, and he commanded his chamberlain to\ncatch this impudent crower and chain him in the royal stables, that\nhe might be trampled to death by the horses' hoofs. The chamberlain\ncaught the Cock, threw him into the stable, and shut the door well.\n\nThen the Cock told the Wolf to slip out, and during the night Isegrim\nstrangled all the horses and ate up a whole colt. Then he broke a\nhole through the wall, by which he and the Cock escaped. The Cock\nperched himself again upon the roof and began his song of yesterday:\n\n\n        Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo.\n        One kick for the King, for the Queen two!\n\n\nIn a moment the King sprang out of bed, called his chamberlain, and\nordered him to send and see what had happened in the stable, that\nthe Cock was out of doors and crowing. The chamberlain hastened to\nthe stable, saw the strangled horses, and brought the news to the King.\n\nAt this the King flew into a still greater rage, and gave command to\ncatch the Cock and throw him among the geese. The chamberlain seized\nthe Cock and locked him in the goose-pen, where there were several\nhundred geese. Then the Cock said to the Fox, \"Come forth, Master,\nand finish up with all these geese!\"\n\nReinecke was soon at work, and by daybreak every goose was\nstrangled. Then the Fox groped a hole through the pen, and he and\nthe Cock slipped comfortably out. The Cock flew again to the roof\nand sang as on the former day:\n\n\n        Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!\n        One kick for the King, for the Queen two!\n\n\nThe King was more enraged than ever, and sent to see what had happened\nto the geese. The servant found them all dead, and brought the news\nto the King. Then the King commanded that the great bake-oven should\nbe heated and the Cock thrown into it. The servant caught the Cock\nand threw him into the very middle of the hot oven. Then the Cock sang:\n\n\n        Little Brook, flow quickly out;\n        Put the oven fire out!\n\n\nAnd the little Brook flowed out into the oven and extinguished the\nwhole fire.\n\nThe next morning the people came to see if the Cock was dead, when,\nlo! he was already perched upon the roof, singing:\n\n\n        Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!\n        One kick for the King, for the Queen two!\n\n\nNow the King was beside himself with rage. He rushed out to catch the\nCock himself, and not knowing, in his excitement, what to do with him,\nhe thrust him under his night-clothes. Then the Cock told the swarm\nof Bees to come out and sting the King. \"Buzz, buzz!\" out they came,\nand stung the King till he was all one wound.\n\nAt this the King commanded his servants to lock up the Cock in his\ntreasure-chamber, that he might miserably starve to death. The servants\nseized the Cock and carried him to the treasure-chamber, but they\nwere so frightened that they ran away as fast as their heels could\ncarry them, forgetting to fasten the door. There were great heaps\nof shining, brand-new ducats in the treasure-chamber, and the Cock\nmade the best of the opportunity by swallowing a number of them and\nhiding one under each of his feathers. Then he flew away to his old\nmaster's house. He perched upon a tree in the yard and began to crow:\n\n\n          O, little father, little father!\n        Spread some plates abroad for me,\n        I'll give ducats bright to thee!\n\n\nThe old man, overjoyed, spread out three plates under the tree. Then\nthe Cock shook himself, and a shower of golden ducats fell and lay\nupon the plates in three great heaps. The old man was perfectly happy\nto have so much money, and from this time forward he let the Cock\nwant for nothing.\n\nHis former wife soon heard that he had become enormously rich, and\nshe came to see him.\n\n\"Ah, come,\" said she to him, \"give me a few ducats!\"\n\n\"Not if I know it! Why would not you give me one little egg, eh? Go\nback and tell your old Hen to bring you ducats.\"\n\nThe old woman ran back to her home and commanded her Hen, \"Go out\ninto the world and seek your fortune, and bring me home some ducats.\"\n\nThe Hen went sadly forth, betook herself to the refuse heap and began\nto scratch in the litter. After long scratching she found a copper\nheller and a needle. She picked them up, and also stuck a little stone\nunder each of her feathers. Then she flew back to the court-yard and\nbegan to cackle:\n\n\n          O, little mother, little mother!\n        Spread some plates abroad for me,\n        I'll give ducats bright to thee!\n\n\nFilled with joy, the old woman hastened to spread out four plates\nunder the tree. Then the Hen shook herself, and let fall on one plate\nthe worn heller, but only little stones on all the others.\n\n\"Is that all?\" exclaimed the old woman angrily.\n\n\"No, here is something more,\" clucked the Hen, and she slung the\nneedle into the old woman's eye.\n\nUpon this the old woman beat the Hen soundly, and went back to\nher husband's house, begged his pardon and made it all up with\nhim. Whenever he wanted an egg she gave him one, and he always gave\nher a ducat in exchange.\n\nLittle boy, if you are good you shall get an egg for nothing!\n\n\n\n\"I am good, grandmother,\" said the little boy. \"Will you give me\nan egg?\"\n\nThe grandmother laughed. \"That is only the way the story ends,\" she\nsaid. \"But it is dinner-time, and if your mother will let you take\ndinner with me I will give you an egg. Run away and ask her.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nTHE SHEEP-PLAY\n\n\nThe dinner was over, the plates washed and put away, and grandmother\nwas busy with her spinning. The little boy was amusing himself with\nsome bits of wool that had fallen to the floor, for everything is\na plaything to a Russian child. The bits of wool were sheep, and a\nwooden stool was a sheepfold, and a bit of fuel that had fallen when\ngrandmother covered up the fire was the sheep-dog. It was a very\nnice play.\n\nThe room was very quiet, for, though the little boy talked all the\ntime to his sheep and his dog, he had been taught to talk softly in\nhis plays, as all children must do when a whole family lives in one\nroom. He talked very softly indeed when he saw that grandmother had\nleaned her head against the straight back of her rush-bottomed chair\nand was taking a little nap. Presently the distaff fell from her lap\nto the floor and awakened her.\n\n\"Why, I must have been asleep!\" she said, and went on with her\nspinning.\n\nAt last the sheep, which had been wandering away upon the hills that\nrose between the hollows in the clay floor, had all been discovered\nby the sheep-dog and herded, one by one, in the fold. The little\nboy was tired of playing, and he sat on the stool to listen to his\ngrandmother's singing. Grandmother was always singing when she was\nnot telling stories to the little boy.\n\n\"Why can't you tell stories while you spin, as well as when you\nknit?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"Oh, that isn't the way!\" said the grandmother. \"When it is dark and\nI take my knitting I can tell a story, but not now. You'd better go\nhome till it begins to grow dark; then come, and we'll see what story\nlittle grandmother can tell.\"\n\nThe winter day was very short, and it was not long before the little\nboy came back. Grandmother was still spinning, but she laid aside\nher distaff and spindle, took her knitting down from the shelf,\nand began the story of\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEG AND THE FOX\n\nOnce upon a time there lived in a certain village a Beg whose whole\nproperty consisted of a horse, a greyhound, and a musket. He had no\nother occupation than hunting, and by this he gained his living.\n\nOne fine day he mounted his horse, threw his musket over his\nshoulder, called to his greyhound, and set off to hunt upon the high\nmountains. After riding a long distance he reached an elevated plain,\nwhere he tied his horse to a tree and went forward into the thick\nwoods, with his gun upon his shoulder and his dog by his side. While\nhe was hunting on the mountain a Fox drew near to the horse and lay\ndown in the grass beside him.\n\nThe Beg hunted about in the woods for a long time, but he only made\nout to kill a single deer. When he went back to his horse and saw the\nFox lying there beside it he was astonished, and raised his musket to\nmake an end of the Master. But when the Fox saw what the Beg was about\nto do he sprang up quickly and implored him, for the love of Heaven,\nto spare his life, promising to be a faithful guard and protector to\nhis horse.\n\nThe Beg took pity on the Fox and gave him his life. Then mounting his\nhorse, he laid the deer before him, set the Fox behind him, and went\nhome. On arriving at home he put the deer upon the spit to roast for\nsupper, and threw the offal to the Fox, that he might have a good\nmeal too.\n\nSo the night passed. In the first dawn of morning the Beg again set\nout, taking the Fox along. He went again to the same high plain,\ntied his horse to the same tree, and went forward to hunt, leaving\nthe Fox to guard the horse. After his departure the Fox remained\nalone for a time. But he soon had company, for a Bear came along,\nintending to devour the horse. But the Fox stopped him and begged\nhim to spare the horse, advising him to stay till the Beg returned,\nfor he was a good master and would feed them both at his house. The\nBear joyfully accepted this proposal, and lay down beside the Fox to\nawait the worthy Beg's return.\n\nWhen the Beg came back from hunting he was not a little surprised\nto see the Bear lying peacefully with the Fox beside the horse,\nand he quickly raised his musket to him. But the Fox sprang forward\nand began to beseech the Beg to spare the Bear and take him home with\nhim. The Bear, he said, would keep him company in guarding the horse,\nand would rush to the Beg's aid in every need and danger. At these\nentreaties the Beg laid down his gun, threw across his horse the\ntwo deer which he had killed, and returned home in high good-humor,\naccompanied by the Fox and the Bear.\n\nThe following day the Beg went hunting again and left his horse on\nthe same high plain. This day a Wolf joined the company and was taken\nhome with the others. On the fourth day a Mouse and a Mole presented\nthemselves and were accepted in the family, and at last came the bird\nKumrikusha, [1] which was so large that it could easily have carried\naway the horse and his rider through the air. All these animals were\nfed by the Beg at his own house.\n\nOne day the Fox said to the Bear, \"Up, Master Petz! Bring me here\na log! I will sit upon it and give orders, and you must all execute\nthem.\"\n\nUpon this the Bear betook himself to the forest and dragged home the\ntrunk of a mighty tree. Then Reinecke climbed upon it and uttered\nthe following discourse:\n\n\"All right! Well, then! See here, now, worthy companions and\nfriends! We must marry our Beg.\"\n\n\"Good!\" replied the others; \"but how shall we begin? For we don't\nknow where to find a maiden for him.\"\n\n\"The Emperor has a daughter,\" replied Reinecke; \"let us marry our Beg\nto her. Kumrikusha, do you begin. Set off at once for the imperial\ncastle, lie in wait for the young lady when she takes her walk,\nseize her and bring her here.\"\n\nKumrikusha, nothing loath, set out at once, alighted near the\nimperial castle, and watched for the Emperor's little daughter. Just\nat nightfall she came out of the castle to walk, accompanied by her\nwaiting-woman. In a trice Kumrikusha was upon the spot, seized the\nPrincess, set her upon his back, and flew homeward.\n\nWhen the Emperor heard of the abduction of his daughter he was beside\nhimself with grief, and offered to reward with untold wealth the\nperson who should bring her home again. But all in vain, for no one\ndared undertake the adventure, until at last, one day, a gypsy-wife\npresented herself before the Emperor and said to him:\n\n\"Lord Emperor, what shall I get if I bring you back your daughter?\"\n\nThe Emperor could hardly believe his own ears, and he cried out in\ndelight, \"Ask what you will, it shall be granted; only bring her\nback safe!\"\n\nThe gypsy-wife went home, took some beans in her hand, and began to\npractise enchantment with them, according to ancient custom. She soon\ndivined from the beans that the Princess was distant ten days' journey,\nand she at once prepared to follow her. She took a piece of carpet and\nher riding-whip, seated herself upon the carpet, cracked the whip,\nand up rose the carpet into the air. It carried her straight to the\nplace where the Beg was living with his wife, the Emperor's daughter.\n\nArrived within a short distance of the Beg's stronghold, the gypsy-wife\nlet herself down to the ground, left her carpet and riding-whip lying\nthere, and found a hiding-place where she could see the Princess\nwhen she came out before the door for her evening walk. She had not\nlong to wait. The Princess soon came out for a little walk, and in\na trice the gypsy-wife was at her side, entering into conversation\nwith her. As they talked she gradually led her farther and farther\naway from the Beg's castle, and at last turned off into a by-path,\nwhere the carpet lay.\n\nNo sooner did the Princess see the carpet spread upon the grass than\nshe exclaimed, \"Why, here is a carpet! Let us sit down upon it.\"\n\nNothing could have pleased the gypsy better. They sat down\ntogether. The gypsy took up her riding-whip, struck the carpet, and\naway they both went through the air, straight to the imperial castle.\n\nThe Emperor's joy was boundless when he saw his daughter, and he\nrichly rewarded the gypsy. But he shut the Princess up in a room and\nstrictly forbade her to leave it, appointing two maids to watch and\nwait upon her.\n\nWhen Reinecke heard what had happened to his Beg's wife, he summoned\nhis companions to a council and addressed them in the following words:\n\n\"Friends and comrades! We have indeed married our Beg to the Emperor's\ndaughter, but, as you see, she has been forcibly taken away from us,\nand here is our Beg a lonely bachelor again. Nothing remains for\nus to do but to bring the Princess back to our Beg. But this is an\nundertaking beset with difficulties. The Emperor keeps his daughter\nunder strict watch, and never permits her to leave her chamber. You\nsee, therefore, that only stratagem can avail us here.\"\n\n\"What, then, shall we do?\" asked Petz.\n\n\"There is nothing better to do than for me to transform myself\ninto a beautiful striped kitten and play about under the Princess's\nwindow. When she sees me she will send her maids down to catch me. But\nI shall not allow myself to be caught until the Princess herself comes\ndown. At the very moment she appears, do you, Kumrikusha, arrive upon\nthe scene, seize her, and carry her to our Beg. Meanwhile I shall\nlook sharp to outrun the pursuers and get off with a whole skin.\"\n\nThus spoke the Master, and all the others agreed that the plan\nwas good.\n\nThe bird Kumrikusha immediately took the Fox under his wing, flew\nwith him into the kingdom where the Emperor's daughter languished,\nand set him down near the imperial castle. The Master no sooner\nfelt solid ground under his feet than he transformed himself into a\nbeautiful striped kitten, crept under the balcony where the Princess\nwas sitting, and began to spring about in the most graceful and\nfantastic manner. Thus he succeeded in attracting her attention,\nand, as he had anticipated, the Princess at once sent her maids down\nto bring the kitten to her. But Reinecke, though in a cat's form,\nwas still a fox at heart, and was not to be caught at any price.\n\nWhen the Emperor's daughter saw this she herself went down to catch\nPussy. But hardly had she stepped out of the door when the bird\nKumrikusha swooped down, seized her, and bore her home to the Beg,\nwhile Reinecke ran off in another direction and thus saved his skin.\n\nAs soon as the Emperor heard of this mishap he ordered out his hounds\nto hunt the cat that had decoyed away his daughter. But the cat,\nwhen he saw himself chased, took refuge in the cleft of a rock into\nwhich the hounds could not follow him. So they returned home from a\nbootless chase.\n\nThen the cat crept out, transformed himself back into a fox, and\nfollowed Kumrikusha, who by this time had brought the Princess home\nto the Beg.\n\nThe Emperor, convinced that he should not recover his daughter by\npeaceful means, levied an immense army and declared war against the\nbeasts. When Reinecke heard of this he summoned the other animals that\nlived with the Beg, and which, as I have told you, were a Bear, a Wolf,\na Mouse, a Mole, and the bird Kumrikusha, and spoke to them thus:\n\n\"Listen! The Emperor, with his whole army, is marching against us\nto exterminate us. Very well; let us also summon our forces, that we\nmay make a brave stand against him. Master Petz, how many bears can\nyou muster?\"\n\n\"More than three hundred.\"\n\n\"And you, Isegrim?\"\n\n\"I can bring five hundred wolves.\"\n\n\"And you, Mouse--speak up; how great is your command?\"\n\n\"I can bring three thousand mice.\"\n\n\"And how many moles can you bring, Mole?\"\n\n\"Eight thousand.\"\n\n\"And you, Kumrikusha, will you join us?\"\n\n\"Yes, with two or three hundred birds like myself.\"\n\n\"Good! Now go and levy your forces as has been agreed. When they are\nassembled, come here, that I may tell you what to do next.\"\n\nAs soon as Reinecke had given these orders the beasts all betook\nthemselves to the forest in order to summon their troops. Soon heaven\nand earth resounded with the din of approaching multitudes. Here came\nthe army of the Bears, there came the Wolves, and close behind were\nthe Mice and the Moles. Woods and fields were filled with them, and\nwhen they were all drawn up in martial array Reinecke held a review\nand gave the following orders:\n\n\"You, Bears and Wolves, must lead the van, and when the Emperor has\nencamped for the night do you fall upon the camp and kill all the\nhorses. On the second night, you, Mice, must gnaw all the saddles,\nfor they will have procured fresh horses in the meantime. On the\nthird night, you, Moles, must dig around the camp a subterranean\npassage fifteen ells broad and twenty deep. And as soon as the army\nis stirring in the morning, you, Kumrikushas, must rain down great\npieces of rock upon them.\"\n\nThe review ended, the several detachments of the army of the beasts\nset forth. The first night, when the imperial host had encamped, the\nBears and the Wolves fell upon the imperial horses and tore them all\nto pieces. Early in the morning the soldiers announced to the Emperor\nthat wild beasts had killed all the horses during the night. The\nEmperor made diligent search into the cause of the sudden calamity,\nand meanwhile he commanded that fresh horses should be procured\nwithout delay. This was done and the army moved on.\n\nDuring the second night's encampment the Mice came and gnawed all the\ntrappings of the horses. In the morning when the soldiers awoke and\nsaw that all the saddles were nibbled they told the Emperor, who at\nonce commanded that new ones should be made. This done, again the\narmy marched on.\n\nThe third night the Fox sent the Moles to surround the camp with a\nsubterranean passage fifteen ells broad and twenty deep. That the work\nmight be the sooner accomplished, he directed the Bears to carry away\nthe loosened earth. The Moles began the work about midnight, leaving\nonly one hole open at one side where the earth was to be carried\nout. While the Moles were digging under the ground and throwing up\nthe clods, the Bears were busily carrying the earth to some distance\nfrom the camp.\n\nWhen the Emperor's troops awoke in the morning they mounted their\nhorses to ride away; but hardly had they gone a few steps when they\nbegan to fall through the treacherous earth. At the same time the\nKumrikushas let fall a rain of rocks and stones upon them.\n\nWhen the Emperor saw his great army thus miserably perishing he cried\naloud, \"Let us beat a retreat! It is the judgment of God upon us for\nundertaking to make war upon the beasts. Let them keep my kidnapped\ndaughter, in Heaven's name!\"\n\nImmediately the army wheeled about to retreat, but even on that side\nthe earth gave way beneath their feet.\n\n\"God is punishing us already,\" cried the Emperor in despair, \"by\ncausing the earth to swallow us up! Oh, why, then, does He slay us\nwith stones and rocks from the sky?\"\n\nThe confusion was universal; every one was pushing and crowding his\nneighbor; and so the Emperor's whole army melted away.\n\nAfter a time the Fox removed his residence to Stamboul and began to\nrule there, and the Beg gave up hunting and went also to Stamboul\nto be near his Fox. There, with his wife, whom no one again dared to\nkidnap, he lived in joy and peace until his blessed end.\n\n\n\nThe little boy had left his stool and was standing near his\ngrandmother, his eyes shining in the darkness. When she stopped\nspeaking he drew a long breath.\n\n\"That was a good Fox, grandmother,\" he said. \"I should like to know\nthat Fox.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nGETTING READY\n\n\nIt was very interesting in the little boy's house the next day, for\nthe mother was getting ready for the journey and the sisters were\nhelping. There was food to be cooked and there were clothes to be\nwashed, and it all made a very pleasant bustle. The little boy was\nin the thick of it all. He thought he was helping, though perhaps\nthe others thought differently. At any rate, he was in a state of\nmost delightful excitement.\n\nWhen it grew dark the work was all done, and the little boy went to\nthe grandmother's room.\n\n\"We are all ready, grandmother,\" he said, \"and I have been patient\nall the time!\"\n\n\"Well, well!\" said the grandmother. \"Surely you deserve a reward,\nthen. Shall I tell you a story?\"\n\n\"Oh, dear little grandmother, yes!\" cried the little boy. \"Will it\nbe about Reinecke?\"\n\n\"Not about Reinecke, nor any of the animals you know,\" said the\ngrandmother; \"it will be about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE SEVEN STARS\"\n\nOnce upon a time there was a King who had a wonderfully beautiful\ndaughter. But there came a Dragon and stole her away and vanished,\nleaving not a trace behind.\n\nSo the King called his High Chamberlain and commanded him to go forth\ninto the world and seek the Princess, and on no account to come back\nwithout her.\n\nThe High Chamberlain set out and searched throughout the whole\nworld, but nowhere could he find the slightest trace of the King's\ndaughter nor the least clew to her whereabouts. However, an old\nwoman advised him to go to such-and-such a country and inquire for\nthe Dragon-mother, for she alone was able to give him information\nabout the stolen Princess.\n\nAnd, verily, the High Chamberlain followed this counsel. After most\ntoilsome wanderings he at last arrived safely at the Dragon-mother's\nhouse and begged her to give him such information as she had as to\nthe abiding-place of the King's daughter.\n\nThe Dragon-mother answered, \"My dear friend, stay here over this\nnight. What God has given us we will share with you--you shall not\nsuffer hunger in my house. As soon as my sons, the Dragons, return\nhome from afar I will ask them about the Princess. I have five sons,\neach one wiser and cleverer than the other. The first has the power\nof stealing anything that he takes a fancy to; he could steal the\ncalf from the cow or the foal from the mare, and they never observe\nit. The second can follow up the trace of any lost object, though it\nhave been lost for years. The third draws a sure arrow upon anything\nthat he can see. The fourth can build an impregnable fortress in an\ninstant, and can hide anything he chooses within it, so that no one\ncan possibly find it. And the fifth is as bold as a falcon and as swift\nas the lightning when there is anything to be overtaken and caught.\"\n\nWhile she was speaking, her sons, the Dragons, came home, and the\nmother inquired of them if they knew anything of the whereabouts of\nthe King's lost daughter.\n\n\"To be sure,\" they answered. \"She is with a more powerful Dragon than\nwe. He stole her away from her father, the King, and now keeps her\nin one of his castles.\"\n\n\"I adjure you,\" interrupted the High Chamberlain, \"help me to find\nher. I may on no account appear before the King and live unless I\nbring his daughter with me. My master will not show himself ungrateful\nto you.\"\n\nThe Dragons declared themselves quite willing to help him. The second\nbrother traced up the scent, and the first brother stole the lovely\nmaiden and brought her back with him. But the more powerful Dragon\npursued after them, took her away, and flew up into the air to carry\nher to a place of safety.\n\nThen the third brother fitted a bolt to his crossbow, drew it, sped\nthe arrow, and hit that Dragon in the very middle of his heart. With\na fearful outcry the Dragon fell from the clouds and was dashed to\nlittle bits upon a rock. And thus it would inevitably have been\nwith the King's daughter, whom the Dragon held tightly clasped,\nhad not the fifth brother flown swiftly and caught up the maiden,\nso that she was kept safe and sound.\n\nBut now ensued a sudden and unlooked-for danger, for the dead Dragon's\nbrother drew near, and several other monsters with him; and it would\nsoon have been all over with the brothers if the fourth had not\nspeedily erected a strong fortress, in which all the brothers, the\nKing's daughter, and the High Chamberlain safely concealed themselves.\n\nFor a long time those hideous Dragons lay in wait around the fortress;\nbut they finally went away, having accomplished nothing. Then the\nfive brothers, the gracious maiden, and the High Chamberlain came\nout and went home to the Dragon-mother.\n\nAnd the eldest son said, \"Is it not true, little mother, that the\nmaiden belongs to me, who rescued her from that furious Dragon?\" The\nsecond brother said, \"But you would never have found her nor rescued\nher if I had not traced up the scent.\" The third brother interrupted,\n\"Of what good would it have been that you, eldest brother, rescued her,\nand you, second brother, traced up the scent, if I had not destroyed\nthe monster at the right moment? Therefore, in all right and reason,\nthe maiden belongs to me.\"\n\nHere the fifth brother struck in. \"By right the maiden belongs to me;\nfor if I had not caught her up in the very nick of time she would\nnot now be in the land of the living.\" And the fourth brother said,\n\"If you will consider the whole matter impartially, you will see that\nI have the most righteous claim upon the maiden; for all your trouble\nwould have gone for nothing if I had not made the castle at the right\nmoment and hidden her, and you, too, to come within it.\"\n\nAnd now the Chamberlain put in his word. \"All your pretensions are\nidle. The maiden is mine; for if I had not told you that she was stolen\naway, the first would not have rescued her, nor the second traced up\nthe scent, nor the third destroyed the monster, nor the fifth caught up\nthe maiden, and the fourth would have concealed no one in his castle.\"\n\nThus all the six strove for possession of the maiden, until the\nDragon-mother put in her word. \"If this is so, then you are all in\nthe right; but the maiden can surely not belong to you all. But you\ncan all take her for your sister and love and protect her as long as\nyou and she live.\"\n\nAnd so they did, and in remembrance thereof they and the maiden were\nset in the sky, and can be seen there to this day, and men call them\n\"the Seven Stars.\" [2] At least, so goes the story.\n\n\n\n\"Dragons are different from Reinecke and Petz and Isegrim,\" observed\nthe little boy.\n\n\"Don't you like them as well?\" asked the grandmother.\n\n\"I like them,\" answered the little boy, \"but I don't know them as well\nas I know Reinecke and Isegrim. I am not used to them, grandmother.\"\n\n\"You will get used to them while you are at your other grandmother's,\nwhere you are going to-morrow,\" said the grandmother. \"The stories\nof her commune are not at all the same as the stories of this commune.\"\n\n\"Why not, grandmother?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"I don't know why not,\" answered the grandmother, \"but it is always\nso. Every commune has its own stories. There are many dragons in\nthose of your other grandmother's commune. Now you are going out into\nthe world, you will get very wise, for you will know the stories of\ntwo communes.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nMOTHER'S-MOTHER\n\n\nThe happy day had come. The little boy was all ready for the journey,\ndressed in a colored shirt hanging over his full trousers--the white\nshirt must be kept clean for Sunday, you know--his kaftan well belted\ndown and with a small fur collar at the neck, and on his head a high\nkolpak, or fur hat, just like his father's. His legs were covered\nby onontchi, well wrapped around and cross-gartered with colored\nstrings, and on his feet he had fur-lined shoes, for third-class cars\nare very cold. The little boy's mother had on all her warm clothes,\nwith a long fur overcoat, just like that the father wore, over all\nher other wraps; and the father, besides his great fur overcoat,\nhad on his fur kolpak and high fur-lined boots, into the wide tops\nof which his full trousers were tucked. He had a great basket in his\nhand, containing food for the journey and a pair of fowls and some\nother things for the mother's-mother whom they were going to visit. In\nhis inside pocket the father had the papers of the mir which he must\ncarry to the zemstvo. So they were all ready.\n\nAll the men and children of the village accompanied them to the\nstation, which was in the midst of a wide plain a quarter of a league\nbeyond the last house. There was a good while to wait; the train\nwas not due for half an hour, but that did not matter. The grown\nfolk had a deal of talking to do--all the privileges that they hoped\nthe starosta would secure from the zemstvo for the commune. As for\nthe children! Well, this was the chance of their lives, for their\nstation had a playground, with swings, wooden horses, and giant's\nstrides, and it was not often they had such privileges, especially\nthe uniformed school-children. For when once a Russian child puts on\nthe school uniform, play is pretty nearly over for him for the rest\nof his life. So they made the most of their opportunity. It was not\na cold day for January, and if it had been they would not have minded.\n\nWhen the train came lumbering in, as it did after a while, half a\ndozen more children jumped down from the second and third class cars\nand ran to the playground. The other children made way for them,\nfor station playgrounds are for travelling children, and they had\nthe first right. Yet there was room for them all. But the little\nboy was impatient to be on his travels, so he ran to his mother, and\nwas very glad when the men of the commune had said their last words\nto their representative, and the starosta led his wife and little\nboy to a good place in a compartment where there was room for the\nsamovar. Presently the first warning was given. The children came\nrunning from the playground; there was a chorus of good-bys. The\nsecond warning sounded, and the train jolted away. The little boy\nwas a travelling child at last!\n\nAt every stop where there was a playground--there was not one at every\nstation--he would run out and have a swing, his mother going with\nhim, for he was a little boy to be among strangers. After a while\nhe was hungry, and then his mother unpacked her basket and set the\nsamovar a-going, and gave a lump of bread and a big piece of sausage\nto each, with unlimited cups of scalding tea that made them nice and\nwarm. After that the little boy leaned his head against his mother,\nand then--most wonderful!--they were already at the capital, and the\nstars were shining. Where had the afternoon gone?\n\nHe had not time to ask, for his father had swung him upon his shoulder\nand was carrying him through the crowd, and there, outside the wicket,\nwas a little old woman, with such a nice face, who fell upon his\nmother's neck and kissed her again and again.\n\n\"That is your other grandmother,\" said his father. \"Your mother has\nnot seen her since she was married, and that is many years ago.\"\n\nAnd then the other grandmother caught the little boy from his father's\narms and kissed him and cried over him, till the little boy did not\nknow whether he ought to cry or not.\n\nHe became very well acquainted with the other grandmother the next\nday. She did not seem like his own dear little grandmother at home,\nbut she was very nice. He called her mother's-mother, because she\nwas not his real grandmother, he thought; and the other grandmother\nlaughed and said that would do very well.\n\nIn the afternoon, when his father had gone back to the zemstvo, and\nhis mother was clearing up after dinner, which she said her mother\nwas not to do while she was there, the little boy went and stood by\nhis other grandmother's chair.\n\n\"Mother's-mother,\" he said, \"little grandmamma told me that you knew\nsome nice stories.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said mother's-mother, \"I suppose I do. They are not like\nyour little grandmamma's stories. The stories of this commune\nare different. They are more about the Vilas than those of your\ncommune are. Yours are mostly about Reinecke and the other beasts,\nare they not?\"\n\n\"I like Reinecke and the beasts,\" said the little boy. \"But I should\nlike the Vilas, too, mother's-mother.\"\n\n\"Then I will tell you about them,\" said the other grandmother. \"Sit\ndown on that stool--it was your mother's when she was a little\ngirl. That is right. Now I will tell you about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE VILA OF MUHLENBERG\"\n\nOnce upon a time there was an aged widow who had only one son, whom\nshe watched and cherished in her old age. Now there was a great war\nat that time all over the world; every man who could bear arms was\nforced to go into the army, and among others the widow's son. There\nhe so distinguished himself for bravery on every occasion that he\nwas promoted to be Captain.\n\nNow it happened one time that they suffered a defeat. Among the\nwounded was our Captain, and as he lay on the ground he prayed God\nto spare his life, at least until he had seen his old mother. He was\nin the greatest danger, for all around him the enemy was killing the\nwounded. Suddenly an aged dame stood before him and asked him what\nhe was praying for, promising him that she would grant his wish.\n\nWithout taking time to think, he answered, \"Give me a horse, that I\nmay escape before the enemy murder me.\"\n\nUpon this she struck upon the earth with the staff that was in her\nhand, and softly murmured a few words. Suddenly a noble steed stood\nbefore him, all saddled and bridled; he had only to mount it. He\nlooked around to thank the old dame, but she had vanished.\n\nThe Captain sprang into the saddle, gave the horse the spur, and\nflew from the spot like an arrow from the bow. He rode on for a long\ntime without noticing in what direction the horse was carrying him,\nwhen suddenly it stopped.\n\nHe looked around and saw before him a great city with many\nchurch-towers which shone so brightly that they fairly dazzled his\neyes. He rode into the city, and was overcome with astonishment, for\nall around him was nothing but stone. Men, women, animals, everything\nhe set his eyes upon was turned to stone, for this was an enchanted\ncity. And the horse was a Vila, and had vanished from under him as\nsoon as he had entered the precincts of the city.\n\nPerhaps he himself would have remained the whole day upon the spot,\nas if turned to stone, had he not suddenly beheld before him a maiden\nwith golden hair. When she saw him she uttered a cry and hastened up\ninto the golden castle.\n\nHe followed close upon her footsteps, but before the castle-gate he met\nthe same old woman who had given him the horse. He greeted her prettily\nand asked her what was all this about--the golden-haired maiden and\nthe enchanted city. Hereupon the old dame told him the following story:\n\n\"Many, many years ago this city was the greatest and the most\nbeautiful in the whole world. An Emperor lived here, who was so\nbenevolent and such a lover of justice that whenever he heard that\nany one had done his neighbor a kindness he rewarded him so richly\nand with such distinction that he could live to his dying day in\npeace and happiness. On the other hand, he was unmercifully severe to\nevil-doers and caused every one who was guilty of any sort of crime\nto be put to death at once.\n\n\"For this reason some wicked men killed him and his only son. But as\nthey were murdering the son they heard an awful voice, which said:\n\n\"'Miserable wretches! you have killed him who was your benefactor and\nfather. Be accursed, therefore, for a thousand years, until a youth\nshall come and loose you from this ban!'\n\n\"But the Emperor's daughter, whom the Lord God had given to me,\nremained alive, for God said, 'She shall be the reward of him who frees\nyou.' Meantime, however, she was turned to stone until the moment\nwhen you entered the city. Then she awoke, cried, 'The Liberator is\ncome!' and brought the news to me. You yourself have seen her.\"\n\nSo spoke the old dame, and, full of joy, the young man asked her what\nhe was to do in order to loose the city from the spell. She answered:\n\n\"I can give you no counsel, but you will soon find that out above. And\nnow, as you have no more need of me, farewell, in God's name! But\nfirst I will tell you who I am. I am a Vila. If ever you should fall\ninto any trouble, you have only to call, 'Vila, stand by me!' and\nyou shall be helped.\" She spoke, and was already gone.\n\nThe young man and the maiden were now in doubt as to what they ought to\ndo. They would gladly have wedded each other, but where find a priest,\nor even any one else? So they went into a church to pray to God; and\nthe maid said to the youth, \"From this hour you are my husband and I\nam your wife till death. But go at least and set the bells a-ringing,\nthat our nuptials may be celebrated in some way.\"\n\nHardly had the first note pealed forth from the bells when everything\nbreathed and lived--the men, the beasts, everything, in short, which\nhad been turned to stone. Then all the people broke out into the cry,\n\"God save our Liberator, now and evermore!\"\n\nThe first thing was to celebrate a magnificent wedding, when the\npop united the pair forever in the presence of the whole assembled\npeople. Every one rejoiced, eating and drinking as if they never\nmeant to leave off.\n\nThe young couple lived for several years in joy and happiness, until\nat last the King was overcome with an ardent longing to see his dear\nmother. He confided this wish to his wife, whereupon she led him into\nthe royal stables and presented him with four horses, saying:\n\n\"Here, I give you these four horses. You must know that they are\nVilas, and they will take you to your home, for you have no idea how\nfar away it is. But if any one there asks you where you have been\nand what you have been doing all this time, beware of telling them\nthe truth, for if you relate your adventures the Vilas will vanish,\nand you will never be able to come back to me again.\"\n\nHe promised her everything that she asked and set out for home. When\nhe arrived he found his dear mother no longer living. His heart was\nwrung with sorrow, for there he stood alone in the world, brotherless,\nsisterless, without a single relative.\n\nThe people questioned him incessantly, until at last in a moment\nof weakness he yielded to their importunities and told them his\nstory. But the words had hardly passed his lips when the horses\nvanished. He was inconsolable for their loss, for he loved his wife\nmore than his own soul.\n\nHe therefore determined to seek her out, even if it cost him his\nhead. So he travelled on and on and on until he came to the Moon. There\nwas no one at home but the Moon-mother, for the Moon had just gone\nout. When the Moon-mother saw the young man she was full of pity for\nhim, and said:\n\n\"Do you not know, unhappy one, that my son will tear you in pieces\nas soon as he gets home? But come, I will hide you!\" And she hid him\nin a chest.\n\nWhen at last the Moon came home, tired and cross, he called out in a\nthundering voice, \"Woman, there is a Christian soul staying here! Out\nwith him!\"\n\nHis mother besought her son to spare the young man's life, and finally\nshe succeeded in mollifying him.\n\n\"Well, then, I won't do him any harm,\" said the Moon; \"only let him\nshow himself.\"\n\nUpon this the old mother opened the chest and brought the young man\nbefore her son. The youth drew near to the Moon, bowed low before him,\nand said:\n\n\"Mighty Moon! you shed your mild rays over the whole earth; tell me\nif you know anything of a city called Muhlenberg.\"\n\nThe Moon replied, \"I indeed shine over the whole round earth, but I\nhave never heard of any Muhlenberg. Therefore, I counsel you, seek\nout my brother the Sun; perhaps he can tell you something about it.\"\n\nThe young man thanked the Moon, and went to the Moon's brother, the\nSun, and said, \"Your brother the Moon sends greeting, and says, in\ncase you know anything about the city Muhlenberg, you are to tell me.\"\n\nThe Sun replied that he knew nothing of any such city, and sent him\nto the North-wind, saying, \"This wind blows everywhere and searches\nout the most hidden corners; perhaps he knows the city.\"\n\nBut the North-wind sent him to the East-wind, and the East-wind sent\nhim to the West-wind, and the West-wind sent him to the South-wind,\nthe most fearful of all the winds. [3]\n\nWhen the young man appeared before the South-wind, he bowed low and\nsaid, \"I bring you greetings from all your relatives, the Sun, the\nMoon, the North-wind, the East-wind, and the West-wind, and you are\nto give me some information about the city Muhlenberg.\"\n\nSaid the South-wind, \"I have just come from Muhlenberg. There will soon\nbe grand doings in that city, for the Queen is going to be married.\"\n\nThen the young man implored the South-wind to take him there. The\nSouth-wind answered:\n\n\"It is pretty far from here, and you don't know the way; but take\nthis apple, and wherever it rolls do you follow it, and you will come\nto Muhlenberg.\"\n\nThe young man bade the South-wind adieu and followed the apple, going\non for a long, long time. Suddenly he came upon some robbers. He went\nup to them as if they were old acquaintances, exclaiming, \"Good-day\nto you, brothers! Are you right well? Here I am with you at last!\"\n\nThey really believed that he was one of themselves, so they took him\nwith them, and showed him a coat which had the power of rendering\ninvisible the person who wore it. Next they showed him a pair of boots\nthat would enable one to put a mile behind him at every step. He put\non both the coat and the boots, as if to test the truth of the story,\nand immediately made off. The robbers could not even think of trying\nto follow him, since they could not see him.\n\nSo he rolled the apple again along the ground before him, and at last\nhe arrived at Muhlenberg. He heard music in every part of the city,\ncannons were thundering, and above all swept the South-wind.\n\nWhen the South-wind saw him he went down and greeted him, saying,\n\"So here we are, at last, in Muhlenberg!\"\n\nThe young man now went into the city, and, being still invisible,\nhe helped himself to all the food and drink he wanted, and refreshed\nhimself with his gossip, the South-wind. Then, taking leave of him, he\nmade his way into the royal palace which had once been his own. There\nhe saw the Queen beside the newly chosen spouse whom she was about\nto marry, and heard her sigh:\n\n\"Just seven years ago to-day my beloved husband deserted me!\"\n\nUpon this he began to sing a song which he used to be always singing\nwhen he was king. She recognized it at once, and, full of joy, cried\nout, \"That is my husband, my first good fortune! My wedding-guests,\ndrink the foaming wine and take your leave. I have no need to marry,\nfor my husband has come home again, my only joy and bliss!\"\n\nAnd from this time they lived long and happily together. And the Queen\nbore to her husband a son with a mole like a golden sword upon his arm,\nand a beautiful golden-haired daughter.\n\nSo ends the story.\n\n\n\n\"I should like to go to the Moon,\" observed the little boy.\n\n\"They don't go nowadays,\" said the other grandmother. \"That was long\nago, before my great-grandmother was born.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nTHE LITTLE BOY HOMESICK\n\n\nThe little boy did not know what to do with himself, for they were\nvery busy getting dinner ready against his father's return from the\nzemstvo. He did not know how to play in this house as he did in his\nown; he felt a little homesick, and presently he began to cry.\n\n\"What does that mean?\" asked his mother, who was making the onion-soup.\n\nThe little boy only cried the more. \"I want my little grandmamma!\" he\nsaid. \"She would tell me a story.\"\n\n\"I'll tell you a story,\" said the other grandmother, who was making\nnoodles. \"Come and stand by me. But there must be no more crying,\nand it must be a very short story, for I am busy. Is that a bargain?\"\n\nThe little boy dried his eyes and stood by the other grandmother\nto hear\n\n\n\n\nA SHORT STORY\n\nOnce upon a time a Hungarian was crossing a brook. He had on a woollen\ncoat with short sleeves. As long as were the sleeves, so long will\nbe this story. If the sleeves had been longer, the story would have\nbeen longer too.\n\n\n\n\"That is a very short story,\" said the little boy.\n\n\"So I promised you,\" said the other grandmother. \"I have kept my part\nof the bargain, have I not? Now do you keep yours, and after dinner\nI will tell you a longer one. Only remember, no more tears!\"\n\nThe little boy kept his part of the bargain, and after dinner the\nother grandmother told him about\n\n\n\n\nTHE GOLDEN APPLE-TREE AND THE NINE PEAHENS\n\nOnce upon a time there was an Emperor who had three sons. Before his\npalace stood a golden apple-tree which bloomed and bore ripe fruit\nin one and the self-same night; but it was always plundered by some\none who left not the slightest trace behind.\n\nAt last the father said to his sons, \"Who can have made away with\nthe fruit of our apple-tree?\"\n\nUpon this the eldest son said, \"I will watch the tree to-night,\nand will teach the rogue to know better!\"\n\nSo when twilight began to fall he went and laid himself down beneath\nthe apple-tree to guard it. But he fell asleep just as the apples\nbegan to ripen, and when at dawn he awoke, the tree had been already\nstripped. He therefore went to his father and truthfully told him\nthe whole story.\n\nThen the second son pledged himself to guard the tree; but it\nhappened with him precisely as with the other. He fell asleep under\nthe apple-tree, and when the dawning light awoke him not an apple\nremained upon the tree.\n\nIt was now the turn of the youngest son to watch the tree. He made\nhimself ready, went out to the tree, prepared his bed immediately\nunder it, and laid himself down to sleep. Just at midnight he suddenly\nawoke. He cast a glance upward into the tree, the fruit of which\nwas just beginning to ripen. The whole castle glittered with its\ngolden sheen.\n\nAt that very moment nine golden Peahens came flying by; eight of them\nsettled upon the apple-tree, but the ninth flew down upon the young\nman's bed and transformed herself into a beautiful maiden--a more\nbeautiful was not to be found in the whole empire.\n\nSo the two kissed and caressed each other until after midnight, when\nthe maiden stood up, thanked him for the apples, and would have gone,\nbut he entreated her earnestly to leave him at least one. She gave\nhim two--one he was to keep for himself, the other he might give to\nhis father. Then she transformed herself into a Peahen and flew away\nwith the others.\n\nAt daybreak the imperial Prince arose and carried the apples to\nhis father, who was overjoyed at the sight, and heaped praises upon\nhis son.\n\nWhen evening came again the imperial Prince made ready his\nresting-place, as on the former evening, in order to watch the\napple-tree. Having had the same experiences as on the preceding night,\nhe again brought two golden apples to his father.\n\nWhen this had gone on for several nights the brothers became envious,\nbecause they had not succeeded in guarding the apples. So they went\nto an old hag, who promised to spy upon the Prince and discover how\nhe managed to guard the apple-tree so successfully. When evening\ncame on, the old woman stole out to the tree, crept under the bed,\nand there hid herself.\n\nPresently the youngest imperial Prince came out and betook himself,\nas usual, to rest. About midnight the nine Peahens came, and eight\nsettled down upon the tree while the ninth flew down to the bed and\ntransformed herself into a maiden. The old hag slyly seized the long\nbraid of the maiden's hair, which hung down below the edge of the bed,\nand cut it off. But the maiden sprang up quickly, transformed herself\nagain into a Peahen and flew away, with all her companions following\nher, and so vanished.\n\nThe imperial Prince sprang up and cried out, \"What is this?\" He\nsearched around and perceived the old hag under the bed, seized her,\ndragged her out, and the next day commanded that she should be put\nto death.\n\nBut the Peahens never returned to the apple-tree, and the imperial\nPrince mourned and bewailed himself without ceasing. At last he\nresolved to search for his little Peahen throughout the whole world,\nand never return home until he had found her. He told his resolution\nto his father, who tried to turn him from it, advising him to put\nthe idea out of his head, and promising to find him another maiden,\nthough he should have to search through his whole empire. But he spoke\nto deaf ears; the prince was firm, and set out with his servant to\nseek for his Peahen.\n\nFor a long time he wandered up and down the world, and one day he\ncame to a lake, beside which he saw a magnificent great castle. In\nthe castle he found an ancient dame, the Empress, and a little girl,\nher daughter. He asked the dame, \"In Heaven's name, little mother,\ncan you give me any news about nine golden Peahens?\"\n\nAnd the dame answered, \"To be sure I can, my son! They come every\nmidnight to bathe in this lake. But leave those Peahens in peace. You\nshall have my little daughter, a splendid girl, and all my treasures\nshall be yours as well.\"\n\nBut he had no ear for the old dame's offer and no eye for the daughter,\nbeing filled with longing to see the Peahens. He arose early in\nthe morning and went out to watch for the Peahens on the border of\nthe lake.\n\nBut the old dame had bribed the Prince's servant and given him a pair\nof bellows such as one blows the fire with, adding these directions:\n\n\"Do you see these bellows? When your master goes down to the lake,\nblow slyly upon his neck with them. He will then fall into a deep\nsleep and will not be able to speak with the Peahens.\"\n\nAnd to this the wretch of a servant consented.\n\nWhen they were upon the lake-shore he seized a favorable opportunity\nand blew upon his master's neck with the bellows, whereupon the poor\nPrince fell into a deathlike slumber. He had barely fallen asleep\nwhen the nine Peahens arrived; eight alighted in the lake, but the\nninth flew to the Prince upon his steed, and began to embrace and try\nto waken him. \"Awake, my life! Awake, my heart! Awake, my soul!\" But\nhe moved no more than the dead.\n\nWhen the Peahens had bathed they all flew away, and he immediately\nawoke and asked the servant, \"What is the matter? Have they been here?\"\n\nThe servant answered that nine Peahens had flown down to the lake;\neight had gone into the water, but the ninth had come to him, the\nPrince, upon his horse, had caressed and tried to awaken him. At\nthese words the poor imperial Prince had nearly laid violent hands\nupon himself.\n\nThe next day he again mounted his steed and rode slowly along the\nlake-shore, his servant behind him. The servant again found an\nopportunity to blow upon his neck with the bellows, whereupon the\nPrince fell into a deathlike slumber. Scarcely was he asleep when the\nnine Peahens arrived; eight went down into the lake, but the ninth flew\nto him upon his steed, and began to embrace him and try to awaken him,\nsaying, \"Awake, my life! Awake, my heart! Awake, my soul!\"\n\nBut all in vain; he slept sounder than the dead.\n\nThen she said to the servant, \"Tell your master to wait for me here\nagain to-morrow, for he will never see us here again after that,\"\nand she again flew away.\n\nShe was scarcely gone when the imperial Prince awoke and asked the\nservant, \"Have they been here?\" The servant replied, \"To be sure,\nand they left word for you to expect them here again to-morrow;\nbut after that they will never again come to this place.\"\n\nWhen the unhappy Prince heard this he was beside himself, and tore\nhis hair for grief and pain.\n\nAt dawn of the third day he again went down to the lake and rode\nalong the shore, but at the fleetest pace possible, in order not\nto be overtaken by sleep. But even this time the servant found an\nopportunity to blow upon his neck with the bellows, whereupon the\nPrince immediately stretched himself out upon the horse's back and\nfell asleep.\n\nHe was hardly asleep when the nine Peahens came flying to the\nspot. Eight of them went down into the lake, but the ninth flew to\nhim upon the horse and began to embrace him and to call, \"Awake,\nmy life! Awake, my heart! Awake, my soul!\" But all in vain, for he\nslept like the dead.\n\nThen the Peahen said to the servant, \"When your master awakes, say\nto him, he must drive the upper wedge after the lower before he will\nbe able to find me.\" With these words the Peahens flew away.\n\nWhen they were gone the imperial Prince awoke and said to the servant,\n\"Have they been here?\" The servant answered, \"To be sure, and the one\nwhich seated herself upon your horse gave me orders to tell you that\nyou must drive the upper wedge after the lower, and then you would\nfind her.\"\n\nWhen he heard this the Prince drew his sword and struck off the\nservant's head. Then he went on alone through the world.\n\nAfter long, long wanderings he reached a high mountain, where he\nspent the night with a hermit. From him he asked tidings of the nine\nPeahens. The hermit answered:\n\n\"My son, you are surely fortune's own child! God himself has led\nyou in the right way. It is hardly more than half a day's journey\nfrom here to there. You have only to ride straight forward and you\nwill come to a great gate. Then turn to the right and you will come\nstraight to the city where their castle is.\"\n\nBy morning dawn the Prince awoke, dressed himself, pressed his warmest\nthanks upon the hermit, and set out in the direction indicated. He\nwent straight forward, reached the great gate, passed through it,\nand about noon he perceived a dazzling city, at sight of which his\nheart cried out for joy.\n\nIn the city he inquired for the castle of the golden Peahens. At the\ncastle-gate a guard stopped him, asked after his country and station,\nand when he had given the required information the guard went in to\nannounce him to the Empress.\n\nWhen she heard of his arrival she ran to meet him like one beside\nherself--being, of course, in human form; and giving him her arm she\nled him into the castle. Great joy reigned through all the place, and\nafter a few days the pair were married, and he remained thenceforth\nbeside his beloved wife.\n\nAfter a time the Empress went on an excursion, leaving the Prince at\nhome in the castle. Before going she gave him the keys of the twelve\nrooms on the ground floor, with the words, \"You may go into all of\nthem except the twelfth. Open that one on no account, for you stake\nyour head in that game.\" With this warning she went away.\n\nThe imperial Prince remained alone in the castle, and began to wonder,\n\"What can be in that twelfth room?\" Upon this he opened one room after\nthe other, and when he came to the twelfth he hesitated awhile about\nopening it. But the thought, \"What can be in there?\" gave him no rest.\n\nHe therefore resolved to open the room; and lo! in the middle of it\nstood a great open cask encircled with iron hoops, and a voice from\nwithin cried, \"In Heaven's name, brother, I adjure thee, give me a\nglass of water! I am perishing with thirst!\"\n\nThe imperial Prince took a glass of water and poured it into the cask,\nwhereupon one hoop of the cask fell off. Then again the voice cried\nout of the cask, \"For Heaven's sake, brother, I am perishing with\nthirst! Give me another glass of water!\"\n\nThe imperial Prince poured in another glass of water, and the second\nhoop fell from the cask. A third time the voice cried from the cask,\n\"In Heaven's name, brother, I am perishing with thirst! Give me one\nmore glass of water!\"\n\nThe imperial Prince poured in a third glass, whereupon the third\nhoop dropped off, the cask fell asunder, and a Dragon flew out, and\nmeeting the Empress upon the way, he carried her off as a prize. Soon\nher attendants came in with the news, and the unhappy imperial Prince\nknew not what to do for grief.\n\nHe finally decided to set out once more in search of his wife,\nand so he wandered a long time up and down the world until he came\nto a sheet of water upon the border of which he saw a little Fish\nfloundering about in a puddle. When the Fish saw the Prince he begged\nhim earnestly:\n\n\"For Heaven's sake, be a brother to me and throw me back into the\nwater! Some day I may be of the greatest use to you. Only pull off\none of my scales, and if you need my help rub it a little.\"\n\nThe imperial Prince took up the Fish and pulled out one of its\nscales. He threw the Fish into the water, but the scale he wrapped\nup in his handkerchief.\n\nAfter a time, while he was still wandering about in the wide world,\nhe came upon a Fox which was caught in a trap. When the Fox saw him\nhe cried, \"For Heaven's sake, be a brother to me and set me free from\nthis trap! I shall soon have occasion to do you service; only take\none of my hairs, and when you need my service rub it a little.\" So\nthe imperial Prince took the hair and set the Fox at liberty.\n\nLater, as he was going over a high mountain, he found a Wolf in a\ntrap. The Wolf also said to him when he saw him, \"For Heaven's sake, be\na brother to me and set me free. I will be your helper in time of need;\nonly take out one of my hairs, and if you need my aid rub it a little.\"\n\nSo the imperial Prince took the hair and set the Wolf free, and then\nwent on his journey.\n\nAfter a long time he met a man, to whom he said, \"In the name of\nHeaven, brother, have you ever heard where the Dragon-emperor's\ncastle is?\"\n\nThe man cheerfully told him, even to the very moment when he would\nbest present himself there. The imperial Prince expressed his thanks,\nwent straight on, and at last, nearly dead with fatigue, he arrived\nat the Dragon's castle. He found his beloved one there, and both were\noverjoyed at the meeting.\n\nThen they took counsel as to the best way to attempt a flight. They\nfinally came to a decision, and, making ready with all despatch,\nthey mounted their horses to flee. But they had hardly left the\ncastle when the Dragon came riding home. He entered the castle,\nbut the Empress was gone!\n\nSo he said to his horse, \"What shall we do now? Shall we eat and\ndrink comfortably, or shall we hasten after the fugitives?\"\n\nThe horse replied, \"Eat and drink; we shall soon overtake them. That\nis the least of your troubles.\"\n\nAfter dinner, therefore, the Dragon mounted his horse, and in a trice\nhad overtaken the fugitives. When he came up to them he snatched the\nEmpress from the Prince, with the words, \"Go, in God's name! I forgive\nyou this time, because you gave me water; but never come back again,\nas you value your life.\"\n\nThe unhappy Prince went on a little farther, but the longing of his\nheart was too strong, and he turned about. The next day he reappeared\nin the Dragon's castle. He found the Empress alone and drowned in\ntears. They again took counsel how they might escape, and the imperial\nPrince thus spoke his mind:\n\n\"When the Dragon comes home, ask him where he obtained that horse. Then\ndo you tell me, that I may try to get one of the same kind, to outrun\nhim if possible.\" With these words he went away.\n\nWhen the Dragon came home the Empress coaxed and cajoled him, talking\nof all sorts of things, until at last she said, \"Well, upon my word,\nyou have a fleet horse! Tell me, in Heaven's name, where did you\nget him?\"\n\nHe replied, \"Where I got him it would not be easy to get another. In\nsuch-and-such a high mountain lives an old woman who has twelve horses,\neach one finer than the other, all standing before their mangers. But\nin the corner stands a wretched, mangy horse; at least he looks so at a\nfirst glance, but in fact he is the best one of all. He is the brother\nof my horse. Heaven itself would not be too far off for the owner of\nthat steed. But whoever would get him from that old hag must serve\nher for three days. She has a mare and a foal, and she will require\nthat they be watched for three nights. Whoever succeeds in doing so\nmay choose among her horses. But if any one enters her service and\nfails to keep watch of the mare and colt, off goes his head!\"\n\nThe next day when the Dragon was from home the imperial Prince came\nto learn what the Empress had discovered. Then he went to that high\nmountain where the old woman was, and greeted her with, \"God bless\nyou, little mother!\" and she answered with the pious greeting,\n\"God help you, my little son! What good luck brings you here?\"\n\nHe: \"I have a mind to enter your service.\"\n\nShe: \"Very well, my little son. If you will keep watch of the mare\nand foal for three whole days, then you may take your choice among\nmy horses; but if you fail, off goes your head!\"\n\nUpon this she led him into the courtyard. It was surrounded by a\nclose paling, and on every pale was stuck a human head. Only one\nwas unoccupied, and this one cried incessantly, \"Old woman, put a\nhead here!\"\n\nThe old woman showed all this to the Prince, with the words, \"You see,\nall these were in my service without being able to guard the mare.\"\n\nThe imperial Prince was not to be frightened by such an exhibition,\nbut remained to serve the old woman. When it grew dark he mounted\nthe mare and rode out into the field, the foal running along beside\nthe mother. He sat constantly upon her back, but toward midnight he\nfell asleep, and when toward dawn he awoke he found himself astride\na block of wood, holding fast to the halter.\n\nWhen he saw this he was filled with horror, and sprang up to search\nfor the mare. In the course of his search he came upon a piece of\nwater. It reminded him of the little Fish which he had rescued from\nthe puddle and thrown into the lake. He therefore took the scale out\nof his handkerchief and rubbed it a little between his fingers. The\nFish immediately spoke from the water, saying to him, \"What is your\ndesire, brother soul?\"\n\nHe answered, \"That old hag's mare has given me the slip. I know not\nwhere to find her.\"\n\nThe Fish returned, \"She is here with us; she has transformed herself\ninto a fish and the foal into a little fish. Just strike upon the\nwater with the halter and say, 'The old hag's mare still lives!'\"\n\nSo he struck upon the water, saying, \"The old hag's mare still\nlives!\" and the mare became what she had been before and swam to the\nshore with her foal. He therefore put the halter upon her neck again,\nmounted her, and returned to the house, the foal running along by\nher side.\n\nWhen they reached the house the old woman gave him food; but she led\nthe mare into the stable and beat her with the oven-fork, saying,\n\"Go among the fishes, you wretch!\"\n\nThe mare answered, \"Indeed, I did go among the fishes, but they are\nin league with him and they betrayed me.\"\n\nUpon this the old hag rejoined, \"Then go among the foxes!\"\n\nBefore dark the Prince again mounted the mare and went out into the\nfield, the foal running alongside. He sat continually upon the mare,\nbut toward midnight he fell asleep upon her back, and when he awoke\nhe found himself astride a block of wood, holding fast to the halter.\n\nWhen he saw this he was overcome with terror and sprang upon his feet\nto seek the mare. Suddenly he remembered what the old woman had said\nto the mare, and he drew the Fox's hair out of his kerchief, rubbed\nit between his fingers the least bit, and behold! the Fox stood before\nhim, saying, \"What is the matter, brother soul?\"\n\nThe Prince answered, \"The old hag's mare has escaped me, and I do\nnot know where to find her.\"\n\nThe Fox: \"She is among us; she has changed herself into a fox and the\nfoal into a fox-cub. Just strike upon the ground with the halter and\nsay, 'The old hag's mare still lives!'\"\n\nSo the Prince struck upon the earth with the halter, saying, \"The old\nhag's mare still lives!\" and the mare again returned to her former\nshape and stood before him with her colt, as if she had just arisen\nfrom the earth. So he put the halter upon her, mounted, and rode back\nto the house, the foal running quietly at her side.\n\nArrived at home, the old woman placed food before him; but she led\nthe mare into the stable and fell upon her with the oven-fork, saying,\n\"Go among the foxes, you wretch!\"\n\nThe mare answered, \"Indeed, I did go among the foxes, but they are\nin league with him and betrayed me.\" She answered, \"Then go among\nthe wolves!\"\n\nWhen evening came the imperial Prince mounted the mare and rode out to\nthe field, with the foal running alongside. He sat continually upon\nher back, but about midnight he fell asleep, and when he awoke he\nperceived that he was astride a block of wood, with the halter in his\nhand. When he saw this he sprang to his feet and began to search for\nthe mare; but in a moment he remembered what the old woman had said,\nand without delay he drew forth the Wolf's hair from his kerchief\nand rubbed it between his fingers.\n\nThere was the Wolf upon the spot. \"What is the matter, brother soul?\"\n\nThe Prince answered, \"The old hag's mare has escaped, and I do not\nknow where she is.\"\n\nThe Wolf: \"She is here among us; she has changed herself into a wolf\nand her foal into a wolf-cub. But strike upon the earth with the\nhalter and say, 'The old hag's mare still lives!'\"\n\nSo he struck upon the earth with the halter, saying, \"The old hag's\nmare still lives!\" and, as before, she suddenly appeared, with the\nfoal at her side. Then the imperial Prince put the halter upon her,\nmounted, and rode home, the foal running quietly by her side.\n\nArrived at home, the old woman gave him food; but she led the mare into\nthe stable and trounced her well with the oven-fork, crying to her,\n\"Why did you not go among the wolves?\"\n\nThe mare answered, \"Indeed, I was among the wolves, but they are in\nleague with him and betrayed me.\"\n\nSo the old woman came out, and the imperial Prince said to her,\n\"See here, old woman, I have served you true and faithful; give me\nthe wages you promised to give me.\"\n\nThe old woman: \"What has been promised must be performed, my son;\ntake your choice among the twelve horses in my stable.\"\n\nBut he answered, \"Ah, how should I choose? Give me the one in the\ncorner--that mangy one there; these fine steeds don't suit me.\"\n\nThe old woman tried to talk him out of it. \"What whim is this,\nchoosing that mangy beast when there are so many splendid horses here?\"\n\nBut he stood by his choice, and said, \"Give me the one I want; that\nwas the agreement.\"\n\nThe old woman saw no help for it, and gave him the mangy horse,\nwhereupon he took leave of her and went away, leading the horse\nby the bridle. As soon as he found himself in the forest he rubbed\nand curried his horse until his coat shone like pure gold. Then he\nmounted him and set out at full speed. The horse flew like the wind,\nand in a twinkling had borne him to the Dragon's castle.\n\nAs soon as the imperial Prince had entered he said to the Empress,\n\"Get ready for the journey as quickly as possible!\"\n\nIn a moment both were ready. They mounted the horse and set forth in\nthe name of God.\n\nSomewhat later the Dragon came home and found the Empress gone. He\ntherefore asked his horse, \"What now? Shall we eat and drink at our\nease, or shall we pursue after them?\"\n\nAnd the horse replied, \"Eat or not, drink or not, pursue or not,\nyou will never overtake them.\"\n\nWhen the Dragon heard this he sprang upon his horse and rushed\nafter them.\n\nWhen the pair saw the Dragon coming on behind them they were overcome\nwith affright and spurred the horse to greater speed. Now the horse\nwas a Vila, and he said to them, \"Have no fear; you have no need\nto hasten.\"\n\nNow and again, as the Dragon gained upon them, the Dragon's horse\ncried to the Prince's horse, \"For Heaven's sake, brother, wait a\nlittle. I shall burst if I have to chase you any longer.\"\n\nBut the other answered, \"What a fool you are to carry that demon\nupon your back! Rear up smartly and dash him upon the rocks, and come\nwith me!\"\n\nWhen the Dragon's horse heard this he ducked his head with all his\nmight, and, throwing out his hind legs, he flung the Dragon upon the\nrocks, where he was dashed to fragments. Then the Dragon's horse joined\nthe fugitives, the Empress mounted him, and so they went safely home\nto their own empire, and reigned there until their dying day.\n\n\n\n\"I like Vilas very much, mother's-mother,\" said the little boy. \"Can\nyou tell any more Vila stories?\"\n\n\"Father says we are going home to-morrow,\" said the little boy's\nmother, who had long ago finished the housework and was sitting there\nwith her knitting.\n\n\"But it isn't night yet,\" said the little boy eagerly. \"You could\ntell me another story before night.\"\n\n\"Tell him the wonderful story you used to tell me when I teased you\nfor another,\" said the mother, laughing.\n\n\"Well,\" said the other grandmother; and she told\n\n\n\n\nTHE WONDERFUL STORY\n\n\"Ah, little mother, little mother, come, tell me a pretty fairy tale!\"\n\n\"Well, would you like to hear the story of the Black Bear and the\nRam? It is a very sad story.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, yes!\"\n\n\"I didn't say 'Oh, yes, yes,' but 'Would you like to hear the tale\nof the Black Bear and the Ram?'\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, only tell it quick!\"\n\n\"I didn't say 'Yes, indeed, only tell it quick,' but 'Would you like\nto hear the tale of the Black Bear and the Ram?'\"\n\n\"O dear mother, if you don't tell it soon I shall begin to cry!\"\n\n\"Did I not tell you it was a sad story? However, I did not say 'O\ndear mother, if you don't tell it soon I shall begin to cry,' but\n'Would you like to hear the tale of the Black Bear and the Ram?'\"\n\n\"Would you like to hear the tale of the Black Bear and the Ram?\"\n\n\"There, you see, you know most of it already, and there is only\nthe end:\n\n\n        \"The Black Bear and the Ram,\n          The Ram and the Black Bear,\n        They couldn't endure each other,\n          And so my story ends there.\"\n\n\nDone already?\n\n\n\nThe little boy listened with a very sober face. Finally he said:\n\n\"Why did you use to tell mother that story?\"\n\n\"Because that is the way to silence teasing children,\" replied the\nother grandmother. \"They used to do just the way it tells in the\nstory in my great-grandmother's time.\"\n\nAgain there was a pause. The knitting-needles clicked fast.\n\n\"Am I a teasing child?\" asked the little boy at last.\n\n\"No, you are not, bless your little heart!\" said the other\ngrandmother. \"Mother's-mother likes to tell you stories. Only you\nshould not sit quiet too long. You ought to play now.\"\n\nThe little boy went close to the other grandmother's side, and looking\nup into her face, he said very coaxingly:\n\n\"But I am going away to-morrow, little mother's-mother. Won't you\ntell me one more story?\"\n\n\"Run out and see if the sun is setting,\" said the other\ngrandmother. \"If it has not yet gone down I will tell you another\nstory.\"\n\nThe little boy ran out in the greatest hurry. The other grandmother's\nhouse was upstairs and it had no court--that was why she kept neither\ncow nor fowl. So he had to run down the dark stone stairway, and he\nwas in such haste that he fell down the last two steps. But he picked\nhimself up and ran out. There at the far end of the long street was\nthe sun, still quite above the clouds that would wrap him up in bed\nby and by.\n\nThe little boy ran upstairs, breathless. \"He is up, mother's-mother! He\nhasn't gone to bed yet! The story, please!\"\n\nAnd the other grandmother told about\n\n\n\n\nTHE YOUTH AND THE VILA\n\nOnce upon a time there was a father who had three sons. Two of them\npassed for clever, but the third and youngest was stupid, as every\none agreed. When people wanted anything done they only called upon\nthe two clever ones, while they would not let the stupid one have\nanything to do with them.\n\nIn their father's garden was a silver pear-tree which every night bore\nflowers and fruit; but the pears were regularly plucked and carried\naway by the Vilas. \"What the mischief!\" said the eldest and the second\nbrother, \"how long is this thing going to last?\" and they determined\nto mount guard over the tree. But to their youngest brother they said,\n\"You are too stupid for this work.\"\n\nSo they carried feather-beds and pillows out under the tree, lay down,\nand went to sleep. While they were sleeping the Vilas came, plucked\nthe pears, and went away. As soon as they were gone the brothers awoke,\nwent back to the house, and told what had happened.\n\nThen the stupid brother declared that he would watch the tree. That\nhe might not be overcome with sleep he made himself a bed of thorns;\nbut in spite of all he fell asleep. Yet he awaked when the Vilas came,\nand saw one of them standing at his side. He pulled out one of her\nhairs, whereupon the Vila vanished.\n\nWhen morning came he saw that the hair was of gold. Going home, he\ntold what had happened to him, and declared his intention to go through\nthe world to seek out that Vila. But the two clever brothers answered,\n\"What would you be able to find? It is better for us two clever ones\nto go and seek her. Something may come of it then.\"\n\nSo the two set out upon their way. The eldest found a shovel and took\nit with him, and it did him good service. For when they got to the\nMoon they found the door locked. Then they dug under the door and\nwent in. They found only the Moon-mother at home, and of her they\ninquired if such-and-such a Vila lived there.\n\nThe Moon-mother answered, \"She lives in the Sun. How will you get\nthere? But see, here is a spider; she shall spin you a chain that\nwill reach from here to there.\"\n\nThe spider went to work, spun a chain, and fastened it to the lock\nof the Sun-door. So the brothers set out upon this bridge; but while\nthey were on the way the Sun came home, opened the door, and snapped\nthe chain in two. So the brothers fell off, and very luckily they\ntumbled into their god-father's cabbage-garden. So they felt no harm,\nbut went home and told their adventures.\n\nThen the stupid brother set out. He found an ancient crone and begged\nher to show him the way to the Moon. The old crone told him it was\nnot very hard to go there, and gave him a bucketful of down. So he\nseated himself in the bucket and flew up to the Moon.\n\nHe entered the house and asked if a certain Vila lived there who\nlooked so-and-so. The Moon-mother answered, No, she lived in the\nSun. So he flew up to the Sun, arrived there safely, and carefully\nhid his bucket in the cellar in the coolest place he could find,\nthat it might not be melted by the heat.\n\nMeantime the Sun came home and asked, \"What is your wish?\"\n\n\"I seek such-and-such a Vila.\"\n\nThe Sun brought her out and gave her to him, and he seated himself\nbeside her in the bucket and set out.\n\nWhen they were half-way home the Sun came out to see how the travellers\nwere getting on; and he shone on them so scorchingly that all the down\nwas melted, the bucket lost its balance, and the youth and the Vila\nfell down to earth and were caught in a tree. They cannot go down,\nfor under the tree sits an old wizard sorting out a capful of human\nhairs. But the Vila slipped softly down the tree and put the wizard\nto sleep. Then the youth clambered down and took the Vila home.\n\nThey reached his father's house, where he told all his adventures;\nbut the Vila was invisible to every one but her rescuer, so that no\none believed his story. Then the Vila began to weep, and the brothers\nsaid, \"Good! now we believe that she is here, but just where she is\nwe do not know.\"\n\nMeantime the old wizard under the tree awoke, started out,\nand came into the room where they were. He greeted the Vila with\n\"Good-day!\" whereupon she became visible to every one as a beautiful\nmaiden.\n\nSoon after the youth married her. I was present at the wedding,\nate and drank with the old man and conversed much with him; and we\nmoistened our throats so often with sweet wine from Zagorje that my\ngrandfather and I can taste it yet.\n\n\n\n\"Can you really, mother's-mother?\" exclaimed the little boy.\n\nThe other grandmother laughed. \"That is only the way it ends,\" she\nsaid. \"Some stories end that way.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nTHE LITTLE BOY SLEEPLESS\n\n\nThe little boy could not sleep. The room was full of people very\nexcitedly talking about the action of the zemstvo on some subject of\nimportance, and although he did not understand a word that they were\nsaying, the talking and the thought of to-morrow's journey kept him\nawake. He was lying on a pallet laid upon the bench against the wall\nin a far corner of the room, and he turned over so often that at last\nhe fell upon the floor. He tried hard not to cry, but he could not\nquite help it.\n\nThe other grandmother picked him up and cuddled him in her arms. \"Go\nto sleep,\" she said, patting him gently.\n\nThe little boy shut his eyes, but in a minute they were open again.\n\n\"Mother's-mother, I can't sleep. Couldn't you tell me one more story,\nvery softly, so that the others can't hear?\"\n\nThe other grandmother laid the little boy back upon his pallet,\ncovered him up warm, and told him about\n\n\n\n\nTHE VILA IN THE GOLDEN CASTLE\n\nOnce upon a time there was a father who had three sons. One day he\nbade the eldest go into the garden and keep watch that the swans did\nnot eat the flowers. The son kept watch a long time, but at last sleep\novercame him, and immediately the swans came and ate up the flowers.\n\nNow these were not really swans, but Vilas.\n\nUpon this the second brother betook himself to the garden, and with\nthe same result.\n\nThen it was the youngest brother's turn; but this one put thorns\nunder his head, so that he could not go to sleep. He lay there in a\ndoze until the swans arrived; then, springing nimbly upon his feet,\nhe caught one of them, which changed herself into a Vila. Upon this\nthe other swans flew away, and the Vila and the youth both lay down\nand fell asleep.\n\nShortly after a girl came along that way and cut off the Vila's\nhair. When the Vila awoke she fell into the deepest dejection over the\nloss. The youth asked her, \"My beloved, wherefore so sorrowful?\" and\nshe answered, \"Some one has robbed me of my hair.\"\n\nShe remained with him for a whole week. Then, as it chanced, he was\nobliged to go away somewhere, and she improved the opportunity to quit\nthe house--not, however, without leaving word that he would find her\nin the golden castle.\n\nWhen he returned home and asked after her, he learned that she had\ngone to the golden castle. He therefore set out to find it. After much\nwalking he came to a great forest, where he met an old man, whom he\nasked if he could give him any information about the golden castle.\n\nThe old man said he knew nothing about it, but perhaps a still older\nman, who lived a long way off in the forest, might know where it\nwas. After long wandering the youth found this man, but neither\ncould he give him any information, but sent him to a still older\nman. So he sought out the third old man, and from him he received\nthe desired information.\n\nThe young man set out in the direction indicated, arrived at the\ncastle, and perceived his beloved one, who smiled kindly upon him. In\nthe castle he found an old Vila, who told him that he should not have\nher daughter to wife until he had executed the order which she was\nabout to give. Then she handed him a wooden hoe, with the words:\n\n\"If you wish to be my son-in-law you must root up all this forest,\nplant vines in its place, and bring me wine from their fruit; and\nall must be done to-day.\"\n\nThis command he certainly could not obey; but his beloved one drew\nnear and asked him, \"Why are you so sorrowful?\"\n\nHe answered, \"Why should I not be sorrowful? I can surely never obey\nthat command.\"\n\nThen she cut down a tree, and the whole forest was uprooted; she\nplanted a vine, and the whole vineyard was planted; she pressed one\ngrape, and the work was already done.\n\nWhen he brought the wine into the castle the old Vila said:\n\n\"You must perform another task. In a single day you must sow wheat,\nreap and thresh it, and store it away in the granary.\"\n\nHe would not have been equal to this task either had not his beloved\none done it for him.\n\nWhen he showed the old Vila the threshed wheat she was still not\nsatisfied, but said:\n\n\"If you wish to be my son-in-law you must gild the whole castle.\" To\nthis end she gave him a golden nut.\n\nHe succeeded in gilding a hand's breadth, but more he could not\ndo. Then his beloved came to his help; she only made a cross, and in\na twinkling the whole was done.\n\nStill the old Vila said, \"If you are positively determined upon being\nmy son-in-law you must to-morrow guess which Vila is yours. I may tell\nyou beforehand that they all look precisely alike, even to a hair.\"\n\nThen his beloved one told him to notice well. When all the Vilas were\nstanding in a row, a little dog would come and nose around her alone,\nand he must say, \"That one is she.\" She also gave him a comb, and\na brush into the bargain, saying that they would be of the greatest\nuse to them in their flight.\n\nThe next day, when the Vilas stood in a row before him, the little dog\ncame and nosed around one of them. He at once said that this was she,\nand immediately they took to flight, the old Vila after them.\n\nShe had almost overtaken the fugitives, but the youth threw the\nbrush behind them, and a thick forest grew up at their back, so that\nthey gained a considerable start. But the old Vila soon overcame this\nhinderance, and had nearly caught up to them when, at the very moment,\nhe threw the comb behind him. Instantly a great river flowed between\nthem which the old woman could not cross.\n\nThus the two got away at last, arrived safely at home, married,\nand lived in happiness till their dying day.\n\n\n\nThe little boy made no remark. He was sound asleep.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\nHOME AGAIN\n\n\nIt was already dark when they reached home, though it was not late, for\nJanuary days are very short. There had been no children at the station,\nonly men, and the walk home had seemed very long to the little boy. The\nmen were talking very loudly, sometimes even angrily--they did not\nseem to be pleased with what the little boy's father told them about\nthe zemstvo. It had not done what the people of the village wanted.\n\n\"Well, God and the mir for us all!\" said the little boy's father as\nthey reached the house.\n\nAll the family were gathered to meet them--the grandmother, the\noldest brother and his wife, and the brother and sisters who lived at\nhome. They were glad to see the little boy, but they all seemed more\ninterested in what the father had to say about the zemstvo, and the\nlittle boy could not understand that at all. Though his grandmother\nheld him by the hand and occasionally patted him on the head, she\nhardly spoke to him. Presently, however, she went to her own room,\ntaking the little boy with her, and then it was his turn! His little\ntongue ran fast as he told her all about the journey and the other\ngrandmother and the stories she had told him.\n\n\"You never told me about the Vilas, little grandma,\" he said.\n\n\"Did I not tell you that the stories of her mir are not the same\nas the stories of our mir?\" replied the grandmother. \"I do not know\nthose Vila stories.\"\n\n\"But you know other stories, very nice stories, little grandmamma,\"\nsaid the little boy. Then, after a pause, \"Please tell me one now!\"\n\nThen the grandmother told the story of\n\n\n\n\nPRINCE HEDGEHOG\n\nOnce upon a time there was an Emperor and an Empress who for many\nyears had been childless. One day the Empress wished for a son, were\nhe no bigger than a hedgehog. The proverb says, \"What one wishes for,\nthat one gets,\" and so it was with her, for she shortly gave birth\nto a son who looked exactly like a hedgehog and was covered all over\nwith sharp spines.\n\nFar and wide the news was spread abroad through the world, and the\nparents were much ashamed of such a son. Nevertheless, they had him\neducated in all useful knowledge, and he had so clever a head that\nby the time he was fourteen he knew all knowledge through and through.\n\nBy this time his parents could no longer endure him near them, and\nthey assigned to him a great forest as a place of abode, feeling\ncertain that he would then fall a prey to a wolf or a fox or some\nsort of a beast. They strictly commanded him not to return before\nthe expiration of seven years. They gave him permission, however,\nto take with him anything that he especially cared for; but he would\ntake nothing with him except a Sow and a great Cock upon which he\nwas wont to ride. With these he went away into the forest.\n\nYear out, year in, Prince Hedgehog remained in the forest, and he\nraised so many swine that at last they were too many for even him\nto count. Finally he thought to himself, \"My seven years are up;\nI will go back home.\" So he quickly gathered his swine together and\ndrove them to the city of his parents.\n\nWhen they perceived afar off the immense drove of swine, they thought,\n\"Here comes a wealthy swine-drover.\" But soon they recognized their\nson, who was riding upon his Cock behind the swine and making straight\nfor the imperial castle. So they received him into the castle and\nshowed him the best of hospitality, dividing his swine among different\npens, for they filled every swine-pen in the city.\n\nWhile they were at table they asked their son how he enjoyed himself\nin the forest, and said that if he wished to go back there they would\ngive him a goat this time. But he declared that he was not going back,\nfor he had made up his mind to marry.\n\nThe astonished parents replied, \"Why, what maiden would love you\nand take you for a husband?\" The poor youth knew no answer to this\nquestion, so he mounted his Cock and rode away.\n\nNow the parents thought he would never come back again. But he was a\nclever fellow, and he went as a suitor to the King of of a neighboring\ncountry who had three unmarried daughters.\n\nWhen he found himself near the city the Cock flew up with him to\nthe window of the room in which the company were assembled enjoying\nthemselves. The Cock crowed with all his might, until the chamberlain\nwent to the window and asked what he wanted. The Hedgehog answered,\n\"I come a-wooing.\"\n\nThen the King permitted him to come into the room, and offered him\nthe welcome-cup, according to ancient manner and custom. Then the King\nagain asked him what business brought him, and Hedgehog, the imperial\nPrince, answered him shortly and to the point, \"I come a-wooing.\"\n\nThe King immediately assured him that he had only to choose one of\nthe three unmarried daughters. The Hedgehog chose the youngest, but\nshe would not have him for a husband until her father threatened to\nhave her shot unless she gave a cheerful consent.\n\nShe saw no help for it, and thought to herself, \"I can never get\nout of this scrape; come what may, I'll take him. We have gold and\ntreasure in abundance, and we shall easily get along through life.\"\n\nWhen the Hedgehog had received her consent he went back to his parents\nand told them what had happened to him. His parents would not believe\nhim, and sent the chamberlain to inquire if it was true that the\nEmperor's son, the Hedgehog, was to marry the King's daughter. When\nthe chamberlain returned and told the Emperor that his son had\nspoken the truth, the Emperor ordered his horses to be harnessed,\nand went with his wife to visit the King, riding in their carriage,\nwhile their son rode behind on his Cock.\n\nWhen they arrived they found everything ready for the wedding. But,\naccording to custom, the bridal party were obliged to go to the church\na few days before the marriage to pray and confess to the pop. When\nthe young lady came to confession she asked the pop how she might\nmanage to get rid of the Prince and not be obliged to marry him.\n\nThe pop gave her a sound scolding, and said in conclusion, \"Just\nkeep quiet and all will end well. Mark what I say, and remember it\nwell. When you are come into the church and are taking your place in\nthe sacristy, do you follow close behind the others. When you get to\nthe high altar sprinkle your bridegroom thrice with holy-water, and\nbe careful to prick yourself each time with one of his spines. Then\nthree drops of blood will trickle out of your hand, and you must let\nthese also fall upon him.\"\n\nAfter confession the bridal pair went home to breakfast. The next\nday--it was a Sunday--the bridal party went at half-past eleven\ninto the church, and the bride did in every respect as the pop had\ncounselled.\n\nAnd, behold, the Hedgehog was transformed into a beautiful youth\nwhose like was not to be found in all the world. Then the bridal\nparty sat down upon the benches and heard Mass, and the pop united\nthem and preached them a sermon how they should cleave to each other\nall their lives long.\n\nAfter that they went back to the house, and the wedding-feast lasted\nuntil late in the night. The wine was very good. I sat at the head\nof the last table, drank yellow wine out of a painted cup and ate\nhalf a swine all by myself.\n\n\n\n\"Some stories end that way, don't they, grandmother?\" asked the\nlittle boy.\n\n\"Yes,\" said the grandmother, \"some of them do.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\n\nTHE BETROTHAL\n\n\nEaster Day had come, and everybody in the house was giving\nand returning the Easter greeting. The little boy ran into his\ngrandmother's room.\n\n\"Christ is risen, little grandmamma!\" he said.\n\n\"He is risen indeed,\" the grandmother answered.\n\nThe older brother and sisters came to salute their grandmother.\n\n\"Christ is risen!\" each one said to her, and to each she answered:\n\n\"He is risen indeed.\"\n\nThen they all went to the parents' room for the morning prayer. They\ndid this every morning, for Russian peasants are very devout; but\nEaster was a special morning, and they sang many hymns and said many\nprayers. When they had finished, the married son and his wife came in.\n\n\"Christ is risen, father and mother!\" they said.\n\n\"He is risen indeed,\" the parents answered.\n\nAfter church, which seemed very long to the little boy, they all came\nhome to dinner. With them came a strange young man whom the little\nboy did not know. When they sat down at table he sat at the head and\nthe little boy's elder sister beside him. She had beautiful flowers\nin her hair.\n\n\"Why does sister wear flowers in her hair?\" the little boy asked his\ngrandmother softly.\n\n\"Because she is a bride,\" whispered the grandmother. \"She is betrothed\nto that young man. He will be your brother when they are married\nnext autumn.\"\n\nAll the afternoon there were games and merriment, and many people came\nto congratulate the young people and to drink tea. As the merriment\ngrew louder the little boy grew tired of it, and he went to ask his\ngrandmother for a story. She, too, was tired of the lively doings in\nthe other room, and she very willingly told him about\n\n\n\n\nTHE DESERTER\n\nOnce upon a time there was a deserter who was three times faithless\nto his colors. Twice had he undergone the punishment due to desertion;\nthe third time, he knew, he was face to face with death. So he resolved\nto flee by night and hide himself by day in some ditch or thicket, for\nhe was afraid that in the daylight he might be recognized and arrested.\n\nOne night, as he was hastening onward, he saw a glimmer of light in\nthe distance, and thought to himself, \"I will go toward that light;\nperhaps it will somehow help me out of my trouble.\"\n\nWhen, however, he came up to that light all he saw was an opening just\nwide enough for him to creep into. The moment he was inside thick\ndarkness fell upon him. He could find his way neither in nor out;\nbut on groping around he at last came upon a staircase, up which he\nclimbed and found himself in a passageway. Through this passageway he\nwent for a long, long time, until at last he stumbled upon a door. He\nopened the door and stepped into a room, but it was pitch dark there\ntoo; so he groped all about until at last he stumbled upon another\ndoor and entered another room.\n\nSo on he went through eleven rooms, and finally reached the twelfth,\nwhere at last he found a lighted candle upon a table. The room was\nbeautifully fitted up, and he thought within himself, \"Come what come\nmay, I shall make myself at home in this room.\"\n\nSo he stretched himself upon a couch. He lay there for a while lost\nin thought, when, lo and behold! the table began to lay itself. When\nthe cloth was spread, all sorts of good cheer began to appear upon it.\n\n\"Come what come may,\" he thought to himself again, \"I am hungry.\" So\nhe fell to and ate to his heart's content. When he had eaten all\nthat he could swallow he threw himself upon the couch again and began\nto consider.\n\nSuddenly three women entered, clothed entirely in black. One seated\nherself at the piano, while the two others danced. Tired as he was,\nwhen he saw this he arose and skipped about with them. After this\nentertainment they began to talk with him, speaking of one thing and\nanother, and finally came round to the question how he might break\nthe spell that bound them.\n\nThey told him the very way and manner of doing it, saying that he had\nnothing more nor less to do than to pass the night in a certain room\nwhich they would show him. A ghost would come there and pester him\nwith all sorts of questions--who he was, how he had come there, and\nother things. But he must not say a mortal word to all these questions,\nnot though the ghost tormented him in all sorts of ways; if he could\nonly hold out in silence the ghost would vanish, and then he would\nfeel not the least pain from all the torments he had been enduring.\n\nOur deserter fell in with the proposition without further words, and\nthe ladies escorted him to the fateful room with the sound of music\nand left him there alone. When they were gone he undressed himself,\nbolted the door securely, and lay down in bed. But he could not sleep,\nfor his head throbbed with expectation of what was about to happen.\n\nAt eleven o'clock a sudden knock was heard at the door. He dared not\nmake a sound, for he was firmly resolved to ransom himself, the ladies,\nand the enchanted castle; so he kept as still as a mouse. Again the\nknocking came, but he made no answer. At the third knock the door\nflew open, and in walked a gigantic form all clothed in flames.\n\nThe giant placed himself at the bedside and began to ask the man\nwhence he was and why he had come; but the deserter never uttered a\nword. Then the giant seized him, threw him upon the floor, and began\nto torment him; but no sound passed the sufferer's lips. At the stroke\nof twelve the ghost departed, with the words:\n\n\"Though you wouldn't tell to-day, you will to-morrow, when we all\nthree come.\"\n\nHe spoke, the door flew open, closed again, and he was gone. The\nyoung man arose from the floor, lay down upon his bed, and fell\nsweetly asleep, without feeling the least harm.\n\nNext morning came the three ladies, all in white up to their knees,\nand led him, with the sound of music, back to the room where he\nhad been on the previous day. They placed a chair for him and set a\ndelicious breakfast before him. When he had plentifully breakfasted\nhe fell asleep and snored till evening.\n\nWhen he awoke he asked how late it was. The ladies replied that it\nwas nine o'clock; and they gave him a good supper and led him again\nto the same room to sleep.\n\nAt the stroke of eleven some one knocked at the door. He made no sound,\nbut at the third knock the door flew open and three ghosts entered. The\none who had been there the night before asked him the same questions\nas before, but received no better answer. Then one of them seized him\nand flung him into one corner, and another into another, and so they\ntossed him about until the poor fellow lay helpless against the wall,\nall covered with blood.\n\nWhen the clock struck twelve the spokesman said to him, \"Though you\nwon't answer to-night, you will to-morrow, when we all four come.\" With\nthese words they disappeared.\n\nHe again lifted himself up, lay down upon his bed, and felt no harm. In\nthe morning the three ladies came, all in white up to their girdles,\nand escorted him, to the sound of music, into the other room, where,\nafter breakfast, he again fell asleep.\n\nAt night they again escorted him to his chamber to sleep. When they\nwere gone he did not go to bed as usual, but began to consider how\nhe might avoid the fearful torment in store for him. First he looked\nout at a window, but his gaze fell upon a frightful abyss enclosed\nby rocky precipices. He went to the second window, but there it was\nno better, but seemed to be even more fearful.\n\nSo nothing was left him but to heap all the furniture of the room\nbefore the door, in hope thus to escape his tormentors. But he soon\ngave up this hope, for about midnight the knocking began. He made\nno answer, but at the third knock the door flew open and all the\nfurniture returned to its own place.\n\nThe ghost who had before questioned him now began to repeat his\nquestions, commanding him to tell who he was and how he came there;\nbut the young man was not to be made to speak. Then the spokesman\nordered one of his comrades to go below and bring up an anvil and four\nhammers, and when these had been brought, one of the ghosts blew up\na fire and threw the young man upon it. When he was heated to a glow\nthey laid him upon the anvil and beat him with hammers until he was\nas flat as paper. But with all this he was not to be forced to speak.\n\nThe time was up and the ghosts must go. Before they went they told\nhim that he and all around him were blessed; and then the door flew\nopen and they vanished. He again arose, laid himself upon the bed,\nand sank at once into slumber.\n\nNext morning the three ladies, all in white from head to foot, came,\nwith the sound of music, to thank him for ransoming them, and they gave\nhim leave to choose among them for a wife. Now the youngest of them\nhad grown nearest his heart, and he declared himself ready to marry\nher, not at once, but later, for first he wished to see something of\nthe world.\n\nThis being the case, they gave him a ham, a wooden flask of wine,\na loaf of bread, three dogs, and a pipe which hung by a golden chain,\nand they told him that these dogs would come to his aid in every time\nof need; he had only to call them by means of his pipe. And should\nhe be tired, he had only to seat himself upon one of them. So he took\nall these things and went forth to see the world.\n\nOne day when he was travelling through a forest he arrived at a castle\nand turned aside to enter. But the steps which led up were of such\na kind that he could not climb them; so he seated himself upon one\nof his dogs and the animal carried him up. As he passed through the\nentrance he peeped through a window and saw a Tiger and his wife,\nwho was combing his hair.\n\nHe went in to where they were, and the Tiger at once arose, led him\nfrom room to room, and showed him many wonderful things. Everything\npleased the young man, except that the Tiger's wife kept the dogs\nshut up in a room apart.\n\nWhen he entered the fourth room he went around it, gazing upon the\nmany statues and paintings; and while thus doing he stepped upon\na board which gave way and let him fall into a cellar where it was\nas dark as pitch. He groped around for a way of escape, but a damp,\nheavy wind seemed to sweep all around him, and first he would wound\nhis hand and then his foot. So he thought to himself, \"You won't come\nsafely out of this!\"\n\nAfter a while the Tiger let himself down by a rope, butcher-knife in\nhand, intending to kill him. The young man begged for a half-hour's\nrespite, that he might do penance for his sins. This was granted,\nbut the time soon flew by, and the Tiger was already whetting his\nknife to stab him, when the young man sprang aside, and his hand met\nthe chain upon which the pipe was hanging. He blew upon it, and quick\nas thought the dogs were on the spot. He set them upon the Tiger,\nbut as they fell upon him the Tiger begged humbly for life, promising\nthat his wife would draw him and his dogs up out of the cellar.\n\nSo it came to pass; but they were no sooner out than he again set the\ndogs upon the Tiger, who again began to beg, promising to give him a\nsalve which had the power of fastening against the wall any one upon\nwhose back it was rubbed, and keeping him there fast and firm until\nhe chose to let him go.\n\nThe youth took the salve and went on farther, till he reached a city\nwhich was all shrouded in mourning. He entered and asked why every\none was in mourning, and received answer that a fearful Dragon was\nto come that day and carry off the Emperor's daughter.\n\nAt this he laughed heartily, and said, \"That may easily be helped;\njust go and announce to the Emperor that I am ready to ransom the\nPrincess, if it is agreeable to him.\" This was announced, and the\nEmperor received him into the castle with great joy.\n\nAs the appointed time for the Dragon's coming had arrived, the young\nman placed himself in readiness. At the stroke of twelve the Dragon\nsuddenly appeared, driving four horses. The young man was waiting for\nhim, and as soon as the Dragon had taken the Princess by the hand to\ncarry her off he spread the salve upon his back, pressed him against\nthe wall, and set his dogs upon him. At the same time he belabored him\nwith the butt-end of his musket, till the Dragon was quite exhausted\nand began to beg off, promising to give a written agreement never\nagain to molest the Princess. When he had written the paper in his\nown blood and signed it he vanished through the window.\n\nThen the Emperor knew not what to do for joy. He offered his daughter\nto the soldier to wife, or, if he liked it better, the half of\nhis kingdom. But the young man declined both offers and returned\nto his own ladies, where he married the youngest with the greatest\nfestivities. As they came out of church to go to their house a new\ncity sprang up all along the roadside. The hilarity was great. I\nmyself was among the guests, and after I had made merry to my heart's\ncontent I set out upon the way home to Varazdin.\n\n\n\n\"Did you ever live in Varazdin, grandmother?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"No, surely not,\" said the grandmother. \"That is just the way the\nstory ends.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said the little boy.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX\n\nIN THE FIELDS\n\n\nSpring was coming on finely, and everybody was at work in the\nfields--everybody, that is, who was not in the army. From every one\nof the wooden houses that stood on either side of the highway, with\ntheir gable ends to the street, had gone a son, a husband, a laborer\nto the war that was waging so fiercely, no one quite knew where. The\nlittle boy's married brother had gone to the nearest garrison town. He\nhad barely had time to make the acquaintance of his little new-born\ndaughter when he was summoned. He went very willingly--all of them\ndid. There was not a man in the village who did not adore the Emperor,\nwho was not ready to die for him, though not one of them had ever\nseen him.\n\nSo there were few men to work in the fields, and all the women and\ngirls must go. This they were used to; it was so every year. The\nlittle boy's mother was there, and his sisters, the eldest one wearing\nin her hair the flowers that showed that she was betrothed. As far\nas one could see over the wide, treeless plain there were women and\ngirls working, with only here and there a man who, like the starosta,\nwas needed for the affairs of the village, or who, like the moujiks\nwho looked after the sheep, were too old to go.\n\nThe little boy was very proud when his father let him go to the\nfield and help drop the seed into the furrows. He was thus at work\nwhen an old moujik came along and stood watching them. He was a very\nragged old moujik, for he was very poor; but he was a polite old man,\nas all Russian peasants are, and when the little boy's mother came\nalong with her hoe, covering up the seed, he lifted his greasy old\nshapka to her with great courtesy.\n\n\"It's a good thing that the little boy is at work,\" said the old\nmoujik. \"They can't begin too early. There is much to do in God's\nblessed world.\"\n\n\"It is only for a little while,\" said the mother. \"I shall send him\nto school soon.\"\n\n\"Ah, school, school!\" said the old moujik, shaking his head. \"It only\ntakes the children's time when they ought to be at work; it costs\nmoney, and what good does it do? There were no schools in my time.\"\n\nThe little boy was tired when dinner-time came, and his mother left\nhim at home with the grandmother.\n\n\"I have been working hard, little grandma,\" he said. \"Don't I deserve\na story?\"\n\n\"Let me see,\" said the grandmother, and there was a twinkle in her\neyes. \"Did I ever tell you about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE HUNTER?\"\n\n\"No,\" said the little boy; \"tell me that!\"\n\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Hunter who had three dogs. The first\nhe called \"Run-fast,\" the second \"Catch-the-hare,\" and the third\n\"I-know-it-better.\" One day the Hunter went out to hunt, and he called\nhis first dog, Run-fast, and his second dog, Catch-the-hare, and the\nthird dog--what under the sun did I say was the third dog's name?\n\n\"I-know-it-better!\" cried the little boy eagerly.\n\n\"Very well, then,\" said the grandmother, laughing a little. \"If you\nknow it better, tell the story yourself!\"\n\n\n\n\"O grandmother,\" said the little boy after a moment of surprise,\n\"that's not a story!\"\n\n\"Isn't it?\" asked the grandmother. \"My great-grandmother said it\nwas. Well, perhaps you will like better the story of\n\n\n\n\n\"THE WATCH-TOWER BETWEEN EARTH AND HEAVEN\"\n\nOnce upon a time there was a King who had three sons and one\ndaughter. He kept the daughter in a cage and guarded her as the eyes\nin his head.\n\nWhen the maiden was grown up she begged her father one evening to let\nher go out and take a walk before the castle with her brothers. The\nfather consented, but hardly was she out of the door when suddenly a\nDragon came swooping down from the sky, seized the maiden from among\nher brothers, and carried her away with him high into the clouds.\n\nThe brothers rushed headlong back to their father, told him of\ntheir misfortune, and begged permission to go and seek their stolen\nsister. The father consented, gave them each a horse and everything\nneedful for a journey, and they set out.\n\nAfter many wanderings they came across a watch-tower which stood\nneither on earth nor in heaven. When they reached the place it occurred\nto them that their sister might be within, and they at once began to\ntake counsel among themselves as to how they should reach it.\n\nAfter long consultation they decided to kill one of their horses,\ncut his skin into a long strap, fasten the end to an arrow, and\nshoot it up into some place in the watch-tower where it would hold\nsecurely. Then they could easily climb up. The two younger brothers\nasked the eldest to sacrifice his horse, but he would not; nor would\nthe second brother. So the youngest brother slew his horse, cut the\nhide into a long strap, bound one end to his arrow, and with his bow\nshot it up into the tower.\n\nBut now, when it came to climbing up by the strap, the eldest and\nsecond brothers declined, whereupon the youngest undertook the\nadventure. Arriving at the tower, he went from room to room, until\nat last he came to one where he saw his sister sitting, with the\nDragon's head in her lap, the Dragon being fast asleep.\n\nWhen the sister perceived her brother she was greatly terrified,\nand softly entreated him to flee before the Dragon should awake. This\nhe would not do, but seized his cudgel, struck out boldly, and dealt\nthe Dragon a heavy blow upon the head. The Dragon, without awaking,\nput his hand up to the spot, murmuring, \"Something hit me right here.\"\n\nAs he said this the Prince fetched him a second blow upon the head,\nand again the Dragon murmured, \"Something hit me here.\" But now,\nas the brother made ready to strike a third time, the sister made a\nsign showing the Dragon's vulnerable spot, and the brother, giving\na powerful blow, killed him as dead as a mouse.\n\nThen the Princess pushed him from her, flew into her brother's arms,\nand smothered him with kisses. After this she took him by the hand\nand began to lead him through all the rooms. First she led him\ninto a room in which a black fox, with a harness of pure silver,\nwas standing before a manger. Then she led him into another room,\nwhere a white horse, with a harness of pure gold, stood before another\nmanger. Finally she led him into a third room, where a brown horse\nstood before a manger, his harness all studded with diamonds.\n\nWhen they had gone through these rooms, the sister led her brother into\na chamber where a maiden sat before a golden embroidery-frame, working\nwith golden threads. From this room she led him into another, where a\nsecond maiden was spinning gold thread, and at last into a room where\na third maiden was stringing pearls, while at her feet a golden hen,\nwith a brood of chickens, was picking up pearls from a golden basin.\n\nWhen they had gone through all these rooms and seen all they wanted to\nsee, they went back into the room where the dead Dragon lay, dragged\nhim out, and threw him head-foremost down to the earth. When the other\nbrothers saw him they were almost convulsed with terror. But now the\nyoungest brother let down to them first their sister and then the three\nmaidens, one after another, each with her work. As he let them down he\nallotted one to each of his brothers, and when he let down the third,\nthat is, the one with the hen and chickens, he reserved her to himself.\n\nBut his brothers, filled with envy because he was the hero who\nhad discovered all these things and rescued their sister, cut the\nstrap to make it impossible for him to return. Then they rode away,\nand coming upon a shepherd-boy with his sheep, they dressed him like\ntheir brother and brought him home to their father, forbidding their\nsister and the maidens, with fearful threats, under any circumstances\nto reveal the secret.\n\nAfter a time word came to the youngest brother in the tower that his\nbrothers and the shepherd were about to marry those three maidens. On\nthe day appointed for the eldest brother's wedding he mounted the\nwhite horse and flew down into the midst of the wedding-guests just\nas they were leaving the church, and struck his brother lightly upon\nthe back with his club. The brother fell from his horse, and the\nother flew back to his watch-tower.\n\nWhen the second brother's wedding-day came he again flew down upon his\nsteed, gave the second brother a blow upon the back, so that he fell\nfrom his horse, and again flew away. But when he at last heard that\nthe shepherd was about to marry the third maiden he again mounted his\nsteed, flew among the wedding-guests just as they were coming out of\nthe church, and dealt the bridegroom such a blow upon the head with\nhis club that the fellow lay dead upon the spot.\n\nIn a trice the Prince was surrounded by the wedding-guests, who were\ndetermined that he should not escape this time. He made no attempt\nto do so, however, but remained where he was, made himself known as\nthe King's youngest son, revealed the trick his brothers had played\nupon him by means of the shepherd, and told how they had left him in\nthe watch-tower where he had found his sister and killed the Dragon.\n\nHis sister and the maidens bore witness to the truth of his story,\nand when the King heard all this he banished the two elder brothers\nfrom his presence, married the youngest to the maiden of his choice,\nand decreed that he should be heir to the throne after his own decease.\n\n\n\n\"That is a real story, grandmother,\" said the little boy. \"But it\nwas not so very long. Couldn't you tell me just one more?\"\n\n\"If you will promise not to ask for another,\" said the grandmother,\n\"I will tell you a short one. But you must not ask for another.\"\n\n\"I promise,\" said the little boy.\n\nThen she told him about\n\n\n\n\nTHE BRIDGE\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man who had a grown-up son. One day the\nold man said to his son, \"My dear son, you are now big and strong\nenough to earn your own living; so go out into the world and seek a\nplace of service.\"\n\nSo the youth went out into the world and came to a large village,\nwhere he hired himself out as shepherd to a rich moujik. It was his\nduty to drive the sheep to pasture early every morning. The flock was\nenormously large and filled the whole valley. The pasture, however,\nwas on the other side of a stream, and unluckily a storm had carried\naway the bridge the night before. Only a narrow plank remained, and\nthis was so frail that but one sheep could cross at a time. There\nwas nothing else for the shepherd to do, therefore, than to drive\nthe sheep slowly, one by one, to the other side.\n\n\n\nHere the grandmother got up and went to the stove as if she had\nfinished.\n\n\"But, grandmother,\" said the little boy, \"what happened next? Tell\nthe rest!\"\n\nThe grandmother laughed. \"Wait until the shepherd has driven all the\nsheep over the bridge.\"\n\n\"Yes, but when will that be?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"When there are no more left on this side,\" said the grandmother.\n\n\n\n\"Was that one of your great-grandmother's stories?\" asked the\nlittle boy.\n\n\"Yes,\" said the grandmother. \"Don't you like it?\"\n\n\"I like it a little--the first part of it,\" said the little\nboy. \"But----\"\n\n\"Remember your promise!\" said the grandmother.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX\n\nTRINITY-MONDAY\n\n\nYou would hardly know the village. As you looked down the street\nit would seem as if a forest of tall masts and poles had suddenly\nsprung up. Before every house they stood, two tall uprights--very,\nvery tall--with a beam across the top, and from the beam two very long\npoles hanging, with a board connecting the lower ends. Yes, they were\nswings, but not swings like yours, for they were made of these long,\nlong poles instead of ropes.\n\nThe sun was hardly up when the little boy came out of the court and\nmade a dash for the swing. There were boys and girls on every swing\nas far as you could see down the street, and in some of them were\nfathers and mothers, too, for Trinity-Monday is a great holiday,\nand no one works who is not obliged to.\n\nIt was still very early. The hot mid-summer sun had hardly peeped above\nthe distant hills. The little boy had a long, long day for swinging.\n\nIn the swing next door were three children standing up, and their\nfather with them, swinging very high and shouting joyously. The father,\nin a very loud, deep voice, would shout a long \"Boo-oo-oo-m!\" and then\nthe children would cry, in their shrill treble, \"Hurra-a-a-r!\" with\na long roll of the \"r.\" All down the street they were \"boom\"-ing and\n\"hurra-a-a-r\"-ing; it was a beautiful noise.\n\nThe sisters came running out, and after them the brother and the\nfather. And what swing went so high as the little boy's swing? And\nfrom before which house was there so deep a \"Boo-oo-oo-m!\" or so\nshrill and joyous a \"Hurra-a-a-r!\"? The fun went on all day, the\nchildren visiting from swing to swing, and the fathers and mothers\ntaking a turn now and again. What a joyful Trinity-Monday!\n\nThe grandmothers did not swing. They sat in the house-doors with\nthe babies of the young mothers or took their knitting and exchanged\ncalls with one another. The long day seemed very short even to them.\n\nBy the time sunset came the little boy was thoroughly tired out\nwith delight. He came and lay down on the bench in the court where\nthe grandmother was sitting. For once her hands were idle. She was\nthinking of her own swinging days, a long, long time ago.\n\n\"There is time for a story,\" said the little boy, \"and you are doing\nnothing, little grandmamma.\"\n\nThe grandmother smiled indulgently and told him the story of\n\n\n\n\nSO BORN, SO DIE\n\nIn olden times, when all the world believed in Christianity, there\nlived in India a pious Christian. This man resolved to lead a hermit's\nlife; and, as he was wandering up and down through India, he found\na great cave, where he took up his abode, that he might lead a life\nwholly pleasing to God. Thus passed away many years while he dwelt\nin the solitude of the wilderness, far from any living soul.\n\nOne evening, when he had said his evening prayer and lain down upon\nhis bed of moss, he thought in his heart, \"O Thou my God! I have\nalready tarried many years in this solitude, and it has never been\nvouchsafed to me to convert a single soul to Thy holy faith. For in\nthe many years which I have spent here I have seen no human being\nnor any living creature.\"\n\nWhile thinking thus the Hermit stretched himself upon his bed and\nsweet sleep fell upon his eyelids. He awoke at daybreak, said his\nmorning prayer, and then became aware of a little Mouse, which looked\nconfidingly at him and glided toward him into the cave.\n\nThen said the Hermit, \"Praise and glory to Thee, O God, that I again\nlook upon one of Thy creatures!\"\n\nLittle by little there grew up between the Mouse and the Hermit\nsuch a warm friendship that the two were perfectly inseparable. The\nhoary Hermit derived the greatest joy from this friendship, and he\nconstantly besought God to transform the little Mouse into a young\ngirl, to be a daughter to him.\n\nHis prayer was answered; the little Mouse became a fair young girl,\nand the old man felt at last that his life would not have been spent\nin vain, since it was vouchsafed to him to instruct this creature of\nGod in the good and right way.\n\nSo passed away the Hermit's life in peace and piety until the young\ngirl had attained the full bloom of maidenhood. Then thought the\nHermit:\n\n\"I am already full of days; I have lived always to the glory of God,\nand the end of my life draws near. It would be a sin if this beautiful\ncreature of God, who knows nothing of the world, should be left to\ngrow old and wither away in this solitary vale. It would be better\nthat she should marry.\"\n\nImpelled by this thought, he called the maiden to him and said,\n\"My little daughter, you are now grown up and old enough to be\nmarried. You ought also to see the world, for this place where we\nlive is not the whole world. The world is large, and there are in it\nmany beautiful creatures of God whom you have never seen.\"\n\nThe maiden answered, \"I thank you, my father; may your will be done\nin each and every thing. Only let me make one request, that you will\nfind me a husband to my liking, and, before all things, let him be\nthat creature of God which is stronger than any other in the world.\"\n\nThe Hermit consented and set off upon his quest. In the course of\nhis journey he met the Moon, and greeted him with, \"God be with thee,\nthou holy Moon, strongest of all God's creatures! I have a daughter;\ntake her for thy wife!\"\n\nThe Moon answered, \"What foolish talk is this? I the strongest of God's\ncreatures! I shine in the night, but as soon as the Sun overtakes me\nhe robs me of my light. Address yourself to the Sun; he is stronger\nthan I.\"\n\nThe Hermit now betook himself to the Sun, and said, \"God be with\nthee, O strong and shining Sun! Thou art the strongest of all God's\ncreatures. I have a daughter; take her for thy wife!\"\n\nAnd the Sun replied, \"Thou errest in taking me for the strongest. The\nclouds are stronger and mightier than I, for when I shed abroad my\nrays then the clouds unroll themselves and veil my splendor. So they\nare stronger than I.\"\n\nThen the Hermit sought a Cloud, and greeted him with, \"God be with\nthee!\" and said, \"Thou Cloud-man, strongest and mightiest of all\nGod's creatures, I have a daughter; take her for thy wife!\"\n\nAnd the Cloud-man answered, \"That cannot be, for the Wind is stronger\nthan I. When I spread myself over the bright expanse of heaven, then\ncomes the Wind and tears me into countless fragments. Go to the Wind;\nhe is stronger than I.\"\n\nThe Hermit betook himself to the Wind, hailed him with, \"God be with\nthee!\" and said, \"Thou mightiest of all God's creatures, strongest\nof all in the world, take my daughter for thy wife!\"\n\nThe Wind answered, \"Oh, old man, how should I be the strongest? When\nI begin to blow, the Mountain stands in my way, so that the people\non its farther side know nothing about me. Go to the Mountain; he is\nstronger than I.\"\n\nThe old man went to the Mountain and said, \"God be with thee, thou\nrocky Mountain, strongest thing in the world! I have a daughter;\ntake her for thy wife!\"\n\n\"Oho, old man!\" answered the Mountain, \"do you imagine that I am the\nstrongest in the world? Don't you see me riddled all over by mice,\nwho burrow in me night and day? Search for a Mouse, for he is stronger\nthan I.\"\n\nSo the old man went to a Mouse, and said, \"Thou strongest of all\nGod's creatures, I have a daughter; take her for thy wife!\"\n\n\"I am not unwilling,\" answered the Mouse, \"but I have not yet seen the\nmaiden. Bring her here first, that I may see her; then will I wed her.\"\n\nThe old Hermit returned home and said, \"Well, my little daughter,\nI have found a husband for you; follow me!\"\n\nThey presented themselves before the Mouse, and the old Hermit said,\n\"Here is thy wife.\"\n\n\"Oho, what shall I do with her?\" asked the Mouse. \"She cannot even\nget into my little palace!\"\n\nBut the maiden said to the old man, \"This shall be my husband;\nonly pray to God to transform me again into a Mouse, that I may go\nwith him.\"\n\nThe old Hermit, who saw no help for it, fell upon his knees and\nbegged God to restore his daughter to her former state. That very\nmoment the maiden was changed into a Mouse and went with her husband.\n\nAs for the old Hermit, he still lived on piously till the end of his\ndays, convinced that every one must die with the same nature with\nwhich he was born.\n\n\n\n\"I should like to go to the sun, grandmother,\" said the little boy.\n\n\"You would find it very hot,\" said the grandmother.\n\n\"Did you ever go, little grandma?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"No one goes nowadays,\" said the grandmother.\n\n\"They went in your great-grandmother's time?\" ventured the little boy.\n\n\"Before her time, even,\" said the grandmother. \"Things are greatly\nchanged since then.\"\n\nThe younger sisters had come in from swinging and were sitting on\nthe other end of the bench. The eldest sister was walking with her\nbetrothed in the lovely summer twilight.\n\n\"No one ever went to the sun,\" said one of the sisters. \"It is much\ntoo far off. I have learned it in school. And this world goes around\nit every day.\"\n\n\"There were no schools in your great-grandmother's time,\" replied the\ngrandmother, \"and things were different then. The world did not move\nin those days; it rested on three great whales which were swimming\nin the ocean. My grandmother told me all about it.\"\n\nThe little boy pondered this fact for a while. Presently he said:\n\n\"One more story, little grandmother?\"\n\nIt was still light, for twilight is very long in Russia. The\ngrandmother told the story of\n\n\n\n\nTHE ENCHANTED LAMBS\n\nAn Emperor once had an only daughter of surpassing beauty. In his pride\nhe caused it to be sounded abroad through all the world that the youth\nwho should guess the position of a certain mole on the maiden's person\nshould have her for his wife, and the half of his empire besides. But\nthose who did not guess right should be transformed into lambs.\n\nThis wonderful news spread over the whole world, so that wooers by\nthousands came from all lands to sue for the Princess's hand. But\nall in vain. A countless number of them were changed into lambs.\n\nThe news came also to the ears of a youth who was as poor as a church\nmouse, but who was as sharp as a needle for all that. His desire to\npossess the beautiful maiden and half the empire grew so strong that\nhe decided to try his fortune; not, however, by suing at once for\nthe maiden's hand, but by seeing her first and asking her something.\n\nArrived at the Emperor's court, what wonders does he see! Lambs of\nall kinds pressed around him--God only knows how many there were.\n\nThey swarmed about him, a pitiful sight and a warning example that\nmight well turn him from his project. He would have gone back, but\nat the gate was a monster of a man, wrapped in a blood-red mantle,\nwith wings, and an eye in the middle of his forehead, who cried out\nin a commanding voice, \"Halt! Where are you going? Go back, or you\nare lost!\"\n\nSo he went back and caused himself to be announced to the Emperor's\ndaughter, who was already waiting for him. She said to him, \"Did you\ncome to get me for your wife?\"\n\nHe answered, \"No, Imperial Highness; but as I understood that you\nwere thinking of marrying at the first favorable opportunity, I come\nto ask you if you need more bridal-clothes.\"\n\n\"What kind of clothes have you to offer?\" she asked.\n\nHe answered, \"I have a skirt of marble, a bodice of dew, a head-dress\nof threads made from the sun's rays, with a clasp of the moon and\nstars; then I have shoes of pure gold which were neither sewed\nnor made by a smith. So, tell me, do you wish to buy these things\nor not? You have but to command, and I will bring them to you, but\nonly on one condition. When you try these things on, piece by piece,\nthere shall be no one present but only us two. If they fit we shall\nsoon come to terms; if not, I will never offer them to another soul,\nbut will lay them aside and keep them for my own bride.\"\n\nThe Princess agreed to this condition and gave him the order to bring\nthe garments. And, really, he brought them to her. God only knows\nwhere he found them and how he came to possess them; it is enough\nfor us to know that he kept his word.\n\nThey shut themselves up in a room, and first she tried on the skirt,\nwhile he watched narrowly to see if by chance he could discover the\nmole. To his joy he saw it under her right knee--a little golden star;\nbut not the slightest change in his face betrayed his discovery. He\nonly thought in his heart, \"It is well for me to-day and for all time!\"\n\nThen the Princess tried on the bodice and all the other things, and\nthey fitted her as if she had been poured into them. They agreed as to\nthe price; she paid it on the spot; he packed up his gold and departed.\n\nAfter a few days, having dressed himself in the finest suit that could\nbe bought for money, he came back to sue for the hand of the Emperor's\ndaughter. When he appeared before the Emperor he said, \"Worthy Emperor,\nI come to woo your daughter. Make no objections; give her to me!\"\n\n\"Good!\" answered the Emperor; \"but do you know how my daughter's hand\nis won? Take good care, for if you do not guess the mole you are lost;\nbut if you do guess it she will be yours, and the half of my empire\ninto the bargain.\"\n\nThe youth bowed to the Emperor and said, \"My greetings, O Emperor and\nfather-in-law! If that is the case she is mine. She has a little star\nunder the right knee.\"\n\nThe Emperor was not a little surprised that he could know this, but\nthere was nothing for it but to yield, and so the youth was married\nto the Princess.\n\nWhen the Emperor proceeded to give him the half of his empire the\nnew-made son-in-law said to him, \"I willingly leave this half of your\nempire to you if you are ready to restore these poor souls to their\nformer condition.\"\n\nThe Emperor answered that this was no longer in his power, but lay\nin the hands of his daughter, \"who now,\" he added, \"is your wife.\"\n\nSo he turned to his wife with this request, and she answered:\n\n\"Cut the vein under the famous mole. Let every lamb touch the end of\nits tongue to the blood and moisten its underlip with it, and they\nwill all be changed to men and live as before.\"\n\nHe did as she directed, and when the lambs had all assumed the forms\nof men again they were invited as wedding-guests.\n\nThus the youth took the maiden home amid song and chime of bells,\nand there he treated everybody royally to meat and drink, until\nfinally they took their homeward way. But he stayed there with his\nyoung wife, and God knows what fortunes they met with in life that\nare all forgotten now.\n\n\n\n\"I am sorry you have forgotten anything, grandmother,\" said the little\nboy. \"It is not dark yet, and I wanted a longer story.\"\n\n\"It is not I who forgot,\" answered the grandmother. \"I remember every\nword as it was told to me.\"\n\n\"It must have been your great-grandmother,\" observed the little\nboy. \"I wish she had had a better memory.\"\n\n\"I will tell you a short story to make up,\" said the grandmother. \"It\nexplains why there is so much knot-grass.\"\n\n\"I should like to know that,\" said one of the sisters. \"My fingers\nare tired rooting it out.\"\n\nSo the grandmother told about\n\n\n\n\nTHE KNOT-GRASS\n\nOnce upon a time an old hag got up early and went out among the\nmountains to gather all sorts of green herbs and practise her\nsorceries.\n\nAbout midday she set out upon her return, and met some Knot-grass\nhastening to the mountains.\n\n\"Hi! whither away?\" asked the witch. \"What bad luck sends you on this\nrough road?\"\n\n\"Upon my word, little mother, I can't stand it down there any\nlonger! Wherever the moujik digs or ploughs he does his best to root\nme out, tearing and clawing me with all his might. There is nothing\nleft for me but to flee away and seek some quiet place where I can\ngrow and spread in peace.\"\n\n\"Go back to your home, little grass,\" replied the old hag. \"Mark my\nwords, the more they dig and hoe about a plant the better it thrives\nand the more it spreads. What does the proverb say? 'Woe to the thing\nthat never is harvested!'\"\n\nThe Knot-grass turned about, and ever since that day it has been\nfound in meadow and field, in vineyard and garden--everywhere, indeed,\nwhere it is not wanted; and it is a hard matter to root it out.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI\n\nTHRESHING-TIME\n\n\nIt was the joyous threshing-time. The summer's work was over. The\nharvest had been good, and from all the fields the high-piled carts\nwere bringing the sheaves to the threshing-floors. On these high levels\nbusy flails were flying, making a quick music that chimed well with\nthe sweet, melancholy threshing-song of the girls who were gathering\nthe wind-swept grain into bags. When the threshing was all done the\nlittle boy's eldest sister would be married, for autumn is the time\nfor marriages, when vegetables and pork are plenty and there is money\nto buy brandy from the Jew.\n\nThe grandmother had gone out with the little boy to see the threshing\nand to hear the threshing-song. She had sung that same song in her\nyoung days, and so had her great-grandmother before her. On the way\nback to the house a cow-herd woman met them--not their own, but that\nof a neighbor--and told them that her old master, the bolshak, or\nhead of the family, was dead. The grandmother looked terror-stricken,\nand hastily exclaimed:\n\n\"May the Saviour's cross be with thee!\"\n\nThe cow-herd woman went on her way to spread the news.\n\n\"Why did you say that, grandmother?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"To scare away the death angel,\" replied the grandmother. \"Never\nforget to say that when any one tells you of a death; otherwise it\nmay come to your own house next.\"\n\nThe grandmother seemed sad when she reached home. She had known the\nold man when she was a girl. He had been a stern and severe bolshak\nin his family, keeping all his married sons at home and making them\nwork hard for him, not at all like her son, the starosta, who was\nso kind to his children. Nevertheless, it made her sad that he was\ndead. She sat quiet, distaff and spindle lying idly in her lap.\n\n\"Grandmother,\" said the little boy, \"would it comfort you to tell me\na story?\"\n\n\"Indeed it would,\" said the grandmother. \"Come now, sit on that stool\nand hold this yarn for me, and I will tell you about\n\n\n\n\n\"THE THREE EELS.\"\n\nOnce upon a time there was a fisherman who on three successive days\nmade out to catch only an eel a day. When he found only one eel in\nhis net on the third day he cried out angrily:\n\n\"What's the use of fishing when one gets nothing more than one eel\nday after day?\"\n\nImmediately the tongue of one of the eels was loosed, and he said,\n\"Wretched man, you little know what a precious catch you have\nhad! You have fished up great good luck for yourself. Only now do as\nI advise you: Kill one of us three and divide him into four parts;\ngive one piece to your wife to eat, the second to the mother-dog,\nthe third to the mare, and bury the fourth in the ground just above\nyour house. Soon your wife will bring twins into the world, the dog\ntwo pups, the mare two full-blooded stallions, and above your house\nwill spring up two golden swords.\"\n\nThe fisherman followed the Eel's advice, and indeed in the course of\ntime everything happened as the Eel had predicted--his wife bore twins,\nthe dog two pups, the mare two full-blooded stallions, and above his\nhouse two golden swords sprang up.\n\nWhen the sons grew large and had passed a certain number of years,\none of them said to his father, \"Father, I perceive that you are a poor\nman and cannot keep us any longer; so let me take a horse, a dog, and\na sword, and go forth into the world. I am young and need experience;\nand where my head may rest, there also will my food be found.\"\n\nWhen he had thus spoken he turned to his brother with the words,\n\"Brother, God keep you! I go to seek my fortune. Do you stay at home,\nwork, make, and save, and honor our father. Take this vial of water\nand give good heed to it, for if the water in it becomes dark it will\nbe a sure sign that I have perished.\"\n\nThus he spoke and went to seek his fortune.\n\nIn the course of his wanderings he came to a great city, where the\nKing's daughter saw him as he was taking a walk about the town. She\nat once fell desperately in love with him, and begged her father to\ninvite him to the house. This he did. When the youth entered the\nKing's apartments, and the maiden saw the sword, the dog, and the\nhorse near by, she found everything on and about him so fine that\nit seemed to her nothing in the whole world could be finer. She\nfell more madly in love with him than ever, and said to her father,\n\"Father, I want to marry that youth!\"\n\nThe King was very well pleased, the young man had nothing against it,\nso the bargain was concluded and the marriage celebrated according\nto form and custom.\n\nOne evening, as the youth stood at the window with his wife, he noticed\nin the distance a large mountain which was all a light blaze. He asked\nhis wife what was the cause of this, and she answered, \"Oh, sir, do not\nask me! That is a magic mountain that spits lightnings by day and at\nnight stands wreathed in flames, and whoever goes there to see what is\nthe matter is instantly struck dumb and remains enchanted on the spot.\"\n\nHe paid no heed to her words, but mounted his horse, girded on his\nsword, called his dog, and rode to the mountain. When he reached it\nhe met an old woman perched on a rock, holding in one hand a staff\nand in the other a little weed. As soon as he saw her he asked her\nwhy the mountain had these peculiarities, and she told him to ride\nalong and he would soon find out.\n\nHe did so, and the old woman conducted him to a court hedged in\nwith the bones of heroes, and around in the court were countless men\nstanding stark and stiff, all enchanted. He had hardly stepped into\nthis court when he, too, as also his horse and his dog, grew rigid\nand changed to stone on the spot where they stood.\n\nAt the same moment the water in the brother's bottle at home grew dark,\nand the brother announced to the father and mother that his brother,\ntheir son, was dead and that he must go abroad and seek him.\n\nSo he travelled from place to place and from city to city, until luck\ntook him to that very town and to the King's palace. At sight of him\nthe King rushed to his daughter with the good news, \"Your husband\nhas returned!\"\n\nShe ran down to meet him, and thought he was her husband, for the two\nbrothers were as much alike as the two halves of a cut apple. She\nthought it was the same horse, the same dog, and the same sword;\nand father and daughter rushed joyfully to meet him. They kissed\nand caressed him, the King thinking that it was his son-in-law,\nthe daughter thinking that it was her husband.\n\nThe youth was at first quite bewildered by these signs of affection,\nbut it occurred to him that they were for his brother, and so he\nfeigned to be her husband and the King's son-in-law.\n\nWhen night came they retired, but he laid his drawn sword in the\nbed between them. The woman wondered at this, but he said he could\nnot sleep, and arose and went to the window. At sight of the magic\nmountain he said, \"Tell me, my dear little wife, why is that mountain\nin flames?\"\n\n\"For Heaven's sake,\" answered she, \"did I not tell you that other\nevening of the peculiarities of that mountain?\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" he asked her again, and she answered, \"Every one\nwho goes there is enchanted and turned to stone. I was in great fear\nduring your absence that you had gone there.\"\n\nWhen he heard this he guessed the trouble, and in his anxiety he could\nhardly wait for daybreak. As soon as it was light he mounted his horse,\ngirded on his sword, called to his dog, and rode to the mountain. When\nhe saw the old woman he drew his sword from the scabbard, spurred\non his horse, and set the dog upon her without saying a word. The\nold woman fell back in a fury and called out to him not to cut her\ndown. He answered, \"Then give me back my brother!\" Hereupon the old\nwoman led his brother out and restored to him speech and soul.\n\nWhen the brothers had greeted each other, and asked after each other's\nhealth, they turned back homeward. But on the way the one who had\nbeen enchanted said, \"O brother, come! Let us turn back and deliver\nthose men from perdition--those who are enchanted as I was.\"\n\nNo sooner said than done. They turn around, seize the old woman,\nsnatch from her the little weed, and begin to strike the enchanted men\nwith it, until by degrees all of them begin to speak and move. When\nall those enchanted ones had been called back into life they killed\nthe old witch. The twin brothers went back to the King's palace and\nall the others to their houses.\n\nI have heard a lie, I have told a lie, and God give you joy!\n\n\n\n\"Why do you say that, grandmother?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"That is the way it ends,\" said the grandmother.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII\n\nTHE KOROWAI\n\n\nThere were great doings in the little boy's house. Grandmother was\nstanding at the long table beating up the dough of the korowai for the\neldest sister's wedding, for grandmother was greatly skilled in the\nmaking of wedding-cakes. No part of the wedding-feast is so important\nas the korowai, and the little boy watched with great interest as\nshe mixed together the flour and eggs and lard, the molasses and\nfruit, the saffron and the savory seeds that go to make korowai. He\nwas surprised and somewhat disappointed when, instead of putting it\ninto the oven to bake, she spread a cloth over the great bowl and\nset it on a chair by the stove. He was impatient to have it baked,\nit smelled so nice already!\n\n\"Aren't you going to bake it, grandmother?\" he asked.\n\n\"Not just yet,\" she answered. \"It must rise first.\"\n\nShe went away to her room, giving strict injunctions to be called as\nsoon as the dough was risen enough.\n\nThe little boy did not follow her. Other things were being done in his\nmother's room: vegetables and apples were being pared, pork roasted,\nsausages stuffed--it was very exciting. Some of the neighbor-women had\ncome to help, and the little boy was under everybody's feet at once.\n\n\"Run away, little boy,\" said the mother; \"go ask grandmother to tell\nyou a story.\"\n\nGrandmother was quite ready. She was not spinning, she was only\nresting, for she had long been on her feet over the korowai. So\neverything was favorable for the story of\n\n\n\n\nMORNING-DEW\n\nOnce there were three brothers whose father gave each of them a loaf\nof bread and sent them to seek their fortune. When they were a good\nway from home, and began to feel hungry, the two elder brothers\nsaid to the youngest, whom they had always taken for a simpleton,\n\"Let us first eat your bread, and then we will give you some of ours.\"\n\nThe youngest willingly shared his bread with them; but on the next day,\nwhen it was time to eat, the two brothers ate their bread comfortably\nwithout offering the other a single bit.\n\n\"Well, why don't you give me a piece of bread, when you have eaten\nmine all up?\" he asked, and received the answer:\n\n\"If you want to get anything from us you must let us put out your eyes,\nthat we may go around with you begging and so earn our bread.\"\n\nWhat could the poor wretch do? He was tortured with hunger, so he\nallowed them to put out his eyes. But the brothers led him out among\nthe high mountains, left him there in the lurch, and went on to seek\ntheir fortune.\n\nNow was the poor fellow neither to help nor to counsel. At last night\nclosed in, and the Vilas came to dance in a ring, and one of them\nsaid, \"If that man should anoint his eyes with morning-dew he would\nsee again that very moment.\"\n\nHe had hardly heard the words when he began to grope about in the\ngrass for dew, and he rubbed it on his eyes and saw again. Then he\nfilled a glass with this dew and went on to seek his fortune.\n\nOn the way he stumbled across a Mouse which was staggering around,\nfor the poor thing was blind. So he wet her eyes with morning-dew and\nshe at once received her sight. The little Mouse thanked him, saying,\n\"God reward you until I have an opportunity to show my gratitude!\"\n\nA little farther on his way he came upon a Bee which was tumbling\naround and weeping bitterly, for it was blind. So he anointed the\nBee's eyes, too, and it immediately regained its sight and thanked\nhim, saying, \"God reward you until I have an opportunity to prove\nmy gratitude!\"\n\nA little farther he found a Dove rolling around in the sand. He asked\nher, \"What is the matter that you tumble around so in the sand?\" And\nthe Dove replied, \"Why do you tease me with questions when you\ncannot help me?\" But the youth answered, \"Keep quiet a moment,\"\nand he anointed her eyes. Immediately she saw again, and said,\n\"God reward you until I have an opportunity to repay you!\"\n\nHe now resumed his journey, and at last arrived in a city where,\nas it happened, his two brothers were in service. Here he also was\nlucky enough to hire himself out as shepherd.\n\nThe brothers recognized him, and one day, when he was out in the\nfields, they lied to their master, telling him that the shepherd had\nboasted that he was able to reap all the cuckoo-corn [4] in a single\nnight. This pleased the master much, and he commanded the youth to\ndo this thing or it would cost him his head.\n\nWeeping, he went out and threw himself down upon the grass. Then came\nthe little Mouse and comforted him, telling him to go to sleep and\nthe work should all be done. And there came a great number of mice\nand gnawed down the whole crop of cuckoo-corn, so that when the youth\nawoke in the morning he found all done. And he showed it to the master,\nwho was greatly pleased.\n\nThen the brothers came to his master and accused him of having said\nthat he could build a church in a single night. In the morning when\nhe came home he was told that he must accomplish this work or it\nwould cost him his head. So he threw himself down again, weeping,\nin the grass.\n\nThen the Bee flew by and bade him go peacefully to sleep and she and\nher friends would do all the work without troubling him. And there\ncame thousands of swarms of bees and built a church out of wax. It\nwas still night when the master woke and saw a bright light over\neverything. He was frightened and called his body-servant to go with\nhim into the church, which was already finished, even to the altars\nand everything else.\n\nThen the brothers told their master another lie--how the shepherd\nhad said that he would give a string of pearls to the daughter of\nthe house, and that next morning the master's little son should play\nwith a golden apple. When he came home he was told that he must do\nwhat he had boasted that he could do, on pain of death.\n\nWeeping, he threw himself down in the grass, when the Dove came\nflying to him and said, \"Dry your tears and go to rest; all shall be\ndone.\" In the morning the youth found a beautiful string of pearls\nand a golden apple by his side, and he gave them to his master's\ndaughter and little son.\n\nThen the master called the youth into his room and asked him how he\nhad managed to do all these things. So the youth told him how his\nbrothers had taken away his bread, put out his eyes, abandoned him in\nthe mountains, and everything else that had happened. Then the master\nhad the two brothers called into his presence and caused them to be\nbeheaded. But the youth he rewarded and gave him his daughter to wife.\n\nWhoever believes this will be blessed.\n\n\n\n\"The dough is rising, grandmother,\" said the youngest sister,\nopening the door.\n\nEvery one gathered around the grandmother, for this was a ceremony\nof great importance. The future happiness of the young couple might\ndepend upon it.\n\nFirst the grandmother took the dough out of the bowl, kneaded it a\nlittle, shaped it properly, and laid it in the baking-pan. The mother\nwas standing by with five candles in her hand; the grandmother took\nthem one by one, planted them in the centre and the four corners of\nthe korowai, and lighted them. Then all the women stood around and\nbegan to sing. It was a somewhat sad tune, yet very sweet. The song\nhad many verses; the first was to the young couple, who would be\n\"princess\" and \"prince\" for the next three days; the next was to\nthe Virgin; then followed verses to the sun, the moon, the stars,\nand to a white stone beyond the seas. It was a long song, and by the\ntime it was finished the candles were burned down. Then the pan was\ncarefully lifted into the oven.\n\nAfter that all was hurry and bustle. The room had to be swept, and\nlong pieces of brightly striped cloth brought from the chest to cover\nthe bench that ran around the whole room. The cloths were of the same\ncolors as the brightly painted shelves above and they made the house\nvery beautiful. There were wreaths to be made for the \"princess\"\nand the \"prince,\" and the bride's wedding-dress must be laid out\ncarefully in the grandmother's room, where nothing could harm it.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII\n\nTHE WEDDING\n\n\nNext morning was the wedding-day, and the bustle began bright and\nearly, for the table must be spread with all the good things, and the\nkorowai in the centre. Then every one put on his best clothes. The\n\"prince,\" with as long a train of young men as the village could\nafford, came to the door to claim his bride. The \"princess\" came out\nof the grandmother's room in her bridal-dress, a wreath of flowers\non her head.\n\nSome one put a wreath on the head of the \"prince,\" the procession\nwas formed, and they went to church. There the pop preached a long\nsermon all about the duties of husband and wife, and said Mass,\nand finally married the princess to her prince. In reality it was\nthe little boy's eldest sister who was married to her betrothed,\nbut for the three days of the wedding they were as much prince and\nprincess as if they had been born in an imperial palace.\n\nThen followed the feast. I can never tell you of the eating and the\ndrinking, the songs that were sung and the jokes that went around the\ntable. Late in the afternoon the little boy went into the grandmother's\nroom. She had left the table an hour before.\n\n\"Grandmother,\" he said, \"I have eaten too much. Please tell me\na story.\"\n\n\"It will be very appropriate,\" said the grandmother, \"if I tell\nyou about\n\n\n\n\n\"YOUNG NEVERFULL.\"\n\nA certain housewife had a young servant-lad who devoured everything\neatable that came in his way. He would rummage in the storeroom until\nhe smelled out something good, and would give himself no rest until\nhe had devoured it all.\n\nNow the woman had a jar of preserved fruit, and, as she feared that\nthe youngster would eat it and leave her nothing to put into her pies,\nshe said to him:\n\n\"My good boy, you have now eaten everything that I have except\nthis jam, and you have left this just as if you knew that it was\npoisoned. See how good God is to have preserved you from it. One\nsingle spoonful is enough to kill one instantly; so I warn you not\nto touch it unless you want to die.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" answered the boy.\n\nOn the next Sunday, as the woman was getting ready to go to Mass,\nshe said to the boy, \"Cook the soup and boil the meat and roast this\nduck; we will have a good dinner to-day. See that you have all done\nand ready when I come home.\"\n\n\"Very well; it shall all be done,\" answered the boy.\n\nWhen the woman was gone he cooked the soup and boiled the meat,\nand then he put the duck upon the spit to roast. When he saw what\na delicious brown crisp was forming all over the duck, he thought,\n\"It can roast itself another one,\" and ate the crisp all off. He\nturned the spit and turned it, but the second brown crisp never came.\n\nWhen he saw this, he thought, \"When the mistress comes home she\nwill pepper me well,\" and he began to consider how he could escape a\nbeating. In his desperation he remembered the jar of poison against\nwhich his mistress had warned him the day before. With a sudden\nresolution he went into the storeroom and devoured the whole jarful of\npreserved fruit and then crouched down in a corner to wait for death.\n\nPresently his mistress came home and cried out angrily, \"What have you\ndone to this duck?\" She was about to belabor him well, when he cried,\n\"Ah, leave me in peace, dear mistress! I shall die in a minute anyway,\nfor I have eaten up all the poison!\"\n\nAt this the woman broke out into a laugh and could not refuse to\nforgive him. The duck and the preserves, however, were gone all\nthe same.\n\n\n\n\"That was a greedy boy, grandmother,\" said the little boy. \"Am I\ngreedy because I ate too much at sister's wedding-feast?\"\n\n\"That was only grandmother's little joke. It is not greedy to eat\ntoo much at a feast. Every one does,\" said the grandmother.\n\n\n\nA wedding-feast lasts three days, as every one in Russia knows,\nand during all that time there was eating and drinking going on in\nthe little boy's house, with much singing and many games, some of\nthem pretty loud and boisterous. The second evening, when the fun\nhad become pretty noisy, the little boy went to his grandmother for\na story. She told him about\n\n\n\n\nTHE BASIL-PLANT\n\nOnce upon a time there was a woman to whom it was revealed in a dream\nthat she must fast one day in every week, for if she neglected to\ndo so she would give birth to something other than human. The woman\nobeyed the behest, but one day she forgot to fast, and not long after\nshe gave birth to a wonderfully beautiful and fragrant bush which in\nthis world is called basil.\n\nThe woman watched and tended the bush, and the fame of it spread\nthrough the whole world, even to a distant country, where the son of\nan emperor heard of it and at once set out to see it.\n\nWhen he beheld the basil-plant he felt an extraordinary love for it,\nand he begged the mother either to present it to him or else to sell\nit at a high price. But she would not hear a word of it, but sent\nhim away, saying, \"It is not to be bought, even for one-half of your\nfather's kingdom.\"\n\nNow the Prince's servant, who overheard this, whispered to his master\nto say no more, and he would steal the plant for him. So said and so\ndone. The servant managed somehow to steal the plant, and brought it to\nthe Prince. The Prince, delighted to find his dearest wish gratified,\nrichly rewarded the servant and locked the bush safely in a room.\n\nSome days after the Prince invited a great company to a feast,\nintending to take this opportunity to exhibit the basil-plant. The\nfeast was ready, and the servants hastened to announce it to the\ncompany; but when they went back there lay all the meats and pastries\nscattered in the dirt of the kitchen floor!\n\nWhen they saw this they hastened to tell the Prince, and as he saw no\nway of getting over the difficulty, nothing was left for him but to\nexcuse himself to the guests for that day and invite them to return\nupon the morrow.\n\nThe next day, when all was ready and the servants went to announce\nit, some one came again and threw all the food about the kitchen and\nbroke all the dishes. The servants wondered at this no less than the\nEmperor's son himself, and the Prince ordered that a feast should\nagain be prepared upon the third day and that some one should keep\nwatch through the keyhole to discover the mischief-maker.\n\nWhen the meal was ready every one left the room and peeped through\nthe keyhole to catch the culprit. Behold, what did they see? A\ngolden-haired maiden!\n\nThe attendants flew back into the kitchen, held the little culprit\nfast, and called to the Emperor's son. As soon as he beheld the maiden\nhe was beside himself with surprise and joy, and he asked her how\nshe had come into the kitchen.\n\nAt first she was terrified, but at last she confessed to him secretly\nthat she was the basil-plant which he watched and tended so carefully,\nand which shed such sweet perfume in his room; that she thought the\nfeast was in honor of his wedding, and this had made her unhappy,\nfor she had hoped that he would marry her and not another maiden.\n\nWhen the Prince heard these words and saw that the maiden was beautiful\nbeyond all comparison, he was most happy, and assured the maiden\nthat he would marry her as soon as she had embraced the Christian\nfaith. She declared herself ready to do this without delay.\n\nIn the meantime, however, the Prince's time of service in the army\narrived, and he was so much needed that he could by no means be\npermitted to absent himself. He therefore called his beloved to him\nbefore his departure and said to her:\n\n\"I must go to the army. With a bleeding heart I part from you; but,\nI pray you, change yourself again into a basil-plant and remain so\nuntil my return. Show yourself to no one, whoever it may be, who\nenters this room. And on my return, if God wills, I will ring this\nlittle bell, and then do you again take on your present form.\"\n\nWhen he had once again kissed her she changed herself into a\nbasil-plant, and he rode away. But two maidens who loved the Prince,\nand who of late had found themselves neglected and forgotten, soon\nlearned the cause of their sorrow--namely, that the Prince had chosen\nanother maiden. Therefore they agreed to force their way into the\nPrince's room and search for some token of her.\n\nWhen they were there they found nothing except his clothes and the\nbasil-plant, and in it they saw nothing remarkable. They rummaged all\naround the room, trying to find some clew to the whereabouts of the\nmaiden, and one of them in her restlessness took the little bell in\nher hand and rang it. The sorrowing golden-haired maiden, believing\nthat it was the Prince who rang the bell, immediately changed herself\nback into human shape and suddenly appeared between the two.\n\nAt first they were all alike embarrassed, but the two trespassers\nsoon perceived that they had found what they sought, and they seized\nthe poor little creature, killed her, and carried her body into the\nmountains. In the evening the servant who had charge of bringing\nthe maiden her supper found no basil-plant there, but in its place\na horrible pool of blood. In a moment he saw the great danger of his\nposition, and fearing the wrath of the Emperor's son when he should\nreturn home, he fled away with all speed.\n\nBut to return to the maiden. An old woman who was going along among\nthe mountains found the headless body and the head lying near, and,\nfeeling compassion for the young creature, she gathered certain herbs\nwith which she called the maiden back to life. When the poor child\nagain awoke to life and found herself in the depths of the mountains,\nshe fell upon the old woman's neck and promised that she would never\nabandon her.\n\nBut the old woman answered, \"My dear little daughter, go, in God's\nname, wherever you like! I, a poor old worn-out woman, can hardly\nsupport myself, to say nothing of you. But you are young and strong,\nand, with God's help, will get on nicely.\"\n\nBut the maiden answered her, \"Neither now nor ever, so long as God\nlives in heaven! You have called me back to life, and it is my debt\nand duty to love you till death. We shall surely make our way in the\nworld. I will sell my golden hair, and will buy food for you; and when\nmy hair is all sold I will gather herbs in the mountains and feed you.\"\n\nAt last the old woman consented, and a few days later the maiden cut\noff a lock of her golden hair and sent the old woman with it to market,\nbidding her not to sell it for less than a hundred ducats. The old\nwoman went straight to the very city where the Prince lived, for\nhe had returned from camp and had ordered the whole city to go into\nmourning because of his lost love.\n\nFortunately the old woman met the Prince and asked him if he would\nlike to buy a lock of golden hair. The moment the Prince saw the lock\nhe was beside himself with surprise, for he perceived at once that it\nwas his beloved's hair. So he seized hold of the old woman and asked\nher how she came by it The old woman, terrified, confessed the whole.\n\nUpon this he quickly mounted his horse, placed the old woman upon\nanother, and they rode to the village where the old woman lived. When\nthey arrived they found the maiden bathed in tears, bewailing her lost\nlover. He rushed to her, they kissed and embraced, and then went home,\ntaking the old woman with them.\n\nWhen the Emperor's son had heard the details of the whole story he\ncommanded the two maidens to be put to death. Then he married his\nown love. The old woman he honored as his own mother, and when she\ndied he gave her an imperial funeral.\n\n\n\n\"That is a beautiful story, grandmother,\" said the little boy,\n\"although there is not a Dragon nor a Fox nor a Mouse in it. There is\na plant, though. I wish one of the plants in our field would turn into\na golden-haired maiden--a very little one, big enough to play with me.\"\n\n\"Wait till the little baby in your brother's house grows bigger,\"\nsaid the grandmother. \"It will not be long.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV\n\nAFTER THE WEDDING\n\n\nThe third evening of the wedding-feast had come, and with music\nand singing the whole village escorted the young couple to their\nhouse. They were to have a house of their own, and not live with\nthe bridegroom's father, for so had the starosta insisted. Now they\nwere there at last, and though some of the young men remained in the\nstreets singing noisily, the bride's family went quietly home.\n\n\"It seems lonely without our princess,\" said the starosta as they\ngathered around the stove. \"Grandmother, I know the little boy is\nhoping for a story. Let us all hear it. Tell one of your very best\nones, that we may forget for a time that our family circle is smaller.\"\n\nThe grandmother, with great willingness, told the story of\n\n\n\n\nSTEELPACHA\n\nOnce upon a time there was an Emperor who had three sons and three\ndaughters. As he was very old, his last hour drew nigh. He therefore\ncalled his children to his bedside and laid earnest command upon his\nsons to give their sisters, without hesitation, to the first suitors\nwho asked for them in marriage. \"Marry them off,\" he said to the sons,\n\"or my curse will be upon you!\" These were his last words.\n\nAfter his death, day passed quietly after day for a while. Then one\nevening there came a loud knocking at the door. The whole palace\nbegan to rock amid a wild roaring, howling, crashing, flashing;\nthe castle was bathed in a sea of flame. Every heart was terrified,\nand trembling took possession of every soul.\n\nSuddenly a voice cried, \"Open the door, ye princes!\"\n\nUp spoke the Emperor's eldest son, \"Do not open!\" And the second said,\n\"On no account open!\" But the youngest said, \"Then I will open the\ndoor myself!\"\n\nHe sprang up and drew the bolts. Hardly was the door opened when\na fearful Being rushed in, the outline of whose form was hidden in\nencircling flames.\n\n\"I am come,\" he exclaimed, \"to take your eldest sister for my wife,\nand that at once. So give a short answer--yes or no; I insist upon it!\"\n\nSaid the eldest brother, \"I will not give her to you. Why should I,\nwhen I know neither who nor whence you are? You come here by night,\ndemand my sister's hand upon the instant, and I do not even hear\nwhich way I am to turn when I wish to visit her.\"\n\nSaid the second brother, \"Nor do I permit you to take away my sister\nthus in the dead of night.\"\n\nBut the youngest interposed, \"Then I will give her away if you\ntwo refuse. Have you already forgotten our father's command?\" And\ntaking his sister by the hand he gave her to the stranger, saying,\n\"May she live happily with you and be ever faithful!\"\n\nAs the sister crossed the threshold every one in the building fell to\nthe ground in fear and horror. It lightened, it thundered, it crashed,\nit quaked, the whole fortress swayed heavily, as if heaven and earth\nwere falling together. Gradually the uproar died away, and the rosy\neastern light announced the coming morning.\n\nAs soon as day had broken the brothers searched for the traces which\nthey supposed would have been left by their tremendous nocturnal\nvisitor; but not a trace, not a footprint had he left behind. All\nwas swept away.\n\nOn the following night, at the self-same hour, the self-same flashing,\ncrashing din was heard around the imperial fortress, and a voice\nwithout cried loudly, \"Open the door, you princes!\"\n\nParalyzed with terror, they threw open the door and a fearful Form\nrushed in, crying in a loud voice, \"Give me here the maiden, your\nsecond sister! We have come to marry her!\"\n\nSaid the eldest brother, \"I will not give you my sister!\"\n\nSaid the second, \"I will not let my sister----\"\n\nBut the youngest broke in with, \"Then I will! Will you never remember\nwhat our father commanded?\"\n\nHe took his sister by the hand and led her to the wooer. \"Take her;\nshe will be happy with you and always good.\"\n\nAt this the powerful apparition vanished, and the maiden with him.\n\nAs soon as morning dawned the brothers sought around the castle for\ntraces of the direction which the apparition had taken; but they found\nnothing under the blessed sun, nor was there the slightest clew from\nwhich they could make any sort of guess any more than if no one had\nbeen there!\n\nOn the third night, at the same hour, the whole castle was again\nshaken to the foundation by a horrible uproar and earthquake, and a\nvoice called out, \"Open the door, ye princes!\"\n\nThe Emperor's sons sprang nimbly to their feet and drew the bolts,\nupon which a monstrous Form entered, exclaiming, \"We are come to\ndemand the hand of your youngest sister!\"\n\n\"Never!\" shrieked the eldest and second brothers with one voice. \"We\nwill not let this one go away thus by night. Surely we must at least\nknow of this our youngest sister whom she marries and where she goes,\nthat we may be able to visit her!\"\n\nBut up spoke the youngest brother, \"Then I will give her away if you\nrefuse. Have you quite forgotten what our father charged us on his\ndying bed? It is not so long ago.\"\n\nHe took the sister by the hand and said, \"Here she is; take her home\nand live happily and joyfully with her!\"\n\nIn a twinkling the terrible Being disappeared in the midst of a\nfearful uproar.\n\nWhen the morning dawned the brothers felt oppressed by anxiety,\nbeing all uncertain as to the fate of their sisters. After a long\ninterval, during which no light had been thrown upon this matter,\nthe three brothers took counsel together:\n\n\"Good heavens, did ever one know of anything so mysterious! What\nhas become of our sisters? For we have not the least idea of their\nabiding-place, nor any clew which can lead to their discovery.\"\n\nAt length one said to the others, \"Let us go forth to seek our\nsisters.\"\n\nSo the three brothers made ready without losing a moment. They took\nmoney enough for a long journey and went out into the wide world to\nseek their sisters.\n\nIn the course of their wanderings they lost their way among the\nmountains, where they wandered for a whole day. When night fell they\ndecided, on account of their horses, to encamp for the night near a\npiece of water.\n\nAnd so they did. They reached the shore of a lake, pitched their tents,\nand sat down to supper. When they lay down to sleep the eldest brother\nsaid, \"You may sleep, but I will stand guard.\"\n\nSo the two younger brothers went peacefully to sleep, while the\neldest brother kept watch. At a certain hour of the night the lake\nbecame agitated with a swaying motion which startled the watcher not\na little. He soon observed a shapeless form arising out of the midst\nof the water and rushing straight toward him. It was a frightful\nmonster of a Dragon, with two great flapping ears, which was rushing\nso fiercely upon him. The Prince bravely drew his sword and, seizing\nthe Dragon, cut off his head. Then he sliced off the ears and put them\ninto his wallet, and threw the head and the body back into the lake.\n\nMeantime the day had dawned, and the brothers still lay in profound\nslumber, little dreaming of their eldest brother's heroic exploit. He\nnow awaked them, but said not a syllable about his nocturnal\nadventure. They left that place and continued their journey,\nand when twilight began to fall they once more agreed to seek a\nhalting-place near some piece of water. But they were much terrified\nto find themselves quite lost in a lonely wilderness. At last,\nhowever, they came upon a tiny lake, where they decided to spend\nthe night. They kindled a fire, unpacked cooking utensils and food,\nand took their evening meal. After that they disposed themselves to\nsleep. Then said the second brother, \"Do you two go to rest; I will\nmount guard to-night.\"\n\nThe two brothers therefore lay down to sleep, but the third cheerfully\nsat up and kept watch. Suddenly a rustling sound from the lake met\nhis ears, and he saw a sight which curdled the blood in his veins. A\ntwo-headed Dragon rushed tumultuously upon the brothers as if to\nannihilate them all three.\n\nQuick as thought the watcher sprang up, drew his glittering sword,\navoided the Dragon's attack, and cut off his two heads. Then he sliced\noff the ears and put them into his wallet, throwing the other parts\nof the monster back into the lake. His brothers knew nothing of the\naffair, for both slept soundly until dawn.\n\nWhen day broke the second brother called to them, \"Wake up, brothers,\nthe morning dawns!\"\n\nImmediately they sprang up, packed their goods, and set forth upon\ntheir way; but they had not the least idea where they were nor in\nwhat country.\n\nA great fear overwhelmed them that they might perish of hunger in\nthis wilderness, and they besought God to guide them, at least, to\nsome inhabited village or city, or to permit them to meet some human\nbeing, for they had already wandered three days in this inhospitable\nwilderness without coming to the end or finding any way out.\n\nIt was rather early in the day when they came to a pretty large\nlake and decided to go no farther, but to make their camp on this\nlake-side. For they said, \"If we go farther we shall very probably\nnot find any more water near which to make our camp.\"\n\nThey remained, therefore, in this place, built a great fire, supped,\nand made ready to sleep. Then said the youngest brother:\n\n\"Do you two go to rest. I will take the watch to-night.\"\n\nSo the two lay down and soon fell asleep, but the youngest brother\nkept a sharp lookout, and often threw a glance over the shining\nsurface of the lake.\n\nThus passed away a portion of the night, when suddenly the lake boiled\nup, surged, foaming, upon the fire and half-extinguished it. But\nthe watcher whipped out his sword and took his position close to the\nfire. Suddenly a three-headed Dragon rushed forth and made as if to\nkill the brothers.\n\nNow was the hero-spirit of the youth tested. He waked not his brothers,\nbut went forth alone to meet the Dragon. Three times he raised his\nsword, and each time he smote off one of the monster's heads. Then\nhe sliced off the ears, and threw the shapeless remains into the water.\n\nWhile this tremendous conflict was going on the fire died out, having\nbeen flooded by the water. The Prince would not awake his brothers,\nalthough he had no tinder-box of his own to rekindle it with, but\nresolved to search around a little in the wilderness in hope of\nstumbling upon some one who could help him.\n\nBut nowhere was there a mortal soul! At last he climbed into a high\ntree and looked around in all directions to see what he might see.\n\nAs he was thus gazing far and wide his eyes were suddenly attracted\nby a flash of light which seemed to be very near him. He descended\nthe tree and went in the direction of the light, hoping to get some\nfire wherewith to rekindle the fire for his brothers.\n\nHe went on for a long stretch, the light seeming always to be just\nbefore him, when suddenly he found himself standing before a cave\nin a rock in which nine Giants, gathered around an immense fire,\nwere roasting two men upon a spit, one on one side of the fire, the\nother on the other. An enormous copper caldron, full to the brim with\nhuman flesh, was bubbling over the fire.\n\nThe imperial Prince was horrified at this sight. He would have turned\nback, but whither should he go? Where was there a way of escape for\nhim? He quickly recovered his self-possession, however, and cried out,\n\"Good-morning, valiant comrades! I have long been seeking you!\"\n\nThey received him most cordially, answering, \"God be with thee,\nif thou art a true comrade.\"\n\nHe replied, \"Indeed I am, and shall be all my life long. I would risk\nmy head for you.\"\n\n\"All right,\" they answered. \"If you wish to be one of us, are you\nready to eat human flesh and take a share in our adventures?\"\n\n\"Yes, that I will,\" said the Prince. \"What you do, that will I\ndo also.\"\n\n\"Faith, then all is well!\" they said. \"Sit down among us.\"\n\nThey settled themselves around the fire. The caldron was taken off,\nits contents served, and the meal began. The Prince received his share,\nbut he knew how to manage, and, instead of eating, he slyly threw the\nmeat, bit by bit, behind him. He did the same with the roast. Then\nthe Giants said:\n\n\"Come, now, we must go a-hunting, for we must eat to-morrow as well\nas to-day.\"\n\nSo the nine Giants set out, with the Prince for a tenth.\n\n\"Come,\" they said to him, \"not far from here is a town in which reigns\nan Emperor. His city has fed us for several years.\"\n\nAs they drew near to the city they pulled up two fir-trees by the\nroots and carried them along. When they reached the town they set\none of the trees against the wall and called to the Prince, \"Come on,\nclimb up the wall here, and we will hand you the second tree. Seize\nit by the point and let it down on the other side, but keep hold of\nthe top so that we may climb down by the trunk.\"\n\nThe Prince accordingly scrambled up, but on receiving the second tree\nhe called out, \"I don't know where to stand it; I am not familiar\nwith the place and dare not shove it over. Do one of you come up and\nshow me, and then I will make it all right.\"\n\nOne of the Giants climbed up to him, seized the fir-tree by the point,\nand let it down on the other side of the wall. As he stood thus bent\nover, the Prince drew his sword and struck off his head, and the dead\nGiant tumbled off the wall into the city.\n\nThen the Prince cried to the others, \"All right! Come on now, one at\na time, that I may help you along in the same way.\"\n\nOne after another unsuspiciously climbed up, only to meet death at\nthe hands of the Prince. When he had made an end of all the nine he\nlet himself down by the fir-tree into the city, which he explored\nin every direction. No sound of human voice reached his ear. All was\na drear, horrible desolation. \"Has the whole population been robbed\nand murdered by the Giants?\" he thought to himself.\n\nFor a long time he wandered about the desolate city, until he came\nto a very high tower, from one window of which shone out the light\nof a taper. He threw open the door, rushed up the tower stair, and\nhastened straight to that room.\n\nOn the threshold he stood still in amazement. The room was richly\nhung and decorated with gold, silk, and velvet, and not a soul within\nexcept a maiden who lay upon a couch, outstretched in deep slumber. The\nPrince was rooted to the spot at the sight of the maiden, for she\nwas wonderfully beautiful. But at that moment he became aware of a\ngreat serpent which, gliding along the wall, stretched out its head\ndirectly over the head of the maiden, coiling itself up in readiness\nto spring and strike her upon the brow, between the eyes.\n\nThen the Prince sprang quickly with his pocket-knife, which in a\ntrice he had drawn from his pocket, and pinned the serpent's head\nto the wall. Then saying these words, \"God grant that no hand but\nmine may draw this knife out from the wall,\" he went quickly away. He\nclimbed up by one fir-tree and down by the other, and so got over the\nwall. Arrived at the Giants' cave, he took some fire and ran back to\nhis brothers, who were still buried in profound slumber. As he kindled\nthe fire day began to dawn in the east. He awakened his brothers,\nand they set forth upon their journey.\n\nThat same day they came to the highway leading to the before-mentioned\ncity. A mighty Emperor reigned there who used to go about the\ncity every morning shedding bitter tears because his people were\nexterminated and eaten by the giants, and because of his constant fear\nthat his only daughter would fall a sacrifice to their gluttony. On\nthis morning he was going about the city as usual. It lay empty and\ndeserted; the inhabitants had dwindled away to a mere remnant; most\nof them had found a grave in the giants' maws.\n\nAs I have said, the Emperor was thus reviewing his city when suddenly\nhis eyes fell upon the uprooted fir-tree which still leaned against the\nwall, and as he drew nearer he beheld a wonderful sight: there lay the\nnine Giants, the very pests of the city, with their heads all cut off!\n\nThis sight gave the King unspeakable joy. The people also gathered\ntogether to pray God that blessing and happiness might descend\nupon the giant-slayer. At that very moment a servant came from the\nimperial citadel to say that a serpent had nearly been the death of the\nEmperor's daughter. Upon this the Emperor betook himself straightway to\nthe citadel, and to the very chamber of his daughter. Arrived there,\nhe saw upon the wall the impaled serpent, and tried with his own hand\nto draw out the knife, but in vain.\n\nThen the Emperor sent a proclamation through his whole empire:\n\"Whoever has slain the giants and impaled the serpent, let him make\nhimself known, that the Emperor may richly reward him and bestow upon\nhim the hand of his daughter.\"\n\nThis proclamation was issued in every province of the empire. The\nEmperor also gave command that great inns should be erected upon the\nprincipal highways, where all travellers should be stopped and asked\nwhether they knew who had overcome the giants; and whoever should\ndiscover the man, let him hasten with utmost speed to the Emperor to\nreceive a rich reward.\n\nAccording to the imperial proclamation, great inns were erected upon\nthe principal highways, and every traveller stopped, examined, and\nthe whole affair explained to him.\n\nAfter a while the three Princes who were seeking their sisters came\nto pass the night at one of these inns. After supper the landlord\njoined the company and began to boast of his wonderful exploits. At\nlast he turned to the three brothers with the question, \"And what\ndoughty deeds have you done up to this time?\"\n\nThen the eldest brother began, \"As I and my brothers were upon our\ntravels it came to pass one night that we made our halt on the border\nof a lake in a great wilderness. While my brothers were asleep and\nI keeping watch, a Dragon came up out of the lake to destroy me. I\ndrew my sword out of the scabbard and struck off his head. If you\ndon't believe me, here are his ears.\" And he drew the ears out of\nhis wallet and threw them upon the table.\n\nWhen the second brother heard this, he began, \"I had the watch on\nthe second night, and I killed a two-headed Dragon. If you don't\nbelieve me, here are the ears which I cut from his two heads for a\nwitness.\" He said it and showed the two pairs of ears.\n\nThe youngest brother heard the whole in silence. The landlord now\nturned to him.\n\n\"By Heaven, youngster, your brothers are valiant heroes! Come, let\nus hear if you can also boast of any doughty deeds!\"\n\nHesitatingly the youngest began his story: \"Well, I also did a\ntrifle. It was on the very third night, beside the lake in the\nwilderness. You, my brothers, were asleep. I kept watch. At a certain\nhour of the night the lake surged up and a three-headed Dragon arose\nfrom it, who would have annihilated us. Then I drew a sword and cut\noff all three of his heads. If you don't believe it, here are the\nthree pairs of ears!\"\n\nUpon this the two brothers were dumb with astonishment. But the\nyoungest went on with his story: \"In the meantime the fire had gone\nout, and I went forth to seek a light. While straying around among\nthe hills I stumbled upon nine giants in a cave;\" and so he went on\nand told all his adventures in order, and every one was struck with\namazement at the wonderful tale.\n\nNo sooner had the landlord heard the story than he ran secretly to\nthe Emperor and told him the whole affair. The Emperor gave him a\ngreat sum of money, and sent his people at once to bring the three\nprinces before him.\n\nWhen they came into the emperor's presence he put the following\nquestion to the youngest: \"Is it you who performed the wonders in our\ncity, killing the giants and saving my only daughter from destruction?\"\n\n\"Yes, it was I, mighty Emperor,\" replied the Prince. Hereupon the\nEmperor married his daughter to the young Prince and raised him to\nthe highest office in the kingdom.\n\nThen the Emperor said to the two elder brothers, \"If it please you\nto remain in my empire, I will give you each a wife and will permit\nyou to build strongholds for yourselves.\"\n\nBut they told him they were already married, and explained that they\nhad undertaken this journey merely to seek out their sisters. When\nthe Emperor heard this he detained only the youngest brother, his\nson-in-law, and to the two other brothers he gave two mules laden\nwith gold. So the two brothers returned home to their own kingdom.\n\nStill the youngest brother thought continually of his sisters, and\nkept always in mind the hope of yet seeking them out. But on the other\nhand he was pained at the thought of parting from his young wife, and\nbesides he knew that the Emperor would never consent to his leaving\nhim. So he was continually racked with anxiety about his sisters.\n\nOne day the Emperor went hunting, and before setting out he said to\nhis son-in-law, \"Do you remain in the castle during my absence. I\ngive to you nine keys which you must keep carefully by you. I give you\nfree leave to open three or four rooms. You will find in them silver\nand gold in abundance; there is also no lack of weapons, or of any\nkind of treasure. You may even, if you feel inclined, open eight of\nthe rooms. But beware of unlocking the ninth. Leave that one alone;\nfor,\" he added, \"if you do not it will be the worse for you.\" Upon\nthis the Emperor departed, leaving his son-in-law at home alone.\n\nHardly was the Emperor gone when the Prince began to open one door\nafter another, until he had examined eight rooms in succession. His\neyes beheld in them treasures of all kinds. When at last he came to\nthe door of the ninth room he said to himself, \"I have seen and done\nso many wonderful things, and shall it be forbidden me to enter a\ncertain room?\"\n\nSo he unlocked the door and went in. What a sight! There was a man\nwhose legs up to his knees and whose arms up to the elbows were encased\nin iron; from his neck hung heavy iron chains, the ends of which were\nfastened to stakes driven into the floor on all sides, holding him so\nsecurely that he could not stir. Before him a stream of water gushed\nfrom a golden vessel and flowed into a golden basin which stood near;\nbeside it was a golden jug, beautifully adorned with jewels. The man\nlonged to drink the water, but he could not reach the jug.\n\nWhen the imperial Prince saw this he started backward; but the\nfettered man cried, \"Oh, come to me, I beseech you, in the name of\nthe living God!\"\n\nThe Prince drew nearer, and the man continued, \"Oh, do a pious act;\nlet me drain a jug of water! Be assured I will reward you for it with\nan additional life.\"\n\nThe Prince considered the proposition. \"Can there be anything better\nfor me than to secure for myself an additional life?\" He took the\njug, filled it, and raised it to the man's lips, who emptied it at\na single draught. Upon this the Prince asked him, \"In the name of\nHeaven, who are you?\"\n\nThe man answered, \"My name is Steelpacha.\"\n\nThe Prince now turned toward the door, but the man implored him,\n\"Give me another jug of water, and I will give you a second life.\"\n\nThe Prince thought, \"He will give me a second life; I have one into\nthe bargain. This will be a prodigy indeed!\" and he filled the jug\nagain and put it to the man's lips.\n\nHe then turned away, and already held the door-latch in his hand when\nSteelpacha called to him, \"O sir, come back to me! You have twice\nacted nobly by me; prove yourself a man a third time and I will give\nyou a third life. Take this jug, fill it to the brim, and pour it\nover my head; and for this labor of love I will give you a third life.\"\n\nWhen the Prince heard this he turned back, took the jug, filled it with\nwater, and poured it over the man's head. The moment the water touched\nhim the chains about his neck fell asunder and all the bonds which held\nhim were unloosed. Quick as lightning Steelpacha sprang up, spread\na pair of wings, flew out of the window, snatched up the Princess,\nthe wife of his deliverer, took flight with her under his wing,\nand in a moment had disappeared from view. That was a prodigy indeed!\n\nThe Prince now looked forward with deepest dread to the Emperor's\nreturn. However, when the Emperor came home, the Prince told the\nwhole story exactly as it had happened. The Emperor was beside himself\nwith grief. \"Why did you do thus?\" said he reproachfully. \"Did I not\nexpressly forbid you to enter the ninth room?\"\n\nThe Prince answered soothingly, \"Don't be angry with me. I will go\nat once to seek Steelpacha and rescue my wife from him.\"\n\nThe Emperor tried to dissuade him from this plan. \"Don't do that,\"\nsaid he; \"you shall on no account move a step from this place. You have\nno idea who Steelpacha is. Many an army and much treasure did I waste\nbefore I got him in my power. So remain quietly with me. I will provide\nanother wife for you. And don't be unhappy; I love you as my own son.\"\n\nBut the Prince was deaf to all these persuasions, and adhered to his\nfirst resolution. He provided himself with the necessary money, mounted\nhis horse, and went forth into the world to seek Steelpacha. For a\nlong time he wandered about, and at last he arrived at a city. He was\ngazing around with some curiosity, when suddenly a woman called to\nhim from a balcony, \"You Prince, get down from your horse and come\ninto the court!\"\n\nAs the Prince entered the court the woman came to meet him. He looked\nnarrowly at her and recognized his eldest sister. They flew into each\nother's arms and lavished sweet kisses upon each other.\n\nThe sister was the first to speak. \"Come out upon the balcony with\nme, brother.\"\n\nWhen they were upon the balcony the Prince asked his sister whom she\nhad married, and she answered, \"I am married to the Emperor of the\nDragons. My husband is himself a Dragon. So, brother, it would be\nworth your while to hide, for my husband often says he would cut his\nbrothers-in-law in small bits if he ever laid eyes upon them. Let me\nfirst question him; if he promises to do you no harm I will tell him\nof your arrival.\"\n\nSo said and so done. The sister concealed her brother and his\nhorse. The evening drew on. The Dragon's supper was ready; they were\nawaiting his arrival, when at last he came. When he flew in the whole\nearth was bathed in blinding light; but he had hardly entered when\nhe called to his wife:\n\n\"Wife, I smell men's bones. Who is here? Tell me quick!\"\n\n\"No one is here,\" she answered.\n\n\"That is not possible,\" said he.\n\nUpon this the wife said, \"I want to ask you a question, and do you\nanswer me truly and honestly. Would you do any harm to my brothers\nif they happened to come here?\"\n\nThe Dragon-emperor answered, \"I would have the eldest and the second\nkilled and roasted, but I would do nothing to the youngest.\"\n\nUpon this she said, \"My youngest brother, your brother-in-law,\nis arrived.\"\n\nWhen the Dragon-emperor heard this he cried, \"Out with him, then!\" And\nwhen the sister brought her brother from his hiding-place the Emperor\nran to meet him and showered kisses upon him.\n\n\"Welcome here, brother-in-law!\"\n\n\"God be with you, sister's husband!\"\n\n\"Where were you hiding?\"\n\n\"Here I am!\" And he told him the object of his journey, from beginning\nto end.\n\nThe Dragon-emperor said to him, \"You are running the greatest risk,\nGod help you! The day before yesterday Steelpacha flew past with your\nwife. I was awaiting him with seven thousand dragons, but we could\nnot overcome him. I adjure you, let that fiend alone. I will give\nyou money to your heart's desire; just go quietly home.\"\n\nBut the Prince would not hear a word of this advice, and emphatically\ndeclared that he would continue his journey on the morrow. When the\nEmperor saw that he could not prevent him, nor induce him to turn back,\nhe drew a feather out of his wing and gave it to his brother-in-law,\nwith these words:\n\n\"Give good heed to what I now tell you. Take this feather of mine,\nand if you come across Steelpacha and find yourself in great danger,\nthen burn my feather; that very moment I will come to your aid with\nthe whole strength of my army.\"\n\nThe Prince concealed the feather in a safe place and went his way. He\ntravelled on and on until he reached a second great city. Here again,\nas he was going through the city, a woman called to him from a balcony:\n\n\"Ho, there, you Prince, dismount from your horse and come into\nthe court!\"\n\nThe Prince rode into the court. Behold, who comes to meet him? It\nis his second sister! They rush into each other's arms and kiss each\nother heartily. Then the sister led her brother into the castle.\n\nWhen she had put the horse into the stable she asked the object\nof his journey, and he told her the whole story of his adventures,\nfinally asking her, \"And whom have you married, dear sister?\"\n\nShe answered, \"I am married to the Emperor of the Falcons. He will\ncome home to-night. But I must carefully conceal you, for he is\nfurious against my brothers.\" So saying, she concealed the Prince.\n\nIn a little while the Falcon-emperor came home, and the whole city\nquaked with the tumult of his approach. Supper was served at once,\nbut not before he had cried to his wife, \"I smell men's flesh!\"\n\nThe wife answered, \"What are you thinking of, husband?\"\n\nAt last, after talking for some time of this thing and that, she asked\nhim, \"Would you do any harm to my brothers if they were to come here?\"\n\nThe Emperor said, \"It would surely go hard with the eldest and the\nsecond, but I would do nothing to the youngest.\" Then she told him\nof her youngest brother's arrival.\n\nThe Falcon-emperor commanded his wife to bring her brother before\nhim, and as soon as he beheld him he fell upon his neck and kissed\nhim. \"Welcome, dear brother-in-law!\"\n\n\"A lucky and joyful meeting, dear sister's husband!\" answered the\nPrince; upon which they sat down to supper.\n\nAfter supper the Emperor asked his brother-in-law concerning the object\nof his journey, and the Prince replied that he was seeking Steelpacha,\nand told him all his adventures. But the Emperor began to counsel him.\n\n\"Give up your journey,\" said he. \"Just let me tell you something\nabout Steelpacha. That very day on which he stole your wife I was\nawaiting him with five thousand falcons, and waged a fearful battle\nwith him. Blood flowed knee-deep around us, yet we could not prevail\nagainst him. And how shall you, a single man, overmaster him? So I\ngive you this well-meant advice: Go back home. So much of my treasure\nas your heart desires is yours; take it and go.\"\n\nBut the Prince answered, \"Hearty thanks for your offer, but go back\nwith my task unperformed I will not. No, never! I must yet find\nSteelpacha.\" For he thought to himself, \"Why should I not? Have I\nnot three lives?\"\n\nWhen the Falcon-emperor became convinced that he could not move him\nfrom his purpose he drew a feather out of his wing and gave it to him,\nwith these words, \"Here, take this feather of mine, and if you come\ninto great danger strike a fire and burn it. I will come at once to\nyour aid with all my forces.\"\n\nSo the Prince took the feather and set forth to seek Steelpacha.\n\nFor a long time he went up and down through the wide world, until at\nlast he reached a third city. He had hardly entered it when a woman\ncalled to him from a balcony, \"Dismount and come into the court!\"\n\nThe Prince turned his horse and rode into the court. Behold, here is\nhis youngest sister! They fall into each other's arms and lavish kisses\nupon each other. She led the horse into the stable, the brother into\nthe castle. Then the Prince asked, \"Sister, whom have you married?\"\n\nAnd she answered, \"My consort is the Emperor of the Eagles; it is he\nwhom I have married.\"\n\nWhen the Eagle-emperor came home that night his wife met him\naffectionately; but he paid no attention to her greeting, but asked\nher, \"What man has come into my castle? Tell me at once!\"\n\nShe answered, \"There is no one here,\" and they sat down to\nsupper. During supper she asked him, as if by chance, \"Would you do\nany harm to my brothers if they should suddenly arrive?\"\n\nThe Emperor answered, \"The eldest and the second I should kill without\nhesitation, but not the youngest. On the contrary, I would hasten to\nhis aid at any time, as far as it was in my power.\"\n\nThen she said to the Emperor, \"My youngest brother is come to pay us\na visit.\"\n\nThe Emperor commanded that he should be presented at once, went to\nmeet him, and greeted him with, \"Welcome, dear brother-in-law!\"\n\nThe other answered, \"A lucky and joyful meeting, dear sister's\nhusband!\"\n\nSo they sat down to the table.\n\nAfter supper they talked of one thing and another, and at last\nthe Prince told them that he was seeking for Steelpacha. When the\nEagle-emperor heard this he said everything he could think of to\ndissuade him from this idea.\n\n\"Dear brother-in-law,\" said he, \"leave that fiend alone and give up\nyour journey. Stay, rather, here with me; you shall be made happy in\nevery respect.\"\n\nBut the Prince paid no heed to his words, and as soon as morning\ndawned he made ready and set off to seek Steelpacha. But before he\nwent away the Eagle-emperor, who saw that he could not turn him from\nhis purpose, drew forth a feather from his wing and said:\n\n\"Take this feather, brother-in-law, and if ever you are in need or\ndanger, strike a fire and burn it. I will come at once with my eagles\nto help you.\"\n\nThe Prince put the feather in his pocket and set forth.\n\nThus he roved around the world from city to city, going ever\nfarther and farther, till at last one day he discovered his wife in\na cavern. She was not a little surprised to see him, and cried out\nto him, \"In the name of Heaven, husband, how came you here?\"\n\nHe hastily told her his adventures, and added, \"Wife, my wife! Quick,\nlet us flee!\"\n\nBut she hesitated. \"Where shall we go, since Steelpacha can overtake\nus in a moment? He will kill you on the spot, and bring me back\nhere again.\"\n\nBut the Prince, being mindful of the three lives which Steelpacha had\ngiven him, still coaxed his wife to flee, and they set out. Hardly\nhad they started when Steelpacha heard of it, gave rapid chase,\nand overtook them.\n\n\"Oho, little Prince!\" he cried out, \"you would steal my wife,\nwould you?\"\n\nHe tore her away from the Prince, and continued, \"This time I give you\nyour life, for I have not forgotten that I promised you three lives;\nbut go now, and never come back again after her, for if you do your\nlife is at stake.\"\n\nWith these words Steelpacha took the woman away, while the Prince\nremained alone, in doubt what to do next. At last he resolved to go\nafter his wife again.\n\nWhen he arrived near the cavern he waited for his opportunity till\nSteelpacha should be gone away; and once more he fled, taking his\nwife with him.\n\nSteelpacha soon heard of it, pursued after them, overtook them,\nfitted an arrow to his bow, and cried out, \"Would you rather that I\nkill you with this arrow, or shall I cut you down with my sword?\"\n\nThe Prince began to beg with all his might, and Steelpacha said to him,\n\"This second time I give you your life, but let me tell you one thing:\ndon't you try again to carry away this woman, for I will not again\ngive you your life, but will kill you on the spot as dead as a mouse.\"\n\nWith these words he seized the woman and carried her away, while\nthe Prince again remained alone, always planning how to rescue\nhis wife. Finally he said to himself, \"After all, why should I be\nafraid? I still have two lives--that one which he gave me and the\none I had before.\"\n\nSo he resolved to go back to his wife the next day when Steelpacha\nwas absent.\n\n\"Come,\" he said to her, \"let us flee!\" She objected that it was useless\nto flee, since they would be at once overtaken; but he constrained\nher to go with him.\n\nBut very soon Steelpacha overtook them, and cried out to the Prince,\n\"Wait, just wait! I will never forgive you this!\" The Prince was\nterrified and began to beg for mercy, but Steelpacha silenced him.\n\n\"You remember that I gave you three lives? All right; now I give you\nthe third, and you have nothing more to expect from me. So go home\nin peace, and beware of hazarding the life which God lent you.\"\n\nWhen the Prince saw that he was powerless against the might of\nSteelpacha he turned back homeward with a heavy heart. Suddenly he\nremembered what his brothers-in-law had said to him when they gave\nhim the feathers, and he said to himself, \"Come what come may, I will\ngo once more to rescue my wife, and in case of need I will burn the\nfeathers and call my brothers-in-law to my assistance.\"\n\nSo said and so done.\n\nHe went back to the cavern and saw his wife in Steelpacha's arms. He\nwaited around till the latter had gone away, and then showed himself\nto his wife. She was not a little frightened, and cried out in terror,\n\"In the name of Heaven! Is life so hateful that you come back again\nfor me?\"\n\nHe calmed her and told her that his brothers-in-law had promised to\nhelp him in utmost need. \"And therefore,\" said he, \"I am come for\nyou once more; make ready to flee.\"\n\nShe did so, and they hastened away; but Steelpacha soon got news of\ntheir flight, and cried to them from afar, \"Just wait, little Prince;\nyou haven't escaped me yet!\"\n\nBut as soon as the Prince saw Steelpacha he drew the three feathers\nand his tinder-box out of his pocket, struck a light, and kindled the\nfeathers one by one. But while they were kindling Steelpacha overtook\nhim, drew his sword, and cleft the Prince in half.\n\nThat very moment what a prodigy occurred! There came flying the\nDragon-emperor with his dragons, the Falcon-emperor with his falcons,\nand the Eagle-emperor with all his eagles, and waged battle with\nSteelpacha. Blood flowed in streams, but fortune favored Steelpacha,\nand he made off safely, carrying his prize, the Princess, with him.\n\nThe three emperors now took counsel over their brother-in-law's\nbody, and decided to recall him to life. So they summoned three of\nthe swiftest dragons and asked which one of them could most speedily\nbring some water from the river Jordan. The first one said, \"I can do\nit within half an hour\"; the second said, \"I can do it in a quarter of\nan hour\"; the third said, \"I will have it here in nine minutes.\" The\nemperors said to this one, \"Then set out, Dragon, as fast as possible.\"\n\nThe Dragon put forth all his impetuous strength, and truly within\nnine minutes he brought back the water from the Jordan. The emperors\ntook the water, poured it over the two portions of the Prince's body,\nand scarcely had the water touched them when the young man sprang\nupon his feet, safe and sound, as if nothing had happened to him.\n\nThe emperors then counselled him, \"Now go back home, since you have\nbeen restored to life!\"\n\nBut the Prince answered that he must once more try his luck, and,\nby one means or another, free his wife from the clutches of that\nfiend. His imperial brothers-in-law remonstrated:\n\n\"Do give it up! You will surely perish this time, for you have no\nlife at command except the one God lent you!\"\n\nBut for all answer the Prince remained dumb.\n\nThen the emperors said, \"All right; if you are bent upon trying again,\ncome what come may, at least don't attempt to get your wife away by\nflight, but beg her to wheedle Steelpacha into telling her wherein\nhis strength lies. Then bring us word, that we may help you to get\nthe best of him.\"\n\nSo the Prince stole secretly to his wife and told her how she should\ncoax Steelpacha to tell her the secret of his strength. Then he betook\nhimself to some place of safety.\n\nWhen Steelpacha came home the Princess beset him with questions. \"In\nHeaven's name, do tell me wherein your strength lies!\"\n\nSteelpacha answered, \"My pretty wife, my strength lies in my sword.\"\n\nThen the Princess prayed to the sword as if to God. At sight of\nthis Steelpacha burst into a mocking laugh and said to her, \"Oh,\nyou simple woman! my strength lies not in my sword but in my arrow.\"\n\nTherefore she fell upon her knees before the arrow and began to pray\nto it. Then Steelpacha said, \"My wife, some one must have well taught\nyou how to coax from me the secret of my strength. If your husband\nwere alive I should say it was he who had taught you.\"\n\nBut she swore by body and soul that no one had taught her, no one\nhad been there.\n\nAfter several days her husband came again, and she told him that\nthus far it had been impossible to learn from Steelpacha wherein his\nstrength lay. But the Prince answered, \"Try again,\" and went away.\n\nWhen Steelpacha came home she asked him anew wherein his strength\nlay. Upon which he answered her, \"Since I see that you have a high\nrespect for my strength, I will confess the truth about it.\"\n\nThen he told her: \"Far from here is a mountain-peak. On this\nmountain-peak lives a Fox. The Fox has a heart in which a bird is\nconcealed; this bird holds my strength. But that Fox is very hard to\ncatch, for he has many transformations.\"\n\nThe next day, when Steelpacha was away from home, the Prince came again\nto his wife to learn what he had told her. She repeated everything\ncarefully, and the Prince went straight away to his brothers-in-law\nwith the much-longed-for news. They received it with joy, and at once\nset out with the Prince to go to that mountain-peak.\n\nArrived there, they set the eagles upon the Fox, which immediately\ntook refuge in a lake and there changed himself into a gull with six\nwings. But the falcons gave battle to the gull and drove him thence. He\nflew high amid the clouds, the falcons ever following. In a trice the\ngull changed himself into a fox again and tried to escape into the\nearth; but, falling into the power of the eagles and all the rest of\nthe mighty host, he was surrounded and taken prisoner.\n\nThen the emperors commanded that the Fox should be cut open and his\nheart taken out. A fire was kindled, the heart cut open, the bird\ntaken out and cast into the flames. As soon as the bird was burned\nSteelpacha vanished forever.\n\nSo the Prince took his wife and went happily home.\n\n\n\n\"That is one of your very best stories,\" said the starosta. \"How\nit does bring back old times! While I was listening I could hardly\nbelieve that this big man here by the stove is I. It seemed rather\nas if I must be the little boy yonder.\"\n\n\"Did grandmother tell these same stories to you when you were little,\nfather?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"Many and many a time. And I'll warrant she has as many more to\ntell you as those you have heard already. But it is late, and we\nhave not had much sleep these last few nights. So every one to bed,\nand don't forget to thank God for a happy wedding and a good son\nand brother-in-law.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] Kumrikusha is from a Slavonic root signifying \"the bird of the\ndesert.\"\n\n[2] The Pleiades.\n\n[3] This is evidence that the story originated in lands where the\nsirocco is dreaded.\n\n[4] Maize; Indian corn.","title":"The Russian Grandmother's Wonder Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":52832}