missive from the korolevna Helena. Holla!"
Very glad indeed was the king of the island of Buzan, and glad
were all his subjects. The missive was read and the condemned were
pardoned.
"Evidently," the king said, "it is fated that the handsome and witty
Tsar Archidei and my beautiful daughter are to become husband and
wife."
Then the king treated the envoys and the brothers Simeon very well and
sent his blessings with them, as he himself did not wish to go, being
very old. The ship soon returned and the Tsar Archidei rejoiced over
it with his beautiful bride, and at once summoned the seven Simeons,
the seven brave peasants.
He said to them: "Thanks! thanks! my peasants, my brave tillers of
the soil. Take as much gold as you wish. Take silver also and ask for
whatever is your heart's desire. Everything shall be given you with
my mighty hand. Would you like to become boyars, you shall be the
greatest among the very great. Do you choose to become governors, each
one shall have a town."
The first Simeon bowed to the Tsar and cheerfully answered:
"Thanks also to thee, Tsar Archidei Aggeivitch. We are but simple
people and simple are our ways. It would not do for us to become
boyars or governors. We do not care for thy treasures either. We have
our own father's field, which shall always give us bread for hunger
and money for need. Let us go home, taking with us thy gracious word
as our reward. If thou choosest to be so kind, give us thine order
which shall save us from the judges and tax-gatherers; and if we
should be guilty of some offense, let thyself alone be our judge. And
do, we pray thee, pardon the seventh Simeon, our youngest brother. His
trade is surely bad, but he is not the first and not the last one to
have such a gift."
"Let it be as you wish," said the Tsar; and every desire was granted
to the seven Simeons, and each one of them received a big tumbler of
strong green wine out of the hands of the Tsar himself. Soon after
this the wedding was celebrated.
Now, honorable dames and gentlemen, do not judge this story of mine
too severely. If you like it, praise it; if not, let it be forgotten.
The story is told and a word is like a sparrow--once out it is out for
good.
[Illustration]
THE LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS
[Illustration] Somewhere in a town in holy Russia, there lived a rich
merchant with his wife. He had an only son, a dear, bright, and brave
boy called Ivan. One lovely day Ivan sat at the dinner table with
his parents. Near the window in the same room hung a cage, and a
nightingale, a sweet-voiced, gray bird, was imprisoned within. The
sweet nightingale began to sing its wonderful song with trills and
high silvery tones. The merchant listened and listened to the song and
said:
"How I wish I could understand the meaning of the different songs of
all the birds! I would give half my wealth to the man, if only there
were such a man, who could make plain to me all the different songs of
the different birds."
Ivan took notice of these words and no matter where he went, no matter
where he was, no matter what he did, he always thought of how he could
learn the language of the birds.
[Illustration: _Ivan learns the language of the birds_]
Some time after this the merchant's son happened to be hunting in a
forest. The winds rose, the sky became clouded, the lightning flashed,
the thunder roared loudly, and the rain fell in torrents. Ivan soon
came near a large tree and saw a big nest in the branches. Four small
birds were in the nest; they were quite alone, and neither father nor
mother was there to protect them from the cold and wet. The good Ivan
pitied them, climbed the tree and covered the little ones with his
"kaftan," a long-skirted coat which the Russian peasants and merchants
usually wear. The thunderstorm passed by and a big bird came flying
and sat down on a branch near the nest and spoke very kindly to Ivan.
"Ivan, I thank thee; thou hast protected my little children from the
cold and rain and I wish to do something for thee. Tell me what thou
dost wish."
Ivan answered; "I am not in need; I have everything for my comfort.
But teach me the birds' language."
"Stay with me three days and thou shalt know all about it."
Ivan remained in the forest three days. He understood well the
teaching of the big bird and returned home more clever than before.
One beautiful day soon after this Ivan sat with his parents when the
nightingale was singing in his cage. His song was so sad, however, so
very sad, that the merchant and his wife also became sad, and their
son, their good Ivan, who listened very attentively, was even more
affected, and the tears came running down his cheeks.
"What is the matter?" asked his parents; "what art thou weeping about,
dear son?"
"Dear parents," answered the son, "it is because I understand the
meaning of the nightingale's song, and because this meaning is so sad
for all of us."
"What then is the meaning? Tell us the whole truth; do not hide it
from us," said the father and mother.
"Oh, how sad it sounds!" replied the son. "How much better would it be
never to have been born!"
"Do not frighten us," said the parents, alarmed. "If thou dost really
understand the meaning of the song, tell us at once."
"Do you not hear for yourselves? The nightingale says: 'The time will
come when Ivan, the merchant's son, shall become Ivan, the king's son,
and his own father shall serve him as a simple servant.'"
The merchant and his wife felt troubled and began to distrust their
son, their good Ivan. So one night they gave him a drowsy drink, and
when he had fallen asleep they took him to a boat on the wide sea,
spread the white sails, and pushed the boat from the shore.
For a long time the boat danced on the waves and finally it came near
a large merchant vessel, which struck against it with such a shock
that Ivan awoke. The crew on the large vessel saw Ivan and pitied him.
So they decided to take him along with them and did so. High, very
high, above in the sky they perceived cranes. Ivan said to the
sailors:
"Be careful; I hear the birds predicting a storm. Let us enter a
harbor or we shall suffer great danger and damage. All the sails will
be torn and all the masts will be broken."
But no one paid any attention and they went farther on. In a short
time the storm arose, the wind tore the vessel almost to pieces, and
they had a very hard time to repair all the damage. When they were
through with their work they heard many wild swans flying above them
and talking very loud among themselves.
"What are they talking about?" inquired the men, this time with
interest.
"Be careful," advised Ivan. "I hear and distinctly understand them to
say that the pirates, the terrible sea robbers, are near. If we do not
enter a harbor at once they will imprison and kill us."
The crew quickly obeyed this advice and as soon as the vessel entered
the harbor the pirate boats passed by and the merchants saw them
capture several unprepared vessels. When the danger was over, the
sailors with Ivan went farther, still farther. Finally the vessel
anchored near a town, large and unknown to the merchants. A king ruled
in that town who was very much annoyed by three black crows. These
three crows were all the time perching near the window of the king's
chamber. No one knew how to get rid of them and no one could kill
them. The king ordered notices to be placed at all crossings and on
all prominent buildings, saying that whoever was able to relieve the
king from the noisy birds would be rewarded by obtaining the youngest
korolevna, the king's daughter, for a wife; but the one who should
have the daring to undertake but not succeed in delivering the palace
from the crows would have his head cut off. Ivan attentively read the
announcement, once, twice, and once more. Finally he made the sign of
the cross and went to the palace. He said to the servants:
"Open the window and let me listen to the birds."
The servants obeyed and Ivan listened for a while. Then he said:
"Show me to your sovereign king."
When he reached the room where the king sat on a high, rich chair, he
bowed and said:
"There are three crows, a father crow, a mother crow, and a son crow.
The trouble is that they desire to obtain thy royal decision as to
whether the son crow must follow his father crow or his mother crow."
The king answered: "The son crow must follow the father crow."
As soon as the king announced his royal decision the crow father with
the crow son went one way and the crow mother disappeared the other
way, and no one has heard the noisy birds since. The king gave
one-half of his kingdom and his youngest korolevna to Ivan, and a
happy life began for him.
In the meantime his father, the rich merchant, lost his wife and by
and by his fortune also. There was no one left to take care of him,
and the old man went begging under the windows of charitable people.
He went from one window to another, from one village to another, from
one town to another, and one bright day he came to the palace where
Ivan lived, begging humbly for charity. Ivan saw him and recognized
him, ordered him to come inside, and gave him food to eat and also
supplied him with good clothes, asking questions:
[Illustration: "_The old man went begging from town to town_"]
"Dear old man, what can I do for thee?" he said.
"If thou art so very good," answered the poor father, without knowing
that he was speaking to his own son, "let me remain here and serve
thee among thy faithful servants."
"Dear, dear father!" exclaimed Ivan, "thou didst doubt the true song
of the nightingale, and now thou seest that our fate was to meet
according to the predictions of long ago."
The old man was frightened and knelt before his son, but his Ivan
remained the same good son as before, took his father lovingly into
his arms, and together they wept over their sorrow.
Several days passed by and the old father felt courage to ask his son,
the korolevitch:
"Tell me, my son, how was it that thou didst not perish in the boat?"
Ivan Korolevitch laughed gayly.
"I presume," he answered, "that it was not my fate to perish at the
bottom of the wide sea, but my fate was to marry the korolevna, my
beautiful wife, and to sweeten the old age of my dear father."
[Illustration]
IVANOUSHKA THE SIMPLETON
[Illustration] In a kingdom far away from our country, there was a
town over which ruled the Tsar Pea with his Tsaritza Carrot. He had
many wise statesmen, wealthy princes, strong, powerful warriors, and
also simple soldiers, a hundred thousand, less one man. In that
town lived all kinds of people: honest, bearded merchants, keen
and open-handed rascals, German tradesmen, lovely maidens, Russian
drunkards; and in the suburbs all around, the peasants tilled the
soil, sowed the wheat, ground the flour, traded in the markets, and
spent the money in drink.
In one of the suburbs there was a poor hut where an old man lived with
his three sons, Thomas, Pakhom, and Ivan. The old man was not only
clever, he was wise. He had happened once to have a chat with the
devil. They talked together while the old man treated him to a tumbler
of wine and got out of the devil many great secrets. Soon after this
the peasant began to perform such marvelous acts that the neighbors
called him a sorcerer, a magician, and even supposed that the devil
was his kin.
Yes, it is true that the old man performed great marvels. Were you
longing for love, go to him, bow to the old man, and he would give you
some strange root, and the sweetheart would be yours. If there is
a theft, again to him with the tale. The old man conjures over some
water, takes an officer along straight to the thief, and your lost is
found; only take care that the officer steals it not.
Indeed the old man was very wise; but his children were not his
equals. Two of them were almost as clever. They were married and had
children, but Ivan, the youngest, was single. No one cared much for
him because he was rather a fool, could not count one, two, three,
and only drank, or ate, or slept, or lay around. Why care for such a
person? Every one knows life for some is brighter than for others.
But Ivan was good-hearted and quiet. Ask of him a belt, he will give
a kaftan also; take his mittens, he certainly would want to have you
take his cap with them. And that is why all liked Ivan, and usually
called him Ivanoushka the Simpleton; though the name means fool, at
the same time it carries the idea of a kind heart.
Our old man lived on with his sons until finally his hour came to die.
He called his three sons and said to them:
"Dear children of mine, my dying hour is at hand and ye must fulfill
my will. Every one of you come to my grave and spend one night with
me; thou, Tom, the first night; thou, Pakhom, the second night; and
thou, Ivanoushka the Simpleton, the third."
Two of the brothers, as clever people, promised their father to do
according to his bidding, but the Simpleton did not even promise; he
only scratched his head.
The old man died and was buried. During the celebration the family and
guests had plenty of pancakes to eat and plenty of whisky to wash them
down.
Now you remember that on the first night Thomas was to go to the
grave; but he was too lazy, or possibly afraid, so he said to the
Simpleton:
"I must be up very early to-morrow morning; I have to thresh; go thou
for me to our father's grave."
"All right," answered Ivanoushka the Simpleton. He took a slice of
black rye bread, went to the grave, stretched himself out, and soon
began to snore.
The church clock struck midnight; the wind roared, the owl cried in
the trees, the grave opened and the old man came out and asked:
"Who is there?"
"I," answered Ivanoushka.
"Well, my dear son, I will reward thee for thine obedience," said the
father.
Lo! the cocks crowed and the old man dropped into the grave. The
Simpleton arrived home and went to the warm stove.
"What happened?" asked the brothers.
"Nothing," he answered. "I slept the whole night and am hungry now."
The second night it was Pakhom's turn to go to his father's grave. He
thought it over and said to the Simpleton:
"To-morrow is a busy day with me. Go in my place to our father's
grave."
"All right," answered Ivanoushka. He took along with him a piece of
fish pie, went to the grave and slept. Midnight approached, the wind
roared, crows came flying, the grave opened and the old man came out.
"Who is there?" he asked.
"I," answered his son the Simpleton.
"Well, my beloved son, I will not forget thine obedience," said the
old man.
The cocks crowed and the old man dropped into his grave. Ivanoushka
the Simpleton came home, went to sleep on the warm stove, and in the
morning his brothers asked:
"What happened?"
"Nothing," answered Ivanoushka.
On the third night the brothers said to Ivan the Simpleton:
"It is thy turn to go to the grave of our father. The father's will
should be done."
"All right," answered Ivanoushka. He took some cookies, put on his
sheepskin, and arrived at the grave.
At midnight his father came out.
"Who is there?" he asked.
"I," answered Ivanoushka.
"Well," said the old father, "my obedient son, thou shalt be
rewarded;" and the old man shouted with a mighty voice:
"Arise, bay horse--thou wind-swift steed,
Appear before me in my need;
Stand up as in the storm the weed!"
And lo!--Ivanoushka the Simpleton beheld a horse running, the earth
trembling under his hoofs, his eyes like stars, and out of his mouth
and ears smoke coming in a cloud. The horse approached and stood
before the old man.
"What is thy wish?" he asked with a man's voice.
The old man crawled into his left ear, washed and adorned himself,
and jumped out of his right ear as a young, brave fellow never seen
before.
"Now listen attentively," he said. "To thee, my son, I give this
horse. And thou, my faithful horse and friend, serve my son as thou
hast served me."
Hardly had the old man pronounced these words when the first cock crew
and the sorcerer dropped into his grave. Our Simpleton went quietly
back home, stretched himself under the icons, and his snoring was
heard far around.
"What happened?" the brothers again asked.
But the Simpleton did not even answer; he only waved his hand. The
three brothers continued to live their usual life, the two with
cleverness and the younger with foolishness. They lived a day in and
an equal day out. But one morning there came quite a different day
from all others. They learned that big men were going all over the
country with trumpets and players; that those men announced everywhere
the will of the Tsar, and the Tsar's will was this: The Tsar Pea and
the Tsaritza Carrot had an only daughter, the Tsarevna Baktriana,
heiress to the throne. She was such a beautiful maiden that the sun
blushed when she looked at it, and the moon, altogether too bashful,
covered itself from her eyes. Tsar and Tsaritza had a hard time to
decide to whom they should give their daughter for a wife. It must be
a man who could be a proper ruler over the country, a brave warrior on
the battlefield, a wise judge in the council, an adviser to the Tsar,
and a suitable heir after his death. They also wanted a bridegroom who
was young, brave, and handsome, and they wanted him to be in love with
their Tsarevna. That would have been easy enough, but the trouble was
that the beautiful Tsarevna loved no one. Sometimes the Tsar mentioned
to her this or that one. Always the same answer, "I do not love him."
The Tsaritza tried, too, with no better result; "I do not like him."
A day came when the Tsar Pea and his Tsaritza Carrot seriously
addressed their daughter on the subject of marriage and said:
"Our beloved child, our very beautiful Tsarevna Baktriana, it is time
for thee to choose a bridegroom. Envoys of all descriptions, from
kings and tzars and princes, have worn our threshold, drunk dry all
the cellars, and thou hast not yet found any one according to thy
heart's wish."
The Tsarevna answered: "Sovereign, and thou, Tsaritza, my dear mother,
I feel sorry for you, and my wish is to obey your desire. So let fate
decide who is destined to become my husband. I ask you to build a
hall, a high hall with thirty-two circles, and above those circles
a window. I will sit at that window and do you order all kinds of
people, tsars, kings, tsarovitchi, korolevitchi, brave warriors,
and handsome fellows, to come. The one who will jump through the
thirty-two circles, reach my window and exchange with me golden rings,
he it will be who is destined to become my husband, son and heir to
you."
The Tsar and Tsaritza listened attentively to the words of their
bright Tsarevna, and finally they said: "According to thy wish shall
it be done."
In no time the hall was ready, a very high hall adorned with Venetian
velvets, with pearls for tassels, with golden designs, and thirty-two
circles on both sides of the window high above. Envoys went to the
different kings and sovereigns, pigeons flew with orders to the
subjects to gather the proud and the humble into the town of the Tsar
Pea and his Tsaritza Carrot. It was announced everywhere that the
one who could jump through the circles, reach the window and exchange
golden rings with the Tsarevna Baktriana, that man would be the lucky
one, notwithstanding his rank--tsar or free kosack, king or warrior,
tsarevitch, korolevitch, or fellow without any kinfolk or country.
The great day arrived. Crowds pressed to the field where stood the
newly built hall, brilliant as a star. Up high at the window the
tsarevna was sitting, adorned with precious stones, clad in velvet and
pearls. The people below were roaring like an ocean. The Tzar with his
Tzaritza was sitting upon a throne. Around them were boyars, warriors,
and counselors.
The suitors on horseback, proud, handsome, and brave, whistle and ride
round about, but looking at the high window their hearts drop. There
were already several fellows who had tried. Each would take a long
start, balance himself, spring, and fall back like a stone, a laughing
stock for the witnesses.
The brothers of Ivanoushka the Simpleton were preparing themselves to
go to the field also.
The Simpleton said to them: "Take me along with you."
"Thou fool," laughed the brothers; "stay at home and watch the
chickens."
"All right," he answered, went to the chicken yard and lay down. But
as soon as the brothers were away, our Ivanoushka the Simpleton walked
to the wide fields and shouted with a mighty voice:
"Arise, bay horse--thou wind-swift steed,
Appear before me in my need;
Stand up as in the storm the weed!"
The glorious horse came running. Flames shone out of his eyes; out
of his nostrils smoke came in clouds, and the horse asked with a man's
voice:
"What is thy wish?"
Ivanoushka the Simpleton crawled into the horse's left ear,
transformed himself and reappeared at the right ear, such a handsome
fellow that in no book is there written any description of him; no one
has ever seen such a fellow. He jumped onto the horse and touched
his iron sides with a silk whip. The horse became impatient, lifted
himself above the ground, higher and higher above the dark woods below
the traveling clouds. He swam over the large rivers, jumped over
the small ones, as well as over hills and mountains. Ivanoushka the
Simpleton arrived at the hall of the Tsarevna Baktriana, flew up like
a hawk, passed through thirty circles, could not reach the last two,
and went away like a whirlwind.
The people were shouting: "Take hold of him! take hold of him!" The
Tsar jumped to his feet, the Tsaritza screamed. Every one was roaring
in amazement.
The brothers of Ivanoushka came home and there was but one subject of
conversation--what a splendid fellow they had seen! What a wonderful
start to pass through the thirty circles!
"Brothers, that fellow was I," said Ivanoushka the Simpleton, who had
long since arrived.
"Keep still and do not fool us," answered the brothers.
The next day the two brothers were going again to the tsarski show and
Ivanoushka the Simpleton said again: "Take me along with you."
"For thee, fool, this is thy place. Be quiet at home and scare
sparrows from the pea field instead of the scarecrow."
"All right," answered the Simpleton, and he went to the field and
began to scare the sparrows. But as soon as the brothers left home,
Ivanoushka started to the wide field and shouted out loud with a
mighty voice:
"Arise, bay horse--thou wind-swift steed,
Appear before me in my need;
Stand up as in the storm the weed!"
--and here came the horse, the earth trembling under his hoofs, the
sparks flying around, his eyes like flames, and out of his nostrils
smoke curling up.
"For what dost thou wish me?"
Ivanoushka the Simpleton crawled into the left ear of the horse, and
when he appeared out of the right ear, oh, my! what a fellow he was!
Even in fairy tales there are never such handsome fellows, to say
nothing of everyday life.
Ivanoushka lifted himself on the iron back of his horse and touched
him with a strong whip. The noble horse grew angry, made a jump, and
went higher than the dark woods, a little below the traveling clouds.
One jump, one mile is behind; a second jump, a river is behind; and a
third jump and they were at the hall. Then the horse, with Ivanoushka
on his back, flew like an eagle, high up into the air, passed the
thirty-first circle, failed to reach the last one, and swept away like
the wind.
The people shouted: "Take hold of him! take hold of him!" The Tsar
jumped to his feet, the Tsaritza screamed, the princes and boyars
opened their mouths.
The brothers of Ivanoushka the Simpleton came home. They were
wondering at the fellow. Yes, an amazing fellow indeed! one circle
only was unreached.
"Brothers, that fellow over there was I," said Ivanoushka to them.
"Keep still in thy own place, thou fool," was their sneering answer.
The third day the brothers were going again to the strange
entertainment of the Tsar, and again Ivanoushka the Simpleton said to
them: "Take me along with you."
"Fool," they laughed, "there is food to be given to the hogs; better
go to them."
"All right," the younger brother answered, and quietly went to the
back yard and gave food to the hogs. But as soon as his brothers had
left home our Ivanoushka the Simpleton hurried to the wide field and
shouted out loud:
"Arise, bay horse--them wind-swift steed,
Appear before me in my need;
Stand up as in the storm the weed!"