The old devil waited and waited for some news from the young devils
about how they had destroyed the three brothers, but none came. He went
to find out for himself: he looked everywhere for the three, but found
only three holes.
"Well," he thought, "evidently they did not get the best of them. I
shall have to try it myself."
He went to find the brothers, but they were no longer in their old
places. He found them in different kingdoms. All three were living and
reigning there. That vexed the old devil.
"I shall have to do the work myself," he said.
First of all he went to King Semén. He did not go to him in his own
form, but in the shape of a general. He went to him, and said:
"I have heard that you, King Semén, are a great warrior. I have had good
instruction in this business, and I want to serve you."
King Semén began to ask him questions, and he saw that he was a clever
man, and so received him into his service.
The old general began to teach King Semén how to gather a great army.
"In the first place," he said, "you must collect more soldiers, for too
many people in your kingdom are walking about idly. You must shave the
heads of all the young men without exception, and then you will have an
army which will be five times as large as it is now. In the second
place, you must introduce new guns and cannon. I will get you the kind
of guns that fire one hundred bullets at once, as though pouring out
pease. And I will get you cannon that burn with their fire: whether a
man, or a horse, or a wall,--they burn everything."
King Semén listened to his new general, and ordered all the young men
without exception to be drafted as soldiers, and started new factories.
He had a lot of new guns and cannon made, and at once started a war
against a neighbouring king. The moment the enemy's army came out
against him, he ordered his soldiers to fire at them with bullets and to
burn them with the cannon fire. He at once maimed and burnt one-half the
army. The neighbouring king became frightened, and he surrendered and
gave up his kingdom to him. King Semén was happy.
"Now I will vanquish the King of India," he said.
But the King of India heard of King Semén, and adopted all his
inventions and added a few of his own. The King of India drafted not
only all the young men, but he also made all the unmarried women serve
as soldiers, and so he had even more soldiers than King Semén. He
adopted all of King Semén's guns and cannon, and introduced flying in
the air and throwing explosive bombs from above.
King Semén went out to make war on the King of India. He thought that he
would conquer him as he had conquered before; but the scythe was cutting
too fine,--the King of India did not give Semén's army a chance to fire
a single shot, for he sent his women into the air, to throw explosive
bombs on Semén's army. The women began to pour the bombs on Semén's
army, like borax on cockroaches, and the whole army ran away, and King
Semén was left alone. The King of India took possession of the whole of
Semén's kingdom, and Semén the Warrior ran whither his eyes took him.
The old devil had done up this brother, and he made for King Tarás. He
took the shape of a merchant and settled in Tarás's kingdom. He started
an establishment, and began to issue money. The merchant paid high
prices for everything, and the whole nation rushed to the merchant to
get his money. And the people had so much money that they paid all their
back taxes and paid on time all the taxes as they fell due. King Tarás
was happy.
"Thanks to the merchant," he thought, "I shall now have more money than
ever, and my life will improve."
And King Tarás fell on new plans. He began to build himself a new
palace: he commanded the people to haul lumber and stone, and to come to
work, and offered high prices for everything. King Tarás thought that as
before the people would rush to work for him. But, behold, all the
lumber and stone was being hauled to the merchant, and only the
labourers were rushing to the king.
King Tarás offered higher prices, but the merchant went higher still.
King Tarás had much money, but the merchant had more still, and the
merchant could offer better pay than the king. The royal palace came to
a standstill,--it could not be built.
King Tarás wanted to get a garden laid out. When the fall came, King
Tarás proclaimed that he wanted people to come and set out trees for
him; but nobody came, as they were all digging a pond for the merchant.
Winter came. King Tarás wanted to buy sable furs for a new coat, and he
sent out men to buy them. The messenger came back, and said that there
were no sables,--that all the furs were in the merchant's possession, as
he had offered a higher price, and that he had made himself a sable rug.
King Tarás wanted to have some stallions. He sent messengers to buy them
for him; but they came back, and said that the merchant had all the good
stallions, and they were hauling water and filling up the pond.
All the business of the king came to a stop. Men would not do anything
for him, but worked only for the merchant; all he received was the
merchant's money, for taxes.
And the king collected such a mass of money that he did not know what to
do with it, and his life grew bad. The king stopped planning things, and
only thought of how he might pass his life peacefully, but he could not
do so. He was oppressed in everything. His cooks, and his coachmen, and
his servants began to leave him for the merchant. And he began to suffer
for lack of food. He would send the women to market to buy provisions,
but there was nothing there, for the merchant bought up everything, and
all he received was money for taxes.
King Tarás grew angry and sent the merchant abroad; but the merchant
settled at the border and continued to do his work: as before, people
dragged for the merchant's money all the things from the king to him.
The king was in a bad plight: he did not eat for days at a time, and the
rumour was spread that the merchant was boasting that he was going to
buy the king himself with his money. King Tarás lost his courage, and
did not know what to do.
Semén the Warrior came to him, and said:
"Support me, for the King of India has vanquished me."
But Tarás himself was pinched.
"I have not eaten myself for two days," he said.