There was once upon a time a cat and a cock, who agreed to live
together, so they built them a hut on an ash-heap, and the cock kept
house while the cat went foraging for sausages.
One day the fox came running up: "Open the door, little cock!" cried
she.--"Pussy told me not to, little fox!" said the cock.--"Open the
door, little cock!" repeated the fox.--"I tell you, pussy told me not
to, little fox!"--At last, however, the cock grew tired of always
saying "No!" so he opened the door, and in the fox rushed, seized him
in her jaws, and ran off with him. Then the cock cried:
"_Help! pussy-pussy!
That foxy hussy
Has got me tight
With all her might.
Across her tail
My legs do trail
Along the bridge so stony!_"
The cat heard it, gave chase to the fox, rescued the cock, brought him
home, scolded him well, and said, "Now keep out of her jaws in the
future, if you don't want to be killed altogether!"
Then the cat went out foraging for wheat, so that the cock might
have something to eat. He had scarcely gone when the sly she-fox
again came creeping up. "Dear little cock!" said she, "pray open
the door!"--"Nay, little fox! Pussy said I wasn't to." But the fox
went on asking and asking till at last the cock let him in. Then
the fox rushed at him, seized him by the neck, and ran off with
him. Then the cock cried out:
"_Help! pussy-pussy!
That foxy hussy
Has got me tight
With all her might.
Across her tail
My legs do trail
Along the bridge so stony!_"
The cat heard it, and again he ran after the fox and rescued the cock,
and gave the fox a sound drubbing. Then he said to the cock, "Now,
mind you never let her come in again, or she'll eat you."
But the next time the cat went out, the she-fox came again, and said,
"Dear little cock, open the door!"--"No, little fox! Pussy said I
wasn't to." But the fox begged and begged so piteously that, at last,
the cock was quite touched, and opened the door. Then the fox caught
him by the throat again, and ran away with him, and the cock cried:
"_Help! pussy-pussy!
That foxy hussy
Has got me tight
With all her might.
Across her tail
My legs do trail
Along the bridge so stony!_"
The cat heard it, and gave chase again. He ran and ran, but this time
he couldn't catch the fox up; so he returned home and wept bitterly,
because he was now all alone. At last, however, he dried his tears and
got him a little fiddle, a little fiddle-bow, and a big sack, and went
to the fox's hole and began to play:
"_Fiddle-de-dee!
The foxy so wee
Had daughters twice two,
And a little son too,
Called Phil.--Fiddle-dee!
Come, foxy, and see
My sweet minstrelsy!_"
Then the fox's daughter said, "Mammy, I'll go out and see who it is
that is playing so nicely!" So out she skipped, but no sooner did
pussy see her than he caught hold of her and popped her into his sack.
Then he played again:
"_Fiddle-de-dee!
The foxy so wee
Had daughters twice two,
And a little son too,
Called Phil.--Fiddle-dee!
Come, foxy, and see
My sweet minstrelsy!_"
Then the second daughter skipped out, and pussy caught her by the
forehead, and popped her into his sack, and went on playing and
singing till he had got all four daughters into his sack, and the
little son also.
Then the old fox was left all alone, and she waited and waited, but
not one of them came back. At last she said to herself, "I'll go out
and call them home, for the cock is roasting, and the milk pottage is
simmering, and 'tis high time we had something to eat." So out she
popped, and the cat pounced upon her, and killed her too. Then he went
and drank up all the soup, and gobbled up all the pottage, and then he
saw the cock lying on a plate. "Come, shake yourself, cock!" said
puss. So the cock shook himself, and got up, and the cat took the cock
home, and the dead foxes too. And when they got home they skinned them
to make nice beds to lie upon, and lived happily together in peace and
plenty. And as they laughed over the joke as a good joke, we may laugh
over it too!
THE SERPENT-TSAREVICH AND
HIS TWO WIVES
There was once a Tsaritsa who had no child, and greatly desired one,
so the soothsayers said to her, "Bid them catch thee a pike, bid them
boil its head and nothing but its head, eat it, and thou shalt see
what will happen." So she did so. She ate the pike's head and went
about as usual for a whole year, and when the year was out she gave
birth to a son who was a serpent.
And no sooner was he born than he looked about him, and said, "Mammy
and daddy! Bid them make me a stone hut, and let there be a little bed
there, and a little stove and a fire to warm me, and let me be married
in a fortnight!"--So they did as he desired. They shut him up in a
stone hut, with a little bed and a little stove and fire to warm him,
and in a fortnight he grew quite big, indeed he grew too big for his
little bed. "And now," said he, "I want to be married!" So they
brought to him all the fair young damsels of the land that he might
choose one to be his own true bride. Exceeding fair were all the
damsels they brought him, and yet he would choose none of them. Now
there was an old woman there, who had twelve daughters, and eleven of
these daughters they brought to the Serpent-Tsarevich, but not the
twelfth. "She is too young!" said they.--Then the youngest daughter
said, "Ye fools, not to take me too! Why, if I were brought to the
Serpent-Tsarevich, he would make me his bride at once."
Now this came to the Tsar's ears, and he commanded them to bring her
to him straightway. And the Tsar said to her, "Wilt thou be my son's
bride or not?"--And she said, "I will; but before I go to thy son,
give me at once a score of chemises, and a score of linen kirtles, and
a score of woollen kirtles, and twenty pairs of shoes--twenty of each,
I say."--So the Tsar gave them to her, and she put on the twenty
chemises, the twenty linen kirtles, the twenty woollen kirtles, and
the twenty pairs of shoes, one after the other, and went to see the
Serpent-Tsarevich. When she came to the threshold of his hut, she
stopped and said, "Hail, O Serpent-Tsarevich!"--"Hail, maiden!" cried
he. "Wilt thou be my bride?"--"I will!"--"Then take off one of thy
skins!" cried he.--"Yes," she said, "but thou must do the same."--So
he cast off one of his skins, and she cast off one of her twenty suits
of clothes. Then he cried out again, "Cast off another of thy skins,
maiden."--"Yes," she replied, "but thou must cast off one too!"--So he
did so. Nineteen times did he cast off one of his serpent's skins, and
nineteen times did she cast off one of her suits of clothes, till at
last she had only her every-day suit left, and he had only his human
skin left. Then he threw off his last skin also, and it flew about in
the air like a gossamer, whereupon she seized hold of it and threw it
into the fire that was burning on the hearth till it was all consumed,
and he stood before her no longer a serpent, but a simple Tsarevich.
Then they married and lived happily together, but the husband never
would go to visit his old father the Tsar, nor would he allow his
bride to go near the palace.
[Illustration: NINETEEN TIMES DID SHE CAST OFF ONE OF HER SUITS OF
CLOTHES]
The old Tsar sent for him again and again, but his son would never go.
At last the wife was ashamed, and said to her husband one day, "Dear
heart! let me go to thy father! I will only go for my own pastime,
lest he get angry. Why should I not go?" Then he let her go, and she
went to the court of the old Tsar, and took her pastime there. She
amused herself finely, and ate and drank her fill of all good things.
Now her husband had laid this command upon her, "Go and divert thyself
if thou wilt, but if thou tell my father and my mother what has
happened to me, and how I have lost my twenty serpent skins, thou
shalt never see me more." For they did not know that he was now no
longer a serpent, but a simple Tsarevich. She vowed she would never
tell; but for all her promises, she nevertheless told them at last how
her husband had lost his twenty serpent skins. Then she enjoyed
herself to her heart's content, but when she returned home she found
no trace of her husband--he had departed to another kingdom in the
uttermost parts of the world.
Then the poor bride sat her down and wept and wept, and when she had
no more tears to weep, she went forth into the wide world to seek her
husband. She went on till she came to a lonely little house, and she
went and begged a night's lodging from the old woman who dwelt there,
who was the Mother of the Winds. But the Mother of the Winds would not
let her in. "God preserve thee, child!" said she. "My son is already
winging his way hither. In another moment thou wilt hear the rustling
of his wings, in another moment he will slay thee, and scatter thy
bones to the four winds." But the bride besought the old woman till
she had her desire, and the old woman hid her behind a huge chest. A
moment afterward the son of the Mother of the Winds came flying up,
and he smelt out the bride, and said, "What's this, mother? There is
an evil smell of Cossack bones about the house!"--"No, it is not
that," said his mother, "but a young woman has taken shelter here, who
says that she is going in search of her husband."--"Then, mother, give
her the little silver apple, and let her go, for her husband is in
another kingdom." So they sent her away with the little silver apple.
She went on and on till night descended upon her, and she came to the
lonely abode of another old woman, and begged a night's lodging of her
also. But the old woman would not let her in. "My son will be here
presently," said she, "and he will slay thee."--"Nay, but, granny,"
said the bride, "I've already stayed the night with such as thou, for
I have lodged at the house of the Mother of the Winds."--Then the old
woman took her in, and hid her, for she was the Mother of the Moon.
And immediately afterward the Moon came flying up. "What is this,
little mother?" cried he. "I smell an evil smell of Cossack
bones!"--But she said to him, "Nay, my dear little son, but a young
woman has come hither who is obliged to search for her husband because
she told his father and mother the truth." Then the Moon said,
"'Twould be as well to let her go on farther. Give her the little
golden apple, and let her be off as quickly as possible, for her
husband is about to marry another wife." So she passed the night
there, and in the morning they sent her away with the little golden
apple.
She went on and on. Night again descended upon her, and she came to
the house of the Mother of the Sun, and begged her for a night's
lodging. But the old woman said to her, "I cannot let thee in. My son
is flying about the world, but he will fly hither presently, and if he
find thee here he will slay thee!"--Then the bride said, "Nay, but,
granny dear, I have already lodged with the like of thee. I have
lodged with the Mother of the Winds, and the Mother of the Moon, and
they each gave me a little apple." Then the Mother of the Sun also let
her in. Immediately afterward her son, the Sun, came flying up, and he
said, "Why, what is this, little mother? I smell an evil smell of
Cossack bones!"--But his mother answered, "A young woman came hither
who begged for a night's lodging." She did not tell her son the whole
truth, that the bride was in search of her husband, but he knew it
already, and said, "Her husband is about to marry another wife. Let
her go to the land where now he is, and give her the diamond apple,
which is the best and most precious apple in the whole world, and tell
her to hasten on to the house where her husband abides. They won't let
her in there, but she must disguise herself as an old woman, and sit
down outside in the courtyard, and spread out a cloth and lay upon it
her little silver apple, and all the people will come flocking around
to see the old woman who is selling apples of silver." So the bride
did as the Sun bade her, and went to that distant empire, and the
Empress of that empire, whom her husband had married, came to see what
she was selling, and said to her, "What dost thou want for thy silver
apple?" And she answered, "No money do I want for it. Oh, sovereign
lady, all that I require in exchange therefor is that I may pass the
night near my husband."--Then the Empress took the apple, and allowed
her to come into the bedchamber of the Tsarevich to pass the night
there; but first of all she gave the Tsarevich a sleeping draught so
that he knew nothing, and could speak not a word to her, nor could he
even recognize what manner of person his true wife was. Then only did
the Empress let her come into the room where her husband lay. And she
watched over him, she watched over him the live-long night, and with
the dawn she departed.
The next morning he awoke out of his drugged sleep, and said to
himself, "Why, what is this? It is just as if my first wife has been
weeping over me here, and wetted me with her tears!" But he told
nobody what he thought, nor did he say a word about it to his second
wife. "Wait a bit!" thought he, "to-morrow night I'll not go to sleep.
I'll watch and watch till I watch the thing out."
The next day the faithful wife spread out her little cloth again, and
laid upon it her golden apple. The Empress again came that way, went
up to her, and said, "Sell me that apple of thine, and I'll give thee
for it as many pence as thou canst hold in thy lap!"--But she replied,
"Nay, my sovereign lady! money for it I will not take, but let me pass
one more night in my own husband's room!"--And the Empress took the
apple, and let her go there. But first the Empress caressed and kissed
her husband into a good humour, and then she gave him another sleeping
draught. And the faithful wife came again, and watched and wept over
him and wetted him with her tears, and with the dawn she departed.
And now she had only one apple left, but that was the diamond apple,
the most precious apple in the world. And she said to the Empress,
"Let me watch by him for this apple but one night more, and I'll never
ask again!" And she let her. Now this night also her husband was
asleep. And his first wife came and immediately began to kiss him on
the head, but he said nothing. Then she kissed him again, and at last
he awoke and started up, and said, "Who's that?"--"It is I, thy first
wife."--"How hast thou found thy way hither?"--"Oh, I have been here
and there and everywhere. I have lodged with the Mother of the Winds,
and the Mother of the Moon, and the Mother of the Sun, and they gave
me three apples, and I gave these apples to thy Empress-wife, and she
let me watch over thee, and this is the third night that I have
watched by thy side."
Then he came to his right mind, and cried aloud that they should bring
in lights, and he saw that his faithful wife was quite an old woman.
Then he bethought him, and said, "Was ever the like of this known? My
first and faithful wife goes a-seeking her husband throughout the wide
world, while my accursed second wife, Empress though she be, sells her
husband for three apples!"
Then he bade them give his faithful wife rich garments as much as she
would, and she stripped off her disguise, and washed her face and grew
young again. But the faithless wife was tied to the tails of four wild
horses, and they tore her to pieces in the endless steppe.