There was once a peasant and his wife, and they had one son, and he,
though good, was a block-head, and no good at all for working in the
fields. "Husband mine," said the mother, "there is not much wit in
our son, and he will eat us out of house and home; send him away,
let him live by himself, and make his own way in the world." So
they sent away their son; they gave him a most wretched little nag,
a tumble-down hut in the wood, and a cock with five hens. And little
Kuz'ma lived alone, all alone in the dark wood.
The little she-fox scented out the fowls that were right under her
very nose in the wood, and determined to pay a visit to Kuz'ma's
hut. One day little Kuz'ma went out to hunt, and no sooner had he
left the hut than the little fox, who was on the watch all the time,
ran up, killed one of the hens, roasted it, and ate it up. Little
Kuz'ma returned, and behold! one of the hens was gone. And he thought:
"I suppose the vulture must have pounced down on it!" The next day
he again went out hunting. He happened to fall in with the fox, and
she asked him: "Whither away, little Kuz'ma?"--"I am going a-hunting,
little fox!"--"Well, good-bye!" And immediately she scampered off to
his hut, killed another hen, cooked it, and ate it. Little Kuz'ma came
home and counted his hens, and another was missing. And it occurred to
him: "What if the little fox has tasted of my hens!" On the third day
he nailed up the door and window of his hut strongly, so strongly,
and went about his business as usual. And the fox turned up from
somewhither and said to him: "Whither away, little Kuz'ma?"--"I go
a-hunting, little fox!"--"Well, good-bye!" Off she ran to Kuz'ma's hut,
and he followed her track back too. The fox ran all round the hut, and
saw that the door and window were nailed up strongly, oh so strongly;
how was she to get into the hut? So up she climbed and disappeared down
the chimney; then up came Kuz'ma and caught the fox. "Ah-ha!" cried
he; "look what a thief pays me visits! Wait a bit, my little lady;
you shall not get out of my hands alive." Then the little fox began
to implore Kuz'ma: "Don't kill me! I'll get thee betrothed to a
rich bride. Only please roast me one more fowl, the fattest, with
lots of nice oil!" Little Kuz'ma fell a-thinking, and then he killed
one more fowl for the little fox: "There, eat, little fox, and much
good may it do thee!" The fox ate it up, licked her chaps, and said:
"Behind this wood is the tsardom of the great and terrible Tsar Ogon,
[32] his wife is the Tsaritsa Molnya, [33] and they have a daughter,
a most beauteous Tsarevna; I'll marry thee to her."--"Who would take
a poor fellow like me?"--"Silence! that's not thy business." And the
little fox set off to Tsar Ogon and the Tsaritsa Molnya. She ran all
the way to them, entered their palace, made a low obeisance, and said:
"Hail, mighty, potent Tsar Ogon, and terrible Tsaritsa Molnya!"--"Hail
to thee, fox! What nice little piece of good news hast thou brought
us?"--"Well, I have come to you as a match-maker. You have the
bride and I have the young bridegroom, Kuz'ma Skorobogaty."--"Where
is he buried that he does not come himself?"--"He cannot quit his
principality. He rules over the wild beasts, and takes his pleasure
with them."--"So that's the sort of bridegroom you present us
with! Well, go back to him and say that he must send us forty forties
of gray wolves, and then we'll accept him as the bridegroom." Then
the little fox ran to the meadows which lay beneath this very wood and
began rolling about in these meadows. A wolf came running up and said:
"I see, gossip, that you've had a good feed somewhere or you would
not roll about like that."--"I wish I wasn't so full; I've been at
a banquet with the Tsar and the Tsaritsa. Do you mean to say that
you've not been invited there, gossip? Impossible! Why, all the wild
beasts were there, and as for the sables and ermines there was no end
to them! The bears were still sitting there when I left, and eating
like anything!" The wolf began to beg the fox humbly: "Little fox,
can't you take me to the Tsar's banquet!"--"Why not! Hearken! Go you
and collect by to-morrow forty forties of your brethren, the gray
wolves, and I'll lead the whole lot of you thither." On the following
day the wolves assembled and the fox led them to the Tsar's white
stone palace, placed them all in rows, and announced to the Tsar:
"Mighty and potent Tsar Ogon and terrible Tsaritsa Molnya, thy destined
son-in-law has sent thee gifts; lo! a whole herd of gray wolves does
obeisance to you, and the number of them is forty forties." The Tsar
bade them drive all the wolves into the enclosure, and said to the fox:
"If my destined son-in-law is able to send me wolves as a present,
let him now also send me just as many bears." The little fox ran to
little Kuz'ma and bade him roast another fowl, ate her fill of it,
and ran off again to the fenced meadows of the Tsar. Thither she
went and fell a-rolling about under the selfsame wood. And out of
the wood came running a shaggy bear and looked at the fox. "Well,
gossip fox," said he, "you have plainly had your fill, or what has
come over you to make you roll about in the grass so merrily?"--"Had
my fill! I should think so. Why I've been to the Tsar's banquet;
there was a whole lot of us beasts there, and of sables and ermines
no end. The wolves are eating there now, and a nice dinner they are
making of it." Bruin straightway began to beg the fox to let him go:
"Little fox, won't you lead me also to the Tsar's banquet?"--"Very
well; hearken. Bring together by to-morrow forty forties of black
bears, and I'll lead you thither with pleasure, for of course the
Tsar's cooks would not make ready for you alone." Old bandy-legs
wandered all about the woods, proclaimed the news to all the bears,
and got together as many bears as the fox had commanded, and she
led them to the Tsar's white stone palace, arranged them in rows,
and announced: "Mighty and potent Tsar Ogon, and terrible Tsaritsa
Molnya, your destined son-in-law salutes you with a present of forty
forties of black bears." The Tsar bade them drive the bears also
into the enclosure, and said to the fox: "If my destined son-in-law
can send me so many bears and wolves as a gift, let him now send us
also just as many martens and sables." The fox again hastened off
to Kuz'ma, bade him roast the last hen, together with the cock,
and when she had eaten them in his honour she went again to the
fenced meadows of the Tsar, and began rolling about in the grass. A
sable and a marten came running by. "Where have you been feeding so
fatly, sly Mrs. Foxy?" they asked. "What! ye live in the wood and
yet don't know that I am held in great honour by the Tsar? This day I
have conducted the wolves and the bears to his banquet; by this time
they will be unable to tear themselves away from the Tsar's tit-bits;
never have they had such a feed from the day of their birth." Then the
sable and the marten also began wheedling the fox. "Dear little dovey
gossip! wilt not thou lead us to the Tsar? We will only look on afar
off while the others eat."--"If ye will bring together forty forties
of your sables and martens a dinner shall be got ready for the whole
lot of you. But a couple of you all alone would not even be admitted
into the courtyard." The next day the sables and the martens came
together, and the fox led them to Tsar Ogon, made obeisance to him
on behalf of his future son-in-law, and presented him with the forty
forties of sables and martens. The Tsar accepted the gift, and said:
"Thanks! Tell my destined son-in-law to come to me himself; we want
to have a look at him, and it is time he saw his bride."
The next day the little fox again came running to court. The Tsar
asked her: "Where, then, is our destined son-in-law?" The little
fox replied: "He bade me bow low before you and say that to-day he
cannot manage to come anyhow!"--"How so?" "Well, he is frightfully
busy; he is getting together all his things to come to you, and just
now he is counting up his treasures. So now he begs you to lend him
a corn-measure, he must measure his silver money; his corn-measures
are all choke-full of gold." The Tsar, without more ado, gave the fox
the corn-measure, but he said to himself: "Well done, fox! This is
something like a son-in-law that has fallen to our lot. He actually
measures his gold and silver with corn-measures!" The next day the fox
again came running to court and returned the Tsar his corn-measure
(but she had stuck little silver pieces all about the corners of
it), and said: "Your destined son-in-law, Kuz'ma Skorobogaty, bade
me bow low to you and say that to-day he'll be with you with all
his riches." The Tsar was delighted, and bade them have everything
ready for the reception of the precious guest. But the little fox set
off for Kuz'ma's hut, and there, for the last two days, Kuz'ma had
been lying on the stove--hungry, oh! so hungry, and waiting. The
fox said to him: "Why dost thou lie down like that? I have got
thee a bride from Tsar Ogon and the Tsaritsa Molnya. Let us come
to them as guests and celebrate the wedding!"--"Why, fox! art thou
out of thy wits? How can I go when I haven't even clothes to cover
me?"--"Go! saddle thy nag, I say! and don't bother thy head about
that!" Kuz'ma brought out his sorry jade from beneath the shed,
covered it with a mat, put on the reins, jumped on its back, and set
off after the fox at a light trot. They were already drawing near to
the palace, when they came across a little bridge directly in their
path. "Jump off thy horse!" said the fox to Kuz'ma, "and saw through
the buttresses of this bridge." So little Kuz'ma fell a-sawing with
all his might, and sawed through the buttresses of the bridge. Down
came the bridge with a crash. "Now, strip thyself naked, throw thy
horse and all thy clothes into the water, and roll about in the sand,
and wait for me!" That's what the fox said; and then off she ran to
the Tsar and the Tsaritsa, and cried to them from afar: "Hi, dear
little father! Such an accident! Help, help!"--"What's the matter,
dear little foxy?" asked the Tsar.--"Why, this; the bridges in your
tsardom are not strong enough. Your destined son-in-law was coming to
you with all his riches, and this precious bridge broke down beneath
the weight of them, and all his wealth and all his people have fallen
in, and he himself is lying on the bridge more dead than alive!" The
Tsar made a great to-do, and shrieked at his servants, and cried:
"Haste ye, haste ye! as quickly as ye can, and take of my royal robes
for Kuz'ma Skorobogaty, and save him from mortal harm!" And the envoys
of the Tsar ran as fast as they could to the bridge, and there they
saw little Kuz'ma rolling about in the sand. They picked him up,
washed and dried him all over, arrayed him in the royal robes, curled
his hair, and led him respectfully to the palace. The Tsar, full of
joy that his destined son-in-law had been delivered from such peril,
bade them ring all the bells, fire all the guns, and celebrate the
wedding at once. So they crowned Kuz'ma as the groom of the Tsarevna,
and he dwelt with his father-in-law, and sang songs all day; and the
fox was held in high honour at court till life at court ceased to
bore her, and she had no longer any desire to return to the woods.