A long time ago, far from our days, in a certain tsardom in a certain
Empire lived a famous Tsar Afron Afronovich, and he had three youthful
sons: the eldest the Tsarevich Dimitry, the second the Tsarevich
Vasily, and the youngest the Tsarevich Ivan. The sons of Afron
were all grown up; the youngest had reached his seventeenth year,
while Tsar Afron himself had left sixty years behind him. And once,
as Tsar Afron fell a-thinking and looked at his sons, his heart grew
sad: "Look now!" thought he, "life is a good thing to these youths,
and they rejoice in God's fair world; but, as for me, I feel old
age drawing nigh, and divers diseases begin to afflict me, and the
wide world has now but little delight for me. How will it be with me
henceforth? How shall I escape old age?" Thus he thought and thought,
and so he fell asleep. And a vision appeared to the Tsar. Somewhere
or other beyond lands thrice-nine, in the Empire of Thrice-ten,
dwelt the Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible, the daughter of three
mothers, the granddaughter of three grandmothers, the sister of
nine brothers; and under the pillow of this Tsarevna was preserved
a flask of living-water, and whoever drank of this water instantly
became thirty years younger. No sooner did the Tsar Afron awake from
his sleep, than he called together his children and the wise men of
his realm, and said to them: "Interpret me this dream, ye my sages
and cunning counsellors. What shall I do, and how can I discover this
Tsarevna?" The sages were silent. The cunning counsellors stroked their
long gray beards, looked up and down, scratched their heads, and thus
they answered the Tsar Afron: "Oh, Sovereign Tsar! though we have not
seen this thing with our eyes, yet our ears have heard of this Tsarevna
Loveliness-Inexhaustible; but how to find her, and which way to get
at her, that we know not." No sooner did the three Tsarevichs hear
this, when with one voice they thus implored their father the Tsar:
"Dear father Tsar! give us thy blessing, and send us to the four
corners of the earth, that we may see people and show ourselves and
discover the Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible." The father agreed,
gave them provision for the journey, took leave of them tenderly,
and sent them off to the four corners of the earth. When the two
elder brothers got beyond the city gates they turned to the right,
but the youngest brother, the Tsarevich Ivan, turned to the left. The
elder brothers had got only a hundred miles and no more from home,
when they met an old man, and he asked them: "Whither are ye going,
young men? Is your journey far?"--But the Tsareviches replied:
"Take yourself off, old rogue! What business is it of yours?" The
old man said nothing but went on his way. The Tsareviches went on
and on, all that day and the next and a whole week, and they came to
such a wilderness that they could see neither earth nor sky, nor any
living being, nor any habitation; and in the deepest depth of this
wilderness they met another old man, even older than the first. "Hail,
good youths!" said he to the Tsareviches. "Are ye truants and rest,
or are ye in quest?"--"Why, we are in quest of something, of course. We
are going in search of the Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible, with her
flask of living-water!"--"Nay, my good youths!" said the aged stranger,
"'twere better ye did not try to get thither."--"And why, pray?"--"I'll
tell you. Three rivers cross this road--rivers large and broad. On
these rivers are three ferries. At the first ferry they'll cut off
your right arm, at the second your left, but at the third they'll
cut off your head!" The brother Tsareviches were sore distressed,
their giddy pates hung down below their sturdy shoulders, and they
thought to themselves: "Ought we not to have some regard for our
father's head and our own heads also? 'Twill be much better to return
home alive and well, and wait for fine weather by the sea." And they
turned back; and when they were a twenty-four hours' journey from home,
they resolved to rest in the fields; and they spread their tents, with
the golden tent-poles, let their horses out to graze, and said: "Here
we'll stop and await our brother, and while away the time in idleness."
But with the Tsarevich Ivan it fared far otherwise on his
journey. There met him the same old man who had encountered his
brothers, and this old man asked him the self-same question: "Whither
art thou going, young man? Is thy journey far?" And the Tsarevich
Ivan answered him: "What is that to thee? I want to have nothing to
say to thee!"--But afterwards, when he had gone on a little further,
he bethought him of what he had done. "Why did I answer the old man so
rudely? Old people are full of ideas! perchance he might have advised
me well." So he turned his horse, overtook the old man, and said:
"Stay, my father! I did not quite hear what thou saidst to me."--"I
asked thee whether thy journey was far?"--"Well, my father, the fact
is, I am in search of the Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible, the
daughter of three mothers, the granddaughter of three grandmothers,
the sister of nine brothers. I want to get from her the living-water
for my dad the Tsar."--"Well," said the old man, "'tis well for thee,
good youth, that thou hast answered courteously, and therefore I
will put thee in the right way. But thou wilt never get there on
an ordinary horse."--"Then whence shall I get me an extraordinary
horse?"--"I'll tell thee. Return home, and bid your grooms drive all
thy father's horses down to the blue sea, and whichever horse breaks
away from the others and goes right into the sea up to his neck, and
begins to drink till the blue sea begins to rise and dash from shore
to shore--him seize and mount." "I thank thee for thy good words,
my father." The Tsarevich did as the old man bade him. He chose the
most valiant charger from among his father's horses, watched all
through the night, and when on the following morning he went out and
mounted into the saddle, the horse spoke to him, with a man's voice:
"Tsarevich Ivan, dismount! I will buffet thee thrice, to give thee
the muscles of a hero." He buffeted once, he buffeted twice, but the
third time he buffeted not at all. "I see," cried he, "that if I were
to buffet thee a third time, the whole land would not be able to hold
us both." Then the Tsarevich Ivan sat on the horse, put on knightly
armour, took out of the armoury of his father's palace an old heroic,
trusty blade, and set out upon his quest. He went for a day and for a
night, for a month, and for two months, and three; and so he came to
a place where his horse was in water up to the knees, and in grass
up to the breast, while he, poor youth, had nothing to eat. And in
the midst of this wilderness the Tsarevich Ivan found a miserable
hut; this hut stood upon fowl's legs, and in it was the Baba-Yaga;
the bony-legged witch was lying down, and her legs stretched from
corner to corner. The Tsarevich went into the hut and cried: "Hail,
Granny!"--"Hail to thee, Tsarevich Ivan; hast come to rest, or art
thou in quest?"--"I am in quest of something, Granny. I am off beyond
lands thrice-nine, to the Empire of Thrice-ten, I seek the Tsarevna
Loveliness-Inexhaustible. I want to get from her the living-water for
my dad, the Tsar." The Baba-Yaga answered: "Though I have not seen it
with my eyes, I have heard of it with my ears; but thou wilt never
get there."--"Wherefore?"--"Because there, there are three ferries;
at the first they'll cut off thy right hand, at the second thy left,
and at the third thy head."--"Well, Granny, one single head is not such
a great matter. I'll go--and God's will be done!"--"Alas, O Tsarevich
Ivan! 'twere much better to turn back; thou art still young and tender,
thou hast never been in dangerous places, thou hast never run great
terrors."--"Nay, Granny! He who tugs at the rope must not cry, I'm
broke!" [34] So he took leave of the Baba-Yaga and went on further,
and he came at last to the first ferry, and he saw the ferrymen on the
other side, lying down asleep. The Tsarevich Ivan stood on the bank and
thought to himself: "If I call to them, I shall deafen them for ever,
and if I whistle with all my might, I shall upset the ferry-boat." So
he whistled a half whistle, and immediately the ferrymen started from
their slumber and rowed him across the stream. "What do ye want for
your labours, my friends?" asked the Tsarevich Ivan.--"Well, what's
the use of haggling? Give us your right arm!" cried the ferrymen,
with one voice.--"Nay, nay; I want my arm for myself!" cried the
Tsarevich Ivan; and drawing forth his stout blade, he struck to
the right and to the left, and beat all the ferrymen till they were
half dead, and then went on further. And in this way he crossed the
other two fords also. At last he came to the Empire of Thrice-ten,
and on the borders of it stood a wild man, in stature like a tree of
the forest, as thick-set as a haystack; there he stood, and in his
hand he held a club of oak. And the Giant said to the Tsarevich Ivan:
"Whither art thou going, oh worm?"--"I am going to the realm of the
Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible, to get the living-water for my
father, the Tsar."--"What, thou pigmy! I've been guarding her realm
here these hundred years. I have had my fill of heroes--not like thee
were the youths who came hither, yet they all fell beneath my hand,
and their bones all lie over there. But as for thee, thou art a mere
worm!" The Tsarevich saw that he could not overcome the giant, so he
turned his horse aside. He went on and on till he came to the very
depths of the forest, till he came upon a hut, and in this hut sat
a very old, old woman. The moment she saw the good youth she cried:
"Hail! Tsarevich Ivan, why hath God sent thee hither?" The Tsarevich
told her all his secrets. The old woman had pity on him, and drew from
her stove a magic poisonous weed and a little ball. "Go into the open
plain," said she, "rake up a fire, and throw this magic poisonous
weed into it. But mark me now; stand thou at the back of the blast,
lest the smoke from the fire blow upon thee. This blast will cause the
giant to be overcome by a deep sleep; then do thou cut off his head,
but roll the ball before thee and follow whithersoever it rolls. The
ball will lead thee to those very places where reigns the Tsarevna
Loveliness-Inexhaustible. The Tsarevna walks about there for nine days,
and on the tenth day after that she will refresh herself with the sleep
of heroes in her own place. But look to it that thou dost not enter
in by the gate, but leap right over the wall with all thy might, and
do not stick in the strings at the top of the wall, lest thou arouse
the whole empire, when thou wilt not escape alive. But the moment
thou hast leaped over the wall, go straight into the palace--into
the back-chamber; open the door very, very softly, and draw out the
flask of living-water from beneath the pillow of the Tsarevna. But
when thou hast got the flask, hasten back as quickly as thou camest,
nor look for an instant upon the beauty of the Tsarevna, lest it be too
much for thee, good youth!" The Tsarevich Ivan thanked the old woman,
and did everything she bade him. As soon as he had lit the fire, he
threw the weed into it so that the smoke spread in the direction where
the wild man was standing on guard; the eyes of the giant grew dim,
he began to yawn and stretch, he laid him on the damp earth and began
to sleep soundly--very soundly. The Tsarevich Ivan cut off his head,
rolled the little ball along, and went on further. He went on and on,
and far away the golden palace began to gleam amidst the green of the
forest. All at once a column of dust came out of the palace and along
the road, and the gleam of lances and cuirasses was visible through
the dust, and there was a sound as of the trampling of many warlike
chargers. The little ball rolled out of the road a little on one side;
the Tsarevich Ivan, following after it, also turned from the path, went
among the bushes, and let his horse out to grass. And from his place in
the bushes he saw approaching the Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible,
and she diverted herself with her warriors in the green meadows. And
the whole of the Tsarevna's array consisted of maidens alone, each one
more beautiful than her neighbour. But the most lovely of them all was
the inexhaustibly lovely Tsarevna. She pitched her tent in the meadows,
and for nine days she and her maidens diverted themselves with divers
pastimes. But the Tsarevich, like a hungry wolf, looked out from his
hiding-place at the Tsarevna, he could not take his eyes from her,
and look as he might he could not look his fill. At last, on the tenth
day, when every one in the Tsarevna's golden courts was asleep, he,
spurring his horse with all his might, leaped right over the wall
into the garden-court of the ladies, fastened his horse to a wooden
post, and stealthily as a thief made his way into the palace, right
into the very cabinet where, extended on her downy bed, with her fair
locks scattered all about, lay the Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible,
sleeping an unwakable heroic sleep. The Tsarevich drew from under
her pillow the flask with the living-water, and was about to run off
as quickly as he could, but it was too much for his youthful heart,
and leaning over the Tsarevna, he kissed her thrice on her lips,
which were sweeter than sugar. And by the time he had got out of the
chamber, mounted his horse, and leaped across the wall, she awoke
from his kisses. Loveliness-Inexhaustible leaped on her swift-flying
mare, and hastened after the Tsarevich Ivan. The Tsarevich urged on
his good steed, pulled at the silken reins, and lashed its sides
with his whip. And the horse spoke to him with a man's voice:
"Wherefore dost thou beat me, Tsarevich Ivan? Neither the fowls
of the air nor the beasts of the forest can escape or hide from
that mare. She runs so that the earth trembles, she leaps across
swift rivers from shore to shore, hills and dales vanish away
beneath her feet!" And it had only time to speak these words when
the Tsarevna overtook the good youth, struck him with her swinging
blade, and pierced him full in the breast. Down fell the Tsarevich
Ivan from his horse on the moist ground; his bright eyes closed,
his red blood flowed. Loveliness-Inexhaustible gazed into his eyes,
and a great sorrow overcame her; she saw that such a lovely youth as
that was not to be found in the wide world. And she placed her white
hand on the wound, washed it with living-water out of her flask,
and immediately the wound healed up, and the Tsarevich Ivan arose
well and unharmed.--"Wilt thou take me to wife?"--"That I will,
Tsarevna!"--"Then return to thy kingdom, and if after three years
thou hast not forgotten me, I will be thy wife, and thou shalt be
my husband." And the destined bridegroom took leave of his bride,
and they parted in different directions. The Tsarevich Ivan went on
and on for a long time, and saw many things, and at last he came
upon a tent on a mountain, with a golden tent-pole, and round the
tent two good horses were feeding on white summer-wheat and drinking
mead, and in the tent were lying his two elder brothers, eating and
drinking and diverting themselves with manifold diversions. And
the elder brothers began to ask the younger one: "Hast thou got
the living-water for our father?"--"I have got it!" replied the
Tsarevich Ivan simply, for he always spoke out his secrets, happen
what might. The elder brothers invited him to feast with them, made
him drunk, drew the flask of living-water out of his bosom, and threw
him down a precipice. The Tsarevich Ivan flew down and down, and at
last he fell into the Realm-beneath-the-Earth. "And now," thought he,
"irretrievable ruin has come upon me! I can never find the ways that
lead from hence!" So he went about in the Realm-beneath-the-Earth. He
went on and on, and saw that the day grew shorter and shorter till it
was like night; and at last he came to a place that was not a desert,
and by the sea stood a castle that was a town, and a hut that was
a mansion. The Tsarevich went up a flight of steps into a barn, and
from the barn he went into the hut, prayed to God, and begged for a
good night's rest. But in the hut sat an old woman--an old, a very
old woman; she was all wrinkled and gray. "Good youth," cried she,
"thou mayest sleep there and welcome; but say! how didst thou get
hither?"--"Thou art an old person, granny, but thy way of asking is
not wise. Thou shouldst first give me to eat and drink, and let me
lie down to sleep, and after that ask me concerning my tidings." The
old woman gave the Tsarevich to eat and drink, let him lie down to
sleep, and then asked him again. And the Tsarevich Ivan said to her:
"I have been in the Kingdom of Thrice-ten, as the guest of the Tsarevna
Loveliness-Inexhaustible, and now I am returning home to my father the
Tsar Afron, but I have wandered from my path. Canst thou not show me
the way home?"--"I do not know it myself, Tsarevich. Here have I been
living nine-tenths of my life on this earth, and I have never heard
of the Tsar Afron. Come now! sleep in peace, and to-morrow I will
bring together my messengers, perhaps one of them may know." The
next day the Tsarevich got up very early, washed himself quite
white, and went out with the old woman on the balcony, and the old
woman cried with a piercing voice: "Hi, hi! ye swimming fish of the
sea, and ye creeping reptiles of the earth, my faithful servants,
assemble here to the very last one of you!" And immediately the blue
sea was disturbed and all the fishes assembled, both small and great,
and all the reptiles assembled; they all came to the shore under the
water. "Does any one know where in all the world dwells the Tsar Afron,
and by what way one can get to his kingdom from here?" And all the
fishes and reptiles answered with one voice: "We have neither seen
it with our eyes, nor heard it with our ears." Then the old woman
turned to the other side and screeched: "Hi! ye wandering beasts of
the forest, and ye fowls that fly in the air, my trusty servants,
assemble hither, and fly and run hither all of you, down to the very
last one!" And the beasts of the forest came running in bands and
bands, and the fowls of the air came flying in flocks and flocks,
and the old woman began to ask them about Tsar Afron; and they all
with one voice exclaimed to the old woman: "We have neither seen it
with our eyes, nor heard it with our ears."--"Well, Tsarevich, there's
nobody else to ask now, we've asked them all." They were just about
to go into the hut again, when there was a whistling and a roaring
sound in the air, and the bird Mogol came flying along; he hid the
light of day with his wings, and lighted on the ground close to the
hut. "Where hast thou been, and why art thou come so late?" screeched
the old woman. "I have been flying a long way off, in the realm of
Tsar Afron, at the uttermost end of the wide world."--"Well thou
art just the one I want; render me now true and loyal service:
carry thither the Tsarevich Ivan."--"I shall be glad to carry him,
but I shall want heaps and heaps of food; it takes three years to fly
thither."--"Take as much as thou dost want." And the old woman made
provision for the journey of the Tsarevich Ivan. She placed upon the
bird a hogshead of water, and on the top of it a wicker basket full
of meat, and put into his hands an iron pole. "There," said she,
"when thou fliest on the bird Mogol and she turns round and looks
at thee, immediately plunge thy pole into the basket and give her a
piece of beef." The Tsarevich Ivan said "thank you" to the old woman,
sat on the bird, and immediately she rose with him and bore him up in
the air like a whirlwind. She flew and flew, she flew for a long, long
time, and whenever she looked round at the Tsarevich he fed her with
beef off the pole. And at last the Tsarevich Ivan saw that the basket
was getting empty, so he said to the bird Mogol: "Look now, thou bird
Mogol! thou hast now but little food left; light upon the moist earth,
and I'll get thee another basketful of divers meats." But the bird
Mogol answered and said: "Art thou mad, Tsarevich Ivan? Beneath us now
is a forest dark and drear, muddy and boggy; if we lighted down there,
thou and I would never get out again so long as the world lasts." And
now the Tsarevich had dispensed all the meat from the basket, and
sent the basket and the hogshead flying off the bird; but the bird
Mogol still kept on flying and turning its head for food. What was
to be done now? The Tsarevich Ivan cut off the calves of his legs,
put them on the pole, and gave them to the bird Mogol. She swallowed
them up, and descended with the Tsarevich Ivan into a green meadow,
upon silky grass with azure flowers. As the Tsarevich Ivan leaped off
her on to the ground, the bird Mogol coughed up his calves again,
fastened them on to his legs, moistened them with her spittle,
and the Tsarevich went on his way well and strong. He came to the
capital of Tsar Afron, his own father, and saw that something amiss
was going on in the town. Crowds of people were wandering about the
streets from end to end, the Tsar's cunning counsellors were strolling
aimlessly about the city, asking something from every one they met,
and shaking their gray heads as if they were out of their wits. And
the Tsarevich asked one of the people he met: "What's the meaning of
all this commotion in the city?" And the good people answered him:
"The Tsarevna Loveliness-Inexhaustible is sailing against our kingdom;
she is bringing a countless host with her in forty ships, and she
demands that the Tsar should surrender to her the Tsarevich Ivan
who disturbed her sleep three years ago by kissing her on her lips,
which are sweeter than sugar; and if we do not surrender him she will
destroy our kingdom utterly with fire and sword."--"Well, it seems
to me I have come just in time. I want this Tsarevna just as much
as she wants me." And he immediately went on board the Tsarevna's
ship. Here they embraced and fondled each other, and received their
bridal crowns in the church of God, and after that they went to the
Tsar Afron and told him all. The Tsar Afron drove his elder sons from
Court, deprived them of their inheritance, and lived with his younger
son, and lived happily and increased in all riches.