Far, far away, in a certain kingdom, in a certain Empire, stood a
city, and in this city reigned Tsar Gorokh, [45] and the Tsaritsa
Morkovya. [46] They had many wise Boyars, rich Princes, strong and
mighty heroes, and of the common run of warriors 100,000 at least. All
manner of people dwelt in this city, worshipful, well-bearded
merchants, cunning open-handed sharpers, German mechanics, Swedish
beauties, drunken Russians; and in the suburbs beyond the town dwelt
peasants who tilled the earth, sowed corn, ground it into meal,
took it to the bazaar, and drank away their hard earnings.
In one of these suburbs stood an old hut, and in this hut dwelt an
old man with his three sons, Pakhom, Thomas, and Ivan. The old man was
not only sage, he was cunning, and whenever he chanced to come across
the Devil, he would have a chat with him, make him drunk, and worm
many and great secrets out of him, and then would go away and do such
wonders that his neighbours called him a wizard and a magician, while
others honoured him as a shrewd fellow who knew a thing or two. The
old man certainly did great wonders. If any one were being consumed
by the flames of hopeless love, he had only to pay his respects to
the wizard and the old man would give him some sort of little root
which would draw the fickle fair one at once. If anything were lost
he would manage to get it back from the thief, however it might be
hidden, by means of charmed water and a fishing-net.
But wise as the old man was, he could not persuade his sons to walk
in his footsteps. Two of them were great gad-abroads, not because
they were wise, but because they were thorough feather-brains;
they never knew when to run forward or when to hold back. And they
married and had children. The third son was not married, but the
old man did not trouble about him, because his third son was a fool,
quite a natural in fact, who couldn't count up to three, but could
only eat and drink and sleep and lie on the stove. What was the good
of bothering about a fellow like that?--he can manage to jog along
of his own accord much better than a man of sense. And besides, Ivan
was so mild and gentle that butter would not melt in his mouth. If
you asked him for his girdle, he would give you his kaftan [47] also;
if you took away his gloves, he would beg you to accept his cap into
the bargain; therefore they all liked Ivan and called him dear little
Ivan, or dear little fool; in short he was a fool from his birth,
but very lovable for all that.
So our old man lived and lived with his sons till the hour came when
he was to die. Then the old man called to him his three sons and
said to them: "My dear children, my mortal hour has come, and you
must fulfil my wish; each of you must come with me into my tomb and
there pass a night with me; thou first, Thomas; then thou, Pakhom;
and thou third, dear little fool Ivan." The two elders, like sensible
people, promised to obey his words, but the fool promised nothing,
but only scratched his head.
The old man died. They buried him. They ate pancakes and honey-cakes,
they drank well, and on the first night it was for his eldest son
Thomas to go into his tomb. Whether it was laziness or fear I know not,
but he said to little fool Ivan: "To-morrow I have to get up early
to grind corn; go thou instead of me into our father's tomb."--"All
right!" answered little fool Ivan, who took a crust of bread, went
to the tomb, lay down, and began to snore. So it struck midnight,
the tomb began to move, the wind blew, the midnight owl hooted, the
tombstone rolled off, and the old man came out of his tomb and said:
"Who's there?"--"I," answered little fool Ivan.--"Good!" answered the
old man; "my dear son, I'll reward thee for obeying me!" Scarcely had
he said these words when the cocks crew and the old man fell back into
the tomb. Little fool Ivan went home and threw himself on the top of
the stove, and his brother asked him: "Well, what happened?"--"Nothing
at all!" said he; "I slept the whole night through, only I am very
hungry, and want something to eat."
The next night it was the turn of Pakhom, the second son, to go
to the tomb of his father. He fell a-thinking and a-thinking, and
at last he said to little fool Ivan: "I must get up very early
to-morrow morning to go to market; go thou instead of me to my
father's tomb."--"All right!" replied little fool Ivan, who took
a cake and some cabbage-soup, went to the tomb, and lay down to
sleep. Midnight approached--the tomb began to shake, the tempest
began to howl, a flock of ravens flew round and round it, the stone
fell from the grave, the old man got out of the tomb and asked:
"Who's there?"--"I," answered little fool Ivan.--"Good, my beloved
son!" replied the old man, "I'll not forget thee because thou hast
not disobeyed me!" Scarcely had he uttered these words when the cocks
began to crow, and the old man fell back in his tomb. Little fool
Ivan awoke, made himself snug on his stove, and his brother asked
him: "Well, what happened?"--"Nothing at all!" answered little
Ivan. On the third night the brothers said to little fool Ivan:
"Now 'tis thy turn to go to our father's tomb. A father's wish must
be fulfilled."--"By all means!" answered little fool Ivan, who took a
fritter, put on his blouse, and went to the tomb. And at midnight the
gravestone was torn from the tomb, and the old man came out and asked:
"Who's there?"--"I," said little fool Ivan. "Good, my obedient son,"
answered the old man, "not in vain hast thou obeyed my will--thou
shalt have a reward for thy faithful service!" And then he shouted
with a monstrous voice and sang with a nightingale's piping voice:
"Hi! thou! sivka-burka, vyeshchy kaurka [48]! Stand before me like
the leaf before the grass!" And it seemed to little fool Ivan as if a
horse were running, the earth trembled beneath it, its eyes burned like
fire, clouds of smoke poured out of its ears; it ran up, stood still
as though it had taken root in the ground, and said with a human voice:
"What dost thou require?" The old man got into one of its ears, cooled
himself, washed himself, dressed himself finely, and came out of the
other ear so young and handsome that there's no guessing or imagining
it, for no pen can write nor tale can tell the like of it. "There, my
dear son," said he, "thou hast my valiant steed; and thou, O horse! my
good steed, serve him as thou hast served me!" He had scarcely uttered
these words when the crowing cocks of the village flapped their wings
and sang their morning song, the magician sank back into his grave,
and the grass grew over it. Little fool Ivan went home step by step;
he got home, stretched himself in his old corner, and snored till
the walls trembled. "What is it?" asked his brothers, but he never
answered a word, but only waved his hand.
And so they went on living together, the elder brothers like wise
men, the younger like a fool. Thus they lived on and on, day by day,
and just as a woman rolls thread into a ball, so their days rolled on
till it came to their turn to be rolled. And one day they heard that
the captains of the host were going all about the realm with trumpets
and clarions and drums and cymbals, and they blew their trumpets and
beat their drums, and proclaimed in the bazaars and public places
the Tsar's will, and the will of the Tsar was this. Tsar Gorokh and
Tsaritsa Morkovya had an only daughter, the Tsarevna Baktriana, the
heir to the throne, and so lovely that when she looked at the sun,
the sun was ashamed, and when she regarded the moon, the moon was
abashed. And the Tsar and the Tsaritsa thought to themselves: To whom
shall we give our daughter in marriage that he may govern our realm,
defend it in war, sit as judge in the royal council, help the Tsar
in his old age, and succeed him at the end of his days? The Tsar and
the Tsaritsa sought for a bridegroom who was to be a valiant young
warrior, a handsome hero, who was to love the Tsarevna, and make the
Tsarevna love him. But the love part of the business was not so easy,
for there was this great difficulty: the Tsarevna loved nobody. If her
father the Tsar began talking to her of any bridegroom, she always
gave one and the same answer: "I don't love him!" If her mother the
Tsaritsa began talking to her about any one, she always answered: "He
is not nice!" At last Tsar Gorokh and Tsaritsa Morkovya said to her:
"Dear daughter and darling child, more than thrice lovely Tsarevna
Baktriana, it is now time for thee to choose a bridegroom. Look now,
pray! the wooers, the royal and imperial ambassadors, are all here at
our court; they have eaten all the cakes and drained our cellars dry,
and still thou wilt not choose thee the beloved of thy heart!" Then
the Tsarevna said to them: "My sovereign papa and my sovereign
mamma, I am sorry for your sorrow, and would feign obey your will,
but let fate decide who is to be my intended. Build me a terem
[49] thirty-two storeys high with a little bow-window at the top of
it. I, the Tsarevna, will sit in this terem just beneath the window,
and you make a proclamation. Let all people come hither--Tsars,
Kings, Tsareviches, Princes, mighty champions, and valiant youths;
and whoever leaps up as high as my little window on his fiery steed
and exchanges rings with me, he shall be my bridegroom, and your son
and successor." The Tsar and the Tsaritsa followed out the words of
their sage daughter. "Good!" said they. They commanded to be built
a costly terem of two-and-thirty layers of oak beams; they built
it up and adorned it with curious carvings, and hung it all about
with Venetian brocade, with pearly tapestries and cloth of gold,
and made proclamations and sent forth carrier-pigeons, and despatched
ambassadors to all kingdoms, summoning all men to assemble together
in the empire of Tsar Gorokh and Tsaritsa Morkovya, and whoever
leaped on his proud steed as high as the two-and-thirty oaken beams
and exchanged rings with the Tsarevna Baktriana, he was to be her
bridegroom and inherit the kingdom with her, whether he were a Tsar
or a King, or a Tsarevich or a Prince, or even nothing but a free,
bold-handed Cossack with neither birth nor ancestry.
The day was fixed. The people crowded into the meadows where the
Tsarevna's terem was built as if sewn with stars, and the Tsarevna
herself sat beneath the window arrayed in pearls and brocade, and lace,
and the most precious of precious stones. The mob of people surged
and roared like the great sea Ocean. The Tsar and the Tsaritsa sat
on their throne, and around them stood their grandees, their Boyars,
their captains, and their heroes. And the wooers of the Tsarevna
Baktriana came and pranced and galloped, but when they saw the terem
their hearts died away within them. The youths tried their best;
they ran, they bounded, they leaped, and fell back on the ground
again like sheaves of barley, to the amusement of the crowd.
In those days when the valiant wooers of the Tsarevna Baktriana were
trying their best to win her, the brothers of little fool Ivan took
it into their heads to go thither and see the fun. So they got them
ready, and little fool Ivan said: "Take me with you too!"--"What,
fool!" answered his brother; "sit at home and look after the
fowls! What hast thou got to do with it!"--"You're right!" said
he, and he went to the fowl-house and lay down there. But when his
brethren had departed, little fool Ivan went into the open plain,
on to the wide steppe, cried with a warrior's voice, and whistled
with a heroic whistle: "Hi! thou! sivka-burka, vyeshchy kaurka! Stand
before me like the leaf before the grass!" And lo! the valiant charger
came running up, the earth trembled, flames shot out of his eyes,
and clouds of smoke from his ears, and it said with a human voice:
"How can I serve thee?" Little fool Ivan crept into one ear, washed and
combed himself, and crept out of the other ear so young and handsome,
that books cannot describe it, nor the eye of man bear the sight of
it. And he sat him on his good horse, and struck its sturdy ribs with a
whip of Samarcand silk, and his horse chafed and fumed, and rose from
the earth higher than the standing woods, but lower than the moving
clouds, and when it came to the large streams it swam them, and when
it came to the little streams it brushed them away with its tail,
and opened wide its legs for the mountains to pass between them. And
little fool Ivan leaped up to the terem of the Tsarevna Baktriana,
rose like a bright falcon, leaped over thirty of the two-and-thirty
beams of oak, and dashed along like a passing tempest. The people
roared: "Hold him, stop him!" The Tsar leaped up, the Tsaritsa cried
"Oh!" The people were astonished.
The brothers of little fool Ivan returned home and said to each other:
"That was something like a hero; he only missed two storeys." "Why,
that was I, brothers!" said little fool Ivan. "Thou indeed! Hold thy
tongue, fool, and lie on the stove and eat cinder cakes!"
The next day the brothers of little fool Ivan again assembled at
the Tsar's sports, and little fool Ivan said to them: "Take me with
you!"--"Take thee, fool!" said the brothers; "just sit at home and keep
the sparrows from the peas instead of a scarecrow! What hast thou to
do with it!"--"That's true!" said he, went among the peas, sat down,
and scared away the sparrows. But when his brothers had gone, little
fool Ivan shuffled off into the open plain, into the wide steppe,
and roared with a martial voice, and whistled shrilly with a heroic
whistle: "Hi! thou! sivka-burka, vyeshchy kaurka! Stand before me like
the leaf before the grass!" And lo! his valiant steed came running,
the earth trembled, sparks flew from beneath his prancing hoofs, a fire
burned in his eyes, and smoke rolled in clouds from his ears. He said
with a human voice: "What dost thou require?" Little fool Ivan crept
into one of the horse's ears, and crept out of the other so young
and comely that the like of it was never heard of in tales or seen
in reality, and he sat on his brave horse and beat its iron ribs with
a Circassian whip. And his horse chafed and fumed, and rose from the
earth, higher than the standing woods, lower than the moving clouds;
at one bound it went a league of the ancient measure: at the second
bound it whizzed across the broad river; and at the third bound it
reached the terem. It rose into the air like an eagle into the sky,
leaped as high as thirty-one of the two-and-thirty oaken beams,
and flew past like a passing whirlwind. The people cried: "Hold him,
stop him!" The Tsar leaped from his seat, the Tsaritsa cried "Oh!" The
Princes and the Boyars stood there with gaping mouths.
The brothers of little fool Ivan returned home and said to each other:
"Why, that young warrior of to-day was even better than the warrior
of yesterday; there was only one oak beam he could not get as high
as!"--"Why, brothers, that was I!" said little fool Ivan.--"Hold thy
tongue! Thou indeed! Lie on the stove, and don't talk bosh!"
On the third day the brothers of little fool Ivan again made them
ready to go to the great spectacle, but little fool Ivan said: "Take
me with you!"--"A fool like thee!" replied his brethren; "just stay
at home and mix the slush in the trough for the pigs. What art thou
thinking of!"--"As you please!" said he, and went into the backyard,
and began to feed the swine, and grunt along with them. But when his
brothers had gone, little fool Ivan shambled off to the open plain,
to the wide steppe, and howled with a martial voice, and whistled as
only heroes can whistle: "Hi! thou! sivka-burka, vyeshchy kaurka! Stand
before me like the leaf before the grass!" And lo! the valiant charger
came running, the earth trembled; where it touched the ground with
its foot springs gushed forth, and where it struck the ground with
its hoof lakes appeared, and flames came from its eyes, and clouds of
smoke welled from its ears. It cried with a human voice: "What dost
thou require?" Little fool Ivan crept into one of his horse's ears,
and crept out of the other a youthful warrior, so handsome that
no lovely maiden ever dreamed the like of him in her dreams, and a
hundred sages meditating for a hundred years could not have imagined
it. He struck his horse on the backbone, drew tight the rein, sat in
the saddle, and rushed away so swiftly that the fleeting wind could
not overtake him, and the dear little house-swallow would not vie
with him. He flew like a cloud of the sky, his silver harness hissed
and gleamed, his yellow locks floated in the wind; he flew towards
the Tsarevna's terem, struck his horse about the ribs, and his horse
leaped like a cruel serpent, and leaped as high as the two-and-thirty
oaken beams. Little fool Ivan caught the Tsarevna Baktriana in his
heroic hands, kissed her sugary lips, exchanged rings with her, and
was borne as by a whirlwind into the meadow, overturning all that
met him or stood in his way. The Tsarevna only just succeeded in
fastening a diamond star on his forehead--and the mighty warrior had
vanished. Tsar Gorokh leaped to his feet, the Tsaritsa Morkovya said
"Oh!" The Tsar's councillors wrung their hands one after another,
but spake never a word.
The brothers of little fool Ivan returned home and began to talk about
and discuss the matter: "Well, the hero of to-day was the best of
all; he is now the bridegroom of our Tsarevna. But who is he?"--"Why,
brothers, it was I," said little fool Ivan.--"Hold thy tongue! Thou
indeed! Go and eat cinder cakes and toad-stools, but keep thy tongue
well between thy teeth!" But Tsar Gorokh commanded them to surround the
city with a strong watch, and let in every one, but let out no one,
and proclaim that all people, under pain of death, from the eldest
to the youngest, were to come into the Tsar's courts and do homage,
that it might appear on whose forehead was the diamond star which the
Tsarevna had fastened to her bridegroom. From very early in the morning
the people came crowding together. They looked at everybody's forehead,
but there was no star, and no trace of a star. It was now dinner-time,
yet not a single table in the halls of the Tsar was yet laid for
dinner. The brothers of little fool Ivan also came thither to show
their foreheads at the Tsar's command, and Ivan said to them: "Take
me with you!"--"Take thee!" said the brothers; "sit in thy corner and
catch flies! But why hast thou tied thy forehead round with rags, or
hast thou damaged it?"--"Yesterday, when you went out, as I was gaping
about, I struck my forehead against the door, the door took no hurt,
but a big lump sprang out on my forehead!" As soon as his brothers
had gone, little fool Ivan passed right below the little window where
the Tsarevna was sitting troubled at heart. The soldiers of the Tsar
saw him, and asked: "Why hast thou bound up thy forehead? Show it! Is
there not a star on thy forehead?" Little fool Ivan would not let
them look, and withstood them. The soldiers began to make a to-do,
the Tsarevna heard it, and bade them bring little fool Ivan to her,
took the clouts from his forehead--and behold! there was the star. She
took little fool Ivan by the hand, led him to Tsar Gorokh, and said:
"Look, dear sovereign papa! this is my intended bridegroom, and thy
son-in-law and successor!" There was nothing more to be said. The
Tsar commanded the banquet to be made ready; they married little fool
Ivan and the Tsarevna Baktriana; for three days they ate and drank and
made merry, and amused themselves with all manner of amusements. The
Tsar made the brothers of little fool Ivan captains of his host,
and gave them a village and a large house apiece.
The tale of it is soon told, but the deed thereof is not soon
done. The brethren of little fool Ivan were wise, and when they
grew rich it is not strange that all men gave them out for wise
men at once. And when the brethren of little fool Ivan became great
people, they began to be proud and haughty, would not suffer men of
low degree to come into their courtyards at all, and made even the
old voevods and Boyars, when they came to see them, take off their
caps on the stairs. So the Boyars came to Tsar Gorokh and said:
"Sovereign Tsar! the brethren of thy son-in-law boast that they know
where the apple tree grows that hath silver leaves and golden apples,
and they want to get this apple tree for thee!" The Tsar sent for the
brethren of little fool Ivan, and told them that they might fetch for
him this apple tree with the silver leaves and the golden apples;
and as they had nothing to say they were obliged to go. The Tsar
bade them take horses from the royal stables for their journey,
and they set out on their journey to find the apple tree with the
silver leaves and the golden apples. And in those days little fool
Ivan arose, took his old hack of a horse, sat on it with his face
to the tail, and rode out of the city. He went into the open plain,
seized his jade by the tail, threw it into the open field, and said:
"Come, ye crows and kites, here's a breakfast for you." Then he called
his good horse, crept in at one ear and out at the other, and his
horse carried him to the East where grew the apple tree with silver
leaves and golden apples, on the silver waters, by the golden sands,
and he pulled it up by the roots, went back, and before he got to the
town of Tsar Gorokh, he pitched his tent with its silver tent-pole and
laid him down to rest. Now his brethren were going along by this road,
their noses hung down, and they did not know what to say to the Tsar
by way of excuse, and they saw the tent and the apple tree beside it,
and they awoke little fool Ivan, and they began to bargain with him
for it, and offered him three cart-loads of silver. "The apple tree
is mine, gentlemen; it was not sold and purchased, but bequeathed
by will," said little fool Ivan to them. "Yet a will is no great
matter: cut off a toe from the right foot of each one of you, and
I'll say done!" The brothers laid their heads together, but there
was nothing for it but to agree. So little fool Ivan cut off one of
their toes apiece and gave them the apple tree, and they brought
it to the Tsar and boasted mightily. "Behold, O Tsar!" said they,
"we have travelled far, we have suffered many hardships, but we have
performed thy will." Tsar Gorokh was overjoyed. He made a great feast,
bade them beat the drums, and play on the trumpets and pipes, and
he rewarded the brothers of little fool Ivan, and gave them a city
apiece, and praised their faithful service.
Then the other voevods and Boyars said to him: "It is not a very
great service to bring the apple tree with silver leaves and golden
apples. The brothers of thy son-in-law boast that they would go to the
Caucasus and fetch thee the swine with golden bristles, and silver
teeth, and twenty sucking-pigs." Tsar Gorokh sent for the brothers
of little fool Ivan, and told them to bring him the swine with the
golden bristles, and the silver teeth, and the twenty sucklings; and
as they had nothing to say for themselves, they dared not disobey. So
they went on their way to find for the Tsar's pleasure the little
pig with the golden bristles, and the silver teeth, and the twenty
sucklings. And at that very time little fool Ivan arose and saddled
his cow, and sat upon it with his face to the tail, and went out of
the city. He went into the open plain, seized his cow by the horn,
threw her into the field, and cried: "Gallop along, ye gray wolves and
pretty little foxes! Here's a dinner for you!" Then he called his good
horse, and crept in at one ear and out at the other, and his horse bore
him to lands of the South, and bore him into a dreary wood where the
little swine with the golden bristles was rooting up roots with its
silver tusks, and twenty sucking-pigs were running after her. Little
fool Ivan threw a silk lasso over the little swine, strapped the
sucklings to his saddle, turned back, and when he was not very far
from the city of Gorokh, pitched his tent with the golden tent-pole,
and lay down to rest. Now his brothers were coming along that same
way, and were thinking what they could say to the Tsar. Suddenly they
saw the tent, and close by it tied by the silken lasso the little
swine with the golden bristles, and the silver tusks, and the twenty
sucklings. They awoke little fool Ivan, and began to bargain with
him for the swine. "We'll give thee three sacks of precious stones,"
they cried. "The little swine is mine, gentlemen," said little Ivan
the fool; "it is not sold or purchased, but bequeathed by will;
but a will is no great matter; let each of you cut me off a finger
from his hand, and I'll cry done!" The brothers laid their heads
together and talked the matter over: "People can live without brains,
why not without fingers also?" thought they. So they let little fool
Ivan cut off a finger from each of them, and he gave them the swine,
which they took to the Tsar, and they praised themselves more than
ever. "Tsar!" said they, "we have been beyond the distant sea, beyond
the impenetrable woods, beyond the shifting sands; we have suffered
cold and hunger, but we have fulfilled thy commands." The Tsar was
overjoyed to have such faithful servants, gave a great banquet to
all the world, rewarded the brethren of little fool Ivan, made them
great Boyars, and could not praise their services sufficiently.
Then the other voevods and Boyars came to him and said: "'Tis not such
a very great service, O Tsar! to bring thee the little swine with the
golden bristles, and the silver tusks, and the twenty sucklings. A
swine's a swine all the world over, though it has got golden tusks! But
the brethren of thy son-in-law boast that they can do a yet greater
service; they say they can get thee from the stables of the Serpent
Goruinich, [50] the golden-maned horse with the diamond hoofs." Tsar
Gorokh sent for the brethren of little fool Ivan, and bade them fetch
him from the stables of the Serpent Goruinich, the golden-maned mare
with the diamond hoofs. Then the brothers of little fool Ivan began
protesting that they had never said such words. But the Tsar would not
listen to a word of it. "Take of my treasures without tale or count,"
said he, "and of my host as much as you will. Bring me hither the
golden-maned mare. Ye are the first in my realm, but if you bring
her not, I will again degrade you into ragamuffins." So these good
warriors, these useful heroes, departed, scarce able to drag one foot
after another, and not knowing whither they were going. And in the
self-same time little fool Ivan arose, sat astride his little stick,
went out into the open plain, into the wide steppe, called his good
horse, crept into one ear and out at the other, and his horse took
him into the west country, towards the great island where the Serpent
Goruinich guarded in his iron stable, behind seven bolts, behind seven
doors, the golden-maned mare with the diamond hoofs. The horse went
on and on, near and far, high and low, and little fool Ivan arrived
at the island, fought three days with the Serpent till he killed it,
spent three days more in bursting the locks and breaking the doors,
took out the golden-maned mare by the mane, went back, and had not
gone many miles when he stopped, pitched his tent with the diamond
tent-pole, and laid him down to rest. And behold his brethren were
coming along by the same way, and knew not what they should say to Tsar
Gorokh. All at once they felt the ground tremble--'twas the neighing of
the golden-maned mare! They looked about them, and there was a little
light like a candle burning in the dark distance--'twas the golden
mane which burned like fire. They stopped, awoke little fool Ivan,
and began to bargain with him for the mare; they said they would each
give him a sack of precious stones. "The mare is mine, gentlemen,
'tis not for purchase or sale, but was bequeathed by will," said
little fool Ivan. "However, a will is not such a great matter; let
each of you cut him an ear off, and I'll cry done!" The brothers did
not say him nay, but they let little fool Ivan cut off an ear from
each one of them, and he gave them the mare with the golden mane and
the diamond hoofs, and they puffed themselves out and talked big, and
lied boastingly till it made your ears ache to hear them. "We went,"
said they to the Tsar, "beyond lands thrice-ten, beyond the great sea
Ocean, we strove with the Serpent Goruinich, and look! he bit off our
ears, but for thy sake we reck not of life or goods, but would swim
through rivers of blood, and would sacrifice limb and substance in
thy service." In his joy Tsar Gorokh measured them out riches without
number, made them the first of his Boyars, and got ready such a feast
that the royal kitchens were not big enough for it, though they cooked
and roasted there three days, while the royal wine-cellars ran dry,
and at the banquet Tsar Gorokh placed one of the brethren of little
fool Ivan at his right hand, and the other at his left. And the feast
proceeded right merrily, and the guests had eaten themselves half full,
and drank themselves half full, and were humming and buzzing like
bees in a hive, when they saw entering the palace a gallant warrior,
little fool Ivan, in just the same guise as when he had leaped as high
as the two-and-thirty oaken beams. And when his brothers saw him, one
of them nearly choked himself with a drop of wine from his beaker,
and the other nearly suffocated himself with a bit of roast swan,
and they wrung their hands, rolled their eyes, and could not utter
a word. Little fool Ivan bowed low to his father-in-law, the Tsar,
and told how he had got the apple tree with the silver leaves and
the golden apples, and after that the swine with the golden bristles
and the silver tusks and the twenty sucklings, and after that the
golden-maned mare with the diamond hoofs; and he drew out the fingers,
and the toes, and the ears for which he had sold them to his brethren.
Then Tsar Gorokh was very wroth, and stamped with his feet, and bade
them drive out the brothers of little fool Ivan with broomsticks,
and one of them he sent to tend his swine in the cattle-yard, and
the other he sent to look after the turkeys in the poultry-yard.
But little fool Ivan he set beside himself, and made him the chief over
the Boyars, and the captain of the captains. And long did they feast
together in gladness of heart, till everything was eaten and everything
was drunk up. And little fool Ivan began to rule the realm, and his
rule was wise and terrible, and on the death of his father-in-law he
took his place. His children were many, and his subjects loved him,
and his neighbours feared him, but the Tsarina Baktriana was just as
beautiful in her old age as when she was young.