The boy followed the godfather’s directions. He wandered and wandered
till he came to a wood and found the clearing, and in the midst of the
clearing stood a pine tree to a branch of which a heavy block of oak was
attached with string, and beneath the block was a trough of honey. As
the boy was wondering why the honey and the block were there, a
crackling was heard among the trees and out came a family of bears. The
mother came in front and a yearling and some cubs followed behind. The
mother, sniffing the air, went straight to the trough, the cubs
following. She thrust her muzzle into the honey and called to the cubs
to do the same. They scampered up and thrust in their muzzles. The block
swung back a little and returning, hit against the cubs. When the mother
saw this, she shoved the block away with her paw. The block swung back
further, and returning more forcibly struck one cub on the back, another
on the head. The cubs jumped away, howling with pain. The mother bear
growled, and seizing the block in her fore-paws, flung it away from her
violently. The block flew up high. The yearling ran up to the trough,
thrust his muzzle into the honey, the other cubs followed him, but no
sooner had they got there than the block swung back, struck the yearling
on the head and killed him. The mother-bear growled more angrily as she
seized the block and flung it away with all her might. The block flew
higher than the branch, the string it was tied to even slackened; the
mother-bear and the cubs came up to the trough; the block flew higher
and higher, then stopped and began to descend; the lower it got the
swifter became its course. It crashed down on the mother-bear’s head.
She fell over; her legs twitched and she died. The cubs ran away into
the wood.
V
The boy wondered and went on further. He came to a large garden and in
the garden was a high house with a golden roof. At the gate stood his
godfather, smiling. He greeted his godson, made him come inside the gate
and took him round the garden. He had never even dreamt of such beauty
and joy as there was in that garden.
The godfather took the boy into the house and he found that more
wonderful still. The godfather showed him all the rooms--one more
beautiful than the other--then he brought him to a sealed door. “Do you
see this door?” he asked. “It is not locked, only sealed. It can be
opened, but I forbid you to do it. You can live here and go where you
like and do what you like; taste of every pleasure; I forbid you only
one thing--to pass that door. But if it should happen that you do go in,
remember what you saw in the wood.” With these words the godfather went
away, and the godson was left alone. His life was so full of pleasure
and such a happy one that when he had been there thirty years it seemed
to him no more than three hours. Thus the thirty years passed and the
godson came to the sealed door, thinking, “I wonder why my godfather
forbade me to go into this room? I will go in and see what is there.”
He pushed the door; the seal gave way and the door opened. The godson
went in and saw that the room was large and more beautiful than all the
others, and in the middle of it stood a golden throne. The godson
wandered and wandered over the room; then he stopped by the throne,
mounted the steps and sat down. He saw a sceptre by the throne and he
took it up in his hand. He had no sooner touched the sceptre than the
walls of the room rolled asunder. The godson looked about and saw the
whole world and everything people were doing in it. Straight before him
was the sea and ships sailing on it. To the right were foreign lands,
where heathens lived. To the left were Christians, but not Russians. On
the fourth side were our own Russian people.
“I will look and see what is happening at home,” he said. “I wonder if
the corn is good this year?”
He looked at his father’s fields and saw the sheaves standing in them.
He began to count the sheaves to see if the harvest had been good, when
he saw a cart coming over the field with a peasant sitting in it. He
looked closer and saw that it was Vasily, a thief. Vasily stopped by the
sheaves and began putting them into the cart. The godson could not
endure this and cried aloud, “Father, they are stealing your sheaves!”
The father awoke in the night. “I dreamt that some one was stealing my
sheaves,” he said; “I will go and see.” He got upon his horse and rode
out.
When he got to the fields he saw Vasily and called aloud for help. Some
peasants came up. Vasily was beaten, bound and taken to prison.
The godson then looked towards the town where his godmother lived and
saw that she had married a merchant. She was lying in bed and her
husband got up to leave her to go to another woman. And the godson
cried aloud to his godmother, “Get up! Your husband is going to do
something wicked!”
The godmother jumped up, dressed and set out to find her husband. She
brought him to shame, beat the other woman and would not take her
husband back again.
The godson looked again towards his home and saw his mother lying in the
house and that a robber had stolen in and was breaking open a trunk. The
mother awoke and cried out in terror. The robber raised his axe, and was
about to kill her, but the godson could endure no more; he thrust the
sceptre straight into the robber’s temple and killed him on the spot.