River of fairy tales. Unprofessional translation from Russian. Viktor Gitin

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      On the first night, Alena said:

      «Sister, tomorrow we will go to the forest to pick berries and mushrooms. It’s good if we are lucky to find a lot of berries and mushrooms. We will bring them home and store them to use in the winter.»

      With these thoughts Alena fell asleep. In her dream, she saw a forest and a wonderful meadow spangled with berries and mushrooms. They were walking around with her sister and picking them, and they had full baskets, too heavy to carry. Fortunately, they saw a man riding on a cart. He agreed to help the girls. They put their supplies in the cart, occupying all the space, and brought them home.

      When Alena woke up, she told Clara her dream at once. But the elder sister started to make fun of the younger one:

      «Silly you are! How can this be that two girls picked a whole cartful of berries and mushrooms? And met a man with a cart in the dense forest? And he helped them absolutely for free? Such things don’t happen in our life!»

      Clara did not like her sister first of all because other people loved her, and she was better than her. Of all her relatives, she loved only herself. That’s why Clara laughed at the sister and her dream, and they went to the forest. But a miracle happened – they really happened to stumble upon a wonderful meadow. And there were so many mushrooms and berries there! You could pick them with a spade. And there were plenty of berries on the bushes, all of them ripe and juicy. Put a basket under a bush, shake the branches several times, and the basket is full of berries. Just one problem – where to put all this wealth? But suddenly they saw, just as Alena did in her dream, a man riding on a cart. He saw the sisters and said:

      «Beautiful girls, shall I help you? I can bring everything you have gathered to your house.»

      Clara did not believe in the man’s kindness and wanted to drive him away. But Alena accepted his help before her sister managed to do anything. On the contrary, she thanked him heartily. They loaded the whole cart with supplies and brought them all home. There were so many of them that the man got his share, too, in reward for his help. It’s only the greedy elder sister who did not want to share the supplies. She was walking about and grumbling that the man transported their berries and mushrooms too carelessly and mashed them on hollows and sloughs. But Alena gave the kind man his share of mushrooms and berries on the sly. He was thankful to her for that and promised to help her in the future, should an opportunity arise.

      In the evening Clara thought about the magic cushion the old lady had given to them. What if it is really prophetic? The elder sister decided to see for herself and told Alena before going to sleep:

      «Now I will sleep on the cushion and wish a dream to have.»

      But Clara could not imagine what dream to wish. She was envious the whole day that the younger sister had such a good dream last night and everything turned out to as be promised. As on the next day the girls were going to the forest again to pick healing herbs and roots, Clara wickedly decided: «We will collect those herbs anyway! May wolves attack my sister in the forest and scare her very much!» Thinking so, she fell asleep. She dreamt of fierce wolves in the dense forest: they were running and chasing, snapping their teeth, and sputtering.

      In the morning the elder sister sprang up terrified, in cold sweat. But she saw in her dream what she had wished. She did not tell Alena about her dream.

      The sisters went to the forest and lost their way. They found themselves in a dark thicket. Sunrays could not get through; the huge trees covered the sky with their tops. Then fierce wolves appeared all of a sudden. The girls started to run, and the animals chased them. Everything happened just like in Clara’s dream. The sisters hardly managed to escape from wolves, their dresses were torn to pieces. Their hands and legs were scratched, bruised and bleeding, but they found their way in the forest and got away from trouble.

      They came home and the elder sister said:

      «That’s a bad cushion! I don’t want to sleep on it anymore. Sleep yourself on this bewitched cushion!»

      She threw it to Alena. The younger sister agreed and asked:

      «What shall I ask the cushion for to see in this night’s dream?»

      Clara took offence at the cushion, but decided to make fun of her sister:

      «It’s time we got married, but we have no dowry at all! We have no smart clothes or jewelry. Ask your cushion for luxurious outfits and beautiful jewelry.»

      «Right, sister,» Alena replied.

      Before going to sleep she sat down near the cushion and thought:

      «It would be nice if we could have a new dress each and girls’ trinketry. Not much – just a little bit.»

      Thinking so, she fell asleep. In her dream she saw Clara and herself walking in smart dresses. The earrings in their ears were glistening, and pearl necklaces on their necks were sparkling. Alena woke up and told her sister:

      «Sister, СКАЧАТЬ