Folk Tales of the Russian Empire. Коллектив авторов

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      One day, having returned from hunting, Padishah (king of kings) Sultansoyun and his vizier Mirali met a young woman in a village. The king stopped dead, struck by her breathtaking beauty, and only his eyes long followed her.

      “You are my supreme vizier,” he said confidentially. “So, you have to understand my feelings and help me. How could I get this beauty?”

      “It’s impossible, – she has a husband!” Mirali replied firmly (Mirali was born in a poor family and had never forgotten about it).

      “She stole my heart, and my life will be nothing without her!”

      “Anyway, My Lord, dismiss this whim from your mind. What does Sharia say? Don’t you know, that it is prohibited to mess about with married women? All the faithful will despise you!”

      “Well, if so, I can reach my goal without you, by hook or by crook!” replied the sovereign heatedly. “And you, the mortal, go to her husband and offer him your service as an adviser!”

      Sultansoyun was in a severe outbreak of passion. He did not go further to his palace, but stayed in the house of a rich Bai (landowner) and sent him for the husband of that beautiful woman.

      Mirali went the same way at a rapid pace, having said Padishah that he wanted to visit a friend who lived in that village. He first came to the husband of the woman, who was just a poor peasant, and warned him, that Padishah will probably summon him and give him a tricky assignment. He also said that it is impossible to refuse the order and that he, Mirali, would help him to carry out this mandate.

      The supreme vizier had well known his Master! Everything happened as he had predicted. After him, there came a breathless landowner. He stopped in front of the husband and gave him the order to appear before Padishah. With great respect, the man hastened to execute orders of the almighty Padishah…

      “What is your name?” Sultansoyun asked the peasant.

      “Karakuduke,” replied the man.

      “Karakuduke? Excellent! So, Karakuduke, I used to be curious about people wherever I go, and to give them some unusual assignments. If a man carried out my task, then I would reward him; if he couldn’t or not very keen on it, – I would punish him. You are the most extraordinary man in this village. You have a strange name, uncommon face, and maybe there is something else, that is not the same as everyone has, eh?”

      “I am an ordinary dehkaneen (peasant), but this is a rare thing and great happiness – to serve Almighty Padishah,” replied the poor man respectfully. “I will do everything that you are pleased to suggest!”

      “It’s wonderful! I’ll give you a stallion, a couple of bulls, and a dozen of rams. Exactly six months later, you should get a litter from each of them!”

      Karakuduke bent into a bow in consent. But someone shouted from the crowd of spectators:

      “Wai, you have lost your head, a miserable! Is it possible to obtain an offspring from a male?”

      “Padishah is a Vicar of God on Earth. If he believes that males can give an offspring, then let it be!” replied the peasant.

      …Six months passed there, and Padishah and his vizier paid a visit to that village again. Padishah stayed in the house of the same Bai, and Mirali, having asked for permission to visit his friend, went to Karakuduke and introduced the spouses into his plan, because nothing had happened with the presented livestock.

      Mirali barely had time to get away from that house, as Padishah sent a man for Karakuduke. The messenger returned then to Padishah and reported him that the peasant could not appear before the eyes of the sovereign, because he was ill.

      “Let his wife come here,” said the Father of the Faithful.

      The poor woman came to the house of Bai and confirmed that her husband fell ill.

      “What has happened to him?” asked Padishah.

      “He is giving birth to a child, – there started contractions,” said the woman.

      Sultansoyun laughed:

      “How could it happen that a man bears children?”

      “Oh, Gracious Padishah,” the woman said innocently, “If a bull is able to calve, a stallion – to foal, a ram – to lamb, why can’t my husband give birth to a child?”

      Padishah was surprised and annoyed, but he had nothing to argue. He smiled at the beautiful woman and let her go in peace. Then he shook his finger at Mirali:

      “I see, – it couldn’t happen without you!”

      “I just fulfilled a desire of Your Majesty,” said Mirali with downcast eyes.

      “My desire?!”

      “If you remember, you had said, “Whereas you are not able to help me, go to the husband of the beauty and offer him your service as an adviser!”

      The Angry Landlord

      A Vologda region folk tale