Myths and Folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars. Jeremiah Curtin

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      “Soon Whirlwind will fly home,” said the Tsaritsa to Ivan Tsarevich. “Sit under my purple robe, so that he may not see thee; and when he comes and runs to embrace and kiss me, do thou seize his club. He will rise high, high; he will bear thee over seas, over precipices: but see to it, let not the club go out of thy hand. Whirlwind will grow tired, will want to drink the water of strength, will come down to the cellar and rush to the tub placed on the right hand; but do thou drink from the tub on the left. Then he will grow weak; wrest his sword from him, and with one blow hew off his head. When his head is off, that moment there will be voices behind thee crying, ‘Strike again, strike again.’ Strike not, my son, but say in answer, ‘A hero’s hand strikes not twice, but always once.’ ”

      Ivan Tsarevich had barely hidden under the robe when the court grew dark and everything trembled. Whirlwind flew home, struck the earth, became a brave hero, and entered the castle, in his hands a club.

      “Tfu, tfu, tfu! somehow it smells of Russia here. Was any one visiting?”

      “I don’t know why it seems so to thee,” said the Tsaritsa.

      Whirlwind rushed to embrace her; but Ivan that moment seized the club.

      “I’ll eat thee!” shouted Whirlwind.

      “Well, grandmother spoke double; either thou wilt eat, or thou wilt not.”

      Whirlwind tore out through the window and up to the sky; he bore Ivan Tsarevich away. Over mountains he said, “I will smash thee;” over seas he said, “I will drown thee.” But Ivan did not let the club out of his hands. Whirlwind flew over the whole world, wearied himself out, and began to sink. He came down straight into the cellar, rushed to the tub on the right hand, and fell to drinking the water of weakness; but Ivan ran to the left, drank his fill of the water of strength, and became the first mighty hero in the whole world. He saw that Whirlwind had become utterly weak, wrested the sharp sword from him, and cut off his head with a blow. Voices cried behind, “Strike again, strike again, or he will come to life!” “No,” said Ivan; “a hero’s hand strikes not twice, but always finishes at a blow.” Straightway he made a fire, burned the body and the head, scattered the ashes to the wind.

      The mother of Ivan Tsarevich was glad. “Now, my dear son,” said she, “let us rejoice. We will eat; and then for home with all speed, for it is wearisome here—there are no people.”

      “But who serves thee?”

      “Thou wilt see directly.”

      They had barely thought of eating, when a table set itself, and various meats and wines appeared on the table of themselves. The Tsaritsa and the Tsarevich dined. Meanwhile unseen musicians played wonderful songs for them. They ate and drank, and when they had rested, Ivan said—

      “Let us go, mother, it is time; for under the mountains my brothers are waiting. And on the road I must save three Tsaritsas who are living in Whirlwind’s castles.”

      They took everything needful and set out on the journey. They went first to the Tsaritsa of the Golden Kingdom, then to her sisters of the Silver and Copper Kingdoms. They took them, and brought linen and all kinds of stuffs. In a short time they reached the place where they had to go down the mountain.

      Ivan Tsarevich let his mother down first on the linen, then Yelena the Beautiful and her two sisters. The brothers were standing below waiting, and they thought to themselves, “Let us leave Ivan Tsarevich up there; we will take our mother and the three Tsaritsas to our father, and say that we found them.” “I’ll take Yelena the Beautiful for myself,” said Pyotr Tsarevich; “thou, Vassili, wilt have the Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom; and we will give the Tsaritsa of the Copper Kingdom to some general.”

      When it was time for Ivan Tsarevich to come down from the mountain, his elder brothers seized the linen, pulled and tore it away. Ivan remained on the mountain. What could he do? He wept bitterly; then turned back, walked and walked over the Copper Kingdom, over the Silver Kingdom and the Golden Kingdom—not a soul did he see. He came to the Diamond Kingdom—no one there either. What was he to do alone—deathly weariness! He looked around; on the window of the castle a whistle was lying. He took it in his hand. “Let me play from weariness,” said he. He had barely blown when out sprang Lame and Crooked.

      “What is thy pleasure?”

      Said Ivan Tsarevich, “I want to eat.” That moment, from wherever it came, a table was set, and on the table the very best food. Ivan Tsarevich ate and thought, “Now it would not be bad to rest.” He blew on the whistle. Lame and Crooked appeared.

      “What is thy pleasure, Ivan Tsarevich?”

      “That a bed be ready.” The word wasn’t out of his mouth when the bed was ready. He lay down, slept splendidly, then whistled again.

      “What is thy pleasure?” asked Lame and Crooked.

      “Everything can be done, then?”

      “Everything is possible, Ivan Tsarevich. Whoever blows that whistle, we will do everything for him. As we served Whirlwind before, so we are glad to serve thee now; it is only necessary to keep the whistle by thee at all times.”

      “Well,” said Ivan, “let me be in my own kingdom this minute.”

      He had barely spoken when he appeared in his own kingdom, in the middle of the market square. He was walking along the square, when a shoemaker came toward him—such a jolly fellow! The Tsarevich asked: “Whither art thou going, good man?”

      “I am taking shoes to sell; I am a shoemaker.”

      “Take me into thy service,” said Ivan.

      “Dost thou know how to make shoes?”

      “Yes, I can do everything. I can make not only shoes, but clothes.”

      “Well, come on.”

      They went to his house. The shoemaker said: “Go to work; here is leather for thee—the best kind; I’ll see what skill thou hast.”

      Ivan Tsarevich went to his own room, and took out the whistle. Lame and Crooked came. “What is thy pleasure, Ivan Tsarevich?”

      “To have shoes ready by to-morrow.”

       “Oh, that is not work, that is play!”

      “Here is the leather.”

      “What sort of leather is that? That’s trash, nothing more; that should go out of the window.”

      Next morning Ivan Tsarevich woke up; on the table were beautiful shoes, the very best.

      The shoemaker rose. “Well, young man, hast thou made the shoes?”

      “They are finished.”

      “Well, show them.” He looked at the shoes and was astonished. “See what a man I have got for myself—not a shoemaker, but a wonder!” He took the shoes and carried them to the market to sell.

      At that same time three weddings were in preparation at the palace. Pyotr Tsarevich was to marry Yelena the Beautiful, Vassili Tsarevich the Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom, and they were giving the Tsaritsa СКАЧАТЬ