The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev, Volume II

Jack V. Haney, Jack V. Haney

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781496802750
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Folklore e mitologia

Up to now, there has been no complete English-language version of the Russian folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev. This translation is based on L. G. Barag and N. V. Novikov's edition, widely regarded as the authoritative Russian-language edition. The present edition includes commentaries to each tale as well as its international classification number. This second volume of 140 tales continues the work started in Volume I, also published by University Press of Mississippi. A third planned volume will complete the first English-language set. The folktales of A. N. Afanas'ev represent the largest single collection of folktales in any European language and perhaps in the world. Widely regarded as the Russian Grimm, Afanas'ev collected folktales from throughout the Russian Empire in what are now regarded as the three East Slavic languages, Byelorusian, Russian, and Ukrainian. The result of his own collecting, the collecting of friends and correspondents, and in a few cases his publishing of works from earlier and forgotten collections is truly phenomenal. In his lifetime, Afanas'ev published more than 575 tales in his most popular and best-known work, Narodnye russkie skazki. In addition to this basic collection, he prepared a volume of Russian legends, many on religious themes; a collection of mildly obscene tales, Russkie zavetnye skazki; and voluminous writings on Slavic folk life and mythology. His works were subject to the strict censorship of ecclesiastical and state authorities that lasted until the demise of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Overwhelmingly, his particular emendations were stylistic, while those of the censors mostly concerned content. The censored tales are generally not included in this volume.

The Sea Tsar and Vasilisa the Wise

219.

There lived and dwelt this tsar and his tsaritsa. He loved to go hunting and shoot game. So once the tsar set out hunting, and he saw this young eagle perched in an oak. He was just about to shoot it when the eagle asked him, “Don’t shoot me, Tsar and Sovereign! It would be better for you to take me with you. Sometime I’ll be of use to you.” The tsar thought and thought about it and then said, “Why should I ever need you?” And again he prepared to shoot. The eagle spoke to him a second time: “Don’t shoot me, Tsar and Sovereign! It would be better for you to take me with you. Sometime I’ll be of use to you.” The tsar thought and thought about it, but then couldn’t think of anytime that eagle would be of use to him. And so he got ready to shoot it. For a third time the eagle implored him, “Don’t shoot me, Tsar and Sovereign! It would be better for you to take me with you and feed me for three years. At some time I’ll be of use to you!”

So the tsar gave in, took the eagle with him, and fed it for a year, then two. The eagle ate so much that it devoured all the livestock. The tsar had no more sheep, no more cows. The eagle said to him, “Let me go free now!” The tsar let it go free. The eagle tried its wings, but no, it still was unable to fly! It asked, “Well, Tsar and Sovereign, you’ve fed me for two years. But now, as you wish, feed me one more year. Even if you have to borrow, feed me. You’ll not be at a loss!” So that’s what the tsar did: He borrowed stock everywhere, and for a whole year he fed the eagle, and afterward he let it go free. The eagle rose high in the sky and flew about, then came down to the ground, and said, “Well, Tsar and Sovereign, now get on me. We’ll fly together.” The tsar got on the eagle.

So off they flew. No great or little time passed, and they flew up to the edge of the blue sea. There the eagle shook the tsar off, and he fell into the sea. He got wet up to his knees. But the eagle didn’t let him drown. It held him up by a wing and asked, “What is this, Tsar and Sovereign, are you perhaps frightened?” “I’m frightened,” said the tsar. “I thought I’d certainly drown!” Again they flew on and on, and they flew up to another sea. The eagle shook the tsar off him this time right in the middle of the sea, and this time the tsar was wet up to his belt. The eagle held him up by a wing and asked, “What is this, Tsar and Sovereign, are you perhaps frightened?” “I’m frightened,” he said, “but I kept on thinking that probably you’d get me out of this.” “So now, Tsar and Sovereign, you’ve found out what the fear of death is! That’s for you for old times, for the past. So you remember how I was perched in that oak and you wanted to shoot me? Three times you were ready to shoot, and I kept asking you to keep in mind not to kill me, but to have mercy on me and take me with you.”

Later they flew beyond the thrice-nine land, and they flew for a long, long time. “Look at what’s above us and what’s beneath us,” said the eagle. The tsar looked.

“Above us is the sky and beneath us the earth.”

“Look again, and see what’s to the right and what to the left.”

“To the right is the open steppe, and on the left there’s a house standing there.”

“Let’s go there,” said the eagle. “That’s where my youngest sister lives.” They alighted right in the yard. The sister came out to greet them. She received her brother and sat him down at an oak table, but she didn’t even want to look at the tsar. She left him outside, let loose her borzois, and told them to attack. The eagle got really furious, leapt up from the table, picked up the tsar, and they flew on farther.

So they flew and they flew. The eagle said to the tsar, “Look, what’s behind us?” The tsar turned around and looked.

“Behind us there’s a red house!”

“That’s my youngest sister’s house burning, because she wouldn’t receive you and set her borzois on you.”

They flew and flew, and again the eagle asked, “See what’s above us and below us, Tsar and Sovereign.”

“Above us is the sky, and below us the earth.”

“Now look and see what’s to the right and what’s to the left.”

“On the right side is the open steppe, and there’s a house standing there on the left.”

“That’s where my middle sister lives. We’ll go visit her.”

They landed in a wide yard. The middle sister received her brother and sat him down at the oak table, but the tsar remained outside. She let loose her borzois, and they attacked him. The eagle got really furious, leapt up from the table, picked up the tsar, and flew away with him farther.

They flew on and on. The eagle said, “Tsar and Sovereign! Look, what’s that behind us?” The tsar turned around: “Behind us there’s a red house!” “That’s my middle sister’s house burning!” said the eagle. “Now we’re going to fly to where my mother and oldest sister live.” So they flew there. The eagle’s mother and eldest sister were so happy to see them, and they received the tsar with honor and kindness. “Well, Tsar and Sovereign,” said the eagle, “rest here with us, and afterward I’ll give you a ship, settle up with you for everything I ate while with you, and you can go off home with God.” So then he gave the tsar a ship and two trunks: One was red and the other green. He then said, “See that you don’t open the trunks until you get home. Open the red trunk in the back yard and the green one in the front yard.”

The tsar took the trunks, said good-bye to the eagle, and set off over the deep blue sea. He came to some island, and there his ship stopped. He went out onto shore, remembered the trunks, and started wondering whatever could be in those trunks and why had the eagle told him not to open them. He thought and thought and then couldn’t stand it anymore. He really wanted to find out, so he took the red trunk, put it down on the ground and opened it. Out of it came so many head of livestock that you couldn’t take them all in with your eyes—they hardly fit on the island.

When he saw it, the tsar was deeply saddened and began weeping, all the while repeating, “What am I to do now? How can I collect this whole herd and put it back in the trunk?” And then he saw that a man had come up out of the water and was approaching him. The man asked, “Why are you crying so bitterly, Tsar and Sovereign?”

“How could I not cry?” the tsar replied. “How am I to gather all this herd into such a small trunk?”

“Perhaps I can aid you in your misery. I’ll collect the entire herd, but only on one condition: Give me what you don’t know you have at home.”

The tsar thought about it. “What could there be at home that I don’t know? It would seem that I know everything.” So he thought, and then he agreed: “Collect them all, and I’ll give you what I don’t know at home.” So the man gathered all the stock into the trunk. The tsar got on his ship and sailed back.

When he got home, he right away discovered that a son and tsarevich had been born. He kissed and caressed it but was himself overflowing with tears. “Oh Tsar and Sovereign! Tell me why you are crying such bitter tears,” the tsaritsa asked him. “From joy,” he said. He was afraid to tell her the truth: that they’d have to give up the tsarevich. Afterward he went out into the back yard, opened the red trunk, and out of it clambered bulls and cows, ewes and rams, a great number of all kinds of animals. All the barns and corrals were filled. He went out into the front yard and opened the green trunk. There appeared before him a large and wonderful garden. You can’t imagine the trees that were in it! The tsar was so happy that he forgot about handing over his son.

Many years passed. Once the tsar felt like taking a walk, and he went up to the river. Just then, that man appeared out of the water and said, “How quickly you became forgetful, Tsar and Sovereign! Do you remember what you owe me?” The tsar went back home and in sadness and grief told the tsaritsa and the tsarevich the entire truth. They all grieved and wept together and decided that there was nothing they could do, they would have to hand over the tsarevich. They led him up to the seashore and left him alone.

The tsarevich looked all around and caught sight of a path. He set off along it to go where God led him. He walked and walked and turned up in a dense forest. There was this little hut in the forest, and in that hut lived Baba Yaga. “I’ll stop in,” thought the tsarevich, and entered the hut.

“Greetings, Tsarevich!” muttered Baba Yaga. “Are you attempting to do a deed or fleeing a deed?”

“Hey, Granny! Give me a drink and feed me, and then ask.”

So she fed him and gave him a drink, and the tsarevich told her about everything without holding back, where he was going and why. Baba Yaga said to him, “Go, my child, to the sea. Twelve spoonbills will fly there and turn into beautiful maidens and bathe. You sneak up quietly and grab the shirt of the oldest maiden. When things are good between you, go to the sea tsar, and Glutton and Drunkard will come out to greet you, and also Crunchy Frost. Take them all with you. They will be of great use to you.”

The tsarevich took his leave of the witch, went to the indicated place at the sea, and hid behind some bushes. So then the twelve spoonbills flew up, struck the damp earth, turned into beautiful maidens, and began bathing. The tsarevich stole the shirt from the eldest, sat behind the bush, and didn’t move. The maidens finished their bathing and came out onto the shore. Eleven of them picked up their shirts and turned back into birds and flew off home. Only the oldest one, Vasilisa the Wise, remained. She pleaded, she begged the young man, “Give me my shirt. You can come to our father, the sea tsar. At a certain time I’ll be of use to you.” The tsarevich gave her shirt to her, and she immediately turned into a spoonbill and flew away behind her friends.

The tsarevich went on farther. Then he met on the way these three bogatyrs: Glutton, Drunkard, and Crunchy Frost. He took them with him and came to the sea tsar. The sea tsar saw him and said, “Good health, my friend! Why have you not been here sooner? I’ve grown tired waiting for you. Let’s get to work. Here’s your first task: Build in one night a large crystal bridge, and have it ready by morning. If you don’t build it, it’s off with your head!” The tsarevich left the sea tsar weeping tears. Vasilisa the Wise opened a window in her chamber and asked, “Why are you dropping those tears, Tsarevich?”

“Oh, Vasilisa the Wise! How can I not cry? Your father has ordered me to build a crystal bridge in one night, and I don’t even know how to pick up an axe!”

“Never mind! Go to sleep. Morning is wiser than evening.”

She put him to bed and then went out onto the porch. She shouted and whistled in a youthful whistle. From all directions carpenters and laborers came running. Some leveled the ground, others brought up bricks. They soon had built a crystal bridge, put all sorts of clever ornaments on it, and then went back to their homes. Early in the morning Vasilisa the Wise awoke the tsarevich: “Get up, Tsarevich! The bridge is ready, and Father will soon be coming to look at it.” The tsarevich got up, took a broom, and went onto the bridge. Wherever he swept, it was clean. The sea tsar praised him: “Thank you for performing that task for me. Now do another. And here’s the task: Plant by tomorrow a green garden, large and leafy. And there must be birds singing in the garden and flowers blooming on the trees, on which pears and apples are to be hanging.” In tears, the tsarevich left the sea tsar. Vasilisa the Wise opened the little window and asked, “Why are you crying, Tsarevich?”

“How should I not cry? Your father has told me to plant a garden in one night.”

“Never mind! Go to sleep. Morning is wiser than evening.”

She put him to sleep, and then went out onto the porch and shouted and whistled in a youthful whistle. From all directions gardeners and orchardists came running, and they planted a green garden. And in that garden birds were singing, and on the trees flowers bloomed, and ripe pears and apples were hanging from the trees. Early in the morning, Vasilisa the Wise awoke the tsarevich: “Get up, Tsarevich! The garden is ready, and Father is coming to see it.” The tsarevich immediately took a broom and went into the garden. Wherever there was a path, he swept it; where a branch, he straightened it. The sea tsar praised him: “Thank you, Tsarevich! You have performed that service faithfully and justly. Select a bride for yourself from among my twelve daughters. They are all exactly alike, face to face, hair to hair, dress to dress. If you guess the same one three times, she shall be your wife. But if you don’t, I shall order you executed.”

Vasilisa the Wise found out about this, awaited an appropriate time, and then said to the tsarevich, “The first time I’ll wave a kerchief, the second I’ll straighten my dress, and the third time a fly will be flying over my head.” So the tsarevich guessed Vasilisa the Wise the three times. They were married and began the wedding feast.

The sea tsar prepared heaps of all kinds of food—a hundred people couldn’t have eaten it all! And he ordered his son-in-law to make sure that it was all eaten. If anything remained, it would be too bad.

“Father!” the tsarevich said. “There’s this old man with us. Let him come eat with us!”

“Let him come!”

So Glutton appeared immediately and he ate up everything. Just a little remained. So then the sea tsar put out forty barrels of every kind of drink and told his son-in-law that it was to be drunk up.

“Father!” said the tsarevich. “There’s this other old man with us, permit him to drink your health.”

“Let him come!”

So Drunkard appeared and quickly took care of all forty barrels—and asked for more.

The sea tsar noted that nothing was going according to plan, and he ordered them to heat up the iron bathhouse red-hot for the young couple. So they heated up the bathhouse. They burned twenty cords of wood, and got the stove and walls red-hot. You couldn’t come closer than five versts from it. “Father,” said the tsarevich, “let our old man go and steam himself first, to try out the bathhouse!” “Let him then,” said the tsar. So Crunchy Frost came into the bathhouse. He blew in one corner and then in a second, and icicles hung there! So then behind him the young ones went into the bathhouse and washed and steamed and then went home. “Let’s get away from Father Sea Tsar,” said Vasilisa the Wise to the tsarevich. “He’ll be really angry at you...