llustrated by N.Kochergin (1897-1974)
This Russian tale features Baba Yaga,
the Slavic witch crone. (She was discussed earlier in the story "Vasilisa the Beautiful.”)
Although Baba Yaga has only a
small part to play, her suggestion shifts the tale’s entire trajectory. And once again there are her enigmatic words “Go
I know not whither and fetch I know not what” to ponder.
By the blue sea, in a certain empire, there dwelt once
upon a time a king who was a bachelor and had a whole company of archers. The archers used to hunt with him and shoot
the birds that flew about and provided meat for their master’s table. In this
company served a youthful archer named Fedot, a clever marksman was he, never
missing his aim. It was for this reason
that the King loved him better than all his comrades.
One day he chanced to go a-hunting very early, before
the break of day. He went into a dense, dreary forest, and saw a dove sitting
on a tree. Fedot stretched his bow, took aim, fired, and broke one of the
dove’s little wings. The bird fell from the tree down upon the damp earth. The
marksman picked it up and was about to twist its neck and put it in his pouch
when the dove spoke to him.
“Alas! young marksman! do not twist my poor little
silly neck. Drive me not out of the bright world. It is better to take me alive.
Carry me home, put me in your little window, and right when slumber comes over
me, at that very moment, I say, stroke me the wrong side down with your right
hand, and good fortune shall come to you!”
The marksman was amazed. “Why, what is this?” thought
he. “My eyes tell me it is a bird, and nothing else, yet it speaks with a human
voice! Such a thing has never happened to me before.”
So, he took the bird home, placed it on the windowsill,
and waited and waited. It was not very long before the bird laid its head
beneath its wing and began to doze. Then the marksman raised his right hand and
stroked it, quite lightly, the wrong side down. The dove instantly fell to the
ground and became a maiden, and so beautiful that the like of it can only be
told in tales but is neither to be imagined nor guessed at.
She spoke to the good youth who was the royal archer
and said: “You are clever enough to win me and have wit enough to live with me.
You are my predestined husband; I am your pre-ordained wife.”
They were immediately of one mind. Fedot married, lived
at home, and rejoiced in his young wife. Yet he never forgot his service to the
king. Every morning, before the break of the day, he took his weapon, went into
the forest, shot various kinds of wild beasts, and took them to the royal
kitchen.
But it was plain that his wife was much tormented by
these hunting expeditions, and one day she said to him: “Listen, my friend! I
am fearful for you! Every blessed day you go into the forest, wander through the
marsh, and return home wet through and through. We are none the better for it.
What sort of a trade do you call this? Look, I have a plan that you can benefit
from. Get me now one or two hundred rubles, and I’ll manage all the rest.”
Then Fedot hurried to his comrades, and borrowed a
ruble from one, and two rubles from another till he had collected about two
hundred rubles. Then he brought it to his wife. “Now,” said she, “buy me
various kinds of silk with all this money!”
The archer went and bought various kinds of silk for two
hundred rubles. She took them and said: “Be not sorrowful! Pray God and lie
down to sleep, the morning is wiser than the evening!”
So the husband
fell asleep, and the wife went out upon the balcony, opened her book of spells,
and immediately two invisible youths appeared before her and said: “What is
your command?”
To which she said, “Take this silk, and in a single
hour weave me a carpet more wondrous than anything to be found in the whole wide
world, and let the entire kingdom be embroidered on this carpet, with all its
cities and villages and rivers and lakes.”
Then they set to work and wove the carpet, and it was
wondrous to behold, wondrous above everything. In the morning the wife handed
the carpet to her husband. “There,” she said, “take it to the marketplace and
sell it to the merchants. But look now! Don’t haggle about the price but take
whatever they offer for it.”
Fedot took the carpet, turned it round, hung it over
his arm, and went to the marketplace. A merchant saw him, ran up to him at
once, and said to him: “Tell me, honored sir, will you sell me that carpet?”
“Willingly!” he
replied.
“And what then is the price?”
The archer responded, “You frequent these markets, what
do you think is a fair price?”
The merchant fell a-thinking and a-thinking, he could not
figure out a price for the carpet. He
was at his wits’ end.
Another merchant came running up and after him a third
and a fourth till a great crowd of them collected; they looked at the carpet, marveled
at it, and could not set a price. At that moment the royal steward passed by,
saw the crowd, and wanted to know what all the merchants were talking about.
So, he went up to them and said, “What is the matter?”
“We cannot price this carpet,” they replied.
The steward looked at the carpet, and he was amazed. “Listen,
archer!” he said, “tell me the real truth; where did you get this royal carpet?”
The archer smiled and said, “My wife made it!”
“How much do you want for it?”
“I don’t know the value of it. My wife asked me not to
haggle over it, but to take whatever was offered,” the archer explained.
“Then what do you say to 10,000 rubles?” The archer
took the money and gave up the carpet.
Now this steward was always by the King and ate and
drank at his table. So, he went to dine with the King and took the carpet with
him.
“Would it please your Majesty to look at the carpet I
have bought today?” The King looked and saw there his whole realm just as if it
were on the palm of his hand, and he heaved a great sigh.
“Why, what a carpet is this! In all my life I have
never seen such a cunning craft. Say now, what will you take for this carpet?” The
King drew out 25,000 rubles and put them into the hand of the steward, but the
carpet they hung up in the palace.
“That is a mere nothing,” thought the steward, “I’ll
make a much better thing out of the second chance.” So, he immediately searched
for the archer, sought out his little hut, and entered the dwelling room. The moment he saw the archer’s wife, at that
very instant he forgot all about himself and the errand on which he had come.
Nevertheless, the steward forced himself to return home. Afterward, he bungled
over everything he took in hand, and whether asleep or awake, he thought only
of one thing, the wonderfully lovely little archeress.
The King observed his change, and asked him, “What the
matter? What has happened to you to make you so sad?”
“Alas! My king and father, I have seen the archer's
wife—such a beauty the world knows not, nor has ever seen!” The King himself
was seized with a desire to fall in love with her, and he also went to the
abode of the archer. He entered the living room and saw before him a lady of such
unspeakable loveliness. The King
suddenly understood what had happened to his son.
“Love’s burning chilblain captured his heart.” “But what
does that matter? Why should I remain a bachelor any longer?” he thought. “I
know. I’ll marry this beauty for she’s too good to be a mere archer’s wife.
From her birth, she was evidently meant to be a Queen! My Queen!”
The King returned to his palace and said to the
steward, “Take heed! You were smart enough to show me the archer’s wife, that
unspeakable beauty. Now you must be smart enough to get her husband out of the
way. I want to marry her myself. And if you don’t remove him, look out! For
even though you are my faithful servant, you will be hanged upon some gallows!”
Then the steward went about much more afflicted than before and thought as he
would, he could not devise a method of getting rid of the archer. He wandered
about the broad marketplaces and the narrow lanes. There he met one day a witchy old hag known
as Baba Yaga.
“Stay, you
King’s servant!” cried she. “I can see all your thoughts. You’ll want some help
against your unavoidable woe.”
“Ah, help me, dear Baba Yaga! I’ll pay you whatever you
want!”
“You’ve been commanded to get rid of Fedot the archer.
That thing is not so very easy to do. He indeed is simple, but his wife is
frightfully artful. Well now, we’ll need to hit upon an errand that cannot be
accomplished quickly. Go to the King and say that he must command the archer to
go I know not whither, and fetch I know not what. Such a task as that the
archer will never accomplish, though he lives forever and ever. Either he will vanish altogether, or if he
does come back, it will be without arms or legs.”
The steward rewarded the old hag with gold and hastened
back to the King, and then the King sent and commanded the archer to be brought
before him.
“Well, Fedot! You are my young warrior and the first in
my corps of archers. Do this for me! Go I know not whither, and fetch me I
know not what! And mark me, if you don’t bring it back, it is I the King,
who tells you that your head shall be severed from your shoulders.”
The archer turned and left the palace. He came home very sad and thoughtful. And his
wife asked him: “Why are you so sad, darling; has any misfortune befallen you?”
“The King has sent me I know not whither to fetch I
know not what. It is through your beauty that this ruin has come upon us!”
“Yes, indeed!” she said. “This service is no light one!
It takes nine years to get there, and nine years to get back again, eighteen
years in all, and God only knows if it can be managed even then!”
“What’s to be done then, and what will become of me?”
he cried.
“Pray God and lie down to sleep, the morning is wiser
than the evening,” she said. “Tomorrow you will know all.”
The archer lay down to sleep, and his wife sat watching
till midnight, opened her book of spells, and the two youths immediately
appeared before her.
“What is your pleasure, and what do you command?” they
cried.
“Do you know how one can manage to go I know not
whither, and fetch I know not what?” she asked.
“No, we do not know.” She closed the book, and the
youths disappeared from before her eyes. In the morning the archeress awoke her
husband.
“Go to the King,” said she, “and ask for gold from the
treasury for your journey. You have a pilgrimage of eighteen years before you.
When you have the money, return to me to say farewell.”
The archer went to the King, received a whole purse full
of money, and returned to say goodbye to his wife. She gave him a pocket
handkerchief and a ball. Then she said: “When you go out of the town, throw
this ball in front of you, and wherever it rolls, follow it. Here too is my pocket
handkerchief; when you wash yourself, wherever you may be, always dry your face
with this handkerchief.”
The archer took leave of his wife and his comrades,
bowed low on all four sides of him, and went beyond the barriers of the city.
He threw the ball in front of him; the ball rolled and rolled, and he followed
it.
A month or so passed away, and then the King called the
steward and said to him: “The archer has departed to wander about the wide
world for eighteen years, and he will not return alive. Now eighteen years are
not two weeks, and no little disaster may have befallen him by the way. Go then
to the archer’s house and bring his wife to the palace!”
So, the steward went to the archer’s house, entered the
room, and said to the beautiful archeress: “Greetings wise woman! The King
commands you to come to the court!” So, to the court, she went.
The King received her with joy and led her into his
golden halls. “Will you be a Queen? I will make you, my spouse!” he said.
The archer’s wife was indigent. “Where was such a thing
ever seen, where was such a thing ever heard of, to take a wife away from her
living husband? Though he is nothing but a simple archer, he is for all that my
lawful husband.”
“If you don’t come of your own accord, I’ll take you by
force!” the King roared.
But the beauty laughed, stamped upon the floor, turned
into a dove, and flew out of the window.
The archer passed through many countries and kingdoms,
and the ball continued rolling. Whenever they came to a river the ball expanded
into a bridge, and whenever the archer wished to rest, the ball widened into a
downy bed. Whether the time was long or whether it was short, the tale was
quickly told, although the deed was not quickly done. Suffice it to say that the
archer finally came to a vast and wealthy palace. The ball rolled right up against the door and
vanished. The archer begins to think. “I had better go straight on.” So, he went up the staircase into a room, and
there he found three lovely damsels.
“Where have you come from and for what reason are you
here, good man?” they said.
“Alas! Lovely damsels, you ask me not to rest from my
long journey, but you begin to torment me with questions. First, you should
give me something to eat and drink and let me rest, and only then should you
ask me of my journey!” They immediately laid the table, gave him something to
eat and drink, and made him lie down to rest. The archer slept away his
weariness, rose from his soft bed, and the lovely damsels brought him a washing
basin and an embroidered towel. He washed himself in the clear spring water,
but the towel he would not take.
“I have my handkerchief to wipe my face,” said he, and
he drew out the handkerchief and began to dry himself.
And the lovely damsels started questioning him. “Tell
us, good man! Where did you get that handkerchief?”
“My wife gave it to me.”
“Then you must have married one of our kinswomen.” Then
they called their old mother, and she looked at the handkerchief, recognizing
it in the same instant.
She cried, “This is indeed my daughter’s handkerchief!”
Then she began to put all manner of questions to the archer. He told her how he
had married her daughter, and how the King had sent him I know not whither,
to fetch I know not what.
“Alas! My dear son-in-law, not even I have heard of
this marvel. But come now, perchance my servants may know of it.”
Then the old woman fetched her book of spells, turned
over the leaves, and immediately there appeared two giants. “What is your
pleasure, and what is your command?”
“Look now, my faithful servants, carry me together with
my son-in-law to the wide sea Ocean, and place us in the very center of it—in
the very abyss.” Immediately the giants caught up the archer and the old woman,
and bore them, as by a hurricane, to the wide sea Ocean, and placed them in the
center of it—in the very abyss. There they stood like two vast columns and held
the archer and the old woman in their arms. Then the old woman cried with a
loud voice, and there came swimming up to her all the fish and creeping things
of the sea so that the blue sea was no longer to be seen for the multitude of
them.
“Hark! Fish and creeping things of the sea. You who
swim everywhere, have you heard how to go I know not whither, to fetch I
know not what?”
And all the fishes and creeping things exclaimed with
one voice, “No, we have never heard of it.”
Suddenly a lame old croaking frog forced its way to the
front and said, “Kwa, kwa; I know where this marvel is to be found.”
“Well, dear, that is just what I want to know,” said
the old woman, and she took up the frog and told the giants to carry her and
her son-in-law home.
In an instant, they found themselves in their own
courtyard. Then the old woman began to question the frog. “How and by what road
can my son-in-law go?”
And the frog answered, “This place is at the end of the
world—far, far away. I would gladly lead him myself, but I am so frightfully
old, that I can scarcely move my legs. I could not get there in fifty years.”
The old woman sent for a big jar, filled it with fresh
milk, put the frog inside, and said to her son-in-law, “Hold this jar in your
hand and the frog will show you the way.” The archer took the jar with the
frog, said goodbye to his mother-in-law and his sisters-in-law, and set out on
his way. On he went, and the frog showed him the way. Whether it be far or
near, long or short, matters not; suffice it that he came to the fiery river. Beyond this river was a high mountain, and on
this mountain, a door was to be seen. “Kwa, kwa,” said the frog, “let me out of
the jar, we must cross over this river.”
The archer took it from the jar and placed it on the
ground. “Now, my good youth, sit on me. More firmly. Don’t be afraid. You will
not smash me.” The youth sat on the frog and pressed it down to the ground. The
frog began to swell; it swelled and swelled until it was as large as a
haystack. All that the archer now thought of was the risk of falling off.
“If I fall off it will be the death of me,” thought he.
The frog, when it had done swelling, took a leap and leaped with one big bound
right across the fiery stream, and again made itself quite little.
“Now, good youth, go through that door and I’ll wait
for you here. You will come into a cavern and will need to hide yourself well.
In a short time two old men will enter; listen to what they are saying, and see
what they do, and when they are gone, say and do as they did.”
The archer went into the mountain, opened the door, and
found the cavern. It was dark enough to put one’s eyes out. He fumbled his way
along and felt all about him with his arms until he felt an empty chest, into
which he hid himself.
And now, after he had waited some time, two old men
entered and said: “Hi! Shmat-Razum! come and feed us.”
At that very instant—there’s no telling how—lightning
flashes lit candelabras, thundered plates and dishes, and various wines and
meats appeared upon the table. The old men ate and drank, and then they commanded
“Shmat-Razum! take it all away.” And immediately there was nothing, neither
table, nor wine, nor meats, and the candelabras all went out.
The archer heard the two old men going out, crept out
of the chest, and cried: “Hi! Shmat-Razum!”
“What is your pleasure?”
“Feed me.” Again, everything appeared. The candelabras
were lighted, the table was covered, and all the meats and drinks appeared upon
it. The archer sat down at the table and said, “Hi! Shmat-Razum. Come, brother,
and sit down with me, let’s eat and drink together. I can’t stand eating all
alone.”
And an invisible voice answered him: “Alas! good man,
where have you come from? It’s thirty years since I have served the two old men
here, and during all that time they have never once asked me to sit down with
them.”
The archer looked around and was amazed. He saw nobody,
yet the meat disappeared from the dishes as if someone was sweeping them away,
and the wine bottles lifted themselves up, poured themselves into the glasses,
and in a moment the glasses were empty.
Then the archer went on eating and drinking, but he
said: “Listen, Shmat-Razum! Will you be my servant? You will have a good time
of it with me.”
“Why should I not? I have been growing weary here, and I
see, you are a good man.”
“Well, get
everything ready and come with me,” said the archer.
The archer came out of the cave and looked around him. There was nothing. “Shmat-Razum, are you
there?”
“I am here. Fear not. I’ll never desert you.”
“Right,” replied the archer, and he sat him on the
frog. The frog swelled out and leaped across the fiery stream. He placed it in the jar and set off on his
return journey. He came to his mother-in-law and made his new servant regale
the old woman and her daughters right royally. Shmat-Razum feasted them so
bountifully that the old woman very nearly danced for joy and ordered the frog
three jars of fresh milk every nine days for its faithful services. The archer
then took leave of his mother-in-law and wended his way homeward. He went on
and on till he was utterly exhausted, his swift feet trembled beneath him, and
his white arms sank by his side.
“Alas!” said he, “Shmat-Razum, do you not see how weary
I am? My legs fail me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me long ago? I will bring you to
the place alive and well.” And immediately the archer was seized by a whirlwind
and carried through the air so quickly that his hat fell from his head.
“Hi! Shmat-Razum! Stop a minute. My hat has fallen from
my head.”
“Too late, master. You can’t get it. Your cap is now 5,000
miles behind you.” Towns and villages, rivers, and forests, melted away beneath
the feet of the archer.
And now the archer was flying over the deep sea, and
Shmat-Razum told him: “If you will let me, I would make a golden bower on this
sea, and you will be able to rest and be happy!”
“Do so then,” said the archer, and straightway they
began descending towards the sea. For a moment, the waves splashed high, and
then a small island appeared, and on the island was a golden pleasure-house.
Shmat-Razum said to the archer: “Sit in this pleasure
house and rest and look out upon the sea. Three merchant vessels will sail by
and stop at the island. You must invite the merchants in and hospitably
entertain them. Exchange me for three
wondrous things which the merchants will bring with them. In due time I will
return to you again.”
The archer kept watch, and lo! From the west three
ships came sailing up, and the merchantmen saw the island and the golden pleasure
house. “It’s a marvel!” they said, “how
many times have we sailed here, and nothing was to be seen but the sea! And
now, behold! a golden pleasure house is here. Come, friends, let us put to
shore and feast our eyes upon it!” So immediately they lowered the sails and
cast the anchor, three of the merchants climbed into a light skiff, and they
came to the shore.
“Hail, good man!”
“Hail, wayfaring merchants, you men of many marts! Be
so good as to turn in to me, stroll about at your ease, make merry, and repose.
This pleasure house was built expressly for guests that come by the sea!” The
merchants entered the bower and sat them down on footstools.
“Hi! Shmat-Razum!” cried the archer; “give us something
to eat and drink.” The table appeared, and on the table was wine and savory
meats; whatever the soul desired was there with the wishing. The merchants
sighed in envy.
“Come,” said they, “let us make an exchange. Give us your
servant, and take from us what marvels you like best.”
“But what marvels have you then?” the archer asked.
“Look and see!” One of the merchants drew out of his
pocket a little casket, and he had no sooner opened it than a lovely garden
spread out all over the island with fragrant flowers and pleasant paths. But
when he shut the casket, the garden immediately disappeared. The second
merchant drew from beneath the folds of his garment an axe and began to tap
with it. “Rap-tap!” out came a ship. “Rap-tap!” out came another ship. A hundred
times he rapped and made a hundred ships with sails and guns and crews complete. The ships sailed, and the sailors stood by
the guns and took orders from the merchant. The merchant gloried in it for a
while, but then he concealed his axe and the ships vanished out of sight just
as if they had never been. The third merchant produced a horn, blew into one end
of it, and immediately an army appeared, both horse and foot, with cannons and
banners, and through all the ranks went the roll of martial music, and the armor
of the warriors flashed like fire in the sunlight. The merchant rejoiced in it
all, then he took his horn and blew into the other end of it, and there was
nothing to be seen, the whole of that martial might was no more.
“Your marvels are well enough, but they are of no use
to me,” said the archer; “your hosts and your fleets would do honor to a Tsar,
but I am only a simple archer. If you would change with me, then must you give
me all your three wonders in exchange for my one invisible servant.”
“But won’t that be too much?”
“Know that I’ll make no other exchange.”
The merchants considered among themselves: “What’s the
use of this garden, these ships, and these hosts to us? ’It will be better to do
the exchange. At any rate, we shall always be able to eat and drink our fill
without the least trouble.”
So, they gave the archer their wonders and said: “Well,
Shmat-Razum, we’ll take you with us.
Will you serve us well and loyally?”
“Why should I not serve you? It is all the same with me
with whom I live.” The merchants returned to their ships and regaled all their
crews right royally.
“Hi! Shmat-Razum! Rouse yourself!”
And everyone on board ate and drank their fill and lay
down and slept heavily. But the archer sat in his golden bower and grew pensive
and said: “Alas! My heart yearns after my faithful servant, Shmat-Razum. I
wonder where he is now!”
“I am here, master!” he said, and the archer was glad.
“Is it not time for us to hasten home?” And he had no
sooner spoken than a whirlwind seized him and bore him into the air.
The merchants awoke from their sleep and wanted to
drink away the effects of their carouse. “Hi! Shmat-Razum, give us some more drinks
by way of a pick-me-up!”
But no one answered, no one rendered them that service.
Order and shout as they might, things remained precisely as they were. “Well,
gentlemen! This conman has fooled us! The devil take him, and may the island
vanish and the golden bower perish.” Thus, the merchants lamented and lamented,
and then they spread their sails and departed for where their business called
them.
The archer flew back to his country and descended into
a waste place by the blue sea. “Hi, Shmat-Razum, can we not build a little
castle here?”
“Why not? It shall be ready immediately.” And
immediately the castle sprang up, more beautiful than words can tell. It was twice as good as a royal palace. The
archer opened his casket and a garden immediately appeared round the castle
with pleasant country paths and marvelous flowers. The archer sat at the open
window and quite fell in love with his garden. Suddenly a dove flew in at the
window, plumped down upon the ground, and turned into his lovely young wife.
They embraced and greeted each other.
And the wife said to the archer, “Ever since you left home,
I have been flying as a blue dove among the woods and groves. How happily we
will now live together forevermore!”
Early the next morning the King came out onto his
balcony and looked towards the blue sea and behold! On the very shore stood a
new castle, and round the castle was a green garden. “Who then is this
presumptuous stranger who builds on my land without my leave?”
Then his couriers ran over, asked questions, and returned. They told him that this castle was built by
the archer, and he himself dwelt in the castle and his wife with him. The King
was angrier than ever. He ordered them to
assemble the troops. “Go to the shores
of the sea, root up the garden, smash the castle into little bits, and bring
the archer and his wife to me,” he screamed. The archer saw the King’s army
coming against him, which was very strong.
Then he seized his axe quickly and rapped with it, “Rap-tap!”
Out came a ship. He rapped one hundred times and made
one hundred ships. Then he seized his horn and blew it once, and several
footmen rolled out. He blew in the other end, and many horses rolled out. The
commanders of all the corps came rushing up to him and asked him for orders.
The archer bade them to begin the battle. The music struck up, the drums
rolled, and the regiments moved forward against the royal army. The infantry,
like a solid wall, broke down their center, the horse cut them off at the wings
and took them captive, and the guns from the fleet played upon the capital. The
King saw that all his army was flying, and rushed forward to stop them—but how?
He could not do it, and in a moment, he was swept from his horse during the
fierce fight and trampled underfoot. When the fight was over the people assembled
and begged the archer to accept the whole realm from their hands. To this, he consented
and ruled that kingdom peaceably throughout his life.
There is much more to say about this story
but we’ll leave that until next month!
Adapted from Bain, R. Nisbet, Russian Fairy Tales: From
the Skazki of Polevoi. 3rd ed. London: A. H. Bullen, 1901.