THE FOLKLORE
Reading edition
Epic Songs.
The first collection of epic songs was published in 1804, based on the collection made some years before by the Siberian Cossack Kirshá Danílov. Since the fifties of the eighteenth century large numbers of these songs have been gathered in the extreme north-east, by Kiryéevski, Rýbnikov, Gílferding, and others. They are generally divided into the cycle of Kíev, with Vladímir and his druzhína, who defend the country against external enemies, and the cycle of Nóvgorod, in which is described the wealth and luxury of the once famous commercial emporium. There is also a division into the older heroes, of which Volkh Vseslávevich is one, and the younger heroes, of which Ilyá of Múrom is the most noted.
Good accounts of the epic songs may be found in most of the general works on Russian literature mentioned in the Preface. The only work which gives a large number of these epics, with notes, is The Epic Songs of Russia, by Isabel Florence Hapgood, with an introductory note by Prof. Francis J. Child, New York, 1886.
VOLKH VSESLÁVEVICH
In the heavens the bright moon did shine, But in Kíev a mighty hero was born, The young hero Volkh Vseslávevich: The damp earth trembled, Trembled the famous Indian realm, And the blue sea also trembled On account of the birth of the hero, The young Volkh Vseslávevich: The fish went into the depth of the sea, The birds flew high into the clouds, The aurochses and stags went beyond the mountains, The hares and foxes into the woods, The wolves and bears into the pine-forests, The sables and martens upon the isles. Volkh was old an hour and a half, And Volkh spoke, like peals of thunder: “Hail to thee, lady mother, Young Márfa Vseslávevna! Swathe me not in swaddling-clothes of bast, Gird me not with bands of silk,— Swathe me, my dear mother, In strong mail of tempered steel; On my grim head place a helmet of gold, Into my right hand put a club, A heavy club of lead, In weight that club of thirty puds.” Volkh was seven years old: His mother gave him to be instructed; As soon as he had learned to read, She put him down to write with pen, And he learned swiftly how to write. When Volkh was ten years old: Then Volkh learned all cunning arts: The first of these cunning arts was To change himself into a falcon clear; The second cunning art that Volkh had learned Was to change himself into a grey wolf; The third cunning art that Volkh had learned Was to change himself into a dun aurochs with horns of gold. When Volkh was twelve years old, He began to collect a druzhína for himself. He got together a druzhína within three years, His druzhína was seven thousand strong. Volkh himself was fifteen years old, And all his druzhína were fifteen years old. All that famous host started out For the capital, for Kíev town: The Tsar of India was arming himself, He was boasting and bragging to all That he would take Kíev town by assault, Would let God’s churches go up in smoke, Would destroy the worshipful monasteries. As soon as Volkh had found that out, He started out with his druzhína brave For the famous kingdom of India, With his druzhína he at once started out. The druzhína sleeps, but Volkh sleeps not: He turns himself into a grey wolf, Runs, races over dark forests and wolds, And strikes down the antlered beasts; Nor does he give quarter to wolf or bear, And sables and panthers are his favourite morsel, Nor does he disdain hares and foxes. Volkh gave his brave druzhína to eat and drink, Gave apparel and footwear to his valiant men: His men all wore black sable furs, And other coats of panthers. The druzhína sleeps, but Volkh sleeps not: He turns himself into a clear falcon, And flies far away, beyond the blue sea, And strikes down the geese, the white swans, Nor does he give quarter to the grey-white ducks; And he gave his druzhína to eat and drink: And his viands were of many a kind, Of many a kind, and sweetmeats too.
ILYÁ OF MÚROM AND NIGHTINGALE THE ROBBER
Young Ilyá of Múrom, Iván’s son, went to matins on Easter morn. And as he stood there in the church, he vowed a great vow: “To sing a high mass that same Easter day in Kíev town, and go thither by the straight way.” And yet another vow he took: “As he fared to that royal town by the straight way, not to stain his hand with blood, nor yet his sharp sword with the blood of the accursed Tartars.”
His third vow he swore upon his mace of steel: “That though he should go the straight way, he would not shoot his fiery darts.”
Then he departed from the cathedral church, entered the spacious courtyard and began to saddle good Cloudfall, his shaggy bay steed, to arm himself and prepare for his journey to the famous town of Kíev, to the worshipful feast and the Fair Sun Prince Vladímir of royal Kíev. Good Cloudfall’s mane was three ells in length, his tail three fathoms, and his hair of three colours. Ilyá put on him first the plaited bridle, next twelve saddle-cloths, twelve felts, and upon them a metal-bound Circassian saddle. The silken girths were twelve in number—not for youthful vanity but for heroic strength; the stirrups were of damascened steel from beyond the seas, the buckles of bronze which rusteth not, weareth not, the silk from Samarcand which chafeth not, teareth not.
They saw the good youth as he mounted,—as he rode they saw him not; so swift was his flight there seemed but a smoke-wreath on the open plain, as when wild winds of winter whirl about the snow. Good Cloudfall skimmed over the grass and above the waters; high over the standing trees he soared, the primeval oaks, yet lower than the drifting clouds. From mountain to mountain he sprang, from hill to hill he galloped; little rivers and lakes dropped between his feet; where his hoofs fell, founts of water gushed forth; in the open plain smoke eddied and rose aloft in a pillar. At each leap Cloudfall compassed a verst and a half.
In the open steppe young Ilyá hewed down a forest, and raised a godly cross, and wrote thereon:
“Ilyá of Múrom, the Old Cossack, rideth to royal Kíev town on his first heroic quest.”
When he drew near to Chernígov, there stood a great host of Tartars,—three Tsaréviches, each with forty thousand men. The cloud of steam from the horses was so great that the fair red sun was not yet seen by day, nor the bright moon by night. The grey hare could not course, nor the clear falcon fly about that host, so vast was it.
When Ilyá saw that, he dismounted; flying down before good Cloudfall’s right foot, he entreated him:
“Help me, my shaggy bay!” So Cloudfall soared like a falcon clear, and Ilyá plucked up a damp, ringbarked oak from the damp earth, from amid the stones and roots, and bound it to his left stirrup, grasped another in his right hand, and began to brandish it: “Every man may take a vow,” quoth he, “but not every man can fulfill it.”
Where he waved the damp oak a street appeared; where he drew it back, a lane. Great as was the number that he slew, yet twice that number did his good steed trample under foot. Not one was spared to continue their race.
The gates of Chernígov were strongly barred, a great watch was kept, and the stout and mighty hero stood in counsel. Therefore Ilyá flew on his good steed over the city wall (the height of the wall was twelve fathoms) and entered the church where all the people were assembled, praying God, repenting and receiving the sacrament against sure and approaching death. Ilyá crossed himself as prescribed, did reverence as enjoined, and cried:
“Hail, ye merchants of Chernígov, warrior maidens, and mighty heroes all! Why repent ye now and receive the sacrament? Why do ye bid farewell thus to the white world?”
Then they told him how they were deceived by the accursed Tartars, and Ilyá said: “Go ye upon the famous wall of your city, and look towards the open plain.”
They did as he commanded, and lo! where had stood the many, very many foreign standards, like a dark, dry forest, the accursed Tartars were now cut down and heaped up like a field of grain which hath been reaped.
Then the men of Chernígov did slowly reverence to the good youth, and besought him that he would reveal his name and abide in Chernígov to serve them as their Tsar, King, Voevóda,—what he would; and that he would likewise accept at their hand a bowl of pure red gold, a bowl of fair silver and one of fine seed pearls.
“These I will not take,” Ilyá made answer, “though I have earned them: neither will I dwell with you either as Tsar or peasant. Live ye as of old, my brothers, and show me the straight road to Kíev town.”
Then they told him: “By the straight road it is five hundred versts, and by the way about, a thousand. Yet take not the straight road, for therein lie three great barriers: the grey wolf trotteth not that way, the black raven flieth not overhead. The first barrier is a lofty mountain; the second is the Smoródina River, six versts in width, and the Black Morass; and beside that river, the third barrier is Nightingale the Robber.
“He hath built his nest on seven oaks, that magic bird. When he whistleth like a nightingale, the dark forest boweth to the earth, the green leaves wither, horse and rider fall as dead. For that cause the road is lost, and no man hath travelled it for thirty years.”
When Ilyá, the Old Cossack, heard that, he mounted his good steed, and rode forthwith that way. When he came to the lofty mountain, his good steed rose from the damp earth, and soared as a bright falcon over them and the tall, dreaming forest. When he came to the Black Morass, he plucked the great oaks with one hand, and flung them across the shaking bog for thirty versts, while he led good Cloudfall with the other. When he came to Mother Smoródina, he beat his steed’s fat sides, so that the horse cleared the river at a bound.
There sat Nightingale the Robber (surnamed the Magic Bird), and thrust his turbulent head out from his nest upon the seven oaks; sparks and flame poured from his mouth and nostrils. Then he began to pipe like a nightingale, to roar like an aurochs, and to hiss like a dragon. Thereat good Cloudfall, that heroic steed, fell upon his knees, and Ilyá began to beat him upon his flanks and between his ears.
“Thou wolf’s food!” cried Ilyá, “thou grass bag! Hast never been in the gloomy forest, nor heard the song of the nightingale, the roar of wild beast, nor serpent’s hiss?”
Then Ilyá brake a twig from a willow that grew nearby, that he might keep his vow not to stain his weapons with blood, fitted it to his stout bow, and conjured it: “Fly, little dart! Enter the Nightingale’s left eye; come out at his right ear!”
The good heroic steed rose to his feet, and the Robber Nightingale fell to the damp earth like a rick of grain.
Then the Old Cossack raised up that mighty Robber, bound him to his stirrup by his yellow curls, and went his way. Ere long they came to the Nightingale’s house, built upon seven pillars over seven versts of ground. About the courtyard there was an iron paling, upon each stake thereof a spike, and on each spike the head of a hero. In the centre was the strangers’ court, and there stood three towers with golden crests, spire joined to spire, beam merged in beam, roof wedded to roof. Green gardens were planted round about, all blossoming and blooming with azure flowers, and the fair orchards encircled all.
When the Magic Bird’s children looked from the latticed casements and beheld the hero riding with one at his stirrup, they cried: “Ay, lady mother! Our father cometh, and leadeth a man at his stirrup for us to eat.”
But Eléna, the One-Eyed, Nightingale’s witch daughter, looked forth and said: “Nay, it is the Old Cossack, Ilyá of Múrom, who rideth and leadeth our father in bond.”
Then spoke Nightingale’s nine sons: “We will transform ourselves into ravens, and rend that peasant with our iron beaks, and scatter his white body over the plains.” But their father shouted to them that they should not harm the hero.
Nevertheless Eléna the witch ran into the wide courtyard, tore a steel beam of a hundred and fifty puds’ weight from the threshold, and hurled it at Ilyá. The good youth wavered in his saddle, yet, being nimble, he escaped the full force of the blow. Then he leaped from his horse, took the witch on his foot: higher flew the witch then than God’s temple, higher than the life-giving cross thereon, and fell against the rear wall of the court, where her skin burst.
“Foolish are ye, my children!” cried the Nightingale. “Fetch from the vaults a cartload of fair gold, another of pure silver, and a third of fine seed pearls, and give to the Old Cossack, Ilyá of Múrom, that he may set me free.”
Quoth Ilyá: “If I should plant my sharp spear in the earth, and thou shouldst heap treasures about it until it was covered, yet would I not release thee, Nightingale, lest thou shouldst resume thy thieving. But follow me now to glorious Kíev town, that thou mayest receive forgiveness there.”
Then his good steed Cloudfall began to prance, and the Magic Bird at his stirrup to dance, and in this wise came the good youth, the Old Cossack to Kíev, to glorious Prince Vladímir.
Now, fair Prince Vladímir of royal Kíev was not at home; he had gone to God’s temple. Therefore Ilyá entered the court without leave or announcement, bound his horse to the golden ring in the carven pillars, and laid his commands upon that good heroic steed: “Guard thou the Nightingale, my charger, that he depart not from stirrup of steel!”
And to Nightingale he said: “Look to it, Nightingale, that thou depart not from my good steed, for there is no place in all the white world where thou mayest securely hide thyself from me!”
Then he betook himself to Easter mass. There he crossed himself and did reverence, as prescribed, on all four sides, and to the Fair Sun, Prince Vladímir, in particular. And after the mass was over, Prince Vladímir sent to bid the strange hero to the feast, and there inquired of him from what horde and land he came, and what was his parentage. So Ilyá told him that he was the only son of honourable parents. “I stood at my home in Múrom, at matins,” quoth he, “and mass was but just ended when I came hither by the straight way.”
When the heroes that sat at the Prince’s table heard that, they looked askance at him.
“Nay, good youth, liest thou not? boastest thou not?” said Fair Sun Vladímir. “That way hath been lost these thirty years, for there stand great barriers therein; accursed Tartars in the fields, black morasses; and beside the famed Smoródina, amid the bending birches, is the nest of the Nightingale on seven oaks; and that Magic Bird hath nine sons and eight daughters, and one is a witch. He hath permitted neither horse nor man to pass him these many years.”
“Nay, thou Fair Sun Prince Vladímir,” Ilyá answered: “I did come the straight way, and the Nightingale Robber now sitteth bound within thy court.”
Then all left the tables of white oak, and each outran the other to view the Nightingale, as he sat bound to the steel stirrup, with one eye fixed on Kíev town and the other on Chernígov from force of habit. And Princess Apráksiya came forth upon the railed balcony to look.
Prince Vladímir spoke: “Whistle, thou Nightingale, roar like an aurochs, hiss like a dragon.”
But the Nightingale replied: “Not thy captive am I, Vladímir. ’Tis not thy bread I eat. But give me wine.”
“Give him a cup of green wine,” spake Ilyá, “a cup of a bucket and a half, in weight a pud and a half, and a cake of fine wheat flour, for his mouth is now filled with blood from my dart.”
Vladímir fetched a cup of green wine, and one of the liquor of drunkenness, and yet a third of sweet mead; and the Nightingale drained each at a draught. Then the Old Cossack commanded the Magic Bird to whistle, roar and hiss, but under his breath, lest harm might come to any.
But the Nightingale, out of malice, did all with his full strength. And at that cry, all the ancient palaces in Kíev fell in ruins, the new castles rocked, the roofs through all the city fell to the ground, damp mother earth quivered, the heroic steed fled from the court, the young damsels hid themselves, the good youths dispersed through the streets, and as many as remained to listen died. Ilyá caught up Prince Vladímir under one arm, and his Princess under the other, to shield them; yet was Vladímir as though dead for the space of three hours.
“For this deed of thine thou shalt die,” spake Ilyá in his wrath, and Vladímir prayed that at least a remnant of his people might be spared.
The Nightingale began to entreat forgiveness, and that he might be allowed to build a great monastery with his ill-gotten gold. “Nay,” said Ilyá, “this kind buildeth never, but destroyeth alway.”
With that he took Nightingale the Robber by his white hands, led him far out upon the open plain, fitted a burning arrow to his stout bow and shot it into the black breast of that Magic Bird. Then he struck off his turbulent head, and scattered his bones to the winds, and, mounting his good Cloudfall, came again to good Vladímir.
Again they sat at the oaken board, eating savoury viands and white swans, and quaffing sweet mead. Great gifts and much worship did Ilyá receive, and Vladímir gave command that he should be called evermore Ilyá of Múrom, the Old Cossack, after his native town.—From I. F. Hapgood’s The Epic Songs of Russia.
Historical Songs.
The historical songs are composed in the same manner as the epic songs, of which they are an organic continuation. The oldest historical songs treat of the Tartar invasion. A large number are centred about Iván the Terrible, and those that describe Yermák’s exploits and conquests in Siberia are probably the most interesting of that period. Some of those referring to the time of the Borís Godunóv have been given on pp. 130-4, having been collected by Richard James, the English divine. There are also songs dealing with Sténka Rázin, the robber, who was executed in 1671, and Peter the Great, of which that on the taking of Ázov in 1696 is given below.
There are few collections of these songs in English: W. R. Morfill’s Slavonic Literature and Talvi’s Historical View are the only ones that give extracts of any consequence. Accounts of these songs may be found in most of the Histories of Russian Literature mentioned in the Preface.
YERMÁK
On the glorious steppes of Sarátov, Below the city of Sarátov, And above the city of Kamýshin, The Cossacks, the free people, assembled; They collected, the brothers, in a ring; The Cossacks of the Don, the Grebén, and the Yaík, Their Hetman was Yermák, the son of Timoféy; Their captain was Asbáshka, the son of Lavrénti. They planned a little plan. “The summer, the warm summer is going, And the cold winter approaches, my brothers. Where, brothers, shall we spend the winter? If we go to the Yaík, it is a terrible passage; If we go to the Vólga, we shall be considered robbers; If we go to the city of Kazán, there is the Tsar— The Tsar Iván Vasílevich, the Terrible. There he has great forces.” “There, Yermák, thou wilt be hanged, And we Cossacks shall be captured And shut up in strong prisons.” Yermák, the son of Timoféy, takes up his speech:— “Pay attention, brothers, pay attention, And listen to me—Yermák! Let us spend the winter in Astrakhán; And when the fair Spring reveals herself, Then, brothers, let us go on a foray; Let us earn our wine before the terrible Tsar!” “Ha, brothers, my brave Hetmans! Make for yourselves boats, Make the rowlocks of fir, Make the oars of pine! By the help of God we will go, brothers; Let us pass the steep mountains, Let us reach the infidel kingdom, Let us conquer the Siberian kingdom,— That will please our Tsar, our master. I will myself go to the White Tsar, I shall put on a sable cloak, I shall make my submission to the White Tsar.” “Oh! thou art our hope, orthodox Tsar; Do not order me to be executed, but bid me say my say, Since I am Yermák, the son of Timoféy! I am the robber Hetman of the Don; ’Twas I went over the blue sea, Over the blue sea, the Caspian; And I it was who destroyed the ships; And now, our hope, our orthodox Tsar, I bring you my traitorous head, And with it I bring the empire of Siberia.” And the orthodox Tsar spoke; He spoke—the terrible Iván Vasílevich: “Ha! thou art Yermák, the son of Timoféy, Thou art the Hetman of the warriors of the Don. I pardon you and your band, I pardon you for your trusty service, And I give you the glorious gentle Don as an inheritance.”
—From W. R. Morfill’s Slavonic Literature.
THE BOYÁR’S EXECUTION
“Thou, my head, alas! my head, Long hast served me, and well, my head; Full three-and-thirty summers long; Ever astride of my gallant steed, Never my foot from its stirrup drawn. But alas! thou hast gained, my head, Nothing of joy or other good; Nothing of honours or even thanks.” Yonder along the Butcher’s street, Out to the field through the Butcher’s gate, They are leading a prince and peer. Priests and deacons are walking before, In their hands a great book open; Then there follows a soldier troop, With their drawn sabres flashing bright. At his right the headsman goes, Holds in his hand the keen-edged sword; At his left goes his sister dear, And she weeps as the torrent pours, And she sobs as the fountains gush. Comforting speaks her brother to her: “Weep not, weep not, my sister dear! Weep not away thy eyes so clear, Dim not, O dim not thy face so fair, Make not heavy thy joyous heart! Say, for what is it thou weepest so? Is ’t for my goods, my inheritance? Is ’t for my lands, so rich and wide? Is ’t for my silver, or is ’t for my gold, Or dost thou weep for my life alone?” “Ah, thou, my light, my brother dear! Not for thy goods or inheritance, Not for thy lands, so rich and wide, Is ’t that my eyes are weeping so; Not for thy silver and not for thy gold, ’Tis for thy life I am weeping so.” “Ah, thou, my light, my sister sweet! Thou mayest weep, but it won’t avail; Thou mayest beg, but ’tis all in vain; Pray to the Tsar, but he will not yield. Merciful truly was God to me, Truly gracious to me the Tsar, So he commanded my traitor head Off should be hewn from my shoulders strong.” Now the scaffold the prince ascends, Calmly mounts to the place of death; Prays to his Great Redeemer there, Humbly salutes the crowd around: “Farewell, world, and thou people of God! Pray for my sins that burden me sore!” Scarce had the people ventured then On him to look, when his traitor head Off was hewn from his shoulders strong.
—From Talvi’s Historical View.
THE STORMING OF ÁZOV
The poor soldiers have no rest, Neither night nor day! Late at evening the word was given To the soldiers gay; All night long their weapons cleaning, Were the soldiers good; Ready in the morning dawn, All in ranks they stood. Not a golden trumpet is it, That now sounds so clear; Nor the silver flute’s tone is it, That thou now dost hear. ’Tis the great White Tsar who speaketh, ’Tis our father dear. “Come, my princes, my boyárs, Nobles, great and small! Now consider and invent Good advice, ye all, How the soonest, how the quickest, Fort Ázov may fall!” The boyárs, they stood in silence,— And our father dear, He again began to speak, In his eye a tear: “Come, my children, good dragoons, And my soldiers all, Now consider and invent Brave advice, ye all, How the soonest, how the quickest, Fort Ázov may fall!” Like a humming swarm of bees, So the soldiers spake, With one voice at once they spake: “Father dear, great Tsar! Fall it must! and all our lives Thereon we gladly stake.” Set already was the moon, Nearly past the night; To the storming on they marched, With the morning light; To the fort with bulwarked towers And walls so strong and white. Not great rocks they were, which rolled From the mountains steep; From the high, high walls there rolled Foes into the deep. No white snow shines on the fields, All so white and bright; But the corpses of our foes Shine so bright and white. Not upswollen by heavy rains Left the sea its bed; No! In rills and rivers streams Turkish blood so red!
—From Talvi’s Historical View.
Folksongs.
Pagan Russia was rich in ceremonies in honour of the various divinities representing the powers of nature. Christianity has not entirely obliterated the memory of these ancient rites: they are preserved in the ceremonial songs that are recited, now of course without a knowledge of their meaning, upon all church holidays, to which the old festivities have been adapted. Thus, the feast of the winter solstice now coincides with Christmas, while the old holiday of the summer solstice has been transferred to St. John’s Day, on June 24th.
The kolyádas are sung at Christmas, and seem to have been originally in honour of the sun. The name appears to be related to the Latin “calenda,” but it is generally supposed that this is only accidental, and that Kolyáda was one of the appellations of the sun. Young boys and girls march through the village or town and exact contributions of eatables by reciting the kolyádas. In other places they sing, instead, songs to a mythical being, Ovsén, on the eve of the New Year. This Ovsén is some other representation of the sun.
During the Christmas festivity fortunes are told over a bowl of water which is placed on the table, while in it are put rings, earrings, salt, bread, pieces of coal. During the fortune-telling they sing the bowl-songs, after each of which a ring, or the like, is removed. After the fortune-telling follow the games and the songs connected with these.
Spring songs are recited in the week after Easter. Soon after, and lasting until the end of June, the round dance, the khorovód, is danced upon some eminence, and the khorovód songs, referring to love and marriage, are sung. There are still other reminiscences of heathen festivals, of which the most important is that to Kupála, on the night from the 23rd to the 24th of June, when the peasants jump over fires and bathe in the river.
The wedding-songs, of which there is a large number in the long ceremony of the wedding (cf. Kotoshíkhin’s account of the seventeenth century wedding, p. 143 et seq.) contain reminiscences of the ancient custom of the stealing of the bride, and, later, of the purchase of the bride. Most of the love songs that are not part of the khorovód are detached songs of the wedding ceremonial.
The beggar-songs are more properly apocryphal songs of book origin, handed down from great antiquity, but not preceding the introduction of Christianity. There are also lamentations, charms, and other similar incantations, in which both pagan and Christian ideas are mingled.
An account of the folksong will be found in Talvi’s Historical View of the Languages and Literatures of the Slavic Nations, New York, 1850; W. R. S. Ralston’s The Songs of the Russian People, London, 1872; Russian Folk-Songs as Sung by the People, and Peasant Wedding Ceremonies, translated by E. Lineff, with preface by H. E. Krehbiel, Chicago, 1893. Also in the following periodical articles: The Popular Songs of Russia, in Hogg’s Instructor, 1855, and the same article, in Eclectic Magazine, vol. xxxvi; Russian Songs and Folktales, in Quarterly Review, 1874 (vol. cxxxvi). A number of popular songs have been translated by Sir John Bowring in his Specimens of the Russian Poets, both parts.
KOLYÁDKA
Beyond the river, the swift river, Oy Kolyádka! There stand dense forests: In those forests fires are burning, Great fires are burning. Around the fires stand benches, Stand oaken benches, On these benches the good youths, The good youths, the fair maidens, Sing Kolyáda songs, Kolyáda, Kolyáda! In their midst sits an old man; He sharpens his steel knife. A cauldron boils hotly. Near the cauldron stands a goat. They are going to kill the goat. “Brother Ivánushko, Come forth, spring out!” “Gladly would I have sprung out, But the bright stone Drags me down to the cauldron: The yellow sands Have sucked dry my heart.” Oy Kolyádka! Oy Kolyádka!
—From W. R. S. Ralston’s The Songs of the Russian People.
BOWL-SONG
A grain adown the velvet strolled—Glory! No purer pearl could be—Glory! The pearl against a ruby rolled—Glory! Most beautiful to see—Glory! Big is the pearl by ruby’s side—Glory! Well for the bridegroom with his bride—Glory!
—From John Pollen’s Rhymes from the Russian.
A PARTING SCENE
“Sit not up, my love, late at evening hour, Burn the light no more, light of virgin wax, Wake no more for me till the midnight hour; Ah, gone by, gone by is the happy time! Ah, the wind has blown all our joys away, And has scattered them o’er the empty field. For my father dear, he will have it so, And my mother dear has commanded it, That I now must wed with another wife, With another wife, with an unloved one! But on heaven high two suns never burn, Two moons never shine in the stilly night, And an honest lad never loveth twice! But my father shall be obeyed by me, And my mother dear I will now obey; To another wife I’ll be wedded soon, To another wife, to an early death, To an early death, to a forcèd one.” Wept the lovely maid many bitter tears, Many bitter tears, and did speak these words: “O belovèd one, never seen enough, Longer will I not live in this white world, Never without thee, thou my star of hope! Never has the dove more than one fond mate, And the female swan ne’er two husbands has, Neither can I have two belovèd friends.” No more sits she now late at evening hour, But the light still burns, light of virgin wax; On the table stands the coffin newly made; In the coffin new lies the lovely maid.
—From Talvi’s Historical View.
THE DOVE
On an oak-tree sat, Sat a pair of doves; And they billed and cooed And they, heart to heart, Tenderly embraced With their little wings; On them, suddenly, Darted down a hawk. One he seized and tore, Tore the little dove, With his feathered feet, Soft blue little dove; And he poured his blood Streaming down the tree. Feathers, too, were strewed Widely o’er the field; High away the down Floated in the air. Ah! how wept and wept,— Ah! how sobbed and sobbed The poor doveling then For her little dove. “Weep not, weep not so, Tender little bird!” Spake the light young hawk To the little dove. “O’er the sea away, O’er the far blue sea, I will drive to thee Flocks of other doves. From them choose thee then, Choose a soft and blue, With his feathered feet, Better little dove.” “Fly, thou villain, not O’er the far blue sea! Drive not here to me Flocks of other doves. Ah! of all thy doves None can comfort me; Only he, the father Of my little ones.”
—From Talvi’s Historical View.
THE FAITHLESS LOVER
Nightingale, O nightingale, Nightingale so full of song! Tell me, tell me, where thou fliest, Where to sing now in the night? Will another maiden hear thee, Like to me, poor me, all night Sleepless, restless, comfortless, Ever full of tears her eyes? Fly, O fly, dear nightingale, Over hundred countries fly, Over the blue sea so far! Spy the distant countries through, Town and village, hill and dell, Whether thou find’st anyone, Who so sad is as I am? Oh, I bore a necklace once, All of pearls like morning dew; And I bore a finger-ring, With a precious stone thereon; And I bore deep in my heart Love, a love so warm and true. When the sad, sad autumn came, Were the pearls no longer clear; And in winter burst my ring, On my finger, of itself! Ah! and when the spring came on, Had forgotten me my love.
—From Talvi’s Historical View.
ELEGY
O thou field! thou clean and level field! O thou plain, so far and wide around! Level field, dressed up with everything, Everything; with sky-blue flowerets small, Fresh green grass, and bushes thick with leaves; But defaced by one thing, but by one! For in thy very middle stands a broom, On the broom a young grey eagle sits, And he butchers wild a raven black, Sucks the raven’s heart-blood glowing hot, Drenches with it, too, the moistened earth. Ah, black raven, youth so good and brave! Thy destroyer is the eagle grey. Not a swallow ’tis, that hovering clings, Hovering clings to her warm little nest; To the murdered son the mother clings. And her tears fall like the rushing stream, And his sister’s like the flowing rill; Like the dew her tears fall of his love: When the sun shines, it dries up the dew.
—From Talvi’s Historical View.
THE FAREWELL
Brightly shining sank the waning moon, And the sun all beautiful arose; Not a falcon floated through the air, Strayed a youth along the river’s brim. Slowly strayed he on and dreamingly, Sighing looked unto the garden green, Heart all filled with sorrow mused he so: “All the little birds are now awake, All, embracing with their little wings, Greeting, all have sung their morning songs. But, alas! that sweetest doveling mine, She who was my youth’s first dawning love, In her chamber slumbers fast and deep. Ah, not even her friend is in her dreams, Ah! no thought of me bedims her soul, While my heart is torn with wildest grief, That she comes to meet me here no more.” Stepped the maiden from her chamber then; Wet, oh, wet with tears her lovely face! All with sadness dimmed her eyes so clear, Feebly drooping hung her snowy arms. ’Twas no arrow that had pierced her heart, ’Twas no adder that had stung her so; Weeping, thus the lovely maid began: “Fare thee well, belovèd, fare thee well, Dearest soul, thy father’s dearest son! I have been betrothed since yesterday; Come, to-morrow, troops of wedding guests; To the altar I, perforce, must go! I shall be another’s then; and yet Thine, thine only, thine alone till death.”
—From Talvi’s Historical View.
Sing, O sing again, lovely lark of mine, Sitting there alone amidst the green of May! In the prison-tower the lad sits mournfully; To his father writes, to his mother writes: Thus he wrote, and these, these were the very words: “O good father mine, thou belovèd sir! O good mother mine, thou belovèd dame! Ransom me, I pray, ransom the good lad,— He is your beloved, is your only son!” Father, mother,—both,—both refused to hear, Cursed their hapless race, cursed their hapless seed: “Never did a thief our honest name disgrace,— Highwayman or thief never stained the name!” Sing, O sing again, lovely lark of mine, Sitting there alone in the green of May! From the prison-tower thus the prisoner wrote, Thus the prisoner wrote to his belovèd maid: “O thou soul of mine! O thou lovely maid! Truest love of mine, sweetest love of mine! Save, O save, I pray, save the prisoned lad!” Swiftly then exclaimed that belovèd maid: “Come, attendant! Come! Come, my faithful nurse! Servant faithful, you that long have faithful been, Bring the golden key, bring the key with speed! Ope the treasure chests, open them in haste; Golden treasures bring, bring them straight to me: Ransom him, I say, ransom the good lad, He is my beloved, of my heart beloved.” Sing, O sing again, lovely lark of mine, Sitting there alone amidst the green of May!
—From Sir John Bowring’s Specimens of the Russian Poets, Part II.
WEDDING GEAR
The blacksmith from the forge comes he—Glory! And carries with him hammers three—Glory! O blacksmith, blacksmith, forge for me—Glory! A wedding crown of gold, bran-new!—Glory! A golden ring, oh, make me, do!—Glory! With what is left a gold pin too!—Glory! The crown on wedding day I’ll wear—Glory! On golden ring my troth I’ll swear—Glory! The pin will bind my veil to hair—Glory!
—From John Pollen’s Rhymes from the Russian.
THE SALE OF THE BRAID
It was not a horn that in the early morning sounded; It was a maiden her ruddy braid lamenting: “Last night they twined my braid together, And interweaved my braid with pearls. Luká Ivánovich—Heaven requite him!— Has sent a pitiless svákha hither. My braid has she begun to rend. Tearing out the gold from my braid, Shaking my pearls from my ruddy braids.”
—From W. R. S. Ralston’s The Songs of the Russian People.
MARRIAGE SONG
Her mother has counselled Máryushka, Has given counsel to her dear Efímovna. “Go not, my child, Go not, my darling, Into thy father’s garden for apples, Nor catch the mottled butterflies, Nor frighten the little birds, Nor interrupt the clear-voiced nightingale. For shouldst thou pluck the apples The tree will wither away; Or seize the mottled butterfly, The butterfly will die. And shouldst thou frighten a little bird, That bird will fly away; Or interrupt the clear-voiced nightingale, The nightingale will be mute: But catch, my child, My dear one, catch The falcon bright in the open field, The green, the open field.” Máryushka has caught, Caught has the dear Efímovna, The falcon bright in the open field, The green, the open field. She has perched him on her hand, She has brought him to her mother. “Mother mine, Gosudárynya, I have caught the falcon bright.”
—From W. R. S. Ralston’s The Songs of the Russian People.
BEGGARS’ SONG
“Whither art Thou fleeing?” they spoke in tears to Christ. “For whom art Thou leaving us? Who will without Thee give us to drink and eat, will clothe us and protect us against dark night?”
“Weep not, poor people,” replied Christ: “Weep not, mendicants and homeless and small orphans! I will leave you a golden mountain, will give you a honeyed river, will give you vineyards, will give you heavenly manna. Only know how to manage that golden mountain, and to divide it among yourselves: and you will be fed and given drink; you will be clothed and covered up in dark nights.”
Then John the Theologue retorted: “Hail to Thee, real Christ, King of heaven! Permit me to tell Thee a few words, and take not ill my words! Give them not a golden mountain, nor a honeyed river and vineyards, give them not heavenly manna! They will not know how to manage that mountain; it will be beyond their strength, and they will not be able to divide up: they will not harvest the grapes, will not taste the manna. Princes and noblemen, pastors, officials and merchants will hear of that mountain, and they will take away from them the golden mountain and honeyed river, the vineyards and heavenly manna: they will divide up the golden mountain among themselves according to their ranks, but the poor people will not be admitted, and there will be much murder, and much spilling of blood. The poor will have nothing to live on, nothing to wear, and nothing to protect themselves with against dark night: the poor will die of starvation, will freeze to death in cold winter. Give them rather Thy holy name and Word of Christ; and the poor will go all over the earth, will glorify Thee, and the orthodox will give them alms; the poor will be fed and given drink, will be clothed and protected against cold night.”
“Thank you, John the Theologue!” replied Christ the heavenly King. “You have said a sensible word, and have discussed well,—you have taken good care of the poor.”
AN ORPHAN’S WAILING
O mother dear that bare me, O with sadness longed-for one! To whom hast thou left us, on whom are we orphans to rest our hopes? From no quarter do warm breezes breathe on us, we hear no words of kindness. Great folks turn away from us, our kinsfolk renounce us; rust eats into our orphaned hearts. The red sun burns in the midst of a hot summer, but us it keeps not: scarcely does it warm us, O green mother-grave! Have a care for us, mother dear, give us a word of kindness! No, thou hast hardened thy heart harder than stone, and hast folded thy uncaressing hand over thy heart.
O white cygnet! For what journey hast thou prepared and equipped thyself; from which side may we expect thee?
Arise, O ye wild winds, from all sides! Be borne, O winds, into the Church of God! Sweep open the moist earth! Strike, O wild winds, on the great bell! Will not its sounds and mine awaken words of kindness?—From Ralston’s The Songs of the Russian People.
CONJURATION OF A MOTHER SEPARATED FROM HER CHILD
I, poor mother, weep in the high chamber of my house; from the dawn I look afar over the fields, even until the sun goes to rest. There I sit until night, till the damp dew falls; there I sit in grief, until, weary of this torment, I resolve to conjure my cruel sorrow. I go into the field; I have taken the nuptial cup, the taper of betrothal and the handkerchief of marriage. I have drawn water from the mountain spring, I have gone into the dark forest, and tracing around me a magic circle, I have said aloud these words:—
“I conjure my dearest child by that nuptial cup, by that fresh water and by that marriage handkerchief. With that water I lave his fair face, with that handkerchief I wipe his honeyed lips, his sparkling eyes, his rosy cheeks, his thoughtful brow; with that waxen taper I light up his splendid garments, his sable bonnet, his belt of divers colours, his embroidered boots, his chestnut locks, his noble figure and manly limbs, that thou mayest be, my child, more brilliant than the brightest sunbeams, sweeter to look upon than a sweet spring day, fresher than water from the fountain, whiter than the wax, stronger than the magic stone. Far be from thee the demon of sorrow, the impetuous hurricane, the one-eyed spirit of the woods, the domestic demon of strange houses, the spirit of the waters, the sorcery of Kíev, the woman of the twinkling billows, the cursed Babayagá, the winged and fiery serpent, the crow of evil omen. I put myself between thee and the ogre, the false magician, the sorcerer, the evil magic, the seeing blind and the old of double sight. By my words of power, may thou be, my child, by night and by day, from hour to moment, in the market-place, and asleep or in watching, safe against the power of the evil spirits, against death, grief and calamity; upon the water, against shipwreck; in fire, against burning.
“When thy last hour shall come, recall, my child, our tender love, our bread and salt. Turn thyself towards thy glorious country, salute it seven times—seven times with thy face to the earth, bid farewell to thy family, throw thyself upon the damp ground and lull thyself to a calm sleep.
“May my word be stronger than water, higher than the mountain, weightier than gold, harder than rock, stronger than an armed horseman, and if any dare to bewitch my child, may he be swallowed by Mount Ararat, in bottomless precipices, in burning tar and crackling fire; that sorceries and magic may for ever be powerless against thee.”—From The Popular Songs of Russia, in Hogg’s Instructor, 1855.
Fairy Tales.
For an account of the fairy tales see the chapter on Folklore. The following works, of which Ralston’s is still the best, give a large number of such stories: Russian Popular Tales, from the German version of Anton Dietrich, London, 1857; W. R. S. Ralston, Russian Folk-Tales, London, 1873; J. T. Naake, Slavonic Fairy Tales, London, 1874; E. M. S. Hodgetts, Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar, London, 1890; Jeremiah Curtin, Myths and Folk Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs and Magyars, Boston, 1890; A. Gerber, Great Russian Animal Tales (vol. vi, No. 2 of the Publications of the Modern Language Association), Baltimore, 1891; R. Nisbet Bain, Russian Fairy Tales from the Skazki of Polevoi, Chicago, 1895. There are also some articles in periodicals: Household Tales of the Sclavonians and Hungarians, and The Household Fictions of Esthonia and Russia, in Dublin University Magazine, 1867 (vol. lxx); Russian Popular Legends (by Ralston), in Fortnightly Review, 1869; Russian Songs and Folktales, in Quarterly Review, 1874 (vol. cxxxvi).
FROST
There was once an old man who had a wife and three daughters. The wife had no love for the eldest of the three, who was a step-daughter, but was always scolding her. Moreover, she used to make her get up ever so early in the morning, and gave her all the work of the house to do. Before daybreak the girl would feed the cattle and give them to drink, fetch wood and water indoors, light the fire in the stove, give the room a wash, mend the dress and set everything in order. Even then her step-mother was never satisfied, but grumbled away at Márfa, exclaiming:
“What a lazybones! What a slut! Why, here is a brush not in its place, and there is something put wrong, and she has left the muck inside the house!”
The girl held her peace, and wept; she tried in every way to accommodate herself to her step-mother, and to be of service to her step-sisters. But they, taking pattern by their mother, were always insulting Márfa, quarrelling with her, and making her cry: that was even a pleasure to them! As for them, they lay in bed late, washed themselves in water got ready for them, dried themselves with a clean towel and did not sit down to work till after dinner.
Well, our girls grew and grew, until they grew up and were old enough to be married. The old man felt sorry for his eldest daughter, whom he loved because she was industrious and obedient, never was obstinate, always did as she was bid and never uttered a word of contradiction. But he did not know how to help her in her trouble. He was feeble, his wife was a scold and his daughters were as obstinate as they were indolent.
Well, the old folks set to work to consider—the husband how he could get his daughter settled, the wife how she could get rid of the eldest one. One day she says to him:
“I say, old man! Let’s get Márfa married.”
“Gladly,” says he, slinking off (to the sleeping-place) above the stove. But his wife called after him:
“Get up early to-morrow, old man, harness the mare to the sledge and drive away with Márfa. And, Márfa, get your things together in a basket, and put on a clean shift; you are going away to-morrow on a visit.”
Poor Márfa was delighted to hear of such a piece of good luck as being invited on a visit, and she slept comfortably all night. Early next morning she got up, washed herself, prayed to God, got all her things together, packed them away in proper order, dressed herself (in her best things) and looked something like a lass! a bride fit for any place whatsoever!
Now it was winter-time, and out of doors there was a rattling frost. Early in the morning, between daybreak and sunrise, the old man harnessed the mare to the sledge, and led it up to the steps, then he went indoors, sat down in the window-sill, and said:
“Now then! I have got everything ready.”
“Sit down to table and swallow your victuals!” replied the old woman.
The old man sat down to table, and made his daughter sit by his side. On the table stood a pannier; he took out a loaf, and cut bread for himself and his daughter. Meantime his wife served up a dish of old cabbage soup and said:
“There, my pigeon, eat and be off; I have looked at you quite enough! Drive Márfa to her bridegroom, old man. And look here, old greybeard! drive straight along the road at first, and then turn off from the road to the right, you know, into the forest—right up to the big pine that stands on the hill, and there hand Márfa to Morózko (Frost).”
The old man opened his eyes wide, also his mouth, and stopped eating, and the girl began lamenting.
“Now then, what are you hanging your chaps and squealing about?” said her step-mother. “Surely your bridegroom is a beauty, and he is that rich! Why, just see what a lot of things belong to him: the firs, the pine-tops and the birches, all in their robes of down—ways and means anyone might envy; and he himself a bogatýr!”
The old man silently placed the things on the sledge, made his daughter put on her warm pelisse and set off on the journey. After a time, he reached the forest, turned off the road and drove across the frozen snow. When he got into the depths of the forest, he stopped, made his daughter get out, laid her basket under the tall pine and said:
“Sit here, and await the bridegroom. And mind you receive him as pleasantly as you can!”
Then he turned his horse round and drove off homewards.
The girl sat and shivered. The cold pierced her through. She would fain have cried aloud, but she had not strength enough; only her teeth chattered. Suddenly she heard a sound. Not far off, Frost was cracking away on a fir. From fir to fir was he leaping and snapping his fingers. Presently he appeared on that very pine under which the maiden was sitting, and from above her head he cried:
“Art thou warm, maiden?”
“Warm, warm am I, dear father Frost,” she replied.
Frost began to descend lower, all the more cracking and snapping his fingers. To the maiden said Frost:
“Art thou warm, maiden? Art thou warm, fair one?”
The girl could scarcely draw her breath, but still she replied:
“Warm am I, Frost dear; warm am I, father dear!”
Frost began cracking more than ever, and more loudly did he snap his fingers, and to the maiden he said:
“Art thou warm, maiden? Art thou warm, pretty one? Art thou warm, my darling?”
The girl was by this time numbed with cold, and she could scarcely make herself heard as she replied:
“Oh! Quite warm, Frost dearest!”
Then Frost took pity on the girl, wrapped her up in furs and warmed her with blankets.
Next morning the old woman said to her husband:
“Drive out, old greybeard, and wake the young people!”
The old man harnessed his horse and drove off. When he came to where his daughter was, he found she was alive and had got a good pelisse, a costly bridal veil and a pannier with rich gifts. He stowed everything away on the sledge without saying a word, took a seat on it with his daughter, and drove back. They reached home, and the daughter fell at her step-mother’s feet. The old woman was thunderstruck when she saw the girl alive, and the new pelisse and the basket of linen.
“Ah, you wretch!” she cries, “But you sha’n’t trick me!”
Well, a little later the old woman says to her husband:
“Take my daughters, too, to their bridegroom. The presents he’s made are nothing to what he’ll give them.”
Well, early next morning the old woman gave her girls their breakfast, dressed them as befitted brides and sent them off on their journey. In the same way as before the old man left the girls under the pine.
There the girls sat, and kept laughing and saying:
“Whatever is mother thinking of? All of a sudden to marry both of us off! As if there were no lads in our village, forsooth! Some rubbishy fellow may come, and goodness knows who he may be!”
The girls were wrapped up in pelisses, but for all that they felt the cold.
“I say, Praskóvya! The Frost’s skinning me alive. Well, if our bridegroom doesn’t come quick, we shall be frozen to death here!”
“Don’t go talking nonsense, Máshka; as if suitors turned up in the forenoon! Why, it’s hardly dinner-time yet!”
“But I say, Praskóvya! If only one comes, which of us will he take?”
“Not you, you stupid goose!”
“Then it will be you, I suppose!”
“Of course, it will be me!”
“You, indeed! There now, have done talking stuff and treating people like fools!”
Meanwhile, Frost had numbed the girls’ hands, so our damsels folded them under their dresses, and then went on quarrelling as before.
“What, you fright! You sleepy face! You abominable shrew! Why, you don’t know so much as how to begin weaving; and as to going on with it, you haven’t an idea!”
“Aha, boaster! And what is it you know? Why, nothing at all except to go out merrymaking and lick your lips there. We’ll soon see which he’ll take first!”
While the girls went on scolding like that, they began to freeze in downright earnest. Suddenly they both cried out at once:
“Whyever is he so long coming? You know, you have turned quite blue!”
Now, a good way off, Frost had begun cracking, snapping his fingers and leaping from fir to fir. To the girls it sounded as if someone were coming.
“Listen, Praskóvya! He’s coming at last, with bells, too!”
“Get along with you! I won’t listen; my skin is pealing with cold.”
“And yet you’re still expecting to get married!”
Then they began blowing their fingers.
Nearer and nearer came Frost. At length he appeared on the pine, above the heads of the girls, and said to them:
“Are ye warm, maidens? Are ye warm, pretty ones? Are ye warm, my darlings?”
“Oh, Frost, it’s awfully cold! We are utterly perished! We’re expecting a bridegroom, but the confounded fellow has disappeared.”
Frost slid lower down the tree, cracked away more, snapped his fingers oftener than before.
“Are ye warm, maidens? Are ye warm, pretty ones?”
“Get along with you! Are you blind, that you can’t see our hands and feet are quite dead?”
Still lower descended Frost, still more put forth his might and said:
“Are ye warm, maidens?”
“Into the bottomless pit with you! Out of my sight, accursed one!” cried the girls—and became lifeless forms.
Next morning the old woman said to her husband:
“Old man, go and get the sledge harnessed; put an armful of hay in it, and take some sheepskin wraps. I dare say the girls are half dead with cold. There is a terrible frost outside! And, mind you, old greybeard, do it quickly!”
Before the old man could manage to get a bite, he was out of doors and on his way. When he came to where his daughters were, he found them dead. So he lifted the girls on the sledge, wrapped a blanket round them and covered them up with a bark mat. The old woman saw him from afar, ran out to meet him and called out ever so loud:
“Where are my girls?”
“In the sledge.”
The old woman lifted the mat, undid the blanket and found the girls both dead.
Then, like a thunder-storm, she broke out against her husband, abusing him and saying:
“What have you done, you old wretch? You have destroyed my daughters, the children of my own flesh, my never-to-be-gazed-on seedlings, my beautiful berries! I will thrash you with the tongs; I will give it you with the stove-rake.”
“That’s enough, you old goose! You flattered yourself you were going to get riches, but your daughters were too stiff-necked. How was I to blame? It was you yourself would have it.”
The old woman was in a rage at first, and used bad language; but afterwards she made it up with her step-daughter, and they all lived together peaceably, and thrived, and bore no malice. A neighbour made an offer of marriage, the wedding was celebrated and Márfa is now living happily. The old man frightens his grandchildren with (stories about) Frost, and does not let them have their own way.—From W. R. S. Ralston’s Russian Folk-Tales.
THE CAT, THE GOAT AND THE RAM
Once upon a time there lived in a yard a Goat and a Ram, and they lived in great friendship with each other: say there was but a bunch of hay—even that they divided in two equal halves. If there was anyone to be punched in his sides, it was only Tom-Cat Váska; he was such a thief and robber,—always on the lookout for prey, and let there be anything not under lock, his stomach immediately growled for it.
The Goat and the Ram were once lying quietly and having a friendly chat, when who should turn up but grey-browed, Purring Váska, and he was whining pitifully. So the Goat and Ram asked him:
“Kitty-Cat, grey-browed Cat, why are you whining so, and why do you hop about on three legs?”
“How can I help crying? The old woman has beaten me; she struck me hard, almost pulled my ears out, nearly broke my legs, and came very near choking my life out of me.”
“What have you been guilty of, to deserve such a fate?”
“All the trouble was, I was hungry, and lapped up the cream.” And the Purring Cat once more began to whine.
“Kitty-Cat, grey-browed Cat! What are you whining about?”
“How can I help crying? As the old woman was beating me, she kept on saying: ‘Where shall I get the cream when my son-in-law will come to-morrow? I’ll have to butcher the Goat and the Ram!’”
The Goat and the Ram howled loud: “O you grey Cat, senseless head! Why have you ruined us? We’ll butt you to death!”
Then Purring Váska humbly confessed his guilt and begged forgiveness. They forgave him, and the three held a council of how matters stood and what was to be done.
“Well, middle brother Ram,” asked Purring Cat, “have you a tough head? Just try it against the gate!”
The Ram took a run and hit the gate with his head: the gate shook, but did not open. Then rose the elder brother Billy-Goat, took a run, hit the gate and it flew open.
The dust rose in a cloud, the grass bent to the ground, while the Goat and Ram were running, and the grey-browed Cat was hopping after them on three legs. He grew tired, and he begged his plighted brothers: “Elder brother and middle brother! Don’t abandon your younger brother a prey to the wild beasts!”
So the Goat stopped and took him on his back, and again they raced over hills, and vales, and drifting sands. And they came to a steep hill and a standstill. Under that steep hill was a mowed meadow, and on that meadow there was a whole town of haystacks. The Goat, and Ram, and Cat stopped to take a rest; it was a cold autumn night. Where were they to get some fire? The Goat and the Ram were still thinking about it, when the Purring Cat got some twigs with which he tied the Goat’s horns, and he told the Goat and the Ram to strike each other’s heads. They hit each other with such a might that sparks flew from their eyes: the twigs crackled.
“That’ll do,” said the grey Cat. “Now we will warm ourselves.” No sooner said than he put a haystack on fire.
They had not yet gotten warm, when lo! there was an uncalled guest, a Peasant-in-gabardine, Mikháylo Ivánovich. “Let me,” he said, “warm myself and take a rest; I don’t feel well.”
“You are welcome, Peasant-in-gabardine, Ant-eater! Good fellow, where do you come from?”
“I went to the beehives and had a fight with the peasants; so I am sick now, and I am on my way to the Fox to get cured.”
They passed the dark night together: the Bear under a haystack, Purring Váska on the haystack, and the Goat and the Ram by the fire.
“Ugh, ugh!” said the White Wolf, “it is not Russian flesh I smell. What manner of people may they be? I must find out!”
The Goat and the Ram bleated with fright, and Purring Váska held such discourse: “Listen, White Wolf, Prince of all the wolves! Don’t anger our eldest one, for if he should get at you, it will be your end. Don’t you see his beard? that’s where his strength lies. With his beard he strikes down the animals, but with his horns he only flays them. You had better ask him with due respect to let you have your fun with your younger brother that is lying under the haystack.”
So the wolves bowed to the Goat, and surrounded Míshka, and began to tease him. He got up, waxed angry and just grabbed a wolf with each paw; they howled their “Lazarus,” but somehow managed to get away with drooping tails, and they raced as fast as their feet would carry them.
In the meanwhile the Goat and the Ram seized the Cat, and ran into the woods, where they once more met some grey wolves. The Cat crawled up to the top of a pine-tree, and the Goat and the Ram got hold of a branch of the pine-tree with their fore legs, and hung down from it. The wolves stood under the tree, grinned and howled, watching the Goat and the Ram. The grey-browed Cat saw that things were very bad, so he began to throw down pine cones upon the wolves, and kept saying: “One wolf! Two wolves! Three wolves! Just a wolf apiece. It is not so long ago I, Purring Váska, ate up two wolves with all their bones, so I am not hungry yet; but you, big brother, have been out a-hunting bears, and you did not get any, so you may have my share!”
Just as he said that, the Goat could not hold on any longer, and dropped with his horns straight down on a wolf. But Purring Váska yelled out: “Hold him, catch him!” The wolves were so frightened that they started on a run, and did not dare look back. That was the last of them.
THE FOX AND THE PEASANT
Once upon an evening the Fox, feeling grieved, took a walk to divert herself and breathe the fresh air. Though she had not expected it, there presented itself an opportunity to have her revenge, for whom should she see but Vúkol in his cart! As she scented some fish, she decided to steal them. The question now was how to steal them out of Vúkol’s cart. Of course, it was too risky to crawl in, for Vúkol would lay on his whip, or, catching her by her tail, would kill her altogether. So Lísa Patrikyéevna softly ran all around the Peasant, who was hastening home, lay down on the ground and barely breathed. The rogue lay there as if she really were dead: her mouth open, her teeth grinning, her snout turned upwards, her nose flabby; she neither moved, nor heaved, nor wagged her tail.
Vúkol was travelling at a slow pace, when suddenly his nag neighed. “What’s the matter?” spoke Vúkol, rose and looked down the road. “Oh, I see! God has sent me a nice gift. I’ll pick it up; it will be a fine thing for my wife, for its fur is as soft as a shawl.” Having very wisely discussed thus, Vúkol took the Fox by the tail and put her on the fish, and went over the bridge. But Lísa Patrikyéevna was very happy and, to carry out the first part of her program, quietly devoured a good-sized tench; then she started dropping one fish after another on the road, until she had emptied the whole cart. Then she stealthily dropped down from the cart herself and started on a run without turning back, so that the dust flew up.
It grew dark, and murky night was near; Vúkol Sílych pulled his reins, and the horse raced faster. He reached his house, without discovering the theft, and, smiling to his wife, he said with a merry voice to her: “Woman, just look into the cart and see what I have brought you! I found it in the road, near the bridge, by the pines and birches.”
His wife Dárya rummaged in the hay, tossed it to and fro, hoping to find her present. “Where is it? What a shame!” She turned everything upside down, shook the fish bag, but she only got her hands dirty,—the present she did not find. Put out about such a deception, she said to her husband, Vúkol: “What a stupid you are!”
In the meantime Patrikyéevna carried all the fish to her lair, and she had an easy time of it all autumn, and even winter. But this revenge is insignificant: her greater revenge is still ahead. Things are bad for you, Vúkol Sílych! Be prepared for the worst.
Proverbs.
The first collection of Russian proverbs was made by the poet Bogdanóvich, at Catherine’s command. The most extensive collection of the present time is the one by Dal. In the English language there are but two small accounts of these proverbs: one, in R. Pinkerton’s Russia; or, Miscellaneous Observations on the Past and Present of the Country and its Inhabitants, London, 1833, and Russian Proverbs, in Quarterly Review, vol. cxxxix.
The heart has ears.
Home is a full cup.
A maiden’s heart is a dark forest.
Calumny is like a coal: if it does not burn it will soil.
Good luck disappears like our curls; bad luck lasts like our nails.
Sorrow kills not, but it blights.
The pine stands afar, but whispers to its own forest.
Blame not my bast shoes, my boots are in the sledge.
The poor man has a sheepskin coat, but a human soul too.
Behind the orphan God Himself bears a purse.
Poverty is not a sin, but twice as bad.
Seven nurses cost the child an eye.
May God make me fleshy: rosiness I can get for myself.
A dog is wiser than a woman: it does not bark at its master.
Seven axes will lie together, but two spindles asunder.
Let a woman into Paradise, she’ll be for bringing her cow with her.
The Holy Russian land is large, but everywhere the dear sun shines.
Our stove is our own mother.
Not corners but pies make a room fair.
Even bad kvas is better than water.
By that which wounded may your wound be cured.
Black may be toil, but white is its price.
God waits long, but hits hard.
Terrible are dreams, but God is merciful.
God is high, and the Tsar far off.
Pray to God, but row to shore.
The wolf catches the destined sheep.
Be born neither wise nor fair, but lucky.
Moustaches for honour, but even a goat has a beard.
An old crow croaks not for nothing.
Love your wife like your soul, and beat her like your fur coat.
Not long hurt the bumps from a loved one’s thumps.
A wife is not a guitar; when your playing is done, you can’t hang her up on the wall.
It’s a bore to go alone, even to get drowned.
A parent’s blessing can neither be drowned in water nor consumed in fire.
A visible girl is of copper, but an invisible one of silver.
Hold out, Cossack; thou wilt become Hetman.
He who sweats afield, and prays to God at home, will never starve.
Boldness drinks mead and chafes fetters.
A bad peace is better than a good quarrel.
If the thunder rolls not, the muzhík will not cross himself.
Don’t beat the muzhík with a cudgel, but beat him with a rouble.
To rotten wares the seller is blind.
A snipe is small, but, for all that, a bird.
Fear not the threats of the rich but the tears of the poor.
Drink at table, not behind a pillar.
Who can withstand God and Nóvgorod the Great?
Where there is an oath, there is also a crime.
God’s will and the Tsar’s decree.
The Tsar’s wrath is the messenger of death.
God loves the just, but judges love the pettifogger.
I bailed him out: he taught me a lesson.
The knout is not the devil, but it will seek out the truth.
Wide is the gateway leading into a boyár’s court, but narrow—out of it.
Slavery drinks mead, and freedom water.
—From Quarterly Review, vol. cxxxix.