Note 2 — Kuz’ma Skorobogaty.1

The little she-fox scented out the fowls that were right under her very nose in the wood, and determined to pay a visit to Kuz’ma’s hut. One day little Kuz’ma went out to hunt, and no sooner had he left the hut than the little fox, who was on the watch all the time, ran up, killed one of the hens, roasted it, and ate it up. Little Kuz’ma returned, and behold! one of the hens was gone. And he thought: “I suppose the vulture must have pounced down on it!” The next day he again went out hunting. He happened to fall in with the fox, and she asked him: “Whither away, little Kuz’ma?”—“I am going a-hunting, little fox!”—“Well, good-bye!” And immediately she scampered off to his hut, killed another hen, cooked it, and ate it. Little Kuz’ma came home and counted his hens, and another was missing. And it occurred to him: “What if the little fox has tasted of my hens!” On the third day he nailed up the door and window of his hut strongly, so strongly, and went about his business as usual. And the fox turned up from somewhither and said to him: “Whither away, little Kuz’ma?”—“I go a-hunting, little fox!”—“Well, good-bye!” Off she ran to Kuz’ma’s hut, and he followed her track back too. The fox ran all round the hut, and saw that the door and window were nailed up strongly, oh so strongly; how was she to get into the hut? So up she climbed and disappeared down the chimney; then up came Kuz’ma and caught the fox. “Ah-ha!” cried he; “look what a thief pays me visits! Wait a bit, my little lady; you shall not get out of my hands alive.” Then the little fox began to implore Kuz’ma: “Don’t kill me! I’ll get thee betrothed to a rich bride. Only please roast me one more fowl, the fattest, with lots of nice oil!” Little Kuz’ma fell a-thinking, and then he killed one more fowl for the little fox: “There, eat, little fox, and much good may it do thee!” The fox ate it up, licked her chaps, and said: “Behind this wood is the tsardom of the great and terrible Tsar Ogon,2 his wife is the Tsaritsa Molnya,3 and they have a daughter, a most beauteous Tsarevna; I’ll marry thee to her.”—“Who would take a poor fellow like me?”—“Silence! that’s not thy business.” And the little fox set off to Tsar Ogon and the Tsaritsa Molnya. She ran all the way to them, entered their palace, made a low obeisance, and said: “Hail, mighty, potent Tsar Ogon, and terrible Tsaritsa Molnya!”—“Hail to thee, fox! What nice little piece of good news hast thou brought us?”—“Well, I have come to you as a match-maker. You have the bride and I have the young bridegroom, Kuz’ma Skorobogaty.”—“Where is he buried that he does not come himself?”—“He cannot quit his principality. He rules over the wild beasts, and takes his pleasure with them.”—“So that’s the sort of bridegroom you present us with! Well, go back to him and say that he must send us forty forties of gray wolves, and then we’ll accept him as the bridegroom.” Then the little fox ran to the meadows which lay beneath this very wood and began rolling about in these meadows. A wolf came running up and said: “I see, gossip, that you’ve had a good feed somewhere or you would not roll about like that.”—“I wish I wasn’t so full; I’ve been at a banquet with the Tsar and the Tsaritsa. Do you mean to say that you’ve not been invited there, gossip? Impossible! Why, all the wild beasts were there, and as for the sables and ermines there was no end to them! The bears were still sitting there when I left, and eating like anything!” The wolf began to beg the fox humbly: “Little fox, can’t you take me to the Tsar’s banquet!”—“Why not! Hearken! Go you and collect by to-morrow forty forties of your brethren, the gray wolves, and I’ll lead the whole lot of you thither.” On the following day the wolves assembled and the fox led them to the Tsar’s white stone palace, placed them all in rows, and announced to the Tsar: “Mighty and potent Tsar Ogon and terrible Tsaritsa Molnya, thy destined son-in-law has sent thee gifts; lo! a whole herd of gray wolves does obeisance to you, and the number of them is forty forties.” The Tsar bade them drive all the wolves into the enclosure, and said to the fox: “If my destined son-in-law is able to send me wolves as a present, let him now also send me just as many bears.” The little fox ran to little Kuz’ma and bade him roast another fowl, ate her fill of it, and ran off again to the fenced meadows of the Tsar. Thither she went and fell a-rolling about under the selfsame wood. And out of the wood came running a shaggy bear and looked at the fox. “Well, gossip fox,” said he, “you have plainly had your fill, or what has come over you to make you roll about in the grass so merrily?”—“Had my fill! I should think so. Why I’ve been to the Tsar’s banquet; there was a whole lot of us beasts there, and of sables and ermines no end. The wolves are eating there now, and a nice dinner they are making of it.” Bruin straightway began to beg the fox to let him go: “Little fox, won’t you lead me also to the Tsar’s banquet?”—“Very well; hearken. Bring together by to-morrow forty forties of black bears, and I’ll lead you thither with pleasure, for of course the Tsar’s cooks would not make ready for you alone.” Old bandy-legs wandered all about the woods, proclaimed the news to all the bears, and got together as many bears as the fox had commanded, and she led them to the Tsar’s white stone palace, arranged them in rows, and announced: “Mighty and potent Tsar Ogon, and terrible Tsaritsa Molnya, your destined son-in-law salutes you with a present of forty forties of black bears.” The Tsar bade them drive the bears also into the enclosure, and said to the fox: “If my destined son-in-law can send me so many bears and wolves as a gift, let him now send us also just as many martens and sables.” The fox again hastened off to Kuz’ma, bade him roast the last hen, together with the cock, and when she had eaten them in his honour she went again to the fenced meadows of the Tsar, and began rolling about in the grass. A sable and a marten came running by. “Where have you been feeding so fatly, sly Mrs. Foxy?” they asked. “What! ye live in the wood and yet don’t know that I am held in great honour by the Tsar? This day I have conducted the wolves and the bears to his banquet; by this time they will be unable to tear themselves away from the Tsar’s tit-bits; never have they had such a feed from the day of their birth.” Then the sable and the marten also began wheedling the fox. “Dear little dovey gossip! wilt not thou lead us to the Tsar? We will only look on afar off while the others eat.”—“If ye will bring together forty forties of your sables and martens a dinner shall be got ready for the whole lot of you. But a couple of you all alone would not even be admitted into the courtyard.” The next day the sables and the martens came together, and the fox led them to Tsar Ogon, made obeisance to him on behalf of his future son-in-law, and presented him with the forty forties of sables and martens. The Tsar accepted the gift, and said: “Thanks! Tell my destined son-in-law to come to me himself; we want to have a look at him, and it is time he saw his bride.”