Folk-lore and Legends: Russian and Polish 2

Folk-lore and Legends: Russian and Polish 2

The magician then blew at him, and the man came to the ground. He was

very pleased to find the earth once more under his feet, and to have

escaped from the power of the wind. Off he hurried to his hut, and at

the threshold he met his sweetheart. She cried aloud with amazement when

she saw the long-lost peasant, whom she had so long lamented and wept

for. With his skinny hands the man put her gently aside, and went into

the house, where he found the farmer who had employed him sitting down,

and said to him, as he commenced to weep—

 

“I can no longer stay in your service, and I cannot marry your daughter.

I love her very much, as much as the apple of my eye, but I cannot marry

her.”

 

The old farmer wondered to see him, and when he saw his white pinched

face and the traces of his suffering, he asked him why he did not wish

for the hand of his daughter.

 

The man told him all about his ride in the air, and the bargain he had

made with the magician. When the farmer had listened to it all, he told

the poor fellow to keep a good heart, and putting some money in his

pocket, went out to consult a sorceress.

 

Towards evening he returned very merry, and taking the peasant aside,

said to him—

 

“To-morrow morning, before day, go to the witch, and you will find all

will be well.”

 

The wearied peasant, who had not slept for three months, went to bed,

but he woke before it was day, and went off to the witch. He found her

sitting beside the hearth boiling herbs over a fire. She told him to

stand by her, and, suddenly, although it was a calm day, such a storm of

wind arose that the hut shook again.

 

The sorceress then took the peasant outside into the yard and told him

to look up. He lifted up his eyes, and—O wonder!—saw the evil magician

whirling round and round in the air.

 

“There is your enemy,” said the woman, “he will trouble you no more. If

you would like to see him at your wedding, I will tell you what to do,

but he must suffer the torment that he meant to put you to.”

 

The peasant was delighted, and ran back to the house, and a month later

he was married. While the wedding folk were dancing, the peasant went

out into the yard, looked up, and saw right over the hut the magician

turning round and round. Then the peasant took a new knife, and throwing

it with all his force, stuck it in the magician’s foot.

 

He fell at once to the ground, and the knife held him to the earth, so

that he could only stand at the window and see how merry the peasant and

his friends were.

 

The next day he had disappeared, but he was afterwards seen flying in

the air over a lake. Before him and behind him were flocks of ravens and

crows, and these, with their hoarse cries, heralded the wicked

magician’s endless ride on the wind.

 

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THE THREE GIFTS.

 

 

A VERY rich widow had three children, a step-son, a fine young fellow, a

step-daughter of wonderful beauty, and a daughter who was not so bad.

The three children lived under the same roof, and took their meals

together. At length the time came when the children were treated very

differently. Although the widow’s daughter was bad-tempered, obstinate,

vain, and a chatterer, her mother loved her passionately, praised her,

and covered her with caresses. She was favoured in every way. The

step-son, who was a good-natured lad, and who did all kinds of work, was

for ever grumbled at, checked, and treated like a sluggard. As for the

step-daughter, who was so wonderfully pretty, and who had the

disposition of an angel, she was tormented, worried, and ill-treated in

a thousand ways. Between her sister and her step-mother her life was

made miserable.

 

It is natural that one should love one’s own children better than those

of other folk; but it is only right that liking and disliking should be

indulged in with moderation. The evil step-mother, however, loved her

child to distraction, and equally detested her step-children. To such a

pitch did she carry these feelings that when she was angry she used to

say how she would advance the fortune of her daughter even at the

orphans’ expense.

 

An old proverb says, “Man sets the ball rolling, but Heaven directs it,”

and we shall see what happened.

 

One Sunday morning the step-daughter, before going to church, went out

into the garden to pluck some flowers to place on the altar. She had

gathered some roses, when, on lifting up her eyes, she saw, right in

front of her, three young men who sat upon a grassy bank. They were

clothed in garments of dazzling white which shone like sunshine. Near by

them was an old man, who came and asked the girl for alms.

 

The girl was a little frightened when she saw the three men, but when

the old man came to her she took her last piece of money out of her

pocket and gave it to him. The poor man thanked her, put the piece of

money into his bag, and, laying his hand on the girl’s head, said to the

young men—

 

“You see this little orphan; she is good and patient in suffering, and

has so much pity for the poor that she gives them even the last penny

she has. What do you wish for her?”

 

The first one said—

 

“I wish that when she cries her tears may turn to pearls.”

 

“I wish,” said the second, “that when she laughs the most delicately

perfumed roses may fall from her lips.”

 

“And I,” said the third, “wish that when she touches water golden fish

spring up in it.”

 

“So shall it be,” said the old man, and he and his companions vanished.

 

When the girl saw that, she gave thanks to Heaven, and ran joyfully into

the house. Hardly had she entered when her step-mother met her and gave

her a slap on the face, saying—

 

“Where are you running to?”

 

The poor girl began to cry, but behold! instead of tears pearls fell

from her eyes. The step-mother forgot her rage, and set herself to

gather them up as quickly as possible. The girl could not help laughing

at the sight, and from her lips there fell roses of such a delightful

scent that the step-mother was beside herself with pleasure. After that

the girl, wishing to preserve the flowers she had plucked in the garden,

poured some water into a glass: as soon as she touched the water with

her finger, it was filled with beautiful golden fish.

 

From that time the same things never failed to happen. The girl’s tears

turned to pearls, when she laughed roses, which did not die, fell from

her lips; and water which she only touched with her little finger became

filled with golden fish.

 

The step-mother became better disposed towards her, and by little and

little learned from her the secret of how she had obtained these gifts.

 

On the following Sunday she sent her own daughter into the garden to

pluck flowers as if for the altar. Hardly had the girl gathered some

roses, when, lifting up her eyes, she saw the three young men sitting on

a grassy bank, beautiful, and shining like the sun, and by them was the

old man, clad in white, who asked her for alms. When she saw the young

men, the girl pretended to be afraid, but when the old man spoke to her,

she ran to him, took out of her pocket a gold piece, looked hard at it,

and then gave it to him, but evidently very much against her will. The

old man put the money in his bag, and said to the three others—

 

“You see this girl who is her mother’s spoilt child? She is

bad-tempered, wicked, and is hard-hearted as regards the poor. We know

very well why she has been so charitable, for the first time in her

life, to-day. Tell me then what you wish for her.”

 

The first said—

 

“I wish that when she cries her tears may change to lizards.”

 

“I,” said the second, “wish that when she laughs, hideous toads may fall

from her lips.”

 

“And I,” said the third, “wish that when she touches water with her hand

it may be filled with serpents.”

 

“It shall be as you wish,” said the old man, and he and his companions

disappeared.

 

The girl was terrified, and ran into the house to tell her mother what

had happened. All occurred as had been said. When she laughed toads

sprang from her lips, when she cried her tears changed to lizards, and

when she touched water it became full of serpents.

 

The step-mother did not know what to do. She paid greater attention than

ever to her daughter, and hated the orphans more and more, and so

tormented them that the lad, not being able to put up with it, took

leave of his sister, praying Heaven to guard her, and, leaving his

step-mother’s house, set out to seek his fortune. The wide world was

before him. He knew not where to go, but he knew that Heaven, that sees

all men, watches over the orphans. He prayed, and then walking down to

the burial-ground where slept his father and mother, he knelt at the

grave. He wept and prayed for a time, and having kissed the earth which

covered them three times, he rose and prepared to set out on his

journey. All of a sudden he felt, in the folds of his dress on his

bosom, something he had not perceived there before. He put his hand up,

and was so astonished that he could scarcely believe his eyes, for he

found there a charming little picture of his much-loved sister,

surrounded by pearls, roses, and little golden fish. Delighted at the sight, he kissed the picture, looked around the burial-ground once more, made the sign of the cross, and set out on his way.