Folk-lore and Legends: Russian and Polish 16

Folk-lore and Legends: Russian and Polish 16

The fool sat down, spread his cloth, and said—

 

“Wonderful cloth, let him who is hungry and thirsty find here everything

he wants.”

 

Immediately they heard a hissing noise in the air, something shone above

them, and they found a fine table, spread as for a royal feast in front

of them. They ate and drank, and then the table disappeared. As the

simpleton was about to continue his journey, the soldier said—

 

“Will you give me your cloth in exchange for this hat with six corners.

It shoots of itself, and hits, in an instant, whatever you wish. You

have only to turn it round on your head, and say—‘Hat which fires, to

please me, strike what I tell you.’ Then it shoots with such a sure aim

that if your enemy were a mile away he would bite the dust.”

 

The lad thought it would be well to have the hat, for how useful would

it be in time of danger, and when he wished to serve his king and

country. So he gave the cloth to the soldier, tied the girdle again

round his waist, put the hat upon his head, took his stick in his hand,

and went on once more.

 

He had not gone far when he thought of what the oak had told him about

the cloth, and of how he wanted to surprise his mother with it. So he

said to his stick—

 

“Stick, that beats of itself, go quickly and look for my cloth. Go, I

want it back.”

 

The cudgel went off after the soldier, overtook him, and commenced to

beat him, crying—

 

“So you seek the wealth of others, do you? Take that, knave, and that.”

 

The soldier, who was lusty in spite of his wounds, set himself on his

guard, and would have given blow for blow, but the stick laid on so

rapidly that he at last gave in. Overcome by the pain, he threw down the

cloth and fled. The stick took the cloth to its master, who continued

his journey.

 

At length he came out of the wood. He crossed over the fields, and

already saw his father’s house before him, when he met his brothers,

who, running to him, said impatiently—

 

“Well, simpleton, where are the golden acorns?”

 

The lad looked at them, laughed, and said to his stick—

 

“Stick, which beats of itself, punish those who have offended me.”

 

The stick at once left the hands of the lad and commenced to lay itself

on the brothers, crying—

 

“You have done your brother enough wrong. Now, then, suffer yourselves

in your turn.”

 

The brothers were as much astounded as if a kettle of hot water had

fallen about their ears. They cried out and ran off, disappearing in a

cloud of dust. The stick at length came back to its master, who entered

the house, climbed up on the stove, and, calling his mother, told her

all that had happened. Then he said—

 

“Wonderful cloth, let him who is hungry and thirsty find here all he

wants.”

 

A whistling was heard, something came sparkling in the air, and they

found before them a table spread as if for a king’s banquet. There were

dishes, glasses, and goblets of hydromel and wine, and all the things

were of gold or silver. The simpleton and his mother for a time admired

the feast, and then, just as they were sitting down to it, the door

opened and his father came in. He was thunderstruck when he saw the

table, but, being invited to share the good things with them, quickly

sat down and fell to. When they had finished the whistling noise was

again heard, and all the things disappeared.

 

The shepherd went off to the Court to tell the king all about these

wonderful things, and the king despatched an officer to the fool. When

he came into the house he found the simpleton lying on the stove, and

said to him—

 

“If you love your life, listen and obey the orders of the king. You are

to send him by myself the wonderful cloth which provides feasts of

itself, and for this you shall be honoured by the royal favour. If you

do not comply, you shall remain in your present wretched condition, and

shall, moreover, receive the punishment of a disobedient fellow. Do you

understand me?”

 

“Oh yes,” said the lad, “I understand you;” and then he quietly said—

 

“Stick, which beats of itself, give those who deserve them some good

blows.”

 

With the speed of lightning the stick left the fool’s hands. Three times

it alighted on the officer’s body, and then he fled. The stick, however,

was not content to let him off so easily, and it followed him, beating

him all the time, and crying—

 

“Promises befool children. Don’t make them too rashly. To teach you

better, take that, knave, and that.”

 

Beaten and bewildered, the officer returned to the king and told him

all, and when his majesty heard that the lad had a stick which beat of

its own accord, he longed so much for it that he quite forgot the cloth.

So he sent off some of his soldiers to the lad with orders to bring the

stick. The soldiers came to the hut and found the fool on the stove.

 

“Give us the cudgel,” said they. “The king will give you what you ask

for it. If you will not give it to us we shall take it.”

 

Instead of making a reply, the lad put on his girdle, and said—

 

“Wonderful girdle, for my safety, and not for my pleasure, let me find

myself on the water.”

 

There was a murmuring in the air, and a great change took place. A

magnificent lake—long, wide, and deep—appeared in the middle of the

plain, and in it swam fish with golden scales and eyes of pearls. In the

middle of the lake, in a silver skiff, was a man whom the soldiers

recognised as the fool. For a time they looked on in wonder, and then

they set off to tell the king all about it. When the king heard of such

a girdle he longed to have it. He took counsel with his officer, and

then sent off a whole battalion of soldiers to take the fool prisoner.

 

This time they tried to catch him while he was asleep. Just as they were

about to lay hands on him, however, the fool turned his hat, and said—

 

“Hat that shoots, to please me, strike those who trouble me.”

 

At that instant a hundred bullets whistled in the air. The place rang

with the noise of guns, and the air was filled with smoke. Some of the

soldiers fell dead on the ground, others ran off to hide themselves in

the woods, and some went to tell the king.

 

The king was dreadfully angry to think that he could not get the better

of the fool. He had desired to have the cloth, to have the stick, to

have the girdle, but what were any of these things to the wonderful

six-cornered hat which, of its own accord, fired and shot down its

opponents as well as if it had been a battery of cannon!

 

Having considered for some time, he thought it would, perhaps, be best

to try persuasion. So he sent to the lad’s mother, and said to her—

 

“Tell your son, the fool, that I and my lovely daughter salute him, and

we beg of him to come to the palace and show us all the wonderful things

we are told he possesses. If he is willing to make me a present of them

I will give him half my kingdom, and will name him as my successor in

the throne. My daughter also will take him for her husband.”

 

The mother ran off to her son, and persuaded him to accept the king’s

invitation, and go to the palace with his wonderful treasures. The lad

fastened on his girdle, put on his hat, hid the cloth in his bosom, took

his stick in his hand, and set off to the Court. When he came there the

king was engaged, but the lad was received very politely by his

attendants. Music struck up as he came to the palace, the soldiers

presented arms, and altogether the lad was received very much better

than he could have expected. At length, when he was introduced into the

hall in which was the king, the lad took off his hat and bowed.

 

“What,” said he, “O king, do you desire? I have come to lay at the foot

of your throne the cloth, the girdle, the stick, and the hat. In return

for these presents I only ask that your royal favour may light on the

humblest of your subjects.”

 

“Tell me then, fool,” said the king, “how much money do you want for

those things?”

 

“Money,” replied the lad, “a fool like me does not want money. The king

promised my mother to give me half his kingdom, and his daughter in

marriage. I only ask so much!”

 

The king’s officer signed to the soldiers to come in. They laid hands on

the lad suddenly, dragged him out into the courtyard, and there, while

the drums beat and the trumpets sounded, they killed him and buried him.

 

As the soldiers pierced him to the heart, some drops of blood sprang

forth, and fell under the windows of the princess, who wept at the sight

and shed tears on the reddened earth. Wonderful to tell! from these

drops of blood there sprang up an apple-tree which grew till it reached

the windows of the princess’s apartments. When the princess laid her

hand on the boughs of the tree, an apple fell off into her bosom. The

princess took it up and played with it.

 

The next day, when night came on, all were asleep in the palace save the

guards, the king’s officer, and the princess. The guards were watching,

as usual, with their arms in their hands. The princess was playing with

the apple, and could not sleep. As for the king’s officer, soon after he

lay down he was roused by a terrible noise. The cudgel appeared before

him, and though he ran round and round his chamber, it pursued and beat

him, crying—

 

“You good-for-nothing fellow! Don’t be so envious and unjust. Don’t

return evil for good, and steal what belongs to others. Take that, and

that, and that!”

 

The officer called aloud and cried for mercy, but the stick still laid

on.

 

The princess, hearing some one groaning, began to weep, and then a

wonderful thing happened. Some of her tears fell on the apple. It grew,

changed its form, and, all of a sudden, there stood before her a fine

young man, the very same as had been slain under her window.

 

“Fair princess,” said he, “I salute you. The treachery of the king’s

officer caused my death, and your tears have recalled me to life again.

Your father promised to give you to me for my wife: what do you say?”

 

“If it is my father’s wish,” replied the princess, “I consent,” and she gave him her hand.