Jennings & Ponder: World Tales & Celtic Music
PO Box 522 Montpelier VT 05601
802-223-9103
home page:
http://www.folktale.net.html
e-mail:
tim@folktale.net
(Russian)
Once there was a boy naned Emilya, who lived with his mother way out in
the country. He was very lazy, he didn't like to do anything but lie on
the stove, where it was always warm.
One day, his mother asked him to go out and get some water from the river.
He said, "I don't want to do that. It's too cold out. It's better in
here. I want to stay here, where it's warm."
"But I need the water to cook dinner; if I don't have the water, I
can't make your food."
That seemed like a pretty good reason to him, so he took the buckets, put
the pole over his shoulders, and went outside.
It was winter: the river was frozen. And he came onto the river, and dropped
a bucket down through a hole in the ice, where people had been fishing.
He pulled the bucket up full of water, and put it down on the ice, then
he dropped the other bucket into the water, and this one, when it came up,
it had a fish in it. A big fish. A pike.
And the pike spoke to him, it said, "Put me back in the water. I have
little babies at home, and I have to feed them and take care of them."
The boy was suprised, he'd never heard a fish talk, but he said, "Why
should I put you back? My mother has to feed me, and take care of me. No,
I'll take you home, and she'll cook you up for my dinner."
The fish said, "If you put me back, I'll teach you how to get things
without working."
Emilya said, "Sounds pretty good, but I don't know."
The fish said, "When you need something done, all you have to do is
say, 'By the word of the fish, by my wish, be like this.' And the thing
will do itself."
Emilya said, "Can I try it first?"
The Pike said, "Yes. Of course."
Emilya said: "I want the buckets of water to carry themselves back
home. By the word of the fish, by my wish, be like this." And the two
buckets on the yoke started to walk themselves home, floop floop floop,
only splashing a little over the sides.
So Emilya thanked the fish, and put it back into the water.
When he got home, his mother said, "Thank you for bringing the water.
Now I need you to go get me some wood for the stove."
Emilya said. "No, I can't go. It's too cold. I don't want to. It's
better to lie here, on the stove, where it's warm.:
But she told him, "The stove has gone out. There's no more wood in
it. If you don't go, it'll just get colder and colder."
So he went outside, to where the sleigh was. He didn't hitch up any horses.
He said, "By the word of the fish, by my wish, let it be done!"
and the sleigh took off over the snow into the wood. When he got to the
place where his family gathered firewood, he said again, "By the word
of the fish, by my wish, be like this!" and the wood broke itself off,
and stacked itself neatly in the back of his sleigh. Then he came home.
Everybody stared and pointed at the horseless sleigh with the lazy boy in
the driver's seat.
Now the King of that country had a daughter. And she was young and beautiful.
But she was very sick, and cried all the time. The King was so tired of
hearing her cry, he said, "If somebody can make her happy, he will
marry her!" All of the men of the kingdom came to the King's house,
but nobody could make his daughter happy. And the king said, "This
isn't everybody! There must be somebody else! Go out and check all houses
in the country, and if there's a man who will not come, he must be killed."
So the soldiers of the King finally got to Emilya's house, and they asked
his mother, "Do you have any men in your house?"
She said, "Yes. I have a lazy son. He's sleeping on the stove."
So they woke Emilya up. He said, "What's going on? It's so loud, I
can't sleep."
The soldiers said to him: "Emilya, wake up! You have to go with us
to the Kng's house. You have to make his daughter happy!"
Emilya said, "No. It's too cold out. I can't go with you. I have to
stay here on my stove, where it's nice and warm."
The soldiers said, "If you won't come with us, we'll have to kill you,
because you're breaking the King's law!"
Emilya, said to them, "How can I be breaking the law by just wanting
to sleep?"
But they said, "It's what the King said. You have to go with us."
Emilya said, "OK, OK, I'll come. You go first."
The soldiers went outside and Emilya said, "By the word of the fish,
by my wish, let it be done!" And the stove walked out the door, with
him on it. The soldiers were startled and afraid. All the people were afraid--
it was so strange to see the stove, smoking and clanking along with the
boy on it.
When they got to the King's house, Emilya made fun of the King.
[Note-- I am not sure that the following is correct-- my source was reluctant
to say anything specific about just exactly how Emilya made fun of the King,
and language difficulties made things even more difficult. I THINK this
is right; anyway, it's the best I could get]
He said, "You know, King, somebody has been pooting in your face."
The king said, "NEVER! Nobody can even show his back to the King, let
alone his backside, let alone what his backside makes!
But Emilya said, "Did you go anywhere in our carriage today?"
The King said, "Yes I did, so what?"
"You know when you are going somewhere in the carriage, the man who's
driving the horses, he sits high up there in front. And you sit lower down,
behind them. And if he has been eating cabbage...."
And all the people were laughing, and his daughter was laughing too. The
King said, "You can't make fun of me. Nobody makes fun of the King.
We're going to cut off your head." But when the soldiers took Emilya
under arrest, and got ready to kill him, the King's daughter was crying
again-- too loud!!!
The King said to his daughter, "Why are you crying so loud?"
The daughter said, "Because this guy is so funny! He makes me laugh,
and you want to kill him!"
Then Emilya said, "By the word of the fish, by my wish, let it be done!"
and suddenly everybody began to dance-- the King, and his ministers, and
the nobles, all fat with their big bellies bobbing up and down.
The King said, "What's going on? I can't stop dancing." All the
court people cried out, "Stop us. We're tired! Help! Let us stop dancing!"
But Emilya let them go on.
Finally the King said, "If you can stop me from dancing, yhou can marry
my daughter.
So Emilya let him stop, and the King let them marry. And Emilya spent the
rest of his life, lazy as a prince.
Jennings & Ponder: World Tales & Celtic Music
PO Box 522 Montpelier VT 05601
802-223-9103
home page:
http://www.folktale.net.html
e-mail:
tim@folktale.net