The Devils Clothes Once
there was a man who went hunting in the woods alone but accidently
forgot his bread at his winter hut. He wandered deep into the woods,
but try as he might he couldn’t catching anything so he returned to his
winter hut at night to find that the devil had broken into his house
and was eating his bread. So the man shot the devil with his gun. The
devil fell and crawled out of the man’s winter hut. Then screaming and
crying in pain the devil crawls into the forest.
The Bear A
tscheremissenfrau noodle soup meal brought to the crop field, and
[because] [it] came to meet a bear. He stretched out his paw and comes
grumbling going on the woman. The woman looks at the paw of the bear: a
large bough has gone into the paw. The woman pulls out the bough, and
the bear is even pleased, the woman takes the soup bucket and pour the
soup out, but goes with the soup bucket into the woods. Since the women
are still puzzled. Some time goes by1 , and the bear comes back: he has
filled the bucket [with honey] and brings the honey and gives the woman.
Spit for Money Once there lived a husband and a wife. They had two sons. When the boys grew up, they sent them to school.
The father usually goes hunting with a shotgun into the forest. Once he
went to the woods and saw a beautiful bird. He thinks to himself: I
would like to catch it alive. Softly but quickly he creeps up closer
and closer and catches it. There is a nest with an egg in it. He took
the egg and returned home. He put the bird in a cage, took the egg and
went in town to sell it. He went to a merchant and sold it for one
hundred rubles. Then he bought a meal and spirits with the
The Rat and the Woman Once
there was a rat and a woman who were married. The woman invited the
other women who were her neighbors to come and help grind buckwheat and
cook some cakes. “Go get me some butter to coat the cakes,” she then ordered her husband. So the rat went to the storehouse, bit off a piece of butter and came back with it.
The Hedgehog When
autumn came a hedgehog sensed the approach of winter as he was walking
through the thick grass. So he began to collect fallen leaves, dragging
them into a pile to build himself a warm shelter. The hedgehog then
began to look for a hole to stay in. As he looked he came to a willow
hare. “What do you want with all these leaves?” the willow hare asked with surprise. “I’m preparing a warm winter nest,” the hedgehog explained.
Komi Once
there was a boy, named Komi( Permier), who went to look for a job as a
farm servant. He met a man on his way: Hail, Uncle! Hail, Little
Brother! - says the man and asks: Where are you going? I am going to
find a place where I can be a farm servant, says the boy. I am looking
for a servant to hire, says the man. The boy asks: Hire me! I should
probably hire you, he says. But what is your name? My name is Komi. Oh,
Komi! Your name is bad. I don’t want to hire you, says the man, and
goes away. Komi thinks carefully what to do next. He hits himself in the face and runs another way to meet the man
The Shepherd and the Serpent ll
into a giant dungeon like snake hole which was inhabited by a giant
snake who was the queen of the snakes. All summer the shepherd was held
in the dungeon, but when autumn came the snakes began to gather in the
hole with each licking a giant stone. Hoping
that licking the stone would help him in some way the man licked the
stone as well and so gained the ability to understand the snake
language. So as winter passed he was able to understand what the
Incapable Men Once
there lived a man with his wife. The woman says to her man: Go get me
some wood. The man answers: You go this time. Until now you haven’t
gone even once, he says. The woman replies: I want to go so much, but
then you will need to cook milk, watch the cow and preheat the stove.
The man speaks: Do you really think I couldn’t cook milk and watch our
cow? Well, if you can do that, she says, I will go get load of wood.
And then the woman goes away to bring some wood.
How I Became Rich A
man had lived as a shepherd all his life. One day as he brought his
flock out to feed he fe Once I went to thresh the flax on the other
side of Volga River( also known as “Meadows”). The man from Meadows
took me into the room for threshing. They themselves went to the barn
to thresh. I started threshing. Threshing was not working, because the
flax was wet. I put the flax into the stove. I lay down to rest until
the flax was dry. Then I noticed the smoke. I looked inside the stove,
there was a fire in it, and the flax was gone. The “Meadow” man came
back from threshing, the smoke was everywhere. I couldn’t say
Tailors and the Devil Two
tailors went to look for a job. It was 1808. On a road one of the
tailors said: “It would be better to get money from the devil than look
for a job.” At one
point they reached a village on Volga River and went into the tavern.
They ordered tea and also a bottle of brandy. While they sit there and
drink a merchant enters the tavern and sits down at their table. He
also orders tea, brandy and wheat bread. He begins to talk to them:
“Where are you wandering?” The tailors answer: “We are tailors. We are looking for a job.”
How the Russians Conquered the Tatar’s Empire In
the district Kosmodemjansk seven miles away from the Volga River a
village was located. Its name was Mali-Sundir. There was a mountain,
called Thornberg. It is said that a castle of Tatar prince had been on
that hill for years. And beneath the mountain the meadow was spreading
out straight to Volga. People say that the meadow had been formerly a
sea. Three miles away from the mountain Thornberg was another mountain,
called Juanski. And at that time there was a war between the Tatars and
the Russians. The prince
The Man, His Sister, and the Goblin Once there lived a man and a woman who had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son was married to a woman before they died. After
the death of their parents the brothers and sisters continued to live
as before, but after a time two brothers began to quarrel. The younger
brother eventually left and took his sister with him. One day the younger brother went to the woods.
How the Hare’s Tail Grew Short Once there lived a man and a woman who had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son was married to a woman before they died. After
the death of their parents the brothers and sisters continued to live
as before, but after a time two brothers began to quarrel. The younger
brother eventually left and took his sister with him. One day the younger brother went to the woods.
The Hunter, God and the Devil A three legged hare went running across the ice when he fell slamming down hard on the solid cold surface. “You’re strong ice,” the hare complained. “I’m not strong, the sun is strong for it melts me,” the ice disagreed. So the hare ran on and asked the sun: “Sun are you strong?”
The Rabbits Houses Rabbit
built himself a house and although its small its very nice; with a roof
to keep off the rain, and windows, and even furniture. One nice day rabbit ran out to play and have fun. Along came a cricket and got into his house. Chrik
- chrik, chrik chrik-par-par! - Cricket sang his song. - Nice house! he
exclaimed before falling asleep on one of the rabbits couches.
The Three sisters and Vuver-Kuva the Witch Once
upon a time when there was very little food to be found three sisters
went out into the dark forest to search for wild strawberries. But the woods were big and dark, and it wasn't long before they found that they had lost their way. After
wondering in the woods trying to find their way home again they came to
a cottage. Exhasted from wondering through the woods the girls, knocked
on the door but got no answer so they went inside and fell asleep to
wait for the cottages owner to come home. But they didn't realize that
it was a witch-Vuver How a Mari got to Become Wealthy Easter was approaching but Rose didn't have enough firewood to cook anything in the stove, so she woke her husband Mari. Hey, hubby I've got plenty of dough for pancakes, but you haven't gathered any firewood. So
Rose's husband, took a large ax and went to the forest for firewood.
Where he found a huge hollow lime tree which he began to chop.
Suddenly the human voice called out from inside the lime tree: "Hey, Mari, wait, pleast don't chop me down, not Ruby! the Voice cried. The Fox and the Squirrel A man dug a pit to trap animals, and covered it over with leaves and sticks. A fox was chasing a Squirrel through the forest, and they both tumbled into the pit. Finding
themself trapped together the squirrel started coming up with many
ideas to try to escape but the fox being clever only neaded. one.
and fell into it as the light squirrel. The next morning the man returned and found the fox playing dead while the squirrel ran frantically around the pit.
The Fox and the Titmouse Once
upon a time when the fox and the titmouse were once friends the fox
grew very hungry but try as she might she couldn't find any food. So she went to the titmouse and complained, "friend, I'm very hungry. Do thinky you could find me something to eat?" "Certainly," the titmouse agreed. So the titmouse led the fox to the rye fields alongside the road, and told the fox to hide in the fields and watch.
The Devils Clothes
Once
there was a man who went hunting in the woods alone but accidently
forgot his bread at his winter hut. He wandered deep into the woods,
but try as he might he couldn’t catching anything so he returned to his
winter hut at night to find that the devil had broken into his house
and was eating his bread. So the man shot the devil with his gun. The
devil fell and crawled out of the man’s winter hut. Then screaming and
crying in pain the devil crawls into the forest. Scared
the man flees into his winter hut and spends the whole night laying in
fear. When day comes at last he gets up and sees that the devils blood
has coagulated on the floor. He follows the devils bloody tracks into
the forest. The man finds the devil lying on a log overthrown and dead.
The man comes closer, takes off the clothes of the devil and carries
them back home. When he gets home he puts on the devils clothes and
then walks inside his house, but his family doesn’t notice him because
they can’t see him. He
takes off the devils clothes and hangs them on the stairs and his wife
and children start shouting and crying: “Why has our room disappeared?” In
their eyes the room has turned invisible. The man then puts on the
clothes again, the room is visible, but the man himself is invisible
again. “These are the Devil’s clothes,” the man tells his wife. “When I wear them I become invisible in your eyes.” Later
he puts on the clothes again so no man can see him. He goes to the
market and steals everything he wants: goods, other things and also
money. He kept stealing and stealing and soon became very rich. After
the man and his family had become wealthy one of their neighbors paid
them a visit when the husband was away and asked: “How have you become
extremely rich?” “We had been working hard and became this rich,” the man’s wife replied. “It’s impossible to become so rich even if you work really hard” the neighbor shook her head. “We found devil’s clothes, that’s why we are so rich,” the man’s wife confessed. “Please give it to us so that we also can go to the market once or twice,” the neighbor asked. “No, I can’t give it to you, my husband will be angry,” the man’s wife disagreed. “Your husband will not notice anything, I will bring it back quickly,” the neighbor pressed. So
the man’s wife gave the clothes to the neighbor. The neighbor stole and
stole and became rich, but never gave the clothes back. The house of
the man who found the clothes was burnt down to the ground by the
revengeful devil. They had nothing left, but the neighbor became very
rich.
The Bear
A
tscheremissenfrau noodle soup meal brought to the crop field, and
[because] [it] came to meet a bear. He stretched out his paw and comes
grumbling going on the woman. The woman looks at the paw of the bear: a
large bough has gone into the paw. The woman pulls out the bough, and
the bear is even pleased, the woman takes the soup bucket and pour the
soup out, but goes with the soup bucket into the woods. Since the women
are still puzzled. Some time goes by1 , and the bear comes back: he has
filled the bucket [with honey] and brings the honey and gives the woman.
Spit for Money
Once there lived a husband and a wife. They had two sons. When the boys
grew up, they sent them to school.
The father usually goes hunting with a shotgun into the forest. Once he
went to the woods and saw a beautiful bird. He thinks to himself: I
would like to catch it alive. Softly but quickly he creeps up closer
and closer and catches it. There is a nest with an egg in it. He took
the egg and returned home. He put the bird in a cage, took the egg and
went in town to sell it. He went to a merchant and sold it for one
hundred rubles. Then he bought a meal and spirits with the money. When
he came home, the bird had laid another egg. The next day he took the
egg and went to sell it to the same merchant. He sold this one for two
hundred rubles. Then the merchant told him: Tomorrow I will come to
visit you. Roast that bird, but let nobody eat it. Tomorrow at noon I
will come and bring the money, he said. The next day the merchant comes
with the money. He enters the room and sits down to eat dinner. He
wants the roasted bird. However, the two boys have eaten a little of
it. Now the merchant sits and looks at it, but he does not eat.
You have given the roasted bird to someone else, he says. He takes the
money back and wants to go home. Then the woman says: “The two boys
must have eaten of it.” Scowling in anger the man tells his wife to go after the two boys saying: “Go and cook the liver of your two boys for me, I will not take them back,” the bitter man tells his wife. The woman goes to school and says to her boys: “Go wherever you only can, the father wants to murder you.” The
two boys go to the post station, harness three horses and escape and
flee. They get to the next post station. The father began to chase
them, but couldn’t catch them. The two boys leave the station and go
further on foot, traveling along until they come to the crossroads.
From there they take different ways and say goodbye to each other. The
one of them goes and goes and comes to a village. He asks for a place
to stay in the house that stands apart from others where old Russian
woman lived all alone. “I can give you nothing to eat,” she tells the boy. “I can get by without food this evening,” he says. “Please just let me just sleep in her. The
next morning he coughs and spits in his hands and his spit turns into
money which he gives to the Russian women. The Russian woman goes to
the market with this money and buys some flour, a dress for herself and
comes back home. She prepares food and gives it to the boy along with
his change. The boy says to her: “I will go to the provincial town and I will buy a pub there.” So
he sets off to the town and finds a pub which he buys with the rest of
the money. He then returns to the Russian woman’s house and they drink
tea and eat together. “Now we are going to live in that pub,” he tells her. So they take their belongings and the Russian woman abandons her house to go and live with the boy in the pub. They
boy begins giving away all the pubs brandy without asking for any
payment in return so soon no one wants to go to any of the other
taverns which makes the other tavern owners furious. The boy asks: “What is wrong with treating people to free food and drinks?” “Where can you possibly get the money to do that?,” the other tavern owners ask him before walking away angry
One
day the king seeks to sell a shop which has been abandoned by its owner
but nobody seems to have enough money to buy it so the boy goes before
the king wearing an old cafton to ask to purchase the shop. “Wealthy men cannot buy the shop,” the King scowls at the boy who seems to be poor. Unfazed the boy returns home and spits out three carts of money then brings them to the king to buy the shop. The
King counts up the money but it is far too much so he only takes less
than half a cart full of money in return for the shop. The boy then
reopens the shop. A
little while later the boy whose name was Ivan returns to pay a visit
to the king, but the kings cunning daughter having sensed the power in
the boy prepares a mug for him. When he drinks from this he dies and
they cut out the boys liver and then their spit turns into money
whenever they spit into their hands. They then cut Ivan into pieces and place him in a barrel which they throw into the water so that it floats away downstream. It
floats along until twelve ships sail by, noticing the barrel the
sailors snag the barrel and find a man who was chopped to pieces. A
crow flies over head and lands to eat the flesh, but one of the sailors
captures the crows and threatens to kill it if it doesn’t bring him the
water of life and the water of death. Agreeing to do as the sailor
wishes the crow gathers up two bottles full of the water of life and
death. The
Sailor then pores the water onto the boy who comes back to life. He is
then hired as a cook and for a time he cooks the tastiest soups for the
ship’s crew until one day when they visit port. “I want to step onto the shore,” Ivan tells the crew so they allow him to leave. He
walks on until he comes to a garden and eats an apple which causes a
horn to grow, while a second apple causes the horn to dwindle. He puts
three apples into his pockets and eats an apple from another tree which
turns him into a black stallion. When he eats one more he becomes a man
again. Ivan puts three of these apples into his pocket and then sets
off again for home. “Where have you been?” the Russian woman asks him when he gets home. “I went to see the world,” he replies before taking the apples an placing them into a metal box at his shop. Eventually
the daughter of the king comes to the shop to buy some apples, he then
sells her about the magic apples which cause people to grow horns and
turn into stallions. When
the kings daughter takes the apples home, her and her three sisters are
turned into black stallions by them while the queen grows horns because
of them. The king begins to wail because he can find no one who can
cure them. Ivan then goes to the kings house “Can you cure them?” the king asks. “I can for four hundred,” Ivan assures the king. So
the king gives Ivan the money and Ivan takes the horses out onto the
steppes and runs them until they are so exhausted that sour milk flows
from them. Ivan licks hit up and then has them run even more, and licks
up their milk again so that now he once more has the power to make
money by spitting into his hand. After this he brings the stallions
home and feeds them three apples which turn them back into girls. He
then takes his payment from the king and returns home where he marries
and lives happily ever after.
The Rat and the Woman
Once
there was a rat and a woman who were married. The woman invited the
other women who were her neighbors to come and help grind buckwheat and
cook some cakes. “Go get me some butter to coat the cakes,” she then ordered her husband. So the rat went to the storehouse, bit off a piece of butter and came back with it. “This butter is barely enough for one cake,” the women complained. “Go get me more.” So the rat man went again and this time got a lot more. The
bckwheat grinders saw him and thinking that he was stealing from the
storehouse they hit him and killed him. The woman is waiting and
waiting but the rat didn’t return. So she went out to find him. She
searched and looked everywhere, but couldn’t find him anywhere. She
asked the buckwheat grinders: “Have you seen the rat man?” They answered that they had beaten him to death. “Oh, why did you kill him? He was my beloved husband,” the women groaned. She
then went and laid a pancake inside an old shoe and then tucked the
other into her pillow, finally she spread a third pancake over her dead
husband’s body and dragged it out into the field and left it there. A
man was plowing the field when he found the pancakes and ate them then
continued to plow. As he is riding along plowing the field his anus
speaks. “What’s that?” the man asks with surprise. “What could have happened to my anus to make it speak? I must go to a magician.” “I must go to a magician,” the man’s anus agrees. So the man went to a magician and asked why his anus was speaking. You
have eaten pancakes in the field you were plowing and this caused your
anus to speak. You must make pancakes and hide them in the same place
they were. So the man did this and his anus stopped speaking. The tale is over.
The Hedgehog
When
autumn came a hedgehog sensed the approach of winter as he was walking
through the thick grass. So he began to collect fallen leaves, dragging
them into a pile to build himself a warm shelter. The hedgehog then
began to look for a hole to stay in. As he looked he came to a willow
hare. “What do you want with all these leaves?” the willow hare asked with surprise. “I’m preparing a warm winter nest,” the hedgehog explained. “Oh please build me one,” the hare begged. “How can I not help such a good friend,” the hedgehog said. Delighted the hare ran into the thicket. The next morning the hare laid down in his warm burrow when along came the fox. “Friend hare, how did you get such a nice burrow?” the fox asked. “The hedgehog built it for me, I’m sure if you ask him he’ll build one for you,” the hare answered. So the fox went and begged the hedgehog to built him a burrow as well which the hedgehog agreed to do. Next
the wolf found out that he could get a warm burrow from the hedgehog so
he went to the hedgehog as well. The hedgehog was worried that he
wouldn’t have time to build his own burrow if he kept building it for
everyone else so he tried to refuse but the wolf bared his teeth at the
hedgehog. Seeing
no other choice the hedgehog agreed to build the wolfs burrow as well.
But before putting down the leaves in the bottom he brought up jagged
rocks from the creek and laid them under the leaves. The wolf jumped
down into his den thinking it would be soft but hit the jagged rocks. “Ow, what have you done? The wolf complained. “I don’t really know how to build a borrow,” the hedgehog replied.
Komi
Once there was a boy, named Komi( Permier), who went to look for a job
as a farm servant. He met a man on his way: Hail, Uncle! Hail, Little
Brother! - says the man and asks: Where are you going? I am going to
find a place where I can be a farm servant, says the boy. I am looking
for a servant to hire, says the man. The boy asks: Hire me! I should
probably hire you, he says. But what is your name? My name is Komi. Oh,
Komi! Your name is bad. I don’t want to hire you, says the man, and
goes away.
Komi thinks carefully what to do next. He hits himself in the face and
runs another way to meet the man again. Soon he meets him on a road and
says: Hail, where are you going? I search for a servant to hire. Hire
me! I should probably hire you, the man says. What is your name? Komi.
I do not hire you, your name is really bad, says the man, and walks
away again. Komi turns his suit and hat inside out, and hits himself
even harder in the face. He runs forward in order to see the man one
more time and indeed meets him again. They greet each other. Where do
you go, boy? I want to become a farm servant. Where do you go? I need
to hire a farm servant. Hire me, says the boy. It is probably a good
idea to hire you, says the man. What is your name? Komi, answers the
boy. The man replies: Today I have met three boys, named Komi. Now it
seems to me that I should hire a boy named Komi. I must hire you if you
are called Komi too.
He takes the boy to his home and they live and work together. It is hay
time. They begin to work in the meadows and put the equipment in the
truck. Komi does not put a sandbag in the truck but forgets it at home.
The wife doesn’t go to the meadow, she stays at home. Komi and his
master arrive to the meadow, they start making hay. They look for the
sandbag and can’t find it. The master sends Komi home to get the
sandbag. Komi arrives home, he hears voices coming out of the house.
The neighbor’s son and the wife chat with each other. The wife says: I
will make pancakes tomorrow and come to your hay meadow, but I don’t
know where it is. The neighbor’s son says: I will go and put up road
signs to my meadow. Good, says the wife. The neighbor’s son first goes
home, then to the meadow. He stops at the crossroads. Komi is right
after him. He gathers his road pegs and sticks them in the ground on
the way to their meadow. It is tomorrow. The wife has made pancakes and
sets off to bring them to her lover. Road signs should help her reach
her young man. She goes and goes and comes to their truck. Komi looks
up and says: Uncle, look! The aunt comes. His master says: She never
wanted to come before. Why is she coming now? The wife comes, stands
there not able to say anything. At first I didn’t want to come here,
but I made pancakes, so I brought you some. I also wanted to see the
meadow. Her husband replies: Let us eat! They begin to eat. That young
man can’t get any food or anything else. We must invite him here to eat
pancakes. Komi, go down there, bring him back over here with you, says
the master. Komi goes to the young man and says: What did you plan
yesterday with my aunt? My uncle wants to kill you now. Komi comes back
to the truck. He doesn’t come at my invitation, Komi says. Go invite
him yourself. His master responds: I myself go to mow, no matter what
we should go back to mowing. He takes his sickle and goes away. The
young lover sees the man with the sickle and thinks that he comes to
kill him. He runs as fast as he can in the willow forest. The master,
however, runs after him. Komi says to his aunt: What did you plan
yesterday with that young man? The master heard it and now he wants to
beat you to death. And the wife gets scared and starts running away.
Komi harnesses the horse and rides in a hurry to his home.
The Shepherd and the Serpent
A
man had lived as a shepherd all his life. One day as he brought his
flock out to feed he fell into a giant dungeon like snake hole which
was inhabited by a giant snake who was the queen of the snakes. All
summer the shepherd was held in the dungeon, but when autumn came the
snakes began to gather in the hole with each licking a giant stone. Hoping
that licking the stone would help him in some way the man licked the
stone as well and so gained the ability to understand the snake
language. So as winter passed he was able to understand what the snakes
were saying among themselves. Summer
came and the snakes began to crawl out of the hole but before they did
their queen warned them not to touch beasts or people. The
next autumn the snakes had begun to gather once more once more licking
the stone as they entered. with the leaders of the different snakes in
separate corners. The
shepherd lived with the snakes thus for exactly 3 years and for three
years he learned the language of the snakes, the birds, and all the
animals. Then after three years the leader of the snakes released him
warning him not to tell anyone he could speak the language of the
beasts or he would die. Once
more the shepherd began to graze his cattle in the fields, resting
under a large oak tree at noon. One day as he lay their resting a crow
landed in the branches over head. “Twenty-Five
years of herding cattle and the man still doesn’t know that there’s a
barrel of gold buried under this oak tree,” the crow said to himself. So the shepherd drove the herd home then returned and dug up the barrel of gold. Now very rich he built a new house and bought a vast herd of cattle and eventually married a wife who was healthy and thick. One
day the shepherd harnessed a pair of horses in the carriage and drove
his wife to the market. One the way the horses began to talk among
themselves. “You’re pulling me too hard,” one of the two horses complained. “Look,
you have a healthy fat women sitting on your side the carriage, but I
have her skinny husband on my side so its you who pulls me harder,” the
other horse responded. On hearing their antics the Mari could not resist letting out a sudden burst of laughter which surprised his wife. “Why are you laughing?” his wife asked. But
he refused to tell her, but she continued to persist until at last he
promised to tell her when they were returned home from the market and
after they had fed the animals. When they had returned home they fed the rooster and the dog but the dog wouldn’t eat. “Why aren’t you eating?” the rooster asked the dog. “I don’t feeling like eating because our owner is going to die,” the dog responded. “Of
course he will die,” the rooster replied. “I have twelve hens as wives
which I must care for but he has only one human wife and he can’t even
handle that. She will continue to ask him questions he must not answer
until he uses the whip to make her stop.” The
man on hearing this conversation went and got the whip and whipped his
wife until she promised not the question him again, and so they lived
together from then on.
Incapable men
Once there lived a man with his wife. The woman says to her man: Go get
me some wood. The man answers: You go this time. Until now you haven’t
gone even once, he says. The woman replies: I want to go so much, but
then you will need to cook milk, watch the cow and preheat the stove.
The man speaks: Do you really think I couldn’t cook milk and watch our
cow? Well, if you can do that, she says, I will go get load of wood.
And then the woman goes away to bring some wood.
The man heats the stove and gets ready to cook milk, but also he has to
watch the cow. He binds the cow with a rope to the roof. Grass grew on
the roof. He had the end of the rope down through the chimney into the
room and tied to his foot so that the cow did not step aside from the
roof. Nevertheless, the cow went to the edge of the roof, fell down and
pulled the man up into the chimney. The man hanged with his head down
in the chimney. The milk he had been cooking boiled and spilled over.
The cow was dying as she got strangled.
He himself is close to dying too as he hangs with his head down in the
chimney. The smoke comes out of the stove and fills the whole room. He
is about to give up his last breath.
The woman comes home with the wood, enters the room. The room is full
of smoke. The man is not there. There is no milk. The cow climbed onto
the roof, fell down and looks like it is dead. She takes an ax and
chops the rope as fast as possible. The man falls down from the
chimney. The cow died. When she fell down, she broke her neck. The milk
rose and boiled over. After this had happened the woman never asked her
man to do anything about the house again. Since then she did everything
herself.
How I Became Rich
Once I went to thresh the flax on the other side of Volga River( also
known as “Meadows”). The man from Meadows took me into the room for
threshing. They themselves went to the barn to thresh. I started
threshing. Threshing was not working, because the flax was wet. I put
the flax into the stove. I lay down to rest until the flax was dry.
Then I noticed the smoke. I looked inside the stove, there was a fire
in it, and the flax was gone. The “Meadow” man came back from
threshing, the smoke was everywhere. I couldn’t say anything. The man
arrested me and locked me in a tar barrel. He harnessed the horse and
took me to the Volga River. He dropped the barrel in Volga, turned back
and went home.
The barrel floated down the Volga River, the wind threw it on the sand.
I couldn’t get out of the barrel. I only had one small knife with me. I
dug and dug with my knife, had a small hole finally carved, big enough
for my hand to go through. I saw a wolf coming. The wolf came closer,
made couple circles around the barrel, pissed on it and put his tail
into the little hole carved by me. I grabbed him tightly. The wolf got
frightened and started to run. He ran and jumped, the barrel hit the
tree and got smashed. I got out of the barrel, killed the wolf and
skinned him. I took the wolf’s skin and walked away. The night caught
me on a road. I went to sleep in an empty windmill, lay down to rest in
a basket made of birch bark. I listened carefully and heard voices. I
looked around and saw robbers come. They entered into the mill and
SPLASH! they poured out money to count. I was afraid that they would
notice me and kill me. I moved a bit. I wanted to watch them. The
basket fell over. I fell out of it helter-skelter. The robbers
were terrified and ran away. I put as much money in my pockets as I
could carry and quickly left that place. That is how I became rich and
stayed alive.
Tailors and the Devil
Two tailors went to look for a job. It was 1808. On a road one of the
tailors said: “It would be better to get money from the devil than look
for a job.” At
one point they reached a village on Volga River and went into the
tavern. They ordered tea and also a bottle of brandy. While they sit
there and drink a merchant enters the tavern and sits down at their
table. He also orders tea, brandy and wheat bread. He begins to talk to
them: “Where are you wandering?” The tailors answer: “We are tailors. We are looking for a job.” “It would be better for you to become traders,” the merchant told them. “What should we trade?” the tailors asked. “We have no money.” “I
will give you money, as much as you need, but you can’t take all of it
and leave the box empty. If you don’t empty the box, the money in it
will never end, the merchant told them,” “We can’t trade, we prefer working as tailors,” the tailors decided. The merchant drinks, eats and then leaves. After he left, the tailors ask the Russian who owns the tavern: Who is that merchant? “Why should he be a merchant? That was the devil. Haven’t you noticed that he had no eyebrows?” the tavern owner told them. “We didn’t quite notice eyebrows and the rest,” they say. “I
mustn’t speak with him at all. If I reply a single word to him, he can
eat and drink everything he wants and I cannot stop him,” the merchant
bemoaned. The tailors were terrified. “We mentioned him when we were on a road, they said, that is why he wanted to give us money,” the tailors noted.
How the Russians Conquered the Tatar’s Empire
In the district Kosmodemjansk seven miles away from the Volga River a
village was located. Its name was Mali-Sundir. There was a mountain,
called Thornberg. It is said that a castle of Tatar prince had been on
that hill for years. And beneath the mountain the meadow was spreading
out straight to Volga. People say that the meadow had been formerly a
sea. Three miles away from the mountain Thornberg was another mountain,
called Juanski. And at that time there was a war between the Tatars and
the Russians. The prince of Tatars threw a quarrel ax at the prince of
Russians from the mountain Thornberg to the mountain Juanski. The
prince of Russians threw a colt at the Tatar prince and hit him.
The prince of Tatars died and Russia conquered the Tatar’s Empire.
The Man, His Sister and the Goblin
Once there lived a man and a woman who had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son was married to a woman before they died. After
the death of their parents the brothers and sisters continued to live
as before, but after a time two brothers began to quarrel. The younger
brother eventually left and took his sister with him. One day the younger brother went to the woods. “Cook me something to eat for when I get back,” he told his sister, as he left. He
then went into the forest to find a sledge sole. As he searched he
found an oak which he hefted up in his arms and threw over his shoulder
before heading home. “Bring me my food,” he tells his sister when he gets home and the two of them ate together He
goes out the next day in search of another sledge sole. He reaches the
woods and searches a sledge sole. He searches and searches and finds a
three-storey stone house. He comes closer to the stone house, looks at
it and finally goes into the house. A table stands in there, and three
bottles of spirits are on the table, but nobody is there. He takes the
bottles and drinks them all up. He steps into another room, again three
bottles of spirits are on the table. He drinks those three as well.
Then he enters the third room, looks around and sees that it is a very
beautiful room. A cushion is there, and there is also a gun and a
samovar (Russian Tea Maker) is next to it. He opens the box and sees
that it is full of money. He begins to put gold in his pockets, also in
his chest pockets. He then returns home where he eats and drinks and
tells his sister that she should brew beer. The sister brews beer for
him. Then they take a bucket full of beer and a bowl full of money and
head to visit their brother. They
enter the house of their brother and put a bucket of beer and a bowl
with money on the table. But the brother grumbles only. “You have taken the money of my father and intentionally have come to show it to me,” he says. The
younger brother gets angry and goes home. Afterwards he takes his
sister with him and goes to live in the stone house. They move in there
and start living there. The brother of the girl takes a gun and goes
into the forest. The owner of the stone house comes back. He says: “Who
is in my house?” The young man’s sister was very beautiful. That goblin fell in love with her. “I want you mine,” he tells her. He then gives her the game cards. “When
your brother comes back tell him you found them and make a rule that
the winner of the game of cards gets to tie the looser up for a little
while,” the goblin tells her as he gives her a rope When
her brother comes back the goblin hides and the brother and sister eat
and drink and play cards. When the brother loses his sister ties him up. “Try
to break the rope,” she tells him, knowing that if he can’t the goblin
will be able to chop his head off while he is trapped But the boy is able to break the ropes with ease. Later
he goes back into the woods to hunt with the gun. The goblin comes
again to the girl and gives her an iron chai before leaving again. Meanwhile
the brother walked and walked deep into the forest and couldn’t catch
anything. He got very tired. He came home and the sister gave him food.
After they ate, they began to play cards again. The brother lost again
and so once more his sister tied him up with an iron chain. “It’s impossible for me to break the chain,” the boy said as he struggled against the chains. So
the goblin takes a saber and rushes in to chop him up. On seeing the
goblin the young man had a sudden surge of strength which allowed him
to break the chain. He snatches the saber from the goblin and chops him
to death. “You
have lived with this,” the young man scolded his sister as he grabbed
her by the hair, kills her with the saber and throws her into the
forest. Living
alone now he stands outside the house when he hears singing. He goes
further: there is nothing to find. He enters the house and hears
singing again. He begins to search and goes down to the lower floor.
There are twelve princesses in iron chains. He frees twelve princesses,
sends eleven of them home but keeps one to be his wife. The princess,
however, says: “I want to visit my father.” So
they go to see the king together. They show up in the courtyard. The
girl’s father and mother start crying with joy on being reunited with
their daughter. The daughter responds: “He has fought for me.” So
the king and queen give the young man their beloved daughter in
marriage. They began to live with the king in his palace. They harness
three horses and head to their former home to get some money. They load
a whole cart with money and return to the king. They live there until
the king is old. And as he grew old, he died the son-in-law takes his
crown. “I was at their wedding, ate a lot and got drunk. Everything was running down my chin.” They still live well even today.
How the Hare’s Tale Grew Short
A three legged hare went running across the ice when he fell slamming down hard on the solid cold surface. “You’re strong ice,” the hare complained. “I’m not strong, the sun is strong for it melts me,” the ice disagreed. So the hare ran on and asked the sun: “Sun are you strong?” “I’m not strong, if I was the clouds wouldn’t block my rays, the clouds are strong.” The sun disagreed. So the hare ran up to the clouds and asked: “Clouds are you strong?” “I’m not strong, the wind blows me so the wind is strong,” the clouds replied. So the hare ran and asked the wind: “Are you strong wind?” “If I were strong I could defeat the mountain,” the wind told the hare. “The mountains are strong.” So the hare went to the mountains and asked: “Are you strong mountains?” “If I was strong the mouse would not dig holes in me,” the mountain responded. So the hare went to the mouse and asked: “Mouse are you strong?” “If I were strong the cat would not eat me, the cat is strong,” the mouse replied. So the hare ran to the cat and asked: “Are you strong?” “If I were strong I would not continually need the help of the old women,” the cat replied. “The old women is strong.” So the mouse ran up to the old women and asked: “Old women are you strong?” The old women replied: “If I were strong I would not need to pray to survive, god is strong” So the hare ran up to god and asked: “God are you strong?" God
through a hot oven crutch for him which scorched his tail and blackened
his ears, so from then on hare has had a short tale and ears with black
tips.
The Hunter, god and the devil
A hunter wandered through the forest. As he wandered, the thunder
started to echo and the flash started to twitch. The hunter goes and
goes and sees a huge and steep valley in the middle of the forest. In
this steep valley the devil emerged from under a large rock and danced
mockingly against the rumbling of God. God strikes at the devil with
his lightning, but it does not hit him. The devil hides under the rock.
After some time the devil comes out and dances again, not noticing the
hunter. The man crosses himself, loads the gun and fires. When he
fires, God also hurls his flash. The devil burns to pieces. On his way
home the hunter meets an old man with a white head and grey beard. They
greet each other and the old man speaks: Well, you have just shot the
devil. For years I wanted to kill him and didn’t succeed. Now go to
that and that place( not indicated), there is money there in abundance.
Take it home with you in a cartload to prove that you have taken
devil’s life. The man took money home, became rich and still lives
happily.
The Lime Tree Easter was approaching but Rose didn't have enough firewood to cook anything in the stove, so she woke her husband Mari. Hey, hubby I've got plenty of dough for pancakes, but you haven't gathered any firewood. So
Rose's husband, took a large ax and went to the forest for firewood.
Where he found a huge hollow lime tree which he began to chop.
Suddenly the human voice called out from inside the lime tree: "Hey, Mari, wait, pleast don't chop me down, not Ruby! the Voice cried. "I'm too busy to talk to me now," Mari told the tree. I need to chop you down to get sour dough pancakes. Please don't chop me down! Ruby begged. Go home and you'll see that theres already a pile of chopped lime wood. Mari,
thought about it and decided to believe the tree so he went back home
and saw that there was enough wood there to fill the stove two or three
times. After
eating sour dough pancakes for a number of days however he once more
found that they had run out of wood so he returned to the old lime tree
and began to chop: lat-lat. "What are you doing Mari?" the tree cried again. "I need to gather some more wood," Mari explained. "Go on home there will be some more wood", the Lime Tree promised. So once more Mari returned home to find a large stack of firewood already cut. That
night as he lay down next to his wife he began to think about how poor
they were in their tiny cottage, so he and his wife came up with a plan. The next day he returned to the lime tree. "What you need, Mari?" "Well,
there is no bread, no cattle, no real money and the economy is bad so
theirs very little hope," he explained to the tree. "Give me giant barn
full of cattle sheds and a mill full of flour to make my bread. Go, Mari, home, the voice told him. Lie down to sleep today, and tomorrow everything will be as you wished it. So
Mari went home and went to sleep. The next morning he awoke to find
barns full of cattle, a giant house around him with chests full of mony. Richer
then he'd ever imagined possible Mari became lazy and thought himself
content for a while. Then one day he decided he wanted to become chief
so he set out to the old lime tree again and started wacking it once
more: lat-lat. "What you need, Mari?" The voice asked once more. "I'd like to become Chief! Needless to us to live the old way." Mari explained. "Go home and sleep." the voice told him and tommorow the village will gather to make you their chief. So
Mari went home and went to sleep and the next moring when he awoke the
village began to assemble and they called for Mari to join them. As the
voice had promised the made him a wealthy village elder. But eventually
Mari got bored so he returned to the Lime tree once more and tapped it,
lat-lat-lat. "What you need, Mari?" The voice asked once more. "I want to be a Warden of the region,? Mari said. "Go home, go to bed and tomorrow the people will gather gathering and you will choose the foreman." So Mari went home and went to bed and the next morning a man awoke him with a knock on his window. "Warden, get up the village is assembling," the man told him. Mari
stood up, had breakfast and went to the regional office where Mari was
promoted and chose a foreman to replace him. Now Mari rides everywhere
on horseback and doesn't have to tavle on foot. But
three years later it still wasn't enough for him so he returned to the
Lime tree and hit it Lat-lat-lat. Mari foot does not go on rides
on horseback with parish bells annoucning his comming. "What you need, Mari?" The voice asked once more. "I want to be become a greater man who doesn't have to work so hard and can sleep on a feather bed." "Go home, go to bed and tomorrow will be!" the Lime tree told him. So Mari went home and went to bed and in the morning he awoke in a giant feather bed with the warmest blanket he'd ever had.
The Fox and the Squirrel
A man dug a pit to trap animals, and covered it over with leaves and sticks. A fox was chasing a Squirrel through the forest, and they both tumbled into the pit. Finding
themself trapped together the squirrel started coming up with many
ideas to try to escape but the fox being clever only neaded. one.
and fell into it as the light squirrel. The next morning the man returned and found the fox playing dead while the squirrel ran frantically around the pit. Delighted
at his luck at having caught two animals the man tossed the fox he
thought was dead out of the pit and then killed the squirrel so it
would stop running away. While
the man was paying attention to the squirrel however the fox crept away
so when he came out of the pit he found that the fox had escaped,
leaving him with only a tiny squirrel.
The Fox and the titmouse
Once
upon a time when the fox and the titmouse were once friends the fox
grew very hungry but try as she might she couldn't find any food. So she went to the titmouse and complained, "friend, I'm very hungry. Do thinky you could find me something to eat?" "Certainly," the titmouse agreed. So the titmouse led the fox to the rye fields alongside the road, and told the fox to hide in the fields and watch. A women came along carrying two buckets of noodles and milk for lunch into the fields. The
titmouse jumped in front of her, startling her so she dropped her
buckets. The titmouse then chased her away back down the road so that
the fox could come out and eat her fill.
Then said the fox and the titmouse, "well, my friend, you fed me well but now I want to laugh." "I make you laugh," the titmouse assured the fox.
So
the titmouse led the fox to a group of threshing workers and lept up on
one of their heads. Another worker saw the titmouse on his co-workers
head and tried to hit him but the titmouse flew away and sat down on
the head of another worker. The third woker waved around for his
companians to get the titmouse off but the titmouse fluttered away at
the last minute so they missed the titmouse and hit the worker on the
head causing the workers to begin to quarrel among themselves. The fox sat at the edge of the threshing floor roaring with laughter.
"Well,
my friend," the fox said to the titmouse as they left the barn yard
laughing. "You fed me well, and made my laugh but I'd like to get
scared if you can do that. are you fed me laugh, and now try to scare
me." "Well," said titmouse as he sat up on a gate and began to sing. "Chi-chi-chi-chi, kostirik!" "Are you trying to eat a dog?" the fox asked. "No, this is my song," the titmouse. She sat a little, and again began to sing: "Chi-chi-chi-chi, kostirik!" "Are you trying to eat a dog, why are you calling them?" the fox asked. "No, this is my song," the titmouse.
Then
out of the gate came two huge dogs, and the moment they saw the fox
they began to chase him. The fox bolted away as fast as she could but
barly escaped with her life. The titmouse found the fox panting and hiding in the forest. "Well,
my friend, thank you very much: you fed me, helped me to laugh and gave
me a good fright" the fox told the titmouse. Now you live alone, and
I'll alone. Since then, the fox and the titmouse have not been friends. .
