At the behest of the pike
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Russian folk tale “At the behest of the pike” with illustrations by V. Kurdyumov. 1912
Once upon a time there lived a man, and he had three sons: two were smart, and the third was a fool and his name was Emelei. The time has come for the old man to die. He called his sons to him and said to them:
- My dear children! I feel that my death is coming. Divide all my property equally. In the chest you will find three hundred rubles. Divide them equally too. And live in peace and harmony.
The old man died, his sons buried him properly, and began to live and live without him.
Soon the older brothers got married, but Emelya lay all day long on the stove and didn’t want to know anything.
So the older brothers gathered to go to the city to trade and said to Emela:
- Listen, Emelya! We will take your hundred rubles and bring you the profits from them, and as a gift we will buy you a red caftan, a red hat and red boots. And you stay at home and do all the homework for us. Whatever the women tell you to do, do it.
The fool, wanting to receive the promised red caftan, red cap and red boots, answered the brothers that he would do whatever they forced him to do. After that, his brothers went to the city, and the fool stayed at home and lived with his daughters-in-law.
Then, some time later, one day, when it was winter time and there was severe frost, then his daughters-in-law told him to go get some water. But the fool, lying on the stove, said:
- Yes, what about you?
The daughters-in-law shouted at him:
- What, fool, what are we? After all, you see how cold it is, and it’s time for a man to go!
But he said:
- I'm lazy!
The daughters-in-law shouted at him again:
- What, are you lazy? After all, you will want to eat, but when there is no water, you cannot cook anything.
Moreover they said:
“Well, we’ll tell our husbands when they arrive that although they will buy a red caftan and everything, they won’t give you anything,” that the fool heard and wanted to get a red caftan and a hat, got off the stove and began to put on his shoes and get dressed.
And as soon as he was completely dressed, he took buckets and an ax with him, went to the river, for their village was near the river itself, and when he came to the river, he began to cut an ice hole, and he cut an extremely large one. Then he scooped water into buckets and placed them on the ice, while he stood near the ice hole and looked into the water.
At that very time the fool saw that a large pike was swimming in that hole; and Emelya, no matter how stupid he was, nevertheless wanted to catch that pike, and for this he began to approach little by little; he came close to it, grabbed it, suddenly with his hand he pulled it out of the water and, putting it in his bosom, wanted to go home. But the pike told him:
- What are you, fool! What did you catch me with?
- How about what? - he said. “I’ll take you home and tell my daughters-in-law to cook it.”
- No, fool, don’t carry me home; let me go back into the water; I will make you a rich man for that.
But the fool didn’t believe her and wanted to go home. The pike, seeing that the fool would not let her go, said:
- Listen, fool, let me into the water; I will do this for you: whatever you wish, everything will come true according to your desire.
The fool, hearing this, was very happy, for he was extremely lazy, and thought to himself: “When the pike makes it so that whatever I want is ready, then I will no longer work!” He said to the pike:
“I’ll let you go, just do what you promise!” - to which the pike answered:
“You first let me into the water, and I will fulfill my promise.”
But the fool told her that she must first fulfill her promise, and then he would let her go. The pike, seeing that he did not want to let it into the water, said:
“If you want me to tell you how to do whatever you want, then you need to tell me now what you want.”
The fool told her:
“I want my buckets of water to go up the mountain on their own (for that village was on the mountain) and so that the water doesn’t spill.”
The pike immediately told him:
- It’s okay, it won’t spill! Just remember the words that I will say; This is what those words consist of: at the command of the pike, at my request, go, buckets, up the mountain yourself!
The fool said after her:
- At the behest of the pike, at my request, go up the mountain yourself, buckets! - and immediately the buckets and the yoke went up the mountain on their own.
Emelya, seeing this, was very surprised; then he said to the pike:
- Will everything be like this?
To which the pike replied that “everything will happen that you wish; Just don’t forget the words that I told you.” After that, he put the pike into the water, and he went to get the buckets. His neighbors, seeing this, were surprised and said to each other:
- What is this fool doing? The buckets of water go on their own, and he follows them.
But Emelya, without saying anything to them, came home; the buckets went into the hut and stood on the bench, and the fool climbed onto the stove.
Then, after a while, his daughters-in-law said to him again:
- Emelya, why are you lying there? You should go chop some wood.
But the fool said:
- Yes, what about you?
- How are we? - his daughters-in-law shouted at him. “After all, it’s winter now, and if you don’t go chop wood, you’ll be cold.”
- I'm lazy! - said the fool.
- How lazy are you? - his daughters-in-law told him. - After all, you’ll get cold.
Moreover they said:
“If you don’t go and chop wood, we’ll tell our husbands not to give you a red caftan, a red hat, or red boots.”
The fool, wanting to get a red caftan, hat and boots, was forced to chop wood; but since he was extremely lazy and did not want to get off the stove, he spoke slowly, lying on the stove, these words:
“At the behest of the pike, at my request, come on, axe, go and chop some wood, and you, the wood, go into the hut yourself and put yourself in the oven.”
The ax came out of nowhere - jumped out into the yard and began to chop; and the firewood itself went into the hut and was placed in the stove, which, seeing his daughters-in-law, was very surprised at Emelina’s cunning. And so every day, when only a fool is told to chop wood, the ax will chop it.
And he lived with his daughters-in-law for some time, then his daughters-in-law said to him:
- Emelya, we don’t have any firewood; go to the forest and chop it up.
The fool told them:
- Yes, what about you?
- How are we? - answered the daughters-in-law. - After all, the forest is far away, and now it’s winter, it’s so cold for us to go into the forest for firewood.
But the fool told them:
- I'm lazy!
- What, are you lazy? After all, you will be cold; and if you don’t go, then when your brothers arrive, you won’t see a hat, a caftan, or boots.
Emelya scratched the back of his head and began to get off the stove. He put on his shoes, got dressed, took a rope and an ax and went out into the yard. He pulled the sleigh out from under the canopy, sat down in it and shouted to his daughters-in-law to open the gate.
The daughters-in-law came out, saw that Emelya was sitting in the sleigh, and his horse was not harnessed, and they said to him:
- Why, you fool, are you going to go without a horse?
“I don’t need any horse,” Emelya answers, “open the gate!”
The daughters-in-law went to open the gate, and Emelya, sitting in the sleigh, whispered:
- At the behest of the pike, at my request, go, sleigh, into the forest!
The sleigh dashed out of the gate and rolled towards the forest. And the road to the forest was through the city. Emelya sat lounging, did not shout for the people to stay away, and knocked down one boyar. The boyar shouted, guards came running from all sides, chased after Emelya, but could not catch up.
Emelya arrived in the forest, got out of the sleigh and said:
- At the behest of the pike, at my request, you, the ax, begin to chop the wood, and you, the wood, fold yourself into the sleigh and tie it with a rope!
As soon as Emelya said this, the ax went for a walk in the forest to chop firewood, and the logs themselves were stacked in the sleigh and tied with a rope.
Soon the cart was ready; Emelya ordered an ax to cut out his club, sat down on the cart and shouted:
- At the behest of the pike, at my request, go home yourself, sleigh!
The sleigh rolled back, and as soon as he entered the city where Emelya knocked down the boyar, the guards grabbed him, pulled him off the sleigh and, well, beat him. Emelya sees that things are bad and says:
- At the behest of the pike, at my request, start, bludgeon, crushing their sides!
He said this, took the baton and went for a walk on the backs of all the guards. The guards got scared, everyone ran away, and Emelya got on the cart and drove home.
From then on, everyone in the city began to talk about a man who rode through the city on a sleigh without a horse. The rumor about him reached the king. The king himself wanted to see this miracle and ordered that man to be found and brought to his palace.
The courtier went, found Emelina’s village, called the headman to him and said:
“I was sent here by the king, and I was ordered to bring that man who knows how to ride without a horse.”
The headman led the courtier to Emelya’s hut.
-Where is the man who rides without a horse? - says the courtier: - get dressed quickly! I need to take you to the king himself.
- What did I forget about him?
- Oh, you rude! - the courtier shouted, swung his hand and hit Emelya on the cheek.
Emelya didn’t like this treatment, so he whispered:
- At the behest of the pike and at my request, roll away this offender, club!
Here the club rose and began to beat the courtier.
The courtier jumped out of the hut, saw that nothing could be done with the club, and went back to the city.
He arrived at the palace and reported to the king about everything that had happened to him. Then the king called the most cunning boyar and ordered him to bring Emelya, at least by deception.
The boyar arrived in Emelina’s village, called the headman and said to him:
- The king sent for your fool, and you call me those with whom he lives.
The headman immediately ran and brought his daughters-in-law. The boyar asks them:
- What does your fool like and what doesn’t like?
- A fool, your honor, loves sweets and gingerbread. And most of all he loves a red hat, a red caftan and red boots. But he doesn't like to be shouted at.
The boyar released his daughters-in-law and did not tell the fool to tell why they were called up. Then he bought raisins, prunes, wine berries and gingerbread, came to Emelya’s hut and said:
- Hello, Emelya. Well, why are you still lying on the stove? The Tsar invites you to visit him, so he sent you gifts, and sent me for you. Come with me to the palace.
He took Emel’s gifts and said:
- Why am I going to see him? I'm warm here too!
- Let's go, Emelyushka. The king will give you a red caftan, a red hat and red boots.
Emelya was seduced.
- Well, okay! I guess I'll go. You go ahead, and I will follow you.
The boyar was delighted, galloped to the king, and Emelya remained on the stove, and said:
- Oh, how I don’t want to go! Well, there’s nothing to do, I gave my word! - He turned to the wall and whispered:
- At the behest of the pike and at my request, take me, oven, to the city!
The hut crackled, the stove moved, got out into the street and rushed, so much so that it soon caught up with the boyar’s cart and rolled up with him to the palace.
The Tsar went out onto the red porch with all the boyars to meet Emelya.
The king asks him:
- Why did you give so much to the people, like going to the forest for firewood?
But Emelya said:
- What is my fault? Why didn't they step aside?
And at that time the tsar’s daughter came up to the window and looked at the fool, and Emelya accidentally looked at the window through which she was looking, and seeing her very beautiful, the fool said quietly:
“As if by pike’s command, at my request, such a beauty fell in love with me!”
As soon as he uttered these words, the royal daughter looked at him and fell in love. And the fool then said:
- Well, at the behest of the pike, at my request, go home, bake!
The stove immediately went home, and when it arrived, it again stood in the same place.
Emelya lived happily for some time after that; but in the king’s city something else happened, for through foolish words the king’s daughter fell in love and began to ask her father to marry her to a fool. For this, the king was very angry with the fool and did not know how to take him. At that time, the boyars reported to the tsar to send that courtier who had previously gone for Emelya and did not know how to take him; for his guilt, the king, on their advice, ordered that the courtier be presented. As the courtier appeared before him, then the king said to him:
“Listen, my friend, I sent you before for a fool, but you didn’t bring him; for your guilt I am sending you another time so that you will certainly bring him; If you bring it, you will be rewarded, and if you don’t bring it, you will be punished.
The courtier listened to the king and immediately went after the fool, and when he arrived in that village, he called the headman again and said to him:
“Here’s the money for you: buy everything you need for lunch tomorrow and call Emelya, and when he comes to dinner with you, drink him drunk before he goes to bed.”
The headman knew that he had come from the king, and was forced to listen to him. The next day the fool came; the elder began to give him something to drink and got him drunk, so Emelya went to bed. The courtier, seeing that he was sleeping, immediately tied him up and ordered him to bring the wagon, and when they did, they put the fool in; then the courtier got into the wagon and took him to the city. And when he arrived at the city, he took him straight to the palace. The boyars reported to the king about the arrival of that courtier. And as soon as the king heard, he immediately ordered a large barrel to be brought and iron hoops to be filled on it. The barrel was immediately made and brought to the king. The king, seeing that everything was ready, ordered his daughter and the fool to be put in that barrel and ordered them to be tarred; and when they were put in a barrel and tarred, the king ordered that barrel to be thrown into the sea with him. And by his order they immediately let her in, and the king returned to his city.
And the barrel, launched on the sea, floated for several hours; The fool was sleeping all that time, but when he woke up and seeing that it was dark, he asked himself:
- Where I am? - because he thought that he was alone. The princess told him:
- You, Emelya, are in a barrel, and I’m planted with you.
- And who are you? - asked the fool.
“I am the king’s daughter,” she answered and told him why she was put in a barrel with him; then she asked him to free himself and her from the barrel.
But he said:
- I’m warm here too!
“Do me a favor,” said the princess, “have pity on my tears; deliver me and yourself from this barrel.
“How could it be wrong,” said Emelya, “I’m lazy!”
The princess again began to ask him:
- Do me a favor, Emelya, deliver me from this barrel and don’t let me die.
The fool, being touched by her request and tears, said to her:
- Okay, I'll do it for you.
After that he spoke quietly:
- At the behest of the pike, at my request, throw this barrel in which we are sitting, sea, onto the shore - to a dry place, just so that it is closer to our state; And you, barrel, if you are in a dry place, you will hurt yourself!
As soon as the fool had time to utter these words, the sea began to ripple and at that hour threw the barrel onto the shore - onto a dry place, and the barrel itself crumbled. Emelya got up and walked with the princess to the place where they had been thrown, and the fool saw that they were on a very beautiful island, on which there were a lot of different trees with all sorts of fruits. The princess, seeing all this, was very happy that they were on such a beautiful island; and after that she said:
- Well, Emelya, where will we live? For there is no hut here either.
But the fool said:
- You're asking for a lot!
“Do me a favor, Emelya, order them to build some kind of house,” said the princess, “so that we can take shelter somewhere during the rain; for the princess knew that he could do anything if he wanted. But the fool said:
- I'm lazy!
She again began to ask him, and Emelya, being touched by her request, was forced to do it for her; he walked away from her and said:
“At the behest of the pike, at my request, there should be a better palace in the middle of this island than the royal one, and that there should be a crystal bridge from my palace to the royal one, and that there should be people of different ranks in the palace.”
And as soon as he managed to utter these words, at that very moment a huge palace and a crystal bridge appeared. The fool went with the princess into the palace and saw that the chambers were very richly decorated and there were a lot of people, both lackeys and all sorts of peddlers, who were waiting for orders from the fool. The fool, seeing that all people are like people, and he alone was bad and stupid, wanted to become better and for this he said:
- At the behest of the pike, at my request, if only I could become such a fine fellow, so that nothing like this would happen to me and that I would be extremely smart!
And as soon as he had time to speak, at that very moment he became so beautiful, and at the same time so smart, that everyone was surprised.
After that, he sent Emelya from his servants to the Tsar to invite him to come to him and with all the boyars. The messenger from Emelya went to the king along that crystal bridge that the fool had made; and when he arrived at the palace, the boyars presented him before the king, and the messenger from Emelya said:
- Your Majesty! I was sent from my master with humility to ask you to eat with him.
The king asked:
-Who is your master?
But the messenger answered him:
- I can’t tell you about him (for the fool didn’t tell him to tell himself who he was); nothing is known about my master; and when you eat with him, at that time he will speak about himself.
Curious to know who sent to call him, the king told the messenger that he would certainly be there. When the messenger left, the king immediately followed him with all the boyars. The messenger, returning back, said that the king would certainly come, and only said - and the king was going to the fool over that crystal bridge.
And when the king arrived at the palace, Emelya came out to meet him, took him by his white hands, kissed his sugar lips, affectionately led him into his white-stone palace, seated him at oak tables, at broken tablecloths, at sugar dishes, at honey drinks. At the table the tsar and the boyars drank, ate and had fun; and when they got up from the table and sat down, the fool said to the king:
- Dear sir, do you recognize me, who I am?
And since Emelya was at that time in a very rich dress, and, moreover, had a very beautiful face, it was impossible to recognize him, which is why the king said that he did not know. But the fool said:
“Do you remember, dear sir, how a fool came to your palace on a stove and you and his daughter, tarring him in a barrel, sent him into the sea?” So, now recognize me that I am the same Emelya!
The king, seeing him in front of him, was very frightened and did not know what to do; and the fool at that time followed his daughter and brought her to the king. The king, seeing his daughter, was very happy and said to the fool:
“I am very guilty before you, and for that I am giving my daughter in marriage to you.”
The fool, hearing this, humbly thanked the king, and since Emelya had everything ready for the wedding, they celebrated it with splendor that same day. And the next day the fool prepared a magnificent feast for all the boyars, and for the common people there were vats with different drinks on display. And when the fun died down, the king gave him his kingdom; but he didn't want to. After that, the king went to his kingdom, and the fool remained in his palace and lived prosperously.
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Online reading of the book Russian Folk Tales by A. N. Afanasyev in three volumes. Volume 1 At the behest of the pike
No. 167[779]The location of the recording is unknown. AT 675. In the version, some links of the traditional plot were dropped (wood is chopped, the stove moves), but at the same time it is complicated by unusual episodes (a boy born to a princess identifies his father; a single combat between the princess’s son and a hero; a duck found in the princess’s father’s possession).
Once upon a time there was a poor little man; No matter how hard he worked, no matter how hard he worked, nothing happened! “Oh,” he thinks to himself, “my fate is bitter! All my days I spend my time doing housework, and look at it - I’ll have to die of hunger; but my neighbor has been lying on his side all his life, so what? - the farm is large, the profits flow into your pocket. Apparently I didn’t please God; I will begin to pray from morning to evening, maybe the Lord will have mercy.” He began to pray to God; He goes hungry for whole days, but still prays. The bright holiday came, they struck for matins. The poor man thinks: “All the people will start breaking up, but I don’t have a piece of food!” I’ll at least go get some water and I’ll have some soup instead.” He took the bucket, went to the well and just threw it into the water - suddenly he caught a huge pike in the bucket. The man rejoiced: “Here I am, happy holiday!” I’ll make fish soup and have lunch to my heart’s content.” The pike says to him in a human voice: “Let me go free, good man; I will make you happy: whatever your soul desires, you will have everything! Just say: by the command of the pike, by God’s blessing, if such and such appears, it will appear now!” The poor man threw the pike into the well, came to the hut, sat down at the table and said: “By the pike’s command, by God’s blessing, be the table set and dinner ready!” Suddenly, where did it come from - all sorts of food and drinks appeared on the table; Even if you treat the king, you won’t be ashamed! The poor man crossed himself: “Glory to you, Lord! There’s something to break your fast.” He went to church, stood at Matins and Mass, returned and began to break his fast; I had a snack and a drink, went out the gate and sat on a bench.
At that time, the princess decided to take a walk through the streets, goes with her nannies and mothers and, for the sake of the holiday of Christ, gives alms to the poor; I served it to everyone, but forgot about this little guy. So he says to himself: “By the pike’s command, by God’s blessing, let the princess bear fruit and give birth to a son!” According to that word, the princess became pregnant at that very moment and nine months later gave birth to a son. The king began to interrogate her. “Confess,” he says, “with whom did you sin?” And the princess cries and swears in every possible way that she has not sinned with anyone: “And I myself don’t know why the Lord punished me!” No matter how much the king questioned, he learned nothing.
Meanwhile, the boy is growing by leaps and bounds; after a week I started talking. The Tsar convened boyars and Duma people from all over the kingdom and showed them to the boy: would he recognize anyone as his father? No, the boy is silent, he doesn’t call anyone his father. The Tsar ordered the nannies and mothers to carry it through all the courtyards, along all the streets and show it to people of all ranks, both married and single. The nannies and mothers carried the child through all the courtyards, along all the streets; walked and walked, he was still silent. We finally came to the poor man’s hut; As soon as the boy saw that man, he immediately reached out to him with his little hands and shouted: “Daddy, daddy!” They reported this to the sovereign and brought the poor man to the palace; the king began to interrogate him: “Admit it in good conscience - is this your child?” - “No, God!” The king was angry, married the wretched man to the princess, and after the crown he ordered them to be put in a large barrel with the child, tarred with tar and thrown into the open sea.
So the barrel floated across the sea, was carried by violent winds and washed up on a distant shore. The poor man hears that the water under them does not sway, and says this word: “By the command of the pike, by God’s blessing, disintegrate, barrel, in a dry place!” The barrel fell apart; They climbed out onto a dry place and walked wherever they looked. They walked and walked and walked and walked, there was nothing to eat or drink, the princess was completely emaciated, she could barely move her legs. “What,” asks the poor man, “do you know now what thirst and hunger are?” - "I know!" - the princess answers. “This is how the poor suffer; but you didn’t want to give me alms on Christ’s Day!” Then the poor man says: “By the pike’s command, by God’s blessing, build a rich palace here - so that there is nothing better in the whole world, with gardens, and with ponds, and with all sorts of outbuildings!”
As soon as he spoke, a rich palace appeared; Faithful servants run out of the palace, take them by the arms, lead them into white-stone chambers and seat them at oak tables and stained tablecloths. The chambers are wonderfully decorated and decorated; Everything was prepared on the tables: wine, sweets, and food. The poor man and the princess got drunk, ate, rested and went for a walk in the garden. “Everyone would be happy here,” says the princess, “only it’s a pity that there are no birds on our ponds.” - “Wait, there will be a bird!” - answered the poor man and immediately said: “By the command of the pike, by God’s blessing, let twelve ducks swim on this pond, the thirteenth a drake - they would all have one feather of gold, another of silver; If only the drake had a diamond forelock on his head!” Lo and behold, twelve ducks and a drake are swimming on the water - one feather is gold, the other is silver; The drake has a diamond forelock on its head.
This is how the princess lives with her husband without grief, without sadness, and her son grows and grows; He grew up big, sensed great strength in himself, and began to ask his father and mother to go around the world and look for a bride. They let him go: “Go, son, with God!” He saddled the heroic horse, sat down and rode off on his way. An old old woman comes across him: “Hello, Russian Tsarevich! Where would you like to go? - “I’m going, grandma, to look for a bride, but I don’t even know where to look.” - “Wait, I’ll tell you, child! Go overseas to the thirtieth kingdom; there is a princess there - such a beauty that you can travel all over the world, but you won’t find her better anywhere!” The good fellow thanked the old woman, came to the pier, hired a ship and sailed to the thirtieth kingdom.
How long or short did he sail across the sea, soon the tale is told, but not soon the deed is done - he comes to that kingdom, appears to the local king and begins to woo his daughter. The king tells him: “You are not the only one wooing my daughter; We also have a groom - a mighty hero; If you refuse him, he will ruin my entire state.” - “If you refuse me, I’ll ruin you!” - "What you! It’s better to measure your strength with him: whichever of you wins, I’ll give my daughter for him.” - "OK! Call all the kings and princes, kings and princes to watch a fair fight, to take a walk at the wedding.”
Immediately messengers were sent in different directions, and less than a year had passed before kings and princes, kings and princes gathered from all the surrounding lands; The king who tarred his own daughter in a barrel and sent her into the sea also arrived. On the appointed day, the heroes went out to fight to the death; they fought and fought, the earth groaned from their blows, the forests bowed, the rivers were agitated; The princess's son overpowered his opponent - he tore off his violent head.
The royal boyars ran up, took the good fellow by the arms and led him to the palace; the next day he married the princess, and as soon as the wedding was celebrated, he began to invite all the kings and princes, kings and princes to visit his father and mother. They all got up at once, equipped the ships and sailed across the sea. The princess and her husband greeted the guests with honor, and feasts and fun began again. Tsars and princes, kings and princes look at the palace, at the gardens and marvel: such wealth has never been seen anywhere, and most of all they seemed to be ducks and drakes - for one duck they could give half the kingdom! The guests feasted and decided to go home; Before they had time to reach the pier, fast messengers run after them: “Our master asks you to come back, he wants to hold secret council with you.”
Kings and princes, kings and princes returned back; The owner came out to them and began to say: “Is this what good people do? After all, my duck is missing! There’s no one else to take you!” - “Why are you making false accusations? - kings and princes, kings and princes answer him. - This is not a good thing! Now search everyone! If you find someone's duck, do with it what you know; and if you don’t find it, your head is off!” - "Ok, I agree!" - said the owner, walked down the row and began to search them; As soon as it was the turn of the princess’s father, he quietly said: “By the command of the pike, by God’s blessing, let this king have a duck tied under the hem of his caftan!” He took it and lifted his caftan, and under the flap there was a duck tied as it was - one feather was gold, the other was silver. Then all the other kings and princes, kings and princes laughed loudly: “Ha-ha-ha! That's how it is! The kings have already begun to steal!” The princess's father swears by all the saints that stealing was never on his mind; but how the duck got to him, he himself doesn’t know. “Tell me! They found it on you, so you are the only one to blame.” Then the princess came out, rushed to her father and admitted that she was the same daughter he had married to a wretched man and put in a tar barrel: “Father! You didn’t believe my words then, but now you’ve learned for yourself that you can be guilty without guilt.” She told him how and what had happened, and after that they all began to live and get along together, making good things and doing bad things.
