S.Chistov "Emelia"
Box. 1990 Fedoskino |
Some time
later the women said to him: 'Emelian, what are you
lying up there for ? Why not go and chop some wood
?'
'I do not want to,' said Emelian.
'If you do not chop some wood your brothers will not
bring you any sweets back from the market,' they told
him. So he reluctantly left the stove. Then he remembered
the pike, and said very quietly:
'As the pike orders, And as I desire… Axe, go
and chop the wood; and wood, go into the kitchen and
feed the stove!'
The axe jumped out from under the bench, hopped into
the yard, and began chopping wood. And the chopped
woodwent into the hut and into the stove.
A few days later the women said again:
'Emelian, we have no more wood for chopping. Drive
into the forest and cut down a tree.'
But he answered from the top of the stove: 'Why not
go yourself?'
'What do you mean: is it our job to drive into the
forest for wood ?' they retorted.
'But I do not want to.'
'Well, your brothers will not bring you back any presents,
then.'
There was nothing else for it! He slipped off the
stove, put on his boots, and dressed. He picked up
the axe and a rope, went into the yard and got into
the sledge. Then he called to the women: 'Women, open
the yard gates.'
But they answered: 'You fool, why have you got into
the sledge, when you have not harnessed up the horses?'
'I do not need any horses,' he answered. So the women
opened the gates, and Emelian said very quietly: 'As
the pike orders, And as I desire… Sledge, drive
to the forest!'
The sledge drove off through the gates of itself,
and it travelled so fast that no horses could ever
have kept up with it. But in order to reach the forest
he had to pass through the town, and there the sledge
drove over and crushed quite a lot of people. Everybody
shouted after him: 'Hold him! Seize him!' But he only
urged the sledge to go faster. When he reached the
forest he said: 'As the pike orders, And as I desire…'Axe,
chop up some dry wood; and wood, pile yourself on
the sledge, and tie yourself fast with the rope!'
The axe began chopping up the dry wood, and the pieces
of wood as they were chopped piled themselves on the
sledge, and ended by tying themselves firmly tothe
sledge with the rope. Then he ordered the axe to cut
him a cudgel, one so big and heavy that he could hardly
lift it. He seated himself on top of the wood, and
said: 'As the pike orders, and as I desire...
Sledge, drive home!'
And the sledge dashed off home. He had to pass again
through the town where he had ridden over and crushed
some people, and he found people waiting for him there.
They seized him and dragged him off the sledge, swearing
at him and beating him. He realised that matters were
going badly for him, so he said very quietly: 'As
the pike orders, and as I desire.. Cudgel, beat them
up!'
The cudgel jumped off the sledge and began to thrash
around. The people fled in all directions, and Emelian
climbed back on the sledge and rode home. Of course,
it was not long before the tsar heard of Emelian's
little tricks, and he sent an officer to find him
and bring him to the palace. The officer drove to
Emelian's village, entered the hut, and asked him:
'Are you Emelian the fool ?'
Emelian answered from the top of the stove:
'Well, what do you want?'
'Get dressed at once; I am taking you to the tsar,'
the officer told him.
'But I do not want to go!'
The officer became very angry and struck him on the
face. So Emelian said very quietly so that no one
could hear: 'As the pike orders, and as I desire…Cudgel,
give him a good hiding!'
The cudgel jumped up and thrashed the officer till
he fled for his life.
L.Falaleyeva "Emelia on the stove"
1967. Dymkovo |
The tsar
was amazed to hear that his officer had not been able
to deal with Emelian, and he turned to his chamberlain
and told him:
'Bring Emelian the fool to me here in the palace,
or I will have your head off.'
The chamberlain went to the market and bought raisins,
sugar-plums, and gingerbreads. Then he drove to Emelian's
village, entered the hut, and asked the women what
Emelian was fond of.
'Our Emelian likes people to speak nicely to him,
and to offer him a crimson tunic with a girdle. Then
he will do whatever you want.'
The chamberlain gave Emelian the raisins, sugar-plums,
and gingerbreads, and said:
'Emelian, Emelian, why are you lying by the stove
? Let us drive to the tsar.'
'I'm just as warm here,' answered Emelian.
'Emelian, Emelian, the tsar will give you lots to
eat and drink; please come.'
'But I do not want to go!'
'Emelian, Emelian, the tsar will give you a crimson
tunic, cap, and boots,' the chamberlain promised.
Emelian thought it over and said at last: 'All right,
I will come. You go on, and I will follow right behind.'
The chamberlain set off to drive back to the palace;
but Emelian remained lying on the stove, and only
said:
'As the pike orders, and as I desire…Now, stove,
off you go to the tsar!'
The moment he had spoken the hut began to crack at
the corners, the roof shivered and shook, one wall
flew right out, and the stove went travelling of itself
down the street, along the highroad, straight to the
tsar, with Emelian on top of it. The tsar looked out
of his window and saw the stove coming. He was astonished,
and asked:
'What is this marvel coming along ?'
The chamberlain answered: 'It is Emelian riding to
you on his stove
So the tsar went to the front door an spoke to Emelian:
'Look here, you Emelian,' he said, 'we have had a
lot of complaints about you. You crushed a lot of
people.'
'All right, but why did they want to crawl under the
sledge ?' Emelian answered.
Just then the tsar's daughter, Princess Maria, looked
out of the window to see what was happening. Emelian
saw her at the window and said very quietly: 'As the
pike orders, and as I desire…Make the tsar's
daughter fall in love with me!' Then he added: 'Stove,
take me home again.'
The stove turned round and went back, entered the
hut, and stood in its former place. Emelian lay down,
and went on lying on the stove. But the tsar's palace
was filled with the iund of weeping and crying. Princess
Maria had such a terrible longing for Emelian that
she swore she could not live without him. And she
asked the tsar to let her marry him. The tsar was
annoyed at the very idea, and he told his chamberlain:
'Go and bring Emelian to me alive or dead, or I will
have your head off.'
The chamberlain bought sweet wines and all sorts of
good things to eat, drove to the village, entered
the hut and entertained Emelian with the food and
drink. Emelian ate and drank so much that he became
a little tipsy and lay down to sleep it off. Then
the chamberlain put him in his carriage and carried
him to the tsar. The tsar gave orders for a great
barrel with iron hoops to be brought, and told his
men to put Emelian and Princess Maria into it. They
tarred the barrel and rolled it into the sea. When
Emelian woke up he saw that he was in a dark and confined
sort of prison.
'Where am I ?' he asked. And someone very close to
him answered:
'It is boring and stifling in here, dearest Emelian.
They've put us into a barrel and thrown it into the
blue sea.'
'But who are you?' he wanted to know.
'I am Princess Maria,' she answered.
However, Emelian soon recovered from his alarm at
being in the barrel, and said: 'As the pike orders,
And as I desire . . .
'Stormy winds, blow this barrel to dry land, on to
a yellow sandy shore.' At once stormy winds began
blowing and howling, the sea grew very rough, and
it rolled the barrel on to the dry land, on to the
yellow sand. Emelian and the princess climbed out
of it.
'That is fine, dearest Emelian,' said the princess.
'But where are we going to live ? Build a little hut
of some sort.'
'But I do not want to,' said Emelian.
She started to nag at him to do something about it,
so he said:
'As the pike orders, And as I desire . . .
'Build us a stone palace with a golden roof!'
He had no sooner spoken than a stone palace with a
golden roof arose. It was surrounded by a green garden,
in which flowers were blooming and birds singing.
Princess Maria and Emelian entered the palace and
sat down at a window. And the princess said to him:
'Emelian, dearest, would it be possible for you to
turn yourself into a handsome young man ?'
Emelian did not think long over that one. He said
at once:
'As the pike orders, and as I desire…Change
me into a handsome young man, as fine as a picture.'
And he became so handsome that words could never describe
him. However, just about that time the tsar went hunting,
and he saw a palace standing where before there had
been nothing. And he demanded to know:
'What boor has built a palace on my land without asking
my permission ?'
And he sent to find out who was living in the palace.
The messengers ran and stood under the window to make
their inquiries, Emelian told them:
'Invite the tsar to come and be our guest, and I will
tell him myself.'
So the tsar rode up to the palace to be the guest
of his daughter and Emelian. Emelian met him, escorted
him into the palace, seated him at the table, and
they began to feast. The tsar ate and drank, and could
not suppress his astonishment. He demanded: 'But who
are you, my fine young man!'
Emelian told him: 'Do you remember Emelian the fool,
who rode to you on a stove, and you ordered him and
your own daughter to be put into a barrel and thrown
into the sea ? I am that same Emelian. And if I feel
like it I will burn up and destroy all your kingdom.'
At this threat the tsar was very frightened, and he
pleaded for forgiveness.
'My dear Emelian,' he said, 'marry my daughter, take
my kingdom, only do not kill me.'
'Oh, all right,' said Emelian.
And they gave a banquet for all the world to enjoy.
After which Emelian married Princess Maria and became
ruler of the kingdom in place of the tsar.
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