Marja Morevna
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there once lived Ivan Tsarevich, who had
three sisters: one was called Marya Tsarevna, the second Olga Tsarevna, and the third Anna
Tsarevna. Their mother and father had died: when they were dying they bade the son,
"Whoever come first as a suitor for your sisters' hands, let them take them; do not
keep them long with you."The Tsarevich buried his parents; and, in his grief, went
with his sisters to walk in a green garden. Then a dark cloud appeared in the sky, and a
fearful clap at thunder was heard. "Let us go home, sisters,"said Ivan
Tsarevich.
Soon they reached the palace: the thunder rattled and the ceiling fell down, and the
ceiling divided into two. And a clear-eyed Hawk came into the room, struck the ground, and
turned himself into a fair doughty youth: "Hail, Ivan Tsarevich! before, I came to
you as a guest, now I am coming to ask for your sister's hand: I wish to marry Marya
Tsarevna."
"If you wish my sister, I will not say you nay: take her with God's blessing."
Marya Tsarevna agreed, and the Hawk married her and took her away to his own kingdom.
Then day followed day and hour followed hour. One whole year went by unheeded. Ivan
Tsarevich stayed with his sisters in the green garden. Then there came a cloud and there
was thunder and lightning. "Let us go home, sisters,"said the Tsarevich.
When they came to the palace there was a thunderclap, and the roof fell in and the
ceiling was cleft in two, and an Eagle flew in, struck the ground and turned himself into
a doughty youth, and said, "Hail, Ivan Tsarevich! formerly I came to you as a guest,
now I come to you as a suitor."And he asked for the hand of Olga.
And Ivan Tsarevich answered, "If Olga Tsarevna pleases you, she may go to you - I
will not withstand your will."
Olga Tsarevna was willing, and married the Eagle: the Eagle laid hold of her and took
her to his own kingdom.
One year further went by, and Ivan Tsarevich said to his youngest sister, "Let us
go and have a walk in the green garden,"and they went for a little walk. And a cloud
came over the sky with thunder and lightning. "Let us turn back, sister, home!"
So they turned back home, and they had hardly sat down when the thunder clapped and the
ceiling was divided into two, and a Crow flew in. And the Crow struck the ground and
turned himself into a doughty youth. The former suitors were fair enough in themelves, but
he was fairer still. "Formerly I came to you as a guest, but now I come to you as a
suitor: give me your sister Anna."
"I will not withstand my sister's will; if you are in love with her she may have
you."
And Anna Tsarevna went with the Crow, and he took her to his own kingdom.
So Ivan Tsarevich was there alone, and for one whole year he lived there without any
sisters, and began to feel melancholy. "I will go,"he said, "and seek my
sisters."So he started out on the road. He went on and on and on. And there lay on
the field an army of a great host conquered. And Ivan asked them: "If there be any
man alive here, let him call! Who slew this mighty host?"
And one man who was still alive replied: "All this mighty host was conquered by
Marya Moryevna, the fair princess." And Ivan Tsarevich went on yet further, and he
came upon white tents, and Marya Moryevna came to meet him, the fair queen. "Hail,"
she said, "Tsarevich! where is God taking you? Is it at your will or perforce?"
And Ivan Tsarevich answered her: "Doughty youths do not go perforce." "Well,
if you have no quest to accomplish, come and stay in my tents." And Ivan Tsarevich
was glad of this, and he stayed two nights in the tents, fell in love with Marya Moryevna
and married her. Marya Moryevna took him with her to her own kingdom, and they lived
together for some time; and they thought of making ready for war; and so she handed all of
her possessions over to Ivan, and said: "Go everywhere, look at everything, only into
this lumber-room you must not look."
But he was impatient: as soon as Marya Moryevna's back was turned, he at once opened
the lumber-room, opened the door and looked in, and there Koshchey the Deathless was
hanging.
Koshchey asked Ivan Tsarevich, "Have pity on me: give me something to eat. I have
been tortured here for ten years. I have eaten nothing, I have drunken nothing, and my
throat is all dried up."Ivan Tsarevich gave him a whole gallon of water: he drank it
at a single gulp, and he still asked, "I am still thirsty: give me a gallon,"and
Ivan gave him a second gallon, and yet a third. And when he had drunk the third, he
recovered all his former strength, broke all his chains, shattered them all, all the
twelve chains. "Thank you, Ivan Tsarevich,"Koshchey the Deathless said. "Now
you will never again see Marya Moryevna any more!"and Faith a fearful flash of
lightning he flew into the country, gathered up Marya Moryevna on the road, the fair
Queen, snatched her up and took her to himself.
Ivan Tsarevich wept bitterly, got ready and started on his road: "Come what may, I
will seek out Marya Moryevna."And he went one day, and he went another day and on the
dawning of the third day he saw a wonderful palace, and in front of the palace there was
an oak, and on the oak there sat a clear-eyed hawk.
And the Hawk flew down from the oak, struck the ground, turned into a doughty youth,
and cried out, "0 my beloved brother: how is the Lord dealing with you?"
And Marya Tsarevna came out, went to meet Ivan Tsarevich, asked him how he was, and
began to tell him all her own story.
So the Tsarevich abode as their guest for three days, and then said, "I cannot
stay with you any longer: I am going to seek my wife Marya Moryevna the fair Queen."
"This will be a hard search for you,"answered the Hawk. "At least leave
a silver spoon here; we can gaze on it and think of you." Ivan Tsarevich left his
silver spoon with them, and set out on his road.
So he went on one day and a second day, and at the dawning of the third day he saw a
palace fairer than the first, and in front of the palace there was an oak, and an eagle
sat on the oak: the Eagle flew down from the tree struck the earth, turned into a doughty
youth and cried "Rise, Olga Tsarevna, our dear brother has arrived."
Olga Tsarevna at once came to meet him, began kissing and welcoming him, asking how he
was, and they told of all they had lived and done.
Ivan Tsarevich stayed with them three little days, and then said, "I can no longer
be your guest: I a going seeking my wife, Marya Moryevna the fair Princess."
And the Eagle answered: "It will be an evil quest. Leave us your silver fork; we
will look at it and think of you."
So he left his silver fork, and he went on the road.
And a day went by and a second, and at the dawn of the third day he saw a palace fairer
than the first two. And in front of the palace there was an oak, and on the oak there
perched a crow. And the Crow flew down from the oak, struck the earth, turned into a
doughty youth, and cried out, "Anna Tsarevna, come out as fast as you can: our
brother has arrived."
Then Anna Tsarevna came out, met him joyously, began to kiss and to welcome him, asking
him how he was. And they spoke of all they had lived and done.
After three days Ivan Tsarevich said, "I can stay no longer with you; I am going
to seek my wife, Marya Moryevna, the fair Queen."
"This will be a hard search for you,"the Crow said. "At least leave us
your silver snuff-box; we can gaze on it and think of you." So Ivan Tsarevich left
them his silver snuff-box, and set out on his road.
Then a day went and another day, and on the third day he at last reached Marya
Moryevna. When she saw her beloved through the window, she rushed out to him, flung
herself at his neck, wept, and said, "Oh! Ivan Tsarevich, why did you not obey me?
Why did you look into the lumber-room and let Koshchey the Deathless out? "
"Forgive me, Marya Moryevna; let bygones be bygones: come away with me now, whilst
Koshchey the Deathless is away: possibly he may not catch us up." So they went away.
Now Koshchey was out hunting. Towards evening he returned home, and his horse stumbled.
"Why, you sorry jade, are you stumbling, or is it some evil that you fear?" And
the horse answered: "Ivan Tsarevich has arrived, and has taken away Marya Moryevna."
"Can one catch them up?" "You can sow wheat, wait until it grows up,
harvest it, thresh it, turn it into flour, make five stones of bread, eat the bread, and
then set out on the hunt, and we shall succeed."
Koshchey leapt on the horse, caught up Ivan Tsarevich. "Now,"he said, "for
the first time I will let you go for your doughtyhood, as you fed me with water; for the
second time I will let you go; for the third time, take care: I will tear you to morsels."And
he took Marya Moryevna from him, took her away, and Ivan Tsarevich at on the stone and
cried.
And he cried and he cried, and again came back to Marya Moryevna. Koshchey the
Deathless was not at home: "Let us start, Marya Moryevna." "Oh, Ivan
Tsarevich, he will catch us up." "Well, let him; still we shall have one or two
hours together." So they started, and off they went. Koshchey the Deathless came back
home, and his good horse stumbled under him. "Why, you sorry jade, are you stumbling,
or is it some evil thing which you fear?"
And the horse answered, "Ivan Tsarevich has again arrived and has taken Marya
Moryevna away." "Can one catch them up?" "It would be possible to sow
barley and to wait until it grows up, reap it, thresh it, to brew beer, drink it until you
were drunk, sleep out your sleep and then to go on the hunt, and we should still succeed."
Koshchey leaped on his horse, caught up Ivan Tsarevich, and said, "I said you were
not to see anything more of Marya Moryevna!" and he took her away with him. So Ivan
Tsarevich was again left alone, and he wept bitterly; and once again he returned to Marya
Moryevna, and this time too Koshchey was not at home. "Let us go, Marya Moryevna!"
"Oh, Ivan Tsarevich, he will catch us up and he will tear you to bits."
"Let him tear me to bits; I cannot live without you." So they got ready, and off
they went. Koshchey the Deathless returned home, and under him his good horse stumbled.
"Why do you stumble you sorry jade, or is it some evil that you fear?" "Ivan
Tsarevich has arrived, and has taken Mary. Moryevna with him."
Koshchey leaped on his horse, caught up Ivan Tsarevich, broke him up into tiny bits,
put them into a tar cask, took this cask, locked it with iron bolts and threw it into the
blue sea. And he took Marya Moryevna away with him.
At the same time the brothers-in-law of Ivan Tsarevich looked at their silver ornaments
and found the had turned black. "Oh,"they said, "evidently some disaster
has befallen him! "The Eagle rushed into the blue sea, dragged out the cask to the
shore, and the Hawk flew for the Water of Life, and the Crow flew for the Water of Death.
Then they all three met at a single spot and broke up the cask, took out the bits of Ivan
Tsarevich, washed them, laid them together as was fit: then the Crow sprinkled him with
the Water of Death, and the body grew together and was one; and the Hawk sprinkled him
with the Water of Life, and Ivan Tsarevich shivered, sat up and said, "Oh, what a
long sleep I have had!"
"But your sleep would have been very much longer if we had not been there,"answered
the brothers-in-law. "Now you must come and be our guest!"
"No, brothers, I must go and seek Marya Moryevna." So he came to her and
said, "Go and find out from Koshchey the Deathless where he got such a fine horse!"
Then Marya Moryevna looked out for a good opportunity, and asked Koshchey the Deathless.
Koshchey answered, "Beyond thrice-nine lands, in the thrice-tenth kingdom, beyond the
river of fire, lives the Baba Yaga. She has a mare on which every day she rides round the
whole of the world. She has many splendid mares. I was there for three days as a herd, and
she would not let me have the mare; but she gave me one of the foals."
"How can one cross the river of fire?" "I have a kerchief: if you shake
it to the right three times a lofty bridge rises and the fires cannot overreach it."
Marya Moryevna listened, told Ivan Tsarevich all about it, and he took the cloth away.
Ivan Tsarevich crossed the river of fire and he reached the Baba Yaga: but journeying
afar, neither eating nor drinking. A seabird came to meet him with her young. Ivan
Tsarevich asked if he might eat one of her chicks.
"Do not eat it,"the sea-bird said; "at some time l shall be of service
to you, Ivan Tsarevich." Then he went farther, and he was in a wood, and he clxv a
bee-hive. "Perhaps,"he said, "I may take a lttile honey." Then the
queen-bee answered him, "Do not touch my honey, Ivan Tsarevich; at some time or other
I shall be of service to you." So he did not touch the honey, but went farther. Then
he met a lioness with her whelps. "May I eat this lion-whelp? I am so hungry?"
"Do not touch it, Ivan Tsarevich,"the lioness said; "at some time or other
I shall be of service to you."
"Very well; it shall be as you will." So he went on hungry, and he went on
and on and on and at last he reached the house of the Baba Yaga. Round the house there
were twelve poles, and on eleven of the poles there were the skulls of men: only one as
yet was untenanted.
"Hail, babushka!" he said. "Hail, Ivan Tsarevich! "she replied:
"what have you come for? By your own good will or for need?" "I have come
to earn of you a knightly horse." "Very well, Ivan Tsarevich: you are to serve
me not one year, but only three days. If you can guard my mares, I will give you a
knightly horse; if you cannot do not be angry, but your head must also lie on the last of
the stakes."
Ivan Tsarevich agreed, and Baba Yaga gave him drink and food and bade him set to work.
As soon as ever he had driven the mares into the field, they all turned their tails and
ran in the meadows so far that the Tsarevich could not trace them with his eyes: and thus
they were all lost. Then he sat down and wept, and became melancholy, and sat down on a
stone and went to sleep.
The sun was already setting when the sea-bird flew to him, woke him up and said, "Arise,
Ivan Tsarevich - all the mares have gone home."
The Tsarevich got up, turned back home; but Baba Yaga was angry with her mares. "Why
have you all come home?" "Why should we not come home? the birds flew down from
every quarter of the sky and almost clawed out our eyes." "Well, to-morrow do
not stray in the meadows, but scatter into the dreamy forest." So Ivan Tsarevich
passed that night; and next day Baba Yaga said to him, "Look, Ivan Tsarevich, if you
do not keep the mares well, if you lose one, then your false head shall nod up and down on
the stake."
So then he drove all the mares to the field, and this time they turned their tails, and
they ran into the dreamy woods. And once again the Tsarevich sat on the stone and wept and
wept and went to sleep, and the sun began to rest on the woods when the lioness ran up and
said, "Get up, Ivan Tsarevich all the mares have been collected." Then Ivan
Tsarevich got up and went home.
And Baba Yaga was angry that the mares had come home, and she called out to her mares,
"Why have you all come home?"
And they answered, "How should we not come home? - wiled beasts from all the four
quarters of the world assembled round us and almost tore us to bits." "Well, you
go to-morrow into the blue sea."
Once again Ivan passed the night there, and the next day Baba Yaga sent her mares to
feed. "If you do not guard them, then your bold head shall hang on the pole."
He drove the mares into the field, and they at once turned tail and vanished from his
eyes and ran into the blue sea and stood up to their necks in the water. So Ivan Tsarevich
sat on the stone, wept and went to sleep. And the sun was already setting on the woods
when the bee flew up to him and said: "Get up, Ivan Tsarevich the mares have been
gathered together. But, when you return home, do not appear before Baba Yaga; go to the
stable and hide behind the crib. There there is I tangy foal who will be rolling in the
dung: steal him; and, at the deep of midnight, leave the house."
Ivan Tsarevich got up, went into the stable, and lay behind the crib. Baba Yaga made a
tremendous stir and cried out to her mares: "Why did you come back?" "How
should we not come back? - all the bees from every part of the world, visible and
invisible, flew round us, and they stung us till our blood flowed."
Baba Yaga went to sleep; and that same night Ivan Tsarevich stole the mangy steed from
its stall, mounted it and flew to the fiery river. He reached that river, waved the cloth
three times to the right; and, at once, from some strange source, a lofty, splendid bridge
hung all the way over. The Tsarevich crossed the bridge, waved the cloth to the left
twice, and all that was left of the bridge was a thin thread.
In the morning Baba Yaga woke up and she could not see the mangy foal, so she hunted to
the chase: with al her strength she leapt into her iron mortar and she chased after with
the pestle, and very soon she was on their track. When she came to the river of fire, she
looked across and thought, "Ah ha ha! a fine bridge!" Then she went on to the
bridge; but as soon as she got on to the bridge it snapped, and Baba Yaga slipped into the
river, and it was a savage death she had.
Ivan Tsarevich fed his foal on the green, and a splendid horse grew out of him; then
the Tsarevich arrived at the palace of Marya Moryevna. She rushed out, fell upon his neck
and said, "How has God blessed you?"And he told her how it had gone with him.
"I am frightened, Ivan Tsarevich; if Koshchey catches us up you will again be torn to
atoms."
"No, he will not catch us up now; I have a fine I knightly horse which flies like
a bird."So they sat on the horse and went. Koshchey the Deathless came back home, and
his horse stumbled. "Oh, you sorry jade, why do you stumble, or is it that you fear
some evil?" "Ivan Tsarevich has arrived, and has taken away Marya Moryevna."
"Can one catch them up?" "God knows; now Ivan Tsarevich has a knightly
horse better than me." "No, I will not stand it," Koshchey the Deathless
said. "We will up and after him!"
And, sooner or later, so soon he caught up Ivan Tsarevich, and he leapt to him and was
going to cleave him with his curved sabre; but then the steed of Ivan Tsarevich kicked
Koshchey the Deathless with all his might, and clove in his head, and the Tsarevich struck
him down with his club. Then the Tsarevich gathered together a mass of timber, set fire to
it, burnt Koshchey the Deathless on the pile and scattered the dust to the winds.
Marya Moryevna then sat on Koshchey's steed, and Ivan Tsarevich on his own, and the two
went and stayed as guests, first of all with the Crow, then with the Eagle, and lastly
with the Hawk. Wherever they went they were joyously received. "Oh! Ivan Tsarevich, I
am so glad to see you! We never expected to see you back. And your work has not been in
vain; such a beauty as Marya Moryevna might be sought for all over the world and you would
not have found any other."
So they were as guests and junketed well, and arrived in their own kingdom, reached it
and began to live a of joy enduring and to drink good mead.
Russisches Volksmärchen, cf. A.N. Afanasjew. (AT 552A, AT 302C*, AT 554
Russland)
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