Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar/Starveling
STARVELING.
Once upon a time there lived an old peasant with his wife, but children they had none; though they prayed and prayed night and day for a child to cheer them in their old age, no child made its appearance.
One day the peasant went out into the forest for mushrooms; and while he was gathering them, a very very old man came up to him, and putting his aged hand upon the peasant's shoulder, said kindly,—
"I know, my friend, what is troubling you. You are always wishing and praying that you might have some children. Is that not so? Very well, then, I will help you. Go to every yard in your village, and take from each hen-roost an egg, and then go home to your hut and put all the eggs you collect into your own hen-roost. What will happen after you will see for yourself."
So saying, the old man disappeared.
Away went the peasant into the village to do the old man's bidding. He went into every yard—there were forty-one in number—and taking an egg out of each hen-roost, he returned to his own hut and put the forty-one eggs into his hen-roost.
In a fortnight's time the peasant and his wife went to the hen-roost to see what had happened to the eggs; but, what was their surprise and delight, to behold forty-one tiny little boys! forty of whom were beautifully plump and rosy, while the forty-first was very thin and seemed delicate.
The peasants then began to think what names they should give all these forty-one boys, and, I must say, found it rather difficult. However, after a great deal of trouble, they at last settled on suitable names for the forty youngsters; but when they came to the forty-first, they were at a loss what name to give him.
"Call him Starveling," said the peasant at last to his wife, "for he looks so weak and half-starved."
Now these forty-one boys began to grow; not by days, but by hours; and were a great help to their parents, doing all the work for them. The forty lads who were so strong and healthy worked in the fields, while Starveling stayed at home and did all the house-work.
At last the hay-making time came, and the forty sons set to work to mow the grass in the fields. They worked for a week, and then returned home to eat, drink, and sleep as long as they could.
"Lazy fellows!" said the father, laughing; "they eat as much as they can and sleep more, but as to work, I don't suppose they have done anything!"
"Better go and see, father," said Starveling; "see whether they have worked before you call them lazy."
The peasant dressed himself the following morning, and went into the meadows to see what his sons had done, and saw, to his astonishment, forty hay-ricks standing in a row.
"What splendid lads!" exclaimed the peasant. "How well they have worked in that short week. I should never have thought it of them."
Next day the peasant went again to have a look at the hay-ricks, but this time one was missing. When he saw this he at once bent his steps homewards, greatly distressed at the loss.
"My dear children," he cried, "one of the hay-ricks is missing!"
"Never mind, father," said Starveling, "we shall soon catch the thief. Give me a hundred pounds, and I will manage the whole thing for you."
The peasant gave him the money, and Starveling went to a blacksmith, and said,—
"Can you make me a thick iron chain which, when thrown at a man, would wind itself round him from head to foot, and would not break however much the man struggled?"
The blacksmith set to work.
"See that you make it very strong," Starveling said. "If it does not break I will give you a hundred pounds; but if it breaks, then your labour is lost."
The blacksmith soon finished the chain and gave it to Starveling, who immediately began to wind it round himself as tightly as he possibly could; but when he struggled a little it gave way. The blacksmith then set to work and made it twice as thick and as strong as before. This time it was all right.
Starveling took the chain, gave the hundred pounds, and went to watch the hay. He seated himself under a hay-rick and waited.
Suddenly, at about midnight, the weather, which had hitherto been delightfully calm and pleasant, changed; the wind blew, the lightning flashed, the thunder rolled, and the sea rose, while out of the midst of the furious waves came a wonderful white horse; which galloped up to the first hay-rick, and commenced devouring the hay.
Starveling sprang up quickly, and throwing the iron chain round the horse, jumped on its back. The animal, not liking the sudden turn things had taken, tried to throw his rider off, but in vain. The horse then began galloping, jumping, and dancing about, but still Starveling kept his seat firmly. At last, finding that it was useless trying to get the young fellow off, the horse stopped suddenly, and turning his beautiful head to Starveling, said,—
"Young man, since you have been clever enough to catch me and ride on my back—which no one has ever been able to do before—I will make you a present of all my brother horses."
So saying, this extraordinary creature went to the seaside, and began calling out something in a very loud voice, and immediately the angry waves rose, and out of the depths of the sea came forty white ponies, each prettier than the other. Starveling stared in astonishment, never had he seen such beautiful animals!
Next morning the peasant heard a terrific noise in the yard. He listened; it sounded as though some one had by mistake driven a troop of horses into his farm, for the stamping and neighing was simply too dreadful! He called his forty sons, and they all rushed into the yard to see what it meant, and saw, to their surprise, Starveling sitting on a beautiful white horse, surrounded by forty equally beautiful ponies.
"Good morning, father!" cried Starveling, laughing. "I have brought a horse for each of my brothers. Look! are they not beauties?"
After each pony had been properly admired and fed, Starveling mounted his own horse again, exclaiming,—
"Come, brothers, mount your horses, and let us ride into the wide world in search of brides! It will be no easy task, certainly, for we want forty-one maidens, sisters, if possible!"
The brothers laughed; but anything for amusement! So, after receiving their parents' blessing, they set out on their journey, and a nice long journey it was, too!
They rode and rode, through various towns and kingdoms; but, no, forty-one brides was rather more than was generally asked for, especially as these forty-one youngsters insisted upon the brides all being sisters! for then there would not be any jealousy among the brothers. They rode on and on, until at last they came to the World's End; here they thought they would be sure to get what they wanted. So they went on merrily, until they beheld, on the top of a very steep hill, a white palace, round which was a very high wall, and in the middle a large iron gate, in front of which stood forty-one iron posts.
The forty-one brothers dismounted, and tying their horses to the posts, pushed open the iron gates, and were about to walk in, when out came an old witch to meet them,—
"How dare you," she cried, "tie your horses up to the posts without asking my permission?"
"Oh, never mind, old woman!" cried the brothers; "take us first into your palace, and give us something to eat and drink, and then talk about whatever you please, and scold us as much as you like."
The old witch consented, and gave them food to eat and wine to drink, and when they had all made merry, the witch asked them kindly,—
"What do you want, young men? What are you in search of?"
"We are in search of forty-one sisters for brides."
"I have any number of daughters."
So saying, the witch ran upstairs to a high attic, and brought down with her forty-one beautiful damsels.
The young men fell in love with them at once, and began preparing for the wedding, which was to be a very grand one.
In the evening when they were all married and happy, Starveling went out to look after the horses, which had been left standing outside. When his horse saw him he began to stamp and neigh with joy.
"I am so glad you have come, dear master," said the horse, "for I want to warn you against the witch. Listen! Before you go to bed to-night, tell your brothers each to dress up his young wife in his garments, while he puts on the dress of his wife; and you must do the same, or else everything will be lost, for the witch is a wicked old woman."
"All right! I will do just as you say," replied Starveling, as he went off to his brothers, and told them what the horse had said.
The brothers at once put on their wives' dresses, and dressed the young girls up in their own clothes. When night came they all fell asleep, with the exception of Starveling, who kept himself wide awake, curious to know what was going to happen.
At about midnight he heard the witch, just outside his door, calling her servants,—
"Servants! servants! harken to my call; come and cut off the heads of all my uninvited guests!"
The door opened, and in came the witch with her servants, and, rushing to the bed where they thought Starveling lay, they cut off the head of the witch's daughter, and then, running into all the other rooms, cut off the heads of the forty girls, leaving the forty-one young men all alive and well instead of the witch's daughters!
As soon as this was done. Starveling got up and went to his brothers, woke them, and told them what had happened; then the young fellows took their wives' heads and hung them up in their rooms. After having done this, they ran to their horses, mounted them, and rode away.
Early the following morning the witch got up and looked into each little room; but what was her surprise to see the heads of her own daughters hanging on the wall. She grew furious, and, ordering her shield of fire, started off after the young men, and began to send forth fire scorching everything on either side of her, trying to find out where the forty-one youngsters had gone to. At last she caught sight of them, and sent forth more fire to scorch them. What were they to do? In front of them was the dark blue sea; behind them the witch with her fiery shield, which was beginning to burn them. Nothing was left for them, except to drown themselves or be burnt to death!
But Starveling, who was always thoughtful and clever, had stolen a handkerchief from the old witch's palace. He waved this three times in front of him, and immediately a tremendous bridge appeared across the sea. When they had all galloped safely over, Starveling again waved the handkerchief three times, and the bridge at once disappeared, while the enraged witch had to return home to her palace and growl.
Meanwhile the forty-one young men gave up the idea of searching for any more brides, at least for the present, and returned home to their delighted parents.