The Russian Fairy Book/The Little Sister and Little Brother
THE LITTLE SISTER AND LITTLE
BROTHER
THE LITTLE SISTER AND LITTLE
BROTHER
WO orphans, little Sister Aliona and little Brother Ivan, were walking across a wide field by a long path, and it was hot and the heat tortured them.
They went and they went and they went. The sun rode high and little Ivan grew thirsty.
"Sister Aliona, I want a drink," he said.
"Wait a while, brother, we shall come to a well," she answered.
The well was a long way off, the heat tortured them, and they reeked with perspiration. As they walked along they saw a pond, and around the pond a herd of cows was feeding.
"I want a drink," said little Ivan.
"Do not drink here, brother! If you do you will turn into a calf," said Aliona. He heeded her and they went on. They walked and they walked and they saw a river, and near the river was a drove of horses.
"Oh, sister! If you only knew how thirsty I am!" he cried.
"Do not drink, brother! If you should, you would become a little colt," she answered.
Little Ivan obeyed her and they went on. They walked and they walked and they saw a lake, and around it was grazing a flock of sheep.
"Oh, sister! I am terribly thirsty!" he said again.
"Do not drink, brother! If you do you will turn into a lamb," she replied.
Again little Ivan heeded her and they went on. They walked and they walked and they saw a brook, and on its banks swine were rooting.
"Oh, sister!" he pleaded. "I must have a drink. I am terribly thirsty."
"Do not drink, brother! If you do you will become a pig."
Again little Ivan heeded what she said and they went on. They walked and they walked, and they saw a herd of goats grazing near some water.
"Oh, sister! I must have a drink!' he said earnestly.
"Do not drink, brother!" she besought. "If you do you will turn into a kid!"
"Do not drink, brother! If you should you would
become a little colt"
But he could no longer restrain himself, and he disobeyed his sister. He took a drink and instantly was changed into a Kid, running and gambolling in front of his sister and crying, "Baa! baa!"
Aliona suspected that it was her brother. She sat down in the shade of a hayrick and burst into bitter tears, but the Kid ran about on the grass near her. She tied a silken scarf around him and led him along with her, and she wept, bitterly she wept.
The Kid ran and ran and finally ran into the garden of a certain Tsar. The men perceived it and immediately called the Tsar's attention to it.
"Your majesty," they said, "a Kid has just run into our garden, and a girl has him by a girdle, and she is such a beauty!"
The Tsar commanded to find out who she was. So the people went and asked her whence she came and what her name was.
"My name is so-and-so," said Aliona, "and I had a father and mother, but they died and only we children were left, I myself and this my brother little Ivan. We were coming a long way and we kept on walking and walking when we saw a herd of goats grazing near some water, and my brother could not restrain himself; he drank a little of the water and was changed into a Kid."
The men reported this to the Tsar. The Tsar summoned Aliona and asked her about everything. She was pleasing in his sight and he wanted to marry her.
"Come!" said he, "follow me. I will give you fine clothes and silver, and I will not neglect the Kid; wherever you are there he shall be also."
The wedding quickly took place and they began to live together, and the Kid with them. He used to disport himself in the garden, and eat and drink with the Tsar and Tsaritsa. Good men gazing at them were delighted, but evil-minded men were full of envy.
One time the Tsar went hunting, and while he was away a witch came and cast a spell on the Tsaritsa, so that she became ill, very weak, and pale.
At the Tsar's everything faded; in the garden the flowers began to wither; the trees dried up: the grass grew sear. The Tsar came home and asked the Tsaritsa: "Are you ill?"
"Yes, I am indisposed," replied the Tsaritsa.
The next day the Tsar went hunting again, but Aliona lay at home sick.
The witch came to her and said: "Would you like me to cure you? Go to a certain lake at dawn and drink the water there."
The Tsaritsa heeded her, and in the early morning she went to the lake, but the witch was there waiting for her and seized her, hung a stone around her neck, and flung her into the water. Aliona went to the bottom. The Kid came running down to the water and bitterly, bitterly lamented.
Then the witch took the shape of the Tsaritsa, arrayed herself in her fine clothes, and went to the palace.
The Tsar came home and was delighted because the Tsaritsa was restored to health again. They sat down to dinner and began to eat.
"But where is the Kid?' demanded the Tsar.
"We do not need him," replied the witch. "I would not let him come in, he smells so goaty."
The next day, as soon as the Tsar had gone off hunting, the witch began to beat the poor little Kid. She pounded him and pounded him, and said in threatening tones: "When the Tsar comes home I will ask him to have you killed."
The Tsar came and immediately the witch began to urge him: "Give your command, yes, give your command to kill the little Kid. He is a nuisance to me, he is entirely detestable to me!"
The Tsar felt sorry for the poor little Kid, but there was no help for it, she was so insistent, she was so urgent, that the Tsar at last consented for him to be killed.
The Kid saw how they were beginning to sharpen the steel knives for him; he lamented. He ran to the Tsar and besought him: "Tsar, let me go down to the lake and get a drink of water and bathe myself!"
The Tsar let him go. As soon as the poor little Kid reached the lake he stood on the shore and cried out piteously:
"Dear Aliona, sister mine!
Come forth, come forth upon the shore!
The flaming fire is burning bright,
The boiling pot is bubbling o'er,
They're sharpening the steely knife,
They're going to take away my life."
She replied to him:
"Oh, Ivan, little brother, dear!
A heavy stone keeps me down here,
A cruel snake gnaws at my heart."
The poor little Kid lamented and went back home. At noon he again asked the Tsar: "Tsar, let me go down to the lake and get a drink of water and bathe myself."
The Tsar let him go. The poor little Kid ran down to the lake again, and began to lament piteously:
"Dear Aliona, sister mine!
Come forth, come forth upon the shore!
The flaming fire is burning bright,
The boiling pot is bubbling o'er,
They're sharpening the steely knife,
They're going to take away my life."
She answered him:
"Oh, Ivan, little brother, dear!
A heavy stone keeps me down here,
A cruel snake gnaws at my heart."
The poor little Kid lamented and went home.
But the Tsar began to think: What can this mean? The little Kid keeps going down to the lake."
Then for the third time the poor little Kid asked: "Tsar, let me go down to the lake and get a drink of water and bathe myself."
The Tsar let him go, but this time followed him. Going down to the lake he listened as the Kid called to his sister:
"Dear Aliona, sister mine!
Come forth, come forth upon the shore!
The flaming fire is burning bright,
The boiling pot is bubbling o'er,
They're sharpening the steely knife,
They're going to take away my life."
And she replied:
"Oh, Ivan, little brother, dear!
A heavy stone keeps me down here,
A cruel snake gnaws at my heart."
But now the poor little Kid began to call to his sister to come to the surface.
Aliona swam up to the top and showed herself above the water. The Tsar seized her, took the stone from her neck, and dragged her ashore, and then asked her how this had happened, and she told him the whole story. The Tsar was very glad, and so was the poor little Kid, and he gambolled about, and in the garden everything grew green and burst into bloom again.
The Tsar ordered the wicked witch to be punished. They gathered a pile of wood in the courtyard and burned her alive. And after this the Tsar and the Tsaritsa and the little Kid lived, and lived happily and lived well, and they ate and drank together just as they used to do before.
Translator's Note.—This story is plainly a nature myth. The wicked witch is Winter, who temporarily drives away the Summer or Spring, but when she returns the Tsar's garden blooms again and the little Kid gambols around the bountiful table. That explains why the Kid is not restored to his pristine form. He stands for the young life of the world in the early Spring.