The Flying Ship
There once lived an old man and an old woman who had three sons: two were sensible, and the third was a fool. The mother loved the first two and dressed them…
There once lived an old man and an old woman who had three sons: two were sensible, and the third was a fool. The mother loved the first two and dressed them neatly, but the youngest was always poorly dressed and went about in a black shirt. They heard that the tsar had issued a proclamation: whoever built a ship that could fly would marry the princess. The elder brothers decided to try their luck and asked their parents' blessing. Their mother prepared them for the journey, giving them white flatbreads, various meats and a flask of spirits, and sent them on their way. Seeing this, the fool began asking to be allowed to go as well. His mother tried to talk him out of it:
“Where could a fool like you go? The wolves will eat you!”
But the fool kept saying the same thing: “I will go! I will go!” Seeing that she could do nothing with him, the old woman gave him black flatbreads and a flask of water for the journey and sent him out of the house.
The fool walked and walked until he met an old man. They greeted each other. The old man asked him:
“Where are you going?”
“The tsar has promised his daughter to whoever makes a flying ship.”
“Can you make such a ship?”
“No, I cannot!”
“Then why are you going?”
“God knows!”
“Well, in that case,” said the old man, “sit down here. Let us rest and have a bite together. Take out whatever you have in your bag.”
“What I have is so poor that I am ashamed to show it to anyone!”
“Never mind, take it out. We will eat whatever God has given us!”
The fool untied his bag and could hardly believe his eyes: instead of black flatbreads, there were white rolls and all kinds of things to eat with them. He offered them to the old man.
“You see,” said the old man, “how God looks after fools! Though your own mother does not love you, you have not been left without a share either… Let us have some spirits first.”
The flask held spirits instead of water. They drank and ate, and the old man said to the fool:
“Now listen. Go into the forest, come to the first tree, cross yourself three times and strike the tree with an axe. Then lie face down on the ground and wait until someone wakes you. You will see a ship ready before you. Get aboard and fly wherever you need to go, and on the way take aboard everyone you meet.”
The fool thanked the old man, said goodbye and went to the forest. At the first tree he did everything he had been told: crossed himself three times, struck the tree with his axe, lay face down on the ground and fell asleep. After a while someone began waking him. The fool woke and saw a finished ship. Without thinking long, he climbed aboard, and the ship flew into the air.
He flew and flew, then saw a man lying on the road below with his ear pressed to the damp earth.
“Good day, good man!”
“Good day, lad.”
“What are you doing?”
“Listening to what is happening in the other world.”
“Come aboard my ship.”
The man made no objection, climbed aboard, and they flew on. They flew and flew, then saw a man walking on one leg, with the other tied up to his ear.
“Good day, good man! Why are you hopping on one leg?”
“If I untied the other, I would step across the whole world in a single stride!”
“Come aboard with us!”
He climbed aboard, and they flew on again. They flew and flew, then saw a man aiming a gun at something they could not make out.
“Good day, good man! What are you aiming at? There is not a bird in sight.” “As if I would shoot at anything nearby! Give me a beast or bird a thousand versts away: that is the kind of shooting I like!”
“Then come aboard with us!”
He too climbed aboard, and they flew on.
They flew and flew, then saw a man carrying a sack full of bread on his back.
“Good day, good man! Where are you going?”
“I am going to get some bread for dinner,” he said.
“But you already have a full sack on your back.”
“What is that? That bread would not make a single mouthful for me.”
“Come aboard with us!”
The Great Eater climbed aboard, and they flew on. They flew and flew, then saw a man walking around a lake.
“Good day, good man! What are you looking for?”
“I am thirsty, but I cannot find any water.”
“There is a whole lake before you. Why do you not drink?”
“Pah! That water would not make a single gulp for me.”
“Then come aboard with us!”
He climbed aboard, and they flew on again. They flew and flew, then saw a man heading into the forest with a bundle of firewood on his shoulders.
“Good day, good man! Why are you taking firewood into the forest?”
“This is no ordinary firewood.”
“What kind is it, then?”
“The kind that turns into a whole army as soon as you scatter it.”
“Come aboard with us!”
He climbed aboard, and they flew on. They flew and flew, then saw a man carrying a sack of straw.
“Good day, good man! Where are you taking that straw?”
“To the village.”
“Is there not enough straw in the village?”
“This straw is special: however hot the summer may be, scatter it and at once it turns cold, with snow and frost!”
“You come aboard with us too!”
“Gladly!”
That was their last meeting. Soon they flew to the tsar's court.
The tsar was at dinner just then. He saw the flying ship, was amazed, and sent his servant to ask who had arrived in it. The servant went to the ship, saw that everyone aboard was a peasant, and did not even ask. He returned to the palace and reported that there was not a single gentleman aboard, only common folk. The tsar thought it would never do to give his daughter to a simple peasant, and began considering how to get rid of such a son-in-law. At last he had an idea: “I will set him all kinds of difficult tasks.” At once he sent the fool an order to fetch healing water and life-giving water before the royal dinner was over.
While the tsar was giving this order to his servant, the first man they had met—the one who listened to what was happening in the other world—heard his words and told the fool.
“What am I to do now? I could not find such water in a year, perhaps not in my whole life!”
“Do not be afraid,” said the Swift Runner. “I will manage it for you.”
The servant came and announced the tsar's order.
“Tell him I will bring it!” answered the fool. His companion untied his leg from his ear, ran off and in an instant collected healing water and life-giving water. “I have time to get back,” he thought, and sat down beneath a mill to rest and fell asleep. The royal dinner was nearly over, but he still had not returned. Everyone aboard grew anxious. The first man pressed himself to the damp earth, listened and said:
“Would you believe it! He is asleep beneath a mill.”
The Marksman seized his gun and fired at the mill, waking the Swift Runner with the shot. The runner raced back and brought the water within a minute. The tsar had not yet risen from the table, and his order had been carried out to the letter.
There was nothing for it but to set another task. The tsar sent word to the fool: “If you are so clever, show your prowess. You and your companions must eat twelve roast oxen and twelve sacks of baked bread at one sitting.” The first companion heard and told the fool. The fool was frightened and said:
“I cannot eat even one loaf at a sitting!”
“Do not be afraid,” answered the Great Eater. “It will not even be enough for me!”
The servant came and delivered the tsar's command.
“Very well,” said the fool. “Bring it here, and we will eat.”
They brought twelve roast oxen and twelve sacks of baked bread. The Great Eater ate everything by himself.
“Oh,” he said, “that is not enough! If only they would bring a little more…”
The tsar sent word that the fool must have forty barrels of wine drunk, each barrel holding forty bucketfuls. The fool's first companion overheard these royal words and passed them on as before. The fool was frightened. “I cannot drink even one bucketful at once!”
“Do not be afraid,” said the Great Drinker. “I will drink for everyone by myself, and it still will not be enough!”
They filled forty barrels with wine. The Great Drinker came and drank every last one without a pause. When he had finished, he said:
“Oh, too little! I could drink some more.”
After that the tsar told the fool to prepare for the wedding and go to the bathhouse to wash. But the bathhouse was made of cast iron, and the tsar ordered it heated so fiercely that the fool would suffocate in a minute. They heated it red-hot. The fool went to wash, followed by the man with the straw, who said he needed to spread some bedding. They locked them both inside. The man scattered his straw, and it grew so cold that scarcely had the fool finished washing when the water in the iron pots began to freeze. He climbed onto the stove and lay there all night. In the morning they opened the bathhouse and found him alive and well, lying on the stove and singing. They reported this to the tsar, who was dismayed and did not know how to rid himself of the fool. After much thought, he ordered him to produce a whole regiment of soldiers, thinking, “Where could a simple peasant find troops? He will never manage this!”
When the fool heard of it, he was frightened and said:
“Now I am utterly lost! You have saved me from trouble more than once, friends, but this time there seems to be nothing we can do.”
“Oh, you!” answered the man with the bundle of firewood. “Have you forgotten me? Remember that this is just what I can do, and do not be afraid!”
The servant came and announced the tsar's command to the fool: “If you want to marry the princess, produce a whole regiment of soldiers by tomorrow.”
“Very well, I will! But if the tsar makes excuses after that, I will conquer his whole kingdom and take the princess by force.”
That night the fool's companion went out into the fields with his bundle of firewood and began scattering it in every direction. At once a countless army appeared: cavalry, infantry and cannons. In the morning the tsar saw it and was frightened in his turn. He hurriedly sent the fool costly finery and clothes and invited him to the palace to marry the princess. The fool dressed in the fine clothes and became so handsome that words could not describe him. He came before the tsar, married the princess, received a large dowry and became sensible and quick-witted. The tsar and tsarina grew to love him, and the princess adored him.