The Careless Word 2

An old man and his wife lived in Zaonezhye. He made his living by hunting and had a dog beyond all price. One day he met a well-dressed man.

An old man and his wife lived in Zaonezhye. He made his living by hunting and had a dog beyond all price. One day he met a well-dressed man.

“Sell me your dog,” the man said, “and come to Myan Hill tomorrow evening for your payment.”

The old man handed over the dog and went to the hill the next day. At the top stood a great city where lemboys lived. He went to the house of the man who had bought the dog. There they gave their guest food and drink and a good steaming in the bathhouse. A young man attended him in the steam bath and, when he had finished, fell at his feet.

“Grandfather, don’t take money for the dog. Ask for me instead!”

The old man did as he asked.

“Give me the young man,” he said. “He can be a son to me.”

“You ask a great deal, old man, but there’s nothing for it. I must let you have him.”

They went home, and the young man told the old man:

“Go to Novgorod and find a certain merchant on Rogatitsa Street.”

The old man went to Novgorod, asked the merchant to let him stay the night and began to question him.

“Did you have any children?”

“I had one son, but his mother once shouted at him in anger, ‘May a lemboy take you!’ And a lemboy carried him off.”

“What will you give me if I bring him back?”

The young man whom the old man had brought out of the lemboys’ city was that very merchant’s son. The merchant was overjoyed and took the old man and his wife into his home.