The Betrothed Children

There once lived two rich merchants, one in Moscow and the other in Kyiv. They often met on business, shared their bread and salt and were good friends. One day…

There once lived two rich merchants, one in Moscow and the other in Kyiv. They often met on business, shared their bread and salt and were good friends. One day the Kyiv merchant came to Moscow, met his friend and said:

“God has given me a joy: my wife has had a son!”

“And I’ve had a daughter!” replied the Moscow merchant.

“Well, let’s shake hands on it! I have a son and you have a daughter. What could be better? A bridegroom and a bride! When they grow up, we’ll marry them and become kin.”

“Very well, but we can’t do this just like that. Your son might yet turn his back on the bride. Give me twenty thousand as a pledge!”

“And if your daughter dies?”

“Then you’ll get your money back.”

The Kyiv merchant took out twenty thousand and gave it to the Moscow merchant. He accepted it, went home and said to his wife:

“Do you know what I have to tell you? I’ve arranged our daughter’s marriage!”

His wife was astonished.

“What? Have you lost your mind? She’s still lying in her cradle!”

“What does it matter that she’s in her cradle? I’ve promised her all the same. Here are the twenty thousand I took as a pledge.”

So that was settled. The merchants went on living in their own towns, but no longer visited each other: it was a long way, and their affairs kept them at home. Their children grew and grew. The son was handsome, and the daughter more beautiful still. Eighteen years passed. Hearing nothing from his old friend, the Moscow merchant promised his daughter to a colonel. At that very time the Kyiv merchant summoned his son and said:

“Go to Moscow. There’s a lake there, and I set a horsehair net on that lake. If a duck has been caught in the net, bring the duck; if there’s no duck, bring back the net.”

The merchant’s son made ready and set off for Moscow. He travelled and travelled, until only one stage of the journey remained. He had to cross a river. There was a bridge, but only half of it had been laid with boards.

The colonel happened to be travelling along the same road. He reached the bridge and could not see how to get across. Spotting the merchant’s son, he asked:

“Where are you going?”

“To Moscow.”

“What for?”

“There’s a lake there where my father set a net eighteen years ago. Now he’s sent me with these orders: if a duck has been caught in the net, take the duck; if there’s no duck, bring back the net!”

“What a puzzle!” thought the colonel. “Can a net last eighteen years? Well, perhaps the net might last, but how could a duck live there all that time?”

He thought and thought and puzzled and puzzled, but could make nothing of it.

“How are we to get across the river?” he asked.

“I’ll go with the back in front!” said the merchant’s son. He drove his horses to the middle of the bridge and began taking up the boards behind him and laying them ahead. He laid his way across, and the colonel crossed with him. At last they reached the town.

“Where will you stay?” the colonel asked the merchant’s son.

“At the house with spring and winter on its gate.”

They said goodbye and went their separate ways.

The merchant’s son lodged with a poor old woman, while the colonel drove to his bride’s house. They offered him food and drink and asked about his journey. He told them:

“I met a merchant’s son and asked why he was going to Moscow. He said there was a lake in Moscow where his father had set a net eighteen years ago, and now he’d sent him with these orders: if a duck has been caught in the net, take the duck; if there’s no duck, bring back the net! Then we had to cross a river. There was a bridge, half laid with boards and half unfinished. I was wondering how to cross, but the merchant’s son worked it out at once, went with the back in front and got me across too.”

“Where is he staying?” asked the bride.

“At the house with spring and winter on its gate.”

The merchant’s daughter ran to her room, called her maid and told her:

“Take a jug of milk, a round loaf and a basket of eggs. Drink some of the milk, cut into the loaf and eat one egg from the basket. Then go to the house with grass and hay tied to its gate. Find the merchant’s son there, give him the bread, milk and eggs and ask: Is the sea at its shores, or has it fallen? Is the moon full, or has it waned? Are all the stars in the sky, or have any fallen?”

The maid went to the merchant’s son, gave him the gifts and asked:

“Is the sea at its shores, or has it fallen?”

“It has fallen.”

“Is the moon full, or has it waned?”

“It has waned.”

“Are all the stars in the sky?”

“No, one has fallen.”

The maid went home and reported his answers to the merchant’s daughter.

“Well, Father,” the daughter said, “your bridegroom won’t do for me. I have my own, promised long ago. You shook hands with his father and sealed it with an agreement.”

They sent at once for the true bridegroom, celebrated the wedding and held a feast, while the colonel was turned away. I was at that wedding too, drinking mead and wine. It ran down my moustache, but none went into my mouth.