Виктор Мазанов – Tales of Wisdom. Insights from Russian Folklore (страница 19)
– It’s not fun playing with you. Fine… I won’t tear you apart. I’ll let you go if you tidy up – sweep the floor, clean the stove, wash the dishes. Then we’ll play again. If you do everything well and can stand up to me a little, you’ll get a reward.
Natasha, arms folded, demanded:
– First the reward! Two three‑horse teams and two chests of gold!
– Oh, what a… – the bear grumbled. – Go, look – your horses wait at the doorway.
Natasha sprang out – there her mother sat on a low stool, reins in hand. The daughter hopped forward, and the cart bolted away. The bear, peeking out, roared after them:
– Hey! And the cleaning? You promised!
– Clean it yourself, clumsy one! – they laughed, whipping the horses.
But the horses ran wild, ignoring the reins. Roots and mounds tossed the cart. Natasha and her mother were thrown off, and the horses galloped away.
Mother and daughter wandered deeper into the forest, unable to find the way home.
Soon Masha begged her father to find the step‑mother and her daughter. Though they had been cruel, they were still family. They prepared a cart, took their dog Zhuk and set out for the hut.
From there they began to search. Zhuk immediately picked up a scent and raced ahead. Masha and her father followed as best they could. At last they found the starving step‑mother and her daughter, who had survived on berries and mushrooms.
They brought them home, fed them for several days, and nursed them back to health. When their strength returned, they seemed reborn. The step‑mother said nothing unkind, and Natasha stopped being lazy, beginning to help with the housework.
Soon a good young man asked Masha’s hand, and a year later they were married.
On the wedding day the step‑mother herself braided a braid for the step‑daughter:
– Happiness to you, daughter! – and for the first time she called her that.
Natasha helped decorate the house for the wedding and prepared the food, which turned out to be the tastiest in the village.
Kindness and Gratitude
– Good begets good. Masha fed the mouse, and the mouse helped her.
– Natasha drove the mouse away, and the mouse did not help her.
The Power of Forgiveness
– Masha showed mercy by searching for the missing, even though she could have taken revenge.
– The rescue changed the step‑mother and Natasha.
Consequences of Greed and Deception
– Greedy for the riches, the step‑mother almost ruined herself and her daughter.
– By deceiving the bear, they lost the reward they could have earned.
What might have happened if Natasha had offered the mouse some porridge?
Why couldn’t Masha’s father protect her from the step‑mother?
Why did Masha decide to save those who had hurt her?
Which events helped the step‑mother and Natasha change?
What lesson does this fairy tale teach?
Little One‑Havroshka
There are good people, there are worse ones, and there are those who do not shy away from hurting the weak and who take advantage of another’s misfortune. Orphan Little Havroshka fell into such hands. When her parents died, a relative took the girl “out of kindness,” but she became a servant in the house. The step‑mother forced her to rise before the rooster crowed, to fetch water from the icy well, and to wash rough canvas until her hands bled. Her own three daughters—One‑eyed, Two‑eyed, and Three‑eyed—were pampered. They spent whole days on the porch cracking seeds, watching Havroshka toil.
Only the family cow gave the girl comfort. When she entered the stall, she would hug the animal and pour out her sorrows:
– Yesterday I fainted at the well from hunger…
– Today the step‑mother struck my temple with the spindle for being slow…
The cow chewed calmly, pressing its warm side against her. Little Havroshka would speak, weep, and feel a little lighter.
One day the girl could bear no more:
– Mother‑cow! They beat me, they starve me, they forbid me to cry. By tomorrow morning they gave me seven sacks of wool to spin and bleach. I cannot go on…
A quiet, wise voice answered from the cow:
– Red girl! Slip into one ear, out the other—everything will be done.
And it happened. The girl slipped out of one ear; the work was ready—spun and bleached. She took it to the step‑mother, who glanced, muttered, hid it in a chest, and gave her even more tasks.
Thus the step‑mother kept assigning chores, and Havroshka returned to the cow, slipped in one ear, out the other, and brought back the finished work.
The old woman, puzzled, called One‑eyed:
– My good daughter, my lovely daughter! Watch who helps the orphan—who weaves, who spins, who whitens?
One‑eyed walked into the forest with the orphan, then into the field; she forgot her mother’s command, lay down in the sunshine, and dozed. Havroshka whispered:
– Sleep, little eye, sleep, little eye!
While One‑eyed slept, the cow spun and bleached. The step‑mother did not notice and sent Two‑eyed next. She, too, was lulled by the sun, lay on the grass, and closed her eyes. Havroshka sang:
– Sleep, little eye, sleep, another!
The cow worked again, but Two‑eyed still slept. The old woman grew angry and, on the third day, sent Three‑eyed, giving the orphan even more work. Three‑eyed, like her sisters, hopped about, then lay on the grass. Havroshka sang:
– Sleep, little eye, sleep, another! – and forgot the third.
Two eyes fell asleep, but the third kept watch and saw everything: the red girl slipping into one ear, out the other, and gathering the ready‑made cloths. Three‑eyed told her mother everything. The old woman rejoiced and, the next day, went to her husband:
– Cut the spotted cow!
The husband answered bewildered:
– What are you thinking, wife? The cow is young and fine!
– Cut it, that’s all! – she shouted.
She sharpened a knife…
Havroshka ran to the cow:
– Mother‑cow! They want to cut you.
– Red girl, do not eat my meat; gather my bones, tie them in a handkerchief, plant them in the garden, and never forget me. Water them each morning.
The orphan obeyed. She went hungry, never ate the cow’s meat, collected the bones, and watered them daily. From the bones grew a tiny apple tree, a marvel to behold. Its apples hung heavy and sweet, its leaves rustled golden, its branches bent silver. Anyone passing by stopped to look; anyone walking close stared in wonder.