BABA YAGA
BABA YAGA
SOMEWHERE, I cannot
tell you exactly where, but certainly in vast Russia, there lived a peasant
with his wife and they had twins -- a son and daughter. One day the wife died
and the husband mourned over her very sincerely for a long time. One year
passed, and two years, and even longer. But there is no order in a house
without a woman, and a day came when the man thought, "If I marry again
possibly it would turn out all right." And so he did and had children by
his second wife.
The stepmother was
envious of the stepson and daughter and began to use them hard. She scolded
them without any reason, sent them away from home as often as she wished, and
gave them scarcely enough to eat. Finally, she wanted to get rid of them
altogether. Do you know what it means to allow a wicked thought to enter one's
heart?
The wicked thought
grows all the time like a poisonous plant and slowly kills the good thoughts. A
wicked feeling was growing in the stepmother's heart, and she determined to
send the children to the witch, thinking sure enough that they would never
return.
"Dear
children," she said to the orphans, "go to my grandmother who lives
in the forest in a hut on hen's feet. You will do everything she wants you to,
and she will give you sweet things to eat and you will be happy."
The orphans started
out. But instead of going to the witch, the sister, a bright little girl, took
her brother by the hand and ran to their own old, old grandmother and told her
all about their going to the forest.
"Oh, my poor
darlings!" said the good old grandmother, pitying the children, "my
heart aches for you, but it is not in my power to help you. You have to go not
to a loving grandmother, but to a wicked witch. Now listen to me, my
darlings," she continued; "I will give you a hint: Be kind and good
to every one; do not speak ill words to any one; do not despise helping the
weakest, and always hope that for you, too, there will be the needed
help."
The good old
grandmother gave the children some delicious fresh milk to drink and to each a
big slice of ham. She also gave them some cookies--there are cookies
everywhere--and when the children departed she stood looking after them a long,
long time.
The obedient children
arrived at the forest and, oh, wonder! there stood a hut, and what a curious
one! It stood on tiny hen's feet, and at the top was a rooster's head. With
their shrill, childish voices they called out loud:
"Izboushka,
Izboushka! turn thy back to the forest and thy front to us!"
The hut did as they
commanded. The two orphans looked inside and saw the witch resting there, her
head near the threshold, one foot in one corner, the other foot in another
corner, and her knees quite close to the ridge pole.
"Fou, Fou,
Fou!" exclaimed the witch; "I feel the Russian spirit."
The children were
afraid, and stood close, very close together, but in spite of their fear they
said very politely:
"Ho, grandmother,
our stepmother sent us to thee to serve thee."
"All right; I am
not opposed to keeping you, children. If you satisfy all my wishes I shall
reward you; if not, I shall eat you up."
Without any delay the
witch ordered the girl to spin the thread, and the boy, her brother, to carry
water in a sieve to fill a big tub. The poor orphan girl wept at her
spinning-wheel and wiped away her bitter tears. At once all around her appeared
small mice squeaking and saying:
"Sweet girl, do
not cry. Give us cookies and we will help thee."
The little girl
willingly did so.
"Now,"gratefully
squeaked the mice, "go and find the black cat. He is very hungry; give him
a slice of ham and he will help thee."
The girl speedily went
in search of the cat and saw her brother in great distress about the tub, so
many times he had filled the sieve, yet the tub was still dry. The little birds
passed, flying near by, and chirped to the children:
"Kind-hearted
little children, give us some crumbs and we will advise you."
The orphans gave the
birds some crumbs and the grateful birds chirped again:
"Some clay and
water, children dear!"
Then away they flew
through the air.
The children
understood the hint, spat in the sieve, plastered it up with clay and rilled
the tub in a very short time. Then they both returned to the hut and on the
threshold met the black cat. They generously gave him some of the good ham
which their good grandmother had given them, petted him and asked:
"Dear Kitty-cat,
black and pretty, tell us what to do in order to get away from thy mistress,
the witch?"
"Well," very
seriously answered the cat, "I will give you a towel and a comb and then
you must run away. When you hear the witch running after you, drop the towel
behind your back and a large river will appear in place of the towel.
If you hear her once
more, throw down the comb and in place of the comb there will appear a dark
wood. This wood will protect you from the wicked witch, my mistress."
Baba Yaga came home
just then.
"Is it not
wonderful?" she thought; "everything is exactly right."
"Well," she
said to the children, "today you were brave and smart; let us see
to-morrow. Your work will be more difficult and I hope I shall eat you
up."
The poor orphans went
to bed, not to a warm bed prepared by loving hands, but on the straw in a cold corner.
Nearly scared to death from fear, they lay there, afraid to talk, afraid even
to breathe. The next morning the witch ordered all the linen to be woven and a
large supply of firewood to be brought from the forest.
The children took the
towel and comb and ran away as fast as their feet could possibly carry them.
The dogs were after them, but they threw them the cookies that were left; the
gates did not open themselves, but the children smoothed them with oil; the
birch tree near the path almost scratched their eyes out, but the gentle girl
fastened a pretty ribbon to it. So they went farther and farther and ran out of
the dark forest into the wide, sunny fields.
The cat sat down by
the loom and tore the thread to pieces, doing it with delight. Baba Yaga
returned.
"Where are the
children?" she shouted, and began to beat the cat. "Why hast thou let
them go, thou treacherous cat? Why hast thou not scratched their faces?"
The cat answered:
"Well, it was because I have served thee so many years and thou hast never
given me a bite, while the dear children gave me some good ham."
The witch scolded the
dogs, the gates, and the birch tree near the path.
"Well,"
barked the dogs, "thou certainly art our mistress, but thou hast never
done us a favor, and the orphans were kind to us."
The gates replied:
"We were always
ready to obey thee, but thou didst neglect us, and the dear children smoothed
us with oil." "The children ran away as fast as their feet could
possibly carry them"
The birch tree lisped
with its leaves, "Thou hast never put a simple thread over my branches and
the little darlings adorned them with a pretty ribbon."
Baba Yaga understood
that there was no help and started to follow the children herself. In her great
hurry she forgot to look for the towel and the comb, but jumped astride a broom
and was off. The children heard her coming and threw the towel behind them. At
once a river, wide and blue, appeared and watered the field. Baba Yaga hopped
along the shore until she finally found a shallow place and crossed it.
Again the children
heard her hurry after them and so they threw down the comb. This time a forest
appeared, a dark and dusky forest in which the roots were interwoven, the
branches matted together, and the tree-tops touching each other. The witch
tried very hard to pass through, but in vain, and so, very, very angry, she
returned home.
The orphans rushed to
their father, told him all about their great distress, and thus concluded their
pitiful story:
"Ah, father dear,
why dost thou love us less than our brothers and sisters?"
The father was touched
and became angry. He sent the wicked stepmother away and lived a new life with
his good children. From that time he watched over their happiness and never neglected
them any more.
How do I know this
story is true? Why, one was there who told me about it.
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