Folklia - The Warmest Gift for Childhood

Once upon a time, a long while ago, when the very flies wrote upon the

walls more beautifully than the mind can picture, there lived an Emperor

and an Empress who had three sons, and a very beautiful garden alongside

their palace. At the bottom of this garden there grew an apple-tree,

entirely of gold from the top to the bottom. The Emperor was wild with

joy at the thought that he had in his garden an apple-tree, the like of

which was not to be found in the wide world. He used to stand in front

of it, and poke his nose into every part of it, and look at it again and

again, till his eyes nearly started out of his head. One day he saw this

tree bud, blossom, and form its fruit, which began to ripen before him.

The Emperor twisted his moustache, and his mouth watered at the thought

that the next day he would have a golden apple or two on his table, an

unheard-of thing up to that moment since the world began.

Day had scarcely begun to dawn next morning, when the Emperor was

already in the garden to feast his eyes to the full on the golden

apples; but he almost went out of his mind when, instead of the ripened

golden apples, he saw that the tree was budding anew, but of apples

there was no sign. While he stood there he saw the tree blossom, the

blossoms fall off, and the young fruit again appear.

At this sight his heart came back to him again, and he joyfully awaited

the morrow, but on the morrow also the apples had gone--goodness knows

where! The Emperor was very wroth. He commanded that the tree should be

strictly guarded, and the thief seized; but, alas! where were they to

find him?

The tree blossomed every day, put forth flowers, formed its fruit, and

towards evening the fruit began to ripen. But in the middle of the night

somebody always came and took away the fruit, without the Emperor’s

watchers being aware of it. It was just as if it were done on purpose.

Every night, sure enough, somebody came and took the apples, as if to

mock at the Emperor and all his guards! So though this Emperor had the

golden apple-tree in his garden, he not only never could have a golden

apple on his table, but never even saw it ripen. At last the poor

Emperor took it so to heart that he said he would give up his throne to

whosoever would catch and bind the thief.

Then the sons of the Emperor came to him, and asked him to let them

watch also. Great was the joy of the Emperor when he heard from the

mouth of his eldest son the vow he made to lay hands upon the thief. So

the Emperor gave him leave, and he set to work. The eldest son watched

the first night, but he suffered the same disgrace that the other

watchers had suffered before him.

On the second night the second son watched, but he was no cleverer than

his brother, and returned to his father with his nose to the earth.

Both the brothers said that up to midnight they had watched well enough,

but after that they could not keep their feet for weariness, but fell

down in a deep sleep, and recollected nothing else.

The youngest son listened to all this in silence, but when his big

brothers had told their story, he begged his father to let _him_ watch

too. Now, sad as his father was at being unable to find a valiant

warrior to catch the thief, yet he burst out laughing when he heard the

request of his youngest son. Nevertheless, he yielded at last, though

only after much pressing, and now the youngest son set about guarding

the tree.

When the evening had come, he took his bow, and his quiver full of

arrows, and his sword, and went down into the garden. Here he chose out

a lonely place, quite away from wall and tree, or any other place that

he might have been able to lean against, and stood on the trunk of a

felled tree, so that if he chanced to doze off, it might slip from under

him and awake him. This he did, and when he had fallen two or three

times, sleep forsook him, and weariness ceased to torment him.

Just as it was drawing nigh to dawn, at the hour when sleep is sweetest,

he heard a fluttering in the air, as if a swarm of birds was

approaching. He pricked up his ears, and heard something or other

pecking away at the golden apples. He pulled an arrow from his quiver,

placed it on his bow, and drew it with all his might--but nothing

stirred. He drew his bow again--still there was nothing. When he had

drawn it once more, he heard again the fluttering of wings, and was

conscious that a flock of birds was flying away. He drew near to the

golden apples, and perceived that the thief had not had time to take all

of them. He had taken one here, and one there, but most of them still

remained. As now he stood there he fancied he saw something shining on

the ground. He stooped down and picked up the shining thing, and, lo and

behold! it was two feathers entirely of gold.[1]

When it was day he plucked the apples, placed them on a golden salver,

and with the golden feathers in his hat, went to find his father. The

Emperor, when he saw the apples, very nearly went out of his mind for

joy; but he controlled himself, and proclaimed throughout the city that

his youngest son had succeeded in saving the apples, and that the thief

was discovered to be a flock of birds.

Boy-Beautiful now asked his father to let him go and search out the

thief; but his father would hear of nothing but the long-desired apples,

which he was never tired of feasting his eyes upon.

But the youngest son of the Emperor was not to be put off, and

importuned his father till at last the Emperor, in order to get rid of

him, gave him leave to go and seek the thief. So he got ready, and when

he was about to depart, he took the golden feathers out of his cap, and

gave them to his mother, the Empress, to keep for him till he returned.

He took raiment and money for his journey, fastened his quiverful of

arrows to his back, and his sword on his right hip, and with his bow in

one hand and the reins in the other, and accompanied by a faithful

servant, set off on his way. He went on and on, along roads more and

more remote, till at last he came to a desert. Here he dismounted, and

taking counsel with his faithful servant, hit upon a road that led to

the east. They went on a good bit further, till they came to a vast and

dense wood. Through this tangle of a wood they had to grope their way

(and it was as much as they could do to do that), and presently they

saw, a long way off, a great and terrible wolf, with a head of steel.

They immediately prepared to defend themselves, and when they were

within bow-shot of the wolf, Boy-Beautiful put his bow to his eye.

The wolf seeing this, cried: “Stay thy hand, Boy-Beautiful, and slay me

not, and it will be well for thee one day!” Boy-Beautiful listened to

him, and let his bow fall, and the wolf drawing nigh, asked them where

they were going, and what they were doing in that wood, untrodden by the

foot of man. Then Boy-Beautiful told him the whole story of the golden

apples in his father’s garden, and said they were seeking after the

thief.

The wolf told him that the thief was the Emperor of the Birds, who,

whenever he set out to steal apples, took with him in his train all the

birds of swiftest flight, that so they might strip the orchards more

rapidly, and that these birds were to be found in the city on the

confines of this wood. He also told them that the whole household of the

Emperor of the Birds lived by the robbing of gardens and orchards; and

he showed them the nearest and easiest way to the city. Then giving

them a little apple most lovely to look upon, he said to them: “Accept

this apple, Boy-Beautiful! Whenever thou shouldst have need of me, look

at it and think of me, and immediately I’ll be with thee!”

Boy-Beautiful took the apple, and concealed it in his bosom, and bidding

the wolf good-day, struggled onwards with his faithful servant through

the thickets of the forest, till he came to the city where the

robber-bird dwelt. All through the city he went, asking where it was,

and they told him that the Emperor of that realm had it in a gold cage

in his garden.

That was all he wanted to know. He took a turn round the court of the

Emperor, and noted in his mind all the ramparts which surrounded the

court. When it was evening, he came thither with his faithful servant,

and hid himself in a corner, waiting till all the dwellers in the palace

had gone to rest. Then the faithful servant gave him a leg-up, and

Boy-Beautiful, mounting on his back, scaled the wall, and leaped down

into the garden. But the moment he put his hand on the cage, the Emperor

of the Birds chirped, and before you could say boo! he was surrounded by

a flock of birds, from the smallest to the greatest, all chirping in

their own tongues. They made such a noise that they awoke all the

servants of the Emperor. They rushed into the garden, and there they

found Boy-Beautiful, with the cage in his hand, and all the birds

darting at him, and he defending himself as best he could. The servants

laid their hands upon him, and led him to the Emperor, who had also got

up to see what was the matter.

“I am sorry to see thee thus, Boy-Beautiful,” cried the Emperor, for he

knew him. “If thou hadst come to me with good words, or with entreaties,

and asked me for the bird, I might, perhaps, have been persuaded to give

it to thee of my own good-will and pleasure; but as thou hast been taken

hand-in-sack, as they say, the reward of thy deed according to our laws

is death, and thy name will be covered with dishonour.”

“Illustrious Emperor,” replied Boy-Beautiful, “these same birds have

stolen the golden apples from the apple-tree of my father’s garden, and

therefore have I come all this way to lay hands on the thief.”

“What thou dost say may be true, Boy-Beautiful, but I have no power to

alter the laws of this land. Only a signal service rendered to our

empire can save thee from a shameful death.”

“Say what that service is, and I will venture it.”

“Listen then! If thou dost succeed in bringing me the saddle-horse in

the court of the Emperor my neighbour, thou wilt depart with thy face

unblackened, and thou shalt take the bird in its cage along with thee.”

Boy-Beautiful agreed to these conditions, and that same day he departed

with his faithful servant.

On reaching the court of the neighbouring Emperor he took note of the

horse and of all the environs of the court. Then as evening drew near,

he hid with his faithful servant in a corner of the court which seemed

to him to be a safe ambuscade. He saw the horse walked out between two

servants, and he marvelled at its beauty. It was white, its bridle was

of gold set with gems inestimable, and it shone like the sun.

In the middle of the night, when sleep is most sweet, Boy-Beautiful bade

his faithful servant stoop down, leaped on to his back, and from thence

on to the wall, and leaped down into the Emperor’s courtyard. He groped

his way along on the tips of his toes till he came to the stable, and

opening the door, put his hand on the bridle and drew the horse after

him. When the horse got to the door of the stable and sniffed the keen

air, it sneezed once with a mighty sneeze that awoke the whole court. In

an instant they all rushed out, laid hands on Boy-Beautiful, and led him

before the Emperor, who had also been aroused, and who when he saw

Boy-Beautiful knew him at once. He reproached him for the cowardly deed

he had nearly accomplished, and told him that the laws of the land

decreed death to all thieves, and that he had no power against those laws. Then Boy-Beautiful told him of

the theft of the golden apples by the birds, and of what the

neighbouring Emperor had told him to do. Then said the Emperor: “If,

Boy-Beautiful, thou canst bring me the divine Craiessa,[2] thou mayest

perhaps escape death, and thy name shall remain untarnished.”

Boy-Beautiful risked the adventure, and accompanied by his faithful

servant set off on his quest. While he was on the road, the thought of

the little apple occurred to him. He took it from his bosom, looked at

it, and thought of the wolf, and before he could wipe his eyes the wolf

was there.

“What dost thou desire, Boy-Beautiful?” said he.

“What do I desire, indeed!--look here, look here, look here, what has

happened to me! Whatever am I to do to get out of this mess with a good

conscience?”

“Rely upon me, for I see I must finish this business for thee.” So they

all three went on together to seek the divine Craiessa.

When they drew nigh to the land of the divine Craiessa they halted in

the midst of a vast forest, where they could see the Craiessa’s dazzling

palace, and it was agreed that Boy-Beautiful and his servant should

await the return of the wolf by the trunk of a large tree. The proud

palace of the divine Craiessa was so grand and beautiful, and the style

and arrangement thereof so goodly, that the wolf could scarce take his

eyes therefrom. But when he came up to the palace he did what he could,

and crept furtively into the garden.

And what do you think he saw there? Not a single fruit-tree was any

longer green. The stems, branches, and twigs stood there as if some one

had stripped them naked. The fallen leaves had turned the ground into a

crackling carpet. Only a single rose-bush was still covered with leaves

and full of buds, some wide open and some half closed. To reach this

rose-bush the wolf had to tread very gingerly on the tips of his toes,

so as not to make the carpet of dry leaves crackle beneath him; and so

he hid himself behind this leafy bush. As now he stood there on the

watch, the door of the dazzling palace was opened, and forth came the

divine Craiessa, attended by four-and-twenty of her slaves, to take a

walk in the garden.

When the wolf beheld her he was very near forgetting what he came for

and coming out of his lair, though he restrained himself; for she was so

lovely that the like of her never had been and never will be seen on the

face of the whole earth. Her hair was of nothing less than pure gold,

and reached from top to toe. Her long and silken eyelashes seemed

almost to put out her eyes. When she looked at you with those large

sloe-black eyes of hers, you felt sick with love. She had those

beautifully-arched eyebrows which look as if they had been traced with

compasses, and her skin was whiter than the froth of milk fresh from the

udder.

After taking two or three turns round the garden with her slaves behind

her, she came to the rose-bush and plucked one or two flowers, whereupon

the wolf who was concealed in the bush darted out, took her in his front

paws, and sped down the road. Her servants scattered like a bevy of

young partridges, and in an instant the wolf was there, and put her, all

senseless as she was, in the arms of Boy-Beautiful. When he saw her he

changed colour, but the wolf reminded him that he was a warrior and he

came to himself again. Many Emperors had tried to steal her, but they

had all been repulsed.

Boy-Beautiful had compassion upon her, and he now made up his mind that

nobody else should have her.

When the divine Craiessa awoke from her swoon and found herself in the

arms of Boy-Beautiful, she said: “If _thou_ art the wolf that hath

stolen me away, I’ll be thine.” Boy-Beautiful replied: “Mine thou shalt

be till death do us part.”

So they made a compact of it, and they told each other their stories.

When the wolf saw the tenderness that had grown up between them he said:

“Leave everything to me, and your desires shall be fulfilled!” Then they

set out to return from whence they had just come, and, while they were

on the road, the wolf turned three somersaults and made himself exactly

like the divine Craiessa, for you must know that this wolf was a

magician.

Then they arranged among themselves that the faithful servant of

Boy-Beautiful should stand by the trunk of a great tree in the forest

till Boy-Beautiful returned with the steed. So on reaching the court of

the Emperor who had the steed, Boy-Beautiful gave him the made-up divine

Craiessa, and when the Emperor saw her his heart died away within him,

and he felt a love for her which told in words would be foolishness.

“Thy merits, Boy-Beautiful,” said the Emperor, “have saved thee this

time also from a shameful death, and now I’ll pay thee for this by

giving thee the steed.” Then Boy-Beautiful put his hand on the steed and

leaped into the jewelled saddle, and, reaching the tree, placed the

divine Craiessa in front of him and galloped across the boundaries of

that empire.

And now the Emperor called together all his counsellors and went to the

cathedral to be married to the divine Craiessa. When they got to the

door of the cathedral, the pretended Craiessa turned a somersault three

times and became a wolf again, which, gnashing its teeth, rushed

straight at the Emperor’s retinue, who were stupefied with terror when

they saw it. On coming to themselves a little, they gave chase with

hue-and-cry: but the wolf, take my word for it! took such long strides

that not one of them could come near him, and joining Boy-Beautiful and

his friends went along with them. When they drew nigh to the court of

the Emperor with the bird, they played him the same trick they had

played on the Emperor with the horse. The wolf changed himself into the

horse, and was given to the Emperor, who could not contain himself for

joy at the sight of it.

After entertaining Boy-Beautiful with great honour, the Emperor said to

him: “Boy-Beautiful, thou hast escaped a shameful death. I will keep my

imperial word and my blessing shall always follow thee.” Then he

commanded them to give him the bird in the golden cage, and

Boy-Beautiful took it, wished him good-day, and departed. Arriving in

the wood where he had left the divine Craiessa, his horse, and his

faithful servant, he set off with them for the court of his father.

But the Emperor who had received the horse commanded that his whole host

and all the grandees of his empire should assemble in the plain to see

him mount his richly-caparisoned goodly steed. And when the soldiers

saw him they all cried: “Long live the Emperor who hath won such a

goodly steed, and long live the steed that doth the Emperor so much

honour!”

And, indeed, there was the Emperor mounting on the back of the horse,

but no sooner did it put its foot to the ground than it flew right away.

They all set off in pursuit, but there was never the slightest chance of

any of them catching it, for it left them far behind from the first.

When it had got a good way ahead the pretended horse threw the Emperor

to the ground, turned head over heels three times and became a wolf, and

set off again in full flight, and ran and ran till it overtook

Boy-Beautiful. Then said the wolf to him: “I have now fulfilled all thy

demands. Look to thyself better in future, and strive not after things

beyond thy power, or it will not go well with thee.” Then their roads

parted, and each of them went his own way.

When he arrived at the empire of his father the old Emperor came out to

meet his youngest son with small and great as he had agreed. Great was

the public joy when they saw him with a consort the like of whom is no

longer to be found on the face of the earth, and with a steed the

excellence whereof lives only in the tales of the aged. When he got

home Boy-Beautiful ordered a splendid stable to be made for his good

steed, and put the bird-cage in the terrace of the garden. Then his

father prepared for the wedding, and after not many days Boy-Beautiful

and the divine Craiessa were married; the tables were spread for good

and bad, and they made merry for three days and three nights. After that

they lived in perfect happiness, for Boy-Beautiful had now nothing more

to desire. And they are living to this day, if they have not died in the

meantime.

And now I’ll mount my steed again and say an “Our Father” before I go.

[1] Compare the incident of the Bird Zhar in my _Russian Fairy Tales_.

[2] Queen.