THE BROTHER, THE SISTER AND THE DEVIL-DRAGON

In a certain kingdom, in a certain realm there lived an old man and his wife who had never had any children.

One day the old man went to market, sold whatever it was he had to sell, bought some salt fish and drove home. After a time he began to feel very thirsty, and, seeing a well ahead, drove up to it. He bent over the well and began to drink when all of a sudden there popped out of it a devil who could turn himself into a dragon at will. He snatched the old man by the beard and held him fast.

"Let me go!" cried the old man.

"I won't!" said the Devil-Dragon.

"Why not?"

"Well, maybe I will if you give me that which you treasure the most."

"I have some horses at home—you can have them."

"I don't want them."

"I also have some bullocks."

"I don't want them either."

The old man named all of his most treasured possessions and offered them to the Devil-Dragon, but the Devil-Dragon declined to take them and would not let go of his beard.

The old man thought it over.

"There's my old woman, you can have her if you like," said he.

"No, you can keep her," replied the Devil-Dragon.

The old man had left his wife to the last for he prized her most of all, and, as he could think of nothing else to offer the Devil-Dragon, said:

"You can have whatever you want."

But it was only after he had put this in writing and given the signed note to him that the Devil-Dragon finally let him go.

Now, in the old man's absence his wife had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The two grew very fast, not by the day and not by the hour but by the minute, and were soon running about.

The old man drove up in his cart, and his wife saw him and she and the children rushed out joyfully to meet him. The old man nearly fainted at the sight of them, and when he had come to a little, began telling his wife of all that had happened to him.

"As I was driving home I felt very thirsty," he said, "but when I bent over a well to have a drink the Devil-Dragon snatched me by the beard. I begged him to let me go, but he said that he would only do so if I gave him what I treasured the most. I offered him my horses and my bullocks and even you, my beloved wife, but he would not have any of you. So then, I said, miserable man that I am, that he could have anything he wanted. Never did I expect that two such lovely children would be born to us! What are we going to do? We cannot give up our children to the Devil-Dragon!"

"We can dig a hole at the back of the hut and hide them there," the wife said.

They dug a large hole in the floor at the back of the hut, put some food and water there, let their children down into it, and, covering the hole up carefully and throwing some earth over it, left the hut and drove away.

By and by who should come flying up but the Devil in a Dragon's guise! He looked round the house, but, finding no one, asked of the poker:

"Poker, poker, where did the old man hide his children?"

"I won't tell you!" said the poker. "The old man was kind to me, he always let me rest after I had helped him rake the embers in the stove."

The Devil-Dragon turned to the broom.

"Broom, broom, where did the old man hide his children?" he asked.

"I won't tell you!" said the broom. "The old man was kind to me, he always let me rest after I had helped him sweep."

The Devil-Dragon turned to the axe.

"Axe, axe, where did the old man hide his children?" he asked.

"I won't tell you!" said the axe. "The old man was kind to me, he always let me rest after I had helped him chop wood."

The Devil-Dragon turned to the chisel.

"Chisel, chisel, where did the old man hide his children?" he asked.

"I won't tell you!" said the chisel. "The old man was kind to me, he always let me rest after I had helped him chisel."

The Devil-Dragon thought for a moment.

"He wasn't all that kind to you," said he. "Just see what a state your head is in! It's all dented."

"You're right," said the chisel. "Take me to the back of the house, throw me over your shoulder and then dig in the spot where I sink into the floor."

The Devil-Dragon did as the chisel said. He unearthed the hole and found the old man's son and daughter who had grown and were as fine a lad and lass as they come.

The Devil-Dragon seized them and made off at a run, but, feeling tired, soon lay down for a rest and fell asleep. There sat the Brother and Sister and they wept and sorrowed.

All of a sudden who should come running up but a horse!

"Hello there!" he called. "Is it of your own free will or at another's bidding that you are here?"

"At another's bidding," the Brother replied.

"Then get on my back, both of you, and I will carry you away," the horse said.

They got on the horse's back, and the Devil-Dragon slept on and did not see or hear them.

The horse started off and broke into a gallop, and the Devil-Dragon woke, and, seeing that the Brother and Sister were gone, went after them, flame spurting from his mouth as he flew.

Said the Brother:

"Ah, my horse, my brother, I feel the flames burning my back! We will die, and so will you!"

The Devil-Dragon flew on, and the horse's tail caught fire. The horse could not bear it, he kicked out with his hind legs, sent his two riders rolling to the ground and galloped away.

The Devil-Dragon was soon upon them.

"How dare you listen to anyone but me!" he hissed. "I am going to eat you up!"

The Brother and Sister began begging him not to, and the Devil-Dragon said:

"Oh, well, I'll forgive you this time, but don't you listen to anyone but me any more!"

He seized them and set off at a run again, but after a time, feeling tired, sat down for a rest and fell asleep.

The Brother and Sister sat there and wept and sorrowed when all of a sudden who should come flying up to them but a bumblebee.

"Hello there!" the bumblebee called.

"Hello!" they called back.

"Is it of your own free will or at another's bidding that you are here? asked the bumblebee.

"At another's bidding! We would never have come here of our own free will," the Brother replied.

"Get on my back and I'll carry you away!"

"The horse could not do it, so how can you!"

"I can try!"

They got on the bumblebee's back, and away they flew!

The Devil-Dragon woke, and, seeing that they were gone, flew after them, flame spurting from his mouth.

"Oh, bumblebee, my brother, I feel he flames scorching my back!" the Brother cried. "We will die and so will you!"

The bumblebee folded his wings, and, sending his two riders rolling to the ground, flew on. And there was the Devil-Dragon upon them, his jaws open wide.

"I've caught you and I'm going to eat you up!" he cried. "I told you not to listen to anyone but me."

But the Brother and Sister began begging him to take pity on them, and the Devil-Dragon spared them and instead of eating them up carried them off with him. By and by he stopped for a rest and fell asleep, and the Brother and Sister sat there and wept and sorrowed.

All of a sudden who should come up to them but a bullock, and a poor, skinny animal he was.

"Hello there!" said the bullock. "Is it of your own free will or at another's bidding that you are here?"

"At another's bidding, bullock, my brother, never would we have come here of our own free will," the Brother said.

"Get on my back and I'll carry you away!"

"The horse tried and he couldn't, the bumblebee tried and he couldn't, so how can you!"

"Never mind! Just get on my back and you'll be all right."

They got on the bullock's back, and away he ran so fast that not a minute went by but he left a mile and sometimes two behind him.

The Devil-Dragon woke, and, seeing that the Brother and Sister were gone, was so angry that he soared higher than the trees and flew after them.

The Brother glanced over his shoulder.

"Oh, bullock, my brother, I feel the flames scorching my back," he cried. "We will die and so will you!"

But the bullock said:

"Look in my left ear, my lad, take out the comb you will see there and throw it behind you."

The Brother took out the comb from the bullock's ear and threw it behind him, and lo! — a forest rose up there with as little space between the trees in it as had been between the teeth of the comb. And the bullock ran on so fast that not a minute went by but he left a mile and sometimes two behind him.

Seeing the forest before him, the Devil-Dragon began chewing through it. This he succeeded in doing and was soon at their heels again, and the Brother saw him getting close and cried:

"Oh, bullock, my brother, I feel the flames scorching my back! We are going to die and so are you!"

But the bullock said:

"Look in my right ear, take out the kerchief you will see there and wave it in front of me."

The Brother took out the kerchief from the bullock's ear and waved it, and a sea spanned by a golden bridge appeared before them. They crossed the bridge and, as soon as they were on the opposite shore, the Brother waved the kerchief again, and the bridge vanished.

The Devil-Dragon rushed to the sea, but was brought up short, for he could not get across it.

Said the bullock:

"I will take you to a hut on the shore of the sea and as soon as we get there you must kill me and yourselves make your home in the hut." The Brother and Sister burst into tears.

"How can we kill you when we owe our lives to you!" they cried.

"Never you mind but do as I say. And when you have killed me cut me up into four pieces and hang them in different places in the hut: one over the stove, one over the door, and one each in two corners.

The Brother and Sister did as the bullock told them. They killed him, cut him up into four pieces, hung the pieces in four different places and themselves went to bed.

The Brother woke in the night and was much surprised to see a horse waiting at the door with so fine a saddle on him that it was all one

could do to stop oneself from springing on his back and riding away then and there! He looked in one of the corners of the hut, and lying there was a magic sword, he looked in another, and standing there was the dog Protius, he looked at the stove, and on top of it was the dog Nedviga.

The Brother woke the Sister, and himself got on the horse, hung the magic sword at his side, and, the dogs running after him, rode off to hunt in the forest.

From that day on he hunted every day and brought back enough to feed himself and his Sister.

Now, their hut stood close by the sea, and the Sister went to the seashore often to wash clothes and dishes.

Some time passed, and one day the Devil-Dragon saw her there.

"How did you get to where you are?" he called from the opposite shore.

"My Brother has a magic kerchief and he has only to wave it once for a bridge to appear," the Sister replied.

"Why don't you tell your Brother you want to wash the kerchief?" said the Devil-Dragon. "Once you have it you must wave it, and then I'll be able to cross over to your side. After that we'll poison your Brother and get married."

The Sister came home and began begging her Brother to give her the kerchief.

"It's dirty and I want to wash it," she said.

The Brother believed her, he gave her the kerchief, and she hurried with it to the shore of the sea. She waved it once, a bridge appeared that spanned the sea, and the Devil-Dragon crossed it and joined her. And now he and the Sister began plotting how to do away with the Brother.

Said the Devil-Dragon:

"You must pretend to be ill and tell him you dreamt that he went hunting in the forest and brought back some wolf's milk, and that you drank the milk and got well again. This will make him want to get it for you, he will go to the forest, and the wolves will kill his two dogs. After that it will be easy for us to get rid of him."

The Brother, who had been out hunting, came home, and the Devil-Dragon having hid himself, the Sister said:

"I am ill, Brother dear, and very weak. But I dreamt that you brought me some wolf's milk from the forest and that I drank it and got well again. Do you think you could get me some?"

"I will try, Sister!" the Brother said.

He got on his horse and rode away, followed by his dogs. They came to a forest, Protius and Nedviga caught and held a she-wolf who was hiding there, and the Brother milked her. He then told the dog to let her go, and the she-wolf ran off a little way, stopped and said:

"Thank you for setting me free, my brave lad, I thought you were going to kill me. Take one of my cubs as a sign of my gratitude."

And she told the cub to serve the Brother as faithfully as he would his own father.

The Brother rode home followed by his two dogs, and the wolf cub ran after them.

The Sister and the Devil-Dragon saw them, and the Devil-Dragon said:

"Your Brother has got himself a wolf in addition to his two dogs. That is bad, very bad. You must pretend to be more ill than ever and ask him to fetch you some bear's milk. The bears are sure to kill him and his dogs."

He turned himself into a needle, and the Sister stuck the needle into the wall.

The Brother got off his horse, and the two dogs and the wolf at once ran into the hut and hurled themselves at the wall. scratching and pawing in an effort to get at the needle.

"1 don't know why you keep those dogs, they don't give me any peace!" the Sister said.

The Brother called off the dogs and they stopped barking and sat back quietly.

Said the Sister:

"I dreamt that you had brought me some bear's milk, Brother dear, and that I drank it and got well again."

"I'll fetch you some!" the Brother said.

He went to bed and to sleep and on the following morning got on his horse and made for the selfsame forest again. A she-bear saw him and tried to hide, but Protius and Nedviga caught and held her, and the Brother milked her. He then let her go, and the she-bear thanked him and said:

"Take one of my cubs as a sign of my gratitude."

And she told the cub to serve the Brother as faithfully as he would his own father.

The Brother rode home, and the Sister and the Devil-Dragon saw that besides the dogs and the wolf cub he now had a bear cub with him.

"Ask him to fetch you some fox's milk next time," said the Devil-Dragon. "He will not get out of the forest alive, some beast or other is sure to kill him."

He turned himself into a needle, and the Sister stuck the needle into the wall, higher up this time so the dogs would not be able to get at it.

The Brother came back from the forest, and no sooner did he get off his horse than the wolf, the bear and the dogs hurled themselves at the wall of the hut.

The Sister burst into tears.

"Must you keep so many dogs and other creatures!" said she.

The Brother called off the dogs and they stopped barking and sat back quietly.

Said the Sister:

"I dreamt that you brought me some fox's milk, Brother dear, and that I had some and got well again."

"I'll fetch you some!" the Brother said.

He stretched himself out and went to sleep, and Nedviga lay down at his head, Protius at his feet, and the wolf and the bear on either side of him.

He slept till morning and then he got on his horse and rode away followed by the wolf, the bear and the two dogs. They came to the forest, and lo!—a she-fox came running out of it. Protius and Nedviga caught and held her, and the Brother milked her, but he let her go as soon as he was done and she thanked him and said:

"I thought you and your dogs would kill me. Here, take one of my daughters in gratitude."

And she told her daughter to obey the Brother as she would her own father.

The Brother went home, and when the Devil-Dragon saw that he was alive and well and had got himself a young fox to watch over him in addition to the other animals, he gnashed his teeth in anger.

"Pretend that you are more ill than you ever were," said he to the Sister, "and tell your Brother that you dreamt that far away in another tsardom there is a wild boar who ploughs with his nose, sows with his ears and uses his tail to carry the crop from the field, and that there is a mill with twelve millstones there which grinds the grain and fills the sacks with flour all of itself. Tell him too that if he fetched you some of that flour you would bake a cake out of it and eat it, and it would make you well again."

The Sister did as the Devil-Dragon bade, but what she said made her Brother very angry.

"You are no sister to me but my enemy!" cried he.

"How can you say that when there is no one but you and me in this out-of-the-way place!" the Sister said.

The Brother believed her. He got on his horse, and, taking his five animal friends with him, rode away.

Some time passed, and he came to the tsardom his Sister had told him of and found the wild boar and the mill. There were twelve millstones at the mill, and each of them was kept in a separate room whose doors closed of themselves.

The Brother took some flour from under the first millstone and passed on to the next room, and he never noticed that the door he had gone through closed behind him. It was only when he had passed through all the twelve rooms and come out into the yard that he saw that his friends were not with him. He called to them and whistled and heard them yelping and howling inside the mill, but not one was able to force his way out of it and join him.

The Brother burst out crying, and, getting on his horse, rode home.

He was soon there and inside the house, and there was his Sister feasting and making merry with the Devil-Dragon!

The Devil-Dragon saw him and said:

"I was eager to have some meat, and here it is all ready for me to eat!"

The Sister and the Devil-Dragon ordered the Brother to chop some wood and boil a pot of water, for they wanted to cook and eat him, but just as he had begun on the wood a magpie flew up and said:

"Slowly, slowly, my lad, for your friends have already chewed their way through two doors!"

The Brother filled a large pot with water and set it on the stove, but he had purposely chopped only damp and rotting logs which had to dry before kindling and he sprinkled them with water in addition. Then he came out into the yard again, and the magpie saw him and said:

"Slowly, slowly, my lad, for your friends have chewed through four doors!"

The Brother came back inside, and the Devil-Dragon said:

"You can't even heat a pot of water properly!"

And picking up a poker, he pushed the logs deeper into the stove and they flared up and burnt brighter. But the Brother poured some water over them, and the flame was all but snuffed out. He went out into the yard again as if for more wood, and the magpie said:

"Slowly, my brave lad, slowly, for your friends have chewed through ten doors!7'

The Brother picked out the worst of the rotting logs and threw them into the stove, but though they did not burn very well the water in the pot had all but come to boil. He came out into the yard as if for more wood, and the magpie said:

"Slowly, my brave lad, slowly, for your friends have chewed through all the twelve doors and are resting."

The water was boiling now, and the Brother said to the Devil-Dragon:

"Please, brother-in-law, let me climb a tree and bid the bright world farewell before I die!”

"Go ahead!" said the Devil-Dragon.

The Brother began climbing a sycamore tree, and in order to gain time he stepped from branch to branch very slowly and was careful not to miss a single one. He reached the top of the tree, and the magpie flew up to him and said:

"Slowly, my brave lad, slowly, for your friends will be here any minute now!"

The Devil-Dragon ran out of the hut.

"How long are you going to sit up there?" he cried. "Do you want me to lose my patience?"

The Brother began climbing down off the tree, and in order to gain time he was careful to step on every branch.

He had reached the lowest branch and was about to spring down to the ground when he saw his five friends running toward him. He sprang down just as they reached the tree and called to the Devil-Dragon:

"Come, my beloved brother-in-law, I'm ready for you now!"

The Devil-Dragon stepped out of the hut, the Brother shouted: "At him, friends!" and the five animals pounced on the Devil-Dragon and tore him to pieces.

The Brother burnt the pieces, and the fox swept the ashes together with her tail, carried them out to the field and strewed them over it. But neither the Brother nor his five friends noticed that one of the Devil-Dragon's teeth had rolled away and that the Sister had seized and hidden it.

Said the Brother:

"I know now what you are like, Sister, so I'm going away and I'm leaving you here alone."

He fashioned two pails, hung them on the sycamore tree, and, turning to his Sister again, said:

"If you weep for me, Sister, this pail here will fill with tears, but if you weep for the Devil-Dragon, this other pail will fill with blood."

And he got on his horse and rode away, taking his five faithful friends with him.

They came to a town, and the Brother learnt from the townsfolk that the town well had been seized by a twelve-headed dragon who would only let them draw water when a maid was brought him for him to eat. Many maids had already been eaten by him, and now the tsar's daughter was awaiting her turn.

"Tell the princess not to fear the dragon, for I will slay him!" the Brother cried.

"Do that and you will get the tsar's daughter in marriage and half his tsardom besides," said the townsfolk.

The princess, got up in all her finery, was led to the well, and the Brother, followed by his horse and his five animal friends, went after her.

Seeing the princess, the twelve-headed dragon crawled out of the well and was about to eat her up when the Brother said:

"Cut him up, magic sword! Go at him, friends!"

The sword jumped up and went hacking at the dragon, and the five animals pounced on him and tore him to pieces. The Brother swept up the pieces and burnt them, and the fox whisked the ashes into a heap and strewed them over a field.

The townsfolk could not thank the Brother enough for freeing them of the dragon, and the princess gave him her ring for a present.

They made for the tsar's palace, but the way being long, the Brother felt tired and lay down on the grass for a sleep. The princess sat beside him and watched over him, but one of the tsar's servants stole up to them, untied the magic sword which was strapped to the saddle and cried:

"Cut him up, magic sword!"

And lo! — the magic sword began hacking at the Brother and cut him to pieces. But his five friends slept and never heard anything. And the servant said to the princess:

"You will tell the tsar that it was I who saved you from the dragon. For if you don't, I will deal with you as I did with that lad yonder!"

The princess was frightened and agreed to do as he told her to.

They came to the palace, and, oh, how happy and pleased the tsar was! He dressed the servant in the richest of clothes, and they all sat down to a feast and began making merry.

Now, it was just about then that Nedviga woke, and, seeing that his master was dead, roused the others. They began to think which of them was the quickest, decided it was the fox and sent her to fetch an apple and some living and healing water.

Away ran the fox, she ran and she ran, and she at last came to a well filled with living and healing water. Beside the well grew a young apple tree. But there was a soldier with a sword standing guard over both, and not even a fly could have flown past him.

The fox thought and thought and decided to use cunning.

She pretended she was a cripple and limped toward the well, and the soldier followed in order to stop her. But the fox turned away suddenly and led him in the opposite direction, and when he was as far from the well as she wanted she darted back suddenly, and while he stood there goggling at her, she got to the well. filled the flask she had with her with the living and healing water, plucked an apple from the apple tree and was off again in a flash! She came back to her friends, and Protius sprinkled the pieces into which the Brother's body had been cut with the water she had brought, and lo!—they grew together again. He poured some of the water into his mouth, and the Brother came back to life. He gave him the apple to eat, and the Brother became even stronger and more handsome than he had been before. He got to his feet and said:

"Oh, what a long sleep I had!"

"And you would have slept on and not wakened to this day if we hadn't sprinkled you with the living and healing water!" said his friends. "But what shall we do now?"

They talked it over and decided that the Brother was to disguise himself as an old man and go to the tsar's palace.

The Brother changed his clothing, stuck a beard to his chin and made for the palace. The tsar's servants stopped him at the door, but the princess heard him pleading with them and ordered them to let him in. The Brother came inside, and as he lifted his hand to take off his hat, the princess saw the ring she had given him sparkling on his finger. But even then she could not quite believe it was he and said:

"Come here, old man, I'll pour you some wine."

He came up to the table, and the princess filled a glass and held it out to him. He stretched out his left hand for it, and. seeing that it was the wrong hand, she drank the wine herself and poured him another glass. He stretched out his right hand for it this time, and she saw that the ring he had on it was indeed hers.

"This is my promised husband," said she to her father, "and it was he who saved me from the dragon. As for this man," and she pointed at the servant, "he is a villain who forced me to agree to marry him."

The tsar was very angry. He ordered a horse that had not been broken in to be brought from his stables, the servant was tied to its tail, and the horse turned loose in a field.

And the Brother, who had shown how brave and worthy a lad he was, married the princess, and their wedding was celebrated then and there.

The Brother and his wife were very happy together, but one day he remembered his Sister, and, getting on his horse, set out to see her. His five friends went with him.

They came to the house where his Sister lived, and the Brother saw that the dragon's pail was full of blood, while his own had cracked with age and fallen apart. He knew then that it was the Devil-Dragon his Sister still loved and said to her:

"Stay here by yourself, Sister, for I wish to have nothing more to do with you and will never again come to see you."

But so hard did she plead with him that he agreed to take her with him after all. But no sooner did they come to the palace than she slipped the Devil-Dragon's tooth which she had brought along with her under her brother's pillow. The Brother went to bed, and the tooth passed through the pillow and killed him.

His wife the princess noticed nothing at first. Thinking that he lay at her side so quietly and did not speak to her because of something she had done, she begged him to tell her what it was. But he did not reply, so she took him by the hand, and it felt cold as ice. She screamed and called for help, and Protius, who had been lying by the door, rushed up and—smack!—kissed the dead man on the lips. The Brother came back to life, but Protius fell dead at his feet. Nedviga then kissed Protius, and she dropped dead just as he came back to life.

"Kiss Nedviga, Bear!" Protius cried.

The bear kissed Nedviga, and lo! — he dropped dead, and Nedviga came back to life. And so it went till it was the fox's turn to die, and as there was no one left to give her the kiss of life, she knew that she would stay dead. Now, the fox was too sly to let that happen. Dragging the bear to the door, she kissed him quickly and was out of the room before anyone knew what had happened. The Devil-Dragon's tooth popped out of the bear's body and flew after her, but got stuck in the door that she had been wise enough to close behind her.

So there they all were alive and well and as happy as you please because the tooth could not harm any of them any more!

And as for the Sister, she was punished just as the tsar's servant had been. They tied her to the tail of a wild horse and turned the horse loose in a field.