THE FIRE-BIRD AND THE WOLF

There was once a tsar who had three sons. Two of them were clever young men and the third was a fool.

One day the three came to their father and begged him to let them roam the world and see other kingdoms.

Said the father when he had heard them out:

"You must each choose a horse from my herds first," (for, being a tsar, he owned not one but many herds) "and then go where you will."

The horses were driven to a field near the palace, and the three sons went to look at them.

The two elder sons chose the two most handsome of the horses, but their younger brother picked the worst-looking, skinniest nag there was. Then the three got on their horses and set out along the same road. By and by they came to a crossroad with three posts marking three roads, one running to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead. Something was written on each of the posts, and the brothers rode up to see what it was. The sign on the first post said: "Follow this road, and you will eat your fill but your horse will starve"; the sign on the second post said: "Follow this road, and you will starve but your horse will eat its fill"; and the sign on the third post said: "Follow this road, and a wolf will ,eat up your horse."

The brothers decided to each take a different road. The elder brother took the first road, the middle brother the second road, and the fool the third road.

The fool had only gone a little way when he met a wolf coming rapidly toward him.

"Get off your horse, for I am going to eat him up!" he said.

There was nothing to be done, so the fool jumped off the horse, hung the saddle over his shoulder and, leaving the horse where it was, went down the road on foot.

By and by the selfsame wolf caught up with him and said:

"Get on my back and tell me where you want to go!"

"Wherever you want to take me!" the fool replied.

The wolf took him to a great forest in the middle of which stood a big hut. Beside the hut rose a pole, on the pole, attached by a rope, hung a cage, and in the cage sat a bird that glowed and sparkled.

The fool turned to the wolf.

"Do you think I can get that bird for myself?" he asked.

"Yes, if you climb the pole and take down the cage without touching the rope," the wolf replied.

The fool climbed the pole, but in taking down the cage he touched the rope, and lo! — a bell began ringing, ting-a-ling-a-ling, and the guards came running.

"What were you trying to do?" they asked.

"I wanted to take this bird for myself!" the fool replied.

Said the guards:

"That is not an ordinary bird but a fire-bird, and if you want us to give it to you you must bring us a gold and silver horse in return."

The fool went back to where the wolf was waiting for him.

"Where is the bird?" the wolf asked.

"In its cage," the fool replied.

And he told the wolf the whole story.

"I must find a gold and silver horse," said he.

"Be quick, get on my back and we'll go after it!" the wolf said.

The fool climbed on the wolf's back, and away they rode!

They were on the way for a long time, until at last they came to another forest in the middle of which stood a stable of stone. From it came the neighing of horses.

Said the wolf to the fool:

"Go to that stable yonder and lead out the first horse you see. And hold him by the mane, mind you, do not touch the bridle!"

The fool went to the stable, but forgot the wolf's warning and took the horse by the bridle, and lo! —the bits jangled, and the guards came running.

"What are you doing here?" they cried.

"I wanted to take this horse for myself," the fool said.

"Bring us the maid who lives seven versts away in an oak wood, and you can have him!"

The fool went back to where the wolf was waiting.

"Where is the horse?" the wolf asked.

"In the stable," the fool replied, and he told the wolf what the guards had said.

Away they rode, and the wolf brought the fool to an oak wood on the slope of a hill. And lo! — whom should they see out walking there but a lovely young maid and her servant.

Said the wolf to the fool:

"Go to that maid yonder and tell her that you are very thirsty. She will send her servant to fetch some water, and you must seize the maid quickly and bring her to me."

The fool did as the wolf told him. He came up to the maid and said:

"Do send for some water, I am very thirsty."

She did as he asked, and the fool seized her and hastened to where the wolf was waiting. They climbed on the wolf's back and away they rode!

They came to where the fool had tried to steal the gold and silver horse, and the wolf stopped and said:

"I will change myself into a maid, and you will take me to the guards. They will give you the gold and silver horse, and you must climb on his back and go as fast as possible along the road that leads to where the fire-bird is. I will catch up with you later."

No sooner said than done. The wolf changed into the maid, and the fool took him to the guards who gave him the gold and silver horse in return. Then he put the maid he had stolen on the horse's back, climbed on himself and rode away along the road that led to where the fire-bird was.

And as for the guards, they took the maid he had left into the house and began offering her apples and berries and other good things. The maid ate her fill and then said:

"Do let me out, I would like to take a little walk."

They let her out, but before they knew what had happened she changed back into a wolf. The wolf took to his heels and so fast did he run that he left clouds of dust behind him.

He ran and he ran and by the time he caught up with the fool and the maid they had reached the place where the fire-bird was kept.

Said the wolf to the fool:

"I am going to change into a gold and silver horse, and you will take me to the guards who will give you the fire-bird in return. You must then get on the back of the real gold and silver horse and make for the road where you parted with your brothers. Wait for me there, but do not fall asleep if you don't want your brothers to kill you."

The fool did as the wolf told him. He got the fire-bird in exchange for the sham horse, put the maid on the real horse, climbed on behind, and away they rode!

They came to wher6 the three roads merged into one, and, letting the horse graze in freedom, the fool lay down for a rest. The fire-bird sang in its cage, and the maid said:

"Please don't fall asleep! Your brothers will kill both you and me if you do."

Some time passed, and who should come riding up but the fool's two brothers! The maid hurried to where the fool lay, and, seeing that he was asleep, began trying to wake him. But before she could do so the two brothers were upon them.

"Look! That's our brother the fool lying there asleep," one of them said. "Let us kill him, and then the horse, the fire-bird and the maid will be ours."

They wasted no words and killed him, and, leaving him lying there, took the horse, the fire-bird and the maid and rode away.

They were no sooner gone than the wolf came running up. He looked, and there lay the fool, dead, a crow pecking at him and a snake sucking the blood out of him. He killed the snake and said to the crow:

"Fetch me some healing and living water or else I will kill you too!"

"What shall I use to carry it in?" the crow asked.

The wolf plucked a large leaf and made two tiny boxes out of it. He tied one to the crow's left leg, and the other to its right leg, and set the crow free. The next day at the stroke of noon the crow came flying back with the water. The wolf sprinkled the fool with the healing water first, and his wounds healed, and then he sprinkled him with the living water, and the fool came alive!

"Oh my, what a long sleep I had!" he said.

"If it wasn't for me you would have slept on and never awakened! said the wolf. "Get on my back and let me take you to your father's palace, we must get there before your elder brother marries the maid!"

The fool climbed on the wolf's back and away they rode!

They came to the palace, and there in front of it, waiting to take the tool's elder brother and his bride to church, stood a coach with the fire-bird inside it and the gold and silver horse harnessed to it.

Seeing the fool, the horse ran straight to him, dragging the coach after it, and the fire-bird broke open the window, flew out and perched on his shoulder.

Just then the palace door opened and out of the palace came the fool's elder brother, with the maid, her eyes red with weeping, beside him.

When the maid saw the fool, she rushed to him.

"Here is the man who carried me off, and it is him I will marry!'- she cried.

The tsar stood there and stared and could not make heads or tails of it all till the fool told him of all that had happened.

"You can do with your brothers as you wish!" the tsar said.

But the fool was too happy to think of revenge. He forgave his brothers, married the maid, and had a whole sheep roasted for the wolf.