THE SHEPHERD

There was once a shepherd who did nothing but herd sheep from his earliest years.

One day a boulder weighing eight poods fell near him, from the sky, and he played with it as with a toy. If the mood was upon him he would tie it to his whip, hurl it up into the sky and lie down for a sleep. And at the end of the day, when he woke, it would come flying back and plunge into the ground as it fell. Or else he would leave his coat lying in the steppe with the stone on top of it, and, knowing that the stone was far too heavy for them, enjoy the sight of a man or even two or three men vainly trying to lift it.

The shepherd's mother scolded him for playing with the boulder, for she feared that he might strain himself, but he paid her no heed.

Now, it so happened that the city where the tsar lived was laid siege to by a dragon. The dragon brought stones weighing all of thirty poods to the city, threw them down and began building a palace, and he demanded that the tsar give him his daughter in marriage. The tsar was frightened and had a message sent to all corners of his kingdom, asking all and sundry if they knew of anyone who was strong and fearless enough to fight and slay the dragon. But no one had heard of such a one.

News of this reached the shepherd who said boastfully:

"I can kill the dragon with my whip!"

He may have been joking, but those who heard him took him at his word and informed the tsar of the boast, and the tsar sent for him at once.

Seeing that he was so young, the tsar said:

"Are you sure you can do what you said? You are much too young."

"I can," said the shepherd.

The tsar then put a regiment of singers and one of musicians under his command, and the shepherd shouted orders with such confidence as if he had at least twenty years of army service behind him.

The tsar watched and threw up his hands in surprise.

The shepherd led the regiments to within a stone's throw of the dragon's palace and said:

"I will go on ahead and you stay here and watch. If you see smoke pouring from the palace chimney you will know that I got the better of the dragon; but if you see flames spurt from it it will mean that he got the better of me."

And leaving them there, he made for the palace alone.

Now, the dragon knew himself to be very strong, and he kept away all who wanted to come near him merely by sending his fiery breath at them. So that was just what he did when he saw the shepherd, but all to no avail, for the shepherd did not so much as bat an eye.

"What brings you here, my brave lad?" roared the dragon. "Do you want to fight me or to make peace with me?"

"I am here to fight you, Dragon! Do you think I would stoop to make peace with the likes of you?" the shepherd replied.

"Go and rest and pick up a little strength and come back in another three years!" the dragon said. "No, I have more than enough strength as it is!"

"What weapon are you going to use?"

"My whip."

And he showed the dragon the whip, the thong of which was made of the whole of a bullock's skin and had the eight-pood boulder attached to its end.

"Come, you begin!" the dragon cried.

"No, you do!"

The dragon waited no more. He came up to the shepherd and struck him with his sword which was nine feet long and made of the tough-est steel, but the sword broke to pieces, and the shepherd remained unharmed.

"Take care! Here I come now!" he cried.

And he gave the dragon such a blow with his whip that the dragon dropped dead on the spot.

Smoke poured from the palace chimney, and, seeing it, the shepherd's men were overjoyed. The musicians began playing, the singers singing, and the tsar came out to meet the shepherd, and, taking his arm, led him to his palace. He gave him his daughter in marriage, and built the young couple a palace of their own, and they settled there and were very happy.

But this displeased the tsars of some neighboring kingdoms, who said that a common shepherd should never have been allowed to marry a princess. The tsar regretted having done it and had a message sent to all corners of his kingdom asking those who thought themselves strong enough to kill the shepherd to come forward. Two such men were found and they were armed and sent to fight him.

They came to his palace, and the shepherd stepped out to meet them and asked:

"What brings you here, my brave lads? Do you want to fight me or to make peace with me?"

"To fight you!" they replied.

They waited no more, and the battle began.

The first man came at the shepherd and struck him a blow with his sword on the left shoulder, and the sword broke to pieces; then the second came at him and struck him a blow with his sword on the right shoulder, but, though the sword did not break, it cut through his shirt.

After that it was the shepherd's turn, and he rose to his full height, seized both the men and pressed them one against the other so hard that they were crushed to death. Their bones strewed the ground, and the shepherd gathered some of them and took them to the tsar. And so angry was he that he did not address him as custom bade but said:

"Do you see these bones, tsar? Take care lest that is all that will be left of you too!"

And this so frightened the tsar that from that time on he left the shepherd in peace.