“At the pike’s behest, and at my request, go, hatchet, now, and cut down wood; and do you, wood, come of yourself to the room, and stow yourself within the stove.” Forthwith, the hatchet, without anyone taking it, hopped forth, and began to cut away, and the wood of itself came into the room, and stowed itself in the stove, at the sight of which the sisters-in-law wondered much at the craft of Emelian; and every day, when the fool only ordered the hatchet to go out and cut wood, the hatchet went and cut some. And in this manner he lived with his sisters-in-law for some time. At length, his sisters-in-law said to him: “Emelian! we have no wood, so pray go out into the forest and cut some.” The fool said: “Why don’t you go yourselves?” “How should we go?” replied his sisters-in-law; “the forest is a great way off, and as it is now winter, it is too cold for us to go to the forest for wood.” But the fool said to them: “I am lazy.” “Lazy!” cried his sisters-in-law; “if you don’t go you will soon be cold. But if you refuse to go, when your brothers, our husbands, come home we will order them to give you neither red caftan, red cap, nor red boots.” The fool, wishing to obtain the red caftan, cap and boots, felt obliged to go to the forest for wood, and getting up from the petsch, he began to put on his stockings and boots, and to dress himself; and when he was quite dressed he went out into the court, and drawing the sledge out of the shed, and taking with him a rope and hatchet, he mounted the sledge, and bade his sisters-in-law open the gate. The sisters-in-law, seeing that he got into the sledge without putting the horses to it, for the fool did not lead out the horses, said to him: “How is this, Emelian? you have got into the sledge without putting the horses to it.” But he said to them that he had no need of horses, and only wanted them to open the gate. The sisters-in-law did so, and the fool as he sat in the sledge, said: “At the pike’s behest, and at my request, set forward, sledge, to the forest.” At these words the sledge forthwith went forth. The country people living around were quite astounded to see Emelian riding in the sledge without horses, and going with such speed that, even if the best pair of horses in the world had been fastened to the sledge, it would have been impossible to go quicker. Now as it was necessary for the fool, in order to reach the forest, to go through the town, he drove through it at full speed; but as he did not know that it was necessary for him to cry out, in order that the people might not be run over, he drove through the city without crying to the people to get out of the way, and ran over a great number of them, and although they gave chase to him, yet it was impossible to overtake him. Emelian, having passed through the city and reached the wood, stopped the sledge. The fool then getting out of the sledge, said: