Fables for Children, Stories for Children, Natural Science Stories, Popular Education, Decembrists, Moral TalesTolstoy, Leo, graf
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Fables for Children, Stories for Children, Natural Science Stories, Popular Education, Decembrists, Moral Tales
Tolstoy, Leo, graf
Russian literature -- Translations into English
One day Iván's watch-dog grew sick: he had the mange and was dying. Iván
was sorry for him, and he took some bread from the dumb girl, put it in
his hat, and took it out and threw it to the dog. But the cap was torn,
and with the bread one of the roots fell out. The old dog swallowed it
with the bread. And no sooner had he swallowed it than he jumped up,
began to play and to bark, and wagged his tail,--he was well again.
When his father and his mother saw that, they were surprised.
"With what did you cure the dog?"
And Iván said to them:
"I had two roots with which to cure all diseases, and he swallowed one."
It happened that at that time the king's daughter grew ill, and the king
proclaimed in all the towns and villages that he would reward him who
should cure her, and that if it should be an unmarried man, he should
have his daughter for a wife. The same was also proclaimed in Iván's
village.
Father and mother called Iván, and said to him:
"Have you heard what the king has proclaimed? You said that you had a
root, so go and cure the king's daughter. You will get a fortune for the
rest of your life."
"All right," he said. And he got ready to go. He was dressed up, and
went out on the porch, and saw a beggar woman with a twisted arm.
"I have heard that you can cure," she said. "Cure my arm, for I cannot
dress myself."
And Iván said:
"All right!" He took the root, gave it to the beggar woman, and told her
to swallow it.
She swallowed it, and was cured at once and could wave her arm. Iván's
parents came out to see him off on his way to the king, and when they
heard that he had given away the last root and had nothing left with
which to cure the king's daughter, they began to upbraid him.
"You have taken pity on the beggar woman, but you have no pity on the
king's daughter."
But he hitched his horse, threw a little straw into the hamper, and was
getting ready to drive away.
"Where are you going, fool?"
"To cure the king's daughter."
"But you have nothing to cure her with!"
"All right," he said, and drove away.
He came to the king's palace, and the moment he stepped on the porch,
the king's daughter was cured.
The king rejoiced, and sent for Iván. He had him all dressed up:
"Be my son-in-law!" he said.
"All right," he said.
And Iván married the king's daughter. The king died soon after, and Iván
became king. Thus all three brothers were kings.
IX.
The three brothers were reigning.
The elder brother, Semén the Warrior, lived well. With his straw
soldiers he got him real soldiers. He commanded his people to furnish a
soldier to each ten homes, and every such soldier had to be tall of
stature, and white of body, and clean of face. And he gathered a great
many such soldiers and taught them all what to do. And if any one acted
contrary to his will, he at once sent his soldiers against that person,
and did as he pleased. And all began to be afraid of him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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