Russian Folk-TalesAfanas'ev, A. N. (Aleksandr Nikolaevich)
General
Russian Folk-Tales
Afanas'ev, A. N. (Aleksandr Nikolaevich)
Folklore -- Russia
“No, you won’t catch me this time, you old beast!” said Fílyushka.
“Don’t be unkind—do just take an apple from me; I’ll throw it to you!”
“Right: throw it down.”
Then Yagá threw him down an apple: he stretched out his hand, and she
clutched it and leapt over hills, and valleys, and dark forests, so fast
that it seemed like a twinkling of an eye, got him into her home, washed
him, went out and put him into the bunk.
In the morning she made ready to go out, and ordered her daughter,
“Listen! heat the oven well, very hot, and roast me Chufíl-Fílyushka for
supper.” And she went out to seek further booty.
The daughter went and got the oven thoroughly hot, took out and bound
Fílyushka, and put him on the shovel, and was just going to shove him
into the oven, when he went and knocked his forehead with his feet.
“That’s not the way, Fílyushka,” said the daughter of the Yagá-Búra.
“How then?” he answered. “I don’t understand.”
“Look here, just let go; I’ll show you.” She went and lay down on the
shovel in the right fashion.
But, although Chufíl-Fílyushka was small, he was no fool! He stuffed her
at once into the oven, and shut the oven door with a bang.
About two or three hours later Fílyushka smelt a smell of good roast
meat, opened the door, and took out the daughter of the Yagá-Búra well
cooked; buttered it over, put it into the frying-pan and covered it with
a towel, and put it into the bunk; then he climbed up to the roof-tree
and took away the business-day pestle and mortar of the Yagá-Búra.
About evening time, the Yagá-Búra came in, went straight to the bunk and
took the roast meat out; ate it all up, collected all the bones, laid
them out on the ground in rows, and began to roll on them. But somehow
she could not find her daughter, and thought she had gone away to
another cottage to weave. But suddenly, whilst she was rolling, she
said, “My dear daughter, do come to me and help me roll Fílyushka’s
little bones!”
Then Fílyushka cried out from the rafters: “Roll away, mother, and stand
on your daughter’s little bones!”
“Are you there, you brigand! You just wait, and I’ll give it you!”
But little Chufíl was not frightened, and when the Yagá-Búra, gnashing
her teeth, stamping on the ground, had got up to the ceiling, he just
got hold of the pestle and with all his might struck her on the
forehead, and down she flopped. Then Fílyushka climbed up on to the
roof, and saw some geese flying, and called out to them, “Lend me your
wings; I want wings to carry me home.”
They lent him their wings, and he flew home.
But they had long, long ago been praying for the repose of his soul at
home, and how glad they were to see him turn up alive and sound! So they
changed the requiem for a merry festival, and lived out their lives, and
lived on to receive more good yet!
DONOTKNOW
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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