Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar/King Vladimir and the Skeleton
KING VLADIMIR AND THE SKELETON.
Many, many years ago, there lived in a certain unknown kingdom a young king, called Vladimir, with his three beautiful sisters, Princess Natalia, Princess Olga, and Princess Anna, of whom he was very fond, doing everything in his power to amuse them and make them happy, for when the parents died they left the three princesses in young Vladimir's charge, telling him to be both father and mother to them.
"And on no account let your sisters refuse the first offers of marriage that they have," were the last words of the young king's parents.
One fine day King Vladimir and his three sisters, who had grown to be tall and beautiful girls, went out for a stroll in the magnificent grounds of the palace. Suddenly the clear blue sky became overcast with an angry black cloud, heralding the approach of thunder.
"Let us return to the palace," said the young king, "before the storm comes."
They had hardly time to get back when the thunder roared and the lightning flashed, and the ceiling of the apartment in which they were, opened and in flew a tremendous big black falcon; but the moment the bird touched the ground it changed into a handsome youth!
"Good-day to you, King Vladimir!" he said. "I have been all over the wide world, and now I want to marry, and settle down in my own country. I have come to ask for the hand of your sister, Princess Natalia."
"If you really care for my sister," returned the king, remembering his parents' last words, "and my sister does not object, I am quite willing to have you for my brother-in-law, and will not stand in the way. Take her, and may the spirits of goodness bless you."
Princess Natalia had no objection whatever; in fact, she rather liked the idea, for the young man was wonderfully good-looking.
So the falcon married the princess, and took her with him to his native land.
A whole year had passed away since the falcon's visit to the palace, and the young king again proposed to go for a stroll in the grounds with his two sisters, when they once more beheld a black cloud in the blue sky.
"Another terrible thunderstorm," said King Vladimir; "let us go back to the palace before we get drenched."
They had just got safely in when down came the hail amidst the thunder and lightning. Again the ceiling opened; but this time an eagle flew in, and, changing itself into a young man, better-looking, if possible, than the first one, said,—
"Good-day, King Vladimir! Good-day, fair princesses. I have travelled all over the world, and am now going to return to my own kingdom. I have come here on my way because I wish to marry your sister, Princess Olga,"
"Very well," answered King Vladimir. "If you love my sister, I do not see why you should not have her. What do you say, Olga?"
Princess Olga, like her eldest sister, made no objection, but married the eagle, and returned with him to his native land, wherever that might be.
Another year went by.
"Come, sister!" said King Vladimir, "let us go for a walk in the garden."
They strolled about for some time, when again a dark cloud was seen in the sky. Again the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed.
"Let us make haste and return to the palace, or we shall soon be wet through," the king exclaimed.
They just got inside when the hail came down, and the storm became greater than ever. Then a tremendous crash was heard above them; the ceiling parted in two, and in flew a big black crow, which, however, immediately changed itself into a wonderfully handsome youth, far better looking than either of the two others.
"Well, King Vladimir, how are you?" asked the youth. "I have been enjoying myself all over the world, and now I am on my way to my own country, where I intend to settle down comfortably; but, first of all, I have come here to ask your sister, Princess Anna, to marry me."
"I think I can answer for my sister," King Vladimir replied; "for you are young and handsome, and likely to make her a good husband; so, if you really care for her, take her, and may my best wishes attend you."
The crow married Princess Anna, and took her off with him to his own kingdom.
When King Vladimir was left all alone in the palace without his sisters, he very soon became heartily sick of everything, and thought he would go in search of the three princesses, and pay them a visit.
He set out on his journey, taking with him his favourite silver spoon, fork, and snuff-box. He went on and on until he came to a field, where there was an army, which had sustained a severe defeat, the ground being strewn with the dead and wounded.
"If there is a man among you who is not quite dead," cried King Vladimir, "would he kindly tell me who it was that defeated this army?"
"Marie-Marevna, the beautiful queen," replied one unfortunate creature, rising from the ground, in answer to King Vladimir's question.
The king continued his journey. He had not gone very far before he came to another field, where he found an encampment, and out of one of the tents came the beautiful queen Marie-Marevna. When she saw the king, she at once advanced towards him,—
"Good-day to you, King Vladimir!" she exclaimed, smiling sweetly. "What brings you here? Do you come on business, or for pleasure? Are you coming against your will?"
"No, certainly not, beautiful queen; I am coming for pleasure,"
"Well, then, if you are in no very great hurry, stay with us in the camp for a short time."
King Vladimir was delighted, and accepted the invitation eagerly. He spent two whole days in Marie-Marevna's society, and fell desperately in love with her, and ended by marrying her. The happy couple then left the encampment, and went off to Marie-Marevna's kingdom, where they both lived happily for a long time.
At last another war broke out, and Marie-Marevna was obliged to join her army, and leave King Vladimir to amuse himself, and look after the palace.
"Go wherever you please," she told him; "do whatever you like; but mind you do not open this little door, or bad luck will attend you."
King Vladimir, of course, promised to obey her, and for some time he did not venture near the forbidden door; but one day feeling rather lonely, and not knowing what to do with himself, he walked about the long galleries and oak staircases, until he found himself right in front of the door. He stopped before it, and hesitated; then, not being able to subdue his curiosity any longer, he turned the key, and—entered. He looked round him, and beheld a dreadful-looking skeleton hanging from the ceiling by twelve iron chains!
"Have pity on me. King Vladimir!" begged the skeleton. "Give me something to drink! I have been hanging here ten years in torment, without having a drop to drink or a morsel to eat. My throat is as dry as it can possibly be. Have some pity on me, King Vladimir!"
The king fetched a whole pail of water, and gave it to the skeleton, who at once finished every drop, and asked for more.
"One pailful will not quench my thirst, good king. Give me more!"
King Vladimir brought another, which vanished as quickly as the first.
"Give me more!" cried the skeleton.
When the creature had finished the third pailful his strength seemed to return to him. He shook the twelve iron chains, and with one wrench forced them all asunder, and the skeleton was free once more.
"Thank you, King Vladimir," he said; "but now you will see your Marie-Marevna no more."
And, with a tremendous jump into the air, the skeleton sprang out of the window and flew away, leaving the unfortunate young king in a very unhappy state of mind. But how much greater was his grief when, on looking out of the window into the garden below, he saw the skeleton seize his beautiful queen, Marie-Marevna, who had just returned home from the war, and fly away with her.
After crying bitterly for some time, King Vladimir at last decided to go in search of his queen. "Come what may," he thought, "I must find her again."
Away he went, not forgetting to take his silver spoon, fork, and snuff-box. He walked on and on for two days without resting, and on the dawn of the third he came to a splendid palace, in the grounds in front of which stood an old oak-tree, on which sat a big falcon. As soon as the bird saw him, he flew down to the ground, and changed himself into the handsome youth who had married the young king's eldest sister, Princess Natalia.
"Well, my dear brother-in-law," exclaimed the handsome youth, "how is the world treating you?"
Just at that moment Princess Natalia ran out of the palace to welcome her brother, and began embracing him and asking all kinds of questions. King Vladimir stayed with them for three days, and then said,—
"I can stop here no longer, much as I should like to do so; but I have to go and find my wife, Marie-Marevna, the beautiful queen."
"Ah! my friend," returned the falcon, "you will find that a very difficult task; but as you are bent on going, leave your silver spoon with us, so that we may not forget you."
King Vladimir did so, and went his way. He walked on for two whole days, and on the third he came to a still more magnificent palace, in front of which stood an oak-tree, and on it sat an eagle.
The eagle, however, flew down the moment he saw the young king, and changing himself into a handsome young man, called to his wife, the Princess Olga.
"Come out!" he cried. "Our dear brother has arrived."
Princess Olga ran out at once, and, throwing her arms round her brother's neck, asked him how he was, and what he intended doing with himself, and a great many more questions, which ended in making him stay with them for a few days. But at the end of the third day King Vladimir became restless, and said,—
"I must not stay here any longer; I have to go in search of my wife, Marie-Marevna, the beautiful queen."
"It will not be an easy task," replied the eagle; "but leave your silver fork with us, in remembrance of you."
King Vladimir obeyed, and continued his journey. On the morning of the third day he arrived at a still more beautiful palace, and there also stood an oak-tree, on which sat the big black crow who had married the Princess Anna, the king's youngest sister.
"Princess Anna," exclaimed the crow, changing himself into a handsome young man on beholding the king, "come as quickly as you can, for your dear brother is here."
After the usual greetings were exchanged, they all went into the palace, where King Vladimir spent three very merry days in the company of his sister and her husband, the crow; but on the third day he bid them good-bye.
"I must go and find my wife, Marie-Marevna, the beautiful queen."
"Not a very easy thing, my brother," the crow replied. "However, leave us your silver snuff-box, so that we may not forget you."
King Vladimir gave them the snuff-box, and went on farther. After a three days' journey, he came to the skeleton's palace, a horrid, gloomy place, where, after some difficulty, he found the beautiful Marie-Marevna, who, when she saw her dear one, threw her arms round him and began to weep bitterly.
"Oh, King Vladimir!" she cried, "why did you not listen to me? Why did you open that door after I begged you not to do so, and let that wretched skeleton loose?"
"Forgive me, dearest. Try to forget the past, and come with me; let us fly from here while the skeleton is not looking!"
Marie-Marevna was at first rather afraid; but at last, after a great deal of coaxing, she condescended to accompany her husband. All this time the skeleton had been out hunting. Towards evening he turned homewards, and as he was riding along his good horse began to stumble beneath him, a thing which it had never done before.
"What is the matter with you, you dissatisfied brute?" the skeleton asked. "Is there any great misfortune in the air?"
"Yes," returned the horse; "King Vladimir has been to your palace, and carried away Marie-Marevna, the beautiful queen."
"Can we not overtake them?"
"Oh, yes! You could even sow some wheat in the ground, and wait till it grows; you could reap and thresh it, and grind it into flour, and bake five ovens full of bread, and even after that you could easily overtake King Vladimir and Marie-Marevna!"
Off rode, or rather flew, the skeleton, and in a very short time he reached the unfortunate couple.
"I will forgive you this time. King Vladimir," exclaimed the skeleton, "for running away with Marie-Marevna, and I shall endeavour to do so the second time, if you try to repeat this, because you were very kind to me when I was hanging in that room where you found me; but if you venture to come and take Marie-Marevna away from my palace a third time, then I will have no pity on you, but will cut you up into small pieces! Now, good-bye."
So saying, the skeleton seized Marie-Marevna and rode away with her, while King Vladimir seated himself on a stone and wept bitterly. But after a time, finding that all the tears in the world would not bring back his queen, he got up, shook himself, and went back to the gloomy palace where Marie-Marevna was kept prisoner. The skeleton was from home—he had gone back to his hunt.
"Come, dearest, let us fly!" the king whispered, when he found his wife.
"But he is sure to catch us again."
"Well, let him; at any rate, we shall have an hour or two to ourselves. Come!"
As the skeleton was returning from the hunt his horse again began stumbling.
"What is the matter now, you brute?" the skeleton asked. "Is there more misfortune in the air?"
"King Vladimir has been to the palace, and carried Marie-Marevna away with him."
"Shall we have time to overtake them?"
"Plenty. You could almost sow some barley and wait till it has grown, reap and thrash it, and make some beer for yourself—you might even drink it until you fall fast asleep, and when you woke up again there would be plenty of time to overtake the king and Marie-Marevna."
Away rode the skeleton on his horse, and very soon overtook the fugitives.
"I have already told you, King Vladimir," said the skeleton, "that this will be the last time that I shall forgive you. If you run away with Marie-Marevna a third time, you are a dead man!"
He took the unfortunate queen away from her husband, and off he rode.
When left alone, King Vladimir again began to weep bitterly. This time he did not know what to do—he wanted to have Marie-Marevna back again, but, on the other hand, he had no particular wish to be turned into minced meat. However, nothing was to be done; he had to chance it. So he took courage, and returned to the horrible palace, where he found Marie-Marevna, looking as miserable as she could possibly look, and in tears. The skelelon had, as usual, gone hunting.
"Come, Marie-Marevna, let us try and get away from here before the skeleton returns!" the king said.
"I am afraid he will overtake us again, King Vladimir, and you know that if he catches us this time he will cut you up—he told you so."
"I know he did; but never mind, we may be able to escape him this time. Come!"
The horse again began stumbling as the skeleton turned homewards.
"What is it?" asked the skeleton. "Is there any more misfortune in the air, you brute?"
"King Vladimir has again carried off Marie-Marevna, the beautiful queen."
The skeleton at once galloped off, and as soon as he reached King Vladimir, he seized him, cut him into several small pieces, which he carefully put into a little black box, fastened it with iron hoops, and threw it into the blue sea, and then rode away with Marie-Marevna, who was weeping bitterly.
Just at that time the silver spoon, fork, and snuff-box, which King Vladimir had given to his brothers-in-law as a remembrance of him, suddenly became black.
"Something very dreadful must have happened to our dear brother," said the falcon, the eagle, and the crow. "Let us all three go and see what it is."
So saying, they flew away together, and as they went the eagle noticed the little black box floating on the sea. He at once flew down and brought the box to the shore, where, with the help of the falcon and the crow, it was opened, and the remains of their brother-in-law, King Vladimir, were seen. The falcon at once went off in search of the water of life, while the crow went to fetch the water of death, leaving the eagle to keep watch. They soon, however, returned, and taking the pieces out of the box, they put them all properly together, and sprinkled the water of death over them. The pieces immediately became joined, and King Vladimir's body became whole again; then the birds sprinkled it over with the water of life, and up jumped King Vladimir, alive and well again!
"How long I have slept!" he cried, rubbing his eyes.
"Yes, dear brother," ansnrered the birds, "and you would have slept still longer had it not been for us. But now let us return to our different homes, and you must come back with us, King Vladimir, and make a short stay, or a long one, as you like, with each of us!"
"Many thanks, dear friends, but I must go in search of my wife, Marie-Marevna."
Then King Vladimir arrived at the skeleton's palace, and after finding his beloved wife—who was greatly astonished at seeing him alive again—he said to her,—
"I see it is perfectly useless to try and get out of the skeleton's hands, unless we can find a horse as good or better than his. Now I have no idea where to find one; so I want you to ask the skeleton how he came by his, and all about it; then you can tell me.
When the skeleton came home, and King Vladimir had left, to return again on the following day, Marie-Marevna found an opportunity of asking the necessary questions about the horse.
"I found him in the twenty-seventh kingdom, on the other side of the fiery river, where a dreadful old fairy lives, who has any amount of these wonderful horses. I served her for three days as a herdsman, and because I did my work properly, and did not lose any of the horses, she gave me one as a reward."
"But how did you cross the fiery river?"
"I have a magic handkerchief in my possession. When I waved it three times to the right, a very high bridge appeared, so high that the flames could not reach it."
On the following day, when the skeleton had gone out, King Vladimir came back, and asked Marie-Marevna whether she had done what he had told her. She at once repeated everything, and gave her husband the magic handkerchief, which she had found.
Away went the king. He crossed over the fiery river, and walked on and on for many a day without a drop to drink or a morsel to eat. Suddenly he saw, on some bushes in front of him, a beautiful foreign bird with her young.
"I think I will eat one of those little ones!" said the king aloud, "for I am very hungry, and they look tempting."
"Please don't, King Vladimir," begged the foreign bird, "for I may be of use to you shortly."
King Vladimir obeyed, and continued his journey, when he found himself in a dark forest, where he saw a beehive.
"I suppose there will be plenty of honey here," he said; "I can at least satisfy my hunger with some, for a short time."
But the queen bee flew out and cried,—
"Do not touch my honey, King Vladimir! I may soon be of use to you, if you leave it alone."
The king went on farther, and met a lioness with her cub.
"I think I shall eat that little cub, if the mother does not eat me!" said the king, "for I am dreadfully hungry, and don't mind what I eat just now."
"No! leave my cub alone, King Vladimir," the lioness answered; "do not touch it; I may be of great use to you soon."
"All right, don't be afraid!" replied the king, and went on, hardly knowing what to do for hunger.
At last he came to a curious-looking little hut, round which stood twelve poles, on eleven of which were human skulls.
"Good-day, old lady!" said King Vladimir, entering the hut, in which sat an old fairy.
"Good-day, King Vladimir! Why have you come?" Is it of your own free will, or on business?"
"I have come to serve you, and earn one of your good horses."
"Very well, King Vladimir; but you need not serve me longer than three days."
"All right, old lady; but now give me something to eat and drink. I am dying!"
The old fairy did as she was told, and then showed King Vladimir what he was to do.
Early next morning the king went to the stables, and let all the horses out; but he had hardly done so when the animals whisked their tails, and made off as hard as ever they could, into the meadows and far away. Before King Vladimir knew what had happened, they were out of sight. The king sat down on a stone, wondering what he had better do; he thought and thought, until he fell fast sleep. The sun was just setting when the king awoke, and found the beautiful foreign bird sitting on his shoulder.
"Get up, King Vladimir!" she said; "the horses are all at home and safe."
The king returned to the old fairy's hut, and heard her scolding the horses.
"Why did you come home?" she cried.
"What else were we to do?" the horses replied; "we ran off to the meadows, when down flew a number of birds of various colours, and nearly pecked our eyes out."
"Well then; you must not go to the meadows to-morrow, but go and disperse in the dark forests."
On the following morning the old fairy woke King Vladimir, and told him to go and look after the horses.
"Take care, King Vladimir!" she said; "if you lose one of my horses, your head shall be put on the twelfth pole."
But the moment King Vladimir drove the horses into the fields, the animals galloped away in all directions into the surrounding forests.
The king again sat down on a stone, and began thinking what he had better do, until he fell fast asleep.
The sun had disappeared behind a forest, when the lioness came running up to the sleeping king.
"Get up, King Vladimir!" she said; "the horses are all safe in their stables."
The king arose, and went back to the fairy's hut, where he heard her scolding the horses as before.
"What made you come back, you good-for-nothings?"
"We could not help ourselves; the moment we got into the forests, a number of wild beasts came rushing out from all sides, and nearly tore us to pieces."
"Well, then, you must go into the blue sea to-morrow."
In the morning the bad fairy sent King Vladimir to look after the horses.
"Mind you don't lose any of them, or your head shall be stuck on the twelfth pole."
But as soon as the king opened the stable doors, and let the horses out, the creatures at once galloped off before King Vladimir knew what had happened, and ran straight into the blue sea, and were covered up to their necks with water. King Vladimir could do nothing, so he seated himself on a stone to think, where he very soon fell asleep.
"Get up, King Vladimir," said a voice, and on waking up the young king saw the old bee, whose acquaintance he had made in the forest three days ago.
"Get up; the horses are all safe. Go back; but do not enter the hut, or let the fairy see you. Go into the very last stable, where you will find a mangy pony, lying on some hay in a corner; take it, and at midnight ride away on it as hard as you can."
King Vladimir thanked the bee, and went into the stable, where he hid himself behind some hay until midnight. He had hardly done so, when he heard the old fairy begin scolding the horses in the other stables.
"What made you return, you brutes?"
"We could not help ourselves, for when we had got into the sea a number of bees flew down upon us, and began stinging us so severely that we had to get out of the water, and run home as hard as we could."
The old fairy then went back to her hut and fell fast asleep. At midnight King Vladimir saddled the sick pony and rode away on it, until he reached the fiery river; he waved the magic handkerchief three times to the right, and immediately a very, very high bridge appeared; he crossed over, and then waving his handkerchief twice to the left, the bridge became very thin, and almost invisible.
In the morning when the fairy awoke, and found that both the king and the mangy pony were missing, she flew into a rage and gave chase.
"What a splendid bridge!" she cried, when she arrived at the fiery river; "just the very thing I want."
She commenced crossing over, but just as she got half way down went the bridge, broken right in two, and the old fairy fell head over heels into the fiery river.
Meanwhile King Vladimir led his pony into the green meadows, and made it drink some water from the silvery brooks, until it became quite well and strong again, seeming to be a wonderfully handsome and powerful horse.
In a very short time King Vladimir arrived at the skeleton's castle, and Marie-Marevna came running out to meet him.
"What have you been doing all this time?" she asked.
King Vladimir explained, and told her all that he had gone through.
"But now," he continued, "I have come to fetch you away."
"I am afraid to go, the skeleton may overtake us again."
"No, I don't think that is at all likely, for you see I have a splendid horse now, which runs quicker than the birds can fly."
They seated themselves on the animal, and away they went.
The skeleton who, of course, was not at home at the time, but had gone out hunting, now turned his horse round and rode back to his palace.
"What is the matter?" he asked, as his horse began stumbling again.
"King Vladimir came to your palace and has carried Marie-Marevna away with him."
"Can we overtake them?"
"Goodness only knows! King Vladimir has got such a splendid horse now, much better than I."
"Well, we can at any rate try our best to overtake them."
After a very, very long ride, the skeleton came in sight of the king and Marie-Marevna riding on a beautiful horse; he quickened his pace, and coming up to King Vladimir's side, he drew his sharp sword, and was about to thrust it into the young king's side, when King Vladimir's horse gave the skeleton such a severe kick that he fell down on to the ground, the animal then rushed at him, and trampling on his head crushed it like an egg. King Vladimir then piled up some wood, and putting the skeleton on it, set it all on fire, and reduced it to ashes, which were carried away by the wind.
Marie-Marevna seated herself on the skeleton's horse, while King Vladimir mounted his own, and they rode away on a visit first to the crow's kingdom; then to that of the eagle; and, lastly, the falcon's dominion. And at each place they were received with open arms.
"We never expected to see you any more, dear brother," they said; "not having heard of you for such an age, we had quite given you up. However, we can well understand now why you were so very anxious to get your wife back again; for such a beautiful woman as Marie-Marevna was never seen."
The young couple enjoyed their visits immensely; they stayed a long time in each kingdom, and then returned to King Vladimir's dominions, where they lived happily for many a long year.