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Ukrainian folk tale

Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On and His Brother

Translated by Irina Zheleznova
freebooksforkids.net
Illustrated by V.Chernuha

Not in this land of ours but in the thrice-ten realm there lived a tsar and a tsarina or maybe it was a prince and a princess who had two sons. One day the prince said to his sons:

"Let us go to the shore of the sea and listen to the sea people singing their songs."

They set out on their way and were passing through a forest when the prince decided to find out which of his sons wanted to rule the realm in his stead and which to lead a modest life and husband the land. He saw three oak trees ahead and turned to his elder son.

"Tell me, my son, what use do you think those three oak trees should be put to?" he asked.

"I would build a barn out of them or else saw them into planks," the son replied.

"You'll make a good husbandman," said the prince, and, turning to his younger son, asked:

"And what about you, my son, to what use would you put the oaks?"

"Had I my will and my way," the younger son replied, "I'd cut down one and lay it across the tops of the other two, and I'd hang all the lords and princes there are."

The prince scratched his head and fell silent.

They came to the seashore and stood watching the fish at play, and the prince came up behind his younger son and pushed him into the water.

"Better that you should die than that others should die at your hands!" he cried.

But no sooner did the younger son fall into the water than a whale swallowed him and he found himself in its stomach where he could move freely about. Not long after the whale also swallowed a number of carts together with the horses and bullocks that were harnessed to them, and the younger son found enough food in the carts to feed himself. There was a pipe, a steel and some tobacco in one of them, and he filled and lit the pipe and puffed away at it. He smoked three pipes one after another, and the whale, overpowered by the smoke, swam up close to the shore and fell asleep.

Now, some hunters happened to be on the shore just then, and one of them saw the whale.

"We've been all over the forest and found no game," he said. "Let's shoot the whale — see it? — it's very close to us."

They killed the whale and then fetched some axes and began chopping it up into pieces when all of a sudden they heard someone call from inside:

"Stop, brothers! Chop up the whale if you must but don't kill me!"

The hunters were frightened and took to their heels, and the younger son climbed out through a hole they had made in the whale's side and seated himself on the shore. He was quite naked, for he had spent a whole year in the whale's stomach and all the clothing he had on had rotted away.

He sat there lost in thought and asked himself what he was going to do.

Now, the elder son had fared differently, for the old prince had died and he was left to rule the realm in his stead.

Some time passed, and the judges and senators ruled that it was time for their young prince to marry. So off the prince set with his men to seek a bride for himself, and when they had been on the way for some days they saw a man as naked as the day he was born sitting on the seashore.

The prince turned to one of his servants.

"Go and find out who that man is!" he said.

The servant did as he was told, and, coming up to the younger son, said:

"Good morning!"

"Good morning to you!" the younger son rejoined.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On. And who are you?"

"I am the prince's servant. We are out seeking a wife for him."

"Go and tell your prince that he will never find himself a wife without my help."

The servant went back to the prince and told him what Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On had said, and the prince ordered a shirt and a pair of pants to be taken to him. And Ivan jumped into the water, had a bathe and then dressed himself. They brought him to the prince and he said to him:

"You have let me join you, so now you must listen to me and do as I say. If you do we will get back to our own realm; but if you don't we will all perish."

The prince heard him out and he told his servants to do as he said.

On they rode, and all of a sudden there before them was a whole army of mice. The prince was all for riding on and trampling the mice underfoot, but Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On said:

"No, wait, we must not touch the mice!"

They turned off the road and let the mice pass, and as the last of the mice passed them, it glanced back and said:

"Many thanks to you, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On! You helped me save my army and I'll help you save yours."

They rode on again, and lo! — there before them was a whole army of mosquitoes, and so many were they that the eye could not take in all of them. The mosquito in command of the army flew up to Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On and said:

"Come, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On, let my soldiers drink of your blood! If you do, we will come to your aid if ever you need it; but if you don't, you will never get back to your kingdom."

And Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On at once took off his shirt and had his hands bound so as not to kill even one of the mosquitoes by accident, and the mosquitoes clung to him and sucked his blood and only flew away when they felt they had had enough.

On rode the prince and his party along the shore and they met a man who had just caught two pikes.

Said Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On to the prince:

"Let us ask the man to sell us those two pikes and throw them back into the sea!"

"Why should we do that?" asked the prince.

"Don't ask me why, just do as I say!"

They bought the two pikes and threw them back into the sea, and before swimming away the pikes glanced back at them and said:

"Many thanks to you, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On! You saved our lives, so we will do you a good turn too some day."

A tale is quick in the telling, but a deed is long in the doing, and the prince and his men were on the way for a week or more before they came to the thrice-ten-realm, a land far removed from their own. Now, it was a dragon who ruled the realm, and there were huge houses there with a fence of iron stakes around them, all of them save the twelve closest to the gate crowned with human skulls.

They rode up closer, and the prince felt troubled.

"Are not those twelve stakes meant to be crowned with our heads, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On?" he asked.

"That remains to be seen!" Ivan replied.

They passed through the gate and were met by the dragon who seemed a genial enough host. He bade the prince's men to be dined and wined and led the prince into his house, and they all drank and made merry and had not a sad thought in their heads.

Now, the dragon had twelve daughters, lovely maids all, and he led them out for the prince to see and told him who was the eldest, who the next in age, and so on. And it was to the youngest of them that the prince took an instant liking.

They feasted and made merry till evening, and as they were parting for the night the dragon asked the prince which of his daughters he thought the fairest.

"The youngest, and it is her I want to marry," the prince replied.

"Well and good," said the dragon. "But I will not let you marry her unless you do what I tell you to. And if you fail to do it not only will you not marry my daughter but will lose your own life as well and doom to death every one of your men! And now here is the first thing I want you to do. I have three hundred stacks of wheat on my threshing floor, and you are to have it all threshed by morning, and the straw, the chaff and the grain put in separate heaps."

The prince went to the house where his men were quartered, and the tears poured from his eyes.

"Why do you weep, Prince?" Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On asked.

"How can I help it! Just hear what the dragon wants me to do."

And he told Ivan all about everything.

"Do not weep, Prince," said Ivan. "Go to bed, and it will all be done by morning."

He came out into the yard and whistled, and all of a sudden as if out of nowhere the mice came running.

"What do you want, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On?" they asked.

"I need your help, mice! The dragon ordered me to thresh all the wheat he has on his threshing floor, to have it all done by morning, and to make three separate heaps of the straw, the chaff and the grain."

The mice let out a great squeak and rushed to the threshing floor, and so many were they that there was no room left there for a man to stand on one foot even!"

The mice set to work, and it was all done before the day had dawned. They went and woke Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On, and he came and saw that the stacks stood as they had before, but the grain and the chaff lay in two separate heaps. He asked the mice to make sure that not one little grain was left in any of the ears of wheat, this they did and then came back and told him that not one was and that he was not to worry.

"And now we must say goodbye, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On!" said they. "We have done what we could and it is time for us to be off."

They scuttled away, and Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On stayed where he was and watched over the threshing floor till dawn when the prince came to see if he had kept his promise. Seeing that everything had been done as the dragon ordered he was much surprised and thanked Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On over and over again.

After that he called the dragon, who looked and could not believe his eyes! He sent for his daughters and asked them to see if they could find a grain or two or a broken ear of wheat amid the straw. But though the daughters searched and searched again, they found nothing.

"All right, then, Prince,"' said the dragon. "Let us go now and feast and make merry, and when evening comes I'll give you another task to do for tomorrow!"

Evening came, and he said to him:

"This morning, while bathing in the sea, my youngest daughter dropped her ring into the water. She looked for it, but all to no avail. Now, I want you to find the ring and bring it to me before dinner tomorrow. If you do, you will remain alive, but if you don't, you and your men will die."

The prince went to where his men were waiting, and the tears poured from his eyes. Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On saw him and asked:

"Why are you crying, Prince?"

The prince told him all about everything, and Ivan said:

"The dragon lied to you. It was he who took his daughter's ring from her and dropped it into the water on purpose while flying over the sea. Go to bed now and tomorrow I will go to the seashore and try to find it."

On the following morning Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On came to the seashore and he whistled and shouted so loudly that the sea rose in waves. The two pikes whose lives he had saved swam up to the shore and asked:

"Why did you call us, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On?"

"I had to!" Ivan replied. "While flying over the sea yesterday the dragon threw a ring into the water. Look for it everywhere and try to find it. If you do, I will stay alive; but if you don't, the dragon will kill me and the others."

Away swam the pikes, but though they looked all over no ring did they find! So they went to see their mother and told her everything, saying that their friend's life depended on their finding the ring.

"I have the ring you want," said the mother pike. "I found it and don't like to give it up, but I suppose I must."

She gave them the ring and off they went with it to Ivan-Not-AStitch-On.

"We thought we'd never find it!" said they. "But here it is, and now we have repaid you for your kindness to us."

Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On thanked the pikes and went back to the prince. He found him in tears again, for the dragon had sent for him twice and there had been no ring to give him.

At the sight of Ivan, the prince sprang to his feet.

 

"Have you brought it?" he asked.

"I have indeed," said Ivan. "And there's the dragon again!"

"That's nothing, now that I have the ring!"

He stepped out to meet the dragon and the two of them bumped into each other and knocked their heads together.

The dragon was dark with anger.

"Have you got the ring?" he asked.

"Here it is!" said the prince. "But I will only let its rightful owner have it and not you!"

The dragon burst out laughing.

"Very well!" he said. "But let us go and have dinner. My friends and I did not want to eat without you."

They went to the dragon's house, and there were eleven other dragons, guests' of his, there. The prince greeted them, and, coming up to the dragon's daughters, brought out the ring.

"Whose ring is this?" he asked.

"Mine!" said the dragon's youngest daughter with a blush.

"Take it, then! I had to search the whole sea to find it."

They all laughed, and the youngest daughter took the ring and thanked the prince.

Dinner was served, and the dragon said:

"I have a bow, Prince, that weighs a hundred poods. Take it and shoot an arrow in my guests' presence, and you can have my daughter in marriage."

After dinner they all went to their rooms for a rest, and the prince hurried off to see Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On and tell him what the dragon wanted.

"It's the end of us all now!" he said.

"Nonsense!" said I van-Not-A-Stitch-On. "When they bring in the bow you must look at it and tell the dragon that to use such a bow is beneath you and that any servant of yours can do it just as well. After that have me called in, and when I have shot an arrow none of us will be asked to do it again!"

The prince went back to the dragon's house, and he and the dragon's daughters feasted and made merry. Some time passed, and in walked the dragon and his friends and behind them came the dragon's servants bearing the bow he had spoken of. They carried it outside, and everyone poured out of the house after them.

The prince, who had been filled with fear when first he saw the bow, now walked all around it and looked it over carefully.

"It is beneath me to use such a bow!" he said. "Any one of my servants can do it just as well."

The dragons looked at one another.

"Very well, let one of your servants do it!" they said.

And the prince cupped his hands round his mouth and called:

"Send Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On here!"

Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On was not long in coming, and the prince said:

"Take this bow, Ivan, and shoot an arrow!"

Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On lifted the bow and shot an arrow, and lo! — a piece of the bow weighing all of twenty poods broke off it and fell to the ground.

"See that?" said the prince. "Had I been the one to shoot I'd have been disgraced before all of you!"

Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On thrust the piece that had broken off the bow into the leg of his boot and went to join his friends, and the prince together with the dragon's daughters went back to the house. And as for the dragon and his friends, they remained outside, and, putting their heads together, began trying to think of a new task to set the prince. They thought of one finally, and the dragon hurried into the house, and, taking his youngest daughter aside, talked with her at some length. Said he to the prince:

"It is late now, but tomorrow I will have the horse I keep behind twelve doors led out, and if you are able to mount and ride him, you shall have my daughter in marriage!"

They feasted till evening and then went to bed, and the prince at once found Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On and told him what the dragon had asked him to do.

Said Ivan:

"Why do you think I took the piece of bow with me, Prince? I knew what they were up to. When the horse is led up to you you must look it over and say that you have no wish to disgrace yourself by riding it and that one of your servants can do it just as well. Now, the horse will not be a horse at all but the dragon's youngest daughter in its shape. I will teach her a lesson she won't forget!"

Morning came, and the prince stepped into the dragon's house. He greeted all who were there and as he did so he noticed that only eleven of the dragon's twelve daughters were present.

The dragon rose to his feet.

"Come, Prince, let us go out into the yard," said he. "We don't want to miss seeing them lead out the horse."

They went outside and stood there watching two dragons lead out the horse, and so wild and untamed was it that it was all they could do to keep it in check and were nearly thrown off their feet. They led it up to the porch, and the prince looked it over and said:

"I expected to see a stallion, and here you bring me a mare! I have no wish to be disgraced and will not ride her, my servant can do it for me!"

"Very well, call your servant!" said the dragon.

The prince called Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On and said to him:

"Get on this mare, Ivan, and take a little ride!"

Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On got on the mare, and as soon as the two dragons let go of her she at once rose to the very clouds and then dropped down again and struck the ground with such force that it quaked and rumbled. But Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On pulled the twenty-pood piece that had broken off the bow from the leg of his boot and struck the mare's sides with it again and again. The mare kicked and fought, and, without seeing where she was going, carried him first in one direction and then in another, but Ivan went on beating her, and after a time she saw that there was nothing to be done and began pleading with him to stop.

"Please stop, Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On, I'll do anything you ask of me!" she begged.

"I only want one thing!"' said he. "When I ride up to the prince you must drop to the ground before him and lie there as if unable to stand up."

The horse thought this over.

"I'll have to do as you ask, for there's no help for it," said she.

And she carried him over the trees and up to the prince and then dropped to the ground and lay there.

"A sorry sight!" said the prince. "I knew you wanted to disgrace me when you asked me to ride this mare."

The dragon felt shamed, but there was nothing to be done, so they all took a walk in the garden and then went in to dinner. They were met by the dragon's youngest daughter who greeted them sweetly, and the prince saw that she was even more beautiful than he had thought her.

They sat down at the table, and the dragon said to the prince:

"After dinner I am going to take my daughters out into the courtyard, and if you can tell which of them is the youngest you shall marry her!"

Dinner was soon over, the dragon led his daughters away, and the prince went to see Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On and ask him what he was to do.

Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On whistled, and lo! — a mosquito came flying up to him. He told the mosquito everything, and the mosquito said:

"You did us mosquitoes a great service once, and now I am going to do you one too. I will be there when the dragon takes his daughters out into the courtyard, and I am going to fly about over the youngest daughter's head. Let the prince walk past the maids once and then again, and when he goes past them for the third time I will light on her nose and she will be unable to stop herself from waving her hand and trying to drive me off."

And having had his say, the mosquito flew into the house.

The dragon sent for the prince, and when the prince arrived there were the dragon's twelve daughters standing beside him, and they all had the same features and hair and had on the same gowns. He looked closely at them, and looked again, but he could not for the life of him have told them apart. He walked past them once, but did not see the mosquito, and then he walked past them a second time, and there was the mosquito flitting about over the head of one of them! He kept his eyes on him, and
just as he was going past them for the third time the mosquito lighted on her nose and she waved her hand to brush him off.

"There is my bride!" the prince cried.

He led her to the dragon, and, seeing that there was no help for it, the dragon said:

"She is yours, and the wedding shall be held today!"

They were married that same evening, and a feast was held and guns were fired in their honor, and there was no end to the merrymaking!

The time came for the newlyweds to be led to their chamber, and Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On beckoned the prince to come up to him.

"We must leave for home tomorrow, Prince, and there must be no delay!" said he. "And mind, put no trust in your wife for the first seven years of your marriage. Even if she is sweet and tender with you, you must keep the truth from her, for if you don't you will die and I will die with you."

"Very well, I will do as you tell me," said the prince.

Morning came, and the prince and his bride dressed and came to show themselves to the dragon and his friends. The prince asked the dragon to let them leave for home, and the dragon said:

"What — so soon? Surely you won't go away just yet!"

"We must!" the prince insisted.

He and his men ate, and then they all got on their horses, and rode away. They came to the prince's realm, and the prince thanked Ivan-Not-AStitch-On for all he had done and made him his first counsellor. Ivan's word now became law in the land, and everyone did as he said, and as for the prince, he did not have a worry in his head!

The prince lived with his wife for a year and a second year, and when the third year came round a son was born to them. The prince was very happy, and one day he picked up his son, and, holding him in his arms, said:

"There is nothing dearer to me in the world than this child!"

And the princess, seeing him in so tender a mood, kissed him and, in order to get him to open his heart to her, began talking of the days when he had been wooing her and doing all her father told him to.

"Yes, and I'd have been sitting on an iron pike at his orders if it weren't for Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On!" the prince said. "It was he and not I who knew what to do."

The wife heard him out and left the room, but she did not let him see how angry he had made her. She went straight to the house of Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On and stepped inside. Ivan was at home, and she drew a towel edged in gold from her coat and waved it over him once, and lo! — he was cleaved in two. His legs remained where they were, but his body sailed out the window and through the air and fell to the ground seven miles away.

"May you be cursed, Prince!" Ivan cried, for though his legs were gone his head was still on his shoulders. "Never did I think you would betray me! Didn't I ask you not to put your trust in your wife for seven years! Now I am lost, and so are you!"

There he stayed when all of a sudden what should he see but a man without arms chasing a rabbit! The rabbit made straight for him, and Ivan seized and held him. The armless man ran up and pounced on Ivan, and they began to fight, one of them shouting "The rabbit is mine!" and the other "No, mine!"

They fought for a long time, neither getting the better of the other, and then the armless man said:

"We have fought long enough! Let's uproot that oak tree yonder, and he who hurls it the further will get the rabbit for his own."

"To this Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On agreed, and the armless man helped him get to the oak tree. Ivan pulled it out by the roots and held it out to him, and the armless man lay down on the ground and hurled it so far with his legs that it fell to the ground a full three miles away. Then it was Ivan's turn, and he lifted the tree and threw it with such force that it fell seven miles further!

"The rabbit is yours!" said the armless man. "So take it and let us be friends and brothers."

This agreed on, they made a small cart out of wood and tied ropes to it, and if ever either of them wanted to go anywhere Ivan would get into the cart, and the armless man would harness himself to it and pull it.

One day they came to the city where the tsar lived, and the armless man pulled the cart with Ivan in it up to a group of beggars loitering by a church.

By and by the princess drove up in her coach, and, giving her lady-in-waiting
a few silver coins, said:

"Here, give these to those two cripples."

The lady-in-waiting was about to do so, but Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On stopped her.

"The coins would be worth much more to us, Your Highness, if we got them from your hands!" said he to the princess.

The princess gave him the coins and he said:

"Do not be vexed with me for being so forward, Your Highness, but I cannot help wondering why you are so pale."

"It is as God wills it!" she said with a sigh.

"You need not be afraid to tell me the truth, Your Highness, for I think I can help you."

This was overheard by the tsar who had driven up in his coach while they stood there talking, and he had the two cripples brought to the palace.

"You said you could help the princess," said he to Ivan. "Let's see you do it!"

"I cannot, not until the princess tells me what is wrong," Ivan returned.

The tsar called his daughter and she said:

"I am so pale and ill because of the dragon. He comes at night and feeds on my blood."

"How does he get into the palace?" Ivan asked.

"He waits for the guards to fall asleep and flies in through the chimney just before dawn."

"Here is what we will do," said Ivan. "My friend and I will hide in the entranceway, and as soon as the dragon flies in you must cough to let us know that he is there."

They hid in the entranceway and waited, and all of a sudden something sparkled and glowed under the roof. The princess coughed, and they rushed into her chamber just in time to see the dragon hiding under the pillows.

The princess jumped out of bed, and Ivan's armless friend lay down on the floor and hurled Ivan onto the pillows with his legs. And Ivan caught the dragon with his hands and squeezed him so hard that the breath all but left his body.

"Please don't kill me, please!" begged the dragon. "I'm never come here again, I promise you, and I'll warn all my friends not to, either."

Said Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On:

"You must first take us to where we can find some healing water. For I want to get back my legs and my brother here his arms."

"I'll do whatever you say if you only let go of me!" cried the dragon.

Ivan loosened his grip, and the dragon carried him and his friend out of the palace and to a well.

"That is where the healing water is!" said he.

The armless man was about to take a dip in the water, but Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On stopped him.

"Wait, my brother!" he cried. "You hold the dragon with your legs, and I'll dip a stick in the water first to see if it really is healing water."

He dipped in the stick, and lo! — it flared up, and the end that was in the water burnt away. They pounced on the dragon then and rained blow after blow on him, and he begged them to stop and said he would not try to trick them again and that the well with the healing water was but a stone's throw away.

He took them there, and when they had dipped a dry stick in the water and saw it burst into flower they knew that it was indeed healing water. They bathed in it, and the armless man got back his arms, and Ivan his legs. After that they let the dragon go and warned him never to show himself in the princess's chamber again.

And Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On set out for the realm where lived his brother the prince, for he wanted to find out how he had made out at his wife's hands. He came to the border and he saw a man tending pigs by the wayside. The man was seated on a mound, and Ivan decided to go over to him and ask him if anything of importance had occurred while he was away.

He came up to the man, and to his surprise he saw that he was none other than his brother! They stared at each other wordlessly for a while, and then Ivan, who was the first to come to himself, said:

"Can it be you, Prince, tending pigs?.. Not that you don't deserve it. Didn't I tell you not to put your trust in your wife for seven years!"

The prince threw himself at his feet.

"Forgive me, Ivan!" he cried.

And Ivan lifted him up and said:

"Be thankful you are still alive! You'll be ruling the realm a while longer now."

The prince asked Ivan how he had got back his legs, and Ivan told him what had happened and confessed that he was his long-lost younger brother. They embraced and kissed, and the prince said:

"It's time I drove the pigs home, brother. The princess will be having her tea soon."

"Let's drive them home together," Ivan offered.

The prince then said:

"It's not as easy as you think, Ivan! The cursed sow yonder always runs home at the head of the herd, and she stops at the gate and won't move till I have kissed her on the muzzle three times. And the princess, who takes her tea on the porch in the dragons' company, loves to watch me do it and pokes fun at me."

"Well, you know who is to blame," Ivan said. "But never mind. You'll kiss the sow today, but you won't have to do it tomorrow."

They drove the pigs home, and lo! — the sow stood stock still at the gate, her legs apart, and refused to move. And the princess, who was sitting on the porch with the dragons, said:

"There's my fool of a husband! He's brought the pigs home and will now kiss the sow."

There was no help for it; and the poor prince bent over the sow and kissed her on the muzzle three times, and she trotted into the yard with a loud grunt.

"Look there, he's found himself a helper!" said the princess, pointing at Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On.

The prince and his brother drove the pigs into the sty, and Ivan said:

"Get the steward to give you twenty poods of hemp and twenty of tar and take them out into the garden."

"How will I carry away so much!" said the prince.

"Go and ask him for them!" Ivan said.

The prince went to the steward and asked him for the hemp and the tar, and the steward looked long at him and then said:

"Oh, well, what can I do! Take them if you want them."

He unlocked the storeroom, and Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On, who was with the prince, weighed out twenty poods of hemp and twenty of tar, took the hemp in one hand and the tar in the other and went outside. After that he and the prince came to the pigsty, and Ivan set to plaiting a whip. He would plait a pood of hemp and smear it with a pood of tar, and by midnight, when the prince had long been asleep on a heap of straw, he had a whip weighing forty poods ready.

On the following morning they rose early, and Ivan-Not-A-Stitch-On said to the prince:

"You have been tending pigs long enough, it is time you became a prince again! And now let us drive the pigs to the field."

"I don't know about that, I believe the princess is still in her room," said the prince. "I am supposed to drive out the pigs when she sits down to her tea on the porch so that she can watch me kiss the sow."

"I'll be the one to kiss the sow this time, not you!"

"Very well!"

The princess came out onto the porch and sat down to her tea, and the prince said that the time had now come for them to drive out the pigs. They drove them out of the sty and to the gate, and the sow stood stock still and refused to move. But before the princess and the dragons knew what was happening Ivan waved his whip and struck her so hard that she dropped dead!

The dragons took to their heels, but the princess snatched Ivan by the hair. This angered him, and he caught her by the plaits and went at her with his whip, whipping till she was more dead than alive. After that she left all her wicked ways and became a good wife to the prince, and they all lived happily ever after and knew not a care in the world.

Author: Ukrainian folk tale; illustrated by Chernuha V.

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