Oh, the Golden Snuffbox

Once upon a time, there lived an orphan boy named Yanka, the son of a forester. His father and mother had passed away, and he had no relatives. So, he lived alone in the forest, in his father’s little hut. To keep himself company, he kept a colorful cat.

The cat grew attached to him. Wherever Yanka went, the cat would follow.

One day, Yanka went to gather firewood. Naturally, the cat followed him. Yanka gathered a bundle of firewood and carried it home, while the cat dragged a dry twig behind him.

Yanka got tired and sat down on a tree stump to rest. He thought about how hard his life was and groaned loudly:

"Oh, oh!"

As soon as he said that, a little old man with a long beard popped out from under the stump.

"Why did you call me, lad?" Yanka looked at him in fright and said:

"No, grandfather, I didn’t call you."

"How didn’t you call me?" argued the old man. "I’m not deaf! You said my name twice: 'Oh, Oh.' Now you must tell me what you want from me."

Yanka thought for a moment and said:

"I don’t need anything. I’m just very hungry. If you have a piece of bread, please give it to me."

The old man, Oh, dived back under the stump and brought out a piece of bread and a bowl of cabbage soup.

"Here," he said, "eat." Yanka ate his fill, fed the cat, and bowed deeply to the old man:

"Thank you, grandfather, for the meal. I haven’t eaten such delicious food in a long time."

He hoisted the bundle of firewood onto his shoulders and walked home more cheerfully.

A day passed, then another, and hunger overcame him again. Yanka remembered the old man. "I’ll go," he thought, "maybe he’ll feed me again."

He came to the same spot, sat on the stump, and sighed:

"Oh!"

The old man popped out.

"What do you want, lad?"

Yanka bowed to him:

"I’m hungry, grandfather. Maybe you could give me a piece of bread?"

The old man immediately brought him a piece of bread and a bowl of cabbage soup.

From then on, whenever Yanka was hungry, he would go to the old man.

One day, instead of food, the old man brought him a golden snuffbox.

"Listen, lad," he said, "don’t bother me anymore. I’m old, and it’s hard for me to carry food. Take this snuffbox. If you need anything, open it, and my servant will appear before you. He’ll do everything you ask, just as well as I would."

Yanka took the golden snuffbox, thanked the old man from the bottom of his heart, and walked home, skipping with joy.

At home, he opened the golden snuffbox, and a little man jumped out—not like the old man Oh, but young and quick.

"What do you command?" the little man asked in a thin voice.

"Give me something to eat, brother." In an instant, the little man placed a bowl of cabbage soup and a large slice of rye bread on the table, then hopped back into the snuffbox and closed it.

Yanka lived like this for some time, but then he wanted to see the world, meet people, and show himself, as he had never been anywhere except his forest.

He took the golden snuffbox, called his cat, and set off on his journey.

He traveled through many villages and towns, saw many wonders, and finally came to the blue sea. There, he saw a silvery fish lying on the shore. It seemed the waves had thrown it ashore during the tide. The fish was flapping, hitting the rocks, but couldn’t get back into the sea.

Yanka felt sorry for the poor fish. He gently picked it up and threw it back into the sea.

The fish splashed its tail, gulped water, came to its senses, then poked its head out of the water and said in a human voice:

"Thank you, kind lad, for saving me from death. Perhaps one day I’ll help you in return."

Yanka smiled:

"Why would I need your help, little fish? I have a helper in my pocket."

But the fish didn’t hear him.

He walked on. Suddenly, a gray mouse ran out of a hole. The cat pounced on it and was about to eat it.

Yanka felt sorry for the mouse. He was the kind of person who pitied everyone, remembering how hard his own life had been. He took the mouse, petted it, and put it in his pocket, then took a bread crust from his bag and tossed it in.

"Eat," he said, "you must be hungry."

The mouse calmed down and began nibbling on the crust. Yanka walked along the seashore, and evening fell—it was time to find a place to sleep. He saw a large palace on a hill. "No," Yanka thought, "they won’t let me in there." He walked on and saw a small fisherman’s hut by the sea. Yanka went in and asked to spend the night.

"Fine," said the owner, "stay the night. It’ll be livelier with you here."

Yanka struck up a conversation with the fisherman.

"What’s that palace along the way?" he asked.

"That’s the royal palace," the fisherman said. "The king lives there. But recently, a disaster struck: at midnight, a sea serpent flew in, grabbed the king’s daughter, and took her to his enchanted island, which is impossible to reach by land or sea. The king is tearing his hair out. He’s announced throughout the kingdom: whoever returns his daughter will marry her and inherit the kingdom after his death. Many princes and kings have come, but none could reach the island—the sea serpent raises such waves that nothing can be done..."

Yanka remembered his magical helper from the golden snuffbox and said to the fisherman:

"Tell the king, if you can, that tomorrow at dawn he’ll see his daughter."

The fisherman went and told the king. The king summoned Yanka. He looked at him and shrugged. "Could this simple man really do what princes and kings couldn’t? It can’t be!" But the king wanted so badly to see his daughter that he decided to try his luck once more. He asked Yanka:

"Is it true, lad, that you’ll rescue my daughter from captivity?"

Yanka bowed to the king and replied:

"It’s true, Your Majesty. I don’t know how to lie."

"Well, then," said the king, "make sure my daughter is here by sunrise tomorrow, or I’ll have you torn apart by iron harrows."

"Alright," Yanka agreed. "Let it be as you say."

He left the palace, opened the golden snuffbox, and the quick little man jumped out:

"What do you command?"

"Do me a favor, brother: build an iron bridge overnight from the royal palace to the serpent’s enchanted island and place a golden carriage with six horses on it. At dawn, I’ll ride to the island."

"Very well," said the little man. "Everything will be done as you ask."

Yanka returned to the fisherman and went to sleep. In the morning, he rose before dawn and saw an iron bridge stretching from the royal palace to the serpent’s island, with a golden carriage and six horses standing on it, and his helper with a whip beside the horses.

Yanka approached his helper, took out the snuffbox, and said...
— Thank you, brother. Now go and rest, for it seems you are very tired.

The little man handed Yanka the whip and then hid himself in the golden snuffbox.

Yanka got into the carriage and set off to fetch the princess. He arrived at the island and saw a large, dark castle standing there. Through the window, the astonished princess peered out. She had not seen people for a long time and was overjoyed to see Yanka, as if he were her own brother.

— Who are you? — she asked. — And why have you come here?

— Don’t ask, my lady, — Yanka replied. — Just hurry and get into the carriage. We’ll go to your father.

The princess was even more delighted upon hearing these words.

— But I can’t leave through the door; the cursed serpent sleeps there. He flies out at night to hunt, but during the day he rests by the door.

— Then climb out through the window.

— I’m afraid.

Yanka held out his hands:

— Jump!

The princess leaped from the window straight into his arms. Yanka caught her, seated her in the carriage, and sped like lightning toward the royal palace.

The serpent heard the noise, jumped up, and looked around — the princess was gone... He gave chase. He ran so fast that the bridge trembled, and fire spewed from his mouth...

Yanka glanced back — the serpent was gaining on him. He was about to catch up. So Yanka began whipping the horses with the whip. They surged forward at full speed.

Yanka reached the shore, helped the princess out of the carriage, then quietly opened the golden snuffbox and ordered his helper to destroy the bridge. The little man instantly tore down the bridge, and the exhausted serpent fell into the deep sea and drowned.

Meanwhile, the king woke up, looked out the window, and couldn’t believe his eyes: Yanka was leading his daughter to the palace!

The king rushed out to meet them, embracing and kissing his daughter. He was so happy, so overjoyed.

— Well, lad, — he said to Yanka, — you have made me very happy. For this, I will give you my daughter’s hand in marriage, and after my death, I will leave you the entire kingdom.

They held a wedding, and the orphan Yanka became the princess’s husband. Everyone loved him, but the princess herself looked at him sideways: she didn’t like the fact that she had become the wife of a simple peasant. One day, she pestered her husband:

— Tell me, who built the bridge that you brought me across?

Yanka kept silent, evading the question, but his wife wouldn’t leave him alone.

— I’ll die, — she said, — if you don’t confess.

What could he do? Yanka confessed and showed his wife the golden snuffbox.

— But swear to me, — he said, — that you will never take it without me. The wife swore, and then she said:

— I want to live with you in the castle on the island. Order your helper to build a bridge.

Yanka didn’t argue with her: he opened the snuffbox in front of his wife, gave the order to his helper, and the bridge was built.

They moved into the serpent’s castle. The wife said:

— Don’t remove the bridge: we’ll use it to visit my father on the shore and go wherever we please.

They lived in the castle for several days. Yanka wanted to go hunting. He took his bow, the cat, and the mouse to keep him company on the journey, and set off across the bridge.

But as soon as he stepped onto the shore, he looked back — the bridge was gone! “What’s going on?” — Yanka thought. He reached for his pocket, but the snuffbox wasn’t there... He had taken the cat and the mouse but forgotten the snuffbox...

Then he realized everything. “So much for the princess’s oath! — Yanka thought to himself. — I pitied her, saved her from trouble, and she repaid my kindness with evil. Now I’ll have to return to my hut and starve as before.”

He sat on the seashore and even cried from grief.

Suddenly, he heard the mouse scratching in his pocket. It poked its head out and asked:

— Why are you crying, kind man?

Yanka told the mouse about his sorrow.

— It’s nothing, — the mouse comforted him. — We’ll overcome this trouble.

The mouse whispered something to the cat, then climbed onto its back, and they swam across the sea. They reached the castle. The cat hid in the garden, and the mouse slipped through a crack into the princess’s chambers.

It stayed there for a long time, watching where the princess hid the snuffbox. Finally, it saw — in a wooden box!

At night, as soon as the princess fell asleep, the mouse gnawed through the box, grabbed the snuffbox, and ran back to the cat in the garden.

— I found it, — it said, — the golden snuffbox!

— Then climb onto my back quickly! — the cat ordered. — We’ll swim back.

The mouse climbed onto the cat’s back, and the cat swam, snorting, through the waves.

They were almost at the shore when the cat asked the mouse:

— Did you lose the snuffbox?

— No, — the mouse said. — Here it is!

It held up the snuffbox to show the cat, but it slipped and fell into the sea with a splash!

— Oh, you clumsy thing! — the cat scolded. — What have you done?

It swam to the shore and grabbed the mouse by the back with its teeth:

— I’ll strangle you!

Yanka saw this, took the mouse from the cat, and when he learned what had happened, he sat by the sea, deeply saddened — he was so sorry for the snuffbox!

Suddenly, a silvery fish swam up:

— Why are you grieving, kind man? Tell me: perhaps I can help you, for you once saved me from death.

Yanka looked and recognized the very same fish.

— Ah! — he sighed heavily. — I’ve suffered a great loss...

And he told the fish about his sorrow. The fish listened and then said cheerfully:

— That’s no trouble at all! I have plenty of snuffboxes here in the sea. I’ll throw them out, and you look for yours. Take yours, and return the others to me.

The fish flicked its tail and dove to the bottom of the sea.

Soon, it began throwing snuffboxes onto the shore — silver ones, golden ones, even ones with diamonds. Yanka’s eyes dazzled at the sight of them. He began to examine them carefully and finally found his own. Overjoyed, Yanka threw the extra snuffboxes back into the sea and called out to the fish:

— Thank you, fish! You’ve saved me from trouble.

He took his golden snuffbox and set off into the world with the cat and the mouse, searching for better people.
Fairy girl