Ivan the Peasant's Son and the Miracle Yudo
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there once lived an old man and an old woman, and they had three sons. The youngest was named Ivanushka. They lived without laziness, working all day long, plowing the fields and sowing grain.Suddenly, news spread throughout that kingdom-state: a vile monster was preparing to attack their land, destroy all the people, and burn the towns and villages to the ground. The old man and the old woman became deeply sorrowful and grieved. But their sons comforted them:
"Do not grieve, father and mother. We will go and fight the monster to the death. And so that you are not left alone, let Ivanushka stay with you—he is still too young to go into battle."
"No," said Ivan, "it is not fitting for me to stay at home and wait for you. I will go and fight the monster too!"
The old man and the old woman did not try to stop or dissuade Ivanushka, and so they prepared all three sons for the journey. The brothers took their steel swords, packed bags with bread and salt, mounted their good horses, and set off.
They rode and rode until they came to a village. They looked around—there was not a single living soul in sight. Everything was burned and destroyed, except for one small hut that was barely standing. The brothers entered the hut. An old woman lay on the stove, groaning.
"Greetings, grandmother," said the brothers.
"Greetings, good lads! Where are you headed?"
"We are going, grandmother, to the Smorodina River, to the Kalinov Bridge. We want to fight the monster and prevent it from reaching our land."
"Oh, lads, you've taken on a noble task! That villain has ruined everything, plundered, and brought a cruel death upon all. The nearby kingdoms are completely empty. And now he has started coming here. In this area, I am the only one left—it seems even I am not fit for the monster's dinner."
The brothers spent the night at the old woman's hut, rose early in the morning, and set off again on their journey.
They approached the Smorodina River and the Kalinov Bridge. Human bones lay scattered along the shore.
The brothers found an empty hut and decided to stay there.
"Well, brothers," said Ivan, "we have come to a distant land, and we must be watchful and alert. Let us take turns standing guard, so that the monster does not cross the Kalinov Bridge."
On the first night, the eldest brother went on guard. He walked along the shore, looked at the Smorodina River—everything was quiet, no one in sight, no sound to be heard. He lay down under a willow bush and fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.
Meanwhile, Ivan lay in the hut, unable to sleep. He tossed and turned, unable to rest. As midnight passed, he took his steel sword and went to the Smorodina River. He saw his eldest brother sleeping under the bush, snoring loudly. Ivan did not wake him but hid under the Kalinov Bridge, standing guard over the crossing.
Suddenly, the waters of the river stirred, and eagles in the oak trees began to cry—a six-headed monster emerged. It rode to the middle of the Kalinov Bridge—its horse stumbled, a black raven on its shoulder flapped its wings, and a black dog behind it bristled.
The six-headed monster said:
"Why did you stumble, my horse? Why did you flap, black raven? Why did you bristle, black dog? Do you sense that Ivan, the peasant's son, is here? But he has not yet been born, and even if he has, he is not fit for battle. I will place him on one hand and smack him with the other—he will be nothing but a wet spot!"
Then Ivan, the peasant's son, stepped out from under the bridge and said:
"Do not boast, vile monster! Do not pluck the feathers of a clear falcon before you shoot it. Do not slander a good lad before you know him. Let us test our strength; whoever prevails will have the right to boast."
They clashed, and their blows were so fierce that the earth groaned all around.
The monster was not lucky: Ivan, the peasant's son, struck off three of its heads with one swing.
"Wait, Ivan, the peasant's son!" cried the monster. "Give me a break!"
"What break? You have three heads, and I have only one! When you have one head left, then we can rest."
They clashed again, and Ivan struck off the monster's remaining three heads. He then chopped its body into small pieces and threw them into the Smorodina River, while placing the six heads under the Kalinov Bridge. He returned to the hut.
In the morning, the eldest brother returned. Ivan asked him:
"Well, did you see anything?"
"No, brothers, not even a fly passed by me."
Ivan said nothing in response.
On the second night, the middle brother went on guard. He walked around, looked in all directions, and then calmed down. He climbed into the bushes and fell asleep.
Ivan did not rely on him either. As midnight passed, he immediately prepared himself, took his sharp sword, and went to the Smorodina River. He hid under the Kalinov Bridge and began to keep watch.
Suddenly, the waters of the river stirred, and eagles in the oak trees began to cry—a nine-headed monster emerged. As it rode onto the Kalinov Bridge, its horse stumbled, the black raven on its shoulder flapped its wings, and the black dog behind it bristled. The monster struck its horse on the sides, the raven on its feathers, and the dog on its ears!
"Why did you stumble, my horse? Why did you flap, black raven? Why did you bristle, black dog? Do you sense that Ivan, the peasant's son, is here? But he has not yet been born, and even if he has, he is not fit for battle: I will kill him with one finger!"
Ivan, the peasant's son, jumped out from under the Kalinov Bridge:
"Wait, monster, do not boast! First, let us see who will prevail. It is not yet known who will win."
With one, two swings of his steel sword, Ivan struck off six of the monster's heads. But the monster struck Ivan, driving him knee-deep into the ground. Ivan grabbed a handful of earth and threw it into the monster's eyes. While the monster was wiping its eyes, Ivan struck off its remaining heads. He then chopped its body into small pieces and threw them into the Smorodina River, while placing the nine heads under the Kalinov Bridge. He returned to the hut, lay down, and fell asleep.
In the morning, the middle brother returned.
"Well," asked Ivan, "did you see anything during the night?"
"No, not even a fly passed by me, nor did a mosquito buzz nearby."
"Well then, come with me, dear brothers, and I will show you the flies and mosquitoes!"
Ivan led his brothers under the Kalinov Bridge and showed them the monster's heads.
"Here," he said, "are the flies and mosquitoes that fly here at night! You are not fit for battle—you should stay at home and lie on the stove."
The brothers felt ashamed.
- Sleep, they said, overcame us...
On the third night, Ivan himself decided to go on watch.
- I, he said, am going to face a terrible battle, and you, brothers, stay awake all night and listen: when you hear my whistle, release my horse and rush to my aid.
Ivan, the peasant's son, came to the Smorodina River and stood under the viburnum bridge, waiting.
Just past midnight, the damp earth began to shake, the waters of the river stirred, fierce winds howled, and eagles in the oak trees cried out... A twelve-headed monster rode out. All twelve heads whistled, all twelve breathed fire and flames. The monster's horse had twelve wings, its coat was copper, its tail and mane were iron. As soon as the monster rode onto the viburnum bridge, its horse stumbled, the black raven on its shoulder flapped its wings, and the black dog behind it bristled. The monster whipped the horse on its sides, the raven on its feathers, and the dog on its ears!
- Why did you stumble, my horse? Why did you flap, black raven? Why did you bristle, black dog? Do you sense Ivan, the peasant's son, here? But he hasn't even been born yet, and even if he has, he's no match for battle: I'll just blow, and not even his ashes will remain!
Then Ivan, the peasant's son, stepped out from under the viburnum bridge:
- Hold your boasting: you might end up disgraced!
- Is that you, Ivan, the peasant's son? Why have you come?
- To see you, enemy force, and test your strength.
- You're but a fly before me.
Ivan, the peasant's son, replied to the monster:
- I didn't come to tell you tales or listen to yours. I came to fight to the death, to free good people from you, cursed one!
Ivan swung his sharp sword and cut off three of the monster's heads. The monster picked up the heads, touched them with his fiery finger, and instantly the heads grew back as if they had never fallen.
Things looked bad for Ivan: the monster deafened him with its whistle, burned him with fire, showered him with sparks, and drove him knee-deep into the damp earth. The monster laughed:
- Wouldn't you like to rest, recover, Ivan, the peasant's son?
- What rest? In our way, strike, slash, spare no effort! said Ivan.
He whistled, shouted, and threw his right glove toward the hut where his brothers were. The glove shattered all the windows, but the brothers slept, hearing nothing.
Ivan gathered his strength, swung again, harder than before, and cut off six of the monster's heads. The monster picked up the heads, touched them with his fiery finger, and again the heads grew back. He lunged at Ivan, driving him waist-deep into the earth.
Ivan saw things were dire. He took off his left glove and hurled it at the hut. The glove tore through the roof, but the brothers still slept, hearing nothing.
For the third time, Ivan swung even harder and cut off nine of the monster's heads. The monster picked them up, touched them with his fiery finger, and the heads grew back again. He lunged at Ivan, driving him shoulder-deep into the earth.
Ivan took off his hat and threw it at the hut. The hut shook from the impact, nearly collapsing.
Only then did the brothers wake up. They heard Ivan's horse neighing loudly and straining against its chains.
They rushed to the stable, released the horse, and ran after it to help Ivan.
Ivan's horse arrived and began kicking the monster with its hooves. The monster whistled, hissed, and showered the horse with sparks... Meanwhile, Ivan, the peasant's son, climbed out of the earth, steadied himself, and cut off the monster's fiery finger. Then he began cutting off the monster's heads, striking them all down, chopped the body into small pieces, and threw them into the Smorodina River.
The brothers arrived.
- Oh, you sleepyheads! said Ivan. Because of your sleep, I almost lost my head.
The brothers led him to the hut, washed him, fed him, gave him drink, and put him to bed.
Early in the morning, Ivan got up and began dressing.
- Where are you off to so early? said the brothers. Rest after such a battle.
- No, replied Ivan, I have no time to rest: I'm going to the Smorodina River to look for my handkerchief—I dropped it.
- Why bother? said the brothers. We'll go to town and buy you a new one.
- No, I need that one!
Ivan went to the Smorodina River, crossed to the other side over the viburnum bridge, and crept up to the monster's stone chambers. He approached an open window and listened to see if they were plotting anything. He saw the monster's three wives and his mother, an old serpent, sitting inside, conspiring.
The eldest said:
- I will avenge my husband on Ivan, the peasant's son! I'll run ahead when he and his brothers return home, spread heat, and turn myself into a well. They'll want to drink water and burst with the first sip!
- That's a good plan! said the old serpent.
The second said:
- I'll run ahead and turn myself into an apple tree. They'll want to eat an apple and be torn to pieces!
- That's clever too! said the old serpent.
The third said:
- I'll cast sleep and drowsiness on them, then run ahead and turn myself into a soft carpet with silk pillows. They'll want to lie down and rest—then I'll burn them with fire!
The snake-wife replied to her:
- You’ve thought well! Well, my dear daughters-in-law, if you don’t destroy them, tomorrow I’ll catch up with them myself and swallow all three.
Ivan, the peasant’s son, heard all this and returned to his brothers.
- Well, did you find your handkerchief? - asked the brothers.
- I did.
- And was it worth wasting time on that?
- It was, brothers!
After that, the brothers gathered and rode home.
They rode through the steppes, they rode through the meadows. And the day was so hot that it was unbearable, the thirst was tormenting them. The brothers looked and saw a well, with a silver ladle floating in it. They said to Ivan:
- Come on, brother, let’s stop, drink some cold water, and water the horses.
- It’s unknown what kind of water is in that well, - replied Ivan. - It might be rotten and dirty.
He jumped off his good horse and began to slash and chop the well with his sword. The well howled and roared with an evil voice. Suddenly, a fog descended, the heat subsided, and they no longer felt thirsty.
- You see, brothers, what kind of water was in the well! - said Ivan.
They rode on.
Whether it was long or short, they saw an apple tree. Ripe, rosy apples hung on it.
The brothers jumped off their horses and wanted to pick the apples, but Ivan, the peasant’s son, ran ahead and began to slash and chop the apple tree with his sword. The apple tree howled and screamed...
- You see, brothers, what kind of apple tree this is? The apples on it aren’t tasty!
The brothers mounted their horses and rode on.
They rode and rode and grew very tired. They looked and saw a soft carpet lying in the field, with downy pillows on it.
- Let’s lie on this carpet and rest a bit! - said the brothers.
- No, brothers, it won’t be soft to lie on this carpet! - replied Ivan.
The brothers got angry with him:
- Why are you bossing us around: this is not allowed, that is not allowed!
Ivan didn’t say a word in response, took off his belt, and threw it on the carpet. The belt burst into flames - nothing remained in its place.
- The same would have happened to you! - Ivan said to his brothers.
He approached the carpet and began to slash and chop the carpet and pillows into tiny shreds with his sword. He chopped them up, scattered them around, and said:
- You grumbled at me in vain, brothers! The well, the apple tree, and this carpet - they were all the wives of the monster. They wanted to destroy us, but they didn’t succeed: they all perished themselves!
The brothers rode on.
Whether they rode a long way or a short way, suddenly the sky darkened, the wind howled and roared: the old snake-wife herself was flying after them. She opened her mouth from the sky to the earth - she wanted to swallow Ivan and his brothers. Then the lads, not being fools, pulled out a pood of salt each from their travel bags and threw it into the snake-wife’s mouth.
The snake-wife was delighted - she thought she had caught Ivan, the peasant’s son, and his brothers. She stopped and began to chew the salt. But when she tasted it and realized that it wasn’t the good lads, she rushed after them again.
Ivan saw that trouble was inevitable - he spurred his horse at full speed, and his brothers followed him. They galloped and galloped, galloped and galloped...
They looked and saw a forge, with twelve blacksmiths working in it.
- Blacksmiths, blacksmiths, - said Ivan, - let us into your forge!
The blacksmiths let the brothers in and closed the forge with twelve iron doors and twelve forged locks.
The snake-wife flew up to the forge and shouted:
- Blacksmiths, blacksmiths, give me Ivan, the peasant’s son, and his brothers! The blacksmiths replied:
- Lick through twelve iron doors with your tongue, then you can take them!
The snake-wife began to lick the iron doors. She licked and licked, licked and licked - she licked through eleven doors. Only one door remained...
The snake-wife grew tired and sat down to rest.
Then Ivan, the peasant’s son, jumped out of the forge, grabbed the snake-wife, and with all his might slammed her against the damp earth. She crumbled into fine dust, and the wind scattered that dust in all directions. From then on, all the monsters and snakes in that land disappeared, and people began to live without fear.
And Ivan, the peasant’s son, returned home with his brothers to their father and mother, and they began to live and prosper, plowing the fields and harvesting the grain.
And they live to this day.
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