Reading Notes: Russian Folktales, Part A

Russian Folktales

(Leshy from Wikimedia Commons.)

The Dead Mother:

- The babe slept through the night? I don't think so, I think the mother comes back from the dead to feed her child.

- I was right!

- "suckled at her dead breast." Wouldn't that kill/poison the baby?

- She gazed sadly at her baby... Oh, maybe when the townspeople revealed her by light she could not come back or the baby dead because of the townspeople revealing the dead mother?

- However, this has taught me to leave well enough alone and count your blessings.

The Treaure:

- I hope this Pope get's bitched slapped by karma or God since these folktales are super religious.

- Ducats are a form of monetary; gold I suppose since that is how the characters refer to it as gold pieces. 

- I would if the beggar stopping his digging will come back to the story, maybe there are more riches buried deeper?

- I don't understand why the beggar man would go back to the Pope after the treatment of him. Is this because he is the only one to properly bury the body on holy land or something to that nature?

- Putting on the goat's skin... Oh, I hope this is going in the direction I think it is.

- IT DID!

- Yes, God did punish the "godly man."

- Its so ironic.

The Bad Wife:

- So she did the opposite of what the husband said...

- Honestly, this is a little annoying, but the husband seemed to know exactly how to get his wife to do the things he wanted anyway. Did he just get rid of her so he wouldn't have to deal with it anymore?

- "Don't send e back again, O peasant! Let me go out into the world! A bad wife has come, and absolutely devoured us all, pinching us, and biting us - we're utterly worn with it!" I love that demons are afraid of this woman.

- Their con is actually very clever, I wonder if the Bad Wife will come back as a demon to torment them.

- I don't think the husband took the threat seriously or as he should, and I also think the husband is not longer frightened of him since he has been working with him for a while.

- "Why I didn't come here to turn you out. I came, out of pity to you, to say that the Bade Wife has come here." Conning the con man, classic.

- I wonder what the demon thought when he realized he was tricked. 

- "But the Bad Wife sits to this day in the pit - in Tartarus." This could be a cool story idea of the wife stewing in the pit to become a demon herself and wreck havoc on the world when she gets the chance to resurface.

The Three Copecks:

- So I am guessing copecks are a form of money?

- "All three copecks floating on the surface." Good karma?

- I would have beaten those boys, if I saw them tormenting an animal.

- This cat is probably not a normal cat.

- The cat wasn't with him when he tried to return and decided to keep the money for himself.

- I am honestly surprised, the merchant give all the money away to the orphan - he actually kept his promise.

- So is the old man suppose to be the cat or God?

- Wouldn't it be obvious the eldest brother is not the three-year old boy? Good lord.

The Miser:

-  The rich man asked the poorer of the two to spare him a copeck to give to the beggar... how stingy.

- He doesn't have small change, how egotistical is this man?

- "Cover me up with a cloth, and sit down and cry, just as you would over a corpse." I am honestly impressed on the lengths he will go not to pay the man.

- At least the man has enough common sense to realize the man is trying to con him.

- I can't imagine how the robbers reacted when they thought this dead man jumped up. I laughed so hard.

- So Marko never paid the man back and he was not punished.

The Water Snake:

- Usually, when the characters have common sense, it backfires on them. Of course, you can't marry a snake what would it hurt?

- When the mother asked how to call her husband, I knew it was not going to end well. I just didn't think the mother would behead the husband...

- I don't understand the ending of this folktale, is it supposed to tell us why the nightingale, wren and a cuckoo were created?

Friday:

- Don't work when you are not supposed to!

Wednesday:

- Always remember to sign the cross before or during your prayers.

The Léshy:

- Went strolling in the forest without her parents permission and then disappeared for three years... can anyone say scare tactics?

- This reminds me of SnowWhite when the Hunter goes into the woods and finds the daughter.

- Amnesia, how convenient. That's probably how the Léshy kept her complacent for three years along with his magic.

The Metamorphosis of the Dnieper, the Volga, and the Dvina:

-This gave me Game of the Thrones vibes, especially for the Targaryen siblings who took over Westeros.  

Emilian the Fool:

- How do these stupid people stumble upon good fortune when other people deserve it more?

- Why were they trying to pull him off the cart? Was he going to fast in the cart and disturbing the peace?

- Why would the King throw his daughter into a tub after marrying her to the Fool? That is ridiculous.

- The thing is why would the Fool and the Daughter trust the King after he tried to murder them? Doesn't sound very smart.

Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston (1887). 

Storytelling Week 12: The Cook

The Cook

She had been the Inn’s cook since she was twelve, but she only was in the position because the Innkeeper burned his hands and could not find a replacement.

She was praised for being a good cook for the past five years now. Many rich people offered to buy her, but the innkeeper knew what he had and did not sell her.

Until one day a rich young man demanded to see her after his first bite of her stew.

She saw he was very rich indeed, when she walked out into the parlor to bow low and saw the rich, light wool covering his shoulders and the fine leather boots on his feet. However, the crown on his red, curly hair was evidence enough he was the King.

Her thoughts went rampant with worry – perhaps he did not like the stew. Her thoughts went from floggings to execution in a matter of moments. 

However, when the young King realized the cook was the girl in front of him, he beamed at her - his teeth big and white.

She was startled at the show of expression, and in her fit of nerves bowed even lower which caused the young King to raise his hand to halt her lowering.

The young King admitted he was surprised such a young girl was able to produce such savory flavors in a stew.

She told him she picked herbs from the forest and mixed them together to create the flavor.

He praised her for her cooking and in the same statement offered employment at his castle as his personal cook.

He also said she would be paid handsomely.

Well, she could not say no to the King.

*

Her King had become her friend rather quickly, although in private since the hierarchy of the court was not to be disturbed - not even by her King. 

She would slip him sweet treats, try new recipes and take notice of wines she would stumble upon at the market for him to later request at her private recommendation.

When it was announced her King was to be engaged to a younger woman within a fortnight, the Cook had a sinking feeling in her belly. A feeling of worthlessness and hollowness, but she brushed it away for her King’s well-being. 

They gossiped together before he married his wife, celebrated when his firstborn was a son, but the merry day turned into one of sorrow when his wife departed this world. 

She grieved for him. She grieved for his son. She comforted him with sweets and her companionship when he allowed himself to be comforted.

His demeanor had changed in the short time. He was not the young, carefree King he once was, but a solemn and quiet man.

Months later, they were in his chambers enjoying the warmth of the fire. They relinquished their titles of King and Cook while he read aloud and she cuddled his son, and, suddenly, he told her of his upcoming second marriage.

The same feeling from before his first marriage returned; a hollowness in her stomach and sharp prickling behind her eyes - though much stronger than the first time.

She held onto his son tighter and looked at the reddish wisps of hair on his soft head, and his sleepy blue eyes blinked lazily at her. She did not want to look at her King and let him see how sad and worried she was at his announcement.

She nodded and softly murmured, “A mother figure would be good for the Prince.”

The queen arrived in the castle and a darkness surrounded her. The cook was wary of this woman with black hair and pale eyes that watched all the on goings of the castle.

She mentioned the dark aura to her King; he waved her off telling her she was a jealous, suspicious spinster.

His words hurt and she saw the moment he realized how hurtful his words were to her. However, when he apologized for his harsh words, she simply bowed low, accepted the apology and walked away.

She no longer confessed her opinions to him after their discussion or anything for that matter.

When the Queen birthed a son, the Cook feared for the firstborn Prince.

The day came when the Queen found her alone with the ovens warming in the kitchen. The Queen grabbed her from behind and shoved her against the ovens while a vial was pushed under her nose.

The smell of carrots entered her nostrils – hemlock.  

The Queen’s pale eyes were wide and malicious as she demanded this be put in the firstborn Prince’s meal. The Queen’s raspy voice made the hairs stand on her flesh because she knew what hemlock would do to the young Prince’s body.

The Queen warned the Cook that if she were to tell anyone of the plan to murder the Prince, it would cost the Cook her life. She waited pressed up against the stove; the wood burning inside made the heat of the brick oven unbearable and made her skin burn. She waited until the dark woman disappeared with her fine wool dress.

She ran to the King.

She told him what the queen had planned. He did not believe her at first until she revealed to him the vial of hemlock given to her by the Queen.

The King’s face was in an array of emotion: shock, bewilderment, guilt, anger and then pure rage. He screamed at his guards to throw the Queen in the dungeons and to bring his firstborn to him. He did not shed tears, but his eyes were watery when he clutched his son to his body in a protective gesture.

He grasped her hand, his thumb caressing her knuckles, and thanked her for saving his son. Their companionship was restored to what it once was and she sat next to him at the dinner table – the social hierarchy be damned. 

(Poison Hemlock from Wikimedia Commons.)

Author's Note: This story was based on the beginning paragraphs of The Ridere of Riddles from the Celtic fairy tales. The main story is basically the same as the beginning I wrote in my story. The King marries a Queen, who then dies in childbirth, and then marries a second Queen, who gives birth to another son. This second Queen realizes her son will not rule the kingdom since he is the second son, so she devises a plan to poison the firstborn prince through the food the cook prepared him. The second born Prince overhears his mother's plan to poison his half-brother and tells his brother not to eat the food. What I did not understand from the story was why the Cook did not tell the King the queen was trying to murder his first son. Since my portfolio is based on strong women, I decided to play with the gender of the Cook. I also created a friendship between them and hinting at an unrequited love (or is it?), so the King would trust the Cook when she told him of the Queen's treachery. I also decided not to really include the second son and keep it between the King, the Queen and the Cook as well as keep the Princes as babies instead of fully grown adults.

More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1895).