Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov (Penguin Classics) by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

it will have to be you!’ the two girls shouted at Vasilisa. ‘Go on. Go and see Baba Yaga!’ And they pushed her out of the room.
    Vasilisa went up to her attic, laid out the supper she’d prepared for her doll and said, ‘Here, doll! I’ve brought you some food. Listen to me now. They want me to go to the baba yaga to ask for a light. She’ll eat me alive!’ The doll ate her food. Her two eyes shone bright as candles. ‘Have no fear, O Vasilisa the Fair! Do as they say, but be sure to take me with you. Baba Yaga can do you no harm as long as I’m there.’
    So Vasilisa put on her coat, put her doll in her pocket, crossed herself and set off into the deep forest.
    Vasilisa walked on, trembling and trembling. Then a horseman swept by. His face was white, he was dressed in white and he was riding a white horse with white trappings. Day began to dawn.
    She walked on further. Another horseman came by. His face was red, he was dressed in red and he was riding a red horse. Then the sun rose.
    Vasilisa had walked all through the night, and now she walked all through the day. Late in the evening she came to the baba yaga’s hut. Round the hut was a fence made of bones. Skulls with empty eyeholes looked down from the stakes. The gate was made from the bones of people’s legs, the bolts were thumbs and fingers, and the lock was a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was too scared to move. Then another horseman galloped up. His face was black, he was dressed in black and he was riding a black horse. He rode through the gate and vanished, as if the earth had swallowed him up. Night fell. But the darkness did not last long. All the eyes in the skulls on the fence began to glow and the glade grew bright as day. Vasilisa trembled in terror but, not knowing which way to run, she stood there without moving.
    Then the forest was filled with a terrible noise. The trees creaked and cracked, the dead leaves crackled and crunched – andthere was the baba yaga. She was riding on her mortar, spurring it on with her pestle, sweeping away her tracks with a broom. She rode up to the gate, sniffed all around her and called out, ‘Foo, foo! I smell the blood of a Russian! Who is it?’ Trembling with fear, Vasilisa went up to the old woman, gave a deep bow and said, ‘Grandmother, it’s me. My stepsisters sent me to ask for a light.’ ‘Very well,’ said the baba yaga. ‘I know those sisters of yours. But first you must stay and work for me. If you do as I say, then I’ll give you a light. But if you don’t, then I’ll eat you for dinner.’ Then she turned to the gate and shouted, ‘Slide back, strong bolts! Open up, broad gate!’ The gate opened. The baba yaga whistled as she rode in. Vasilisa walked in after her. The gate swung to and bolted itself behind her.
    The baba yaga stretched herself out on a bench and said to Vasilisa. ‘I’m hungry. Bring me whatever you find in the stove.’ Vasilisa lit a taper from the skulls on the fence and began taking out the baba yaga’s dinner. There was enough to feed ten strong men. Then she went down to the cellar to fetch kvas, 1 mead, beer and wine. The old woman ate and drank everything Vasilisa put in front of her. All she left the girl was a half-bowl of cabbage soup, a crust of bread and a scrap of pork. The baba yaga lay down in her bed and said, ‘Tomorrow morning, after I go, you must clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook the supper and wash the linen. Then you must go to the corn bin and sort through a bushel of wheat. And if you’re not finished by the time I get back, I’ll eat you.’ After giving these orders, the baba yaga began to snore. Vasilisa took her doll out of her pocket, placed the baba yaga’s leftovers before her, burst out crying and said, ‘There, doll, I’ve brought you some food. Listen to me now. The baba yaga’s set me a hard task. And she says that, if I don’t finish it in time, she’ll eat me. What can I do?’ ‘Have no fear, O Vasilisa the