The Witch.[206]
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Ralston, William Ralston Shedden
There once lived an old couple who had one son called Ivashko;[207] no one can tell how fond they were of him!
Well, one day, Ivashko said to his father and mother:
“I’ll go out fishing if you’ll let me.”
“What are you thinking about! you’re still very small; suppose you get drowned, what good will there be in that?”
“No, no, I shan’t get drowned. I’ll catch you some fish; do let me go!”
So his mother put a white shirt on him, tied a red girdle round him, and let him go. Out in a boat he sat and said:
Canoe, canoe, float a little farther, Canoe, canoe, float a little farther!
Then the canoe floated on farther and farther, and Ivashko began to fish. When some little time had passed by, the old woman hobbled down to the river side and called to her son:
Ivashechko, Ivashechko, my boy, Float up, float up, unto the waterside; I bring thee food and drink.
And Ivashko said:
Canoe, canoe, float to the waterside; That is my mother calling me.
The boat floated to the shore: the woman took the fish, gave her boy food and drink, changed his shirt for him and his girdle, and sent him back to his fishing. Again he sat in his boat and said:
Canoe, canoe, float a little farther, Canoe, canoe, float a little farther.
Then the canoe floated on farther and farther, and Ivashko began to fish. After a little time had passed by, the old man also hobbled down to the bank and called to his son:
Ivashechko, Ivashechko, my boy, Float up, float up, unto the waterside; I bring thee food and drink.
And Ivashko replied:
Canoe, canoe, float to the waterside; That is my father calling me.
The canoe floated to the shore. The old man took the fish, gave his boy food and drink, changed his shirt for him and his girdle, and sent him back to his fishing.
Now a certain witch[208] had heard what Ivashko’s parents had cried aloud to him, and she longed to get hold of the boy. So she went down to the bank and cried with a hoarse voice:
Ivashechko, Ivashechko, my boy, Float up, float up, unto the waterside; I bring thee food and drink.
Ivashko perceived that the voice was not his mother’s, but was that of a witch, and he sang:
Canoe, canoe, float a little farther, Canoe, canoe, float a little farther; That is not my mother, but a witch who calls me.
The witch saw that she must call Ivashko with just such a voice as his mother had.
So she hastened to a smith and said to him:
“Smith, smith! make me just such a thin little voice as Ivashko’s mother has: if you don’t, I’ll eat you.” So the smith forged her a little voice just like Ivashko’s mother’s. Then the witch went down by night to the shore and sang:
Ivashechko, Ivashechko, my boy, Float up, float up, unto the waterside; I bring thee food and drink.
Ivashko came, and she took the fish, and seized the boy and carried him home with her. When she arrived she said to her daughter Alenka,[209] “Heat the stove as hot as you can, and bake Ivashko well, while I go and collect my friends for the feast.” So Alenka heated the stove hot, ever so hot, and said to Ivashko,
“Come here and sit on this shovel!”
“I’m still very young and foolish,” answered Ivashko: “I haven’t yet quite got my wits about me. Please teach me how one ought to sit on a shovel.”
“Very good,” said Alenka; “it won’t take long to teach you.”
But the moment she sat down on the shovel, Ivashko instantly pitched her into the oven, slammed to the iron plate in front of it, ran out of the hut, shut the door, and hurriedly climbed up ever so high an oak-tree [which stood close by].
Presently the witch arrived with her guests and knocked at the door of the hut. But nobody opened it for her.
“Ah! that cursed Alenka!” she cried. “No doubt she’s gone off somewhere to amuse herself.” Then she slipped in through the window, opened the door, and let in her guests. They all sat down to table, and the witch opened the oven, took out Alenka’s baked body, and served it up. They all ate their fill and drank their fill, and then they went out into the courtyard and began rolling about on the grass.
“I turn about, I roll about, having fed on Ivashko’s flesh,” cried the witch. “I turn about, I roll about, having fed on Ivashko’s flesh.”
But Ivashko called out to her from the top of the oak:
“Turn about, roll about, having fed on Alenka’s flesh!”
“Did I hear something?” said the witch. “No it was only the noise of the leaves.” Again the witch began:
“I turn about, I roll about, having fed on Ivashko’s flesh!”
And Ivashko repeated:
“Turn about, roll about, having fed on Alenka’s flesh!”