The Three Kingdoms - Part Twelve

At the time that the shoemaker went to the market, three weddings were to take place in the kingdom. 

Pyotr Tasrevich was to marry Yelena the Beautiful. 

Vassili Tsarevich was to marry the Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom and the Tsaritsa of the Copper Kingdom was to marry a general in the army.

Beautiful dresses were being made for the wedding.

Yelena the Beautiful wanted shoes.

It so happened that the shoemaker who had employed Ivan, went to the market at that exact time with the shoes.

Yelena was stunned to see the shoes. “These sorts of shoes are made only in the mountains.”

Yelena paid a huge amount to the shoemaker, but she wanted the shoemaker to make one more shoe for her. “The next shoes have to be made of precious stones and they should be studded with diamonds.”

The shoemaker was stunned, but Yelena was not yet done. “If you do not get those shoes ready by tomorrow, I will throw you in the gallows.”

The shoemaker was miserable despite making so much money. He realized that there was no way he could make a shoe like Yelena the Beautiful wanted, in a day.

The shoemaker took the precious stones and the money and went home and seemed gloomy.

The shoemaker realized that he might as well spend the last few hours with his friends. So that evening, Ivan went to the inn and drank a lot of spirits. He decided that he would drink a gallon before they hanged him, so that when he was hanged, he would not have any senses.

That night when the shoemaker was thoroughly drunk, he saw Ivan. “Your shoes have brought this fate on me!” The shoemaker swayed looking even more drunk. “Wake me up in the morning, when they come to take me away.”

Adapted from the Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Eleven

Ivan Tsarevich saw a man happily walking by. “Who are you? Where are you going?”

“I am a shoemaker.” The happy man told Ivan. “I am taking my shoes to sell them.”

“Will you take me into your service?”

Ivan nodded. “Not only can I make shoes, I can also make clothes.”

The shoemaker brought Ivan to his home and gave Ivan some leather. “This is the best kind of leather there is. I want to see what you can do with it.”

Ivan took the leather to his room and then took out his whistle and blew on it.

Lame and Crooked appeared before him. “What do you wish?”

“I want to have shoes ready by tomorrow.”

Ivan took the leather piece that the shoemaker had given him and gave it to Lame and Crooked. 

Lame and Crooked frowned. “What is this?”

“The leather to make the shoe.”

Lame and Crooked looked unhappy. “This leather is trash. Throw it out the window. I will make the best shoes by tomorrow.”

The next morning when Ivan Tsarevich woke up, he saw the most beautiful shoes ever. 

Ivan took it and went to the shoemaker.

The shoemaker was stunned when he saw the shoes. “These are wonderful.”

The shoemaker took these shoes to the market to sell them.

Adapted from Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Ten

 

Ivan was stunned when he realized that he could not get down from the mountain. But he realized that there was nothing he could do. He walked to the Copper kingdom, then to the Silver Kingdom and the Golden Kingdom. But there was no one there.

He finally came to the Diamond Kingdom too, but there was no one here either.

Strangely, here in the window of the Diamond castle, Ivan saw a whistle. He decided to blow on it, just to ward away the weariness he felt.

When Ivan blew on the whistle a creature called Lame and Crooked appeared before him. 

“What is your wish?” Lame and Crooked asked Ivan Tsarevich. 

Ivan was hungry and asked for food. He was stunned when the table was set with the best food he had seen in his entire life. 

Then Ivan used the whistle again and this time asked Lame and Crooked to make the bed ready for him.

Ivan lay on the bed and blew on the whistle and that was when Ivan learnt about Lame and Crooked. “Until now, we have served Whirlwind and now we will serve you. We will serve whoever has the whistle and blows on it. But remember that you must have the whistle with you, at all points of time.”

Ivan thought for some time and then understood it. “I want to be back in my own kingdom, this instant.”

No sooner had Ivan spoken, he was back in his kingdom, right in the middle of its market square.

All the other people in the kingdom were going about their usual work, when Ivan appeared there.

Adapted from the Russian Folktales