The Three Kingdoms - Part Fifteen

When Ivan had heard everything, this time too Ivan took the shoemaker to the inn.

The shoemaker got drunk and slept away the night. Ivan summoned Lame and Crooked and fulfilled Yelena’s wishes.

The next morning, the shoemaker was stunned on seeing the rich Golden castle filled with untold riches appear exactly the way that Yelena had wanted it.

“How did you do this?” The shoemaker was stunned.

Ivan said nothing but just handed over a letter to the shoemaker. “Stand outside on the golden gate and when the Tsar comes to see this, give him this letter.”

Meanwhile back in the castle, Yelena the Beautiful saw the Golden Kingdom seven versts from this place and went to the Tsar. 

The Tsar wondered to which hero had come to his kingdom with so much riches. He decided to talk to the hero himself and went there.

The shoemaker handed over the letter to the Tsar.

The Tsar opened the letter and read all of Ivan’s story. Ivan had written how he had freed his mother, how he had saved the three Tsaritsas and how his elder brothers had deceived him.

Under the request of Ivan Tsarevich, the Tsar and Tsaritsa came to the golden kingdom in golden carriages. 

Ivan’s brothers and the three Tsaritsas came in simple wagons.

The Tsar wanted to put the deceiving elder sons to death, but Ivan Tsarevich asked for forgiveness on behalf of his brothers.

After all that was over, Ivan Tsarevich married Yelena the Beautiful. The Tsaritsa of the Silver kingdom married Pyotr Tsarevich and the Tsaritsa of the Copper kingdom married Vassili Tsarevich.

The shoemaker was made as the general of the army.

Adapted from Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Fourteen

The shoemaker went home unhappily.

Ivan was waiting for the shoemaker and did not understand why the shoemaker was so sad. “What happened?”

The shoemaker told Ivan all that Yelena the Beautiful had asked him to do.

Ivan convinced the shoemaker to go to the inn and frolic and not think about the next day.

The shoemaker got drunk and after that Ivan summoned Lame and Crooked with his whistle.

When Lame and Crooked appeared, Ivan gave his order. “Make a dress for Yelena as beautiful as she wore in Whirlwind’s castle.”

Lame and Crooked started working.

When Ivan woke up the next morning, his entire chamber was shining from the dress lying next to him.

Just like the previous day, Ivan gave the dress to the shoemaker and this time too Ivan convinced the shoemaker that the two of them had together cut and sewed the robe the previous night.

Once Yelena the Beautiful saw the dress, she realized the truth.

She turned her attention to the shoemaker. “Let the Golden Kingdom appear in seven versts from the shore of the kingdom. There should be a golden bridge from this palace to the Golden Kingdom which should be draped in velvet. There should be trees and birds singing on the trees.”

The shoemaker was stumped and then unhappily went back to his home.

Adapted from Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Thirteen

After the shoemaker fell asleep, Iva pulled out his whistle and summoned Lame and Crooked. “Make the shoes that Yelena the Beautiful wants.”

“We obey.” Saying this, Lame and Crooked nodded.

Ivan then went to sleep. 

When he woke up, the shoes were lying beside his table shining like fire.

Ivan woke up the shoemaker. “It is early in the morning and it is time that you woke up.”

The shoemaker woke up with a start. “Is it morning already.” The shoemaker was sad. “Quickly give me some spirits. I do not want to be away when they hang me.”

Ivan calmed the shoemaker. “The shoes are ready.”

The shoemaker was stunned when he saw the shoes. Ivan continued. “We cut and sewed the shoes at night.”

The shoemaker admitted that he did not remember anything. 

But he took the shoes and ran towards the palace.

Yelena the Beautiful saw the shoes and immediately realized that mountain spirits had made the shoes. She looked quizzically at the shoemaker. “How did you make the shoes?”

The shoemaker himself was not sure. So he looked worried and did not tell Yelena the truth. “I know how to do everything.”

Yelena studied the shoemaker again. “In that case, make a wedding robe for me embroidered with gold and diamonds.”

This time too Yelena threatened to hang the shoemaker if the robe was not ready by the next morning.

Adapted from Russian Folktales

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

The Three Kingdoms - Part Nine

Ivan was stunned because the dining table set itself up and various food and wine appeared on the table as Ivan and his mother dined. There were invisible musicians who  played music in the background. That way, they had a lavish meal.

Then Ivan decided that they had to leave this place. “Mother, your two older sons wait for us down outside the cave and we also have to save the three Tsaritsas who are living in the other castles.”

Mother and son packed all the things that they needed and then they set off and first went to the Golden castle and then the silver and copper castle. The other Tsaritsas took as much lenin and other things from the castle.

Soon, all of them reached the place where they would have to go down the mountain.

Using the lenin, Ivan first let his mother down the mountain. After that, Ivan sent Yelena and her two sisters down the mountain.

Meanwhile down the mountains, Ivan’s brothers Pyotr Tsarevich and Vassili Tsarevich saw their mother and three beautiful Tsaristas.

Pyotr Tsarevich had an evil idea and turned to his brother. “We will take our mother and the three Tsaristas to our father and tell him that we rescued all of them. I will marry Yelena, the Beautiful and you can marry the Tsarevich of the Silver kingdom. We will give the Tsarista of the Copper Kingdom to some general in the army.”

So before Ivan Tsarevich could get down the mountain, his two brothers down on the mountain side tore the linen away.

Ivan was stranded on the top of the mountain.

The Three Kingdoms - Part Eight

 

As soon as Whirlwind came inside the castle he looked around suspiciously. “I smell someone new.”

The Tsaritsa shook her head. “I do not know why that seems so to you.”

As Whirlwind came forward, Ivan grabbed the club from Whirlwind. 

Whirlwind roared and flew out through the window and up into the sky. Whirlwind flew over mountains wanting to smash Ivan, but Ivan held on. Whirlwind flew over seas and wanted to drown Ivan but Ivan still held on.

Finally, Whirlwind began to get tired. 

He rushed to the cellar where Nastasya Golden Tress has been kept and took the tub of water from the right hand side.

However, as soon as Whirlwind drank the water he became weak. Ivan drank the water from the other tub.

Ivan became a powerful mighty hero after that.

Whirlwind had become weak and Ivan took the sharp sword from Whirlwind and killed Whirlwind with a single blow.

As soon as Ivan did that, voices around him called him. “You have to strike Whirlwind again, or he will come to life.”

But Ivan remembered his mother’s instructions. “A hero’s hand will strike only once.” 

Then Whirlwind fell dead as Ivan burnt the body and scattered Whirlwind’s ashes to the wind.

Ivan’s mother was thrilled. “We must leave this place immediately. But before that we must eat.”

Ivan was confused. “I have not seen anyone else in the castle. Who will serve us here?”

Ivan’s mother nodded mysteriously. “You will see.”

Adapted from Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Seven

 

Ivan’s mother took him to the cellar of the castle. There, there were two tubs of water - one on the right and the other on the left.

Nastasya, Golden Tress asked her son to drink from the right tub once. “How do you feel now?” The Tsaritsa asked her son.

Iva Tsarevich felt powerful and turned to the Tsaritsa. “I feel strong enough to overturn the entire castle.”

The Tsaritsa asked Ivan to drink from the tub on the right hand tub once more. After that, Ivan felt strong enough to turn the entire world.

Then the Tsaritsa asked Ivan to interchange the tubs and told Ivan the reason. “The tub on the right hand will give you immense strength and the tub on the left will make you weak. Whirlwind always drinks the tub on the right hand after coming here. Now that you have interchanged it, it means that Whirlwind cannot be as strong as you.”

Then the Tsaritsa asked Ivan to hide under her purple robe because Whirlwind was to come to the place very soon and the Tsaritsa also gave clear instructions to Ivan on what to be done when Whirlwind came there.

“Grab the club with Whirlwind’s hands and never let it go, no matter what happens. That will weaken Whirlwind and he will come to the castle to drink from the tub. Be careful of which tub you drink from, at that time. After that, grab Whirlwind’s sword and strike him only once and no matter what do not strike him more than once.”

Ivan had barely hidden under the robe when the entire castle grew dark and everything shook.

Whirlwind flew inside the castle and he entered the castle with a club in his hands.

Adapted from Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Six

Following the silver ball, Ivan Tsarevich came to a golden castle. The castle glowed like fire. Just like the copper castle and the silver castle, this castle also had a golden entrance with golden snakes and a golden well and bucket nearby. 

After calming the golden snakes with the water from the golden well, a girl came out of the castle. She was Yelena the Beautiful.

“Who are you?” Yelena asked the young man.

Ivan told the girl everything including how his search for his mother had led him to this place. “Do you know where my mother is?”

Yelena nodded eagerly. “She lives close by. Whirlwind visits her once a week and Whirlwind comes to my palace once a month.”

This time, Yelena gave a golden ball to Ivan Tsarevich. She asked Ivan to follow the ball and that would lead him to his mother. Yelena also gave a golden ring to Ivan that represented the entire golden kingdom and she asked him to save her after Ivan had defeated Whirlwind.

Ivan Tsarevich followed the golden ball and came upon a castle that was almost blazing with diamonds and precious stones.

At the gate of this castle too, there were six-headed serpents. Ivan Tsarevich gave the serpents water to drink. 

The serpents let Ivan Tsarevich pass.

Ivan walked through great chambers and came to another huge room and in the centre, his mother sat on a lavish throne.

Ivan’s mother was thrilled to see him. “How did you come here?”

“I have come here for you, mother.”

Ivan’s mother sighed. “It will not be easy. In the mountains, the evil Whirlwind is powerful and all the spirits here obey him.” Ivan’s mother studied him. “If however, you have to fight Whirlwind then I can help you.”

Adapted from Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Five

Ivan Tsarevich agreed to help the Tsaritsa of the Copper Kingdom after he had saved his mother from Whirlwind. 

After that, he threw the ball before him.

The copper ball rolled forward and this time, the ball landed before the Silver Kingdom. Just like the Copper kingdom, this time everything in the palace, including the terrible serpents at the gate of the place were made of silver. This time Ivan Tsarevich drew water from the silver bucket and gave the water to the serpents and quietened them.

After that the Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom came out and she was stunned to see someone else other than the monster Whirlwind. “It has been three years since Whirlwind has imprisoned me here. Who are you? What are you doing here?”

When Ivan Tsarevich told the woman the reason he was here, she too told him that she did not know where Whirlwind or his mother was. But she gave him a silver ring and a silver ball. The silver ring represented the entire Silver kingdom and the silver ball would lead Ivan Tsarevich to the Golden kingdom. The Tsaritsa of the Silver kingdom wanted Ivan to ask his questions to the woman in the Golden kingdom and she hoped that the woman in the Golden kingdom would know the answer to Ivan’s questions.

Ivan thanked her and took the ball when the woman asked Ivan to save her from Whirlwind after he had saved his mother. This time too, the silver ring represented the entire silver kingdom and using that, Ivan could summon the entire kingdom including the Tsaritsa after he had defeated Whirlwind.

Ivan promised to help her too and followed the silver ball.

Adapted from Russian Folktales

The Three Kingdoms - Part Four

 

After reaching the top, Ivan Tsarevich was tired. He rested a little. 

Then he started walking. He walked along the mountain for a long time and then reached a copper castle.

The copper castle has a huge gate where many snakes were fastened by copper chains. There was a well next to the gate and there was a copper bucket hung by a copper chain there.

Ivan drew water from the well and the water to the snakes to drink.

Immediately after that, the snakes became quiet. 

Then the Tasrita of the Copper kingdom raced out to meet him. “What are you, brave one?”

“I am Ivan Tasrevich.”

“Have you come here of your own free will?”

Ivan nodded. “Yes. I have come here in search of my mother - Nastasya, Golden Tress. A Whirlwind carried her away.” Ivan looked hopeful. “Have you heard of my mother?”

The Tsaritsa of the copper kingdom shook her head. “No I have not.” The Tsaritsa was not yet done. “My second sister of the silver kingdom lives a little further away.” The Tsaritsa nodded at Ivan. “Probably, she will be able to help you in finding your mother.”

Ivan nodded when the Tsaritsa handed him a copper ball and a copper ring. “This ball will lead you to my sister in the Silver kingdom.” Ivan accepted it and studied the copper ring. 

The Tsaritsa of the Copper kingdom continued. “This ring represents the whole of the copper kingdom. Whirlwind has imprisoned me here and he comes to this place once in three months.”

Ivan as surprised as the Tsaritsa continued. “When you overcome Whirlwind take me away from this place to the free world.”

Adapted from Russian Folktales