Сказки / Fairy Tales

The Star-Child went out of the gate of the city, and came to the wood.

This wood looked very nice, it seemed full of birds and of flowers. The Star-Child entered it gladly. But soon its beauty disappeared, and wherever he went harsh briars and thorns shot up from the ground and encompassed him. Evil nettles stung him, and the thistle pierced him with daggers. And he could not find the piece of white gold anywhere, though he sought for it from morn to noon, and from noon to sunset. At sunset he wept bitterly and decided to go home, for it was time to return.

But when he reached the outskirts of the wood, he heard from a thicket a cry. The Star-Child forgot his own sorrow and ran back to the place, where he saw there a little Hare in a hunter’s trap.

The Star-Child had pity on it, and released the Hare, and said,

‘I am a slave, but I can free you.’

The Hare answered him:

‘Surely you gave me freedom. What can I give you in return?’

The Star-Child said to it,

‘I look for a piece of white gold, but I can’t find it anywhere. If I don’t bring it to my master he will beat me.’

‘Come with me,’ said the Hare, ‘and I will lead you to it. I know where it is, and for what purpose.’

So the Star-Child went with the Hare, and lo! In the cleft of a great oak-tree he saw the piece of white gold. He was filled with joy, and seized it, and said to the Hare,

‘You rendered back my service and repaid the kindness many times over!’

‘As you deal with me,’ answered the Hare, ‘so I deal with you.’

The Hare ran away swiftly, and the Star-Child went towards the city.

Now at the gate of the city there was a leper. Over his face hung a cowl of grey linen. Through the eyelets his eyes gleamed like red coals. When he saw the Star-Child, he struck upon a wooden bowl, and clattered his bell, and called out to him, and said,

‘Give me a piece of money, or I must die of hunger. They thrust me out of the city, and there is no one who has pity on me.’

‘Alas!’ cried the Star-Child, ‘I have but one piece of money in my wallet, and if I don’t bring it to my master he will beat me, because I am his slave.’

But the leper entreated him, and prayed of him, till the Star-Child had pity, and gave him the piece of white gold.

And when he came to the Magician’s house, the Magician opened to him, and said to him,

‘Do you have the piece of white gold?’

The Star-Child answered,

‘I don’t have it.’

So the Magician beat him, and set before him an empty trencher, and said, ‘Eat,’ and an empty cup, and said, ‘Drink’. After that he pushed him again into the dungeon.

In the morning the Magician came to him, and said,

‘If today you don’t bring me the piece of yellow gold, I will surely keep you as my slave, and give you three hundred stripes.’

So the Star-Child went to the wood, and all day long he searched for the piece of yellow gold. But he could find it nowhere. At sunset he sat down and began to weep. Soon the little Hare came to him.

The Hare said to him,

‘Why do you weep? And what do you seek in the wood?’

The Star-Child answered,

‘I look for a piece of yellow gold. If I don’t find it my master will beat me, and keep me surely as a slave.’

‘Follow me,’ cried the Hare.

It ran through the wood till it came to a river. At the bottom of the river there was the piece of yellow gold.

‘How shall I thank you?’ said the Star-Child, ‘for lo! You succour me for the second time.’

‘But you had pity on me first,’ said the Hare, and ran away swiftly.

The Star-Child took the piece of yellow gold, and put it in his wallet, and hurried to the city. But the leper saw him again, and ran to meet him, and knelt down and cried,

‘Give me a piece of money or I shall die of hunger.’

The Star-Child said to him,

‘I have in my wallet but one piece of yellow gold. If I don’t bring it to my master he will beat me and keep me as his slave.’

But the leper entreated him sore, so that the Star-Child had pity on him, and gave him the piece of yellow gold.

When the Star-Child came to the Magician’s house, the Magician opened to him, and said to him,

‘Do you have the piece of yellow gold?’

And the Star-Child said to him,

‘No, I don’t have it.’

So the Magician beat him, and loaded him with chains, and cast him again into the dungeon.

In the morning the Magician came to him, and said,

‘If today you bring me the piece of red gold I will set you free[17 - I will set you free  –  я освобожу тебя]. But if you don’t bring it I will slay you.’

So the Star-Child went to the wood, and all day long he searched for the piece of red gold. But he could find it nowhere. At evening he sat down and wept. Again the little Hare came to him.

The Hare said to him,

‘The piece of red gold that you seek is in the cavern that is behind you. Therefore weep no more but be glad.’

‘How shall I reward you?’ cried the Star-Child, ‘for lo! You succour me for the third time.’