|| A Ukranian folktale ||
Thousands and thousands of years ago, the world was very different from what it is today. Magic was common and many mischievous powers stayed in forests and deserts, far from humans. Now, that time, there were a poor couple who had a son. The son did nothing all day, he was lazy and said that nothing seemed interesting to him. The parents tried everything, but the son found everything boring. The father send the young lad to a tailor to learn how to sew clothes. In 3 days, the young man came back. The father then sent him to a cobbler and then a blacksmith, he returned again within 3 days. Nothing seemed to work with him. As the parents grew older, they became more worried. Their little money was running out and their son was of no help.
Finally, the father decided to take his son to farther kingdoms. “Maybe he will find some employment there”, he thought. But they had to cross a forest to get there. Everybody knew that forest is not a safe place. But due to sheer desperation, they walked through the forest. After a while, the father grew tired and sat down on a tree stump. “Oh! I am getting so tired and old”, he exclaimed. Then, almost as if by magic, a small wrinkled old man with a long green beard (folk version of goblin) appeared out of nowhere. He asked, “Human, why did you call me?” The father was surprised at this strange being but he answered, “I never called you. Who are you?”
The little old man said, “I am Oh, the Tsar of the Forest. You just called me when you sat down”. The father said, “Oh! So your name is Oh?” The little man nodded, “See, you just called me again” The father understood. He said, ” I didn’t mean to call you. I was just tired” Oh asked, “Where are you going?” The father replied, “I’m taking my son to the kingdom on the other side. He does not do anything. Soon he might be a burden on my old shoulders” Oh said, “Why don’t you leave him with me and come back after an year. I promise he will become useful. But one condition. After an year, if you recognize your son, you can take him back. Otherwise he will serve one more year with me”
The father thought, “My son is anyway wasted at home. Soon I will not be able to feed the three of us. Might as well give this a try” and so he agreed and left his son with Oh. A year passed and the father came to woods, sat on the same stump and exclaimed, “Oh! I have come for my son”. Oh appeared and said, “Hello, old man! Like I said, if you recognize your son, you can take him away. Or else, he serves one more year”. He then scattered some millets on the ground and some chickens came forward and started pecking them. The old man tried to make out which chicken was his son. All of them looked the same and he chose a wrong one. So he came back home.
The second year, the father came and called again. Oh took him to an open clearing in the forest. There many sheep were grazing. Oh said, ” Old man, find your son”. All the sheep were grazing lazily. Try as he might, he could not make out. He choose a wrong sheep and was told to come and try the next year. By this time, the father understood that Oh must be a mischievous being, but how was he to compete with such a creature? He went back home sadly. The third year he set out for the forest again. He has grown a little more older and weaker. He had to stop frequently to regain energy. At one such rest stop, as he sat down, his back pained and cried out, “Ouch! That hurt!” Another little wrinkled old man appeared. But unlike Oh, this one was full white, his beard and all.
The father was aghast. Who did he summon accidentally now!? The little white man asked, “Human, what do you want? Why did you call me?” The father explained that he did not mean to call him and that he was looking for his son who is in the service of Oh. The little white man said, “Yes, Oh is one mischievous spirit. He banished me from the kingdom. I will tell you how to identify your son. Do as I say” and he told the father what he needs to do. The father thanked the little white man. The little white man said, “You are lucky I am one of the good ones. But be careful with Oh. Even if you take back your son, Oh may not let go so easily” and he disappeared.
The father proceed to the usual place and called out, “Oh! I have come for my son”. Oh appeared and said, “Very well. Identify your son from those doves above”. He pointed to the sky. There were many identical doves flying high in the warm sunshine. There was only one dove sitting on a branch, grooming his feathers, instead of flying. As instructed by the little white man, the father identified this dove as his son. It was indeed the case! Oh turned the dove back into the young man and he was let go. The father was happy to be reunited with his son. They set out home together. The father asked, “Son! I am so glad to see you. But we have become poorer while you were gone. I hope you have earned something to keep us from starving.” The son said, “No, father. Unfortunately, I have earned nothing. But, I have learned the art of transforming into anything I want. I have a plan on how we can make money without any of us having to toil and sweat”
He continued, “I will transform myself into a strong horse. Take me to the market and sell me for a thousand rubles. But sell me without the harness and reigns. I must not be bound. That way, I can turn myself into human and escape later”
So they went to the market. The young lad turned into a big fine horse. Soon many merchants started quoting prices.
“Five hundred rubles”, said one.
“Six hundred rubles”, said another.
“Thousand rubles or nothing”, said the father. Time passed.
After sometime, a one-eyed gypsy came and started haggling. She said, “I will give you the thousand rubles, but I need the harness and reigns. How will take the horse with me otherwise. I will pay extra five rubles for these”
The father thought, “No one has offered this much. I don’t know if any other merchant might offer this much again”, so he sold the horse bound with the harness and the reigns to the gypsy.
The gypsy was actually Oh, the Tsar of the Forest, in disguise. He came to take back the young man, his servant. With the horse tightly in his grip, he rode away towards the forest. The young man is trapped.
On the way, they stopped by a stream. The young man saw his chance when Oh got down for a minute to drink water. Knowing that the dwarf would chase him no matter what animal or bird he turned into, he turned into a beautiful gold ring and dropped into the stream. The ring was carried downstream.
Oh realized what was happening a second too late. He turned into a boat and travelled downstream. Along the water, downstream, the Tsarivna, the daughter of Tsar of a neighbouring kingdom, was taking bath.
She found the beautiful ring and thought, “What an exquisite ring! Never saw anything like this before”. She put it on her finger and went back to the palace.
Oh saw this from a distance. He turned into an old man and went to Tsar’s palace. The Tsar and his daughter were walking in the garden, feeding grain to birds.
The Tsar asked him, “What do you want, old man?”
Oh replied, “I want my ring man, your kindness. I was taking a precious garnet ring to the Tsar of my own land when I dropped it into the river by mistake. I will lose my head if I don’t take it back. I beg you!”
The Tsar tried to convince his daughter but she would not listen. The Tsar then offered the old man a huge sum of money in exchange for the ring, but the old man refused.
The Tsar warned his young daughter, “We can’t be responsible for this man’s death. I will give you anything else you want. Give it up!”
Tsarivna said, “Then it shall be neither his nor mine” and she threw the ring on the ground. The young man saw his chance again and turned into a heap of grain.
Oh turned into a pigeon and began pecking the grains. Creatures like Oh are not supposed to reveal themselves so plainly. The Tsar and daughter got a fright at the sorcery and they ran back into the palace.
Oh, disguised as the pigeon, ate the grain, satisfied he had the upper hand. “That ought to teach the old man and his cocky son not to mess with me”, he thought and flew back to the forest, to his world.
Unknown to him, there was one grain stuck to the Tsarivna’s slipper, which got carried back to the palace when she ran. The next day, she was surprised to see a handsome young man in the palace. She fell in love with him and requested her father to let him be her groom.
The Tsar was not happy with an ordinary man becoming his successor, but he couldn’t refuse his daughter. So they were married. The young man sent for his old parents and they came to live with him in the palace.
They all lived happily ever after.
As for Oh, he still thinks he took care of the cocky young man.
Don’t tell him, will you?
Story background
An interesting background on Ukraine and the origin of this story. Before the 13th century, Ukraine, Crimea, Poland and the current Russian territory were all part of one Russian mainland, which were ruled as North Russia and South Russia. They were ruled by Tsars who were different in their way of governance, but their territories were independent. The North did not interfere with the South and vice versa. In the 13th century, Russia was invaded by Tatars or “free folk”, as they were called. The Tsars of Southern Russia offered less resistance and a new ethnic group of people formed were called “Cossacks”. Their culture was a mix of the Tatars, the Russian and the Polish. Their primary language was Ruthenian, which is an intermediate between Polish and Russian. This folktale was originally written in Ruthenian, translated into old English and transformed into modern English by Faraway Tales. Cossacks played a key role in the cultural development of both Ukraine and Russia, but as of 2010 census, only 67,000 people of Cossack heritage were left. (source: Wiki, story source, various)
Story source: Cossack Fairytales From the Skazki of Polevoi. By R. Nisbet Bain
Modified and Retold by Faraway Tales
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