004_131_Frolka-Siden.xml

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<Folktale>
<Move>
<Preparation>  
 
 There was once a king who had three daughters, 
 and such beauties they were as no tongue can tell of nor pen describe. 
 Their garden was big and beautiful and they liked to walk there at night.
 A dragon from the Black Sea took to visiting this garden. 
 One night the king's daughters tarried in the garden, 
 for they could not tear their eyes away from the flowers;
 suddenly the dragon appeared and carried them off on his fiery wings. 
 The king waited and waited but his daughters did not come back. 
 He sent his maidservants to look for them in the garden, but all in vain; 
 the maidservants could not find the princesses. 
 The next morning the king proclaimed a state of emergency 
 and a great multitude of people gathered. 
 The king said: 
 "Whoever finds my daughters, to him I shall give as much money as he wants." 





 Three men agreed to undertake this task-a soldier who was a drunkard, Frolka Stay-at-Home, and Erema;
 and they set out to look for the princesses.
 They walked and walked till they came to a deep forest. 
 As soon as they entered it they were overwhelmed by drowsiness. 
 Frolka Stay-at-Home drew a snuffbox out of his pocket, tapped on it, 
 opened it, shoved a pinch of tobacco into his nose, and cried: 
 "Eh, brothers, let us not sleep, let us not rest, let us keep going." 
 
 
 So they went on; they walked and walked and finally came to an enormous house, 
 and in that house was a five-headed dragon. 
 
 For a long time they knocked at the gate, but no one answered. 
 Then Frolka Stay-at-Home pushed the soldier and Erema away and said: 
 "Let me try, brothers!" 
 He snuffed up some tobacco and gave such a knock at the gate that he smashed it. 
 They entered the yard, sat in a circle, and were about to eat whatever they had. 
 Then a maiden of great beauty came out of the house and said: 
 "Little doves, why have you come here? 
 A very wicked dragon lives here, who will devour you. 
 You are lucky that he happens to be away." 
 Frolka answered her: 
 "It is we who shall devour him." 
 He had no sooner said these words than the dragon came flying and roared: 
 "Who has ruined my kingdom? Do I have enemies in the world? 
 I have only one enemy, but his bones won't even be brought here by a raven." 
 "A raven won't bring me," said Frolka, "but a good horse did." 
 The dragon upon hearing this said: 
 "Have you come for peaceful purposes or to fight?" 
 "I have not come for peaceful purposes," said Frolka, "but to fight." 
 They moved apart, faced each other, and clashed, 
 and in one stroke Frolka cut off all the five heads of the dragon. 
 
 Then he put them under a stone and buried the body in the ground. 
 
 The maiden was overjoyed and said to the three brave men: "My little doves, take me with you." 
 "But who are you?" they asked. She said that she was the king's eldest daughter; 
 Frolka told her what task he had undertaken, and they were both glad. 
 The princess invited them into the house, 
 gave them meat and drink, and begged them to rescue her sisters. 
 
 Frolka said: "We were sent for them too!" 
 
 The princess told them where her sisters were. 
 
 "My next sister is even worse off than I was," she said. 
 
 "She is living with a seven-headed dragon." 
 
 "Never  mind," said Frolka, "we shall get the better of him too; 
 it may be somewhat harder to deal with a twelve-headed dragon."
 They said farewell and went on. 
 
 Finally they came to the abode of the second sister. 
 The house where she was locked up was enormous and all around it there was a high iron fence.
 They approached it and looked for the gate; finally they found it.
 Frolka banged upon the gate with all his strength and it opened; 
 they entered the yard and, as they had done before, sat down to eat. 
 Suddenly the seven-headed dragon came flying. 
 "I smell Russian breath here," he said. 
 "Bah, it is you, Frolka, who have come here! What for?" 
 "I know what for," answered Frolka. 
 He began to fight with the dragon and in one stroke cut off all seven of his heads, 
 put them under a stone, 
 and buried the body in the ground. 
 
 Then they entered the house; they passed through one room, 
 a second, 
 and a third, and in the fourth they found the king's second daughter sitting on a sofa. 
 
 When they told her why and how they had come there, she brightened, 
 offered them food and drink, 
 and begged them to rescue her youngest sister from the twelve-headed dragon. 
 
 
 Frolka said: "Of course, that is what we were sent for. But there is fear in my heart. 
 Well, perhaps God will help me! Give us each another cup!" 
 
 They drank and left;
 they walked and walked till they came to a very steep ravine.
 On the other side of the ravine there stood enormous pillars instead of a gate,
 and on the pillars were chained two ferocious lions that roared so loudly that
 only Frolka remained standing on his feet; his two companions fell to the ground from fear.
 
 Frolka said to them: "I have seen worse terrors, and even then I was not frightened. 
 Come with me!"
 And they went on. 
 
 Suddenly an old man, who looked to be about seventy, came out of the castle;
 
 he saw them, came to meet them, and said: 
 "Whither are you going, my friends?" "To this castle," answered Frolka. "Ah, my friends," said the old man, 
 "you are going to an evil place; the twelve-headed dragon lives in this castle.
 He is not at home now, else he would have devoured you at once."
 "But he is the very one we have come to see," said Frolka. 
 "If so," said the old man, "come with me, I will help you get to him." 
 
 The old man went up to the lions and began to stroke them, 
 and Frolka with his companions got through to the courtyard.
 
 They entered the castle; the old man brought them to the room where the princess lived. 
 Upon seeing them she quickly jumped off her bed and began to question them as to who they were
 and why they had come. 
 They told her. 
 The princess offered them food and drink and began to make ready to go.
 As they were preparing to leave the house, they suddenly saw the dragon flying at a verst's distance from them. 
 The king's daughter rushed back into the house and Frolka and his companions went out to meet
 and fight the dragon. 
 
 At first the dragon attacked them with great force, but Frolka, a clever fellow, managed to defeat him, 
 cut off all of his twelve heads, and cast them into the ravine. 
 Then they returned to the house and in their joy reveled even more than before. 
 Following this feast they set out on their way, stopping only for the other princesses. 
 
 Thus they all came back to their native land. 
 The king was overjoyed, opened his royal treasury to them, and said:
 "Now, my faithful servants, take as much money as you want for a reward." 
 
 Frolka was generous: he brought his big three-flapped cap, the soldier brought his knapsack, 
 and Erema brought a basket. 
 Frolka began to fill his cap first: 
 he poured and poured, the cap broke, and the silver fell into the mud. 
 Frolka began to pour again; he poured, and the money dropped from the cap! 
 "There is nothing to be done," said Frolka. 
 "Probably all of the royal treasury will fall to me." 
 "And what will be left for us?" asked his companions. 
 "The king has enough money for you too," said Frolka. 
 While there was still money, Erema began to fill his basket,
 and the soldier his knapsack; having done this, they went home. 
 But Frolka remained near the royal treasury with his cap 
 and to this very day he is still sitting there, pouring out money for himself. 
 When his cap is filled, I shall go on with my story, but now I am too tired. 
 
 
 </Preparation>
 </Move>
 </Folktale>