Baba Yaga Russia-1
Baba Yaga Russia-1
Baba Yaga Russia-1
Once upon a time there was an old couple. The husband lost his wife and married again. But he
had a daughter by the first marriage, a young girl, and she found no favor in the eyes of her evil
stepmother, who used to beat her, and consider how she could get her killed outright. One day the
father went away somewhere or other, so the stepmother said to the girl, "Go to your aunt, my sister,
and ask her for a needle and thread to make you a shift."
Now that aunt was a Baba Yaga. Well, the girl was no fool, so she went to a real aunt of hers
first, and says she, "Good morning, auntie!"
"Good morning, my dear! What have you come for?"
"Mother has sent me to her sister, to ask for a needle and thread to make me a shift."
Then her aunt instructed her what to do. "There is a birch tree there, niece, which would hit you
in the eye -- you must tie a ribbon round it; there are doors which would creak and bang -- you must
pour oil on their hinges; there are dogs which would tear you in pieces -- you must throw them these
rolls; there is a cat which would scratch your eyes out -- you must give it a piece of bacon."
So the girl went away, and walked and walked, till she came to the place. There stood a hut, and
in it sat weaving the Baba Yaga, the bony-shanks.
"Good morning, auntie," says the girl.
"Good morning, my dear," replies the Baba Yaga.
" Mother has sent me to ask you for a needle and thread to make me a shift."
"Very well; sit down and weave a little in the meantime."
So the girl sat down behind the loom, and the Baba Yaga went outside, and said to her servant
maid, "Go and heat the bath, and get my niece washed; and mind you look sharp after her. I want to
breakfast off her."
Well, the girl sat there in such a fright that she was as much dead as alive. Presently she spoke
imploringly to the servant maid, saying, "Kinswoman dear, do please wet the firewood instead of making
it burn; and fetch the water for the bath in a sieve." And she made her a present of a handkerchief.
The Baba Yaga waited awhile; then she came to the window and asked, "Are you weaving,
niece? Are you weaving, my dear?"
"Oh yes, dear aunt, I'm weaving."
So the Baba Yaga went away again, and the girl gave the cat a piece of bacon, and asked, "Is
there no way of escaping from here?"
"Here's a comb for you and a towel," said the cat; "take them, and be off. The Baba Yaga will
pursue you, but you must lay your ear on the ground, and when you hear that she is close at hand, first
of all, throw down the towel. It will become a wide, wide river. And if the Baba Yaga gets across the
river, and tries to catch you, then you must lay your ear on the ground again, and when you hear that
she is close at hand, throw down the comb. It will become a dense, dense forest; through that she won't
be able to force her way anyhow."