READING PRACTISE

There once lived an old man and an old woman who had three sons, two of them clever young men and the third, a fool. The two old people loved their two clever sons dearly, and not a week passed but the old woman would give them each a fresh shirt to wear. But as for the fool, everyone was always mocking and scolding him. He would sit on the stove in his rough linen shirt and if the old woman gave him nothing to eat, hungry he would stay.

One day the news reached the village that the tsar was to hold a feast to which all of his subjects were invited and that the princess would marry him among them who built a flying ship and came flying to the palace in it.

The two clever brothers went to the forest, cut down a tree and began to think how they could build a flying ship out of it when an old man, one as old as old can be, came up to them. More power to your elbow!" said he. "And do give me a light, for I want to smoke my pipe."

"We have no time to bother with you, old man!" the brothers replied and began thinking what they were to do about the ship again. "You’ll have a fine trough there for the pigs to eat out of," said the old man, "but you’ll no more see the princess than you can see your own ears."

With that he vanished, and as for the two brothers, they tried hard to build the ship and tried again but nothing came of it. "Let us mount our horses and go to town," said the elder of the two. "We might not marry the princess, but we’ll at least take part in the feast."

And the two old people blessed them and helped them to get ready for the journey, the old woman baking them some fine white bread, roasting a whole suckling lamb for them and giving them a flask of good honey to take along with them.

The two brothers mounted their horses and set off on their way, and when the fool learnt about it he began begging his parents to let him follow them. "I want to go where my brothers went!" said he. "Do you, you fool!" his mother said. "Why, the wolves will eat you up in the forest." "No, they won’t!" And there was no doing anything about it, for go he would.

So the old woman got out some stale black bread and filled a flask with water, packed them in a bag, gave the bag to him and sent him on his way. The fool set off for the forest, and it was when he was nearing it that he saw, coming toward him, an old man, who was as old as old can be and had a snow-white beard that reached to his waist. "Greetings, Grandpa!" the fool said. "Greetings to you, my son!"

"Where are you going, Grandpa?" "I walk all over the earth helping people who are in trouble. And where are you off to?" "To the tsar’s palace where a feast is being held." "Can you make a ship that can fly of itself, then?" "No, I can’t." "Then why do you go there?" "My brothers did, so why shouldn’t I! I might make my fortune there." "

Oh, very well. Sit down and let’s have a rest and something to eat. Show me what you have in that bag of yours." "But, Grandpa, all I have there is some stale black bread, you won’t like it." "Never you mind, just take it out."

The fool reached into the bag and brought out some bread, and lol—it wasn’t stale or black at all but very light and fresh and made of the finest wheat, the kind of bread the lords eat on holidays. The fool wondered at the sight of it, but the old man only laughed.

They had a good rest and ate their fill, and the old man thanked the fool and said: "Listen to me, my son, and do as I say. Go to the forest and find the biggest of the oak-trees there, one whose branches grow crosswise. Strike it three times with your axe and yourself drop to the ground and don’t get up till you hear someone calling you. By that time the flying ship will have been built for you, and you can get into it and go wherever you have a mind to. But there is one thing you must do and that is to take along with you whoever it is you meet on your way."

The fool thanked the old man and bade him goodbye. He then went into the forest, found the oak-tree whose branches grew crosswise, struck it three times with his axe, dropped to the ground and fell asleep. By and by he heard someone calling him. "Get up, for great good fortune has come to you!" the voice said. !

The fool jumped up, and lol— what did he see before him but a flying ship that was made of gold and had masts of silver and sails of silk. All he had to do was to climb into it and go wherever it was he had a mind to. So in he climbed without another thought, hoisted the sails and was off and away!

And, oh, how fast went the ship and how smoothly. On and on flew the fool, and when some time had passed, there below him, stretched out on the ground and with one of his ears pressed close to it, he saw a man. "Good day to you, my good man, and what are you doing there?" the fool called. "I am listening hard, for I want to hear if the tsar’s guests have all gathered at the palace."

"Is that where you are going?" "Yes!" "Climb in, then, and I’ll take you there." The man climbed into the ship and away they flew together! Some time passed, and there below them they saw a man. He was hopping along on one leg and had his other leg tied to his ear.

"Good day to you, my good man!" the fool called. "Why are you hopping along there on only one leg?" "If I were to use both legs one step of mine would take me all the way round the earth, and I don’t want that!" the man called back. "Where are you going, then?" "To the palace, to attend the tsar’s feast." "Climb in with us, and I’ll take you there." "Very well!"

The man climbed into the ship, and away the three of them flew! Some time passed, and there beneath them they saw an archer taking aim with his bow and arrow. What he was aiming at they could not tell, for round him there spread a wide field with not a bird or a beast in sight.

"Good day to you, my good man!" the fool called. "What are you aiming at? There’s not a bird or a beast to be seen anywhere." "That’s what you think! You don’t see them, but I do." "You do?" "Yes! There’s an eagle sitting in an oak-tree beyond that forest there, a hundred mile "That’s what you think! You don’t see them, but I do." "You do?" "Yes! There’s an eagle sitting in an oak-tree beyond that forest there, a hundred miles away from here." "Come, then, climb in with us!"

The man climbed into the ship and away the four of them flew! Some time passed, and they saw an old man walking along the road below. He was carrying a sack of bread. "Where are you going in such haste, Grandpa?" the fool called. "To get some bread, it’ll be dinner-time soon!" the man called back. "But you have a whole sackful with you!" "True, but it’s not enough for me. One bite, and I’ll swallow it all!" "Come, then, climb in with us!" The old man climbed into the ship and away the five of them flew!

Some time passed and they saw another old man below them. He was walking along the shore of a lake and seemed to be searching for something. "What are you doing there, Grandpa?" the fool called. "Looking for some water, for I’m very thirsty!" the old man called back. "But there’s a lake just in front of you!" "True, but I can drink all the water in it at one gulp." "Come then, climb in with us!" The old man climbed into the ship and away the six of them flew!

Some time passed, and they saw a third old man below them. He had a sack of straw over his shoulder and was trudging along the road. "Good day to you, Grandpa! Where are you taking the straw?" the fool called. "To the village yonder." "Isn’t there any straw there?" "There is, but not the kind I have!" "And what kind is that?" "A special kind. No matter how hot the day and how strong the sun, all I have to do is scatter it over the ground and it’ll turn to snow."

"Come, then, climb in with us and we’ll go to see the tsar together!" "Very well." The old man climbed into the ship and away the seven of them flew! Whether they flew for a long or a short time nobody knows, but they got to the palace and were just in time for the feast.

Kegs of ale and beer had been rolled out into the courtyard, and set up in front of the palace were tables groaning with food: oxen just off the spit, sausages and hams, roasted fowl, gruel and milk, and other good things as well. The kegs stood open, and you could eat and drink your fill!

Present at the feast was half the tsardom: lords and peasants, rich and poor, young and old! And the fool’s two clever brothers were there too, sitting side by side at one of the tables. The fool and his friends came flying up in their golden ship, they landed just under the tsar’s windows, and climbing out of the ship, joined the feasters.

The tsar was much surprised, for never did he think to see a simple peasant step out of the ship! The man was barefoot and had on a pair of pants made of some rough cloth and a shirt with patches all over it. The tsar clutched his head in horror. "Never will I let a daughter of mine marry a peasant!" said he to himself.