The Norka
Once upon a time, there was a king and queen. They have three sons; two are bright, but the third is stupid. At that time, the king had a deer park, which contained many wild animals. There is often a giant animal that comes into that park – its name is Norka – and does scary, naughty things, eating several animals every night. The king tried everything but could not destroy it. So, at last, he called his sons together and said, ‘Whoever destroys Norka, I will give him half my kingdom.’
Well, the eldest son took on the task. As soon as it got dark, he took up his weapon and set out. But before going to the park, he went into a bar and stayed there all night, having fun. When he regained consciousness, it was too late; the day had dawned. He felt humiliated in his father’s eyes but could do nothing to help. The next day, the second son went and did the same thing. Their father scolded them both severely, and that was the end of it.
Okay, on the third day, the youngest son took over the task. Everyone laughed at him because he was so stupid, feeling sure he wouldn’t do anything. But he took him by the hand and went straight into the park, sat down on the grass in such a position that when he fell asleep, his weapon would hit him, and he would wake up.
At this time, midnight rang. The ground began to shake, and the Norka rushed forward, straight through the fence and into the park; it was huge. The Prince regained his composure, stood up, crossed himself and rushed directly at the beast. It ran away again, and the Prince chased after it. But soon, he found he could not catch it with his feet, so he hastened to the stables, laid his hands on the best horse there, and set off in pursuit.
He now approached the beast, and they began to fight. They fought and fought; The Prince gave the beast three wounds. Finally, both were exhausted, so they rested for a while.
But as soon as the Prince closed his eyes, the beast jumped up and ran away. The Prince’s horse woke him; He jumped up immediately and started chasing again, catching up with the beast and starting to fight it again. The Prince again gave the beast three wounds, and then he and the beast lay down to rest again. Then the beast ran away as before. The Prince caught it and again gave it three wounds.
But suddenly, just as the Prince began to chase it for the fourth time, the beast fled to a large white rock, tilted it up and escaped into the other world, crying out to the Prince: ‘Only then you just got over it. Me, when you come in here.’
The Prince returned home, told his father everything that had happened and asked him to braid a leather rope long enough to get to the next world. His father ordered this to be done. When the rope was made, the Prince called his brothers, and he and them, taking with them servants and everything necessary for a whole year, set out where the beast had disappeared under the rock. Once there, they built a palace on the spot and lived there for a while. But when everything was ready, the youngest brother said to the others: ‘Now, brothers, who will lift this stone?’
None of them could stir it, but as soon as he touched it, it flew far away, even though it was huge – as big as a hill. And when he had thrown the stone aside, he said to his brothers a second time:
‘Who will go to the afterlife to overcome Norka?’
None of them offered to do so. Then he laughed at them as cowards and said:
‘Oh, brothers, goodbye! Release me to the other world and don’t leave here, but as soon as the rope is pulled, pull it up.’
Accordingly, his brothers humbled him, and when he reached the other world below the earth, he continued on his way. He walked and walked. At this time, he saw a horse with many rich costumes, and it said to him:
‘Hello, Prince Ivan! I have been waiting for you for a long time!’
He mounted his horse and rode away—riding and riding until he saw before him a palace made of bronze. He went into the yard, tied his horse and went into the house. In one room, dinner was being served. He sat down to dinner and then went into the bedroom. There, he found a bed, where he lay down to rest. At this time, there was a woman so beautiful that it is unimaginable anywhere except in fairy tales who said:
‘You’re in my house, name yourself! If I were an old man, I would be your father; If it’s a middle-aged man, it’s my brother; but if I were a young man, I would be your husband, my dear. And if you were a woman and an old person, you would be my grandmother; If middle-aged, there is a mother; And if I were a girl, you would be my sister.”
Then he walked out. And when she saw him, she was pleased and said:
‘Therefore, Prince Ivan – my beloved husband! – why did you come here?’
Then he told her all that had happened and she said:
‘The beast you want to overcome is my brother. He is now with my second sister; she lives not far from here in a silver palace. I bandaged the three wounds you gave him.”
Then they drank and were merry and talked sweetly to each other, then the Prince took leave of her and went to see his second sister, who lived in the silver palace, and he also stayed with her for a while. She told him that her brother Norka was at her youngest sister’s house then. So he continued to visit his youngest sister, who lived in a golden palace. She told him that her brother was sleeping in the blue sea. She gave him a steel sword and a sip of the Water of Strength, and she told him to cut off her brother’s head with a single strike. And when he heard these things, he went his way.
When the Prince came to the blue sea, he saw Norka sleeping on a rock in the middle of the ocean, and as it snored, the water moved seven miles around. The Prince made the sign of the cross, approached it and hit it on the head with his sword. The pilot jumped out and said: ‘Okay, done!’ and rolled into the sea.
After killing the beast, the Prince returned, picking up all three sisters to take them to the upper world, for they all loved him and would not leave him. Each of them turned her palace into an egg – for they were all witches – and they taught him how to turn the eggs into castles and then turned around, and they delivered the eggs to his Older brother. And then, they all go to the place from where they must be taken to the upper world. And when they came to the place where the rope was, the Prince took hold of it and made the girls tie themselves to it. He then pulled the yarn out, and his brothers began to pull it up. And when they had pulled it up and had their eyes on the beautiful maidens, they went aside and said: ‘Let us lower the rope, pull our brother up a little way and then cut the rope. Perhaps he will be killed, but if not, he will never take these beauties as wives for us.”
So when they agreed on this, they lowered the rope. But their brother was no fool; He guessed what they were doing, so he tied the rope tightly to a stone and pulled it. His brothers lifted the stone high and cut the cord. The falling rocks broke into pieces; The Crown Prince shed tears and left.
Yes, he walked and walked. Presently, a storm arose; Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, and rain fell like a waterfall. He climbed a tree to take shelter under it, and in that tree, he saw some young birds soaking wet. So he took off his coat, covered them, and sat down under the tree. At this moment, a bird was flying in – a bird so large that the light was obscured by it. It used to be very dark there, but now it’s even darker. This is the mother of the little birds the Prince has covered up. When the bird flew up, she noticed that her babies were covered. She said, “Who covered my nest?” when she saw the Prince, she added: “Did you do that?” Thank! In return, ask me anything you desire. I’ll do anything for you.’
“Then take me to another world,” he replied.
“Make me a big pot with a wall in the middle,” she said; ‘catch all kinds of game, put half in, and pour water into the other half to have meat and drink for me.”
All this the Prince did. Then, the bird—carrying the vase on its back, with the Prince sitting in the middle—began to fly. And after passing some distance, she took him to the end of his journey, said goodbye to him, and scrambled back. But he went to a specific tailor’s house and accepted to be his servant. He was so poorly dressed his appearance had changed so completely that no one could suspect he was a Prince.
After serving this master, the Prince began to ask what was happening in that country. And his master replied: ‘Our two Princes – for the third has disappeared – have brought brides from the other world and want to marry them, but those brides refuse. Because they insisted on having all their wedding clothes made for them first, exactly like the ones they had in the other world and without needing to measure them. The king called all the workers together, but none took charge.”
The Prince, after hearing all this, said: ‘Go to the king, master, and tell him that you will provide everything in your power.’
‘However, can I undertake to make that type of clothing? I work for pretty normal people,” his boss said.
‘Let’s go, master! I will answer everything,” the Prince said.
So the tailor left. The king was delighted to find at least one good craftsman and gave him as much money as he wanted. When the tailor had finished everything, he went home. And the Prince said to him:
‘Now pray to God and lie down to sleep; tomorrow, all will be ready.’ The tailor followed the young man’s advice and went to bed.
Midnight rang out. The Prince got up, left the city and went to the fields, took out of his pocket the eggs the girls had given him and turned them into three palaces, as they had taught. He entered each place, took the maiden’s robe, went out again, turned the palaces back into eggs, and returned home. When he arrived, he hung his robe on the wall and fell asleep.
Early in the morning, his master woke up, and behold! Hung robes he had never seen before, all glittering with gold, silver and precious stones. He was pleased and caught them and brought them back to the King. When the Princesses saw that the clothes were theirs in the afterlife, they guessed that Prince Ivan was in this world, so they looked at each other but kept silent. And the owner, after delivering the clothes, went home but could no longer find his beloved companion there. For the Prince has come to work as a shoemaker, and he also sent him to work for the King; in like manner, he went round to all the artisans, and they all sent him thanks, for through him the King had enriched them.
By the time the noble craftsman had gone round to all the artisans, the Princesses had received what they had asked for; all their clothes were the same as what they wore in the afterlife. Then they cried bitterly because the Crown Prince had not yet arrived; they could no longer hold out; they needed to get married. But when they were ready for the wedding, the youngest bride said to the king:
“Father, please allow me to give alms to the beggars.”
He allowed her to leave; she went and began to give alms to them and examined them closely. And when she went to one of them and was about to give him some money, she saw the ring she had given to the Prince in the other world, and her sister’s rings as well – for that him. So she took his hand, brought him into the palace and said to the king:
“This is the person who brought us out of the afterlife. His brothers forbade us to say he was alive, threatening to kill us if we told.”
Then, the king became angry with those sons and punished them as he thought best. And then, three weddings were performed.
