Once upon a time in the immense
Russian steppe, lay a little village where nearly all the inhabitants bred
horses. It was the month of October, when a big livestock market was held
yearly in the main town. Two brothers, one rich and the other one poor, set off
for market. The rich man rode a stallion, and the poor brother a young mare.
At dusk, they stopped beside an empty hut and tethered their horses outside,
before going to sleep themselves on two heaps of straw. Great was their
surprise, when, next morning they saw three horses outside, instead of two.
Well, to be exact the newcomer was not really a horse. It was a foal, to which
the mare had given birth during the night. Soon it had the strength to struggle
to its feet, and after a drink of its mother's milk, the foal staggered its
first few steps. The stallion greeted it with a cheerful whinny, and when the
two brothers set eyes on it for the first time, the foal was standing beside
the stallion.
"It belongs to me!" exclaimed Dimitri, the rich brother, the minute
he saw it. "It's my stallion's foal." Ivan, the poor brother, began
to laugh.
"Whoever heard of a stallion having a foal? It was born to my mare!"
"No, that's not true! It was standing close to the stallion, so it's the
stallion's foal. And therefore it's mine!" The brothers started to
quarrel, then they decided to go to town and bring the matter before the
judges. Still arguing, they headed for the big square where the courtroom
stood. But what they didn't know was that it was a special day, the day when,
once a year, the Emperor himself administered the law. He himself received all
who came seeking justice. The brothers were ushered into his presence, and they
told him all about the dispute.
Of course, the Emperor knew perfectly well who was the owner of the foal. He
was on the point of proclaiming in favor of the poor brother, when suddenly
Ivan developed an unfortunate twitch in his eye. The Emperor was greatly
annoyed by this familiarity by a humble peasant, and decided to punish Ivan for
his disrespect. After listening to both sides of the story, he declared it was
difficult, indeed impossible, to say exactly who was the foal's rightful owner.
And being in the mood for a spot of fun, and since he loved posing riddles and
solving them as well, to the amusement of his counselors, he exclaimed.
"I can't judge which of you should have the foal, so it will be awarded to
whichever of you solves the following four riddles: what is the fastest thing
in the world? What is the fattest? What's the softest and what is the most
precious? I command you to return to the palace in a week's time with your
answers!" Dimitri started to puzzle over the answers as soon as he left
the courtroom. When he reached home, however, he realized he had nobody to help
him.
"Well, I'll just have to seek help, for if I can't solve these riddles,
I'll lose the foal!" Then he remembered a woman, one of his neighbors, to
whom he had once lent a silver ducat. That had been some time ago, and with the
interest, the neighbor now owed him three ducats. And since she had a
reputation for being quick-witted, but also very astute, he decided to ask her
advice, in exchange for canceling part of her debt. But the woman was not slow
to show how astute she really was, and promptly demanded that the whole debt be
wiped out in exchange for the answers.
"The fastest thing in the world is my husband's bay horse," she said.
"Nothing can beat it! The fattest is our pig! Such a huge beast has never
been seen! The softest is the quilt I made for the bed, using my own goose's
feathers. It's the envy of all my friends. The most precious thing in the world
is my three-month old nephew. There isn't a more handsome child. I wouldn't
exchange him for all the gold on earth, and that makes him the most precious
thing on earth!"
Dimitri was rather doubtful about the woman's answers being correct. On the
other hand, he had to take some kind of solution back to the Emperor. And he
guessed, quite rightly, that if he didn't, he would be punished.
In the meantime, Ivan, who was a widower, had gone back to the humble cottage
where he lived with his small daughter. Only seven years old, the little girl
was often left alone, and as a result, was thoughtful and very clever for her
age. The poor man took the little girl into his confidence, for like his
brother, he knew he would never be able to find the answers by himself. The
child sat in silence for a moment, then firmly said.
"Tell the Emperor that the fastest thing in the world is the cold north wind
in winter. The fattest is the soil in our fields whose crops give life to men
and animals alike, the softest thing is a child's caress and the most precious
is honesty."
The day came when the two brothers were to return before the Emperor. They were
led into his presence. The Emperor was curious to hear what they had to say,
but he roared with laughter at Dimitri's foolish answers. However, when it was
Ivan's turn to speak, a frown spread over the Emperor's face. The poor
brother's wise replies made him squirm, especially the last one, about honesty,
the most precious thing of all. The Emperor knew perfectly well that he had
been dishonest in his dealings with the poor brother, for he had denied him
justice. But he could not bear to admit it in front of his own counselors, so
he angrily demanded:
"Who gave you these answers?" Ivan told the Emperor that it was his
small daughter. Still annoyed, the great man said.
"You shall be rewarded for having such a wise and clever daughter. You
shall be awarded the foal that your brother claimed, together with a hundred
silver ducats... But... but..." and the Emperor winked at his counselors.
"You will come before me in seven days' time, bringing your daughter. And
since she's so clever, she must appear before me neither naked nor dressed,
neither on foot nor on horseback, neither bearing gifts nor empty-handed. And
if she does this, you will have your reward. If not, you'll have your head
chopped off for your impudence!"
The onlookers began to laugh, knowing that the poor man would never to able to
fulfill the Emperor's conditions. Ivan went home in despair, his eyes brimming
with tears. But when he had told his daughter what had happened, she calmly
said.
"Tomorrow, go and catch a hare and a partridge. Both must be alive! You'll
have the foal and the hundred silver ducats! Leave it to me!" Ivan did as
his daughter said. He had no idea what the two creatures were for, but he
trusted in his daughter's wisdom.
On the day of the audience with the Emperor, the palace was thronged with
bystanders, waiting for Ivan and his small daughter to arrive. At last, the
little girl appeared, draped in a fishing net, riding the hare and holding the
partridge in her hand. She was neither naked nor dressed, on foot or on horseback.
Scowling, the Emperor told her.
"I said neither bearing gifts nor empty-handed!" At these words, the
little girl held out the partridge. The Emperor stretched out his hand to grasp
it, but the bird fluttered into the air. The third condition had been
fulfilled. In spite of himself, the Emperor could not help admiring the little
girl who had so cleverly passed such a test, and in a gentler voice, he said.
"Is your father terribly poor, and does he desperately need the
foal."
"Oh, yes!" replied the little girl. "We live on the hares he
catches in the rivers and the fish he picks from the trees!"
"Aha!" cried the Emperor triumphantly. "So you're not as clever
as you seem to be! Whoever heard of hares in the river and fish in the trees!
To which the little girl swiftly replied.
"And whoever heard of a stallion having a foal?" At that, both
Emperor and Court burst into peals of laughter. Ivan was immediately given his
hundred silver ducats and the foal, and the Emperor proclaimed.
"Only in my kingdom could such a wise little girl be born!"
