--- title: The Voices At the Window, part 1 — Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales · full text with trees description: The Voices At the Window, part 1, «Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales»: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: A nobleman went hunting one autumn, and with him went a goodly train of huntsmen. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/) / The Voices At the Window, part 1 # The Voices At the Window, part 1 The Voices At the Window, part 1 of «Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales»: the whole text, 114 sentences and 2922 words. Every sentence has its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/page/2/) - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/1/) — A nobleman went hunting one autumn, and with him went a goodly train of huntsmen. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/2/) — All day long they hunted and hunted, and at the end of the day they had caught nothing. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/3/) — At last dark night overtook them. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/4/) — It had now grown bitterly cold, and the rain began to fall heavily. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/5/) — The nobleman was wet to the skin, and his teeth chattered. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/6/) — He rubbed his hands together and cried, "Oh, had we but a warm hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour kvas,\[7\] we should have naught to complain of, but would tell tales and feign fables till dawn of day!" - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/7/) — Immediately there shone a light in the depths of the forest. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/8/) — They hastened up to it, and lo! there was a hut. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/9/) — They entered, and on the table lay bread and a jug of kvas; and the hut was warm, and the bed therein was white--everything just as the nobleman had desired it. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/10/) — So they all entered after him, and said grace, and had supper, and laid them down to sleep. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/11/) — \[7\] A sourish drink. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/12/) — They all slept, all but one, but to him slumber would not come. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/13/) — About midnight he heard a strange noise, and something came to the window and said, "Oh, thou son of a dog! thou didst say, 'If we had but a warm hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour kvas, we should have naught to complain of, but would tell tales and feign fables till dawn'; but now thou hast forgotten thy fine promise! - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/14/) — Wherefore this shall befall thee on thy way home. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/15/) — Thou shalt fall in with an apple-tree full of apples, and thou shalt desire to taste of them, and when thou hast tasted thereof thou shalt burst. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/16/) — And if any of these thy huntsmen hear this thing and tell thee of it, that man shall become stone to the knee!" - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/17/) — All this that huntsman heard, and he thought, "Woe is me!" - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/18/) — And about the second cockcrow something else came to the window and said, "Oh, thou son of a dog! thou didst say, 'If we had but a warm hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour kvas, we should have naught to complain of, but would tell tales and feign fables till dawn'; but now thou hast forgotten thy fine promises! - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/19/) — Wherefore this shall befall thee on thy way home. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/20/) — Thou shalt come upon a spring by the roadside, a spring of pure water, and thou shalt desire to drink of it, and when thou hast drunk thereof thou shalt burst. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/21/) — But if any of these thy huntsmen hear and tell thee of this thing, he shall become stone to the girdle." - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/22/) — All this that huntsman heard, and he thought to himself, "Woe is me!" - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/23/) — Again, toward the third cockcrow, he heard something else coming to the window, and it said, "Oh, thou son of a dog! thou didst say, 'If only we had a warm hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour kvas, we should have naught to complain of, but would tell tales and feign fables till dawn'; but now thou hast forgotten all thy fine promises! - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/24/) — Wherefore this shall befall thee on thy way home. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/25/) — Thou shalt come upon a feather-bed in the highway; a longing for rest shall come over thee, and thou wilt lie down on it, and the moment thou liest down thereon thou shalt burst. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/26/) — But if any of thy huntsmen hear this thing and tell it thee, he shall become stone up to the neck!" - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/27/) — All this that huntsman heard, and then he awoke his comrades and said, "It is time to depart!"--"Let us go then," said the nobleman. - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/28/) — So on they went, and they had not gone very far when they saw an apple-tree growing by the wayside, and on it were apples so beautiful that words cannot describe them. - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/29/) — The nobleman felt that he must taste of these apples or die; but the wakeful huntsman rushed up and cut down the apple-tree, whereupon apples and apple-tree turned to ashes. - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/30/) — But the huntsman galloped on before and hid himself. - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/31/) — They went on a little farther till they came to a spring, and the water of that spring was so pure and clear that words cannot describe it. - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/32/) — Then the nobleman felt that he must drink of that water or die; but the huntsman rushed up and splashed in the spring with his sword, and immediately the water turned to blood. - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/33/) — The nobleman was wrath, and cried, "Cut me down that son of a dog!" - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/34/) — But the huntsman rode on in front and hid himself. - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/35/) — They went on still farther till they came upon a golden bed in the highway, full of white feathers so soft and cosy that words cannot describe it. - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/36/) — The nobleman felt that he must rest in that bed or die. - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/37/) — Then the huntsman rushed up and struck the bed with his sword, and it turned to coal. - [38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/38/) — But the nobleman was very wrath, and cried, "Shoot me down that son of a dog!" - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/39/) — But the huntsman rode on before and hid himself. - [40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/40/) — When they got home the nobleman commanded them to bring the huntsman before him. " - [41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/41/) — What hast thou done, thou son of Satan?" he cried. " - [42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/42/) — I must needs slay thee!" - [43](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/43/) — But the huntsman said, "My master, bid them bring hither into the courtyard an old mare fit for naught but the knacker." - [44](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/44/) — They brought the mare, and he mounted it and said, "My master, last midnight something came beneath the window and said, 'Oh, son of a dog! thou saidst, "If only we had a warm hut, and a white bed, and soft bread, and sour kvas, we should grieve no more, but tell tales and feign fables till dawn," and now thou hast forgotten thy promise. - [45](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/45/) — Wherefore this shall befall thee on thy way home: thou shalt come upon an apple-tree covered with apples by the wayside, and straightway thou shalt long to eat of them, and the moment thou tastest thereof thou shalt burst. - [46](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/46/) — And if any of thy huntsmen hears this thing, and tells thee of it, he shall become stone up to the knee.'" - [47](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/47/) — When the huntsman had spoken so far, the horse on which he sat became stone up to the knee. - [48](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/48/) — Then he went on, "About the second cockcrow something else came to the window and said the selfsame thing, and prophesied, 'He shall come upon a spring by the roadside, a spring of pure water, and he shall long to drink thereof, and the moment he tastes of it he shall burst; and whoever hears and tells him of this thing shall become stone right up to the girdle.'" - [49](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/49/) — And when the huntsman had spoken so far, the horse on which he sat became stone right up to the breast. - [50](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/50/) — And he continued, and said, "About the third cockcrow something else came to the window and said the selfsame thing, and added, 'This shall befall thy lord on his way home. - [51](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/51/) — He shall come upon a white bed on the road, and he shall desire to rest upon it, and the moment he rests upon it he shall burst; and whoever hears and tells him of this thing shall become stone right up to the neck!'" - [52](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/52/) — And with these words he leaped from the horse, and the horse became stone right up to its neck. " - [53](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/53/) — That therefore, my master, was why I did what I did, and I pray thee pardon me." - [54](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/54/) — THE STORY OF LITTLE TSAR NOVISHNY, THE FALSE SISTER, AND THE FAITHFUL BEASTS - [55](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/55/) — Once upon a time, in a certain kingdom, in a certain empire, there dwelt a certain Tsar who had never had a child. - [56](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/56/) — One day this Tsar went to the bazaar (such a bazaar as we have at Kherson) to buy food for his needs. - [57](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/57/) — For though he was a Tsar, he had a mean and churlish soul, and used always to do his own marketing, and so now, too, he bought a little salt fish and went home with it. - [58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/58/) — On his way homeward, a great thirst suddenly fell upon him, so he turned aside into a lonely mountain where he knew, as his father had known before him, there was a spring of crystal-clear water. - [59](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/59/) — He was so very thirsty that he flung himself down headlong by this spring without first crossing himself, wherefore that Accursed One, Satan, immediately had power over him, and caught him by the beard. - [60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/60/) — The Tsar sprang back in terror, and cried, "Let me go!" - [61](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/61/) — But the Accursed One held him all the tighter. " - [62](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/62/) — Nay, I will not let thee go!" cried he. - [63](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/63/) — Then the Tsar began to entreat him piteously. " - [64](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/64/) — Ask what thou wilt of me," said he, "only let me go."--"Give me, then," said the Accursed One, "something that thou hast in the house, and then I'll let thee go!"--"Let me see, what have I got?" said the Tsar. " - [65](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/65/) — Oh, I know. - [66](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/66/) — I've got eight horses at home, the like of which I have seen nowhere else, and I'll immediately bid my equerry bring them to thee to this spring--take them."--"I \_won't\_ have them!" cried the Accursed One, and he held him still more tightly by the beard. " - [67](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/67/) — Well, then, hearken now!" cried the Tsar. " - [68](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/68/) — I have eight oxen. - [69](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/69/) — They have never yet gone a-ploughing for me, or done a day's work. - [70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/70/) — I'll have them brought hither. - [71](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/71/) — I'll feast my eyes on them once more, and then I'll have them driven into thy steppes--take them."--"No, that won't do either!" said the Accursed One. - [72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/72/) — The Tsar went over, one by one, all the most precious things he had at home, but the Accursed One said "No!" all along, and pulled him more and more tightly by the beard. - [73](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/73/) — When the Tsar saw that the Accursed One would take none of all these things, he said to him at last, "Look now! - [74](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/74/) — I have a wife so lovely that the like of her is not to be found in the whole world, take her and let me go!"--"No!" replied the Accursed One, "I will not have her." - [75](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/75/) — The Tsar was in great straits. " - [76](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/76/) — What am I to do now?" thought he. " - [77](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/77/) — I have offered him my lovely wife, who is the very choicest of my chattels, and he won't have her!"--Then said the Accursed One, "Promise me what thou shalt find awaiting thee at home, and I'll let thee go." - [78](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/78/) — The Tsar gladly promised this, for he could think of naught else that he had, and then the Accursed One let him go. - [79](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/79/) — But while he had been away from home, there had been born to him a Tsarevko\[8\] and a Tsarivna; and they grew up not by the day, or even by the hour, but by the minute: never were known such fine children. - [80](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/80/) — And his wife saw him coming from afar, and went out to meet him, with her two children, with great joy. - [81](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/81/) — But he, the moment he saw them, burst into tears. " - [82](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/82/) — Nay, my dear love," cried she, "wherefore dost thou burst into tears? - [83](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/83/) — Or art thou so delighted that such children have been born unto thee that thou canst not find thy voice for tears of joy?"--And he answered her, "My darling wife, on my way back from the bazaar I was athirst, and turned toward a mountain known of old to my father and me, and it seemed to me as though there were a spring of water there, though the water was very near dried up. - [84](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/84/) — But looking closer, I saw that it was quite full; so I bethought me that I would drink thereof, and I leaned over, when lo! that Evil-wanton (I mean the Devil) caught me by the beard and would not let me go. - [85](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/85/) — I begged and prayed, but still he held me tight. ' - [86](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/86/) — Give me,' said he, 'what thou hast at home, or I'll never let thee go!'--And I said to him, 'Lo! now, I have horses.'--'I don't want thy horses!' said he.--'I have oxen,' I said.--'I don't want thine oxen!' said he.--'I have,' said I, 'a wife so fair that the like of her is not to be found in God's fair world; take her, but let me go.'--'I don't want thy fair wife!' said he.--Then I promised him what I should find at home when I got there, for I never thought that God had blessed me so. - [87](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/87/) — Come now, my darling wife! and let us bury them both lest he take them!"--"Nay, nay! my dear husband, we had better hide them somewhere. - [88](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/88/) — Let us dig a ditch by our hut--just under the gables!" - [89](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/89/) — (For there were no lordly mansions in those days, and the Tsars dwelt in peasants' huts.) - [90](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/90/) — So they dug a ditch right under the gables, and put their children inside it, and gave them provision of bread and water. - [91](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/91/) — Then they covered it up and smoothed it down, and turned into their own little hut. - [92](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/92/) — \[8\] A little Tsar. - [93](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/93/) — Presently the serpent (for the Accursed One had changed himself into a serpent) came flying up in search of the children. - [94](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/94/) — He raged up and down outside the hut--but there was nothing to be seen. - [95](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/95/) — At last he cried out to the stove, "Stove, stove, where has the Tsar hidden his children?"--The stove replied, "The Tsar has been a good master to me; he has put lots of warm fuel inside me; I hold to him."--So, finding he could get nothing out of the stove, he cried to the hearth-broom, "Hearth-broom, hearth-broom, where has the Tsar hidden his children?"--But the hearth-broom answered, "The Tsar has always been a good master to me, for he always cleans the warm grate with me; I hold to him." - [96](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/96/) — So the Accursed One could get nothing out of the hearth-broom.--Then he cried to the hatchet, "Hatchet, hatchet, where has the Tsar hidden his children?"--The hatchet replied, "The Tsar has always been a good master to me. - [97](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/97/) — He chops his wood with me, and gives me a place to lie down in; so I'll not have him disturbed."--Then the Devil cried to the gimlet, "Gimlet, gimlet, where has the Tsar hidden his children?"--But the gimlet replied, "The Tsar has always been a good master to me. - [98](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/98/) — He drills little holes with me, and then lets me rest; so I'll let him rest too."--Then the serpent said to the gimlet, "So the Tsar's a good master to thee, eh! - [99](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/99/) — Well, I can only say that if he's the good master thou sayest he is, I am rather surprised that he knocks thee on the head so much with a hammer."--"Well, that's true," said the gimlet, "I never thought of that. - [100](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/100/) — Thou mayst take hold of me if thou wilt, and draw me out of the top of the hut, near the front gable; and wherever I fall into the marshy ground, there set to work and dig with me!" **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/4/page/2/) - ← previous: [The Story of the Wind](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/3/) - next →: [The Voices At the Window, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/5/) - ↑ back to [Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg29672/)