--- title: Opening, part 5 — Russian Folk-Tales · full text with trees · page 2 description: Opening, part 5, «Russian Folk-Tales» by A. N. Afanas'ev: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: I myself then should have liked to see the Prince and Princess; and they were just poking their heads out of the door, but, whilst it was opening, I slipped --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/5/page/2/) [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/) / [Russian Folk-Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/) / Opening, part 5 # Opening, part 5 · page 2 [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/5/) **2** “No, I cannot let you say good-bye with your kin.”[82](../../82/ "tree and pragmatics") “Well, I cannot help it—it must be so.[83](../../83/ "tree and pragmatics") Come and eat me up.[84](../../84/ "tree and pragmatics") Only at least let me take your measurements.[85](../../85/ "tree and pragmatics") I only want to see whether I shall slip in easily.”[86](../../86/ "tree and pragmatics") “All right!—measure away,” said the wolf.[87](../../87/ "tree and pragmatics") So the tailor went back, took hold of the wolf by his tail, twined his tail round in his hand, and began to whip the wolf.[88](../../88/ "tree and pragmatics") And the wolf struggled and tussled, roared and shrieked, and tore until he tore his tail loose, and he then took to his feet.[89](../../89/ "tree and pragmatics") So he ran away with all of his might, and he met seven other wolves.[90](../../90/ "tree and pragmatics") They said: “Why are you, grey wolf, tailless?”[91](../../91/ "tree and pragmatics") “Oh, the tailor tore it out.”[92](../../92/ "tree and pragmatics") “Where is the tailor?”[93](../../93/ "tree and pragmatics") “You see him there, on the road.”[94](../../94/ "tree and pragmatics") “All right—we will hunt after him.”[95](../../95/ "tree and pragmatics") And they started after the tailor.[96](../../96/ "tree and pragmatics") When the tailor heard the chase coming after him, and saw that it was a disagreeable business, he scaled up a tree as fast as he could.[97](../../97/ "tree and pragmatics") So the wolves arrived there and said: “We will stop here, brothers, and wait until the tailor comes down.[98](../../98/ "tree and pragmatics") Do you, manx-wolf, stop below, and we will each of us climb on the other’s shoulders.”[99](../../99/ "tree and pragmatics") So the manx-wolf lay at the bottom, and all the seven wolves went after the others and climbed up.[100](../../100/ "tree and pragmatics") When the tailor saw his ill-fate coming so near him, for they were nearer and nearer, he cried out to the top one: “It is nobody’s fault, only the manx-wolf’s!”[101](../../101/ "tree and pragmatics") So the manx-wolf was frightened, and jumped out from below and ran off.[102](../../102/ "tree and pragmatics") All the seven wolves tumbled down and chased after him, caught him up, and tore him to bits.[103](../../103/ "tree and pragmatics") But the tailor slid down the tree and went back home.[104](../../104/ "tree and pragmatics") THE TALE OF THE SILVER SAUCER AND THE CRYSTAL APPLE[105](../../105/ "tree and pragmatics") Once a peasant lived with his wife, and they had three daughters: two were finely dressed and clever, but the third was a simple girl; the sisters and the father and mother as well called her the Little Fool.[106](../../106/ "tree and pragmatics") They hustled the Little Fool, thrust her about this way and that and forced her to work.[107](../../107/ "tree and pragmatics") She never said a word and was always ready to weed the grass, break off lamp-splinters, feed the cows and ducks, and whatever anybody asked for the Little Fool would bring.[108](../../108/ "tree and pragmatics") They had only to say, “Fool, go and fetch this!” or “Fool, come and look here!”[109](../../109/ "tree and pragmatics") One day the peasant went with his hay to the fair, and he asked his daughters, “What shall I bring you as your fairing?”[110](../../110/ "tree and pragmatics") One daughter asked, “Buy me some red cloth for a sarafan.”[111](../../111/ "tree and pragmatics") The other asked, “Buy me some scarlet nankin.”[112](../../112/ "tree and pragmatics") But the Fool sat still and said nothing.[113](../../113/ "tree and pragmatics") Well, after all, the Fool was his daughter, and her father felt sorry for her, so he asked her, “What would you like to have, Fool?”[114](../../114/ "tree and pragmatics") So the Fool smiled and said, “Buy me, my own father, a silver saucer and a crystal apple.”[115](../../115/ "tree and pragmatics") “What do you mean?” asked the sisters.[116](../../116/ "tree and pragmatics") “I should then roll the apple on the saucer, and should speak words which an old woman taught me in return for my giving her a loaf of white bread.”[117](../../117/ "tree and pragmatics") So the peasant promised, and went away.[118](../../118/ "tree and pragmatics") Whether he went far or near, whether he took long or short, anyhow he went to the fair, sold his hay, bought the fairings, gave his one daughter the scarlet nankin, the other the red cloth for a sarafan and the Fool a silver saucer and a crystal apple.[119](../../119/ "tree and pragmatics") He came back home and he showed them.[120](../../120/ "tree and pragmatics") Both sisters were overjoyed, sewed sarafans, and mocked the Fool, and waited to see what she would do with her silver saucer and crystal apple.[121](../../121/ "tree and pragmatics") But the Fool did not eat the apple, but sat in a corner and whispered, “Roll, roll, roll, little apple, on the silver saucer, and show me all the cities and the fields, all the woods and the seas, and the heights of the hills and the fairness of heaven.”[122](../../122/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the apple rolled about on the saucer; a transparency came over the silver; and, on the saucer, all the cities, one after the other, became visible, all the ships on the seas, and the regiments in the fields, and the heights of the mountains, and the beauties of the sky.[123](../../123/ "tree and pragmatics") Sunset appeared after sunset and the stars gathered in their nocturnal dances: it was all so beautiful and so lovely as no tale can tell and no pen can write.[124](../../124/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the sisters looked on and they became envious and wanted to take the saucer away from their sister, but she would not exchange her saucer for anything else in the world.[125](../../125/ "tree and pragmatics") So the evil sisters walked about, called out and began to talk.[126](../../126/ "tree and pragmatics") “Oh, my darling sisters, let us go into the wood and pick berries and look for wild strawberries!”[127](../../127/ "tree and pragmatics") So the Fool gave her saucer to her father and herself went into the wood.[128](../../128/ "tree and pragmatics") She wandered about with her sisters, plucked the strawberries, and saw a spade lying on the grass; then the other sisters took the spade and began beating the Fool with it, slew the Fool, buried her under a silver birch, and came back to their father late at night, saying, “The Little Fool ran away from us, we could not find her, we went all over the wood searching for her.[129](../../129/ "tree and pragmatics") We suppose the wolves must have eaten her up.”[130](../../130/ "tree and pragmatics") But the father was sorry.[131](../../131/ "tree and pragmatics") She was a Fool, but she was his daughter after all, and so the peasant wept for his daughter, took the silver saucer and the apple, put them into a coffer and locked them up.[132](../../132/ "tree and pragmatics") And the sisters also wept for her.[133](../../133/ "tree and pragmatics") Soon a herd came by and the trumpet sounded at dawn.[134](../../134/ "tree and pragmatics") But the shepherd was taking his flock, and at dawn he sounded his trumpet and went into the wood to look for a little lamb.[135](../../135/ "tree and pragmatics") He saw a little hummock beside a silver birch, and on it all around ruby-red and azure flowers, and bulrushes standing above the flowers.[136](../../136/ "tree and pragmatics") So the young shepherd broke a bulrush, made a pipe of it, and a wonderful wonder happened, a marvellous marvel: the pipe began of itself to sing and to speak.[137](../../137/ "tree and pragmatics") “Play on, play on, my little pipe.[138](../../138/ "tree and pragmatics") Console my father, console my guiding light, my father, and tell my mother of me, and my sisters, the little doves.[139](../../139/ "tree and pragmatics") For they killed me, the poor one, and for a silver saucer have severed me from light, all for my enchanted apple.”[140](../../140/ "tree and pragmatics") People heard and ran together, the entire village thronged round the shepherd, asked him who had been slain.[141](../../141/ "tree and pragmatics") There was no end to the question.[142](../../142/ "tree and pragmatics") “Good folks all,” said the shepherd, “I do not know anything about it.[143](../../143/ "tree and pragmatics") I was looking for a little sheep in the wood, and I saw a knoll, on the knoll flowers, and a bulrush over the knoll.[144](../../144/ "tree and pragmatics") I broke off a bulrush, carved myself a pipe out of it, and the pipe began singing and speaking of itself.”[145](../../145/ "tree and pragmatics") Now it so happened that the father of the Little Fool was there, heard the words of the shepherd, wanted to lay hold of the pipe, when the pipe began singing, “Play on, play on, little pipe: this is my father; console him with my mother.[146](../../146/ "tree and pragmatics") My poor little self they slew, they withdrew from the white world, all for the sake of my silver vessel and crystal apple.”[147](../../147/ "tree and pragmatics") [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/5/) **2** - ← previous: [page 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/5/) - next →: [Opening, part 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/6/) - ↑ back to [Russian Folk-Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg62509/)