TEXTS FOR WOODCUTS

(1885)

THE DEVIL'S PERSISTENT, BUT GOD IS

ΤΗ

RESISTANT1

HERE lived in olden times a good master.2 He had plenty of everything, and many slaves served him. And the slaves used to praise their master.3 They said :

"There is not a better master under heaven, than ours. He not only feeds us and clothes us well, and gives us work according to our strength, but he never insults any of us, and never gets angry with us; he is not like other masters, who treat their slaves worse than cattle, and put them to death whether they are to blame or not, and never say a kind word to them. Our master wishes us well, and treats us kindly, and says kind things to us. We could n't have a better life than ours.'

Thus the slaves praised their master.

And here the Devil began to get vexed because the slaves lived in comfort and love with their master.

And the Devil got hold of one of this master's slaves named Alyeb. He got hold of him and commanded

him to entice the other slaves.

And when all the slaves were taking their rest, and were praising their master, Alyeb raised his voice, and said:

"It's all nonsense your praising our master's goodness. Try to humor the Devil, and the Devil will be good. We serve our master well, we humor him in all things. As soon as he thinks of anything, we do it;

we divine his thoughts. How make him be not good to us? Just stop humoring him, and do bad work for him, and he will be like all the others, and he will return evil for evil worse than the crossest of masters."

And the other slaves began to argue with Alyeb. And they argued, and laid a wager. Alyeb undertook to make their kind master angry. He undertook it on the condition that, if he did not make him angry, he should give his holiday clothes; but if he should make him angry, then they agreed to give him, each one of them, their holiday clothes; and, moreover, they agreed to protect him from their master, if he should be put in irons, or, if thrown in prison, to free him. They laid the wager, and Alyeb promised to make their master angry the next morning.

Alyeb served his master in the sheep-cote; he had charge of the costly breeding-rams.

And here in the morning the good master came with some guests to the sheep-cote, and began to show them his beloved, costly rams. The Devil's accomplice winked to his comrades:

"Look! I'll soon get the master angry."

All the slaves had gathered. They peered in at the door and through the fence; and the Devil climbed into a tree, and looked down into the dvor, to see how his accomplice would do his work.

The master came round the dvor, showed his guests his sheep and lambs, and then was going to show his best ram.

"The other rams," says he, "are good; but this one here, the one with the twisted horns, is priceless; he is more precious to me than my eyes."

The sheep and rams were jumping about the dvor to avoid the people, and the guests were unable to examine the valuable ram. This ram would scarcely come to a stop before the Devil's accomplice, as if accidentally, would scare the sheep, and again they would get mixed up.

The guests were unable to make out which was the priceless ram.

Here the master became tired. He said:

Alyeb, my dear, just try to catch the best ram with the wrinkled horns, and hold him. Be careful."

And, as soon as the master said this, Alyeb threw himself, like a lion, amid the rams, and caught the priceless ram by the wool. He caught him by the wool, and instantly grabbed him with one hand by the left hind leg, lifted it up, and, right before the master's eyes, bent his leg, and it cracked like a dry stick. Alyeb broke the precious ram's leg below the knee. The ram bleated, and fell on his fore knees. Alyeb grabbed him by the right leg; but the left turned inside out, and hung down like a whip. The guests and all the slaves groaned, and the Devil rejoiced when he saw how cleverly Alyeb had done his job.

The master grew darker than night, frowned, hung his head, and said not a word. The guests and slaves were also silent. They waited to see what would happen.

....

The master kept silent awhile; then he shook himself, as if trying to throw off something, and raised his head, and turned his eyes heavenward. Not long he gazed before the wrinkles on his brow disappeared; he smiled, and fixed his eyes on Alyeb. He looked at Alyeb, smiled again, and said:

:

"O Alyeb, Alyeb! Thy master told thee to make me angry. But my master is stronger than thine, and thou hast not led me into anger; but I shall make thy master angry. Thou wert afraid that would punish thee, and hast wished to be free, Alyeb. Know, then, that thy punishment will not come from me; but as thou art anxious for thy freedom, here, in the presence of my guests, I give thee thy freedom. Go wherever it may please thee,' and take thy holiday clothes."

And the kind master went back to the house with his guests. But the Devil gnashed his teeth, fell from the tree, and sank through the earth.

1 Literally, "to all four sides or directions."

LITTLE GIRLS WISER THAN THEIR ELDERS

EASTER was early. Folks had just ceased going in sledges. The snow still lay in the courtyards, and little streams ran through the village. In an alley between two dvors a large pool had collected from the dung-heaps. And near this pool were standing two little girls from either dvor, one of them younger, the other older.

The mothers of the two little girls had dressed them in new sarafans, the younger one's blue, the elder's of yellow flowered damask. Both wore red handkerchiefs. The little girls, after mass was over, had gone to the pool, shown each other their dresses, and begun to play. And the whim seized them to splash in the water. The younger one was just going to wade into the pool with her little slippers on; but the older one said:

"Don't do it, Malashka your mother will scold. I'm going to take off my shoes and stockings.... you take off yours."

The little girls took off their shoes and stockings, held up their clothes, and went into the pool so as to meet. Malashka waded in up to her ankles, and said : "It's deep, Akulyushka1.... I am afraid."

"Nonsense! It won't be any deeper. Come straight toward me."

They approached nearer and nearer to each other. And Akulka said:

"Be careful, Malashka, don't splash, but go more slowly."

But the words were hardly out of her mouth, when Malashka put her foot down into the water; it splashed directly on Akulka's sarafan. The sarafan was well spattered, and the water flew into her nose and eyes.

Akulka saw the spots on her sarafan; she became

1 Akulka and Akulyushka, diminutives of Akulina, colloquial for Akilina, Aquilina. Malashka is diminutive of Malanya, colloquial for Me lania, Melaine. — ED.

angry with Malashka, scolded her, ran after her, tried to slap her.

Malashka was frightened when she saw what mischief she had done; she sprang out of the pool, and hastened home.

Akulka's mother happened to pass by and saw her little daughter's sarafan spattered, and her shirt be

daubed.

"How did you get yourself all covered with dirt, you good-for-nothing?

"Malashka spattered me on purpose."

Akulka's mother caught Malashka, and struck her on the back of the head.

Malashka howled along the whole street. Malashka's mother came out:

"What are you striking my daughter for?"

She began to scold her neighbor. A word for a word; the women got into a quarrel. The muzhiks hastened out, a great crowd gathered on the street. All were screaming. No one would listen to any one. They quarreled, and the one jostled the other; there was a general row imminent: but an old woman, Akulka's grandmother,1 interfered.

She came out into the midst of the muzhiks, and be gan to speak.

"What are you doing, neighbors? What day is it? We ought to rejoice. And you are doing such wrong things!"

They did not heed the old woman; they almost struck her. And the old woman would never have succeeded in persuading them, had it not been for Akulka and Malashka. While the women were keeping up the quarrel, Akulka cleaned her sarafanchik, and came out again to the pool in the alley. She picked up a little stone, and began to clear away the earth by the pool, so as to let the water run into the street.

While she was cleaning it out, Malashka also came along and began to help her to make a little gutter with a splinter.

1 Babka.