The Dun Cow

In a certain kingdom there lived a Tsar and his wife, who had one only daughter, Márya Tsarévna. But the old Tsarítsa died, and the Tsar married a second wife, who was a witch. The witch had three daughters: one with a single eye in the middle of her forehead, the next with two eyes, and the third with three. The stepmother could not stand Márya Tsarévna, so she sent her with a dun cow to graze on the heath, and gave her only a dry crust of bread to eat.

Márya Tsarévna went to the heath, bowed down to the cow's right foot, and at once was dressed in splendid clothes and had as much to eat and drink as she wanted. So she watched the dun cow all day, looking as fine as any lady. At night she bowed again in front of the cow's right foot, and became shabby again as she went home. She took the dry crust with her and offered it to her stepmother.

The witch wondered how the girl could survive on so little. So the next day she gave Márya the same crust and sent her eldest daughter to watch what she did. When they reached the heath, Márya said, "Come, little sister, I will find a cushion for your head." She went to look, but whispered to herself:

"Sleep, my sister, sleep, Sleep, O sister mine; One eye go to sleep, Close that eye of thine."

The sister fell asleep, and Márya went to her dear cow, bowed to the right foot, and ate and drank and walked about like a princess all day. In the evening she woke her sister and said, "Get up, sister, let us go home."

The sister rubbed her eyes and whimpered, "Oh, I've been asleep all day and didn't see anything! Mother will be so angry!"

When they got home, the stepmother asked, "What did Márya eat and drink?" "I didn't see anything," the daughter replied. The witch scolded her and sent the two-eyed sister the next day. The same thing happened: Márya sang a charm to make her sleep, and the two-eyed girl saw nothing.

The witch was furious and sent Three-eyes. Márya sang her charm, but she forgot the third eye, which stayed open and watched as Márya bowed to the cow's right foot, ate and drank, and dressed beautifully all day.

When she returned home, she put the dry crust on the table. The mother asked Three-eyes what Márya had eaten, and the girl told her everything. The witch then ordered the dun cow to be slain.

"You must be mad, woman," said the Tsar. "It's a fine young heifer and so beautiful!" "I tell you it must be done," the stepmother insisted, and the old Tsar gave in.

But Márya begged her father, "Please, give me just a tiny piece of the cow." The old man gave her a small piece, and she planted it in the ground. A bush grew up with sweet berries, and little birds sat on it singing songs fit for kings and peasants.

Now Iván Tsarévich heard of Márya and went to her stepmother. He set a bowl on the table and said, "Whichever of the maidens brings me a bowl full of berries, I will marry."

So the mother sent One-eye to pick berries, but the birds drove her away and almost pecked out her one eye. The same happened to Two-eyes and Three-eyes. At last Márya had to go. She took the bowl and gathered berries, while the little birds helped her. When she came home, she put the bowl on the table and bowed to Iván. So Iván took Márya as his wife, and they celebrated a merry wedding and lived happily.

After a while, Márya bore a son. She wanted to show the baby to her father, so she and Iván went to visit him. While they were there, the stepmother turned Márya into a goose and dressed her eldest daughter as the wife of Iván. Iván returned home with the false wife and did not know the truth.

One morning, the old man who cared for the child got up early, washed, and took the baby to the field where the bush grew. Grey geese were flying overhead. "Geese, ye grey ones, where is the baby's mother?" he called. "In the next flock," they answered.

Then the next flock came, and he asked again. The baby's mother came to them, threw off her feathers, and gave the child her breast, weeping: "For this one day I may come, and tomorrow, but the next day I must fly away over woods and hills."

The old man returned home, and the boy slept all day and did not wake. The false wife was angry that he had taken the child into the cold fields.

But the next morning the old man again took the child into the field. Iván Tsarévich followed secretly and hid in the bush. The geese flew by, and the old man called as before. The mother came, threw off her feathers, and nursed her son, weeping: "For this one day I may come, but tomorrow I must fly away over woods and hills."

Then she said, "I smell something," and tried to put on her feathers again, but they were gone. Iván had burned them. He seized Márya, but she turned into a frog, then a lizard, then all sorts of insects, and finally a spindle.

Iván broke the spindle in half, threw the dull end behind him and the sharp end in front, and there stood his beautiful wife before him. They went home together.

The witch's daughter cried out, "The destroyer and the wicked woman have come!"

But Iván assembled all the princes and the boyars and asked them, "With which wife shall I live?" They answered, "With the first." He said, "My lords, whichever wife leaps quickest to the door shall stay with me."

The witch's daughter rushed to the door, but Márya clung to Iván. So Iván took his gun and shot the substitute wife, and lived happily ever after with Márya Tsarévna.