Once upon a time, there lived a man and his wife. Years
passed, they grew old but they remained childless. “Who will take care
of us when we get feeble and die,” bemoaned they their sorry condition.
One day the woman tells her husband, “Go to the forest, find a nice
piece of wood and bring it home. We’ll make a cradle, I’ll put that
piece of wood into the cradle and rock it to sleep. It’ll comfort me a
little.”
At first, the man refused to do it but his
wife kept begging, and finally he yielded to her entreaties. He went to
the forest, cut down a sturdy branch, returned home and made a cradle.
They put the branch into the cradle and the woman began rocking it and
singing lullabies,
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Go into sleep deep,
O Telesyk, my boy,
Bring us joy!
She
kept rocking the cradle well into the night, and rocked herself to
sleep. When she woke up in the morning she discovered a little boy in
the cradle. What a joy it was for the old man and the old woman to see
this miracle happen. They gave the boy a pretty name, Ivasyk-Telesyk.
The boy grew fast, and soon he became very handsome and so nice that the old man and his wife were overjoyed and delighted.
When
he grew some more, he said, “Father, make a little gold boat for me and
a little silver oar. I’ll go fishing and will catch enough fish to feed
you.”
The old man made a little gold boat and a
little silver oar for Telesyk, and took it to the river and put it on
the water. Telesyk climbed into the boat and went fishing. He had a good
catch and brought the fish home. The fish was cooked and the old couple
ate and had their fill. And Telesyk went back fishing.
The
old woman said she would bring food for Telesyk. “When I start calling
you, please come back to the bank, but if you hear someone else calling
you, keep away.”
She cooked breakfast for Telesyk, brought it to the bank and started calling,
“Ivasyk-Telesyk, my boy,
Come back here to enjoy
Food and drink, ahoy!”
Telesyk heard her calling him.
“Come closer, my boy, it’s me, your mother, I’ve brought some food for you!
He
steered his boat to the place where she was standing, got out of the
boat, ate and had his fill, then climbed back into the boat, pushed off,
and went fishing again.
But the serpent that was
hiding in the bushes, heard how Telesyk’s mother called Telesyk to get
back to the bank and now she began calling to the boy himself,
“Ivasyk-Telesyk, my boy,
Come back here to enjoy
Food and drink, ahoy!”
But the serpent had a gruff voice, and though the boy heard the call, he said to himself,
“No, it’s not my mother’s voice! Sail on, my boat! Sail on!”
And
he put the oar into the water and started rowing. The serpent waited
and waited on the bank, but seeing that the boy was not coming, he
turned and went away.
In the meantime, the old woman
cooked lunch for Telesyk and brought it to the river. She stood on the
bank and began calling out,
“Ivasyk-Telesyk, my boy,
Come back here to enjoy
Food and drink, ahoy!”
Telesyk
heard her calling and turned his boat towards the bank, “Sail, my boat,
sail to the bank! It’s my mother calling me to give me lunch.”
He
climbed out of the boat, ate and had his fill, gave his mother the fish
that he had caught, climbed back into the boat, pushed off, and went
fishing again.
Then the serpent came back to the bank again and started calling in the same gruff voice,
“Ivasyk-Telesyk, my boy,
Come back here to enjoy
Food and drink, ahoy!”
Telesyk
heard the call but he knew it was not his mother’s voice. He put the
oar into the water and started rowing away. “Sail on, my boat! Sail on!”
The
serpent, seeing she could not lure the boy to the bank, left and went
straight to the blacksmith. “Hey, blacksmith, forge a very thin voice
for me, a voice like Telesyk’s mother’s!”
And the blacksmith did as he was bidden. The serpent returned to the river and started calling,
“Ivasyk-Telesyk, my boy,
Come back here to enjoy
Food and drink, ahoy!”
Telesyk heard the call and thought it was his mother calling out to him.
“Sail, my boat, sail to the bank. It’s my mother calling me. She’s brought food for me!”
The moment he reached the bank, the serpent jumped out of the bushes, grabbed the boy and brought him to her house.
The serpent knocked on the door, and shouted,
“Olenka, little serpent, open the door!”
Olenka, the serpent’s daughter, opened the door, and the serpent walked in.
“Now,
Olenka, get the oven so hot that the stones become red, and bake this
boy well. I’ll go and borrow some salt.
The serpent turned and left.
Olenka gets the oven so hot the stones become red, and says,
“Now, Telesyk, get on this shovel!”
And he says,
“I don’t know how.”
Olenka says,
“O come on, just climb on it!”
He puts a hand on the shovel and says,
“Like this?”
“No, not just the hand, get all of yourself onto the shovel!”
Telesyk puts his head on the shovel.
“Like this?”
“No! No! Not like this!”
“But how?” says Telesyk. “Show me how to do it!”
She
climbed onto the shovel and the moment she did it, Telesyk grabbed hold
of the handle and shoved the shovel with Olenka the Serpent on it into
the oven. Then he ran out,
closing the door.
Telesyk climbed the tallest maple tree that stood close by and hid himself there.
The serpent arrived quickly.
They began looking around. They searched here and
there and everywhere, and at last spotted Telesyk hiding in the maple
tree. They rushed to the tree and began gnawing at it. They stopped
gnawing only when the serpent had all teeth broken against the hard wood.
But they failed to bring the tree down. And she rushed to the
blacksmith.
“Hey, blacksmith, forge me strong teeth so that I’ll be able to gnaw through that tree!”
And
the blacksmith did as bidden. She rushed back to the tree and began
gnawing at it again. The tree began to sway. As it was about to topple,
Telesyk saw a flight of geese flying over him. He called out to them,
“O geese, high in the sky, kind geese,
Pick me up from this tree, o please,
Carry me back to my dad,
Who never treats anyone bad,
He’ll give you drink and food,
A place to rest, and you’ll feel good!”
But the front geese said,
“Let those in the middle pick you up!” And flew on.
The tree is shaking, about to topple. And Telesyk calls out again,
“O geese, high in the sky, kind geese,
Pick me up from this tree, o please,
Carry me back to my dad,
Who never treats anyone bad,
He’ll give you drink and food,
A place to rest, and you’ll feel good!”
But the geese in the middle of the flight said,
“Let those in the back pick you up!” And flew on.
And
the maple tree began leaning to the side. The serpents took a little
rest and then got back to gnawing at the trunk. And Telesyk called out
again,
“O geese, high in the sky, kind geese,
Pick me up from this tree, o please,
Carry me back to my dad,
Who never treats anyone bad,
He’ll give you drink and food,
A place to rest, and you’ll feel good!”
“Let that last one pick you up!” And flew on.
And
the maple tree was already leaning, about to fall. Telesyk saw the last
goose that was lagging behind all the others. It was small and very
tired and could hardly keep itself in the air. Telesyk called out to it,
“O little, little goose, hurry up,
From this tree, pick me up,
Carry me home, to my dad, he’s best,
He’ll give you food and a place to rest!”
He’ll give you water, he’ll feed you up,
Then you’ll fly up again, and up and up!”
And the little goose picked Telesyk from the tree. It
could not fly high and flew close to the ground. The serpent gave chase
but failed to catch up with the goose.
The goose
carried Telesyk all the way to his house, put him down on the ground in
the backyard, and began grazing. Telesyk walked over to the window and
heard the old woman say,
“Take this cake, my dear, and I will take one for myself.”
And Telesyk called out through the window,
“What about me?”
Then the old woman took another cake from the oven and offered it to her old man,
“Take this cake, my dear, and I will take one for myself.”
And Telesyk called out through the window again,
“What about me?”
And they heard him this time. Whose voice is that?
“Have you heard it, my dear? A voice calling?”
“Yes,” said the old man, “I think I heard a voice too.”
And then she took another cake from the oven and said,
“Take this cake, my dear, and I will take one for myself.”
“What about me?” called out Telesyk again.
“Yes, a voice calls out again!” And she looked out the window and saw Telesyk.
They rushed out of the house, picked Telesyk up and carried him into the house. How happy they were!
The little goose was strutting around in the yard. The old woman saw it and said,
“Look, there’s a goose walking about the yard! I’ll catch it and butcher it and cook a meal!”
And she made as if to go but Telesyk cried out,
“No, mother, don’t catch him! Better give him some food! If it were not for him, I would not be here with you!”
And
they gave the little goose food and drink, and put millet under his
wings to last him on his journey. And then the little goose flew away.
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