Old Peters Russian Tales | Page 8

their hands, but the old merchant
would not let her. And they all drove together till they came to the
palace of the Tzar. The shepherd boy could not take his eyes from the
little pretty one, and he ran all the way behind the cart.
Well, they came to the palace, and waited on the steps; and the Tzar
came out to take the morning air, and he saw the old merchant, and the
two sisters with their hands tied, and the little pretty, one, as lovely as a
spring day. And the Tzar saw her, and could not take his eyes from her.
He did not see the shepherd boy, who hid away among the crowd.
Says the great Tzar to his soldiers, pointing to the bad sisters, "These
two are to be put to death at sunset. When the sun goes down their
heads must come off, for they are not fit to see another day."
Then he turns to the little pretty one, and he says: "Little sweet pigeon,
where is your silver saucer, and where is your transparent apple?"
The old merchant took the wooden box from under his coat, and

opened it with a key at his belt, and gave it to the little one, and she
took out the silver saucer and the transparent apple and gave them to
the Tzar.
"O lord Tzar," says she, "O little father, spin the apple in the saucer,
and you will see whatever you wish to see--your soldiers, your high
hills, your forests, your plains, your rivers, and Everything in all
Russia."
And the Tzar, the little father, spun the apple in the saucer till it seemed
a little whirlpool of white mist, and there he saw glittering towns, and
regiments of soldiers marching to war, and ships, and day and night,
and the clear stars above the trees. He looked at these things and
thought much of them.
Then the little good one threw herself on her knees before him,
weeping.
"O little father, Tzar," she says, "take my transparent apple and my
silver saucer; only forgive my sisters. Do not kill them because of me.
If their heads are cut off when the sun goes down, it would have been
better for me to lie under the blanket of black earth in the shade of the
birch tree in the forest."
The Tzar was pleased with the kind heart of the little pretty one, and he
forgave the bad ones, and their hands were untied, and the little pretty
one kissed them, and they kissed her again and said they were sorry.
The old merchant looked up at the sun, and saw how the time was
going.
"Well, well," says he, "it's time we were getting ready to go home."
They all fell on their knees before the Tzar and thanked him. But the
Tzar could not take his eyes from the little pretty one, and would not let
her go.
"Little sweet pigeon," says he, "will you be my Tzaritza, and a kind

mother to Holy Russia?"
And the little good one did not know what to say. She blushed and
answered, very rightly, "As my father orders, and as my little mother
wishes, so shall it be."
The Tzar was pleased with her answer, and he sent a messenger on a
galloping horse to ask leave from the little pretty one's old mother. And
of course the old mother said that she was more than willing. So that
was all right. Then there was a wedding--such a wedding!--and every
city in Russia sent a silver plate of bread, and a golden salt-cellar, with
their good wishes to the Tzar and Tzaritza.
Only the shepherd boy, when he heard that the little pretty one was to
marry the Tzar, turned sadly away and went off into the forest.
"Are you happy, little sweet pigeon?" says the Tzar.
"Oh yes," says the Little Stupid, who was now Tzaritza and mother of
Holy Russia; "but there is one thing that would make me happier."
"And what is that?" says the lord Tzar.
"I cannot bear to lose my old father and my little mother and my dear
sisters. Let them be with me here in the palace, as they were in my
father's house."
The Tzar laughed at the little pretty one, but he agreed, and the little
pretty one ran to tell them the good news. She said to her sisters, "Let
all be forgotten, and all be forgiven, and may the evil eye fall on the
one who first speaks of what has been!"
For a long time the Tzar lived, and the little pretty one the Tzaritza, and
they had many children, and were very happy together. And ever since
then the Tzars of