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 28 Go I Don’t Know Where, Bring I Don’t Know What In a certain state there lived a king who was an unmarried bachelor, and he had a whole company of musketeers. The musketeers would go out hunting, shoot migratory birds, and provide the ruler’s table with game. A fine young musketeer by the name of Fedot served in that company. He had a sharp eye for shooting game: it was almost as if he never missed, and for that the king loved him more than all of his comrades. One time it happened that he went out to hunt early-early in the morning, at the crack of dawn. He walked into a dark thick forest and saw a mourning dove sitting on a tree.17 Fedot brought up his weapon, aimed, fired, and broke the bird’s wing. The bird fell from the branch to the damp earth. The musketeer picked up the bird, was about to tear off its head and put it into his sack. The mourning dove spoke to him.“Ah, you fine young musketeer, don’t tear off my wild head, don’t make me part from the white world. Better take me alive, bring me into your home, put me on the windowsill and watch. The moment I start to fall asleep, at that very time swing your right hand and strike me—and you’ll win yourself great happiness!” The musketeer was mightily surprised.“What is this?” he thought.“It looks just like a bird, but it speaks with a human voice! I’ve never seen anything like this before . . .” He took the bird home, put it down on the windowsill, and stood there waiting.A little while passed, the mourning dove put its head under its wing and dozed off. The musketeer lifted his right hand, swung it, and hit the bird lightly. The mourning dove fell to the ground and turned into a beautiful girl, such a beautiful one that you couldn’t imagine her, or guess, but only tell it in a fairy tale! There was no other beauty in the world to equal her! She said to the fine young man, the king’s musketeer, “You were able to catch me, so now figure out how to live with me. You’ll be my betrothed husband, and I your God-given wife!”18 And they agreed on that. Fedot got married and lived well. He amused himself with his young wife, but he  Go I Don’t Know Where, Bring I Don’t Know What 29 didn’t forget his duties. Every morning, before the sun rose, he would take his weapon, go into the forest, shoot all kinds of game, and take it over to the king’s kitchen. His wife saw he was exhausted from hunting, and she said to him, “Listen, my friend, I’m sorry for you. Every livelong day you’re put to trouble , you wander through the forest and the swamps, you always come home soaking wet, but we have no gain from it. What kind of a trade is that! I know something here that will not leave you without profit. Get hold of a hundred or two hundred rubles, and we’ll arrange the whole business.” Fedot ran to his comrades. He borrowed a ruble from one, two rubles from another, and got together exactly two hundred rubles. He brought them to his wife.“Well,” she said,“now buy all kinds of silk with those two hundred rubles.” The musketeer bought two hundred rubles’ worth of silk. She took it and said,“Don’t fret, say a prayer and go to bed. Morning’s wiser than the evening!” The husband fell asleep, and the wife went out onto the porch. She opened her magic book, and all at once two unknown young men19 appeared before her. Tell them whatever you want!“Take this silk here and in a single hour make me a carpet, and such a wonderful one that its like has never been seen in the whole world. Let the whole kingdom be embroidered on the carpet, with cities, and with villages, and with rivers, and with lakes.” They set to work and not only within an hour, but in ten minutes they had finished a carpet to make everyone marvel. They handed it over to the musketeer ’s wife and disappeared in a wink, as if they had never been there! In the...

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