Translated from the Ukrainian by Oles Kovalenko and Vasil Baryshev It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that it is the story-writers who actually introduce kids to the world they live in... Using words, they paint a bizarre yet convincing pattern of the essential human values Love, Beauty, Honesty, Courage as opposed to Hatred, Uglyness, Meanness, Cowardice... This is a massive, wide-ranging collection of tales full of action, ferocious energy and imagination offered by leading Ukrainian authors of several generations. .j Rocking with laughter and dissolving in tears, praising the good and grappling with the evil — these entertaining and brilliantly plotted mysteries have it all!
Once upon a. time, there lived a forester who had a daughter called Marichka. The girl grew up in the woods and she knew all its inhabitants very well. Marichka was fond of her forest friends and hated to part with them even for a day. The Playful Squirrel used to give Marichka tasty nuts. The Wild Bees brought her honey. And there were also birds... Marichka could listen to their warbling songs for hours on end. The birds felt really sorry for those who had never left their forest and didn't realize how large and exciting the world was. "Just imagine what we've seen!" the Young Blackbird would often say after his return from his first journey across the sea. "The trees and flowers are so unusual there! And the people are most unusual, too." "What's so unusual about them?" Marichka would ask. "Well, some are as black as my feathers, and some are as yellow as my beak." "Now don't listen to that chatter-box, Marichka," the Old Blackbird usually butted in. "He's talking a lot of rubbish. People living in the far-off lands are just like you, only their skin is either black as midnight, or yellow as a maple leaf in autumn. They speak strange languages and their clothes are sometimes quite extraordinary." "Oh Marichka," the Nightingale would sing in the dusk, "do you know what is the best thing in the whole world?" "Flowers!" was Marichka's prompt reply. "You are wrong, you poor thing," the Nightingale would go on trilling, his voice tender and compassionate. "You know nothing about love. There is nothing better than love!" "No one will care for me when I grow up," Marichka would say with a sigh. "I'm so -- ugly! No one will as much as look at me!" And she would run off and find a little pond to use as a mirror; and bitter tears would roll down her cheeks. There was no doubt poor Marichka was far from beautiful. The forester and his wife never spoke to Marichka about her looks. They only sighed as they saw their daughter walk with her face covered by her scarf. Summer came and went, then another. Fruit was ripening in the orchards and Marichka was turning into a young lady. Soon she had become a slender maiden. Her mother got very worried. She knew that soon love would enter her daughter's heart. One day, the old forester took Marichka to the town to watch an archery contest. Many skilled bowmen flocked there from all over the country to display their marksmanship. But none of them could shoot better than the son of a certain hunter. The young man was the only one who managed to hit all the targets. Finally, he sent his arrow whistling through twenty copper rings and bring down three eagles as they were soaring high up in the sky. Marichka couldn't take her eyes off the young archer, but she didn't understand why. She didn't know that she was full of tender feelings which heralded the coming love... After that day she would spend long autumn nights dreaming about the young man who had won the contest. But she was sure that they would only ever meet each other in her dreams. Only the forest beasts, birds and trees were allowed to see the shy girl's plain face. One day Marichka was walking through the woods, lost in sad thoughts. Suddenly, she heard someone groan faintly. She quickly covered her face up to the eyes with her head scarf, and hurried towards the sound. A minute later, she saw the hero of her dreams lying under a birch-tree and by his side was the dead body of a wild boar... Without hesitation Marichka wound some cloth round the young man's wounds to stop the bleeding and then ran off to call her parents. Soon the three of them had carried the poor fellow to their house. He had lost a lot of blood and couldn't speak, but after a couple of days he asked in a weak voice, "Who are you?... "I'm Marichka. My father is a forester," the girl explained. "Oh, and I'm Ivanko, a hunter." Each morning, Marichka got up at dawn to gather special herbs which she knew would help Ivanko get well. She prepared potions to strengthen her beloved and dressed his wounds so carefully he didn't feel any pain at all. Marichka prepared meals for Ivanko and fed him with a spoon. Every day as the sun went down and the woods grew quiet, Marichka would sing her favourite songs for Ivanko and now and then he would join her in the singing... Ivanko soon felt he cared for Marichka. But he was pained by the fact that he could see only her eyes! This was exactly what Marich-ka's mother had been so worried about. Her father was also on tenterhooks. Their fears had come true! The young hunter had fallen in love with their daughter... But he had not seen her face yet! At last, the day came when Ivanko felt he was his own self again. His wounds had healed up and he could walk without help. "I'll be running and jumping in a day or two... You've been so kind to me, Marichka, dear..." he said. The young man blushed and looked away. Then he asked softly: "Why do you hide your face? I can see only your eyes, and they are so beautiful..." "All right," said Marichka, "you'll see my face. Just wait a bit..." And she ran off into the woods. Marichka headed for the gloomy thickets where lived three brothers who were wonderful wizards. In the evening she found herself in front of the youngest brother's hut. Marichka knocked at the door. "Come in, Marichka!" said a voice from inside. The girl stepped in and saw an old man sitting on a bench. He had a long grey beard that reached his knees. "What's your trouble, my dear?" asked the old man. "Oh, I was born with my trouble," replied the girl sadly and removed her veil. "That I can see," the Youngest Wizard agreed, pitingly. "Make me pretty, for mercy's sake!" pleaded Marichka. "Ivanko, the hunter, loves me but I can't let him see my face..." "I cannot help you, my child," sighed the Youngest Wizard. "This is beyond my power. Still, I can make eternal night over your land so that nobody will see your face. Will that do?" "Oh no, good man! Please, don't!" exclaimed Marichka, frightened by the idea. "I don't want my trouble to become a disaster for everybody." Marichka stayed the night with the Youngest Wizard. As the new day broke, she went to see his elder brother. Daylight was already beginning to fade when Marichka found his hut. She knocked at the door and a voice said, "Come in, Marichka!" The girl stepped in and saw a very old man sitting on a bench. He had a very long silver-grey beard that reached the floor. "What pains you, my dear?" asked the Wizard. "The trouble I was born with," said Marichka and removed her veil. "Oh, I see," the Elder Wizard agreed, taking pity on the poor girl. "I wonder if you could make me a little easier to look at...," implored Marichka. "Ivanko, the hunter, loves me but I can't let him see my face..." "That I cannot do, my dear child," the Elder Wizard replied sadly. "It's beyond my power. But I can make all the people in your country blind so that nobody will see you..." "Oh no, good man! Please don't!" cried out Marichka, terrified by the idea. She stayed the night with the Elder Wizard and in the morning went to see the eldest of the wonderful brothers. In the evening she reached his hut and knocked at the door. "Come in, Marichka!" a voice answered. The girl stepped in and saw a very very old man sitting on a bench. He had a very very grey-white beard that reached the doorstep. "What trouble has brought you here, my dear?" "It's the plight I was born with," said Marichka and she removed her veil. "I see," the Eldest Wizard said, feeling for the poor girl. "Make me just a bit attractive, I beg of you!" pleaded Marichka. "Ivanko, the hunter, loves me but I can't let him see my face!" "Well, I can do that for you, my child," the Eldest Wizard agreed. "You will be pretty as a picture, endowed with the beauty of the most charming girl there is in the country. Only, your sorry plight will befall her instead." "No, good man, I don't want anyone else to suffer as I have!" And with these words Marichka left the Eldest Wizard. "Ah, well. Even the old magicians cannot help me," she thought. "It's fate and I can't escape it. I'll let Ivanko see my face and that'll be enough for him. The sooner, the better..." Marichka tore off the kerchief and cast it aside into the bushes. "Come on, take a look at this face," she called out bitterly. Marichka walked for one day, then another. When the third day was coming to an end, Marichka reached her family's house. The first person she saw was Ivanko, he was sitting outside the house. The girl stopped in her tracks. She suddenly felt weak: Ivanko might look up and see her face any minute now. That very moment Ivanko sprang to his feet and rushed towards the girl, beaming with joy. "He must be making fun of me," Marichka thought. She blushed, turned around and ran away. The young hunter stopped in embarrassment. He didn't know what to make of Marichka's reaction. Was it because she didn't love him?... Marichka ran deep into the woods where she was sure she wouldn't meet anyone... Suddenly, she heard the Nightingale calling her: "Wait, Marichka, wait!" The bird descended onto the girl's shoulder and said, "Don't run away, Ivanko loves you! His love has turned you into a beauty."
Two Friends
Not long ago there lived two friends. They were both called Ivan. The friends daydreamed of doing something daring, of performing some heroic deed, so that people would honour and respect them. So, they split up and each made plans. The first Ivan thought and thought, but in the end he felt he'd had enough of thinking. "It's high time for me to show my courage," he said. So he climbed a high mountain, found a massive stone at the top and used it as a seat. And there he sat visible from all directions waiting to be noticed and called upon to do a heroic deed. In the meantime, his friend had packed up and set out on a journey across the world. As he headed for the distant horizon, the first Ivan caught sight of him from his high mountain and shouted: "Hey, friend, what are you up to?" "I'm going to plant an orchard and grow delicious apples there! I'm sure people will enjoy them!" the other Ivan called back. "Phoo! Big deal! That's an easy thing to do! Your apples won't make people happy, anyway, and they won't make you a hero either!" And the first Ivan resumed his stone seat, grinning in scorn. It is really difficult to say how much time had passed before he called to his friend again: "Hey, Ivan! How about your apples?" Ivan didn't reply. Instead the people shouted up towards the top of the mountain: "We have plenty of apples now. They're all ripe and sweet. You can come down and have some. They're very good for you, you know." "No, thanks, I've got no time to waste," the first Ivan said with an important air. "Better tell me, when are you going to invite me to do a heroic deed for you." "You'll have to wait for a long time," the people mocked him. "Now look at your friend and what he is doing!" The first Ivan grew excited. "Hey, Ivan!" he called his friend from his mountain. "Where are you? What are you doing?" "Mining out coal!" came the reply. "To bring people light and heat! Come down and join our team! We always need help." "I'd rather not," retorted the first Ivan, smiling slyly. "It's not hard work I'm after. I'm interested in facing danger! Sooner or later, you will call me your hero!..." Time was moving on. A year had passed, then another... As the third year was nearing its end, the first Ivan began to feel terribly uncomfortable on top of his mountain. He could see he had been clean forgotten by the rest of the people and no one was going to ask him to do anything heroic... He did not even know what his friend was doing or where he had gone. "Hey, friend!" the first Ivan shouted from the mountain at the top of his voice. "Where are you? What are you doing there? Hiding?" "I'm not hiding at all, friend. I'm just above you and your mountain!" came the answer. The first Ivan looked up and saw a spaceship high up in the sky piloted by his friend. Then he looked down and saw all the people celebrating and shouting excitedly: "Bravo, Ivan!" "Here comes our Space Hero!" The first Ivan fretted and fumed on top of his high mountain. "Why didn't you take me along? We could have done something brave together. Call yourself a friend!" And he received a quick reply from the real hero in the orbit: "I worked for my people while you waited for a chance to become a hero. Do you know," continued the second Ivan, "deep inside your mountain are natural riches in great abundance. Think how you can claim them for the people's benefit. And remember, where there's a will, there's a way!"
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