The Hunter and the Peasant

Once upon a time, a Pope’s daughter went for a walk into the woods without taking permission from her father or mother. She lost her way. Her parents tried to search but could not find her. Three years passed. Now, in the same woods where her parents lived, there was a brave hunter. On every sacred day, he used to go hunting in the forest with his gun. His dog went along with him. One day, when he went into the woods, the hair of his dog bristled up. The hunter looked around. He saw a stump on the wood path, and a peasant stood on the stump. He was cleaning his bast shoe. Then, the peasant went on with his shoe and was threatening the moon, “Light, give me light, clear moon.” Everything looked strange to the hunter.

The Wood Sprite

The hunter thought why the peasant lived by himself. He looked quite young but his hair was quite grey. The hunter had only thought of it in his mind but the peasant guessed his thought. He said, “You are thinking why I am grey. This is because I am the devil’s grandfather.” The hunter understood. It was no simple peasant he was looking at. He was a Wood Sprite. The hunter aimed at him with his gun. Bang! The bullet hit him in his belly. The Wood Sprite sighed and almost fell down from the stump. But the very next moment, he jumped up again and sneaked into the woods. After him ran the dog, and after the dog ran the hunter. The three were running in a line, one after the other. So, he went on and on and on. At last, he came up to the mountains, and on one of the mountains there was a fissure. Inside the fissure, the hunter could see a small hut.

The Hunter Rescues the Girl

Bravely, the hunter opened the door of the hut. He entered in and saw the Wood Sprite rolling on a table. He was totally out of breath, and near him, sat a girl who was crying badly. “Who will now give me food and drink?” said the girl. “Hail, fair maiden!” said the hunter, “Tell me who you are and from where have you come?” “O brave youth, I don’t know myself; I have never seen the outside world, and I don’t know who my father and mother are,” replied the girl. “Don’t worry; come quickly; I will take you back to Holy Russia,” remarked the hunter. The girl went along with the hunter and he led her out of the woods. He went through the villages and inquired about her at all the places. Now, this girl had been taken away by the Wood Sprite, and had lived with him for three years. She was enclosed in the hut, totally cut off from the outside world. There was no one to help her.

The Pope’s Daughter

Without losing hope, the hunter carried on his search of the girl’s parents. In the next village, the hunter began asking if anyone had lost their daughter. Hearing about the lost girl, the Pope approached the hunter and said, “This is my daughter.” The Pope’s wife came, “Oh, my dear daughter, where have you been so long? I never thought I would be able to see you ever again.” Then, the girl looked at them, but was simply shaken and could not understand anything. Gradually, little by little, she came to herself. The parents and the daughter were united. The Pope and his wife married her to the hunter and rewarded him with many good things. Then, they went to look for the hut in which she had lived for three years with the Wood Sprite. They wandered far into the woods, from morning to evening but could not locate the hut.

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