Translation:Collection of Slavic Folk Tales/II

THE TABLE, THE BAG AND THE SACK

(BOHEMIAN TALE)

I

Long ago, very long ago, an old peasant lived in a cottage with his three sons. The eldest was called Martin, the second Michel, the third Jeannot.

One evening, the father and the three sons were gathered around a bowl of milk. — Martin, said the father, I feel that I will not live long. When I die, my cottage will go to you; above all do not wrong your mother or your brothers.

Martin promised; but, while promising, he took care to choose the good pieces and to monopolize the bread. Michel was astonished at this conduct; Jeannot was so sad about it that he forgot to eat.

After a short time, the father fell ill: he summoned his sons to say goodbye. He recommended to Martin never to abandon the cottage. — Jeannot, he said to the third, you are a bit simple; but what heaven has taken from your mind, it has given to your heart. Always be good, and listen to your brothers. With that he died. Martin and Michel burst into dreadful lamentations; but Jeannot stayed beside the deathbed mute, motionless, as if he had lost his reason. After some time he went out, sat in the garden and wept like a child. After the burial, Martin and Michel decided that they would go roam the world and seek fortune. Jeannot was to stay at home with their mother.

— The world is big, they thought: by traveling it thoroughly, we may meet fortune. By staying here, we will become nothing at all.

Jeannot asked for nothing better than to stay; but their mother, who was still very sturdy, did not want him to give up good luck, and persuaded his brothers to take him along.

So all three set out; Michel and Martin had taken two large sacks filled with provisions. Jeannot had nothing.

— I would really like to know, he said suddenly to his brothers, if we are going to meet fortune.

— You can well run ahead to her, you who have nothing to carry.

They were furious to see that Jeannot carried nothing, while they had so much trouble dragging their sacks. They had walked all morning; the sun was burning them; they were tired and they were hungry. They sat down by the roadside, under a tree, and began to eat. Jeannot sat under another tree and began to cry; perhaps he was hungry, perhaps he regretted his father's death.

His brothers mocked him.

— You see, next time, don't be so lazy; you will have something to eat too.

Jeannot wiped his tears with his sleeve.

— You make fine sons, he told them; you set out to roam the world to relieve your mother, and you begin by taking from her what is best.

This unexpected reply silenced the two brothers. After a few moments, they even offered Jeannot to share their meal. Then they set off again.

Toward evening, they arrived at a cottage and asked for hospitality. The master of the cottage let them in and invited them to supper. Martin thanked him, and added, not without a certain pride, that he had enough to eat. Indeed, they pulled provisions from their sacks and had a good meal. Meanwhile, Jeannot was sitting in a corner and crying. The housewife, coming back from the kitchen, saw that he was not eating, and wanted him to sit at the table. An excellent bacon soup was served. Martin, who loved it a lot, gnawed with spite his crusts of bread and his cheese remnants; but he was not invited. The next day, the two wicked brothers left early and took Jeannot into a deep forest, to be sure that no one would give him anything to eat.

After wandering for a long time, they suddenly arrived in a clearing from which they caught sight of an immense castle. Jeannot smiled; but Martin was not pleased.

— We have taken the wrong road said he; let us turn back. — Fool, said Michel. We set out to roam the world. What does it matter to run right or left?

Jeannot said nothing, he went straight to the castle. Martin watched him, then decided to follow him.

They entered the castle; but they found not a human creature there. A shiver seized them. Martin wanted to leave; but, when he saw Jeannot open the door, he followed him still. They entered a magnificent hall. What a wonder! The hall was full of copper coins up to a height of five cubits. Martin and Michel stood dazzled; then they threw from their sacks the remains of their provisions and began to fill them with large coppers.

Jeannot opened a second room; it appeared to their dazzled eyes full of silver coins.

The two brothers immediately threw out the coppers to pile up the crowns in their sacks. This task barely finished, Jean opened a third door. Prodigious dazzlement! The third hall was full of gold coins that shone like the sun. They emptied their sacks again and filled them again. — Let us go, said Martin suddenly, someone might come, and we would not be at ease.

The two brothers fled. Jean followed them; from each of these treasures he took only one coin and the remains of the provisions that had been thrown in the first hall. On the way, he ate. They arrived in a thick wood; the brothers threw down their sacks of money and sat to rest. Jeannot lay down beside them and finished nibbling the last crust. Suddenly, Martin realized he was hungry; but he had only ducats in his sack.

— Jeannot, he said, hurry to the castle, and bring us back the remains we left there.

— It is not worth it, replied Jeannot; I picked them up and I ate them.

— Wretch, cried Martin, I will teach you to eat your brothers' share!

And they fell upon him and beat him as best they could.

— Go where you will, glutton, and do not allow yourself to appear before us again.

And they left the wood. The next morning, they arrived home, bought a fine house, settled there with their mother, and began to live there like great lords.

II

Jeannot had remained on the ground unconscious. When he came to, he found himself alone. What to do?

— I will return to the castle, he thought: I will gather money and go live like a great lord.

He did indeed return to the castle; he found no one there. He took off his jacket, tied the sleeves at the end so as to make kinds of sacks, and began to pile gold coins into them. Suddenly he heard a distant noise like thunder; this noise drew nearer; the castle trembled to its foundations. A voice was heard, a shrill voice like that of a bull:

— Hum! hum! It smells of fresh flesh.

And two giants entered the hall.

— Ah! ah! little worm, it is you who steals our treasures! cried one of them. Well, we will eat you tonight for supper.

The second giant murmured something in his comrade's ear.

— So be it, said the latter, I grant you your life; but from now on it is you who, in our absence, will guard our treasures. Only, guard them well... By the way, when you are hungry, strike three times with your fist on this table saying: "Imperial kitchen!" and you will receive enough for a good dinner.

Jeannot promised everything they wanted. From that moment, he led a very pleasant life. He had nothing to do: no one came to the castle, the table always obeyed him. In the end, boredom took him.

— Let the giant gentlemen guard their treasures themselves, he said one fine morning; and you, my good table, come with me home.

He took the table on his back, left the castle and entered the forest. He crossed it and found himself in the fields. There he met a good old man who asked him for something to eat.

— You could not have come better, replied Jeannot. Come sit with me under this tree. Jean placed the table on the ground, struck it three times with his fist shouting: Imperial cuisine! A splendid meal was immediately served.

— It is a fine invention, said the old man; give me this table as a gift. I still have something better to offer you. See this bag: every time you command it, an army as numerous as you want will come out of it.

Jeannot, since his brothers had beaten him so hard, had become ambitious. He took the bag and gave the table. Once the old man had left, he found himself alone, in the open field, and on top of that with a lot of appetite. He began to regret his table; he suddenly thought of his bag. A bad idea came to him. He opened the bag:

— Two hundred hussars forward! he cried.

Immediately, horses neighed, sabers rang at the riders' sides. Their leader approached Jeannot and politely asked him what he desired.

— About half an hour from here, you will find an old man with a small table: seize him and bring me the table.

The hussars left at a gallop; ten minutes later, they were back, and the table with them.

Jeannot opened the bag and put the soldiers back in. Then he sat at the table and cheerfully ate the imperial cuisine. The next day, he met again a good old man who got himself invited like the previous one.

— Here is a fine invention, he said looking at the table; if you want to give me this piece of furniture, I will give you my sack in exchange.

— Oh! oh! said Jeannot, that would be a bad deal.

— Not so bad. From this sack one can bring out as many castles as one desires.

Jeannot thought for a moment.

— So be it, he said.

And he made the exchange. Five minutes later, he brought out from the bag and launched three hundred uhlans in pursuit of his host and regained possession of the table.

Jeannot therefore now had three talismans. He resumed his journey and arrived in the capital. There he learned that his brothers had become rich men and very great lords. He dirtied and tore his clothes to look like a beggar, and went to ask them for alms. They put him out the door, despite their mother's supplications. Yet they ended up offering him hospitality in the stable. Jean said nothing; but, when everyone was asleep, he brought out from the sack a castle, from the bag a company to guard it. He slept very well in the castle, and the table provided him a magnificent supper. In the morning, he made everything disappear, castle and soldiers and found himself on the straw again.

He spent the days doing nothing; his brothers were very intrigued; they pressed him with so many questions, that he ended up telling them the secret of the magic table. He invited them to share a meal that left far behind the best feasts of the capital. The story of this meal made a great noise; the king himself heard of the magic table. Curious to taste imperial cuisine, he sent one of his chamberlains to ask Jeannot to kindly lend it to him for three days.

— So be it, said Jeannot; but let the king remember that if in three days he has not sent it back to me, I will declare war on him.

The chamberlain took the table and told the king laughing about Jeannot's threat. The king was delighted with the table and the imperial cuisine, so delighted, that he resolved to keep this wonder. He had a skilled carpenter make a table exactly like it, and he sent this counterfeit back to Jeannot. Jeannot, seeing himself thus tricked, flew into a violent rage. He broke the false table.

— Tell your king, he said to the chamberlain, that tomorrow I will demolish his palace as I break this table.

There was much laughter at the king's; but much less laughter when Jeannot brought out from his bag a million cavalry and a million infantry. The palace garrison did not even try to defend itself. The king raised the white flag and went to find Jeannot.

— I was wrong, he told him, and I want to repair my fault. Here is your table, and on top of that, I give you my daughter in marriage.

The marriage took place with great pomp, and I leave you to imagine if the table provided all the guests with imperial cuisine. After the feast, Jeannot brought out from his sack a marvelous castle where he took his young wife. The king was so astonished that he entrusted him with the scepter and the crown.

So here is Jeannot king in his turn, and what a king! He could go to war with the whole world. He had more troops than any sovereign ever had; he raised castles at all his borders; his table was the best ever known. His brothers were bursting with spite; to punish them for their harshness, he never recalled them to him; but he treated his mother very well, who had a fine and long old age. In the center of the palace, in the treasure room, were locked up the table, the sack and the bag. Jeannot reigned for a long time under the name of Jean I, and was greatly missed by his people. But his successors did not follow his example: one of them even the folly of being ashamed of the humble origins of his dynasty. He relegated the table, the sack and the bag to a black and damp vault.

You ask what became of this great empire. It declined more and more. One fine morning, the ungrateful prince ran to the vault that kept the talismans. Alas! the table had rotted, of the bag there remained only the straps, and of the sack some rags that the rats were in the process of gnawing! Thus end the finest things of this world!