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"She is only seven, but she is very smart." "What! A seven year old solved my riddles. Never! The cow is yours only if she can solve this problem: hatch ten chicks out of these ten boiled eggs. Take them home to her." Ivan cam home crying. "Why are you crying, father," asked Marusia. "Didn't you get the cow?" "No," said Ivan. "I will get the cow if you can hatch ten chicks from ten hard boiled eggs. It's impossible to win in this world." "Don't worry, father. You know what? Sit down and eat these eggs for dinner. And tomorrow you will return to the judge's house with this plate of porridge and tell him to plough a piece of land, plant the porridge, and as soon as his millet is ripe, to reap it and to thresh it and to have it ready for me to feed the chicks as soon as they are hatched." Ivan did as his daughter had instructed him to do. The judge looked at the porridge in silence, then angrily threw it to the dogs. Again he remained silent. "Is the cow mine now?" asked Ivan. "No," said the judge. "Take this stalk of flax to your daughter and tell her to soak it, dry it, dress it and make a hundred yards of white linen cloth out of it!" Ivan headed home, tears filling his eyes so he could hardly see the road. When he reached his whitewashed cottage, the sun was setting and his daughter Marusia was waiting for him by the doorway. "Dear father, why are you weeping?" "Alas, dear child, the judge instructed me to tell you to soak this stalk of flax, dry and dress it and make a hundred yards of white linen cloth out of it." Marusia thought for a while, then went to the guelder rose tree outside by the garden gate and brought back a twig. "Take this twig to the judge," she said, "and ask him to fashion a hackle and a distaff out of it so I can spin the flax." Off went her father. When the judge heard what Marusia wanted, he threw away the twig and said, "Now tell your daughter I want to see her! She must visit me but she must neither ride nor walk, be neither barefoot nor wear shoes, and come neither with a gift nor without one." When Marusia heard what the judge wanted from her, she paused for a while then said, "Father, get me a live rabbit." Without asking any questions, Ivan went to the neighbor to see whether he could find a live rabbit. When he was gone, Marusia pulled a sled from the garden shelter and harnessed her little goat to it. Then she caught a sparrow. Soon she had taken off one of her shoes. When Ivan came back with the rabbit, Marusia was waiting, standing one foot on the sled and one foot on the ground. She had a sparrow clutched in one hand and told Ivan to put the rabbit under her arm. And off she went to the judge's house, neither riding nor walking, neither barefoot nor wearing shoes. When the judge saw her, he realized right away that Marusia had outwitted him. Angry, he set his dog on her. But Marusia let the rabbit go and the dog ran after the animal. Then Marusia entered the judge's home and said, "Your Honor, here is a little gift for you." She held out the sparrow to him, but before he could take it, it flapped its wings and flew out the window. "Your Honor, I cam with a gift and now I am without one!" It was just then that two men came to see the judge to ask him to decide which of them was in the right and which was in the wrong. Each man owned a mare and the day before, they had harnessed both mares to a heavy cart to go to market. They unloaded the cart and parked it in a nearby field. While they were at the market, one mare foaled. Each man claimed that the foal, a little white horse, was his. The judge thought it over and said, "Bring the mares and the foal will run to its mother." The horses were led into the yard; the mares were tethered and the foal let free. The two men who had brought the complaint began calling the foal and the poor little white horse got so confused it ran out of the yard. Nobody knew what to do. Then Marusia came forward and said, "I believe it should be the other way around. Leave the mares free and tether the foal and the mother will go to it." They did as she said and as soon as the mares were untied, one of them ran straight to the foal. The judge was so impressed that he told Marusia that someday she too would be a judge and that he himself would see to it that she got the proper schooling for it. And so it happened that Ivan got his cow and that seven year old clever Marusia became one of the most famous judges in the land. John Carroll University Copyright Helene Turkewicz-Sanko, Ph.D., 1997. Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Culture ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 1998 19
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