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back to the Big Mountain. In his anger, he was making gigantic steps and nothing could have stopped him. He went straight to the big rock. “Wind, give me back my oats!” The Wind was surprised to see Ivan again, but he wanted to correct the injustice, so he said to Ivan, “I am giving you a magic she-goat. Anytime you need money, put your hat under her tail and tap her back gently and she will lay gold coins ju st like hens lay eggs.” On his way home, Ivan felt very tired. It was dark and he stopped again at the inn. “You went back to the inn?” asked the innkeeper. “I sure did. He tricked me the first time with the little table. When I got home, it did not work anymore. So now he gave me a goat that lays gold coins. Look!” And Ivan put his hat under the she- goat’s tail and gently tapped her back, and his hat filled with gold coins. During the night, while Ivan was sleeping, the innkeeper switched the goat and Ivan went home with the wrong goat. He came home and wanted his wife to see the gold coins, so he put his hat under the goat’s tail expecting it to soon be filled with gold coins, but alas! It was not gold coins that filled poor Ivan’s hat! Furious, Ivan went to the mountain for the third time. “Wind, give me back my oats!” “But I gave you a fabulous table, and a magic she-goat that lays gold coins. W hat have you done with them?” “They were good until I came to the inn, but when I came home they did not work anymore.” “But why are you stopping at the inn? I bet the innkeeper has stolen your table and your goat. Listen, I will give you a special stick that will obey your every command. Say Stick dance!” Ivan said the words and the stick began to dance gracefully. “Say Stick fly!” said the Wind. Ivan said the words and the stick flew through the air and came back to him. “And now,” said the Wind, “promise me when you get to the inn, you will ask the innkeeper to give you back your fabulous table and your magic goat.” Ivan happily walked down the road with his stick by his side. He said, Stick stop! And the stick stopped. He said Stick run! And the stick ran. He said Stick walk! And thus, walking side by side Ivan and the stick came to the inn. “Innkeeper,” Ivan said, “give me back my table and my goat that you stole from me when I was asleep!” “I do not know what you are talking about,” said the innkeeper. The Ivan said “Stick, do your job! Beat this innkeeper! He is a thief!” “Stop! Stop!” cried the innkeeper. “I will give your table back.” “And my goat?” “And your goat!” “Well then,” said Ivan. “ Stick, stop beating that man!” On the road leading to the village, people saw Ivan walking with a goat, a table tied to his back, and a stick in his hand. He was whistling and singing ... singing and whistling ... and he made it straight home. “Little table, little table, give us the best food we can eat!” said Ivan. And the fabulous table was loaded with all kinds o f breads, borshch, pyrohy, mushrooms, fruits, nuts, and drinks. W hat a feast they had! Ivan did not particularly care for gold coins and he never asked the goat to lay gold coins like hens lay eggs. Instead, he would take her to the pasture high up in the mountain, and when he needed money, he would go to market and sell goat’s milk and goat’s cheese. His goat cheese was the talk o f the country. He became very famous and people marveled at his goat. She was ju st a little goat, but she gave as much milk as an ordinary cow and from that time on, people called her “the poor m an’s cow”. And the stick? By then, people had heard about the innkeeper’s beating and the stick had become legendary. But Ivan was a gentle, hard-working, and peaceful man, and after the incident with the innkeeper he never used the stick again. The W ind’s gift made Ivan feel so confident, so sure o f himself, and so invincible that he never had to use it again. He just kept it for companionship. He got used to walking with it, and as Ivan grew older, the stick helped him get up from his chair, and it was there to prop him up when he walked up and down the mountain he loved such much. The stick became known as Dido Ivan’s cane. Copyright Helene N. Turkewicz-Sanko, John Carroll University, 2001 Illustration by Valentine Chaly. Contes Ukrainiens. Paris: Editions Bellenand (1962).
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