Kapsirko
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Legend & Mythology
Legend & Mythology
Based upon the Siberian legend. A patient and cunning mind will carry anyone further in their dreams, as a young peasant named Kapsirko will discover.
Written by Mélodie Rivers; first draft published December 4 2014
Written by Mélodie Rivers; first draft published December 4 2014
Once upon a time in Russia, there was a poor peasant named Kapsirko, employed by a very rich master. One night, during a very cold night, the master caught Kapsirko stealing some firewood from his private reserve. Angry, the master declared that in the morning, he will sent Kapsirko to Siberia as a punishment.
But when dawn broke in, the master came to Kapsirko, and told him:
"I will give you a chance to redeem yourself, as you are a good servant. However, you will need to accomplish an impossible task."
"Anything, Master," Kapsirko replied, determined to remain in Russia.
"In my estate, there is a well guarded stable. I want you to steal my horse; if you succeed, I may consider keeping you."
Kapsirko agreed, and the master left, sure that his servant would not be able to accomplish such a task. However, through unknown means, in the next morning, Kapsirko arrived at the master's house with the latter's horse.
"Amazing," the master admired. Not completely convinced though, he put forth an even greater challenge: to steal his wife away.
"As you wish, Master," Kapsirko accepted the challenge.
During the following night, Kapsirko crept to the master's house, and spotted through the study's window that the wife was alone there, reading a book. He enticed her out of the house, although the method he used to accomplish such a task has again not been recorded.
He then endeavoured to wrap the master's wife in a blanket, put her in his sleigh, and fled from the house, planning to reach the edge of his master's estate as fast as possible.
Along the way, they passed by a lake where lived a vodianoi, a water demon. An idea passing through his mind, Kapsirko approached the lake, and invoked the demon.
"Say, vodianoi, what do you say about a beautiful bride for yourself?" Kapsirko proposed to the demon.
"I will not be against such a suggestion. But for what do I owe this sudden generosity?" the vodianoi suspiciously asked.
"Only that I am in urgent need to get rid of my master's wife, and would be willing to make a deal with you," Kapsirko answered. "What say you about a capful of gold for this beautiful lady?"
The vodianoi, always willing to cause trouble, accepted without further question the deal, and dived to his lair to get his bag of gold coins. As for Kapsirko, he smiled cunningly, and cut a hole in his cap, and placed it over an opening his sleigh. When the water demon came back, fooled by the peasant's trick, he filled the cap with gold, without knowing that he was in fact filling the sleigh. When the sleigh was filled, and the cap was finally full to the rim, Kapsirko gave his master's wife to the demon, and now wealthy, rode back home.
But in the morning, he is once more called by the master.
"Where is my wife?" the latter asked, worried.
"Stolen away, like you asked me to," answered Kapsirko, keeping under silence his stash of gold. "The vodianoi is now in possesion of her. I accomplished your request, I am thus free."
"Allright, allright!" the master acknowledged, now in fear. "Kapsirko, I have one last request: if you rescue my wife from the demon, I will give you mastery over half of my estate. No more poverty, no more farming. You will be a proper master."
Kapsirko smiled, as his plan worked out just as he thought, and accepted gratefully the task.
He got back down to the lake, picked two hares along the way, and there built a small shelter upon its shore. And for many days and nights, he spent all his time twisting a rope. One day, a water spirit appeared, and curious, she approached Kapsirko:
"Dear, sir, may I inquire what you are doing, for I have seen you twist that rope for days!"
"Of course!" the Russian answered pleasantly. "The rope is to string up the vodianoi of this lake, after I drained all the water from it."
Terrified for the survival of the water spirits, the young spirit dived deep into the heart of the lake, and informed the vodianoi of the danger. Next, the water demon emerged from the water and approached Kapsirko.
"What do you want, you fool boy?" the vodianoi asked, angry.
"I want that you give me back the master's wife," the peasant answered.
"I will not. I paid much for this maiden, I am not giving her back," the water demon defiantly replied.
Kapsirko smiled, and dropped the rope:
"Very well. May I suggest a compromise? I propose three tasks, and the winner gets the lady."
"Fine by me," the demon accepted.
"Whoever can whistle so loud that the other fall in the lake wins one task," Kapsirko begins.
The water demon whistle first, but though it is very loud, Kapsirko does not fall in the lake. At his turn, he whistles, but when the demon looked away, the peasant hit the demon on the head with a club, causing the vodianoi to fall in the lake.
"You won this one, peasant, but there is still two tasks left," the water demon hissed. "The next one is a race!"
"No problem," Kapsirko replied, before suddenly falling to the ground. "I am sorry, but it seems my legs aren't working after all those days of twisting. May I suggest that you race with my grandson? He is quite fast, but if you think he will be too much for you..."
"Absolutely not!" the demon vehemently refused. "I will race against your grandson."
Kapsirko smiled, and unveiled his next trick: he came into his cottage, and came out, holding a hare in his hands, one of the two he caught on his way to the lake.
"What is that?!" the vodianoi protested, as Kapsirko placed the hare on the starting line.
"My grandson!" the peasant replied. "Got him from a prairie spirit. Why, do you wish to back away from the challenge?"
The demon refused categorically, and when the peasant sent the signal, he raced against the hare. While the demon was away, Kapsirko placed the second hare he caught at the starting line. When the demon came back from the race, victorious but out of breath, he surrendered upon seeing what he believed to be the first hare on the starting line, looking fresh and ready to race a second time.
"Do not worry; there is still the third task," Kapsirko reassured the demon. "I suggest a wrestling match; however, as my arms are sore, I hope you don't mind wrestling against my grandfather."
The vodianoi accept, but he is once more taken aback as Kapsirko takes him into the nearby forest, and present to him his "grandfather", a bear. As to not lose face, the water demon accept anyway the challenge, and attempts to wrestle with the bear. As you can imagine, the bear won, and the water demon has been defeated in all three tasks.
"You owe me the master's wife, now," Kapsirko orders the demon, who, under the stare of the bear, go fetch the lady in his lair.
The peasant then takes her home, and as he promised, the master gave him half of his estate. Thus, first a poor servant, Kapsirko now became himself master of an estate, and was very rich due to the gold he tricked the vodianoi to give him.
It was such that a simple human came to outsmart and trick even the fiercest water-demon... and become wealthy along the way.
But when dawn broke in, the master came to Kapsirko, and told him:
"I will give you a chance to redeem yourself, as you are a good servant. However, you will need to accomplish an impossible task."
"Anything, Master," Kapsirko replied, determined to remain in Russia.
"In my estate, there is a well guarded stable. I want you to steal my horse; if you succeed, I may consider keeping you."
Kapsirko agreed, and the master left, sure that his servant would not be able to accomplish such a task. However, through unknown means, in the next morning, Kapsirko arrived at the master's house with the latter's horse.
"Amazing," the master admired. Not completely convinced though, he put forth an even greater challenge: to steal his wife away.
"As you wish, Master," Kapsirko accepted the challenge.
During the following night, Kapsirko crept to the master's house, and spotted through the study's window that the wife was alone there, reading a book. He enticed her out of the house, although the method he used to accomplish such a task has again not been recorded.
He then endeavoured to wrap the master's wife in a blanket, put her in his sleigh, and fled from the house, planning to reach the edge of his master's estate as fast as possible.
Along the way, they passed by a lake where lived a vodianoi, a water demon. An idea passing through his mind, Kapsirko approached the lake, and invoked the demon.
"Say, vodianoi, what do you say about a beautiful bride for yourself?" Kapsirko proposed to the demon.
"I will not be against such a suggestion. But for what do I owe this sudden generosity?" the vodianoi suspiciously asked.
"Only that I am in urgent need to get rid of my master's wife, and would be willing to make a deal with you," Kapsirko answered. "What say you about a capful of gold for this beautiful lady?"
The vodianoi, always willing to cause trouble, accepted without further question the deal, and dived to his lair to get his bag of gold coins. As for Kapsirko, he smiled cunningly, and cut a hole in his cap, and placed it over an opening his sleigh. When the water demon came back, fooled by the peasant's trick, he filled the cap with gold, without knowing that he was in fact filling the sleigh. When the sleigh was filled, and the cap was finally full to the rim, Kapsirko gave his master's wife to the demon, and now wealthy, rode back home.
But in the morning, he is once more called by the master.
"Where is my wife?" the latter asked, worried.
"Stolen away, like you asked me to," answered Kapsirko, keeping under silence his stash of gold. "The vodianoi is now in possesion of her. I accomplished your request, I am thus free."
"Allright, allright!" the master acknowledged, now in fear. "Kapsirko, I have one last request: if you rescue my wife from the demon, I will give you mastery over half of my estate. No more poverty, no more farming. You will be a proper master."
Kapsirko smiled, as his plan worked out just as he thought, and accepted gratefully the task.
He got back down to the lake, picked two hares along the way, and there built a small shelter upon its shore. And for many days and nights, he spent all his time twisting a rope. One day, a water spirit appeared, and curious, she approached Kapsirko:
"Dear, sir, may I inquire what you are doing, for I have seen you twist that rope for days!"
"Of course!" the Russian answered pleasantly. "The rope is to string up the vodianoi of this lake, after I drained all the water from it."
Terrified for the survival of the water spirits, the young spirit dived deep into the heart of the lake, and informed the vodianoi of the danger. Next, the water demon emerged from the water and approached Kapsirko.
"What do you want, you fool boy?" the vodianoi asked, angry.
"I want that you give me back the master's wife," the peasant answered.
"I will not. I paid much for this maiden, I am not giving her back," the water demon defiantly replied.
Kapsirko smiled, and dropped the rope:
"Very well. May I suggest a compromise? I propose three tasks, and the winner gets the lady."
"Fine by me," the demon accepted.
"Whoever can whistle so loud that the other fall in the lake wins one task," Kapsirko begins.
The water demon whistle first, but though it is very loud, Kapsirko does not fall in the lake. At his turn, he whistles, but when the demon looked away, the peasant hit the demon on the head with a club, causing the vodianoi to fall in the lake.
"You won this one, peasant, but there is still two tasks left," the water demon hissed. "The next one is a race!"
"No problem," Kapsirko replied, before suddenly falling to the ground. "I am sorry, but it seems my legs aren't working after all those days of twisting. May I suggest that you race with my grandson? He is quite fast, but if you think he will be too much for you..."
"Absolutely not!" the demon vehemently refused. "I will race against your grandson."
Kapsirko smiled, and unveiled his next trick: he came into his cottage, and came out, holding a hare in his hands, one of the two he caught on his way to the lake.
"What is that?!" the vodianoi protested, as Kapsirko placed the hare on the starting line.
"My grandson!" the peasant replied. "Got him from a prairie spirit. Why, do you wish to back away from the challenge?"
The demon refused categorically, and when the peasant sent the signal, he raced against the hare. While the demon was away, Kapsirko placed the second hare he caught at the starting line. When the demon came back from the race, victorious but out of breath, he surrendered upon seeing what he believed to be the first hare on the starting line, looking fresh and ready to race a second time.
"Do not worry; there is still the third task," Kapsirko reassured the demon. "I suggest a wrestling match; however, as my arms are sore, I hope you don't mind wrestling against my grandfather."
The vodianoi accept, but he is once more taken aback as Kapsirko takes him into the nearby forest, and present to him his "grandfather", a bear. As to not lose face, the water demon accept anyway the challenge, and attempts to wrestle with the bear. As you can imagine, the bear won, and the water demon has been defeated in all three tasks.
"You owe me the master's wife, now," Kapsirko orders the demon, who, under the stare of the bear, go fetch the lady in his lair.
The peasant then takes her home, and as he promised, the master gave him half of his estate. Thus, first a poor servant, Kapsirko now became himself master of an estate, and was very rich due to the gold he tricked the vodianoi to give him.
It was such that a simple human came to outsmart and trick even the fiercest water-demon... and become wealthy along the way.