Section 20 of 21 - Table of Contents
SALT.
One evening, when they were sitting round the table after their
supper, old Peter asked the children what story they would like to
hear. Vanya asked whether there were any stories left which they had
not already heard.
"Why," said old Peter, "you have heard scarcely any of the stories,
for there is a story to be told about everything in the world."
"About everything, grandfather?" asked Vanya.
"About everything," said old Peter.
"About the sky, and the thunder, and the dogs, and the flies, and the
birds, and the trees, and the milk?"
"There is a story about everyone of those things."
"I know something there isn't a story about," said Vanya.
"And what's that?" asked old Peter, smiling in his beard.
"Salt," said Vanya. "There can't be a story about salt." He put the
tip of his finger into the little box of salt on the table, and then
he touched his tongue with his finger to taste.
"But of course there is a story about salt," said old Peter.
"Tell it us," said Maroosia; and presently, when his pipe had been lit
twice and gone out, old Peter began.
* * * * *
Once upon a time there were three brothers, and their father was a
great merchant who sent his ships far over the sea, and traded here
and there in countries the names of which I, being an old man, can
never rightly call to mind. Well, the names of the two elder brothers
do not matter, but the youngest was called Ivan the Ninny, because he
was always playing and never working; and if there was a silly thing
to do, why, off he went and did it. And so, when the brothers grew up,
the father sent the two elder ones off, each in a fine ship laden with
gold and jewels, and rings and bracelets, and laces and silks, and
sticks with little bits of silver hammered into their handles, and
spoons with patterns of blue and red, and everything else you can
think of that costs too much to buy. But he made Ivan the Ninny stay
at home, and did not give him a ship at all. Ivan saw his brothers go
sailing off over the sea on a summer morning, to make their fortunes
and come back rich men; and then, for the first time in his life, he
wanted to work and do something useful. He went to his father and
kissed his hand, and he kissed the hand of his little old mother, and
he begged his father to give him a ship so that he could try his
fortune like his brothers.
"But you have never done a wise thing in your life, and no one could
count all the silly things you've done if he spent a hundred days in
counting," said his father.
"True," said Ivan; "but now I am going to be wise, and sail the sea
and come back with something in my pockets to show that I am not a
ninny any longer. Give me just a little ship, father mine--just a
little ship for myself."
"Give him a little ship," said the mother. "He may not be a ninny
after all."
"Very well," said his father. "I will give him a little ship; but I am
not going to waste good roubles by giving him a rich cargo."
"Give me any cargo you like," said Ivan.
So his father gave him a little ship, a little old ship, and a cargo
of rags and scraps and things that were not fit for anything but to be
thrown away. And he gave him a crew of ancient old sailormen who were
past work; and Ivan went on board and sailed away at sunset, like the
ninny he was. And the feeble, ancient, old sailormen pulled up the
ragged, dirty sails, and away they went over the sea to learn what
fortune, good or bad, God had in mind for a crew of old men with a
ninny for a master.
The fourth day after they set sail there came a great wind over the
sea. The feeble old men did the best they could with the ship; but the
old, torn sails tore from the masts, and the wind did what it pleased,
and threw the little ship on an unknown island away in the middle of
the sea. Then the wind dropped, and left the little ship on the
beach, and Ivan the Ninny and his ancient old men, like good Russians,
praising God that they were still alive.
"Well, children," said Ivan, for he knew how to talk to sailors, "do
you stay here and mend the sails, and make new ones out of the rags we
carry as cargo, while I go inland and see if there is anything that
could be of use to us."
So the ancient old sailormen sat on deck with their legs crossed, and
made sails out of rags, of torn scraps of old brocades, of soiled
embroidered shawls, of all the rubbish that they had with them for a
cargo. You never saw such sails. The tide came up and floated the
ship, and they threw out anchors at bow and stern, and sat there in
the sunlight, making sails and patching them and talking of the days
when they were young. All this while Ivan the Ninny went walking off
into the island.
Now in the middle of that island was a high mountain, a high mountain
it was, and so white that when he came near it Ivan the Ninny began
thinking of sheepskin coats, although it was midsummer and the sun was
hot in the sky. The trees were green round about, but there was
nothing growing on the mountain at all. It was just a great white
mountain piled up into the sky in the middle of a green island. Ivan
walked a little way up the white slopes of the mountain, and then,
because he felt thirsty, he thought he would let a little snow melt in
his mouth. He took some in his fingers and stuffed it in. Quickly
enough it came out again, I can tell you, for the mountain was not
made of snow but of good Russian salt. And if you want to try what a
mouthful of salt is like, you may.
"No, thank you, grandfather," the children said hurriedly together.
Old Peter went on with his tale.
Ivan the Ninny did not stop to think twice. The salt was so clean and
shone so brightly in the sunlight. He just turned round and ran back
to the shore, and called out to his ancient old sailormen and told
them to empty everything they had on board over into the sea. Over it
all went, rags and tags and rotten timbers, till the little ship was
as empty as a soup bowl after supper. And then those ancient old men
were set to work carrying salt from the mountain and taking it on
board the little ship, and stowing it away below deck till there was
not room for another grain. Ivan the Ninny would have liked to take
the whole mountain, but there was not room in the little ship. And for
that the ancient old sailormen thanked God, because their backs ached
and their old legs were weak, and they said they would have died if
they had had to carry any more.
Then they hoisted up the new sails they had patched together out of
the rags and scraps of shawls and old brocades, and they sailed away
once more over the blue sea. And the wind stood fair, and they sailed
before it, and the ancient old sailors rested their backs, and told
old tales, and took turn and turn about at the rudder.
And after many days' sailing they came to a town, with towers and
churches and painted roofs, all set on the side of a hill that sloped
down into the sea. At the foot of the hill was a quiet harbour, and
they sailed in there and moored the ship and hauled down their
patchwork sails.
Ivan the Ninny went ashore, and took with him a little bag of clean
white salt to show what kind of goods he had for sale, and he asked
his way to the palace of the Tzar of that town. He came to the palace,
and went in and bowed to the ground before the Tzar.
"Who are you?" says the Tzar.
"I, great lord, am a Russian merchant, and here in a bag is some of my
merchandise, and I beg your leave to trade with your subjects in this
town."
"Let me see what is in the bag," says the Tzar. Ivan the Ninny took a
handful from the bag and showed it to the Tzar.
"What is it?" says the Tzar.
"Good Russian salt," says Ivan the Ninny.
Now in that country they had never heard of salt, and the Tzar looked
at the salt, and he looked at Ivan and he laughed.
"Why, this," says he, "is nothing but white dust, and that we can pick
up for nothing. The men of my town have no need to trade with you. You
must be a ninny."
Ivan grew very red, for he knew what his father used to call him. He
was ashamed to say anything. So he bowed to the ground, and went away
out of the palace.
But when he was outside he thought to himself, "I wonder what sort of
salt they use in these parts if they do not know good Russian salt
when they see it. I will go to the kitchen."
So he went round to the back door of the palace, and put his head into
the kitchen, and said, "I am very tired. May I sit down here and rest
a little while?"
"Come in," says one of the cooks. "But you must sit just there, and
not put even your little finger in the way of us; for we are the
Tzar's cooks, and we are in the middle of making ready his dinner."
And the cook put a stool in a corner out of the way, and Ivan slipped
in round the door, and sat down in the corner and looked about him.
There were seven cooks at least, boiling and baking, and stewing and
toasting, and roasting and frying. And as for scullions, they were as
thick as cockroaches, dozens of them, running to and fro, tumbling
over each other, and helping the cooks.
Ivan the Ninny sat on his stool, with his legs tucked under him and
the bag of salt on his knees. He watched the cooks and the scullions,
but he did not see them put anything in the dishes which he thought
could take the place of salt. No; the meat was without salt, the kasha
was without salt, and there was no salt in the potatoes. Ivan nearly
turned sick at the thought of the tastelessness of all that food.
There came the moment when all the cooks and scullions ran out of the
kitchen to fetch the silver platters on which to lay the dishes. Ivan
slipped down from his stool, and running from stove to stove, from
saucepan to frying pan, he dropped a pinch of salt, just what was
wanted, no more no less, in everyone of the dishes. Then he ran back
to the stool in the corner, and sat there, and watched the dishes
being put on the silver platters and carried off in gold-embroidered
napkins to be the dinner of the Tzar.
The Tzar sat at table and took his first spoonful of soup.
"The soup is very good to-day," says he, and he finishes the soup to
the last drop.
"I've never known the soup so good," says the Tzaritza, and she
finishes hers.
"This is the best soup I ever tasted," says the Princess, and down
goes hers, and she, you know, was the prettiest princess who ever had
dinner in this world.
It was the same with the kasha and the same with the meat. The Tzar
and the Tzaritza and the Princess wondered why they had never had so
good a dinner in all their lives before.
"Call the cooks," says the Tzar. And they called the cooks, and the
cooks all came in, and bowed to the ground, and stood in a row before
the Tzar.
"What did you put in the dishes to-day that you never put before?"
says the Tzar.
"We put nothing unusual, your greatness," say the cooks, and bowed to
the ground again.
"Then why do the dishes taste better?"
"We do not know, your greatness," say the cooks.
"Call the scullions," says the Tzar. And the scullions were called,
and they too bowed to the ground, and stood in a row before the Tzar.
"What was done in the kitchen to-day that has not been done there
before?" says the Tzar.
"Nothing, your greatness," say all the scullions except one.
And that one scullion bowed again, and kept on bowing, and then he
said, "Please, your greatness, please, great lord, there is usually
none in the kitchen but ourselves; but to-day there was a young
Russian merchant, who sat on a stool in the corner and said he was
tired."
"Call the merchant," says the Tzar.
So they brought in Ivan the Ninny, and he bowed before the Tzar, and
stood there with his little bag of salt in his hand.
"Did you do anything to my dinner?" says the Tzar.
"I did, your greatness," says Ivan.
"What did you do?"
"I put a pinch of Russian salt in every dish."
"That white dust?" says the Tzar.
"Nothing but that."
"Have you got any more of it?"
"I have a little ship in the harbour laden with nothing else," says
Ivan.
"It is the most wonderful dust in the world," says the Tzar, "and I
will buy every grain of it you have. What do you want for it?"
Ivan the Ninny scratched his head and thought. He thought that if the
Tzar liked it as much as all that it must be worth a fair price, so he
said, "We will put the salt into bags, and for every bag of salt you
must give me three bags of the same weight--one of gold, one of
silver, and one of precious stones. Cheaper than that, your greatness,
I could not possibly sell."
"Agreed," says the Tzar. "And a cheap price, too, for a dust so full
of magic that it makes dull dishes tasty, and tasty dishes so good
that there is no looking away from them."
So all the day long, and far into the night, the ancient old sailormen
bent their backs under sacks of salt, and bent them again under sacks
of gold and silver and precious stones. When all the salt had been put
in the Tzar's treasury--yes, with twenty soldiers guarding it with
great swords shining in the moonlight--and when the little ship was
loaded with riches, so that even the deck was piled high with precious
stones, the ancient old men lay down among the jewels and slept till
morning, when Ivan the Ninny went to bid good-bye to the Tzar.
"And whither shall you sail now?" asked the Tzar.
"I shall sail away to Russia in my little ship," says Ivan.
And the Princess, who was very beautiful, said, "A little Russian
ship?"
"Yes," says Ivan.
"I have never seen a Russian ship," says the Princess, and she begs
her father to let her go to the harbour with her nurses and maids, to
see the little Russian ship before Ivan set sail.
She came with Ivan to the harbour, and the ancient old sailormen took
them on board.
She ran all over the ship, looking now at this and now at that, and
Ivan told her the names of everything--deck, mast, and rudder.
"May I see the sails?" she asked. And the ancient old men hoisted the
ragged sails, and the wind filled the sails and tugged.
"Why doesn't the ship move when the sails are up?" asked the Princess.
"The anchor holds her," said Ivan.
"Please let me see the anchor," says the Princess.
"Haul up the anchor, my children, and show it to the Princess," says
Ivan to the ancient old sailormen.
And the old men hauled up the anchor, and showed it to the Princess;
and she said it was a very good little anchor. But, of course, as soon
as the anchor was up the ship began to move. One of the ancient old
men bent over the tiller, and, with a fair wind behind her, the little
ship slipped out of the harbour and away to the blue sea. When the
Princess looked round, thinking it was time to go home, the little
ship was far from land, and away in the distance she could only see
the gold towers of her father's palace, glittering like pin points in
the sunlight. Her nurses and maids wrung their hands and made an
outcry, and the Princess sat down on a heap of jewels, and put a
handkerchief to her eyes, and cried and cried and cried.
Ivan the Ninny took her hands and comforted her, and told her of the
wonders of the sea that he would show her, and the wonders of the
land. And she looked up at him while he talked, and his eyes were kind
and hers were sweet; and the end of it was that they were both very
well content, and agreed to have a marriage feast as soon as the
little ship should bring them to the home of Ivan's father. Merry was
that voyage. All day long Ivan and the Princess sat on deck and said
sweet things to each other, and at twilight they sang songs, and drank
tea, and told stories. As for the nurses and maids, the Princess told
them to be glad; and so they danced and clapped their hands, and ran
about the ship, and teased the ancient old sailormen.
When they had been sailing many days, the Princess was looking out
over the sea, and she cried out to Ivan, "See, over there, far away,
are two big ships with white sails, not like our sails of brocade and
bits of silk."
Ivan looked, shading his eyes with his hands.
"Why, those are the ships of my elder brothers," said he. "We shall
all sail home together."
And he made the ancient old sailormen give a hail in their cracked old
voices. And the brothers heard them, and came on board to greet Ivan
and his bride. And when they saw that she was a Tzar's daughter, and
that the very decks were heaped with precious stones, because there
was no room below, they said one thing to Ivan and something else to
each other.
To Ivan they said, "Thanks be to God, He has given you good trading."
But to each other, "How can this be?" says one. "Ivan the Ninny
bringing back such a cargo, while we in our fine ships have only a bag
or two of gold."
"And what is Ivan the Ninny doing with a princess?" says the other.
And they ground their teeth, and waited their time, and came up
suddenly, when Ivan was alone in the twilight, and picked him up by
his head and his heels, and hove him overboard into the dark blue sea.
Not one of the old men had seen them, and the Princess was not on
deck. In the morning they said that Ivan the Ninny must have walked
overboard in his sleep. And they drew lots. The eldest brother took
the Princess, and the second brother took the little ship laden with
gold and silver and precious stones. And so the brothers sailed home
very well content. But the Princess sat and wept all day long, looking
down into the blue water. The elder brother could not comfort her, and
the second brother did not try. And the ancient old sailormen muttered
in their beards, and were sorry, and prayed to God to give rest to
Ivan's soul; for although he had been a ninny, and although he had
made them carry a lot of salt and other things, yet they loved him,
because he knew how to talk to ancient old sailormen.
But Ivan was not dead. As soon as he splashed into the water, he
crammed his fur hat a little tighter on his head, and began swimming
in the sea. He swam about until the sun rose, and then, not far away,
he saw a floating timber log, and he swam to the log, and got astride
of it, and thanked God. And he sat there on the log in the middle of
the sea, twiddling his thumbs for want of something to do.
There was a strong current in the sea that carried him along, and at
last, after floating for many days without ever a bite for his teeth
or a drop for his gullet, his feet touched land. Now that was at
night, and he left the log and walked up out of the sea, and lay down
on the shore and waited for morning.
When the sun rose he stood up, and saw that he was on a bare island,
and he saw nothing at all on the island except a huge house as big as
a mountain; and as he was looking at the house the great door creaked
with a noise like that of a hurricane among the pine forests, and
opened; and a giant came walking out, and came to the shore, and stood
there, looking down at Ivan.
"What are you doing here, little one?" says the giant.
Ivan told him the whole story, just as I have told it to you.
The giant listened to the very end, pulling at his monstrous whiskers.
Then he said, "Listen, little one. I know more of the story than you,
for I can tell you that to-morrow morning your eldest brother is going
to marry your Princess. But there is no need for you to take on about
it. If you want to be there, I will carry you and set you down before
the house in time for the wedding. And a fine wedding it is like to
be, for your father thinks well of those brothers of yours bringing
back all those precious stones, and silver and gold enough to buy a
kingdom."
And with that he picked up Ivan the Ninny and set him on his great
shoulders, and set off striding through the sea.
He went so fast that the wind of his going blew off Ivan's hat.
"Stop a moment," shouts Ivan; "my hat has blown off."
"We can't turn back for that," says the giant; "we have already left
your hat five hundred versts behind us." And he rushed on, splashing
through the sea. The sea was up to his armpits. He rushed on, and the
sea was up to his waist. He rushed on, and before the sun had climbed
to the top of the blue sky he was splashing up out of the sea with the
water about his ankles. He lifted Ivan from his shoulders and set him
on the ground.
"Now," says he, "little man, off you run, and you'll be in time for
the feast. But don't you dare to boast about riding on my shoulders.
If you open your mouth about that you'll smart for it, if I have to
come ten thousand thousand versts."
Ivan the Ninny thanked the giant for carrying him through the sea,
promised that he would not boast, and then ran off to his father's
house. Long before he got there he heard the musicians in the
courtyard playing as if they wanted to wear out their instruments
before night. The wedding feast had begun, and when Ivan ran in,
there, at the high board, was sitting the Princess, and beside her his
eldest brother. And there were his father and mother, his second
brother, and all the guests. And everyone of them was as merry as
could be, except the Princess, and she was as white as the salt he had
sold to her father.
Suddenly the blood flushed into her cheeks. She saw Ivan in the
doorway. Up she jumped at the high board, and cried out, "There, there
is my true love, and not this man who sits beside me at the table."
"What is this?" says Ivan's father, and in a few minutes knew the
whole story.
He turned the two elder brothers out of doors, gave their ships to
Ivan, married him to the Princess, and made him his heir. And the
wedding feast began again, and they sent for the ancient old sailormen
to take part in it. And the ancient old sailormen wept with joy when
they saw Ivan and the Princess, like two sweet pigeons, sitting side
by side; yes, and they lifted their flagons with their old shaking
hands, and cheered with their old cracked voices, and poured the wine
down their dry old throats.
There was wine enough and to spare, beer too, and mead--enough to
drown a herd of cattle. And as the guests drank and grew merry and
proud they set to boasting. This one bragged of his riches, that one
of his wife. Another boasted of his cunning, another of his new house,
another of his strength, and this one was angry because they would not
let him show how he could lift the table on one hand. They all drank
Ivan's health, and he drank theirs, and in the end he could not bear
to listen to their proud boasts.
"That's all very well," says he, "but I am the only man in the world
who rode on the shoulders of a giant to come to his wedding feast."
The words were scarcely out of his mouth before there were a
tremendous trampling and a roar of a great wind. The house shook with
the footsteps of the giant as he strode up. The giant bent down over
the courtyard and looked in at the feast.
"Little man, little man," says he, "you promised not to boast of me. I
told you what would come if you did, and here you are and have boasted
already."
"Forgive me," says Ivan; "it was the drink that boasted, not I."
"What sort of drink is it that knows how to boast?" says the giant.
"You shall taste it," says Ivan.
And he made his ancient old sailormen roll a great barrel of wine into
the yard, more than enough for a hundred men, and after that a barrel
of beer that was as big, and then a barrel of mead that was no
smaller.
"Try the taste of that," says Ivan the Ninny.
Well, the giant did not wait to be asked twice. He lifted the barrel
of wine as if it had been a little glass, and emptied it down his
throat. He lifted the barrel of beer as if it had been an acorn, and
emptied it after the wine. Then he lifted the barrel of mead as if it
had been a very small pea, and swallowed every drop of mead that was
in it. And after that he began stamping about and breaking things.
Houses fell to pieces this way and that, and trees were swept flat
like grass. Every step the giant took was followed by the crash of
breaking timbers. Then suddenly he fell flat on his back and slept.
For three days and nights he slept without waking. At last he opened
his eyes.
"Just look about you," says Ivan, "and see the damage that you've
done."
"And did that little drop of drink make me do all that?" says the
giant. "Well, well, I can well understand that a drink like that can
do a bit of bragging. And after that," says he, looking at the wrecks
of houses, and all the broken things scattered about--"after that,"
says he, "you can boast of me for a thousand years, and I'll have
nothing against you."
And he tugged at his great whiskers, and wrinkled his eyes, and went
striding off into the sea.
That is the story about salt, and how it made a rich man of Ivan the
Ninny, and besides, gave him the prettiest wife in the world, and she
a Tzar's daughter.
Prev
Next
All
Printer Friendly Version | Send this page to a friend | Discuss this Book
Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.
 |
 |
|
|
The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan Sections: 50 What's this? Table of Contents |
 FictionNon FictionPoetryPlaysSci FiPhilosophyReligionBiography |
VideoSquares.com
