Story:The Stolen Boots and the Boiled Eggs
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[edit] Background
This story has been adapted from a Ukrainian folk tale called "A Tale About the Stolen Postoli* and the Boiled Eggs: Bukovinian** Folk Tale", where the asterixes explain:
"* postoli -- a soft leather heelless shoe or boot with the sole overlapping the sides of the foot and the toes and joined with a puckered seam; similar to the North American moccasin."
"** Bukovina (Northern Bukovina) -- Historical name of the present Chirnivtsi Region in western Ukraine (Tr.)"
I found it in the book:
(1974) Ukrainian Folk Tales. Dnipro Publishers: Kiev (now Kyiv). pp 110-113.
[edit] Why I'm posting this story
Two reasons. First, I like it very much.
Second, I told this story in the Storytelling class with Betsy Hearne. One of the major criticisms of my telling of the story is that I mixed my natural casual style with the formal style which the translation used. Because I read the story, the words that were used to tell the story in the book are sticking in my mind, and so perhaps it will be a useful excersise to write out the words, and try and see what it would look like written out in a casual manner. Anyway, either click here or on the "Discussion" tab at the top of this page to tell me what you think.
- Ingbert
[edit] The Story
Back in the day, before cars were invented, and most people had to walk everywhere because they were too poor to buy a horse, and most people didn't know how to read or write, there was this rich Ukrainian villager named Botushkan. Botushkan, he's one of those people that always has to know what's going on, so every few days he'd take a walk through town, to see what's up.
One day, it was early in the spring, the leaves on the trees had just started to grow back after winter, Botushkan was taking his walk, and what does he see? Its a wedding right in the middle of the town square. He goes up to take a look. The Bride and Groom are standing on the church steps, so he can see them pretty well.
"Hmm," he thinks to himself, "Olena and Danilo. Olena's from one of those big peasant families who live out on the edge of town; you know, those families whose kids are always running around everywhere barefoot. And Danilo, he's that Cossack whose sister tricked him out of his inherritance by marrying that priest who was passing through town. Yeah, that's right, she got the priest to write up a will that left everything to her, and since neither Danilo nor his father could read, they didn't have a clue what the father put his 'X' on. Well, Olena and Danilo have been eyeing each other for as long as I can remember, so it's about time they made it official."
When most people see childhood sweethearts getting married, they tend to either get either all misty eyed or mighty jealous. But not Botushkan. He's standing there, looking at Danilo, and thinking, "You know, Danilo's pretty strong. And everyone says he's a hard worker. Well, you know what they say, 'Spring Weddings lead to Winter Babies', and when Danilo's got a new mouth to feed, it'll be easy to make him work for me."
Spring turned into Summer, Summer turned into Fall, Fall turned into Winter. And one day, as the snow fell and the wind howled outside of Olena and Danilo's hut, Olena gave birth to a baby girl they named Natasha.
When Botushkan hears the news, he drops what he's doing and runs and finds the town thief. When he finds the guy, he tells him, "I'll pay you one rubel to break into Danilo's house and steal something from him that he can't survive without. Then he'll be forced to work for me to feed his family."
One rubel was a lot of money back then, so the thief looks at Botushkan like he's crazy, "You're going to pay me one rubel to steal something from a poor man? I'll get it to you by first thing tomorrow!"
That night, after Olena, Danilo, and little Natashka go to sleep, the thief tiptoes into their yard. He looks around for something to steal but Danilo's too poor to own any livestock. "He doesn't even have a chicken?" the thief thinks to himself, "Heh, stealing from a poor man is harder than I thought."
The thief gives up on the yard, and he climbs in through the window into Danilo's little shack. He searches and searches, from top to bottom, from oven to larder: nothing. Just a few old crusts of bread sitting on the table. He happens to glance out the window, and he sees the sky starting to get light, and he starts to panic. "What am I going to do? If I run into Botushkan and I'm empty-handed, he'll tell the villagers that I'm a thief and then I'll be done for." He's just about to give up when he sees them: Danilo's boots, sitting under their bed.
In the blink of an eye he swipes the boots, leaps out the window, and not a second later the rooster crows, and Olena, Danilo, and little Natashka start to wake up.
As he's rubbing his eyes, Danilo sits up in bed, and reaches down to find his boots. He feels around for a bit, and when he doesn't find them: "Olena! My boots! They're not here!"
Olena and Danilo search through the whole shack, from top to bottom, from oven to larder: nothing. The boots are gone. Danilo sits down by the oven to warm his feet, and he doesn't know what he's going to do, when there's a knock at the door.
Who is it but Botushkan. He comes into the shack and says, "Hey, Danilo, I heard the great news! Congradulations on the birth of your daughter! But why are you sitting there, looking so miserable? Aren't you happy to be a new father?"
"Of course I'm happy to be a father, but a thief broke into our house last night, and because he couldn't find anything valuable to steal, he stole my boots. My boots! How am I going to work outside in the deep snow to feed my family if I don't have any boots?"
Botushkan pauses for a moment, pretending to think things through, "You know, I tell you what I'll do. I'll go to the cobbler right now and have him make you a new pair of boots. Then, when the snow melts, come and work for me. I'll give you enough grain to eat, and in a year, you'll have paid off your debt. How does that sound?"
"Ok, I guess."
After Botushkan left, Olena said, "You know, I don't like this deal you made with Botushkan..."
"Oh, Olena, what choice did I have? If I didn't take the shoes, we'd starve!"
When the snows started to melt, Danilo honored his bargain, and went to work for Botushkan. Botushkan was a slave driver, and Danilo had to work from early in the morning to late at night, and he did all the hard jobs on Botushkan's farm: ploughing the fields, chopping wood, caring for the cattle, you name it. And at the end of the day, Botushkan would only gave Danilo enough grain for one person to eat. So Danilo would go home with the grain, and tell Olena how he had already eaten with Botushkan, and he was so full that he couldn't eat anything else, and she should eat all of the grain.
At first, Olena was kind of jealous, and wondering, "What's going on that Danilo's eating all these fancy meals with Botushkan and just bringing me home a handfull of grain?" But as the weeks went by, Danilo's muscles started to sag, his face became gaunt, and he started walking stooped over, and Olena began to suspect the truth. One day, she asked him, "Are you telling me the truth about eating at Botushkan's?"
"No, I'm sorry Olena. It's just he only gives me enough grain for one person to eat."
"Oh, Danilo, look, I have an old crust of bread left over, here, eat it."
"No! Olena, if I eat the bread, they you won't have enough to eat, and your milk will dry up, and our sweet little Natashka will die!"
"Well, then what you need to do, Danilo, is swallow that Cossack pride of yours, and ask Botushkan to give you more food. Tell him, that if you are weak because you are not eating enough, you will not be able to do the work he gives you, and he'll never be repaid for the boots he bought you."
So the next day Danilo goes to Botushkan, and tells him, "Look, Botushkan, you're not giving me enough to eat. I'm getting weak, and if you want me to be able to pay back my debt to you, I need to be strong enough to work."
Botushkan was ready for this complaint, and quickly said, "My mistake, I must have miscalculated how much a strong man needs to eat. Well, I tell you what, in addition to the grain I give you each day for working on my farm to repay your debt, I'll give you a boiled egg. That should be plenty for you to eat!"
Well, Danilo was shocked that Botushkan was even willing to bargain, so he accepted the deal, though he couldn't help noticing that Botushkan wasn't going to take the chance that Danilo might save an egg and hatch it so that he would have a chicken for himself. That night, when he got home with the grain and the boiled egg, he and Olena split the bread she had baked from the previous day's grain, they cut the egg in half, and they ate dinner together with Natashka in their arms.
Spring turned into Summer, Summer turned into Fall, and Fall turned into Winter, and for the whole year that Danilo worked for Botushkan, that was all they had to eat. Botushkan, meanwhile, thrived off of Danilo's sweat, and congradulated himself on his ability to reap the fruit of other people's toil.
When the snows start to melt, and it's Danilo's last day of working for Botushkan, he goes to the man and said, "Look, Botushkan, I wan to thank you for buying me those shoes and letting me work here to pay off my debt. You really saved my family, and I appreciate it."
Botushkan says, "Well, that's all nice and good for you, but what about me?"
Danilo's like, "I'm sorry, what?"
Botushkan says: "Did I not buy you a pair of shoes?"
"Yeah"
"Did you not work for me for a year to repay your debt?"
"Yeah"
"And did I not give you a boiled egg nearly every day you worked for me?"
"Yeah"
"Then see, you admit it!"
Danilo looks at Botushkan, and says, "What are you talking about?"
"Look, I gave you over 300 eggs. If instead I'd left them under my chickens, each of those eggs would have hatched into a chick, who would have grown into a chicken, a chicken who would have laid several dozen eggs, each of which would have hatched into a chick, and grown into a chicken. If I had taken those thousands of chickens and sold them at the market I would have earned a bag full of money, but instead you ate it all up. You owe me that bag of money, and you'd better work here until you pay off all your debts!"
Danilo took a long look at Botushkan, and says, "Botushkan, you may be fair on the outside, but inside you're foul. This is rediculous, I'm not working for you any more."
"Oh yes you are! Or I'll haul you in front of the judge and have you tried as a thief."
"Ok, go right ahead."
With that, Botushkan hitchs his horses to his cart, and heads off into town.
When Danilo gets home, he sits down on his bed, and put his head in his hands. And Olena looks at him and says, "Danilo, what's wrong? Aren't you happy that today's your last day working for Botushkan?"
Danilo tells her what happened, and she sighed, and said, "A rich man's greed is boundless, Danilo, and he who acts like a sheep becomes easy prey for the wolf."
"What, so there's no hope, I'm going to the gulag?"
"Oh, Danilo, look, might goes before right, and beggars can't be choosers, but let me think for a while and see if I can't come up with a way to get you out of this mess."
The day of the trial, the judge shows up and sits in his place, and the clerk shows up, and sits in his place, and Botushkan shows up right on time, and sits in his place, but Danilo doesn't show.
They wait, and they wait, and they wait, but still Danilo doesn't show.
Well, the Judge starts to get angry and the Clerk starts to fume, and Botushkan gets so furious he just about bursts. Then suddently, the door bangs open and Danilo rushes in, completely out of breath, and is so flustered he forgets to take off his cap in front of the judge.
"Where have you been!?!" the judge bellows from his seat.
"I--I'm really sorry you're honor, (gasp) I've been working all day, you see, (gasp) and I just got finished." Danilo says.
"Working all day? What are you talking about?"
"Well, you see, I was boiling potatos and then planting them, and boiling beans and then planting them, boiling oats and planting them, boiling barley and planting it, boiling--"
"What are you talking about? You expect me to believe this nonsense? Boiling potatos and then planting them, boiling barley and planting it? There's no way any of that will grow!"
"Oh, no, your honor, Botushkan knows what I'm talking about! He's the one who told me that those boiled eggs he gave me would have hatched into chicks and grown into chickens."
The judge looks at Danilo, then looks at Botushkan, "Botushkan, what kind of eggs did you give Danilo?"
Botushkan replied, "Boiled eggs, your honor."
The judge looks at Botushkan, looks at Danilo, then looks back at Botushkan, and starts roaring with laughter. The clerk looks at the judge, looks at Botushkan, and looks back at the judge, and he too starts laughing and laughing. They laugh so loudly that the entire villiage hears the sound and runs to the court house to see what is going on.
Botushkan turns red in the face, and feeling outraged, tricked, and cheated, grabs his hat and leaves the courtroom in a huff.
And Olena, Danilo, and little Natashka live happily ever after.
[edit] Post-Story Notes
It's done now. I may edit it some in the future. And feel free to leave comments either by clicking here or on the "Discussion" tab at the top of this page.
Go to:
- The Story category.
- The Storytelling article.
- The Storytelling Class article.
