Ivanushka
/a fairytale/
Once upon a time, there was a king with three sons. He also had a wife, but she is largely irrelevant to this version of the story, so forget I ever said anything.
The King was fair and just (or so said everyone allowed to voice an opinion). He was also handsome, tall and had a very good singing voice, but that is neither here nor there.
Because he believed in earning successes (and even more – in good entertainment), the King decided to have his sons fight for the title like his father and his father before him, going back to the first king of the land. The King’s sources for this heroic history were murky at best but if there were any around him who knew better, they said it to their tea and moved on. Many also took bets on the projected winner among the sons. The eldest, of course, being the favourite.
The King however, seemed to have unusual taste in sports and spectacle, and rather than make his sons fight for the honour of the crown like tradition commanded, he requested they catch a single white dove. Whichever of the sons managed it, he said, would have proven his ability to rule a people, manage the coffers, negotiate with the neighbouring countries and save his subjects from the plague… Sounds strange saying it like that of course, but I promise it all made sense in the moment. You just had to be there.
So the First son – he thought he’d chase down the bird in the forest, for he was the best hunter and no way could he fail at this task. Indeed, the people doubted if the king was being quite fair to his brothers.
But the First son miscalculated. The forest was unfamiliar to him. There were no roads, no signs, no servants helpfully leading the way and carrying his quiver. So when he reached the house of the Baba Yaga he stopped to ask for directions.
Now, the sons were told all about Baba Yaga of course. But, being a prince, the eldest believed her legendary villainy was naught but a clever embellishment meant to amuse him as a child. (In his defence – that had been the case a lot of the time.) So he walked up to her house, knocked on the door and asked for directions.
Admiring his bravery, the Baba Yaga decided to spare the eldest son, but she couldn’t help but play a trick on him.
“You take this ball of yarn,” she said, “and roll it in front of you. It’s magic. And it will take you to the white dove.”
The prince spent three weeks walking around in the forest following the darned string until the king gave up and send the royal guard in to get his first-born back to the castle.
Now, quickly may a tale be spun but not so fast a deed is done. And so, with different versions of the prince’s failure making the rounds and many lamenting the loss of their initial gamble – it was time for the second son to take the stage.
The second son was braver and more clear-eyed. He didn’t trust Baba Yaga’s directions, but he was sure she would know where to find the white dove. So he thought he would trick her into telling him. What the two said to each other has been the cause of much speculation. One thing was certain however – the second son emerged victorious from the woods not three days later carrying the white bird in a gilded cage to the throngs of civilians impatient to catch a glimpse of the new king-to-be.
It wasn’t until he got to the castle however that somebody dared inform the prince that the bird he had so courageously rescued from the perils of the forest was a white sparrow, not a dove. His attempt to blame it all on the vicious witch went by unheeded and he was also disqualified.
At this point, many believed that the Third son should simply win the contest automatically. But then we would have no reason to introduce him to you.
His name was Ivanushka and even though he was the smartest, he too went to visit the Baba Yaga.
Ivanushka didn’t ask her for favours. He asked her for a trade. If she would make him into a dove for a single day, he would give her his eldest daughter when she was born. While this may seem like a callous trade on paper, we must note that according to history (his father’s version of history that is), the royal family gave birth only to male heirs. After all, there was little point in heirs otherwise.
Now what would a Baba Yaga do with a daughter was her business and beside the point, but she agreed and turned Ivanushka into a pale grey dove. Flying through the forest, the Third son then merely let the white dove find him (as he suspected, by this point, this solitary dove would be quite lonely indeed), and convinced her to become his mate.
Together, the two flew back to the palace, where, at dawn the next day, Ivanushka turned back into a prince and handed the dove to his father.
Then, to everyone’s general amazement, the dove herself transformed into a fair maiden in the middle of court and presented herself as the legendary Vasilisa the Beautiful.
The Third son married her and the two lived happily ever after. No word from noted historians on the gender of their children but we hope for their best as this is a fairytale and everyone knows fairytales must have happy endings.
This story was about how sometimes in order to achieve victory, one must infiltrate the enemy’s ranks, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
…or that gambling on royal affairs is a poor use of money.