Fairy Tales in English - At the Pike's Behest / Emelya the Simpleton

Fairy tales in English - At the Pike’s Behest
There once lived an old man who had three sons, two of them were clever, but the third, Emelya was a fool. The two elder brothers were always working, while Emelya lay on top of the stove all day long with not a care in the world.
One day the two brothers had gone to the market, and their wives said, “Go and get some water, Emelya.”
Lying on the stove ledge, Emelya replied, “I don’t want to.”
“Go, Emelya, or your brothers will bring no presents for you from the market.” “Ah, fine then.”
Emelya got down from the stove, put on his boots, took buckets and an axe, and went to the river.
He cut a hole in the ice, gathered a few buckets of water, and bent down to look into the water. He saw a Pike fish swimming in the water. He reached in and grabbed it, “This will be delicious!”
Suddenly, the Pike spoke in a human voice, “Emelya let me go back into the water. I will be useful to you later on.”
Emelya laughed, “What good could you do to me? I will take you home and tell my sisters-in-law to make some soup.”
The Pike begged him again, “Emelya, Emelya, let me go back into the water and I’ll grant anything you wish.”
“Alright, but first you must prove to me that you aren’t trying to fool me. Then I will let you go”
The Pike said to him, “Emelya, Emelya, tell me- what do you want right now?” “I want my buckets to go home all by themselves without spilling a drop.”
The pike replied to him, “Remember my words. Whenever you want something, just say, At the pike’s behest, do as I request.”
And Emelya said, “At the pike’s behest, do as I request - Off you go home, buckets, by yourselves.”
As soon as he’d made the wish, the buckets marched up the hill. Emelya put the Pike back into the ice-hole and began to walk after the buckets.
The buckets walked through the village, to the astonishment of the villagers, while Emelya followed the buckets, chuckling to himself…
The buckets walked into Emelya’s house, jumped onto the bench, and Emelya climbed back up on top of the stove.
Some time later his sisters-in-law said to Emelya:
“Why are you lying there, Emelya? Go and chop us some wood” “I don’t want to...”
“If you don’t, then your brothers will bring no presents for you from the market.”
Emelya didn’t want to get off the stove. He remembered what the Pike has said, and whispered under his breath, “At the pike’s behest, do as I request: Go and chop some wood, axe, and you, wood, come inside the house and jump into the stove.”
The axe jumped out from under the bench and into the yard and began to chop the wood. The logs filed into the hut and jumped into the stove.
Some time later, his sisters-in-law said to Emelya: “Emelya, we have no more wood. Go to the forest and cut some.” Sitting on the stove, Emelya replied:
“What are you here for?”
“What do you mean by that? It is not our job to go to the forest for wood.” “Nah…I don’t want to.”
“Well then you won’t get any gifts.”
Nothing could be done, Emelya got down from the stove and got dressed. He took a rope and an axe, and got into the sleigh, “Open the gates, women!”
His sisters-in-law said to him:
“What are you doing, fool? You haven’t harnessed the horse yet.” “I don’t need a horse.”...
Other fairy tales in English from the Kid Toon channel:
At the Pike’s Behest - • Video
Fedosya the Blabbermouth - • Video
The Little Straw Bull - • Video
The Rooster and The Bean Seed - • Video
Stems and Roots - • Video
The Princess and the Pea - • Video
The Fox and the Wolf - • Video
The frog Traveler - • Video
The Vixen and the Rolling Pin - • Video
The Wooden House - • Video
The Hare and the Fox - • Video
The Crane and the Fox- • Video
Ryaba the Hen - • Video
The Bun - • Video
The Turnip - • Video
The Mitten - • Video
Masha and the Bear - • Video
Made by #VladimirMarshala