The Three Kingdoms: Gold, Silver, and Copper

In a certain kingdom, in a certain land, there lived a Tsar called Bail Bailyanyin. His wife was Nastasya Golden Tress, and they had three sons: Pyotr, Vassili and Ivan. One day the Tsaritsa was walking in the garden with her maids and nurses when such a mighty whirlwind arose that it snatched her up and carried her off, nobody knew where.

The Tsar was heartbroken and did not know what to do. When his sons were grown, he asked them, “My dear children, which of you will go and look for your mother?” The two eldest got ready and rode away. Then the youngest asked his father’s leave to go too. “No, my dear son,” said the Tsar. “Don’t leave an old man all alone.” “Let me go, father. I long to travel the wide world and find my mother.” The Tsar argued and argued but could not change his mind. “Well, there’s no help for it. Go, and God be with you.”

Ivan saddled his horse and rode, for a long time or a short time (a tale is quickly told, but a deed is slowly done), until he came to a forest with a magnificent castle in it. He rode into the wide courtyard, saw an old man there and wished him long life and good health. “You are welcome here,” said the old man. “Who are you, brave young man?” “I am Ivan, son of Tsar Bail Bailyanyin and Tsaritsa Nastasya Golden Tress.” “Why, you are my own nephew! Where is God taking you?” “I am searching for my mother. Can you tell me where she is, uncle?”

“No, nephew, I can’t. But I’ll help as I can. Here is a ball. Throw it in front of you and it will roll ahead and lead you to steep, rugged mountains. In those mountains is a cave. Go in, and you will find iron claws. Put them on your hands and feet and climb. Perhaps you will find your mother up there.”

That was real help. Ivan thanked his uncle, threw the ball, and rode after it as it rolled. After a while he came upon his brothers Pyotr and Vassili camped in an open field with thousands of soldiers. “Where are you off to, Ivan?” they asked in surprise. “I was bored at home, so I thought I’d look for our mother. Send your army home and let’s go on together.” They sent the soldiers away and all three followed the ball.

From far off they saw the mountains, so steep and tall that their peaks seemed to touch the sky. The ball rolled straight to a cave. Ivan got off his horse. “Brothers, keep my horse for me. I’ll climb the mountains to look for our mother, and you wait here. Wait for exactly three months. If I’m not back by then, there’s no point waiting longer.” The brothers thought nobody could climb such mountains without breaking his neck, but they said, “Go, and God be with you. We’ll wait.”

The cave had an iron door. Ivan struck it with all his strength and it swung open. As he stepped inside, iron claws fastened themselves onto his hands and feet. He began to climb, and he climbed and climbed for a whole month before he reached the top, worn out. “Thank God!” he said. He rested a little and set off walking across the mountain, on and on, until he saw a castle made of copper. At its gate a crowd of fearsome serpents was tied up with copper chains, and nearby was a well with a copper bucket on a copper chain. Ivan drew water and gave the serpents a drink. They grew calm and lay down, and he walked past them into the courtyard.

The Tsaritsa of the Copper Kingdom ran out to meet him. “Who are you, brave young man?” “I am Ivan Tsarevich.” “Have you come here by choice or against your will?” “By choice. I’m looking for my mother, Nastasya Golden Tress. A whirlwind carried her out of our garden. Do you know where she is?” “No, but my second sister, the Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom, lives not far away. Maybe she can tell you.”

She gave him a copper ball and a copper ring. “The ball will take you to my sister, and in this ring is the whole Copper Kingdom. When you defeat Whirlwind, who keeps me prisoner here and visits me once every three months, don’t forget me. Rescue me and take me with you back to the free world.” “I will,” said Ivan.

He threw the copper ball and followed it to the Silver Kingdom, where a castle even finer than the first stood all in silver, with fearsome serpents on silver chains at its gate and a well with a silver bucket. He gave the serpents water, they lay down, and he went in. The Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom came out. “It’s almost three years since mighty Whirlwind shut me up here, and in all that time I haven’t heard or seen a single Russian. Now I see one. Who are you, good young man?” Ivan told her his name and his errand, and asked whether she knew where his mother was.

“No, but my eldest sister, Yelena the Beautiful, Tsaritsa of the Golden Kingdom, lives nearby. Perhaps she knows. Roll this silver ball and follow it. But when you have killed Whirlwind, don’t forget me. Rescue me and take me to the free world. Whirlwind keeps me captive and visits me every two months.” She gave him a silver ring too, saying, “The whole Silver Kingdom is in this ring.”

Ivan rolled the ball and followed wherever it went, until he saw a golden castle blazing like fire, with a crowd of serpents on golden chains at the gate and a golden bucket at the well. He watered the serpents, they lay down quietly, and he went in. Yelena the Beautiful met him and asked who he was and why he had come. When he asked whether she knew where his mother was, she said, “Of course I do. She lives close by. Whirlwind visits her once a week and me once a month. Here’s a golden ball. Throw it and follow it to your mother. And take this golden ring, which holds the whole Golden Kingdom. And be careful: when you have beaten Whirlwind, don’t forget me. Take me with you to the free world.” “I will take you,” he promised.

He rolled the golden ball and walked after it until he came to a palace so covered in diamonds and jewels that it dazzled. At its gate six-headed serpents were hissing. He gave them water, they grew calm, and he went inside. He passed through great hall after great hall, and in the farthest one he found his mother, sitting on a high throne in royal robes with a precious crown on her head. She stared at the stranger and cried, “Is it you, my dear son? How did you get here?” “Like this, and like this,” said Ivan. “I’ve come to take you home.”

“Oh, my son, it will be hard. Whirlwind rules in these mountains, wicked and mighty, and every spirit obeys him. He is the one who carried me off. You will have to fight him. Come quickly to the cellar.” In the cellar stood two tubs of water, one on the right and one on the left. “Drink from the tub on the right,” she said. Ivan drank. “How strong do you feel?” “Strong enough to turn this whole castle over with one hand.” “Drink some more.” He drank again. “And now?” “If I wanted, I could turn the whole world over.” “That’s great strength indeed. Now swap the tubs: put the right-hand one on the left and the left-hand one on the right.” Ivan moved them.

“You see, my son, one tub holds the water of strength and the other the water of weakness. Whoever drinks the first becomes a mighty hero; whoever drinks the second grows completely weak. Whirlwind always drinks the water of strength and keeps it on the right. We must trick him, or you will never beat him.”

Back in the hall she told him, “Whirlwind will be home soon. Hide under my purple robe so he can’t see you. When he runs to hug and kiss me, grab his club. He will fly up high, very high, and carry you over seas and over cliffs, but don’t let go of the club. When he gets tired he’ll want the water of strength. He’ll come down to the cellar and rush to the tub on the right, but you drink from the tub on the left. Then he’ll be weak. Take his sword and cut off his head with one stroke. As soon as his head is off, voices behind you will shout, ‘Strike again! Strike again!’ Don’t, my son. Answer them, ‘A hero’s hand strikes only once, not twice.'”

Ivan had barely hidden under the robe when the courtyard went dark and everything shook. Whirlwind flew home, struck the ground, turned into a strong warrior and strode in carrying a club. “Pah! It smells of Russia in here. Has someone been visiting?” “I don’t know why you’d think so,” said the Tsaritsa. Whirlwind rushed to embrace her, and in that instant Ivan seized the club. “I’ll eat you!” roared Whirlwind. “Grandmother said it both ways,” said Ivan. “Either you will or you won’t.”

Whirlwind burst out through the window and shot up into the sky with Ivan hanging on. Over the mountains he shouted, “I’ll smash you!” Over the seas he shouted, “I’ll drown you!” But Ivan did not let go. Whirlwind flew round the whole world until he was exhausted and began to sink. He came straight down into the cellar, dashed to the tub on the right and gulped down the water of weakness, while Ivan ran to the left, drank his fill of the water of strength and became the mightiest hero in the world. Seeing that Whirlwind had gone completely weak, Ivan wrenched the sharp sword from him and cut off his head with a single blow. Voices behind him cried, “Strike again, strike again, or he’ll come back to life!” “No,” said Ivan. “A hero’s hand doesn’t strike twice. It finishes with one blow.” Then he built a fire, burned Whirlwind and scattered the ashes to the wind.

His mother was overjoyed. “Now, my son, let’s celebrate and eat, and then hurry home. It’s dreary here with no people.” “But who looks after you?” “You’ll see.” As soon as they thought of food, a table laid itself and dishes and wines appeared from nowhere, while invisible musicians played wonderful songs. When they had eaten and rested, Ivan said, “Let’s go, mother. My brothers are waiting below the mountains, and on the way I must rescue the three Tsaritsas held in Whirlwind’s castles.”

They packed what they needed and set out, first to the Golden Kingdom, then to the Silver and the Copper, collecting the three sisters as they went, along with plenty of linen and cloth. Soon they reached the spot where they had to climb down. Ivan lowered his mother first on a rope of linen, then Yelena the Beautiful and her two sisters.

His brothers were waiting at the bottom, and they plotted together. “Let’s leave Ivan up there. We’ll take our mother and the three Tsaritsas to father and say we found them ourselves. I’ll have Yelena the Beautiful,” said Pyotr. “You take the Silver Tsaritsa, Vassili, and we’ll give the Copper one to some general.” When it was Ivan’s turn to come down, they grabbed the linen and tore it away. Ivan was stuck on the mountain.

What could he do? He wept bitterly. Then he turned back and wandered through the Copper Kingdom, the Silver Kingdom and the Golden Kingdom without seeing a soul. He came to the Diamond Kingdom, and there was nobody there either. Lonely to the bone, he looked round and noticed a whistle lying on a castle windowsill. “I’ll play a tune to pass the time,” he said. He had hardly blown it when out jumped two servants, Lame and Crooked. “What do you wish?”

“I’m hungry,” said Ivan. At once a table appeared, set with the finest food. When he had eaten, he thought a rest would be nice, so he blew again. “What do you wish, Ivan Tsarevich?” “A bed.” Before the words were out, a bed was ready. He slept wonderfully and then whistled once more. “Can you really do anything?” he asked. “Anything at all, Ivan Tsarevich. We do whatever the holder of that whistle wants. We served Whirlwind once, and now we’re glad to serve you. Just keep the whistle with you always.” “Then put me in my own kingdom this minute.”

Instantly he was standing in the middle of the market square in his own country. As he walked across it he met a cheerful shoemaker carrying shoes to sell. “Take me on as your helper,” said Ivan. “Do you know how to make shoes?” “I can do anything. Shoes, and clothes too.” “Come along, then.” At home the shoemaker gave him the best leather he had and told him to show what he could do. In his room Ivan blew the whistle and asked Lame and Crooked for shoes by morning. “That’s not work, that’s play,” they said, though they called the leather rubbish fit only for throwing out of the window. In the morning a pair of beautiful shoes stood on the table. The shoemaker could hardly believe it. “What a helper I’ve found! Not a shoemaker, a marvel!” And he took them off to market.

Meanwhile three weddings were being prepared at the palace. Pyotr was to marry Yelena the Beautiful, Vassili the Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom, and the Copper Tsaritsa was to be given to a general. Dresses were being made, and Yelena wanted shoes. The shoemaker’s pair was finer than any other brought to the palace. When Yelena saw them she said to herself, “Shoes like these are made only in the mountains.” She paid the shoemaker well and ordered another pair without taking her measurements, beautifully stitched, set with precious stones and studded with diamonds, by the next day, or he would hang.

The shoemaker went home with the jewels and money, very gloomy indeed. “What can I do? Shoes by tomorrow, and without a fitting! They’re sure to hang me. I’ll at least have one last merry evening with my friends.” At the inn his many friends asked why he looked so glum, and when he told them, they all drank and made merry until he could hardly stand. He came home with a keg and told Ivan, “Look what your shoes have done to me. Wake me when they come for me in the morning.” That night Ivan blew the whistle and asked for the shoes, and in the morning they lay on the table, shining like fire. When he woke his master, the poor man cried, “Have they come? Pour me a cup, quick!” “But the shoes are made.” “Made? When did we make them?” “Last night. Don’t you remember cutting and sewing?” “I slept so long, brother, I can only barely remember.” He wrapped up the shoes and ran to the palace.

Yelena saw them and knew what had happened. “Surely the spirits made these for Ivan,” she thought. “How did you make these?” she asked. “Oh, I can do anything,” said the shoemaker. “Then make me a wedding dress embroidered with gold and decorated with diamonds and gems by tomorrow morning, or off comes your head!”

Once more the shoemaker went home in despair, and once more his friends told him that morning is wiser than evening and took him to the inn. He came home with another keg and said, “Wake me in the morning, lad. I couldn’t make a dress like that in a lifetime.” Then he lay down and snored. Ivan blew the whistle and asked for a dress exactly like the one Yelena had worn in Whirlwind’s palace. At daybreak it lay on the table, shining so brightly that the whole room was lit. The shoemaker woke, rubbed his eyes and asked if they had come to cut off his head. Told that the dress was finished, he said he seemed to remember cutting it, as if in a dream, and ran to the palace with it.

Yelena paid him a great deal of money and gave a new order: “By daylight tomorrow, the Golden Kingdom must stand in the sea seven versts from shore, with a golden bridge from it to our palace, spread with fine velvet, with wonderful trees growing beside both railings and songbirds singing in many voices. If it isn’t done by morning, I’ll have you put to death.”

The shoemaker left with his head hanging. “I’m finished,” he told his friends. “She’s set a task no demon could do.” “Never mind, morning is wiser than evening. Let’s go to the inn.” By evening they had to lead him home. “Goodbye, lad,” he told Ivan. “Tomorrow they’ll put me to death.” When Ivan heard the new task he went to his room and blew the whistle. “Can you do a job like this?” “That’s a real job, Ivan Tsarevich,” said Lame and Crooked, “but there’s no way round it. It will be ready by morning.”

At dawn Ivan looked out of the window, and everything was exactly as ordered, with a golden castle glowing like fire on the sea. He woke his master, who leapt up shouting for his keg. “But the palace is ready,” said Ivan. The shoemaker looked out and gasped. “How did that happen?” “Don’t you remember how we built it?” “I must have slept far too soundly; I barely remember.” They ran to the golden castle and found it full of untold riches. Ivan handed his master a feather duster. “Go and dust the railings of the bridge. If anyone asks who lives in the palace, say nothing, but give them this letter.”

When Yelena woke and saw the castle, she ran straight to the Tsar. “Look what’s happened! There’s a golden palace on the sea, and a golden bridge seven versts long, with wonderful trees on both sides and songbirds singing!” The Tsar sent messengers at once to find out whether some hero had arrived in his kingdom. They asked the shoemaker, who said he knew nothing but had a letter for the Tsar. In it Ivan told his father everything just as it had happened: how he had freed his mother, won Yelena the Beautiful, and been betrayed by his elder brothers. With the letter he sent golden carriages and begged the Tsar and Tsaritsa to come to him, and asked that Yelena, her sisters and his brothers follow behind in plain carts.

They all set out at once, and Ivan welcomed them joyfully. The Tsar wanted to put his elder sons to death for their lies, but Ivan pleaded for them and they were forgiven. Then came a feast as big as a mountain. Ivan married Yelena the Beautiful, Pyotr was given the Tsaritsa of the Silver Kingdom, Vassili the Tsaritsa of the Copper Kingdom, and the shoemaker was made a general.

Where this story comes from

This is the first tale in the Russian section of Jeremiah Curtin’s Myths and Folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars (Project Gutenberg #50011), where it is called “The Three Kingdoms,–The Copper, the Silver, and the Golden.” Curtin’s book also contains a second, separate tale titled simply “The Three Kingdoms.” This page follows the first one: Tsar Bail Bailyanyin, Tsaritsa Nastasya Golden Tress, the climb with iron claws, and the whistle that calls the servants Lame and Crooked.

The tale keeps several old storytelling sayings that Curtin translated, such as “a tale is soon told, but a deed is not soon done” and “the morning is wiser than the evening.” The shoemaker’s repeated drinking comes from the source and remains in this adaptation, as part of his frightened response to Yelena’s threats. The servants’ names, Lame and Crooked, reproduce the source’s bodily labels; their abilities repeatedly exceed everyone else’s.

Read the original: Jeremiah Curtin, Myths and Folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars (Project Gutenberg #50011)

For older readers: includes abduction, decapitation and burning, repeated execution threats, intoxication and marriages arranged without the women’s views being stated.

Knowledge before strength

Ivan reaches the palaces through other people’s directions, and his mother devises the decisive trap. Switching the tubs matters more than simply drinking from the stronger one: she knows Whirlwind’s habit and anticipates his return. The sisters’ guidance and the mother’s planning make the rescue a shared achievement.

Yelena recognises the mountain workmanship and uses increasingly extraordinary commissions to draw Ivan into view. But she threatens the shoemaker with death to do it. Her goal does not make that treatment fair, and his drunken fear is more than a harmless comic detail. At the end Ivan asks mercy for his brothers, yet the two other sisters are assigned husbands without their wishes being reported. Forgiveness for the men does not settle that question.

Follow knowledge through the story

For the uncle, the three sisters, Ivan’s mother and Yelena, record one thing each knows that Ivan needs or that changes the action. Which knowledge is shared freely, and which is used under threat? Notice also that the rings are given as portable kingdoms, while the later rebuilding is carried out through the whistle’s servants.

Think about it

• Why does the Tsaritsa tell Ivan to swap the two tubs, and how does that trick decide the fight?
• How does Yelena the Beautiful work out that Ivan has come back, and why does she keep setting harder tasks?
• Ivan forgives the brothers who left him on the mountain. Would you have done the same? Why or why not?

Related stories

• Koschei the Deathless — another Russian prince who must outwit a villain who steals a woman away
• The Golden Mountain — a Russian hero stranded on a mountaintop
• Ivanoushka the Simpleton — the youngest brother proves himself in a Russian tale