Carried away byВ the road, they imperceptibly turned toВ the church.
«Why did you stand up like an idol?» Ulyana was surprised. «Let’s go inside! We need to consecrate pies and apples.»
The girl pulled the named sister by the hand, but she pulled her palm and answered sharply, «I have nothing to do there! There are already a lot of people there. I’d rather wait here.»
No matter how the girls and Galina persuaded the little obstinate, she flatly refused toВ even approach the temple.
«Well, okay, what to do with you. Wait for us here!» said Galina, grabbed a heavy basket of fruit and pies and headed with her daughters towards the church…
After aВ while they appeared at the exit from the temple. The joyful Vasilisa was carrying two large red apples inВ her hands.
В«Here, take it, Pelageyushka!В» she said. В«They say that if you make aВ wish and eat aВ consecrated apple, then your wish will come true.В»
«Here’s another, what nonsense!» Pelageya muttered with displeasure. «I don’t need anything!»
«Well, eat at least a piece,» Vasilisa persisted. «The apple in the Transfiguration of the Lord is not simple. You’ll see!»
But Pelageya did not give in to any persuasion. In the end, she got angry, knocked the fruits out of Vasilisa’s hands and, turning around, ran along the road towards the house.
«Yes… Evidently, Efrosinya was speaking the truth,» Galina thought to herself and together with her daughters quickened her pace to catch up with Pelageya.
CHAPTER 6. AN ANCIENT LEGEND
The next day, Efrosinya, as promised, again came toВ visit. Galina, inВ anticipation ofВ her arrival, melted the samovar, baked pancakes and laid the table, decorating it with fruits and appleВ pie.
As soon as the fortune-teller entered the courtyard, she immediately asked inВ aВ half-whisper from the hostess if she had taken Pelageya toВ the church the previous day. InВ response, Galina told her what and how it was. Looking around, Efrosinya entered the hut and carefully looked at it inside.
В«And where is this girl now?В» she asked, sitting down at the table.
В«InВ the morning IВ sent my daughters toВ collect ripe rose hips on the hillside. We want toВ dry them for the winter. Pelageya went with them. They are about toВ return,В» answered Galina.
Looking again towards Pelageya’s room, the old woman reached across the table closer to Galina and took her hand.
«Listen to me, Galinushka, what I’ll tell you now. In vain, Nazar picked up the girl and brought her home. It will bring troubles and misfortunes to your family and our entire village. She is not a girl at all, but a witch named Khatuna. For a long time she was not in our region. My grandmother, the kingdom of heaven to her, told me a story about her. There is a legend that is known only to some old people in our village. Many, many years ago, when Petrovskoye was not even in sight, the lands of the vast kingdom of the Khazars stretched here, the soldiers of which were mainly engaged in making predatory raids on Holy Russia and on their other neighbors, bringing rich booty to their ruler – the Khan. So,» having a sip of tea, continued Efrosinya, «once the khan himself with his army, family and retinue from a long campaign rode here across the steppe. They stopped to rest near our hills: to feed and water their horses, well, and to have a meal themselves. After sitting until dark, they kindled fires and settled down for the night, setting up tents. At midnight, when everyone was already asleep, except the guards, wolves attacked their camp in a large flock. They grabbed the baby, who was khan’s daughter, named Khatuna, and dragged her into the hills. Khan sent his best warriors to chase, but they could not rescue the princess from the wolf captivity. For several days, his horsemen were looking for the girl in the vicinity. Desperate to find his daughter and heartbroken, the khan decided to continue on his way to his capital. The child survived. It was nurtured by unknown forces of darkness and turned into a real fiend, created to bring evil and misfortune to our land. Since then, about once every hundred years, she appears in the dark by the road near the hills, in the guise of a little girl with a doll in her hands.»
В«Oh, what am IВ toВ do, Granny?В» Galina asked fearfully. В«You told me aВ terrible story. Was it reallyВ so?В»
«I’ve been living for a long time, Galinushka. A lot of things I’ve seen in my time. Listen to me as an old woman – get rid of her. You need to take this girl to the same place where Nazar picked her up, or, even worse, to a distant steppe, and leave her there,» the fortune-teller answered and turned around, hearing the creak of the slightly opened door leading to Pelageya’s room. «Galinushka, is there really no one in the hut, besides us?» Efrosinya asked in a quiet, anxious voice.
В«No, Granny. We are alone. That could have been aВ draft blowing and pulling the door,В» reassured her hostess noticing the fear inВ the eyes ofВ the old woman, and then continued. В«Maybe you got it wrong? How can we take aВ child toВ the steppe and leave it there? What kind ofВ heart do we need toВ have and how do we live with all ofВ this then?В»
The fortune-teller was about toВ contradict her, but before she could utter aВ word, Ulyana and Vasilisa entered the hut noisily and cheerfully from the porch with baskets filled toВ the brim with rosehip fruits. Pelageya appeared after them.
«Good work! You have picked up so many rosehip fruits! Now it’s enough for the whole winter,» Galina was delighted. «By the way, Granny Efrosinya has come to visit us here. Sit down with us to drink tea.»
Heeding her words, the children sat down at the table, and, pouring tea from the samovar, pounced on the pancakes that had not yet cooled down after the oven.
В«Yes, apparently, good rose hips have grown this year,В» Efrosinya decided toВ keep up the conversation, looking at the baskets with fruits and immediately glancing at Pelageya.
InВ response, Ulyana and Vasilisa were enthusiastically carried away byВ the dispute, who ofВ them this time picked up more rosehips. Pelageya, meanwhile, finished her pancake, sat down at the far edge ofВ the table and began toВ gaze intently out the window.
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notes
Примечания
1
Artel was any ofВ various cooperative associations inВ the Russian Empire.
2
Samovar is aВ big metal container used inВ Russia toВ boil water for makingВ tea.
3
Sarafan is a Russian traditional folk women’s costume.
4
The Apple Feast ofВ the Saviour or Apple Spas is an Eastern Slavic folk name for the Feast ofВ the Transfiguration, which is celebrated on AugustВ 19.
