Death for the Deathless

Now that you’ve met Baba Yaga, there’s no escaping Koschei the Deathless! Koschei cannot be killed because he has hidden his spirit in a secret location—inside a duck’s egg which is inside a hare which is locked inside a chest buried under a giant oak tree in the middle of an ocean. But some day, evil has to pay, as you will soon find out.

This tale from old Russia stars Prince Ivan (not the one from the previous story, let me assure you). The prince’s parents were dead and he was left with three sisters to take care of.

One pleasant evening, the prince, along with his sisters, Maria, Anna and Olga, was strolling through the palace garden, when all of a sudden the skies darkened and thunder clouds gathered. As it began to rain, the royal siblings rushed inside only to see the ceiling crash after a nasty spell of thunder accompanied by lightning. Through the ceiling fell a falcon, and when it crashed to the floor, it turned into a handsome prince!

‘Greetings, Prince Ivan! I do apologize for crashing in like this. But I come to seek the hand of your sister, fair Maria, if she’ll accept my proposal,’ said the prince and Princess Maria, who seemed impressed with all the drama, perhaps, consented immediately. So she married and went to live in her husband’s kingdom.

Another pleasant evening and Prince Ivan was taking his customary evening walk with his two sisters when yet another thunderstorm forced them indoors. The ceiling came crashing down once again, and this time, an eagle came in through it and turned into another handsome prince. ‘Prince Ivan! I come seeking the hand of Princess Olga, your sister,’ said he, and Princess Olga was more than happy to accept.

Of course, now you must be prepared for the third and final stroll, storm and ceiling crash. Yes, it did happen and the bird which came through was a raven. So little sister Anna also found her match, leaving Prince Ivan alone and lonely.

He decided to visit his sisters and set out on a long journey. After travelling for many days, he came across a field full of slain soldiers. He rode on further, where he found several white tents pitched in a large clearing. There he met the beautiful Marya Morevna, the warrior princess, who had killed a whole army.

On seeing the prince, Marya Morevna invited him to dinner. (It helped that he was handsome.) Obviously charmed by his company, she persuaded him to stay on a few days. Soon, the couple decided to get married and Maria Morevna returned to her kingdom with Prince Ivan. (As you can see, the warrior princess always liked to call the shots.)

After some time spent being happily married, Marya Morevna was itching for battle. So she decided to put her husband in charge and left to quell an uprising in one of her conquered territories. ‘Feel free to explore and amuse yourself, but whatever you do, do not venture into the chamber in the tallest turret of the castle,’ she told him as she left.

Now, you know how it is. If there’s something that’s a ‘no’, it’s hard to contain one’s curiosity. So as soon as Marya Morevna galloped away, Prince Ivan raced up the forbidden turret and slowly unlocked the chamber door. It was pitch dark inside but he saw clearly a giant of a man suspended from the ceiling, bound by twelve thick chains. On seeing Ivan, the giant made a moaning noise. ‘Please! I’ve not had water for ten years. Give me a drink of water, sir. I’m dying of thirst,’ pleaded the strange creature.

Ivan, who was kind by nature and naive too, rushed off to get a bucket of water. The giant drank it all in one big gulp and asked for another and then another. As soon as he gulped down the third bucket, he emitted a bone-chilling howl and broke the twelve iron chains that imprisoned him, as a perplexed Ivan watched in horror.

Suddenly, the giant disappeared into thin air. Transforming himself into a whirlwind, he flew out through a tiny window at the top. It was Koschei the Deathless whom poor, unsuspecting Prince Ivan had unleashed!

‘Thank you, Prince Ivan! Now you’ll never see Marya Morevna again,’ he shrieked before disappearing.

Koschei had been trapped by Marya Morevna, smart girl that she was, but now he found her returning home. He swooped down and picked her up and returned to his domain. ‘Ha! Marya Morevna, so you think you can imprison me? Now you shall make me a splendid wife!’ Koschie laughed.

It was now left to Prince Ivan to set things right and rescue his wife. So he rode off looking for Koschei’s castle. After a three-day journey, he found himself before a castle. On a nearby oak tree was perched a falcon. It flew down and turned into the prince who had married his sister Maria. He took Prince Ivan into the castle where the latter recounted his adventures to his sister and brother-in-law. ‘I must take your leave now and find where evil Koschei has taken my wife, the fair Marya Morevna,’ said Ivan and bid them goodbye. ‘Leave behind your silver spoon so we’ll know if you’re safe,’ the falcon brother-in-law told him. So Ivan handed over his spoon to his sister.

After three days of journeying, he reached another castle gate. There he saw another oak tree on which an eagle sat. On seeing the prince, the eagle came down and turned into his brother-inlaw, the prince who had married Olga.

Ivan was happy to see his sister and her husband. He told them about his marriage and the search for his abducted wife. They wished him luck and before he left, his brother-in-law asked him to give them his silver fork. ‘That way we can keep track and know that you are not in any danger.’

Three days later, Prince Ivan found himself before the gates of yet another castle. This time, too, there was an oak tree and, you must have guessed already what sat upon it—a raven. The raven flew to the ground and turned into the prince who had married Anna. Princess Anna and her husband warmly welcomed Ivan who briefed them on his quest for his missing wife. They asked him to leave his silver snuffbox with them so that they may know of his well-being.

Finally, Ivan found the dreaded Koschei’s castle where he was reunited with Marya Morevna. ‘Why did you release Koschei? Do you know how hard it was for me to capture him?’ asked Marya Morevna. Naturally, she was mad at her husband.

‘There’s no point arguing about it now! Quick, let’s get out of here,’ said Ivan, and together, they rode out of Koschei’s castle to safety.

Meanwhile, Koschei was out on his magic stallion, hunting, when suddenly the horse stumbled and fell. ‘What happened, my good steed? Is something the matter?’

‘Prince Ivan has come and rescued Marya Morevna! We have to rush home now!’ said the magic horse, and Koschei whipped up a tornado and soon caught up with the couple. Once again, Koschei captured the fair Marya Morevna.

He spared Ivan though. ‘I’m letting you go because you saved my life once.’

But Ivan returned to Koschei’s castle unnoticed and whisked away his wife once again. The magic stallion stumbled in the forest once more and alerted his master Koschei. The same story, of Marya Morevna being captured, was repeated again and again. But by then, Koschei had lost his patience and so he killed Prince Ivan, chopped him into bits and put them all in a barrel which he threw into the sea.

‘Good riddance! Ivan, you gave me three buckets of water and I showed you gratefulness for that! Now it’s payback time,’ he screamed and, turning himself into a whirlwind, took off with Marya Morevna.

In his sisters’ castles, the silver spoon, the fork and the snuffbox turned black, and his brothers-in-law, knowing that Prince Ivan was in danger, rushed to his rescue. The eagle brother-in-law flew to the sea and brought the barrel back to land. The falcon went to get the Water of Death while the raven went to find the Water of Life.

They broke the barrel and put the pieces of poor Ivan’s body together. The falcon sprinkled the Water of Death and the pieces magically became whole again. The raven sprinkled the Water of Life over the body and the prince came back to life, good as new! Thanking his brothers-in-law, Ivan once again returned to Koschei’s castle by night, to Marya Morevna.

Wiser now, they planned new strategies. ‘It’s that magic stallion that helps him,’ said Marya Morevna. He got his horse from Baba Yaga, who lives across the River of Fire. You could get a horse from her too.’

‘And how do I cross that river?’ asked Ivan, who was ready for the next adventure.

‘A white handkerchief is what Koschei used and I’ll steal it from him.’ Morevna knew everything and the next day, she managed to get the handkerchief.

All Ivan had to do was wave the white handkerchief and a crystal bridge appeared for him to cross. Baba Yaga’s house was a long way off and Ivan walked and walked for days. He was tired and hungry and found a strange, large mother bird with her chick. He proceeded to catch the young one for dinner but the mother bird begged him to spare its life. ‘Who knows, Prince Ivan, you might need my help one day!’ Ivan was a kind soul, and he left, hungry.

Next, he came across a beehive and went to break off a chunk of it. But the queen bee stopped him. ‘Please, Prince Ivan, do not disturb my hive. Who knows, you might need my help sometime.’

So Ivan moved on and soon, he saw a lion cub and thought that could be his meal. But the mother lioness pleaded with him, ‘Please, Prince Ivan! Don’t eat my son. Who knows, you might need my help someday!’ Ivan knew that these were all signs and a hungry stomach didn’t do anyone much harm.

Soon, he reached Baba Yaga’s hut and the witch offered him some cabbage soup, much like what she gave our dear Vasilisa. He was also assigned the job of tending her mares. Baba Yaga, we already know, was a tough customer.

‘My mares are precious to me and if you let even one escape, you’ll end up with your sorry head on a stick like those that line my fence! But if you serve me well for three days, I’ll give you a good steed as a gift.’ Prince Ivan saw the skulls with their shining eye sockets grinning at him.

The next day, Ivan had to drive the mares to the meadow nearby to graze. But they lifted their tails and took off in every possible direction, and Ivan could not find them. What now, he thought. It’s off with my head this evening.

But at Baba Yaga’s, the unruly mares had arrived early and she was mad at them. ‘I told you to scatter and what have you come back here for now?’ she asked them angrily for she was hoping to light a royal eye socket that night. ‘Flocks of unruly birds were pecking at our eyes so we ran for our lives,’ they said.

The next day, Ivan took them to the meadow as usual. This time, they ran off to hide in the forests and the Prince returned alone to Baba Yaga’s. To his surprise, the mares were already home, all accounted for. ‘Why?’ screeched the witch in a whisper. ‘There was a fierce lioness that threatened to eat us up and we barely escaped,’ replied the mares in low voices but Ivan heard them.

On the third day, the mares decided to run off to the sea leaving poor Ivan alone in the meadow but a huge swarm of bees chased them all the way back to Baba Yaga’s house.

The queen bee went to find Ivan. ‘Do not show yourself to Baba Yaga for we don’t know what she’ll do when she gets to know you’ve outwitted her. Hide in the stables for the night where you’ll find a sickly colt. Steal away with that colt when she goes to sleep.’

And Ivan hid in the stables and in the dead of the night fled with the sorry-looking pony. When he got to the River of Fire and waved his—actually Koschei’s—white handkerchief, the crystal bridge appeared. As soon as he crossed the bridge, the colt turned into a handsome white steed that flew through the forests to Koschei’s castle.

There, Ivan was reunited with Marya Morevna, and together they raced through the forests once again. Koschei’s magic horse stumbled again. ‘What now?’ Koschei was irritated. ‘Prince Ivan has returned to claim Marya Morevna,’ said the horse, ‘but this time, he rides a stallion that is better than me. So I would say hot pursuit is a bad idea.’

But Koschei would not listen to reason for he was always the vanquisher. He caught up with the fleeing couple, and Koschei got off his horse with his sword to chop Ivan once again. Now, Koschei was a very tall, scrawny creature, and when he stood on the ground he could tower over a man on a horse. But Ivan’s horse was no ordinary one, and it raised its hooves and smote Koschei’s head, breaking his skull. As Koschei teetered and fell, Ivan sank his sword into his chest and afterwards burned his body in a pyre. The ashes, he scattered in the west wind. Finally, it was death for the Deathless Koschei.

As for Prince Ivan and fair Marya Morevna, it was celebration time, and all the prince’s sisters and their bird-prince husbands joined them to feast and make merry.

And those of you curious about what happened to Baba Yaga, well, when she learnt that Ivan had fled with her colt, she stomped her foot, shouted and screamed for a while . . . and then went to sleep on top of her hot stove!