Volksmärchen: The Soldier and Death

This is a work of fiction, inspired by a Russian folk tale, originally written by Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev, and later translated into English by both Leonard A. Magnus, and Arthur Ransome. Any resemblance to actual persons, dead or alive, or real life events, is strictly coincidental.

Chapter One: The Three Beggars

Many ages ago, in Eastern Europe during the middle ages, there was a soldier who was very devoted to the holy trinity in heaven, and The Great Sovereign, for two decades, and five years. Today, the soldier was coming home from The Great Demon War, which The Great Sovereign won. However, the soldier was worn out from battle, and all he had left over, was three separate food rations he has saved for days.

“Mmmgh! I am so famished...So tired....” The soldier was thinking to himself, as he wanders the land, making his way back home.

But just as the soldier got ready to settle down and eat his rations, three beggars came by to greet him. The beggars were a young boy, an adult man, and an elderly man. They all look like they have seen much better day in the past, which made the soldier feel sorry for the poor souls.

The young boy said to the soldier, “Dear soldier....Please? Do you have a bite to eat?”

“Yes indeed my boy.” The soldier said in remorse, as he gives the young boy his first food rations. “Here, eat up little one.”

“Oh! Thank you kind sir! Thank you very much!” The young boy cheers happily, as he was feasting on the food rations the soldier has given him.

Once the boy finishes his food, he hands a small package to the soldier, telling him, “Thank you for your kindness dear soldier. Here, take this as a gift.”

The soldier opens the package the young beggar boy gave to him. Inside the package, was a sickle made of pure silver, bathed in holy water. The beggar boy tells the soldier, “It is a holy sickle, that once belonged to my father. Now, it belongs to you kind sir.”

“Thank you my dear boy.” The soldier said, grateful for the gift the beggar boy gave to him. “This will come in very handy.”

Now, the soldier went over to the grown man beggar. The adult beggar asks the soldier, “Dear soldier....Please? Do you have a bite to eat?”

“Yes indeed.” The soldier said in remorse, as he gives the man his second food rations. “Here, eat up. This food will do your body good.”

Once the grown man finishes his food, he hands a small sized package to the soldier, telling him, “Thank you for your kindness. Here, take this as a gift.”

The soldier opens the small box, and was pleased with what he receives. It was a golden ring with a citrine stone embedded in it. The beggar tells the soldier, “This ring is used to ward off evil auras and negative energy. It will come in very handy on your way back home.”

“Thank you kind sir.” The soldier said, as he puts the citrine ring on his right ring finger for luck. “I shall be on my way. God bless you on this fine day.”

Again, the soldier went on his way, and met up with the elderly beggar. “Dear soldier....Please? Do you have a bite to eat?”

As the soldier was getting his remaining food rations out, a thought crosses his mind: “If I give him all of the rations, I shall have nothing left...If I give him half, why, this old man will come across other fellow beggars, will see they have a whole ration of food, and be offended. Better let this old man have it all, and I shall get back on my feet somehow.” So he gives the old man his last remaining rations, and was now left with nothing.

The old man then asks the soldier, “Tell me, my good soldier, what do you wish? I shall her you out here.”

“God bless you kind sir!” The soldier answers. “How should take anymore from you? You are old and poor.”

“Please don't think of my poverty,” the old beggar replies. “Just say what you desire, and I shall requite according to your own goodness.”

“I want nothing but a deck of cards.” The soldier tells the beggar. “Just for a keepsake, that is all.”

To the soldier, it seemed like the old man was the heavenly son himself, walking the earth in the guise of a beggar. The old man puts his hand in his vest's pocket, and drew out a pack of cards, saying, “Take them please. With whomever you play against, you will always win the game...”

The old man then pulls out what appears to a burlap sack with a draw string on top, made to tie the bag shut. “Here kind sir, you can have this enchanted sack. Whatever you meet on the way, whether it is bird or beast, you can say to it: 'Bird or beast, hop into my sack!', and your wish will be carried out.”

“Thank you kind sir, and God bless!” said the soldier, as he takes the cards and enchanted sack, as he fares forth back to civilization.

The soldier went on and on, maybe far...maybe near....maybe short...maybe long, and finally, he arrives at a lake. On the surface of the lake, three wild geese were swimming peacefully. The soldier now remembers the enchanted sack, pulls it out, and opens it, saying to the geese, “Hey, you wild geese! Hop into my sack!”

Just as the soldier uttered those magic words, the geese flew straight up from the lake and into the sack. The soldier grabs the bag, tied it up, and went on his merry way.

The soldier travels onward, and finally came to a quaint little house, located in a quaint little village. He enters an inn, and tells the inn-keeper, “Take this goose, and cook it for my supper, for I shall also give you another goose for your pains. Trade me this third one for vodka.”

So the soldier sat like a lord in the inn, at his ease, drinking his vodka, and feasting on roast goose glazed with fruits and honey. While eating his fine meal, the soldier gazes out the window, and saw opposite, a huge palace that looked like it has seen better days in the far past. The windows were all broken, and some bricks had moss growing on them.

“What is this?” The soldier asks the inn-keeper. “What is this palace? Why is it so ruined and empty?”

“Why do you what to know sir?” The inn-keeper replies. “Our Tsar built himself this palace many ages ago. It used to be a place of parties, fine banquets, and ballroom dancing. But now, those days are long gone.”

“Why? What kind of tragedy took place at that palace sir?” The soldier wonders in curiosity.

“An unholy power makes that palace its home there now a days.” The inn-keeper responded in a solemn tone. “Every night, an assemblage of demonic beings meet there, make a row, party, gamble, and perpetrate every sort of sinfulness.”

The soldier gazes at the ruined palace in bemusement, and looks back at the inn-keeper once more, wondering, “Why hasn't anyone tried to exorcise the palace?”

“Oh....ohhh...There were people who tried banishing the demons back to their maker....However....” The inn-keeper explained. “Once the people head in to exorcise the demons, they never come back, ever!”

“Well....Still....a Slavic soldier such as myself cannot drown in water, or burn in a fire. I served God almighty, the holy virgin, and the Great Sovereign for two decades and five years. If I am willing to fight in a war, then, I am willing to banish those wretched demons back to Hades!” The soldier said in a rather confident tone of voice.

“You are crazy dear sir!” The inn-keeper gasps in shock. “Once people enter the ruined palace, they never return!”

But the soldier stood firm, he just cannot let the demons have their way forever.

“Well,” said the inn-keeper. “Go, and God save you. I shall pass the news to our Tsar, telling him to check up on the palace during the day, to see that you are alive and well.”

“Very well, I shall be on my merry way.” The solider said, as he leaves the inn. “Farewell, and God bless!”

So there, the soldier sets off, heading to his destination that is the ruined palace. He prays, hoping, that the holy trinity and the holy virgin will protect him on his way, and for that the palace exorcism will be a success.

Once he gone, there was no looking back, for the soldier was to meet his destiny, with only his holy sickle, citrine ring, deck of enchanted playing cards, and his enchanted sack to keep him company on the way.

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