"The Little Humpbacked Horse (Konyok-Gorbunok)" - 1.

Past the woods and mountains steep,
Past the rolling waters deep,
You will find a hamlet pleasant
Where once dwelt an aged peasant.
Of his sons-and he had three...

За горами, за лесами,
За широкими морями,
Против неба – на земле
Жил старик в одном селе.
У старинушки три сына...

Quoth his horse:
"Yes, you're quite right.
And you very well may stare!
That's a Fire-Bird's feather there!
But, Ivan, for your own sake,
Touch it not, for in its wake
Many sorrows, many woes
Follow everywhere it goes."

Говорит ему конёк:
"Вот уж есть чему дивиться!
Тут лежит перо Жар-птицы,
Но для счастья своего
Не бери себе его.
Много, много непокою
Принесёт оно с собою".

Pyotr Yershov "The Little Humpbacked Horse (Konyok-Gorbunok)" (1834) / Illustrations: V. Milashevsky.

Illustratsioonid Pjotr Jeršovi värssmuinasjutule "Küürselg-sälg" / V. Milaševski.

Пётр Ершов "Конёк-горбунок" (1834) / Художник В. Милашевский.

Postcards, 1958.
My collection.

* "The Little Humpbacked Horse" (Konyok-Gorbunok) is a Russian fairy tale in which the magic little horse helps Ivan, a peasant’s son, carry out the many unreasonable demands of the Tsar. During his adventures, Ivan captures the beautiful magic firebird for the Tsar, keeps his magic horse, and finds his love, the tsar-maid princess. At the end, the princess and the peasant’s son live happily for many years after.

See also the illustration by V. Grishin.