The Immortal

The brave young man looked down sadly, hugging the top of a huge, mast-like pine tree with his arms and legs. The tree shivered again from the blow on its trunk.

"Come down quickly" - the Immortal Koschei calmly beckoned with his finger, and struck the thin, bony trunk of the tree again - the pine shook once more. "Alright, I won't beat you to death - just give you a lesson, something heavy - and go home" - Koschei struck the pine trunk again - "come down, you fool - or it will be worse!"

"And I won't even think about it" - the brave young man shouted from the top of the pine, grabbing the trunk a little higher. "Who knew you could fell ancient pines with one hand? All fairy tales say - there's a breathless one, and a breathless one, a bony and frail one, maybe only death keeps its distance and hides it more cleverly so heroes can't reach it. Well, I, the first guy in the village, decided to seek fame and riches. And now - I won't come down at all!"

"And who do you think invented those fairy tales?" - Koschei asked slyly - "so many brave young men listen to such tales, come to fight the breathless one, and here I am! Come down, I say" - with another strike of his bony hand on the pine trunk, it swayed so much that the brave young man couldn't hold on and fell down like a stone.

But he didn't hit the ground - he didn't have time; Koschei caught him in midair by the collar and easily, with one hand, brought him face to face. The brave young man's legs helplessly dangled a few spans above the grass.

"So why did you come to the castle on the bald mountain?" - Koschei asked - "it can't be that you came to fight me. Otherwise, you'd be knocking on the main gates with a sword and shouting a hero's call, as if cursed. Come out, let's fight. And what did you do?" - Koschei shook the brave young man, causing his head to wobble - "you climbed into the open basement window, and now you're rummaging through the stone cellars? What, did you want gold and silver, which I keep here?"

"So fairy tales do say that you are wasting away" - the brave young man protested - "why do you need so much? I would need only a dozen chervonets to build a good house, start a farm, and have a joyful wedding - love with the village elder's daughter, the youngest."

"Well, yes" - Koschei chuckled softly - "all fairy tales say that I am wasting away. But don't forget" - his eyes suddenly flashed blue for a moment, and he shook the struggling young man again - "who invented all those fairy tales, many centuries ago. Image - it's a serious thing, built over years."

The brave young man thought deeply and looked down.

"So, there's no gold or silver after all? Oh, I am such a fool."

"Why, of course, there is, and gold, and silver, and treasure chests of precious stones" - Koschei exclaimed, pointing with his bony finger at the distant black Gothic-style castle on top of a thirty-zhivka hill, with a bald, grassless top - "but what would I need all this for? Any village thief would find it in no time. Now. In the cellars."

The brave young man sighed heavily and looked hopefully at Koschei:

"Maybe you could let me go, huh? I didn't find anything - I didn't steal anything?"

Koschei smirked mysteriously and helped him to his feet; then beckoned him into the castle:

"Alright, poor hero, come visit me - I'll serve you lingonberry tea, with gingerbread, and we'll chat while we drink tea - I live alone here, sometimes there's no one to talk to. And a dozen chervonets - fine, I'll give it to you; I won't be short of tea" - and again, for some reason, he chuckled.

The tea drinking lasted until dawn.

The sun was already rising when the brave young man was pounding on the shutters of the house where the village elder and his family lived. They creaked open, and the elder's daughter, yawning, looked out of the window - the very youngest one.

"What a joy" - the brave young man exclaimed - "I was at Koschei's, and now we have a dozen gold chervonets - to have a joyful wedding and raise a farm."

"Show me" - the girl asked curiously.

"I can't now" - the brave young man shrugged - "he, the cunning one, didn't give me the keys, only inside. Well, in a day or two, ours will be - but I won't go to Koschei's on the bald mountain again in my life."

"Inside - what do you mean?" - the girl asked in surprise - "to swallow it, you mean?"

"On the contrary" - the brave young man admitted, and his face turned red. "I'll have to eat standing for a couple of days."

And don't go stealing!