ABSTRACT
In a certain tsardom, in a certain land, there lived and dwelt a peasant. The time came and he was conscripted into the army. He was leaving his pregnant wife; he spoke his farewells, saying, “Look here, wife, live well, don’t make fun of kind folks, don’t ruin the household, and wait for me. If God permits it, I’ll come back retired, I’ll return to you.† Here are twenty-five rubles. Whether you have a daughter or a son doesn’t matter. Keep the money until they are grown. Then if you have a daughter, this will be her dowry. And if God gives you a son and he lives to adulthood, then he’ll find plenty of support in this money.” So he said goodbye and went off wherever he was ordered. About three months later the woman gave birth to two twin boys, and she called them both Ivan, the Soldier’s Sons.
