: "I am lazy." "How! you are
lazy," cried they; "you will be frozen then; and moreover, we will
take care, when our husbands come home, that they shall not give you
the red coat, cap, and boots." As the fool longed for the clothes, he
saw that he must go and cut the wood; so he got off the stove, put on
his shoes and stockings, and dressed himself; and, when he was
dressed, he went into the yard, dragged the sledge out of the shed,
took a rope and the axe with him, and called out to his
sisters-in-law: "Open the gate."

When the sisters saw that he was riding off without any horses, they
cried: "Why, Emelyan, you have got on the sledge without yoking the
horses!" But he answered that he wanted no horses, and bade them only
open the gate. So the sisters threw open the gate, and the fool
repeated the words: "At the pike's command, and at my desire, away,
sledge, off to the wood!" Instantly the sledge galloped out of the
yard at such a rate that the people of the village, when they saw it,
were filled with amazement at Emelyan's riding the sledge without
horses, and with such speed that a pair of horses could never have
drawn it at such a rate. The fool had to pass through the town on his
way to the wood, and away he dashed at full speed. But the fool did
not know that he should cry out: "Make way!" so that he should not run
over anyone; but away he went, and rode over quite a lot of people;
and, though they ran after him, no one was able to overtake and bring
him back. At last Emelyan, having got clear of the town, came to the
wood and stopped his sledge. Then he got down and said: "At the pike's
command, and at my desire, up, axe, hew wood; and you, logs! lay
yourselves on the sledge, and tie yourselves together." Scarcely had
the fool uttered these words when the axe began to cut wood, the logs
to lay themselves on the sledge, and the rope to tie them down. When
the axe had cut wood enough, Emelyan desired it to cut him a good
cudgel; and when the axe had done this, he mounted the sledge and
cried: "Up, and away! At the pike's command, and at my desire, go
home, sledge!" Away then went the sledge at the top of its speed, and
when he came to the town, where he had hurt so many people, he found a
crowd waiting to catch him; and, as soon as he got into the gates,
they laid hold of him, dragged him off his sledge, and fell to beating
him. When the fool saw how they were treating him, he said in an under
voice: "At the pike