Once upon a time an old man lived in a hut with his little girl, Natasha.

So
happy they were! At tea time, they would play peek-a-boo behind the
samovar (a very tall teapot used in Russia). They would drink tea with honey
bread and strawberry jam.

Everything was fine! The only sad times were when the old man remembered
how much he missed having a wife by his side, and a mother for Natasha.

One day the man met a woman he liked a lot, and before long they were
married. At first, Natasha was glad to have a stepmother to look after her.

But not for long. The stepmother started all kinds of strict new rules. Natasha
wasn’t allowed to play games like peek-a-boo anymore with her father. She
wasn’t allowed to have other girls over for tea. Her stepmother said that little
girls shouldn't have tea at all, much less eat bread and jam. All Natasha got for
dinner was one small crust of bread, and she must leave the hut to eat it.

Poor Natasha! She would run into the backyard and to the shed to hide. She
would wet the small crust with her tears and eat it, all alone.

Then the stepmother would yell that she must come back in the house, right
away! The dishes from dinner needed washing, and the floor must be swept
clean till it shone.

Yet something else was worse than all of this. Each night, the stepmother sat
with Natasha’s father and told him that everything that went wrong in the
house was his daughter’s fault. Sadly, the old man believed his new wife.
One day, the stepmother decided she could not stand the sight of Natasha
one more day. How could she get rid of the girl once and for all? The
stepmother remembered her sister, the terrible witch Baba Yaga, who lived in
the forest. "I know how to get rid of the brat, for good" the stepmother said
to herself with a smile.

The very next morning, the old man left to visit some friends in the next
village. As soon as he was out of sight, the wicked stepmother spun around to
Natasha.

“Listen to me,” she hissed. "Today you will go to visit my sister, your dear
little auntie, who lives in the forest. You will ask her for a needle and thread.
We need it to mend this shirt."

“But," said Natasha, holding up a needle and thread for her stepmother to
see, "we already have a needle and thread.” She knew about her aunt who
lived in the forest - she was was none other than the terrible witch, Baba
Yaga! The one who chased little children by riding through the air on her giant
broom. And when she caught them would eat them with her iron teeth.

"Who asked YOU?!" snapped the stepmother, knocking the needle and thread
out of the girl’s hand.

Shaking with fear, Natasha said, "Well, how do I find my auntie?"

“That’s better!” said the stepmother with a crooked smile. She twisted the
little girl's nose, pinching it hard.

"That is your nose!" she said. "Can you feel it?"

"Yes," whispered the poor girl.

"You must go along the road into the forest till you come to a fallen tree, then
turn left" said the stepmother. "Follow your nose. It will take to your auntie.
Now off with you, you lazy girl!"

The stepmother shoved a small sack in the girl's hand that had a few morsels
of stale bread and cheese and some scraps of meat. And pushed Natasha out
of the hut.

Natasha looked back. Her stepmother stood in front of the door with her arms
crossed, glaring. There was nothing she could do but to go on her way.

The girl walked along the road to the forest, then to the fallen tree, then she
turned left. Her nose started to throb harder, so she knew she was going the
right way.

Then all of a sudden, in front of her behind an old gate, stood the hut of Baba
Yaga. There could be no mistake.

Only the hut of Baba Yaga, the witch, stood high up on giant chicken’s legs,
and could walk around the yard by itself! When it turned to face you, the front
windows looked like two eyes and the door looked like a mouth.

The two gate doors in the fence were open. When Natasha pushed them a bit
to go through, they made a terrible squeaking sound. On the ground she
noticed a rusty oil can.
The girl picked it up. "How lucky," she said, “there’s some oil left.” She poured
the few drops left on the hinges of the gate. Both gate doors swung open
without a peep.

As Natasha walked closer, Baba Yaga's house turned around on its chicken’s
legs. And it faced her.

Frightened as she was, the sound of crying made Natasha turn around. A
servant of Baba Yaga's was standing in the yard, crying and wiping her tears
on her sleeve.

"How lucky," said Natasha, "that I have a handkerchief." She untied her
handkerchief, shook it clean, and carefully put the scraps of food in her
pockets. She gave the cloth to Baba Yaga's servant, who wiped her tears with
it, and smiled.

In front of the door to the hut was a huge, thin dog chewing on an old bone.
"How lucky," said the little girl, "that I have some bread and meat." Reaching
into her pocket for her scraps of bread and meat, Natasha said to the dog,
"I'm afraid it's rather stale, but it's better than nothing." At once, the dog
gobbled it up and licked his lips.

Natasha finally reached the door to the hut. Trembling, she knocked.

"Come in," squeaked the wicked voice of Baba Yaga. The little girl stepped in.
There sat Baba Yaga the witch, weaving at a loom. She had scraggly white hair,
a very long nose, and when she smiled, showed a mouth full of iron teeth. The
witch was skinny and bony.
"Good day to you, auntie," said Natasha, trying to sound not afraid.

"Good day to you, niece," said Baba Yaga.

"My stepmother has sent me to you to ask for a needle and thread to mend a
shirt."

"Has she now?" smiled Baba Yaga, flashing her iron teeth. For she knew how
much her sister hated Natasha, her stepdaughter.

"You sit down here at my loom, and continue to weave,” said Baba Yaga. “I
will go and fetch you that needle and thread." So the little girl sat down at the
loom and began to weave.

Baba Yaga whispered to her servant girl, "Listen to me! Go to the bathhouse.
Start up the fire for the bathwater. It must be very hot.”

“Yes,” said the servant girl, and she left to do her task. "A delicious meal I will
make of the child!" laughed Baba Yaga.

The servant came into the room where Natasha was weaving, to fetch the jug
to take water to the bathhouse. Natasha said to her, "I beg you please, be
slow in making the fire and heating up the water. I need time to think of a
plan!" The servant girl said nothing. But she took a very long time in getting
the bathwater ready.

Baba Yaga came to the window and said in her sweetest voice, "Are you still
weaving, little niece? Are you weaving, my pretty?"
"Yes, I am weaving, auntie," said Natasha. She thought, “I’ve got to get out of
here, somehow!”

In a corner of the hut, Natasha noticed a thin black cat watching a mouse-
hole.

"What are you doing?" she said to the black cat.

"Watching for a mouse," said the thin black cat. "I haven't had any dinner in
three days."

"How lucky," said Natasha, "I have some cheese left." And she gave the cheese
in her pocket to the thin black cat, who gobbled it up. The cat said, "Little girl,
do you want to get out of here?"

"Of course I do!" said Natasha, "I fear that Baba Yaga will try to eat me with
her iron teeth!"

"That is exactly what she will do," said the black cat. "But I know how to help
you."

Whispered the cat, "Do you see that comb on the stool? Do you see the
towel?" Natasha nodded. "You must take both of those," said the cat. "Then
run for it while Baba Yaga is still in the bath-house. She will chase after you.
When she does, you must throw the towel behind you. It will turn into a big,
wide river and it will take her time to cross that river. When she crosses over,
throw the comb behind you. It will sprout up into such a thick forest that she
will never be able get through."
"But if I leave the loom now to pick up the towel and the comb,” said Natasha,
“she will hear that I have stopped weaving. And then she will be able to catch
me before I even have a chance to escape."

"Don't worry," said the thin black cat. "I'll take care of that." Then he took
Natasha's place at the loom.

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack; the loom never stopped for a moment.

Natasha looked to see that Baba Yaga was still in the bath-house. She
grabbed the towel and the comb, and quickly ran out of the hut.

The big dog jumped up to tear her to pieces, but then he saw it was the same
girl as before. "Why, this is the girl who gave me that bread and meat," said
the dog. "Good luck, child." And he laid back down, letting her go.

When Natasha came to the gate doors, they opened quietly without making
any noise, because of the oil she had poured into its hinges.

Then -- how she did run!

Meanwhile, the thin black cat sat at the loom. Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
went the loom.

Baba Yaga came to the window.

"Are you weaving, little niece?" she asked in a high-pitched voice. "Are you
weaving, my pretty?"
"I am weaving, auntie," said the thin black cat, while the loom went clickety-
clack, clickety-clack.

"That is not the voice of my dinner!" said Baba Yaga. She ran into the hut. At
the loom was no little girl, but only the thin black cat!

"Grrr!" said Baba Yaga. She jumped at the cat. "Why didn't you scratch out the
little girl's eyes?"

The thin black cat replied, "In all the years that I have served you, you have
given me only water and made me hunt for my dinner. That girl gave me real
cheese."

“GRRR!” Baba Yaga grabbed the cat and shook it hard.

Turning to the servant girl and gripping her tightly, she yelled, "Why did you
take so long to prepare the bath?"

"Ah!" cried the servant, "in all the years that I have served you, you have
never even given me a rag, but that girl gave me a pretty handkerchief."

Baba Yaga cursed her and dashed into the yard.

Seeing the gate doors wide open, she shrieked, "Gates! Why didn't your doors
squeak when she opened you?"

"Ah!" said the gates, "in all the years that we have served you, you never so
much as sprinkled a drop of oil on us. We could hardly stand the sound of our
own creaking. But the girl oiled us and we can now swing back and forth
without a sound."

Baba Yaga slammed the gates closed. Spinning around, she pointed her long
skinny finger at the dog. "You!" she hollered, "why didn't you tear her to
pieces when she ran out of the house?"

"Ah!" said the dog, "in all the years that I have served you, you never threw
me anything but an old bone. But the girl gave me real meat and bread."

Baba Yaga rushed about the yard, cursing and hitting, all the while screaming
at the top of her voice.

Then she jumped onto her broom and flew up into the air. Soon, she was
closing in on the little girl.

"You will never escape me!" Baba Yaga laughed a terrible laugh. She steering
straight downward toward the girl.

Natasha was running faster than she had ever run before. She could hear Baba
Yaga getting closer and closer.

Then she remembered the thin black cat's words. She threw the towel behind
her on the ground. It grew bigger and bigger, and became wetter and wetter.
Soon a deep, wide river stood between the little girl and Baba Yaga!

Natasha kept running. Oh, how she ran! When Baba Yaga reached the edge of
the river, she screamed louder than ever, for she knew she could not fly over
an enchanted river. In a rage, she flew back to her hut. There she gathered all
her cows and drove them to the river.

"Drink, drink!" she screamed at them. The cows drank up all the river to the
very last drop. Baba Yaga hopped back onto her broom, and flew over the
dried-up river to catch Natasha.

Natasha had run on quite a distance ahead. In fact, she thought she might, at
last, be free of the terrible Baba Yaga. But her heart froze in terror when she
saw the dark figure in the sky speeding behind her again!

"This is the end for me!" she cried.

Then she remembered what the cat had said about the comb. She threw the
comb behind her, and the comb grew bigger and bigger, its teeth sprouting up
into a thick forest.

It was so thick that not even Baba Yaga could force her way through it. Baba
Yaga, screaming with rage and disappointment, finally turned around and flew
away back to her hut.

The tired girl arrived back home, at last.

“I am home, but I cannot go inside,” she said to herself, thinking of her

stepmother. “What will I do?” She waited outside in the shed for her father to
come home. When she saw her father pass by, she ran out to him.

"Natasha! Where have you been?" cried her father. "And why is your face so
red?"
The stepmother came out to see what the fuss was all about. She turned
yellow when she saw the girl, and her eyes glowed green, showing her true
self.

But this time, Natasha was not afraid. She told her father everything that had
happened. When the old man learned that his wife had sent his own daughter
to be eaten by the witch Baba Yaga, he was so angry that he drove the
stepmother out of the hut, never to return.

From then on, the father took good care of his daughter and he never let a
stranger come between them. Once again, the table was piled high with
honey bread, strawberry jam and tea. Father and daughter played their
games of peek-a-boo until it was time to go to bed. And so the two of them
lived happily ever after.

end