The fool, from the desire which he felt to obtain the red caftan, cap, and boots, was obliged to comply with their request. But as he was thoroughly lazy, and did not wish to get down from the petsch, he said these words softly as he lay:
“At the pike’s behest, and at my request, go, hatchet, now, and cut down wood; and do you,
wood, come of yourself to the room, and stow yourself within the stove.”
Forthwith, the hatchet, without anyone taking it, hopped forth, and began to cut away, and the wood of itself came into the room, and stowed itself in the stove, at the sight of which the sisters-in-law wondered much at the craft of Emelian; and every day, when the fool only ordered the hatchet to go out and cut wood, the hatchet went and cut some. And in this manner he lived with his sisters-in-law for some time. At length, his sisters-in-law said to him:
“Emelian! we have no wood, so pray go out into the forest and cut some.”
The fool said: “Why don’t you go yourselves?”
“How should we go?” replied his sisters-in-law; “the forest is a great way off, and as it is now winter, it is too cold for us to go to the forest for wood.”
“I am lazy.”
“Lazy!” cried his sisters-in-law; “if you don’t go you will soon be cold. But if you refuse to go, when your brothers, our husbands, come home we will order them to give you neither red caftan, red cap, nor red boots.”