Russian Folktales · Chapter
Egóri the Brave and the Gipsy explained
A poor gipsy with a family to feed repeatedly asks Egóri the Brave to inquire of God what trade he should pursue.
What happens
A poor gipsy with a family to feed repeatedly asks Egóri the Brave to inquire of God what trade he should pursue. After three requests and a forgotten stirrup, God decrees the gipsy's trade is to cheat and perjure. The gipsy then uses the golden stirrup as a prop to swindle a lord out of 1,500 roubles, ultimately winning in court by denying everything.
Themes in this chapter
Trickery and Cunning
The gipsy's entire livelihood is defined by cheating and perjury, as ordained by God, and he outwits both Egóri and the lord.
Fate and Divine Justice
God decrees the gipsy's fate as a cheat, and the gipsy's success in court suggests a divine endorsement of his trickery.
Characters to notice
- The Gipsy
A poor, idle peasant who tricks Egóri into securing a divine decree for his trade of cheating and perjury, then swindles a lord.
- Egóri the Brave
A messenger to God who forgets the gipsy's request twice, but is reminded by the golden stirrup; he delivers God's decree.
- The Lord
A wealthy nobleman who is cheated out of 1,500 roubles by the gipsy's cunning and perjury.
- The Servant
The lord's groom sent to deliver the remaining 500 roubles; he is plied with wine and then denied the stirrup.
Key passages
“Oh, tell the gipsy,' the Lord said, 'that his trade is from whomsoever he take and steal, he, then, shall cheat and perjure himself.'”
God instructs Egóri to inform the gipsy that his destined occupation is to deceive and lie to anyone from whom he takes or steals.
This divine decree establishes the gipsy's moral framework for the rest of the tale.
“Before God!—I never have!' And so the gipsy perjured himself.”
The gipsy swears falsely that he never took the stirrup, thereby fulfilling God's prophecy.
The gipsy immediately acts on his ordained trade, lying to Egóri.
“Why, he will even be saying next that I am wearing his clothes.' 'But the dress is mine!' the master shrieked out.”
In court, the gipsy claims the lord might accuse him of wearing the lord's own clothes, which the lord angrily confirms, undermining his own case.
The gipsy's clever manipulation of appearances wins the legal dispute.