Russian Folktales · Chapter
The Dream explained
An old man seeks shelter at a peasant's home and agrees to tell stories in exchange for lodging.
What happens
An old man seeks shelter at a peasant's home and agrees to tell stories in exchange for lodging. After falling asleep, he has a strange dream filled with symbolic visions—candles, birds, snakes, cats, frogs, and mysterious cries. Upon waking, the peasant interprets each element of the dream as revealing hidden truths about his family's relationships, spiritual state, and the eventual collapse of his household.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Divine Justice
The dream reveals hidden moral failings within the household, suggesting that divine or cosmic justice is at work, with the eventual collapse of the home as a consequence.
Characters to notice
- The Old Man
The wandering storyteller who dreams prophetic visions and interprets them for the peasant.
- The Master
The peasant who hosts the old man and interprets the dream's symbols as reflections of his family's moral and spiritual condition.
Key passages
“I went to sleep and thought I saw two candles blazing in front of the images and two birds fluttering inside the hut.”
In my dream, I saw two candles burning before the icons and two birds flying around the room.
The peasant interprets the candles as angels and the birds as their fluttering presence.
“Then I went to sleep on the corn-kiln, and I heard a cry: ‘Sister! Sister! come and fetch me!’”
Later I lay on the corn-drying kiln and heard a voice calling for its sister to come get it.
The peasant explains this cry means his sons neglect to put the brush back in its place and say the proper blessing.
“Then I went and lay under the cauldron. And I heard a cry of ‘I am hanging on the crossbeam! I am falling on the crossbeam!’”
Then I rested under the cauldron and heard someone shouting that they were hanging from the crossbeam and about to fall.
The peasant interprets this as a prophecy that when he dies, his entire house will collapse.