SARATOVTELEFILM
PICTURES OF OLD 4
In the old days...
the rich lived well,
and the poor did not.
The rich ate, drank, and had fun from morning 'till evening.
And the poor? They worked...
...or became robbers.
The chieftain of robbers was Kudeyar.
He robbed the rich and helped the poor.
So the rich got scared and turned to the Tsar.
They him asked for an army to defeat Kudeyar.
Guns were fired in all directions,
horsemen gallopped to and fro,
but Kudeyar was no coward.
He continued robbing the rich and hid his treasures in a cave
on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain
They met early in the morning and hurried off to the service.
One of them worked as a priest, the other as a blind beggar.
As they say, both lived by the Grace of God.
In their free time, they talked about God,
and about the lives of saints.
They argued,
but never quarreled.
Both were widowers, bringing up their children alone.
The children too were inseparable.
The time came when it became clear even for a blind man:
Vanya and Manya loved each other.
And then the poor man said to the priest:
- Is not it time to think about a wedding, my neighbor?
- A wedding?
- Give Masha to a beggar's son?
- You want to know to whom I'll give her?
- To the very best...
- You're a fool, neighbor!
- Do you not know from what ancestors we stem?
- Why, you may even be poor in comparison with us!
And that, word for word,
ended the serene life of the two lovers.
The beggar in the meantime had fallen ill from the insult.
He called for his son Ivan and said:
- Know, my son,
that our ancestor was Ataman Kudeyar.
He hid his riches in a cave
behind the old cemetery that is on Bald Mountain!
- I will tell you the way to the cave
- Just remember this:
- Only go there during a full moon.
And everything happened as his father had said.
It was midnight.
Ivan saw, very close to himself, the stone face of his ancestor.
Here it is, the path,
And here they are, the three stones.
Down there was a cave.
But then appeared the guardians of the treasures.
The former fearless warriors of Kudeyar!
And then came the chieftain himself...
- Who's that you've got there?
- What a handsome lad!
- A true heir of my blood!
- I know about your troubles
- I waited for you,
and prepared a wedding gift.
- Take it!
- In this boat you will find everything you need.
- Be happy, you two!
- The boat itself will take you to your house.
Manya and Vanya were soon married.
They lived long and died together on the same day.
Or at least, that's how one is supposed to end a fairy tale!
written by Yuriy Zabolotnev directed by Eduard Belyayev
art director Alexey Kondrashov camera Vladimir Antonov
animators - Eduard Belyayev, A. Melnikov I. Melnikova, N. Kondrashova
music Andrey Hmara sound Yuriy Klyuchnikov
production director Vladislav Pletnev voice artist A. Ghalko
Saratovtelefilm 1993
Transcription and timing Agape. Translation: Eus & Niffiwan (2021)