- Axe! Whose hand forged you?
- Yours, Blacksmith!
- Then how dare you hack it? - Fear not, Blacksmith.
- And you, Chains? - Go free, Blacksmith!
- Rapier! - I'm here, Blacksmith!
Produced by Soyuzmultfilm
A fairy tale by French writer Luda .
A fairy tale by French writer Luda THE BLACKSMITH
A fairy tale by French writer Luda THE BLACKSMITH-SORCERER
[ PARIS. 15 leagues ]
I'm Jeannot, the apprentice, and I'll tell you everything there is to tell.
What a story it was!... And here's how it all began:
At that time,
If someone was denounced as a sorcerer or a witch, it was bad news for them.
And if they went to the pit across the river...
...the executioner's block was unavoidable!
It was considered a demonic place.
The main denouncer in these parts was Executioner Guille.
Oh, how greedy he was for other people's money!
At that time, in Pont-des-Piles, there lived two blacksmiths -
[ PONT DES PILES ] Enric and Gastou-the-one-eyed.
They got on well together.
They learned the craft together and worked the iron together.
The most skilled craftsmen these friends were.
Gastou was very pious and devil-fearing.
But at forging tools - WOW! What axes he could make!
[ MASTER GASTOU ]
And what plows!
[ MASTER GASTOU ]
Enric, although he put his trust in God, but...
loved the delicate work more.
His weather vanes looked for the wind themselves.
[ MASTER ENRIC ]
And, oh boy, what puzzle locks he made!
[ MASTER ENRIC ]
One day, with a holiday coming up, the friends received a commission:
to forge a new grille for the gate of the Town Hall.
"In three days?" Gastou flatly refused.
But Enric said: "What's the matter, friend?
The work's simple enough. We can do it!"
So the friends had a bet on who would be right.
While Gastou enjoyed himself in a Tavern,
Enric wasted no time.
At last, the holiday arrived.
We had a tradition at that feast: blacksmiths would compare their skills.
Real wonders the two friends showed.
Each one was more skillful than the one before.
The mayor could not decide who had won...
"Both of you are each other's equal, but Enric did not keep his word."
he decided, recalling the grille,
"Therefore, Gastou has won!
Hooray for Gastou!"
But Enric cried out: "Stop! Stop!"
And all gasped.
"Two thousand livres for the best blacksmith, Enric!"
"Hooray, Enric!"
Oh, I was so happy for Enric, I decided: "I want to become a blacksmith!"
But Guille, the executioner, almost choked with envy.
Also, to mark the holiday, they'd decided to put on a play, called
"The Devil-Smith and the Demonic Pit".
Suddenly, amid the performance, a scream was heard.
Gastou had become terrified.
Enric calmed him, saying: "Come on, don't let this stuff get to you!"
But Gastou, still taken by his fright, said:
"You're also not a blacksmith, but a sorcerer of some kind."
Enric didn't respond to this, and the two friends went to the Tavern in peace.
After some drinks, the friends trudged back home.
But en route, Gastou's doubts returned;
when had Enric found the time to make that grille, eh?
Even heating the iron for it would take more than three days!
Eh? He tricked me!
The grille was probably made long before.
Gastou said just that to Enric.
But Enric responded: "When could I have forged it?
We work together, after all."
Then the friends came to the old mill, near the bridge across the river.
It was then that Enric said that he had gone to the pit.
"Oh-oh-oh!" said Gastou in fright, and started hissing!
"What? To see the devil?" But Enric said:
"Nope, he is not there. Coals burn in that pit.
Their heat is extraordinary. Much hotter than wood!
Therein lies the secret!"
Gastou was absolutely stunned and cried out:
"Lies, you're a sorcerer, that's who! And you used witchcraft to win!"
That's how the two friends fell out. But the executioner was glad.
Of course, he had seen and heard everything, but none knew it at the time.
And then... and then, here's what happened:
- Out! Out, Executioner! To the Devil with you!
- Take me to him... be so kind.
Gastou said that you well know the way to him through the Pit.
And if not... hand me those two thousand, to make my going easier!
Damn sorcerer! Well, just you wait!
- Who else is there?
- It's me, Jeannot, I want to become your apprentice.
- Apprentice? - Uh-huh.
- Haven't you heard that I'm...
...a sorcerer?
- I heard. But in handicraft, I wouldn't mind becoming a sorcerer myself.
- Good! You know the magic words? - What?
- Ours, the motto we cherish. - A-ah, I know. - Come on, then.
- Strike the iron while it is hot! - Good for you!
Well, you'll be a sorcerer yet!
- A sorcerer? - A sorcerer!
[ SORCERER ] - He goes to the pit. Gastou said so.
- A sorcerer. He's a sorcerer, father. I saw it myself.
How Enric...
And he took my apron... damn him!
I had been saving my dowry in it!
[ SORCERER ]
- Hello, friend. - Heh... friend!... You were a friend!
- Here's the thing... - Well, what is it?
- I want to work together with you again.
Let me in on your sorcery. Two are better than one.
- Ah, first you denounce me... - I did not denounce you!
- You did! - I didn't! - You did! - I didn't, you're mistaken!
- Enough!
Eh... and the mayor did not even give a penny for forging the grille!
He said, "if you're pals with the Devil, go ask him to pay you!"
- Well, how are you doing?
- Why do you ask? - To put Enric in shackles.
- Right, right...
- Just watch out that you don't get in trouble yourself.
Because I heard your entire conversation back at the mill!
- But I'm always ready to be of help!
- Come on! Come on!
Don't be sad. Not all is yet lost.
We'll figure something out.
- Enric! Enric! - Jeannot!
- Enric!
- Is this Gastou's doing?
- Yes, yes! It's all written here.
- Well, speak, what you want?
The bearer of this will receive 2,000 livres from the devil. Enric
- God save us! Why not you? - I'm afraid.
- I'm afraid too! What about you? You executioners go to hell anyway. Right?
2000 livres
9000 livres
2000 livres
- Maybe I'll get lucky...
Don't forget! We'll split the money three ways!
"In the name of the King! Enric the blacksmith is to have his hands cut off!"
- Where is the executioner? Where did he go?
- There's a volunteer!
- Bring him here!
"And then, as a sorcerer, he is to be burned!"
- Axe! Whose hand forged you?
- Yours, Blacksmith! - How dare you hack at it?
- Don't worry, Blacksmith. - And you, Chains?
- Go free, Blacksmith!
- Rapier! - I'm here, Blacksmith!
- And that's the whole story!
Since then, nobody has seen Enric in those parts.
- Jeannot! Jeannot! You be the judge.
Which of us is the best blacksmith, when all's said and done?
- Enric, of course!
He knows the magic words. Didn't you see how the tools listened to him?
- Words... words! If not for us, would these words have helped him?
- Both of you are right, my friends. Things in your hands will always obey me
because our friendship is forged in iron and no one can break it!
Those are the magic words of the blacksmiths.
As for the Devil, who took Enric away...
that is something the people themselves came up with!
Film crew:
screenwriter Yuriy Kirshon
director Perch Sarkisyan art directors Viktor Shevkov, Perch Sarkisyan
composer Sofia Gubaidulina camera Mihail Druyan sound Boris Filchikov
montage V. Turubiner script editor Aleksandr Timofeyevskiy
assistants N. Sumarokova, G. Arkadyev
animators Anatoliy Petrov, Aleksandr Davydov, Leonid Kayukov, Oleg Safronov,
Antonina Alyoshina, Oleg Komarov, M. Kuprach, Ivan Davydov, Vladimir Zarubin,
M. Pershin, G. Chernikova, Erast Meladze, Ada Nikolskaya, A. Buravlev, T. Kazantseva, Olga Horova, Sofia Mitrofanova
voice artists Klara Rumyanova (Jeannot), Anatoliy Papanov (Gastou),
Yevgeniy Vesnik (Enric), Boris Runge (Guille)
production director A. Zorina
The End subs by Chapaev & Eus (2014), revised by Niffiwan (2024)