Storytelling Week 14

Emilian The Wicked

Unmagical pike. Luc Viatour. Image information. 

There once lived a man named Emilian who was quite wicked indeed. He was lazy and never did anything he was asked. He was very odd and had very violent tendencies. He had three older brothers who were all married, and he would often go to their houses for dinner. It is not that he particularly enjoyed the company of his family, but he did enjoy the free food. His brothers' wives were all afraid of him and hated him.

On a holiday, the wicked man and his family were all to eat together. The older brothers left for town to get more supplies and told the wicked man to do what their wives asked. Though the wives gave him simple tasks, he refused to help any at all. He yelled at them and called them useless whores. By this time, they were used to the laziness, but the name calling became too much. One of the wives repeatedly hit him on the head with a bucket and screamed at him until he agreed to fill the the bucket with water.

The wicked man planned on taking his time filling the bucket, and when he arrived at the stream, he began to fish. Almost immediately, he caught a pike. This particular pike happened to possess great magical power, and promised to give the man all he wished if he would set the fish free. He could have anything that he wished for aloud. The wicked man agreed, and with the freeing of the fish, came into a power which only increased his evil ways.

The first thing he wished for was his brothers' wives would all do a terrible job preparing the meal and therefore cause a quarrel among them. When he returned, he found all the women blaming each other for ruining the holiday. Next, the wicked man's brothers came in and he wished that they also join the quarrel. With each brother physically attacking another, the wicked man left their home and went into town.

On his walk to town, he grew lazy and wished for an axe to cut down the trees and make a grand carriage for him. The black carriage quickly appeared and headed into town without any horses. This caused quite a raucous in town, the peasants all claiming that the devil must be inside that carriage so evil-looking and driving without horses. Being compared to the devil only made the wicked man laugh with delight and hunger for more power.

At the edge of town, the people created a road block with men and women holding torches and pitchforks. The carriage picked up speed and drove straight through the mob. No one was killed, but many were greatly injured. As the wicked man continued his journey, word made it to the king what was happening. The king was a just man, and he decided that this wickedness must be immediately ended.

When Emilian arrived at the king's castle, he planned on wishing himself king and taking over the entire country. The magic pike had sensed that his power was being used in horrible ways and he appeared in the drinking fountain of the king's palace. Together, the fish and the king decided how to end this madness. When the wicked man arrived, he wished for the guards of the palace to be beaten by their own armor, and he walked right through the gate. As soon as he stepped foot through the door, he was captured by the king who then put cloth in his mouth. The wicked man tried and tried again to wish himself free, but since the wish was not audible, the magic would not work.

Next, for his heinous crimes (and because the king liked to be dramatic), the wicked man was placed in a bath tub filled with tar which was thrown in the ocean in front of all the people of the land. However, the man did not die, but he turned into a pike, though now without any magic.

Author's Note: The original story here is called "The Foolish Man," but he did a lot of the same mean things. He still hurts the townspeople with large pieces of wood. That story has it set up where the fool marries the king's daughter, but the king throws them both in the ocean (because they are fools). He wishes himself free and into a new, giant palace with lots of wealth. The king accepts them now as part of the family since he has money. I just really didn't like the fool character, so I made him more evil.

Bibliography: Ralston. "The Foolish Man." Russian Fairy Tales. 1887.
Original Story