Goats in Russian Folktales

An animal that appears in many Russian folktales is the goat. I remember a nursery rhyme about a nanny goat that would horn you if you didn’t eat or drink your milk. (Mama’s fingers would play the part of the goat’s horns, tickling your belly.)

The story went something like this:
“Here comes the horned goat
Here comes the bearded goat
Her legs -- “topp topp”
Her eyes -- “hlop hlop”
If you don’t eat your kasha
If you don’t drink your milk
She’ll get you with her horns.”

A favorite folktale, however, is about the wolf and the goat kids.

Once upon a time, there lived a nanny goat and her kids. Every day, the nanny goat went into the woods to eat green grass and drink clear, cold water and the kids bolted the door after her. She’d leave the babies in the hut until her return when she’d knock and sing to them, telling them she was back with lots of milk for them to drink. The kids would open the door, let Mama in, and drink their fill of her delicious milk.

This was the daily routine. All went well until the wolf heard the song of the nanny goat, telling her kids to open the door, and decided to try it for himself.

The kids were not fooled and answered the wolf that their Mama sang to them in a finer, more feminine voice.

The wolf was determined and decided to go to the blacksmith, to have his throat worked on so that he could sing in a more feminine voice.

In the mean time, the Mama goat returned and heard the story about the wolf trying to get into the hut. She warned her babies not to let anyone but her in, singing her exact song.

Unfortunately, after his surgery, the wolf did a fine job of imitating the Mama goat. The next time he knocked, the goat kids opened the door for him. He ate all but one of the kids, who was hiding by the stove.

Upon her return, the Mama goat saw her kids were gone and started crying, grieving, and saying, “Oh, how could this happen to my little goats? Why did you open the door for the evil wolf?”

The wolf wasn’t far away and heard the nanny goat’s wailing. He boldly walked into her hut and said, “It wasn’t me that ate the kids. Enough of the grieving. Let’s go for a walk in the woods.”

Off they went. In the woods they came across a pit, with a bonfire burning inside.

The nanny goat said to the wolf, “Come on, wolf, let’s give it a try and see who can jump over the pit!”

The goat and the wolf started jumping. The nanny goat easily jumped over the pit, but, the wolf jumped and fell smack into the middle of the hot fire.

The wolf’s belly burst from the flames and out jumped the goat kids, alive and well, and ran straight to their Mama! And then they continued residing in their hut and living happily as they lived before.

Such are two goat tales from Russia. There are many more to explore