The Hundred Cherries

A long time ago, in Romania, there lived a man named Stan Bolovan and his wife. Though they were poor, they were very happy. However, there was one thing missing from their lives: children. Every time his wife thought about it, she wept bitterly. Finally, Stan said, “Do not worry about it anymore. I will go and consult the Wise Man.”

The Wise Man listened patiently to Stan’s problem. “Pick a cherry from the tree outside my door and eat it on your way home,” he said. Then he went into his house and shut the door.

Stan thought this was a strange request, but the cherries looked so delicious that he picked one and ate it. Then he ate another, and finally, he filled his pockets with cherries, eating them on his way back home. By the time he reached his gate, he had eaten exactly one hundred cherries.

As Stan approached the door, he heard the strangest sounds coming from inside his house—laughter, crying, dancing, singing, shouting, and even quarreling. When he opened the door, he was stunned to see his wife, surrounded by children.

“How many children have we?” Stan asked in amazement.

“Exactly one hundred!” his wife beamed with joy.

Stan remembered the Wise Man’s words and the hundred cherries he had eaten. He felt humble, but before he could stop and think, the children began clamoring for food. They seemed to be always hungry and never satisfied. Stan quickly decided that he must find work to provide for all the children.

One evening, he turned to his wife and said, “I have provided food for one hundred hungry children as long as I can. Now, it is time I rested.”

His wife agreed. She gave him some bread and cheese, and a jug of water. He set off across the land, hoping to find work. Soon, he came across a goatherd, who explained that he could use some help. The goatherd told Stan that every night, a great dragon came to milk his goats.

Hardly had the goatherd finished speaking, when the sound of beating wings filled the air. A huge, fierce dragon flew down. The goatherd hid, but Stan stood his ground.

Stan drew himself up to his full height, though he was quaking with fear.

“Dragon, why do you come every night to milk the goats?” Stan called out.

“Because my grandmother likes to bathe in milk,” the dragon roared. “And who are you, little man?”

“I am Stan Bolovan, who eats rocks for dinner and drinks a vat of milk in one mouthful!” Stan declared boldly.

The dragon looked at him in surprise. Then, the dragon pulled out a small packet and squeezed something into his hand.

“If you can squeeze a stone until you get milk from it, I will stop coming here,” said the dragon.

Stan tried, but could not squeeze the stone. Just as he was about to give up, he saw a piece of white cheese. He popped it into his mouth, and the dragon watched in astonishment.

“Well,” said the dragon, now impressed, “come with me. Only my grandmother can find work for you, and she will pay you well.”

Stan, not wanting to back out, agreed. The dragon picked him up and flew him to where his grandmother was waiting. She was even larger and fiercer than the dragon, and Stan shook with fear.

“Here is a man who can squeeze water out of stones and eat the remains,” the dragon said proudly.

“Then I have plenty of tasks for him,” the grandmother replied. “But if he fails, he shall be our slave forever.” She picked up a club bound with iron and studded with spikes. “We will see which breaks first: his bones or this club.”

Stan grew more terrified, but he had to think quickly. As the grandmother hurled the heavy club at him, he could not move his legs. Desperate, he cried out, “Throw me a stone and let me begin!”

The grandmother went to the fire and returned with a red-hot cinder. Stan saw it and blew on it so fiercely that it burned to ashes.

The grandmother was astonished, but she was not one to give up so easily. “Now,” she said, “I have another task for you. Take this shovel and this pail and go to the river to collect water for my bath.”

Stan watched as the dragon filled his water bags and began to stagger home, but Stan did not follow him. When the dragon asked why, Stan replied, “I am too busy to see how much water there is in the river to bring back.”

The dragon returned to the river to fill his bags again, but when he came back, Stan was busy digging a large hole.

“What is that for?” the dragon asked.

“You asked for water,” Stan replied, “so I am digging this channel to your front door so that the river will flow through your house.”

“Stop! Stop!” cried the dragon in alarm. “I will give you three sacks of gold if you leave the river where it is.”

Stan agreed, and when the dragon told his grandmother what had happened, she turned pale. “We will beat him yet,” she growled, and ordered him to go into the forest with Stan to see who could collect the most wood for the fire.

The dragon pulled up six oak trees, but Stan climbed the biggest oak tree and looked around.

“What are you doing up there?” the dragon asked.

“I am tying this creeper to all the trees in the forest so that when I pull the first one, all the rest will come with it,” Stan explained.

“But then we will have no more trees left, and no more wood for the fire!” cried the dragon. “If you promise to leave the forest where it is, I will give you ten sacks of gold.”

Stan agreed, and when they returned to the dragon’s home, the grandmother grumbled, “We owe him too much already. He will not stop until we get rid of him.”

That night, Stan overheard their plan. He decided to trick them once again. He put a log inside the bed and hid underneath it. At midnight, the dragon entered the room carrying a huge club. He dealt three great blows to the bed, and with each blow, the club shattered.

The next morning, Stan walked cheerfully into the room where the dragon and his grandmother were having breakfast. When they saw him, their faces turned pale.

“What a comfortable bed,” said Stan. “I slept like a log. In fact, I like it here so much, I was thinking of staying forever.”

“No, no!” cried the grandmother in alarm. “Take another five sacks of gold and leave us in peace.”

Stan pretended to hesitate, but finally, he agreed. “I will go, if you insist, but I am ashamed to return home with so little. If you bring the sacks of gold to my house, it will save me much embarrassment.”

Eager to be rid of Stan, the dragon picked up twenty sacks of gold and flew with them to Stan’s home. When they reached the house, the dragon heard the singing and shouting, crying and quarreling, and dancing of one hundred children inside.

“That is my family,” Stan said proudly.

“Are they all like you?” asked the dragon in fear.

Stan smiled and said, “Yes, they are all just like me.”

The dragon turned pale and dropped the sacks of gold outside the door. Without another word, he fled in terror.

Stan went inside, where he was joyfully welcomed by his wife and children. He told them that they would never again want for anything, for from that day on, their lives were filled with wealth and happiness.