The Story of Yvashka with the Bear's Ear

In Short

Translated from the Russian folk tradition by George Borrow, this brief tale follows Yvashka, a young man born with a bear's ear and terrifying physical strength. Driven from his home after accidentally harming local children, he travels the world, recruits three uniquely gifted companions, and discovers a magical cabin on crow's feet. When the terrifying witch Baba Yaga attacks their home, only Yvashka possesses the cunning to defeat her. He pursues her into a deep abyss, rescues her captive daughters, and overcomes the ultimate betrayal by his own sworn brothers. It stands as an enduring, action-packed example of classic Slavic folklore.

The Story

The narrative begins with a peasant couple who give birth to a son bearing a bear's ear, earning him the name Yvashka, or Jack with the Bear's Ear. As Yvashka grows, his miraculous strength proves uncontrollable; whenever he tries to play with other children, he inadvertently rips off their limbs or heads. Under pressure from the terrified villagers, Yvashka's father casts him out to seek his own fortune.

Journeying into the world, Yvashka meets three extraordinary men who become his sworn brothers: Quercillo, who cuts oaken billets; Montano, who hews rocky mountains; and Moustacho, who angles for trout using his enormous moustaches. Together, the four comrades wander until they discover a mysterious cabin standing on crow's feet in the forest. Ordering the cabin to turn around, they make it their home and hunt for food.

Trouble begins when the brothers take turns staying behind to cook. The terrible demon Baba Yaga—who travels in an iron mortar driven by a pestle, trailing her three-yard-long tongue—arrives at the cabin. She brutally beats Quercillo, Montano, and Moustacho in succession, eating their food and leaving them half-dead. Each brother conceals his shame from the others. When Yvashka's turn arrives, he sets a trap using a split wooden post smeared with honey. When Baba Yaga licks the honey, Yvashka traps her tongue, severely beat her with iron rods, and spares her only when she begs for mercy.

When his beaten brothers return, Yvashka reveals his victory. They track the fleeing witch to a deep abyss. Yvashka agrees to be lowered down in a canoe, instructing them to pull up the rope if it is light, but cut it if it feels heavy, lest Baba Yaga escape. In the underworld, Yvashka finds Baba Yaga's three beautiful, captive daughters. They warn him of their mother's return and reveal the secret of her power: two pitchers in the cellar containing the water of strength and the water of weakness.

Baba Yaga returns to fight Yvashka once more. During the struggle, Yvashka tricks her by drinking the blue pitcher of strength while she drinks the white pitcher of weakness. Empowered, he thrashes her with her own pestle until she flees forever. Yvashka sends the three daughters to the surface one by one in the canoe. However, when Yvashka loads the final canoe with treasure and climbs in himself, his greedy companions mistake the heavy weight for Baba Yaga, sever the rope, and leave him trapped below while they marry the sisters.

Undeterred, Yvashka wanders the dark underworld until he finds an iron door leading back to the surface. He tracks down his treacherous comrades, slays Moustacho for cutting the rope, claims Moustacho's wife as his own, and lives in immense wealth alongside his remaining companions.

How It Unfolds

Cast out into the world Yvashka's monstrous strength makes him a hazard to the local village children, forcing his father to turn him out of the house. Wandering alone, he meets and recruits Quercillo, Montano, and Moustacho as sworn brothers.

The cabin on crow's feet The four companions discover a enchanted cabin deep in the forest, command it to turn, and establish it as their hunting base.

Baba Yaga's assault While the others hunt, Baba Yaga arrives in her iron mortar, thrashes Quercillo, Montano, and Moustacho on consecutive days, and steals their food.

Yvashka's clever trap Yvashka outsmarts the demon by trapping her long tongue in a honey-covered post and scourging her with iron rods until she begs for release.

Into the underworld abyss Tracking the witch to a deep hole, Yvashka is lowered into the subterranean world by canoe, warning his brothers to cut the rope only if the basket becomes dangerously heavy.

The battle of the water pitchers Guided by Baba Yaga's three captive daughters, Yvashka drinks the underground water of strength while tricking the witch into drinking the water of weakness, subduing her completely.

Betrayal and final triumph After Yvashka hoists the daughters and his newfound riches to the top, his brothers sever the rope and abandon him. Yvashka breaks through an iron door to the surface, executes Moustacho, and claims his fortune.

The People

• Yvashka (Jack with the Bear's Ear): The central protagonist, born with a bear's ear and unmatched physical strength. Driven by a desire for brotherhood and adventure, he uses both brute force and sharp cunning to overcome adversaries, ending up wealthy and victorious after avenging his betrayal.
• Baba Yaga: The terrifying female demon of Russian lore who rides an iron mortar, wields a pestle, and possesses a three-yard-long tongue. She desires to consume everything in her path, but her cruel dominance is broken when Yvashka outsmarts her in both the upper world and her subterranean lair.
• Quercillo, Montano, and Moustacho: Yvashka's three sworn companions, each endowed with a surreal ability (cutting oak, hewing mountains, and angling fish with moustaches). Though initially seeking joint survival, their cowardice and greed lead them to betray Yvashka to marry Baba Yaga's daughters.
• The Daughters of Baba Yaga: Three beautiful damsels kept captive by their mother in a windowless subterranean cabin. They desire freedom and actively aid Yvashka by revealing the secrets of the magic water, ultimately escaping to the surface to marry.

In Its Own Voice

"The child whom he seized by the hand, off he was sure to tear his hand, and whom he seized by the head, off he would tear his head."

This grim initial description establishes the terrifying, untamed strength that leads Yvashka's father to banish him from the village.

"'Till now ne'er a Russian wight / I've heard with ear, or seen with sight, / Now full clear I see and hear."

Baba Yaga utters this eerie, rhythmic chant every time she arrives at the cabin to assault the companions and devour their food.

"She is said to be a huge female who goes driving about the steppes in a mortar, which she forces onward by pounding lustily with a pestle..."

George Borrow's introduction provides vivid folkloric context regarding the monstrous nature and bizarre travel habits of Russia's famous mythological demon.

What It's Really About

At its core, the tale explores the raw, amoral nature of ancient heroic folklore, where physical dominance and pragmatic cunning trump conventional morality. Yvashka represents the ultimate outsider—a biological anomaly banished for his dangerous nature—who survives in a hostile world not by reforming, but by directing his violence against greater threats.

The story examines the instability of human alliances. Yvashka's sworn brothers quickly succumb to fear and greed, abandoning their savior at the first sign of heavy cargo. Rather than offering a soft moral on forgiveness, the narrative reflects a primitive justice: betrayal is met with swift, lethal retaliation, and the ultimate reward is material wealth, survival, and status.

Why Read It Today

This short text offers readers a fascinating look into unpolished Russian demon lore, translated by the famed 19th-century polyglot George Borrow. Fans of classic fairy tales, mythological creature design, and historical folklore will appreciate its lean, fast-paced narrative and bizarre imagery—particularly the vivid depiction of Baba Yaga driving her mortar with a pestle and angling fish with moustaches.

The text is remarkably brief and straightforward, though modern readers should be prepared for the matter-of-fact violence and casual brutality typical of unexpurgated folk stories. There are no lengthy character arcs or modern moral lessons; characters act on impulse, revenge is immediate, and the strong prevail. It serves as a brief, striking artifact of Russian oral storytelling preserved in 19th-century English prose.