жихарь ‘Brave young man.’
воробей ‘Swallow.’
да In addition to its familiar meaning of ‘yes,’ да is also used as a colloquial equivalent of и, and this construction occurs frequently in the present story (including in the next three sentences). Note the somewhat corny folk saying about the modest food of Russian peasants: Щи да каша, пища наша ‘Cabbage soup and kasha are our food.’
жихарько Diminutive of жихарь (see the note about the title, above). The diminutive suggests a brave young boy, one who learns to take care of himself only during the course of the tale.
третей ‘As the third (member of the household).’ This is a dialect variant of третий.
дрова ‘Firewood.’
говорят Note that the narration shifts at this point from the perfective past tense into the historical present, as is also common in story-telling in English. This shifting of tense is used elsewhere in this story, as well.
Домовничай A colloquial verb that means ‘to keep house.’ Note the root дом.
яга-баба Baba-Yaga may also be called Yaga-Baba, just Yaga, or by a diminutive, such as Yagisha.
станет Станет = начнет.
считат A dialect variant of standard считает.
котова In addition to the familiar use of the genitive to indicate possession (e.g., ложка кота), Russian may append the suffix -ов to a masculine noun (or -ин to a feminine one) to create a possessive adjective. These possessive adjectives observe a special declension pattern, and take the same ending as третий, третья. Thus also воробьева and жихарькова in this sentence. This possessive suffix also shows up in Russian surnames, e.g., Иванов originally meant ‘belonging to Ivan,’ i.e., ‘Ivan’s [son].’
ступу ‘Mortar.’
пестом ‘Pestle.’
понужат ‘Drive along.’ This has the same dialect ending as считат, above.
помелом ‘Broom.’ The standard Russian word is метла, and помело is used mainly as ‘mop’ or, as in the present case, ‘witch’s broomstick.’
заметат Dialect for заметает. Both помело and заметать are built on the root мет ‘sweep.’
Те This use of the plural form of тот means ‘those ones.’ This pronoun is commonly used in folk texts to indicate a change in subject.
царапать ‘Scratch.’
клевать ‘Peck.’
отняли ‘Took away.’ This is the same root as in принять (‘take [medicine]’), снять (‘take [a picture]; pick up [a telephone receiver]’), and (more abstractly) понять (‘understand’, cf. English get it).
На другой день ‘The next day.’ In other context this phrase could mean ‘on another day.’
стали See the note about станет считать, above.
ежели Ежели = если.
утерпеть Утерпеть and стерпеть (above) are alternative perfectives for the same verb.
кот царапать, воробей клевать The verb form начал is omitted, but understood.
третей See the note about this word above.
вдругорядь ‘For the second time.’ Note the morphological structure: the prefix в-, the root друг ‘second, other,’ and the root ряд, which refers to a series.
забазлал A dialect equivalent of закричал.
курва ‘Whore.’ As in English, this a general term of abuse for a woman, and does not necessarily suggest either prostitution or sexual promiscuity. The Pantheon English translation of this tale delicately simply omits this word.
Братья The hero’s animal companions are compared here to brothers, and they also play the role of parents, who try to look after their child, but must also go to work and leave him alone. Although these parent figures can rescue the child the first two times, it is typical of fairy tales that ultimately he must resolve his own problems, sometimes with the aid of magic helpers, but never with the aid of parents.
Притащила Note that this verb of motion had the prefix по- earlier, to indicate that Baba-Yaga began to drag the boy away, and it now has the prefix при- to indicate arrival. Тащить ‘tug, drag’ is a regular verb of motion, albeit a relatively uncommon one, and it therefore behaves the same way with prefixation as идти, пойти, прийти.
голбец A wooden entrance to the cellar, located by the stove.
затопила ‘Started to heat.’
Девка Like девушка, but with pejorative overtones, as is appropriate for the daughter of a cannibalistic witch.
та See the note about те, above.
ладку Roasting pan.
уставил ‘Arrange.’ Cf. поставить.
другу Dialect for другую.
наволок A dialect equivalent of пол.
бает Inf баять. A colloquial or dialect equivalent of говорить.
Ну-ка ‘Well come on, why don’t you …’
оробел ‘To become timid’ (i.e., ‘to behave timidly’). The adjective робкий means ‘timid,’ and the prefix о- indicates a change of state.
ухват ‘Oven fork.’
да и Да и, like simple да, is a colloquial equivalent of standard и.
пихнул ‘Shove, cram.’
ягишиной This is a possessive adjective (see the note about котова, above) formed from ягиша (a diminutive form of [баба]-яга) and the possessive suffix -ин.
дожидатся As seen elsewhere in this story, a dialect form of the present tense.
Покататься было, повалятся было The use of the infinitive with было is a colloquial construction that indiates that she is about to do something (in this case ‘roll around’ and ‘loll around’ (i.e., ‘feast’).
жихарь ей в ответ The verb form говорит has been omitted, but is understood.
дочерниных Another possessive adjective, formed somewhat unusually from this noun (an extra -н- has been inserted between the extended root дочер- and the possessive suffix -ин-).
спохватилась ‘Thought suddenly.’ This verb also conveys the sense of being surprised or caught up short.
мошенник ‘Scoundrel.’
увернешься ‘Escape’ (here).
Приказыват Dialect for приказывает.
Не тут-то было ‘That didn’t happen either.’
пуще ‘Even more so.’
чело ‘Oven door.’
знат Dialect for знает.
поджалась ‘Curl up.’
ступай The imperative is used here with an indicative sense: ‘he himself heads for home.’
сказыват Dialect for рассказывает.