В некотором царстве, в некотором государстве жил-был A formulaic fairy-tale beginning, comparable to English “once upon a time.”
платье Commonly used to refer to a woman’s dress, but also synonymous with the more general одежда.
ездила верхом на лошади Ездить верхом is understood as riding on a horse even when на лошади isn’t specified.
по-девичьи ‘In a feminine manner.’ Cf. по-русски.
охоча до водки ‘Very fond of vodka.’ Cf. хотеть.
знашь A dialect form of знаешь.
единова ‘Once’ (един is the Slavonic form of Russian один).
Бархат ‘Velvet’ (a luxurious material with notably feminine associations).
стороны Region or area, but nearly the same as страна.
поохотиться Note that hunting is associated with desire (cf. хотеть).
дичинкой Diminutive of the conversational дичина; дичь = ‘game, wild birds.’
навстречу Cf. встречать.
увидав Perfective verbal adverb based on a colloquial form of the verb увидеть.
и отвечает ‘Up and answers.’
доведомо ‘For certain.’
воротился A synonym for повернулся.
тотчас ‘That minute,’ from тот and час (cf сейчас).
грамотку Diminutive of грамота, used to refer to any kind of official document.
отведать царского стола ‘Have a taste of the Tsar’s table.’ Note the root вед-, suggesting getting to know [the quality of] the Tsar’s table.
давай ее выпытывать ‘And he starts up asking her.’
по праву-то руку ‘On the right.’ The particle -то has a somewhat emphatic function, and helps contrast right and left in this part of the story. The use of the accusative after the preposition по is colloquial.
палате ‘Palace.’
пяла The word normally means a frame (for stretching furs or skins as they are tanned); here it is used of an embroidery frame (usually пяльцы).
по леву-то руку ‘On the left.’ See the note about по праву-то руку, above.
послушался ‘Obeyed.’ This is the only -ся verb in modern Russian that regularly takes an accusative direct object.
велел Ordered.
конюший двор ‘Stable yard.’ Note the root кон- ‘horse.’
оседлала Cf. седло ‘saddle.’
сивого mNsg сивый ‘grey (of horses)’. A grey object would be серый, and a grey-haired person would be седой.
сивогривого Cf. Nsg грива ‘mane.’
бух Usually used for the sound of something falling (plop!), here it suggests speed and surprise.
по-учтивому ‘In a civil, courteous way.’
крест кладет ‘Crosses herself’ (literally ‘lays a cross on’).
на все четыре сторонушки поклон отдает, ‘Bows in all four directions.’
давай Literally, ‘let’s’; here, ‘they started.’
пить питья пьяные ‘To drink drinks that make one drunk.’
яствы Usually яства (neuter plural) ‘viands, victuals.’
учала Colloquial variant of начала.
дрянь ‘Trash.’
этакого Colloquial, ‘this kind of’ (contrasted with такого ‘that kind of’).
девичья шелепетья ‘Girly nonsense.’ Девичий, девичья is a possessive, and is declined similarly to третий, третья.
и видом не видать и слыхом не слыхать ‘Are neither to be seen nor to be heard.’
распростилась ‘Said farewell.’
изведать ‘To come to know.’ Note the root вед-, which refers to knowledge.
Этак ‘Thus, so’ (colloquial).
дня через два ‘About two days later.’ The inverted word order conveys approximation, with the preposition staying in a unit with the numeral.
пахнула Usually, colloquial for ‘puff, blow’; here, ‘to arrive quickly as the wind.’
наказу Nsg наказ ‘instruction’ (obsolete; the modern standard form is pl указания).
начинить ‘Fill, stuff.’
жемчугом Nsg жемчуг ‘pearls.’ The singular may be used to indicate either a singular pearl or, as in the present case, many pearls. A single pearl is commonly called жемчужина (see below).
вишь Colloquial abbreviated form of видишь.
горсточку ‘Handful,’ cf горсть ‘cupped hand.’
кидать ‘Fling.’
и ‘Too.’
хлебнула ‘Take a taste’ (colloquial). Note the root хлеб.
попалась ей ‘She ran into.’
жемчужина See the note about жемчуг, above.
швырк Shortened from the verb швырнуть ‘throw, chuck.’ The truncated verb form often shows up in colloquial narration, especially for a sudden movement or action, such as Цап! when someone suddenly grabs something (цапать ‘grab, scratch’).
накладена ‘Put.’ The prefix на- often suggests a negative action that leaves a mess behind, such as Что ты наделал? said to a puppy who’s being house-broken.
кушанье ‘Food, meal,’ from кушать ‘eat, sup.’
ведь Indeed; a leftover form of the verb ведать, ‘know, come to know.’
больно Literally ‘painfully,’ but here colloquially a lot (cf. “He wanted to know so bad.”).
истопить ‘Heat up, fire up.’
прямо бухнула Simply, just poofed, appeared in a second.
парадном крылечке ‘Ceremonial (main) porch,’ diminutive of крыльцо.
взошед ‘Having ascended.’ The form is a perfective verbal adverb.
оные ‘Those, the latter’ (archaic).
низехонько An emphatic form of низко.
Не в угоду ли Wouldn’t it be pleasant? (old-fashioned). Cf. годиться.
Извольте ‘As you will, as you see fit’; typically used only when addressing royalty or high nobility.
ваше царское величество More or less equivalent to Your Royal Highness.
давным-давно ‘For a long, long time.’ The use of the instrumental form before the adverb has an intensifying effect.
охоч See the note about охоча, above.
париться Cf. пар ‘steam.’ The Russian bathhouse is actually more of a sauna, and steaming is as important as washing there. This is, of course, a royal bathhouse, but see also the description of the peasant bathhouse in Ivanits, p. 59.
Поко́лесь ‘Whilst’ (dialect).
разоблакался A very fancy verb for getting undressed, something like ‘removed his raiment.’ The root is the same as that of облако, since both clouds and clothing cover and conceal things.
передбанке Note the roots перед- and бан- (as in баня).
в ту пору ‘During that span of time.’
искупаться ‘Wash oneself completely clean.’
была такова ‘She was like that’ (e.g., ‘that was her way’).
захватить ‘Catch, get hold of.’
писульку ‘Note’ (colloquial; cf. писать), contrasting in its informality with Barkhat’s more official, though still diminutive, грамотка.
ворона ‘Raven,’ a bird with negative associations in Russian culture.
сокола Nsg сокол ‘falcon,’ the bird most often associated with the young hero in Russian folk culture.
соймать Variant of поймать.
остался на бобах ‘Wound up with nothing, got nothing for his efforts’ (colloquial). Боб is literally ‘bean.’
мудрая Wise, an epithet often used of clever heroines in Russian folk tales.
лепообразная Note the roots леп- ‘beautiful’ and образю