Myths and Tales form Greece and Romania May 2012 | Page 122

He continues wandering, wanting to test his pouch. That evening, he
reaches a boyar’s house, and gets free lodging because of his Imperial Army
status.
The reluctant and stingy boyar decides to trick the unwelcome guest
by making him sleep inside the only one of his houses where devils are
supposed to be roaming. The soldier falls asleep on a divan (couch) , only to
be rudely awakened when his pillow is thrown away by invisible hands, and
again by strong noises.
Ivan puts a stop to this when he yells Paşol na turbinca! (an
approximate Romanian rendition of the Russian for "Get into the pouch!"), and
all devils throughout the boyar's house are absorbed into his small container.
He falls back to sleep, but is again woken up by Satan himself, who is
infuriated by the loss of his servants, and slaps the soldier over the face. Ivan
orders his Satan to get into the pouch, with the other devils.
At daybreak, Ivan takes his revenge on the boyar by awaking his
entire household, and claiming that he has spend the night trapping rabbits in
his bag, and asks the host to provide him with ramrods so that he may peel
the skin off the animals. The boyar, understanding what Ivan means, hands
him "a cartload" of sticks, and Ivan then drags the devils out one by one and
gives each of them a severe beating, making them promise never to return.