The Black Geese

October 22, 2019.

Another Waldorf Wednesday at Wild Culture. This week's story addressed the GEAS report, because try as we might, the term "superthreat" has seeped into the children's vocabulary and their imaginations.


Once there was and once there was not a couple who had two children, a girl and a boy.

One day the mother said "Natasha, we must go to market today. Your brother Vlad is ill, so I need you to stay and look after him. Keep a close watch on him and stay in the house. People have seen Baba Yaga's five black geese flying over the village. When we come home we'll have sweet buns and tea."

Who is Baba Yaga, you might be wondering. She is a ravenous giantess who eats children whenever she can catch them. People say she is ten feet tall and lives above the forest in a hut perched on three chicken legs. The geese? The geese do her bidding, finding children for her supper!

Natasha did as she was told, until her friends came to play and then she forgot her mother's warning and took her brother outside so they could play tag and hide and seek. She laid a quilt on the grass under the chestnut tree, gently laid her napping brother on it, and carefully covered him with another blanket. Then she ran off to play.

When her friends went home Natasha returned to the spot she'd left her brother but he was gone!

"Oh no! The black geese have carried him off! I must find him before suppertime!" she thought in a panic.

She began to run toward the woods. She passed through the field, and along the river, where she stopped. On the bank was a little fish flopping about, gasping for breathe. She knew she needed to reach her brother quickly but she stopped and gently put the fish back into the water. She was about to continue on her way when the fish spoke to her!

"Listen! What I say is true
I know exactly what to do.
When danger comes to threaten you
Throw this shell over your shoulder."


The fish tossed her a small shell. Well Natasha wasn't sure how a shell could help her, but she put it in her pocket as she hurried on.

She was passing through a grove of trees when she looked up and saw in amongst the brown leaves a little red squirrel. He was caught in a trap. She wanted to keep going, to get to her brother, but she stopped. She climbed the tree, and opened the trap. The squirrel ran higher in the branches as Natasha climbed back down. Before she could start running again, the squirrel spoke!


"Listen! What I say is true
I know exactly what to do.
When danger comes to threaten you
Throw this acorn over your shoulder."

He dropped the nut down to her. Now Natasha wasnm't sure how an acorn could save her, but she put it in her pocket and ran on.

Out of the grove she came to an old settlers stone fence and she ran along it. A squeak stopped her. A tiny field mouse was trapped by a crumbling rock fall. She knew she had to hurry to her brother but she carefully moved the stones to free the mouse. She was turned again to run when the mouse spoke!

"Listen! What I say is true
I know exactly what to do.
When danger comes to threaten you
Throw this pebble over your shoulder."

He held up a tiny piece of granite to her. Natasha didn't know how a pebble could save her, but she shoved into her pocket and ran on.

where the fence ended the forest began and she began running through the trees. Son the spruce grew so thickly that no sunlight reached the ground and Natasha had to sidle sideways between the green branches.

Then, she tripped over a root. It was no tree root; it was a giant chicken foot. She saw the giant cauldron and broom that Baba Yaga travelled through the sky in and knew right away that Baba Yaga was home. Her eyes followed the chicken foot up the scaly leg to the hut high above her.

She climbed. She carefully peeked in the window.

There on a giant bed was Baba Yaga. She was snoring. There was her little brother, still napping in his blankets at the foot of the bed.

She climbed in and tiptoed over to her brother. Her brother woke up and laughed when she picked him up and the five black geese awoke and started angrily hissing and honking at Natasha!

Baba Yaga woke with a roar -"STOP THIEF! THAT'S MY SUPPER!"

Natasha did not stop, she fled out the door and with her brother on her back! She climbed down the chicken leg as fast as she could with Baba Yaga right behind her!

Baba Yaga was very tall and thin and could pass through the dense forest much faster than Natasha and she was almost on her when Natasha remembered the words of the fish.

"Listen! What I say is true
I know exactly what to do.
When danger comes to threaten you
Throw this shell over your shoulder."

So she did just that, and where the shell fell a great lake spread out. Baba Yaga had to stop. Natasha ran on and Baba Yaga bend down and began to drink up the lake!

Soon he was chasing Natasha again. She covered a huge amount of ground with each step, screaming "MY SUPPER!!! down Natasha's neck.

Natasha remembered the words of the squirrel

"Listen! What I say is true
I know exactly what to do.
When danger comes to threaten you
Throw this acorn over your shoulder."

So she did, and a forest of mighty oaks sprang up where it fell. It stopped Baba Yaga, she could not pass. Natasha ran on and Baba Yaga began to chew her way through the forest!

When the whining sound of the gnashing teeth ended Natasha knew Baba Yaga was chasing her again and she was getting so tired! Her brother was so heavy!

Now Natasha remembered the words of the mouse

"Listen! What I say is true
I know exactly what to do.
When danger comes to threaten you
Throw this pebble over your shoulder."

Where the pebble fell a stony mountain sprang up in it's place. It's peak was so high it was in the clouds. Baba Yaga stopped facing a tall cliffface even she could not easily cross and she turned back for home and an easier supper.

Natasha hurried home and was safe inside when her parents returned, playing with her brother. They had sweet buns and tea.

A happy ending doesn't mean a threat is eliminated, just thwarted. Children make excellent every day heroes.