Ha! Where will you find me?

Beyond thrice times three lands, in the thirteenth kingdom, on the other side of the fiery river!

You wonder where Koschei the Deathless got his magic steed? I’ve got mares who fly so fast I can fly round the earth in a single day. A mere outing!

My house stands in a circle of twelve poles. Eleven heads are stuck on them. Why? Because those boys didn’t take good care of my mares!

The twelfth pole needs a head. Who will it be, I wonder.

Ah! Someone’s coming!

Baba Yaga in Marya Morevna, Russian Fairy Tales Collected by W.R.S. Ralston. Illustration by Nickolai Kochergin.

Have you ever tried to work for somebody or help someone whose expectations could never be met? How did you deal with that?