"The Scapegoat´s Daughter" by Frances Monro

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Once upon a time there was a king who was troubled by ghosts. He had done many bad things and killed many people to protect his reign and at night they would crowd around him and weep and wail and remind him of the punishments that awaited him in the hereafter. He went to the priests to have the ghosts exorcised but that didn't work, perhaps because he didn't believe in the God the priests spoke of.

Finally, much troubled and unable to sleep the king went to the village sin eater, the scapegoat. The sin eater, a low common woman who had a baby daughter and no husband. She survived from day to day by eating the little sins of the village folk and taking the stains their little tawdry affairs and petty jealousies. People usually found it easier and cheaper to go to the sin-eater and pay her than to admit their faults to the priest.

So the king went down to the sin eater and commanded her to take his sins and remove the ghosts which troubled him. The sin eater woman was unhappy and frightened of the sins the king recounted to her - these were not the little sins of a milkmaid lusting after a knight at arms or a goatherd stealing apples in the orchard but the great and black sins of statecraft.

The sin eater agreed to eat the king's sins only on the condition that he take her daughter and raise her as his own. She explained that to digest and expiate such enormous sins she would have to be whipped through the streets and sent into exile with nothing but the clothes on her back, and she could not take her daughter with her.

The king agreed to raise the sin eater's daughter with his own child, and the sin eater was whipped through the streets and sent into exile, never to return.

In due course the princess and the scapegoat's daughter grew into girls, and from girls into women. One day the king noticed the his foster daughter as if for the first time. He noticed how beautiful she was and how the sun shone in her hair and the grace of her movements. Since she was a commoner and a virgin he decided that he would have her, so he had her brought to his chambers and he lay with her.

After the king had enjoyed the girl he found it necessary to marry her off in case she became pregnant, which would not only cause talk but also could result in the birth of a royal bastard which might potentially threaten the king's dynasty. So the king commanded a pig farmer who was behind on his taxes to marry the girl. So the scapegoat's daughter left the Palace and married the swine herder, moving into his hovel and becoming a farm wife.

One day as she was working in the fields Baba Yaga the witch came from the woods and stood watching her. "So the king's daughter works in the fields like a peasant." the witch said. "Here, take this golden plow which will work the fields by itself and bring you great prosperity."

The girl accepted the witch's gift and showed it to her husband, and for a season they were very happy because the plow did all the work in the fields by itself and was the marvel of the district. Then one day the king was riding by when he noticed the plow moving in the fields by itself. He stopped to marvel at this, and, seeing that it was made of solid gold he ordered the pig farmer to give it to him. The swine herd had no choice but to obey.

The king took the magic plow back to his palace and had it melted down and the gold placed in his treasury. Next year all the crops in the kingdom failed.

One day the farm wife was working in the kitchen when Baba Yaga came from the woods and stood watching her. "So the king's daughter works preparing food like a peasant." the witch said. "Woman, take this golden mortar and pestle. Place a little spice or grain in it and grind it and it will produce as much food as you could ever need."

The girl accepted the gift and showed it to her husband, and for a season they were very happy because the mortar produced all the flour and salt and spices they could ever want and was the marvel of the district. Then one day the king came riding by and saw the golden mortar and claimed it for himself and the pig farmer had not choice but to give it to him.

The king took the mortar back to the palace and had it melted down and the gold placed in the treasury. That winter mice and rats ate all the grain in the kingdom and the people began to starve.

One day the farm wife was haggling in the market, trying to buy food when Baba Yaga came out of the woods and stood watching her. "So the king's daughter bargains in the market like a fish wife," the witch said. "Here, take this golden purse. It will magically produce all the gold you could ever need."

The farmer's wife accepted the purse and showed it to her husband. For a season they were very happy because the purse produced good solid gold in lavish quantities and they could buy everything they needed and this was the marvel of the district. Then one day the king heart of the magic purse and rode down to their hovel to claim it for himself. The pig farmer had no choice but to give it to him.

The king had the purse taken back to the palace and locked in the treasury. That night the purse opened and swallowed all the gold in the treasury and then it disappeared.

Now the kingdom was in bad trouble because the crops had failed, there was no food and there was no gold to pay the soldiers. The king of a neighbouring kingdom invaded and some of the soldiers mutinied. The king took the rest of the soldiers and went to fight the enemy and he was killed.

After a period of unrest the king's evil uncle took over the country and married the princess to shore up his reign. He managed to beat off the invaders more or less although the kingdom was smaller than it had been. He raised the taxes and the peasants hated him, although they dared not say so out loud.

As for the Scapegoat's daughter, she did not meet Baba Yaga again and everyone quickly forgot that she had ever been a royal foster child. She was a good wife and mother and bore her husband many fine strong sons and pretty daughters. The pig farmer prospered in his work becoming one of the richest peasants in the district in spite of the taxes. They say in that country that the two lived happily ever after.

After the revolution the pig farm was collectivised, and later they built a tractor factory on the site. What Baba Yaga thought of this is not recorded.