"Belarusfilm" national film studio
Animated Film Studio
Commissioned by the Department of Cinematography of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus
Ryaba the Hen (based on a folk tale)
There once lived and old man and an old woman.
Their household was not a big one -
just Ryaba the hen and Purry the cat,
that was all the wealth they had!
Here's an egg for you!
The hen laid eggs, feeding the old couple.
- Help yourself. - I don't want to.
- Come on, eat it! - I won't.
Uh...
And the cat spent most of his time lying on the stove, warming his sides.
- Come on, eat it! - I don't want to.
And in a hole under the stove lived a little house mouse.
She subsisted on old potatoes and dry bread crusts.
At times, the mouse would peek out from her hole,
and observe the life of the household.
I'm sick of this food. I want some gingerbread.
I want some, and that's that!
Where am I going to find gingerbread for you?
We don't even have any money.
Find it anywhere you like.
Now I'm supposed to serve her up gingerbread. Phooey!
I've had enough of that old woman!
Do cheer up, old man!
How am I supposed to cheer up? I'm supposed to serve her gingerbread, see!
Don't worry.
She'll have gingerbread.
I'll lay an egg for you, and not just any egg!
Now you, old man, roll the egg along the table,
and the table will be set with lordly food and kingly drink.
Come, light of my life. The gingerbread is served!
Oh!
Dry gingerbread only scratches the mouth -
some coffee's needed!
Oh, wow!
And what is this wonder?
See, Ryaba laid it. It's magic.
Here.
Give Ryaba a treat.
Here, eat it. The old woman's giving you a treat.
Well, thanks for that much, at least.
And they began to live happily, knowing no need or sorrow.
Their table bowed under the weight of the food on it daily.
Eat, drink - it's all right here,
everything your heart desires!
Then the old man was overcome with curiosity:
how do the folks around him live?
One day, the old man took the ship's spyglass from the cat
and went out into the yard to look out at the world.
Yeah...
Other people's houses are no match for our hut.
Come on, now... eh?
Oh, wow!
Ah... ah-ah-ah!
Just look at the mansion we've got now, eh?
A fine hut, yet bare inside.
It needs furnishing!
The old woman also wanted to have a look at the city.
And there, in those tower-houses,
there was furniture and finery beyond counting!
Oh, wow!
The old woman had a good glance,
and decided to furnish her home in the urban style.
Come on...
You... hey... be careful...
It was as if the old woman saw herself from outside for the first time.
What was she wearing?!
Just a bunch of hand-me-downs!
Practically rags!
She quickly glanced into the spyglass -
what outfits are in fashion there, these days?
Oh, wow! Oh...
You wouldn't believe the things I saw out there!
Upon seeing such splendor, the old woman was seized with envy.
In no time at all, she created an urban wardrobe for herself!
And dressed herself in a dress so elegant,
that it was almost royal!
And she herself looked like a queen.
She garbed everyone in ceremonial attire, in the royal style.
And she placed Ryaba in a gilded cage,
so that nobody would steal her.
The mouse, too, furnished her hole in the manner of her hosts,
all in the urban style.
Well, happy house-warming, I guess... we seem to be sitting pretty!
Hm!
Time passed,
and everything was good,
only one day, the old woman noticed that around them
houses were sprouting like mushrooms!
And she decided that she, too, wanted to live in a skyscraper.
Just look at those houses!
But our... you know... mansion's not any worse!
I want a palace that reaches the sky!
Now my little soul is satisfied!
Old man, there's someone there!
Oh... don't worry... that's... just the mouse fooling around!
"I've got everything," thought the mouse,
"except for the magic egg."
And she decided to take the egg into her mousehole.
Oh.
Everything vanished as if it had never existed -
the lordly clothes and the royal chambers.
All their wealth melted away
like the mist on a clear morning.
And the old man and the old woman were left without a penny to their name.
So they began living again just as before:
not worrying about tomorrow,
and not grieving over yesterday.
screenwriter Dmitriy Yakutovich
director and animator Vladimir Petkevich
art directors Natalya Zemchenok, Aleksandr Vereshchagin, Anna Yemelyanova
camera Aleksandr Betev composer Viktor Kopytko
sound Yevgeniy Rogozin
artists Natalya Zemchenok, Mariya Puchkova, Viktoriya Bratishko
synchronized sounds Shamil Ismailov
voices Aleksandr Tkachenok, Zoya Belokhvostik, Varvara Korzyuk
musicians: Veronika Praded (cymbalom), Aleksey Zagorskiy (fiddle),
Aleksey Frolov (bassoon), Natalya Kopytko (percussion)
music by: M. Kossa - waltz "Amur Waves", G. Gershwin, "Rhapsody in Blue"
P. Tchaikovsky "Dance of the Little Swans" from the "Swan Lake" ballet
assistant director Anna Yegorushkina color Oksana Yerofeyeva
montage Mariya Kotsun script editor Dmitriy Yakutovich
production director Yelena Korzyuk
Subtitles by Niffiwan (2026.06) Animatsiya.net
The End (c) Dpt. of Cinem. of the Min. of Culture of Belarus & Belarusfilm, 2011