In the days when Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible ruled as Tsar in Moscow, the Russian land had become overrun with every manner of unclean thing and godlessness beyond counting.
Long did the pious Tsar grieve over the destruction of the Christian people, and at last he resolved to root out the unclean ones from this world—to destroy the sorceresses and witches, so that there might be less evil.
He sent messengers throughout the kingdom with letters, commanding the Orthodox people to conceal nothing, but to send swiftly to Moscow word of where witches and turncoats might be found. By this Tsar’s decree, old women were brought from all sides and locked in fortresses under strict guard, lest they escape.
Then the Tsar gave the order that all be brought to the square. They gathered in great numbers, stood in a huddle, glancing at one another and smiling. The Tsar himself came out into the square and ordered all the witches to be surrounded with straw. When the straw had been brought and piled in a ring around them, he commanded it to be set alight on all sides, so that all sorcery in Rus’ might be destroyed before his very eyes.
The flames engulfed the witches—and they raised a shrieking, a crying, and a mewing. A thick black pillar of smoke rose up, and from it flew magpies, one after another—countless, beyond counting. It meant that all the witch-turncoats had turned into magpies and flown away, deceiving the Tsar before his very eyes.
Then the Terrible Tsar grew enraged and sent a curse after them:
“May you,” he said, “from this time and forever remain magpies!”
So they all still fly as magpies to this day, feeding on flesh and raw eggs. To this day they fear the Tsar’s curse more than a sharp knife. That is why no magpie ever flies closer to Moscow than sixty versts around.