About the fairy tale
Tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful and her magic doll
The tale of the merchant's daughter Vasilisa is very interesting and instructive! Both children and their parents will be able to immerse themselves in an exciting reading and mentally transport yourself to the times of kings, servants and popular beliefs.
Unusual illustrations based on the creations of Russian masters will help you vividly imagine the heroes of a fairy tale and immerse yourself in a dense forest, in the hut of Baba Yaga or in the royal chambers. The characters from the story are remarkable and memorable, they have character traits to be analyzed and conclusions drawn. Let's get to know the characters better:
Vasilisa the Beautiful - the central character of the Russian fairy tale. She is a merchant's daughter, left an orphan at the age of 8. Before her death, her mother gave her a charm - a small doll and ordered her not to show it to anyone. Vasilisa was kind and hardworking, and the doll helped her in everything. When the girl had a stepmother and evil sisters, she did not grumble, and continued to do housework regularly. The girl was not afraid to go into the forest to get a torch. For kindness, skillful hands and fearlessness, fate rewarded her with a royal husband.
Charm doll - a gift to Vasilisa from her mother. In Russian villages, such dolls were often sewn and passed down from generation to generation. People believed that talismans and amulets protect the family from troubles, illnesses and poverty. Vasilisa relied on her doll, and she helped her in everything.
Vasilisa's father - merchant, widowed after 12 years of marriage. He remarried a widow with two daughters and did not recognize her as an evil stepmother for her daughter. The merchant worked hard to provide the family with wealth and did not know how Vasilisa was offended by her half-sisters.
Evil stepmother and her daughters they did not immediately love the kind, intelligent and accommodating Vasilisa. Lazy girls sat on the porch all day, and the orphan was forced to work so that she would lose weight and turn black from the sun. Only the harmful stepmother did not know that the amulet helped her stepdaughter.
Baba Yaga and her faithful servants - the most remarkable characters. The old woman on a bone leg ate human flesh, but she did not touch Vasilisa, she only forced her to cook, clean the hut and sort out the grain. For the work, Yaga rewarded the girl with a magic skull, which incinerated the eyes of her stepmother and her daughters. They pointed the way to the forest to Vasilisa Riders - White, Red and Black . These were the servants of Baba Yaga - morning, sun and night.
kind old lady sheltered Vasilisa when she was left all alone. The cloth that the girl wove, the grandmother took to the king and praised the craftswoman very much. So she brought the orphan with her future husband.
king - sovereign marveled at the beauty of Vasilisa, her kindness and skillful hands. He could not part with her and immediately took her as his wife. So happily ended the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful!
The story would not be as interesting if it weren't for colorful illustrations. Russian craftsmen from the villages of Fedoskino, Mstera and Kholuya could convey the characters and plot from the fairy tale with accuracy and great skill. WITH beautiful pictures The story will forever be remembered by the children and will be passed from mouth to mouth to future generations.
Read the Russian folk tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful" for children with beautiful colorful pictures and large print free online and without registering on our website. You can also watch and listen.
In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said:
- Listen, Vasilisushka! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune.
Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.
After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, she was both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!
Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat, and even leave the doll the tidbit, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying:
- On, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do?
The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in her grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa.
She only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and applied water, and fired up the stove. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa some weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.
Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors:
“I won’t give out the younger one before the older ones!” And when he sees off the suitors, he takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings. Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut lived a Baba Yaga.
Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.
Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one to weave lace, the other to knit stockings, and Vasilisa to spin, and all according to their lessons. She put out the fire in the whole house, left only one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself.
The girls worked. Here is burned on a candle; one of her stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, and instead, on her mother's orders, as if by accident, she put out the candle.
- What do we do now? the girls said. - There is no fire in the whole house, and our lessons are not over. We must run after the fire to Baba Yaga!
- It’s light for me from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go.
“And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - It’s light for me from the knitting needles!
“You go after the fire,” they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! And they pushed Vasilisa out of the room.
Vasilisa went to her closet, placed the prepared supper in front of the doll, and said:
- Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!
The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles.
"Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at Baba Yaga.
Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.
She walks and trembles. Suddenly, her rider gallops past:
He himself is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white,
— it began to dawn in the yard.
Himself red, dressed in red and on a red horse,
— the sun began to rise.
Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls with eyes stick out on the fence; instead of doors at the gates - human legs, instead of locks - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot.
But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole glade became light as in the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was.
Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched;
Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom.
She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted:
- Fu, fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?
Vasilisa approached the old woman fearfully and, bowing low, said:
It's me, grandma! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you.
- Well, - said the Baba Yaga, - I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you!
Then she turned to the gate and cried out:
- Hey, my strong constipation, open up; my wide gates, open!
The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again.
Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa:
“Give me here what’s in the oven: I want to eat.” Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls on the fence, and began to drag food out of the oven and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, mead, beer and wine.
She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork.
The yaga-baba began to go to bed and says:
- When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it of the black. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - eat you!
After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa placed the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears, and said:
- On, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!
The doll replied:
"Don't be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful!" Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!
Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn.
Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red horseman flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom.
Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the Baba Yaga's house, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis selected the last grains of nigella from the wheat.
“Oh, my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. You saved me from trouble.
“All you have to do is cook dinner,” answered the doll, slipping into Vasilisa’s pocket. - Cook with God, and rest in good health!
By the evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for the Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black rider flashed past the gate - and it was completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. The trees crackled, the leaves crunched - the Baba Yaga is coming.
Vasilisa met her.
- Is everything done? Yaga asks.
“Let’s see for yourself, grandma!” Vasilisa said.
Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said:
- OK then!
Then she shouted:
- My faithful servants, my hearty friends, grind my wheat!
Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa:
“Tomorrow, do the same as today, and in addition, take poppies from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of the malice of the earth, mixed it into it!”
The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way:
- Pray to God and go to bed: the morning is wiser than the evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!
The next morning, the Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately fixed all the work.
The old woman came back, looked around, and shouted:
- My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze oil out of poppy seeds! Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence.
"Why aren't you talking to me?" Baba Yaga said. - Are you standing like a dumb?
“You didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “but if you will allow me, I would like to ask you something.
- Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!
- I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, I was overtaken by a rider on a white horse, himself white and in white clothes: who is he?
“This is my clear day,” answered the Baba Yaga.
- Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, he himself is red and all dressed in red; Who is this?
This is my red sun! Baba Yaga replied.
“And what does the black horseman mean who overtook me at your very gates, grandmother?”
- This is my dark night - all my faithful servants!
Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent.
Why don't you ask yet? Baba Yaga said.
- It will be from me and this; Well, you yourself, grandmother, said that you would learn a lot - you would grow old.
“It’s good,” said the Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard!” I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I'll ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I'm asking you?
“My mother’s blessing helps me,” answered Vasilisa.
- So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed.
She dragged Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, pointing at a stick, gave it to her and said:
- Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for.
Vasilisa set off at a run by the light of the skull, which went out only at the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house.
Approaching the gate, she was about to throw the skull: “It’s true, at home,” she thinks to herself, “they don’t need fire anymore.” But suddenly a dull voice was heard from the skull:
- Don't leave me, take me to your stepmother!
She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they met her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they could not carve it themselves, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it.
“Perhaps your fire will hold out!” the stepmother said. They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn!
The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one undertakes to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she says:
- Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll make everything for you.
Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman:
- Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself. The old woman looked at the goods and gasped:
- No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace.
The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept walking past the windows. The king saw and asked:
"What do you want, old lady?"
“Your royal majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you.
The king ordered to let the old woman in, and when he saw the canvas, he was indignant.
- What do you want for it? the king asked.
- He has no price, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift.
The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.
They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally the king called the old woman and said:
“If you knew how to spin and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.
“It was not I, sire, who spun and wove the cloth,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted son, the girl.”
- Well, let her sew!
The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything.
“I knew,” Vasilisa tells her, “that this work would not escape my hands.
She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.
The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the old woman's yard; entered the room and said:
“The tsar-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked his shirts, and reward her from his royal hands.
Listen to the audio book with pictures a fairy tale for children about Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga online
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Vasilisa the Beautiful - Russian folk tale
Vasilisa the Beautiful - the tale of beautiful girl and a magic doll that helped Vasilisa everywhere in exchange for her kind words. Vasilisa had to endure many misfortunes, but fate rewarded her for her kindness ...
Vasilisa the Beautiful read
In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said:
Listen, Vasiliska! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune.
Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.
After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, she was both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!
Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat, and even leave the doll the tidbit, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying:
Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do?
The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa some weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.
Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors:
I will not give out the younger one before the older ones! And when he sees off the suitors, he takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings. Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut lived a baba-yaga; she would not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.
Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one weave lace, the other knit stockings, and spin Vasilisa. She put out the fire in the whole house, left only one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Here is burned on a candle; one of her stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, and instead, on her mother's orders, as if by accident, she put out the candle.
What are we to do now? the girls said. - There is no fire in the whole house. We must run after the fire to Baba Yaga!
I'm light from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go.
And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - I'm light from the spokes!
You go after the fire, both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! And they pushed Vasilisa out of the room.
Vasilisa went to her closet, placed the prepared supper in front of the doll, and said:
Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!
The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles.
Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at Baba Yaga.
Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.
She walks and trembles. Suddenly, a rider gallops past her: he himself is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.
Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls with eyes stick out on the fence; instead of doors at the gate - human legs, instead of locks - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the baba-yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth, - night had come.
But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole glade became light as in the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was. Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted:
Fu, fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?
Vasilisa approached the old woman fearfully and, bowing low, said:
It's me, grandma! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you.
Well, - said the Baba Yaga, - I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you! Then she turned to the gate and cried out:
Hey, my strong locks, open up; my wide gates, open!
The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again.
Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa:
Give me what's in the oven: I'm hungry. Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food from the stove and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, mead, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The yaga-baba began to go to bed and says:
When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it of the black. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - eat you!
After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa placed the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears, and said:
Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!
The doll replied:
Don't be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful! Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!
Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn. Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red rider flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom. Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the Baba Yaga's house, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis selected the last grains of nigella from the wheat.
Oh, my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. You saved me from trouble.
All you have to do is cook up dinner, ”the doll answered, slipping into Vasilisa’s pocket. - Cook with God, and rest on your health!
By the evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for the Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black rider flashed past the gate - and it was completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. Trees crackled, leaves crunched - Baba Yaga is coming. Vasilisa met her.
Is everything done? - Yaga asks.
Let's see for yourself, grandma! Vasilisa said.
Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said:
OK then! Then she shouted:
My faithful servants, my hearty friends, grind my wheat!
Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa:
Tomorrow you do the same as today, and besides that, take a poppy from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of the malice of the earth, mixed it into it!
The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way:
Pray to God and go to bed: the morning is wiser than the evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!
The next morning, the Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately fixed all the work. The old woman came back, looked around, and shouted:
My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze the oil out of poppy seeds! Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence.
Why don't you say anything to me? Baba Yaga said. - Are you standing like a dumb?
You didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “and if you will allow me, I would like to ask you something.
Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!
I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, I was overtaken by a rider on a white horse, himself white and in white clothes: who is he?
This is my clear day, - Baba Yaga answered.
Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, red himself and all dressed in red; Who is this?
This is my red sun! Baba Yaga answered.
And what does the black horseman mean, who overtook me at your very gates, grandmother?
This is my dark night - all my faithful servants! Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent.
Why don't you ask? - said Baba Yaga.
Will be with me and this; Well, you yourself, grandmother, said that you learn a lot - you will grow old.
It's good, - said the Baba Yaga, - that you ask only about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard! I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I'll ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I'm asking you?
My mother's blessing helps me, Vasilisa answered.
So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed.
She dragged Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, pointing at a stick, gave it to her and said:
Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for.
Vasilisa set off at a run by the light of the skull, which went out only at the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she was about to throw the skull: “It’s true, at home,” she thinks to herself, “they don’t need fire anymore.” But suddenly a dull voice was heard from the skull:
Don't leave me, take me to your stepmother!
She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they greeted her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they themselves could not carve, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it.
Perhaps your fire will hold on! - said the stepmother. They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush - eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.
In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went to the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. Here is how she says to the old woman:
It's boring for me to sit idle, grandmother! Go buy me the best linen; At least I'll spin.
The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one undertakes to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she says:
Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll make everything for you.
Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman:
Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself. The old woman looked at the goods and gasped:
No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace.
The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept walking past the windows. The king saw and asked:
What do you want, old lady?
Your royal majesty, - the old woman answers, - I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you.
The king ordered to let the old woman in, and when he saw the canvas, he was surprised.
What do you want for it? the king asked.
He has no price, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift.
The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.
They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally the king called the old woman and said:
If you knew how to strain and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.
It was not I, sir, who spun and wove the cloth, - said the old woman, - this is the work of my adopted child - the girl.
Well, let her sew!
The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything.
I knew, - Vasilisa tells her, - that this work will not pass by my hands.
She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.
The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the old woman's yard; entered the room and said:
The king-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked his shirts, and reward her from his royal hands.
Vasilisa went and appeared before the eyes of the king. As the king saw Vasilisa the Beautiful, he fell in love with her without memory.
No, he says, my beauty! I will not part with you; you will be my wife.
Then the tsar took Vasilisa by the white hands, seated her beside him, and there they played a wedding. Soon Vasilisa's father also returned, rejoiced at her fate and remained to live with his daughter. She took the old woman Vasilisa to her place, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.
(A.N. Afanasiev, vol. 1, illustration by I. Bilibin)
Published: Mishkoy 25.10.2017 11:03 24.05.2019Confirm Rating
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In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said:
- Listen, Vasilisushka! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune.
Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.
After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, she was both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!
Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat, and even leave the doll the tidbit, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying:
- On, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do?
The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa some weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.
Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors:
“I won’t give out the younger one before the older ones!” And when he sees off the suitors, he takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings. Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut lived a baba-yaga; she would not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.
Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one weave lace, the other knit stockings, and spin Vasilisa. She put out the fire in the whole house, left only one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Here is burned on a candle; one of her stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, and instead, on her mother's orders, as if by accident, she put out the candle.
- What do we do now? the girls said. — There is no fire in the whole house. We must run after the fire to Baba Yaga!
- It’s light for me from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go.
“And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - It’s light for me from the knitting needles!
“You go after the fire,” they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! And they pushed Vasilisa out of the room.
Vasilisa went to her closet, placed the prepared supper in front of the doll, and said:
- Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!
The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles.
"Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at Baba Yaga.
Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.
She walks and trembles. Suddenly a rider gallops past her: he is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.
Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls with eyes stick out on the fence; instead of doors at the gates - human legs, instead of locks - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the Baba Yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth - night had come. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole glade became light as in the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was.
Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted:
- Fu, fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?
Vasilisa approached the old woman fearfully and, bowing low, said:
It's me, grandma! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you.
- Well, - said the Baba Yaga, - I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you! Then she turned to the gate and cried out:
- Hey, my strong constipation, open up; my wide gates, open!
The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again.
Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa:
"Give me what's in the oven, I'm hungry." Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food from the stove and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, mead, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The yaga-baba began to go to bed and says:
- When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it of the black. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - eat you!
After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa placed the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears, and said:
- On, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!
The doll replied:
"Don't be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful!" Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!
Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn. Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red horseman flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom. Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the Baba Yaga's house, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis selected the last grains of nigella from the wheat.
“Oh, my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. You saved me from trouble.
“All you have to do is cook dinner,” answered the doll, slipping into Vasilisa’s pocket. - Cook with God, and rest in good health!
By the evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for the Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black rider flashed past the gate - and it was completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. The trees crackled, the leaves crunched - the Baba Yaga is coming. Vasilisa met her.
- Is everything done? Yaga asks.
“Let’s see for yourself, grandma!” Vasilisa said.
Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said:
- OK then! Then she shouted:
- My faithful servants, my hearty friends, grind my wheat!
Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa:
“Tomorrow, do the same as today, and in addition, take poppies from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of the malice of the earth, mixed it into it!”
The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way:
- Pray to God and go to bed: the morning is wiser than the evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!
The next morning, the Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately fixed all the work. The old woman came back, looked around, and shouted:
- My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze oil out of poppy seeds! Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence.
"Why aren't you talking to me?" Baba Yaga said. - Are you standing like a dumb?
“You didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “but if you will allow me, I would like to ask you something.
- Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!
- I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, I was overtaken by a rider on a white horse, himself white and in white clothes: who is he?
“This is my clear day,” answered the Baba Yaga.
- Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, he himself is red and all dressed in red; Who is this?
This is my red sun! Baba Yaga replied.
“And what does the black horseman mean who overtook me at your very gates, grandmother?”
- This is my dark night - all my faithful servants! Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent.
Why don't you ask yet? Baba Yaga said.
- It will be from me and this; Well, you yourself, grandmother, said that you would learn a lot - you would grow old.
“It’s good,” said the Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard!” I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I'll ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I'm asking you?
“My mother’s blessing helps me,” answered Vasilisa.
- So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed.
She dragged Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, pointing at a stick, gave it to her and said:
- Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for.
Vasilisa set off at a run by the light of the skull, which went out only at the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she was about to throw the skull: “It’s true, at home,” she thinks to herself, “they don’t need fire anymore.” But suddenly a dull voice was heard from the skull:
- Don't leave me, take me to your stepmother!
She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they met her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they could not carve it themselves, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it.
“Perhaps your fire will hold out!” the stepmother said. They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush, eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.
In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went to the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. Here is how she says to the old woman:
“It’s boring for me to sit idle, grandmother!” Go buy me the best linen; At least I'll spin.
The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one undertakes to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she says:
- Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll make everything for you.
Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman:
- Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself. The old woman looked at the goods and gasped:
- No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace.
The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept walking past the windows. The king saw and asked:
"What do you want, old lady?"
“Your royal majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you.
The king ordered the old woman to be admitted to him, and when he saw the canvas, he was surprised.
- What do you want for it? the king asked.
- He has no price, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift.
The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.
They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally the king called the old woman and said:
“If you knew how to spin and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.
“It was not I, sire, who spun and wove the cloth,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted son, the girl.”
- Well, let her sew!
The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything.
“I knew,” Vasilisa tells her, “that this work would not escape my hands.
She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.
The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the old woman's yard; entered the room and said:
“The tsar-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked his shirts, and reward her from his royal hands.
Vasilisa went and appeared before the eyes of the king. As the king saw Vasilisa the Beautiful, he fell in love with her without memory.
“No,” he says, “my beauty! I will not part with you; you will be my wife.
Then the tsar took Vasilisa by the white hands, seated her beside him, and there they played a wedding. Soon Vasilisa's father also returned, rejoiced at her fate and remained to live with his daughter. She took the old woman Vasilisa to her place, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.
In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said:
- Listen, Vasilisushka! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when something bad happens to you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune.
Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.
After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man; there was no business for the brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, she was both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!
Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat, and even leave the doll the tidbit, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying:
- On, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do?
The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa some weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.
Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors:
“I won’t give out the younger one before the older ones!” And when he sees off the suitors, he takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings. Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut lived a baba-yaga; she would not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.
Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one weave lace, the other knit stockings, and spin Vasilisa. She put out the fire in the whole house, left only one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Here is burned on a candle; one of her stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, and instead, on her mother's orders, as if by accident, she put out the candle.
- What do we do now? the girls said. — There is no fire in the whole house. We must run after the fire to Baba Yaga!
- It’s light for me from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go.
“And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. - It’s light for me from the knitting needles!
“You go after the fire,” they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga! And they pushed Vasilisa out of the room.
Vasilisa went to her closet, placed the prepared supper in front of the doll, and said:
- Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!
The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles.
"Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at Baba Yaga.
Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.
She walks and trembles. Suddenly a rider gallops past her: he is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.
Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the hut of the yaga-baba stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls with eyes stick out on the fence; instead of doors at the gates - human legs, instead of locks - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the Baba Yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth - night had come. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole glade became light as in the middle of the day. Vasilisa trembled with fear, but, not knowing where to run, remained where she was.
Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted:
- Fu, fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?
Vasilisa approached the old woman fearfully and, bowing low, said:
It's me, grandma! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you.
- Well, - said the Baba Yaga, - I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I will give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you! Then she turned to the gate and cried out:
- Hey, my strong constipation, open up; my wide gates, open!
The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything was locked again.
Entering the room, the Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa:
"Give me what's in the oven, I'm hungry." Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food from the stove and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, mead, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The yaga-baba began to go to bed and says:
- When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it of the black. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - eat you!
After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa placed the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears, and said:
- On, doll, eat, listen to my grief! The yaga-baba gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!
The doll replied:
"Don't be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful!" Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!
Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn. Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red horseman flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom. Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the Baba Yaga's house, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis selected the last grains of nigella from the wheat.
“Oh, my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. You saved me from trouble.
“All you have to do is cook dinner,” answered the doll, slipping into Vasilisa’s pocket. - Cook with God, and rest in good health!
By the evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for the Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black rider flashed past the gate - and it was completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. The trees crackled, the leaves crunched - the Baba Yaga is coming. Vasilisa met her.
- Is everything done? Yaga asks.
“Let’s see for yourself, grandma!” Vasilisa said.
Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said:
- OK then! Then she shouted:
- My faithful servants, my hearty friends, grind my wheat!
Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa:
“Tomorrow, do the same as today, and in addition, take poppies from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of the malice of the earth, mixed it into it!”
The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way:
- Pray to God and go to bed: the morning is wiser than the evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!
The next morning, the Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately fixed all the work. The old woman came back, looked around, and shouted:
- My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze oil out of poppy seeds! Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence.
"Why aren't you talking to me?" Baba Yaga said. - Are you standing like a dumb?
“You didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “but if you will allow me, I would like to ask you something.
- Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!
- I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, I was overtaken by a rider on a white horse, himself white and in white clothes: who is he?
“This is my clear day,” answered the Baba Yaga.
- Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, he himself is red and all dressed in red; Who is this?
This is my red sun! Baba Yaga replied.
“And what does the black horseman mean who overtook me at your very gates, grandmother?”
- This is my dark night - all my faithful servants! Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent.
Why don't you ask yet? Baba Yaga said.
- It will be from me and this; Well, you yourself, grandmother, said that you would learn a lot - you would grow old.
“It’s good,” said the Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard!” I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I'll ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I'm asking you?
“My mother’s blessing helps me,” answered Vasilisa.
- So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed.
She dragged Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, pointing at a stick, gave it to her and said:
- Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for.
Vasilisa set off at a run by the light of the skull, which went out only at the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she was about to throw the skull: “It’s true, at home,” she thinks to herself, “they don’t need fire anymore.” But suddenly a dull voice was heard from the skull:
- Don't leave me, take me to your stepmother!
She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they met her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they could not carve it themselves, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it.
“Perhaps your fire will hold out!” the stepmother said. They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush, eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.
In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went to the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. Here is how she says to the old woman:
“It’s boring for me to sit idle, grandmother!” Go buy me the best linen; At least I'll spin.
The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one undertakes to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she says:
- Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll make everything for you.
Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman:
- Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself. The old woman looked at the goods and gasped:
- No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace.
The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept walking past the windows. The king saw and asked:
"What do you want, old lady?"
“Your royal majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you.
The king ordered the old woman to be admitted to him, and when he saw the canvas, he was surprised.
- What do you want for it? the king asked.
- He has no price, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift.
The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.
They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally the king called the old woman and said:
“If you knew how to spin and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.
“It was not I, sire, who spun and wove the cloth,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted son, the girl.”
- Well, let her sew!
The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything.
“I knew,” Vasilisa tells her, “that this work would not escape my hands.
She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.
The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the old woman's yard; entered the room and said:
“The tsar-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked his shirts, and reward her from his royal hands.
Vasilisa went and appeared before the eyes of the king. As the king saw Vasilisa the Beautiful, he fell in love with her without memory.
“No,” he says, “my beauty! I will not part with you; you will be my wife.
Then the tsar took Vasilisa by the white hands, seated her beside him, and there they played a wedding. Soon Vasilisa's father also returned, rejoiced at her fate and remained to live with his daughter. She took the old woman Vasilisa to her place, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.
In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. He lived in marriage for twelve years and had only one daughter, Vasilisa the Beautiful. When her mother died, the girl was eight years old. Dying, the merchant's wife called her daughter to her, took the doll out from under the blanket, gave it to her and said: “Listen, Vasilisushka! Remember and fulfill my last words. I am dying and, together with my parental blessing, I leave you this doll; take care of it always with you and do not show it to anyone; and when a misfortune befalls you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help misfortune.
Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.
After the death of his wife, the merchant groaned as he should, and then began to think about how to marry again. He was a good man: there was no business for brides, but one widow came to his liking most of all. She was already in years, had her two daughters, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, she was both a mistress and an experienced mother. The merchant married a widow, but was deceived and did not find in her a good mother for his Vasilisa. Vasilisa was the first beauty in the whole village; her stepmother and sisters envied her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from labor, and turn black from the wind and sun; there was no life at all!
Vasilisa endured everything without a murmur, and every day she grew prettier and stouter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thinner and uglier with anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded hands like ladies. How was it done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would the girl cope with all the work! On the other hand, Vasilisa herself would not eat it herself, and even leave the doll the tidbit, and in the evening, when everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived, and regale her, saying: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! I live in the father's house, I do not see myself any joy; the evil stepmother drives me from the white world. Teach me how to be and live and what to do? The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and in the morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she only rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she already has weeded ridges, and watered cabbage, and water has been applied, and the stove has been fired. The chrysalis will also point out to Vasilisa and weed for sunburn. It was good for her to live with a doll.
Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All suitors in the city are courting Vasilisa; no one will look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother is more angry than ever and answers all the suitors: “I will not give out the youngest before the elders!” And when he sees off the suitors, he takes out the evil on Vasilisa with beatings.
Once a merchant had to leave home for a long time on business. The stepmother moved to live in another house, and near this house there was a dense forest, and in the forest in a clearing there was a hut, and in the hut lived a baba-yaga; she would not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to a housewarming party, the merchant's wife would now and then send Vasilisa, whom she hated, into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let Baba Yaga go to the hut of the Baba Yaga.
Autumn came. The stepmother distributed evening work to all three girls: she made one to weave lace, the other to knit stockings, and Vasilisa to spin, and all according to their lessons. She put out the fire in the whole house, left only one candle where the girls worked, and went to bed herself. The girls worked. Here is burned on a candle; one of her stepmother's daughters took tongs to straighten the lamp, and instead, on her mother's orders, as if by accident, she put out the candle. “What are we to do now? the girls said. - There is no fire in the whole house, and our lessons are not over. We must run to Baba Yaga for fire!” - “It’s light for me from the pins! said the one who wove the lace. - I will not go". “And I won’t go,” said the one who knitted the stocking. “It’s light for me from the knitting needles!” “You have to follow the fire,” they both shouted. "Go to Baba Yaga!" - and pushed Vasilisa out of the room.
Vasilisa went to her closet, put the prepared dinner in front of the doll and said: “Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they send me for fire to Baba Yaga; Baba Yaga will eat me!” The doll ate, and her eyes shone like two candles. "Don't be afraid, Vasilisushka! - she said. “Go where they send you, but always keep me with you.” With me, nothing will happen to you at the Baba Yaga. Vasilisa got ready, put her doll in her pocket and, crossing herself, went into the dense forest.
She walks and trembles. Suddenly, a rider gallops past her: he himself is white, dressed in white, the horse under him is white, and the harness on the horse is white - it began to dawn in the yard.
Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only towards the next evening she came out into the clearing where the Baba Yaga's hut stood; a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls with eyes stick out on the fence; instead of doors at the gates - human legs, instead of locks - hands, instead of a lock - a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and became rooted to the spot. Suddenly a rider rides again: he is black himself, dressed in all black and on a black horse; he galloped up to the gates of the baba-yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the earth - night had come. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence lit up, and the whole clearing became as bright as the middle of the day. Vasilisa was trembling with fear, but not knowing where to run, she remained where she was.
Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees cracked, dry leaves crunched; a baba-yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted: “Fu, fu! It smells of Russian spirit! Who is there?" Vasilisa approached the old woman with fear and, bowing low, said: “It's me, grandmother! Stepmother's daughters sent me for fire to you. “Well,” said the Baba Yaga, “I know them, live in advance and work for me, then I’ll give you fire; and if not, then I'll eat you! Then she turned to the gate and cried out: “Hey, my strong locks, unlock yourself; My wide gates, open!” The gates opened, and the Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after her, and then everything closed again. Entering the room, the baba-yaga stretched out on a bench and said to Vasilisa: “Give me here what is in the oven: I want to eat.”
Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to drag food out of the oven and serve the yaga, and the food was cooked up for ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, honey, beer and wine. She ate everything, the old woman drank everything; Vasilisa left only a little cabbage, a crust of bread, and a piece of pork. The Baba Yaga began to go to bed and said: “When I leave tomorrow, you look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare linen and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clean it from the black. Yes, so that everything is done, otherwise - I will eat you! After such an order, the Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa put the old woman's leftovers in front of the doll, burst into tears and said: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief! Baba Yaga gave me a hard job and threatens to eat me if I don’t do everything; help me!" The doll answered: “Do not be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful! Have supper, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!”
Vasilisa woke up early, and the Baba Yaga had already got up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls go out; then a white horseman flashed by - and it was completely dawn. Baba Yaga went out into the yard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red horseman flashed by - the sun rose. Baba Yaga sat down in a mortar and drove out of the yard, driving with a pestle, sweeping the trail with a broom.
Vasilisa was left alone, looked around the house of the Baba Yaga, marveled at the abundance in everything, and stopped in thought: what kind of work should she take up first of all. Looks, and all the work has already been done; the chrysalis picked out the last grains of nigella from the wheat. “Oh, you are my deliverer! Vasilisa said to the doll. “You saved me from trouble.” “The only thing left for you is to cook dinner,” answered the doll, slipping into Vasilisa’s pocket. “Cook with God and rest in good health!”
By the evening, Vasilisa has gathered on the table and is waiting for the Baba Yaga. It was beginning to get dark, a black horseman glimpsed outside the gate - and it was completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls shone. The trees crackled, the leaves crunched - the Baba Yaga is coming. Vasilisa met her. "Is everything done?" Yaga asks. “Please see for yourself, grandmother!” Vasilisa said. Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said: “Well, all right!” Then she shouted: “My faithful servants, my hearty friends, grind my wheat!” Three pairs of hands came, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate, began to go to bed and again gave the order to Vasilisa: “Tomorrow you do the same as today, and moreover, take poppy seeds from the bin and clean it from the earth grain by grain, you see, someone, out of the malice of the earth, into it messed up!" The old woman said, turned to the wall and began to snore, and Vasilisa began to feed her doll. The doll ate and said to her in the yesterday's way: "Pray to God and go to bed: the morning is wiser than the evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!"
The next morning, the Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately completed all the work. The old woman returned, looked around and shouted: “My faithful servants, my hearty friends, squeeze oil out of poppy seeds!” Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and carried it away from my eyes. Baba Yaga sat down to dine; she eats, and Vasilisa stands in silence. "Why aren't you talking to me? Baba Yaga said. “You stand like a dumb!” “I didn’t dare,” Vasilisa answered, “and if you let me, I would like to ask you something about something.” - "Ask; only not every question leads to good: you will know a lot, you will soon grow old!” “I want to ask you, grandmother, only about what I saw: when I was walking towards you, I was overtaken by a rider on a white horse, himself white and in white clothes: who is he?” “This is my clear day,” answered the Baba Yaga. “Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, red himself and all dressed in red; Who is this?" - "This is my red sun!" Baba Yaga replied. “And what does the black rider mean, who overtook me at your very gates, grandmother?” - “This is my dark night - all my servants are faithful!”
Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent. "Why don't you ask?" Baba Yaga said. “It will be with me and this; you yourself, grandmother, said that you would learn a lot - you would grow old soon. “It’s good,” said the Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard! I do not like to have rubbish taken out of my hut, and I eat too curious! Now I’ll ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I ask you?” “My mother’s blessing helps me,” answered Vasilisa. “So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed." She dragged Vasilisa out of the chamber and pushed her out of the gate, removed one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, stumbling on a stick, gave it to her and said: “Here is a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's what they sent you here for."
Vasilisa ran home by the light of the skull, which went out only at the onset of morning, and finally by the evening of the next day she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she was about to drop the skull: “It’s true, at home,” she thinks to herself, “they don’t need fire anymore.” But suddenly a dull voice was heard from the skull: “Don’t leave me, take me to my stepmother!”
She glanced at her stepmother's house and, not seeing a light in any window, decided to go there with the skull. For the first time they met her affectionately and told that since she left, they had not had a fire in the house: they could not carve it themselves, and the fire that was brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the upper room with it. "Perhaps your fire will hold on!" the stepmother said. They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush, eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.
In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went to the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. Here she somehow says to the old woman: “It’s boring for me to sit idle, grandmother! Go buy me the best linen; At least I'll spin." The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, the work burns with her, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. A lot of yarn has accumulated; it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one dares to do something. Vasilisa began to ask her doll, and she said: “Bring me some old reed, and an old canoe, and a horse's mane; I'll fix everything for you."
Vasilisa got everything she needed and went to bed, and the doll prepared a glorious camp overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is also woven, so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring, the canvas was bleached, and Vasilisa said to the old woman: “Sell, grandmother, this canvas, and take the money for yourself.” The old woman looked at the goods and gasped: “No, child! There is no one to wear such a canvas, except for the king; I'll take it to the palace." The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept walking past the windows. The king saw and asked: “What do you need, old woman?” - “Your royal majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought an outlandish product; I don't want to show it to anyone but you." The king ordered to let the old woman in and, when he saw the canvas, he was indignant. "What do you want for it?" the king asked. “There is no price for him, the king-father! I brought it to you as a gift." The king thanked and sent the old woman with gifts.
They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen; they cut them open, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work them. Long searched; Finally, the king called the old woman and said: “If you knew how to spin and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts out of it.” “It was not I, sire, who spun and wove the cloth,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted son, the girl.” - “Well, let her sew!” The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything. “I knew,” Vasilisa tells her, “that this work would not pass by my hands.” She locked herself in her chamber, set to work; she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.
The old woman carried the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed, combed her hair, dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits to see what will happen. He sees: a royal servant is going to the yard to the old woman; entered the chamber and said: "The Tsar-sovereign wants to see the artisan who worked for him shirts, and reward her from his royal hands." Vasilisa went and appeared before the eyes of the king. As the king saw Vasilisa the Beautiful, he fell in love with her without memory. “No,” he says, “my beauty! I will not part with you; you will be my wife." Then the tsar took Vasilisa by the white hands, seated her beside him, and there they played a wedding. Soon Vasilisa's father also returned, rejoiced at her fate and remained to live with his daughter. She took the old woman Vasilisa to her place, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.
Issues for discussion
How does the fairy tale begin? (The tale begins with the words: “In a certain kingdom there lived and was ...”) Is this the beginning of a traditional Russian fairy tale or unusual?
How many times in a fairy tale do the same actions occur? (The same actions occur several times, most often three. The stepmother had three daughters: two relatives and one adopted, Vasilisa; three horsemen rushed past Vasilisa: morning, day and night; three pairs of hands were Baba Yaga's helpers. )
Do we know when Vasilisa the Beautiful lived? (No, the time of the action is never given in the fairy tale, but very often it says "a long time ago".)
What do you like about Vasilisa? What was she like?
What is your attitude towards the stepmother and her daughters?
Who is protected by a fairy tale? (Pay attention: some heroes in a fairy tale are good, others are evil. This is a prerequisite for a fairy tale. Good heroes are always rewarded, evil ones are punished. A fairy tale is always on the side of a good hero, protects him.)
Who is a fabulous, magical character in a fairy tale? Can a doll be called a magical helper? Tell us how the doll helped Vasilisa. Why was she helping the girl? And how did Vasilisa take care of her doll?
How does the fairy tale end? Can we say that this fairy tale has a happy ending? And what verbal formulas do Russian folk tales usually end with? (“They began to live and live and make good”; “They began to live and live and still live”; “I was there, I drank honey-beer, it flowed down my mustache, but it didn’t get into my mouth”, etc.)
When were you especially sad (happy, funny, scared, etc.)?
