Vasilisa is wonderful reading a fairy tale. Vasilisa the Beautiful (fairy tale) Vasilisa the Beautiful collection of fairy tales by Afanasiev

Baba Yaga's bone leg quickly sat down on the mortar, pushed with a pusher, covered the trail with a broom, and set off in pursuit of the girl. So the girl bent her ear to the ground and heard that Baba Yaga was chasing, and she was already close, she took and threw in the towel: the river became so wide, wide! Baba Yaga came to the river and gnashed her teeth in anger; she returned home, took her oxen and drove them to the river; the bulls drank the whole river clean. Baba Yaga set off in pursuit again. The girl bent her ear to the ground and heard that Baba Yaga was close, threw her comb: the forest had become so dense and scary! Baba Yaga began to gnaw at it, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not gnaw through it and turned back.

And the grandfather has already arrived home and asks: “Where is my daughter?” “She went to her aunt,” says the stepmother. A little later the girl came running home. "Where have you been?" - asks the father. “Oh, father! - she says. “So and so - my mother sent me to my aunt to ask for a needle and thread - to sew a shirt for me, and my aunt, Baba Yaga, wanted to eat me.” - “How did you leave, daughter?” So and so, says the girl. When the grandfather found out all this, he became angry with his wife and shot her; and he and his daughter began to live and live and make good things, and I was there, drinking honey and beer: it flowed down my mustache, but didn’t get into my mouth.

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 out the doll from under the blanket, gave it to her and said: “Listen, Vasilisa! Remember and fulfill my last words. I’m dying and, together with my parent’s blessing, I’m leaving you this doll; always keep it with you and don’t show it to anyone; and when some misfortune befalls you, give her something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help the misfortune.” Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.

After the death of his wife, the merchant struggled as he should, and then began to think about how to get married again. He was a good man; It wasn’t about the brides, but he liked one widow the most. She was already old, had two daughters of her own, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, she was both an experienced housewife and 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 were jealous of her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from work, and turn black from the wind and sun; There was no life at all!

Vasilisa endured everything without complaint and every day she grew prettier and fatter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thin and ugly from anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded arms like ladies. How was this done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would a girl cope with all the work! But sometimes Vasilisa herself would not eat, but would leave the doll the most delicious morsel, and in the evening, after everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived and treat her, saying: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief!” I live in my father’s house, I don’t see any joy for myself; The evil stepmother is driving me out of the world. Will you 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 the next morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she is just resting in the cold and picking flowers, but her beds have already been weeded, and the cabbage has been watered, and the water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The doll will also show Vasilisa some grass for her sunburn. It was good for her to live with her doll.

Several years have passed; Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All the suitors in the city are wooing Vasilisa; No one will even look at stepmother's daughters. The stepmother gets angrier than ever and answers all the suitors: “I won’t give the younger one away before the older ones!”, and after seeing off the suitors, she takes out her anger on Vasilisa with beatings.

One day, a merchant needed to leave home for a long time on trade 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 Baba Yaga lived in the hut: she did not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to the housewarming party, the merchant's wife continually sent her hated Vasilisa into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let her near Baba Yaga's hut.

Autumn came. The stepmother gave all three girls evening work: she made one weave lace, the other knit stockings, and made Vasilisa spin, and gave everyone homework. She put out the fire in the whole house, left one candle where the girls were working, and went to bed herself. The girls were working. When the candle burned, one of the stepmother’s daughters took the tongs to straighten the lamp, but instead, on her mother’s orders, she accidentally put out the candle. “What should we 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!” - “I feel light from the pins! - said the one who wove lace. - I will not go". “And I won’t go,” said the one who was knitting the stocking. “Knitting needles give me light!” “You have to go get the fire,” they both shouted. “Go to Baba Yaga!” - and they 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 are sending me to Baba Yaga for fire; Baba Yaga will eat me! The doll ate, and her eyes sparkled like two candles. “Don’t be afraid, Vasilisa! - she said. - Go wherever they send you, just keep me with you at all times. With me, nothing will happen to you at Baba Yaga’s.” 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 by 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 ropes at the gate there are human legs, instead of locks there are hands, instead of a lock there is a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and stood rooted to the spot. Suddenly the rider rides again: he is black, dressed all in black and on a black horse; galloped up to Baba Yaga's gate and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the ground - night came. But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence glowed, and the entire clearing became as light as the middle of the day. Vasilisa was trembling with fear, but not knowing where to run, she remained in place.

Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: trees were cracking, dry leaves were crunching; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rode in a mortar, drove with a pestle, and covered her tracks with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around herself, shouted: “Fu-fu! Smells like the Russian spirit! Who is there?" Vasilisa approached the old woman with fear and, bowing low, said: “It’s me, grandmother! My stepmother’s daughters sent me to you for fire.” “Okay,” said Baba Yaga, “I know them, if you live 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 locks are strong, open up; my gates are wide, open!” The gates opened, and Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in behind her, and then everything was locked again. Entering the upper room, Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa: “Give me here what’s in the oven: I’m hungry.”

Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to take food out of the stove and serve it to the yaga, and there was enough food for about ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, honey, beer and wine. The old woman ate everything, drank everything; Vasilisa only left a little bacon, a crust of bread and a piece of pig meat. Baba Yaga began to go to bed and said: “When I leave tomorrow, look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare the laundry, and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clear it of nigella. Let everything be done, otherwise I’ll eat you!” After such an order, Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa put the old woman’s scraps 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 replied: “Don’t be afraid, Vasilisa the Beautiful! Have dinner, pray and go to bed; the morning is wiser than the evening!”

Vasilisa endured everything without complaint and every day she grew prettier and fatter, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thin and ugly from anger, despite the fact that they always sat with folded arms like ladies. How was this done? Vasilisa was helped by her doll. Without this, where would a girl cope with all the work! But Vasilisa herself would not eat, but would leave the doll the most delicious morsel, and in the evening, after everyone had settled down, she would lock herself in the closet where she lived and treat her, saying: “Here, doll, eat, listen to my grief!” I live in my father’s house, I don’t see any joy for myself; The evil stepmother is driving me out of the world. Will you 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 the next morning she does all the work for Vasilisa; she is just resting in the cold and picking flowers, but her beds have already been weeded, and the cabbage has been watered, and the water has been applied, and the stove has been heated. The doll will also show Vasilisa some grass for her sunburn. It was good for her to live with her doll.

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 lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to take food out of the stove and serve it to the yaga, and there was enough food for about ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, honey, beer and wine. The old woman ate everything, drank everything; Vasilisa only left a little bacon, a crust of bread and a piece of pig meat. Baba Yaga began to go to bed and said: “When I leave tomorrow, look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare the laundry, and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clear it of nigella 1. Let everything be done, otherwise I’ll eat you!” After such an order, Baba Yaga began to snore; and Vasilisa put the old woman’s scraps 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 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 Baba Yaga had already gotten up and looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls were going 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 in the mortar and left the yard, driving with a pestle and covering the trail with a broom. Vasilisa was left alone, looked around Baba Yaga’s house, marveled at the abundance in everything and stopped in thought: what work should she take on first. He looks, and all the work has already been done; The doll was picking out the last nigella grains from the wheat. “Oh, you, my deliverer! - Vasilisa said to the doll. “You saved me from trouble.” “All you have to do is cook dinner,” answered the doll, getting into Vasilisa’s pocket. “Cook it up with God, and rest well!”

By evening, Vasilisa has prepared the table and is waiting for Baba Yaga. It began to get dark, a black horseman flashed behind the gate - and it became completely dark; only the eyes of the skulls glowed. The trees crackled, the leaves crunched - Baba Yaga is riding. Vasilisa met her. “Is everything done?” - asks the yaga. “Please see for yourself, grandma!” - said Vasilisa. Baba Yaga examined everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said: “Well, good!” Then she shouted: “My faithful servants, dear friends, sweep away my wheat!” Three pairs of hands appeared, 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 clear it from the earth, grain by grain, you see, someone from the malice of the earth into it mixed it 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 as yesterday: “Pray to God and go to bed; morning is wiser than evening, everything will be done, Vasilisushka!

Vasilisa remembered the three pairs of hands and was silent. “Why aren’t you asking yet?” - said Baba Yaga. “I’ll have enough of this too; You yourself, grandmother, said that if you learn a lot, you will grow old.” “It’s good,” said Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard!” I don’t like to have my dirty laundry washed out in public, and I eat people who are too curious! Now I ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I assign 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 ones.” She pulled Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out the gate, took one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, putting it on a stick, gave it to her and said: “Here is fire for your stepmother’s daughters, take it; This is what they sent you here for.”

Vasilisa ran home by the light of the skull, which went out only with the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her home. Approaching the gate, she wanted to throw the skull. “That’s right, at home,” he thinks to himself, “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 looked 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 kindly and told her that since she left, they had no fire in the house: they could not make it themselves, and the fire they brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the room with it. “Maybe your fire will hold on!” - said the stepmother. They brought the skull into the upper room; and the eyes from the skull just look at the stepmother and her daughters, and they burn! They wanted to hide, but no matter where they rush, eyes follow them everywhere; by morning they were completely burned into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.

In the morning Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went into the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman; lives for himself and waits for his father. One day she says to the old lady: “I’m bored of sitting around doing nothing, grandma! Go and buy me the best linen; At least I’ll spin.” The old woman bought good flax; Vasilisa sat down to work, her work is burning, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. There was a lot of yarn; It’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find reeds that are suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn; no one undertakes to do something. Vasilisa began to ask for her doll, and she said: “Bring me some old reed, an old shuttle, 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 figure overnight. By the end of winter, the fabric is woven, and so thin that it can be threaded through a needle instead of a thread. In the spring, the canvas was whitened, and Vasilisa said to the old woman: “Sell this canvas, grandma, and take the money for yourself.” The old woman looked at the goods and gasped: “No, child! There is no one except the king to wear such a linen; I’ll take it to the palace.” The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept pacing past the windows. The king saw and asked: “What do you want, old lady?” “Your Royal Majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought a strange product; I don’t want to show it to anyone except you.” The king ordered the old woman to be let in and when he saw the painting, he was astonished. "What do you want for it?" - asked the king. “There is no price for him, Father Tsar! I brought it to you as a gift.” The king thanked him and sent the old woman away 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 on them. They searched for a long time; Finally, the king called the old woman and said: “You knew how to strain and weave such fabric, know how to sew shirts from it.” “It was not I, sir, who spun and wove the linen,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted son, the girl.” - “Well, let her sew it!” The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything. “I knew,” Vasilisa tells her, “that this work of my hands would not escape.” She locked herself in her room and got to work; She sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.

The old woman took the shirts to the king, and Vasilisa washed herself, combed her hair, got dressed and sat down under the window. He sits and waits for what will happen. He sees: the king’s servant is coming to the old woman’s courtyard; entered the upper room and said: “The Tsar-Sovereign wants to see the skilled woman who made shirts for him, and to reward her from his royal hands.” Vasilisa went and appeared before the king's eyes. When the Tsar 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 king took Vasilisa by the white hands, sat her down next to him, and there they celebrated the wedding. Vasilisa’s father soon returned, rejoiced over her fate and remained to live with his daughter. Vasilisa took the old woman in with her, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.

1 Chernukha - moss, a genus of wild field pea.

The fairy tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful read online

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, 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 out the doll from under the blanket, gave it to her and said:
-Listen, Vasilisa! Remember and fulfill my last words. I’m dying and, together with my parent’s blessing, I’m leaving you this doll. Always keep it with you and don’t show it to anyone, and when something bad happens to you, give it something to eat and ask her for advice. She will eat and tell you how to help the misfortune. Then the mother kissed her daughter and died.

After the death of his wife, the merchant struggled as he should, and then began to think about how to get married again. He was a good man, so it wasn’t a matter of brides, but he liked one widow the most. She was already old, had two daughters of her own, almost the same age as Vasilisa - therefore, she was both a housewife 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 were jealous of her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from work, and turn black from the wind and sun, there was no life for them at all!

The doll eats, and then gives her advice and consoles her in grief, and the next morning she does all the work for Vasilisa, she just rests in the cold and picks flowers, and she has already weeded the ridges, and watered the cabbage, and applied water, and heated the stove . The doll will also show Vasilisa some grass for her sunburn. It was good for her to live with her doll.

Several years passed, Vasilisa grew up and became a bride. All the suitors in the city began to look at Vasilisa; no one would look at her stepmother’s daughters. The stepmother gets angrier than ever and answers all the suitors:
- I won’t give the younger one away before the older ones!
And while seeing off the suitors, he takes out his anger on Vasilisa with beatings.

One day, a merchant needed to leave home for a long time on trade 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 Baba Yaga, she did not let anyone near her and ate people like chickens. Having moved to the housewarming party, the merchant's wife continually sent her hated Vasilisa into the forest for something, but this one always returned home safely: the doll showed her the way and did not let her near Baba Yaga's hut.

Autumn came. The stepmother gave all three girls evening work: she made one weave lace, the other knit stockings, and made Vasilisa spin, and gave everyone homework. She put out the fire in the whole house, left only one candle where the girls were working, and went to bed herself. The girls were working. When the candle burned, one of the stepmother’s daughters took the tongs to straighten the lamp, but instead, on her mother’s orders, she accidentally put out the candle.
- What should we 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!
- Pins make me feel bright! - said the one who wove lace. - I will not go.
“And I won’t go,” said the one who was knitting a stocking. - I feel light from the knitting needles!
“You should go get the fire,” they both shouted. - Go to Baba Yaga!
And they pushed Vasilisa out of the upper room.

Vasilisa went to her closet, placed the prepared dinner in front of the doll and said:
- Here, doll, eat and listen to my grief: they are sending me to Baba Yaga for fire, Baba Yaga will eat me!
The doll ate, and her eyes sparkled like two candles.
- Don’t be afraid, Vasilisa! - she said. - Go wherever they send you, just keep me with you at all times. With me, nothing will happen to you at Baba Yaga's.
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. She goes further, as another horseman gallops: he himself is red, dressed in red and on a red horse - the sun began to rise.

Vasilisa walked all night and all day, only by the next evening she came out into a clearing where there was a Baba Yaga's hut, a fence around the hut made of human bones, human skulls with eyes sticking out on the fence, instead of doors at the gate - human legs, instead of locks - hands , instead of a castle there is a mouth with sharp teeth. Vasilisa was stupefied with horror and stood rooted to the spot. Suddenly the horseman rides again: he himself is black, dressed in all black and on a black horse, galloped up to the gates of Baba Yaga and disappeared, as if he had fallen through the ground - night fell.

But the darkness did not last long: the eyes of all the skulls on the fence glowed, and the entire clearing became as light as day. Vasilisa was trembling with fear, but not knowing where to run, she remained in place.

Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: the trees were cracking, dry leaves were crunching, Baba Yaga rode out of the forest - riding in a mortar, driving with a pestle, covering the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around her, shouted:
- Fu, fu! Smells like the Russian spirit! Who is there?
Vasilisa approached the old woman with fear and, bowing low, said:
- It's me, grandma! My stepmother's daughters sent me to you for fire.
“Okay,” said Baba Yaga, “I know them, if you live and work for me, then I’ll give you fire; and if not, then I will eat you!

Then she turned to the gate and screamed:
- Hey, my locks are strong, open up, my gates are wide, open up!
The gates opened, and Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in behind her, and then everything was locked again.

Entering the upper room, Baba Yaga stretched out and said to Vasilisa:
- Serve me what’s in the oven: I’m hungry.
Vasilisa lit a torch from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to take food from the stove and serve it to the yaga, and the food was prepared for about ten people; from the cellar she brought kvass, honey, beer and wine. The old woman ate everything, drank everything, leaving Vasilisa only a little cabbage soup, a crust of bread and a piece of pig meat. Baba Yaga began to go to bed and said:
- When I leave tomorrow, look - clean the yard, sweep the hut, cook dinner, prepare the laundry, and go to the bin, take a quarter of the wheat and clear it of the nigella. Let everything be done, otherwise I’ll eat you!

After such an order, 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! Baba Yaga 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 Baba Yaga had already gotten up, looked out the window: the eyes of the skulls were dimming, 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 in the mortar and left the yard, driving with a pestle and covering the trail with a broom.

Vasilisa was left alone, looked around Baba Yaga’s house, marveled at the abundance in everything and stopped in thought: what work should she take on first. He looked, and all the work had already been done, the doll was choosing the last nigella grains from the wheat.
- Oh, my savior! - Vasilisa said to the doll. - You saved me from trouble.
“All you have to do is cook dinner,” answered the doll, getting into Vasilisa’s pocket. - Cook with God, and rest well!

By evening, Vasilisa has prepared the table and is waiting for Baba Yaga. It began to get dark, a black horseman flashed behind the gate - and it became completely dark, only the eyes of the skulls glowed. The trees crackled, the leaves crunched - Baba Yaga is riding. Vasilisa met her.
- Is everything done? - asks the yaga.
- Feel free to see for yourself, grandma! - said Vasilisa.
Baba Yaga looked at everything, was annoyed that there was nothing to be angry about, and said:
- OK then!
Then she shouted:
- My faithful servants, dear friends, sweep away my wheat!
Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the wheat and carried it out of sight. Baba Yaga ate her fill, went to bed, and again gave orders to Vasilisa:
- Tomorrow, do the same as today, and in addition, take poppy seeds from the bin and clear them from the earth, grain by grain, you see, someone out of malice mixed the earth 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 as yesterday:
- Pray to God and go to bed: the morning is wiser than the evening, everything will be done, Vasilisa!

The next morning, Baba Yaga again left the yard in a mortar, and Vasilisa and the doll immediately corrected all the work. The old woman returned, looked at everything and shouted:
-My faithful servants, dear friends, squeeze the oil out of the poppy seed!
Three pairs of hands appeared, grabbed the poppy and took it out of sight. Baba Yaga sat down to dinner, she eats, and Vasilisa stands silently.
- Why don’t you say anything to me? - said Baba Yaga. - Are you standing there dumb?
“I didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “but if you allow me, I would like to ask you something.”
- Ask, but 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, a rider on a white horse, white himself and in white clothes, overtook me: who is he?
“This is my clear day,” answered Baba Yaga.
-Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, he was red and dressed all in red, who is this?
- This is my red sun! - answered Baba Yaga.
- What does the black horseman mean who overtook me at your very gate, 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 yet? - said Baba Yaga.
- I’ll have enough of this too, you yourself, grandmother, said that you’ll learn a lot - you’ll grow old.
“It’s good,” said Baba Yaga, “that you only ask about what you saw outside the yard, and not in the yard!” I don’t like to have my dirty laundry washed out in public, and I eat people who are too curious! Now I 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 ones.

She pulled Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out the gate, took one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, putting it on a stick, gave it to her and said:
- Here’s a fire for your stepmother’s daughters, take it, that’s what they sent you here for.
Vasilisa started running in the light of the skull, which went out only with the onset of morning, and finally, by the evening of the next day, she reached her house. Approaching the gate, she wanted to throw the skull: “That’s right, 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 looked 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 kindly and told her that since she left, they had no fire in the house: they could not make it themselves, and the fire they brought from the neighbors went out as soon as they entered the room with it.
-Perhaps your fire will hold on! - said the stepmother.
They brought the skull into the room, and the eyes from the skull just looked at the stepmother and her daughters, and they burned! They were hiding, but no matter where they rush, eyes follow them everywhere, by the morning they were completely burned into coal, only Vasilisa was not touched.

In the morning, Vasilisa buried the skull in the ground, locked the house, went into the city and asked to live with a rootless old woman, lives for herself and waits for her father. Here's what she says to the old lady:
- I’m bored of sitting around doing nothing, grandma! Go and buy me the best flax, at least I’ll spin it.

The old woman bought good flax, Vasilisa sat down to work, her work is on fire, and the yarn comes out smooth and thin, like a hair. There is a lot of yarn, it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find such reeds that will be suitable for Vasilisa’s yarn, no one will undertake to do anything. Vasilisa began to ask for her doll, and she said:
- Bring me some old reed, an old shuttle, and some horse mane, I’ll make it all for you.

The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept pacing past the windows. The king saw and asked:
- What do you want, old lady?
“Your Royal Majesty,” the old woman answers, “I brought a strange product, I don’t want to show it to anyone except you.”
The king ordered the old woman to be let in and when he saw the painting, he was astonished.
- What do you want for it? - asked the king.
- There is no price for him, Father Tsar! I brought it to you as a gift.

The king thanked him and sent the old woman away with gifts.
They began to sew shirts for the king from that linen: they cut them out, but nowhere could they find a seamstress who would undertake to work on them. They searched for a long time, finally the king called the old woman and said:
-You knew how to strain and weave such a fabric, you know how to sew shirts from it.
“It was not I, sir, who spun and wove the linen,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my adopted son, the girl.”
- Well, let her sew it!

The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything.
“I knew,” says Vasilisa, “that this work of my hands would not escape.”
She locked herself in her room, got to work, she sewed tirelessly, and soon a dozen shirts were ready.

Then the king took Vasilisa by the white hands, sat her down next to him, and there they celebrated the wedding. Vasilisa’s father soon returned, rejoiced over her fate and remained to live with his daughter. Vasilisa took the old woman in with her, and at the end of her life she always carried the doll in her pocket.

To this day, Baba Yaga remains one of the most recognizable and popular characters in Russian fairy tales. Over time, it migrated into original stories, cartoons and theatrical performances, remaining part of children's folklore even in megacities, where the penetration of folk culture is almost invisible.

Most often, she is represented as an embittered, scary old witch with a hump and a bone leg, who knows important secrets, owns magical objects (for example, a ball of thread indicating the way) and is endowed with supernatural power. Baba Yaga's lifestyle clearly demonstrates her isolation from the ordinary human world: she flies in a mortar, covering her tracks with a broom, and lives in a hut on chicken legs at the edge of the forest. He makes his living by luring good fellows and small children who have foolishly taken a walk in the forest, sits them on a shovel and wants to fry them in the oven and then eat them.

She is one of those characters to be feared. But quite often she helps the main character: most often she gives something useful or tells her how to overcome an obstacle. Moreover, the hero often manages to outwit Baba Yaga. In this case, she is not very wise and smart, but the main thing is that a duel with her helps the hero reach a new level of maturity and prepare for the key event of his story. In a word, Baba Yaga embodies the borderline, irrational type of fairy-tale heroes.

Researchers consider this character a guide to the world of shadows. And this is her fundamental difference from witches and other female images from folk beliefs. It is interesting that in many stories Baba Yaga washes the main character in the bathhouse and feeds him at his table, that is, he performs a set of ritual actions necessary for the transition from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Like Koschey, she anticipates the visit of “living” characters by smell and says: “I smell the Russian spirit.”

Master stone carvers show Baba Yaga in her natural environment - in wild, unknown nature, building a play of materials around wooden surfaces that are not similar to each other. In particular, it is quite natural to turn to petrified wood to make a stupa. Two pieces of driftwood deserve attention: the texture of an old tree with fungal-infested, cracked, and fallen-off bark is conveyed by extremely well-chosen pieces of agate in a siliceous shell. Natural intricate patterns and cavities are complemented by precise carving elements.

From the fairy tale about Vasilisa the Beautiful, collection by A. N. Afanasyev “Russian Folk Tales”

<...>Soon a terrible noise was heard in the forest: trees were cracking, dry leaves were crunching; Baba Yaga left the forest - she rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, and covers up the trail with a broom. She drove up to the gate, stopped and, sniffing around herself, shouted: “Fu-fu! Smells like the Russian spirit! Who is there?" Vasilisa approached the old woman with fear and, bowing low, said: “It’s me, grandmother! My stepmother’s daughters sent me to you for fire.” “Okay,” said Baba Yaga, “I know them, if you live and work for me, then I’ll give you fire; If not, then I’ll eat you!”

Now I ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I ask you? - Baba Yaga asked her.

My mother’s blessing helps me,” Vasilisa answered.

So that's it! Get away from me, blessed daughter! I don't need the blessed ones.

She pulled Vasilisa out of the room and pushed her out the gate, took one skull with burning eyes from the fence and, putting it on a stick, gave it to her and said:

Here's a fire for your stepmother's daughters, take it; That's why they sent you here.

Readers really like it, primarily because of the main character and the magic doll that helped her in everything. They are especially attracted by Vasilisa’s journey to Baba Yaga and the description of her possessions.

Vasilisa is seen as a Russian beauty with a long brown braid, blue eyes, ruddy, and friendly. She is wearing a green sundress, decorated with intricate embroidery, a treasured doll in her pocket, and some kind of needlework in her hands. But the girl is good not only with her face: she is hardworking, patient, and respects her elders. In addition, she is also a needlewoman: she has woven such a thin fabric that you can thread it through a needle, and no one but her can sew shirts from this fabric... This means that they called her that not only for her beauty.
The stepmother and her daughters did not like Vasilisa. She is more beautiful than them and suitors constantly woo her, but no one pays attention to her stepmother’s daughters. Vasilisa easily copes with any work, and it only benefits her. She humbly accepts everything that is entrusted to her and does not contradict anything. This is what pisses off envious women.
According to the text: "...the stepmother and sisters were jealous of her beauty, tormented her with all kinds of work, so that she would lose weight from work, and turn black from the wind and sun - there was no life at all!"

Analysis of the fairy tale "Ivan the Peasant Son and Miracle Yudo"

Artist Mitya Ryzhikov

It is customary to begin the analysis of a fairy tale with a traditional conversation based on the reader’s perception: what did you like and remember, what is the fairy tale about?

Let us remember the main characters of the fairy tale “Ivan the Peasant Son and Miracle Yudo”: Ivan, brothers, Miracle Yudo.

Why do you think, if there are three brothers, only one is mentioned in the title, only he has a name?

Only one of the brothers fought with Chud-Yud, which is why he is named in the title.

And it is no coincidence that he alone has a name. In ancient times, a name had to be earned by some deed, and until a certain time children did not have names; only after reaching the age of 11-12 years were tests arranged for them in which everyone could prove themselves. That's when they got names. In the fairy tale we probably find a reflection of this ancient custom. The older brothers did not show themselves to be anything special, so they remain nameless...

In addition to his name, the hero of the fairy tale also has a nickname - a peasant son. And this nickname sounds almost like a patronymic. After all, this is how people used to introduce themselves: Ivan, Petrov’s son, or Andrei, Sergeev’s son, etc. From here, by the way, the surnames later appeared. Ivan is called a peasant's son - which means it is important that he is from the peasants.

Traditions are oral stories about the past. The events described in them are reliable or are presented as reliable. The legends obviously arose from the stories of witnesses or participants in the events. Their stories, passed from mouth to mouth many times, gradually turned into legends, were freed from personal assessments and biases, and became more objective. But it is natural that in the course of their existence, legends often departed from authenticity and included a certain amount of fiction, which had neither a fantastic character, as in a fairy tale, nor a religious character, as in a legend. This genre in Slavic languages has the following names: in Russian and Bulgarian - legend, in Serbian - predaњa, in Polish -podania.

In legends, two main thematic groups can be distinguished: historical and toponymic legends. The first tells about events and persons who left a mark on people's memory, the second tells about the founding of cities, the origin of the names of settlements, places, and rivers.

Fairy tale "Moth"

The moth decided to get married. Naturally, he wanted to take a pretty flower for himself.

He looked around: the flowers sat quietly on their stems, as befits young ladies who have not yet been betrothed. But it was terribly difficult to choose, there were so many of them growing here.

The moth got tired of thinking, and he fluttered to the field daisy. The French call her Margarita and claim that she knows how to cast a spell, and she really knows how to cast a spell. The lovers take it and tear off petal by petal, saying: “Does he love you? Doesn’t he love you?” - or something like that. Everyone asks in their native language. So the moth also turned to the chamomile, but did not pick off the petals, but kissed them, believing that it is always better to take them with affection.

Listen to this!

Outside the city, by the road, there was a dacha. You must have seen her? In front of it is another small garden, surrounded by a painted wooden lattice.

Not far from the dacha, right next to the ditch, a chamomile grew in the soft green grass. The sun's rays warmed and caressed it along with the luxurious flowers that bloomed in the flower beds in front of the dacha, and our chamomile grew by leaps and bounds. One fine morning she completely blossomed - her yellow, round heart, like the sun, was surrounded by the radiance of dazzling white small rays-petals. Chamomile didn’t care at all that she was such a poor, simple flower that no one sees or notices in the thick grass; no, she was happy with everything, greedily reached out to the sun, admired it and listened to the lark singing somewhere high, high in the sky.

Chamomile was so cheerful and happy, as if today was Sunday, but in fact it was only Monday; while all the children sat quietly on the school benches and learned from their teachers, our chamomile also sat quietly on its stem and learned from the clear sun and from all the surrounding nature, learned to know the goodness of God.