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The Fox and the Wolf
A fisherman with a large bounty of fish stops to help a half-dead
fox. He doesn't notice his fish falling from his sled and takes what is left
of his catch into his house. The ungrateful fox decides to eat his food
and steals his fish by putting them in a napkin and tying it around her
head. The sly fox encounters a wolf with a broken leg and acts injured,
too. The wolf helps the fox and the fox tricks the wolf into thinking
she'll help him catch fish as payment for the wolf's kindness. The fox
tells the wolf to put his tail in the ice water and repeat a magic
saying. The fox sneaks away and picks up the fish that were dropped
earlier. The wolf's tail gets frozen in an ice hole and the fox outsmarts
everyone again.
The Turnip
One day a farmer found a giant turnip in his garden. He called
upon his wife to help him pull the turnip out of the ground, but they were
unsuccessful. He then asked his granddaughter for help. The granddaughter
was unable to help and asked the family dog for assistance. The dog had no
luck and asked the family cat who in turn asked a mouse to help. They were
able to get the turnip with the mouses help at last. The tale shows
families who unite and work together can overcome any obstacle no matter
how large or small.
Morozko (Old Man Winter)
...One gentle widower, who had a loving daughter, decided to remarry
a woman who had a daughter herself from previous marriage. The jealous
stepmother hated her new stepdaughter and ordered her new husband to
take his daughter to the forest and leave her there.
The old man knew he'd grieve for his daughter, but
felt he had no other choice, so he took his daughter to the winter forest
to fend for herself. She sat in the snow alone and cold to the bone. As
luck would have it, Morozko (Father Frost) decided to go for a walk and
saw the helpless, shivering girl. He asked her if she was warm. She
politely replied that she was warm because she did not want to hurt his
feelings. He admired her courage and stoicism so much that he decided to
show her his mercy. He generously gave her a beautiful warm fur coat and a
box with gold and silver jewelry as a present.
Alive and safe, the girl decided to return home to her father. The greedy
stepmother overheard the tale of generosity in the woods and ordered her
own daughter to the same spot in the forest because she also wanted to get
jewelry and a fur coat. This girl was so rude and insincere, Morozko froze
her stiff. Later, the man's daughter met her true love, got married, had
children and lived happily ever after.
The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, The Firebird and the Gray Wolf
...Long
ago, there was a fearless Tsar who ordered his sons to catch a firebird.
The gray wolf accidentally killed the son Ivan's horse and agreed to help
him because he felt sorry for him. Not only did Ivan manage to get the
firebird with the gray wolfs help, but also a wonderful horse and a
beautiful princess named Elena the Fair.
Unfortunately, Ivan was killed and lay dead for thirty long days until the
gray wolf revived him with the "water of death and water of life". Ivan
and Elena eventually married, inherited the kingdom, and lived happily
ever after...
Snow Maiden
...Once upon a time, there lived an old man and woman
who truly regretted they did not have any children. On one particular
winter day, they decided to make a girl out of snow. They were amazed to
see the snow maiden come alive and she became the daughter they never had.
They named her Snegurochka (Snow maiden). She was a very beautiful and
sweet girl. Snegurochka became quite depressed when spring began to warm
the land. She became even sadder when summer arrived. Snegurochka had a
wonderful time for the first time in a long time since winter began, when
she decided to pick flowers from the woods with a group of local village
girls. The other girls decided to make a fire when it began to get dark
and began playfully jumping over the flames. Snegurochka decided to join
in and jumped, but suddenly melted and evaporated into a white
cloud...
The Fisherman and the Fish
...Once upon a
time, there lived an old poor fisherman and his wife. They lived in an old
mud hut. One day, the man caught a golden fish, but the fish pleaded for
its life and asked to be set free. The kind old man granted the fishes
wish and set it free. As he let the fish go, the golden fish said she
would fulfill any wish he made. The man was startled to hear a fish speak
and just let the fish go. When he returned home, he told his wife what
happened and she yelled at him saying what a fool he was not to make a
wish. She ordered him to go and make a wish, which he did and it was
granted. The wife became more and more greedy, asking for more and more,
eventually becoming the Empress of the Land. Her last wish for the fish to
become her servant. The old man obeyed his wife’s wish, but when he
returned home, he found his old mud hut, his poor wife, his broken trough
and the fish was never to be seen or heard from again.
The Frog Princess
...Once upon a
time, there was a tsar who had a competition between his three sons. They
had to shoot an arrow as far as they could and would marry the woman where
the arrow landed. The youngest son, Ivan wasn’t so lucky when his arrow
landed in the swamp. He ended up having to marry a frog. When the tsar
wanted his son’s wives to sew a shirt, he was discouraged, but the frog
told him not to worry. When he awoke the next day, he was excited to see a
beautiful shirt. His father liked that shirt the best. Turns out his frog
really was a princess, but Ivan made a huge mistake when he threw out the
frog princess’ skin and she disappeared. Prince Ivan searched the forest,
sparing several animals that would later help him rescue his princess Vasilisa the Wise. Ivan and Vasilisa lived happily ever after.
The Humpbacked Pony
...Once upon a time, there lived a peasant
family that couldn’t figure out who was trampling their wheat field. The
two oldest brothers decided to stand guard all night, but had no luck due
to storms and cold wind. The third brother, whom everyone thought was a
fool, managed to catch the mare. The mare begged the youngest son, Ivan,
to let him go and return promised him two golden-maned steeds and a small
humpbacked pony. The two brothers became jealous and decided to steal and
sell Ivan’s two steeds. While looking for his stolen steeds with help from
the mare, he found a glowing feather from a firebird. The tsar decided to
buy the two steeds at the fair, but they broke free and went back to Ivan.
The tsar in turn offered Ivan a job, seeing how well he handles the
steeds. A young, beautiful maiden agreed to marry the tsar only if he
could find her ring, which he did with the help of Ivan and the humpbacked
pony. The young maiden decided the tsar was far too old for her and
convinced the tsar he’d have to dip his head in three different hot
cauldrons to gain his youth. He ordered Ivan to test the cauldrons first
and Ivan emerged from the last cauldron a handsome man. The tsar decided
to go ahead with his challenge, but was boiled alive. Ivan and the young
maiden married and lived happily ever after ruling the kingdom.
Ruslan and Ludmila
Many, many years ago, the was a fantastic feast
celebrating the wedding of the knight Ruslan and the princess Ludmila.
Unfortunately, Ludmila was kidnapped by the evil sorcerer, Chernomor.
Ruslan and three other knights, who also wanted to marry her, set out
looking for her. Although Chernomor made her life very comfortable, she
still missed her true love Ruslan. Her only solace was the fact she could
make herself invisible to the sorcerer by wearing his hat backwards.
Chernomor decided to trick her and disguised himself as Ruslan in order to
find her, but she passed out unconscious once she realized it wasn’t her
Ruslan. Ruslan was able to defeat Chernomor by cutting off his beard, but
was left for dead by one of the knights, Farlaf. Fortunately, Ruslan was
saved by a good wizard and awakened his Ludmila with a magic ring. Once
they were reunited, Ruslan and Ludmila lived happily ever after.
Sister Alionushka and Brother Ivanushka
A brother and sister ran away
from home in order to escape the cruel treatment of their stepmother. The
evil stepmother put a spell on the water wells in an effort to turn them
into a tiger, wolf or some other animal. The brother was so thirsty that
he drank from the third well and became a deer. The beautiful sister
decided to stay and live in the woods so she could take care of her
brother. The sister would eventually marry a king who came upon during a
hunting trip. The stepmother discovered they were still alive and killed
the sister, who was now a queen. She substituted her own ugly daughter
that she transformed to look like the beautiful queen. The queen's ghost
visited her infant son three nights in a row and the king figured out the
stepmother's plan. The queen came back to life and the evil stepmother was
burned at the stake. The ugly daughter was banished to the woods where she
was torn to pieces by the animals. The brother became human again at the
very moment she died. The brother and sister were reunited and the family
lived happily ever after.
The Tale Of Tsar Saltan
This is the storey of three
sisters. The youngest of three was chosen by Tsar Saltan to be his wife,
while the other two sister were made the royal cook and royal weaver. They
are jealous of course so when the tsarina gives birth to a son, Prince
Gvidon, they arrange to have the tsarina and her son shut up in a barrel
and thrown into the sea. The sea itself takes pity on them and they are
cast up on the shore of a remote island Buyan. The prince, having grown
quickly while inside the barrel, goes hunting. While out hunting he ends
up saving an enchanted swan from a kite. The enchanted swan is so grateful
that he creates a city for Prince Gvidon to rule, but he is homesick so
the swan turns him into a mosquito. In this guise he visit's Tsar Saltan's
court, where he stings his aunt's eye and escapes. Back in his distant
realm, the swan give Gvidon a magical squirrel. But he continues to pine
for home so the swan transforms him into a fly. In this guise he quickly
returns to Tsar's court and stings his other aunt in the eye. For his
third trip back to the Tsar's court, the swan transformed him into a wasp
and he sting's the nose of his grandmother. In the end he expresses a
desire for a bride instead of his old home, upon which the swan is
revealed to be a beautiful princess, whom he marries. He is visited by the
Tsar who is overjoyed to find his wife and newly married son.
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