Summary of “Vasilisa the Beautiful”
In a certain kingdom there lived a merchant. His wife died, and he remained with the only daughter Vasilisa the Beautiful, who was then 8 years old. Dying, the mother blessed her daughter and gave her a doll, saying:
– Take care of the doll, and when you have some kind of grief, give her food and ask for advice. She is tempted – and will say, than to help misfortune.
The merchant was burned for some time after the death of his wife, and then married a widow with two daughters. He hoped that the widow would be a good mother for Vasilisa, but she was mistaken: she turned out to be a wicked and greedy woman. And she, and her daughters envied the beauty and good nature of Vasilisa, tortured her with work, offended. Vasilisa tolerated everything without resentment and every day she grew prettier. And she helped her to do the hard work and protected the doll-sorceress – mother’s gift.
One day, when the merchant left for business for a long time,
One day, in the autumn, the stepmother gave everyone an evening job – to weave lace, and she went to bed, turning out the light everywhere and leaving the girls with only one candle. But the daughter’s stepmothers put out this single candle specially to send Vasilisa to Baba Yaga. Vasilisa gathered, put the doll in her pocket, crossed herself and went at night to the dark forest to Baba Yaga for the light. Vasilisa is walking through the forest, trembling. Suddenly he sees a white horseman riding a white horse, then a red horse on a red horse, and finally a black horse on a black horse. Soon I saw Vasilisa the hut of Baba Yaga. A fence is around the hut, and people’s skulls with burning eyes are on the fence. The orphan was trembling with fear, not knowing where to run.
But here I heard a terrible noise in the forest: the trees
Vasilisa explained to her who she was and why she came here. She listened to Baba Yaga and agreed to give a fire, but on one condition:
“Live with me and work, then I’ll give you fire.”
And every day, flying away on business, began to ask Baba Yaga Vasilisa work one harder than the other. But with the help of the pupa, the girl managed to do everything.
Vasilisa was a smart and inquisitive girl, and she really wanted to know who the horsemen were, whom she met in the forest, coming to the hut of Baba Yaga. And once Vasilisa dared to ask his mistress about this.
“It’s morning, day and night,” Baba Yaga replied.
And then she asked how the girl managed to cope with all the problems. Vasilisa explained that her mother’s blessing helps her.
– So that’s it! cried Baba Yaga. “Get away from me, blessed daughter!”
Then she took a skull with burning eyes, gave it to Vasilisa and said:
“And this is fire for your stepmother’s daughters.”
When Vasilisa returned home, the eyes of the skull so menacingly began to look at their stepmother and their daughters and burn them, that by morning they had turned into coal. And Vasilisa, waiting for her father, settled in the city with a friend of the old woman, she learned how to weave a very thin cloth and sew a shirt from him. These shirts so pleased the king, that he decided to get acquainted with the needlewoman, fell in love with her, and soon married.
That’s the end of the tale.
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