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, along 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 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 envied 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!
Vasilisa endured everything without complaint and every day she grew prettier and plumper, and meanwhile the stepmother and her daughters grew thin and ugly with 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, how would a girl cope with all her 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, my evil stepmother is driving me out of the 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 the next morning she does all the work for Vasilisa, she just rests in the cold and picks flowers, and her beds are already weeded, and the cabbage is watered, and water is applied, and the stove is heated. 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 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 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 has arrived. The stepmother gave all three girls evening work: she made one weave lace, the other knit stockings, and Vasilisa made her 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!—?The pins make me light! - said the one who wove the lace. “I won’t go.” “And I won’t go,” said the one who was knitting the stocking. “The knitting needles give me light!” “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, 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, but always keep me with you.” 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 there were human legs, instead of locks there were hands, instead of a lock there was 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 herself, shouted: -? Fu, fu! Smells like the Russian spirit! Who is here? 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 will eat you!
Then she turned to the gate and cried out: “Hey, my locks are strong, open up, my gates are wide, open up!” The gate opened, and Baba Yaga drove in, whistling, Vasilisa came in after 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 splinter from those skulls that were on the fence, and began to take food from the oven 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 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 answered: -? 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 courtyard, whistled - a mortar with a pestle and a broom appeared in front of her. The red horseman flashed by and 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 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 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 was coming. Vasilisa met her. “Is everything done?” - asks the yaga. -? Please see for yourself, grandmother! - said Vasilisa. Baba Yaga looked at 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 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 seed and took it away from my eyes. 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 like a mute?—?I didn’t dare,” answered Vasilisa, “and if you allow me, then 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 to you, a rider on a white horse, white himself and in white clothes, overtook me: who is he?—?This is my day. clear,” answered Baba Yaga. “Then another rider on a red horse overtook me, he himself is 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 aren’t you asking yet? - said Baba Yaga. -? I’ll have enough of this, you yourself, grandmother, said that you will learn a lot - you will grow old. -? It’s good, - said Baba Yaga, - why are you asking only 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’ll ask you: how do you manage to do the work that I assign you? “The blessing of my mother 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 set off 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 home. 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 couldn’t make it themselves, and the fire they brought from their 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 how 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. We have accumulated a lot of yarn, it’s time to start weaving, but they won’t find enough reeds to 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 a horse’s mane, I’ll make it all 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 but the king to wear such a linen, so I will take it to the palace.
The old woman went to the royal chambers and kept pacing past the windows. The king saw it 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 except you.” The king ordered the old woman to be let in and when he saw the canvas, he was astonished. “What do you want for it?” - asked the king. -? There is no price for him, father king! 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 spin and weave such a cloth, know how to sew shirts from it.” “It wasn’t me, sir, who spun and wove the cloth,” said the old woman, “this is the work of my stepchild, the girl.” “Well, let her do it!”
The old woman returned home and told Vasilisa about everything. “I knew,” says Vasilisa, “that this work would not escape my hands. She locked herself in her room, 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 worked the shirts for him, and to reward her from his royal hands.” Vasilisa went and appeared before the Tsar’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 at her fate and stayed 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.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru