151 Tales Form Russia

Once, a horse’s skull was lying in the open field. It was picked up by the ants and cleaned. Now, it shone bright white in the sunlight. A little burrowing mouse came passing by. He saw the white skull, and thought it to make it his own palace. He called out, “Little house, little house! […]

Once upon a time, there lived a fox and a hare. The fox lived in the house of snow and the hare lived in the house of wood. The spring came and the fox’s house melted. The house of the hare stood firm. So, the fox asked the hare if he could come in to

Once, there lived two brothers, one rich and the other poor. One day, the poor brother went to the rich one to borrow a horse as he wanted to get wood from the forest. The rich brother gave him the horse but not the horse-collar. The poor brother tied the sledge to the horse’s tail

Once, there was an old man named Abrosim. He lived with his old wife Fetinia and a son, Ivanushka. They were very poor and could barely survive. One day, the old man brought home a crust of bread for his wife and son. Hardly had they begun to cut it when Krutchina (Sorrow) came from

Once, there lived an old widowed hunter, Kokovanya. He had no family, so he adopted a little orphan girl, Daryonka. Daryonka asked Kokovanya if she could take her kitten along with her. Kokovanya agreed and all of them started living together. They were not rich but lived a comfortable life. The old man went to

Once upon a time, a Pope’s daughter went for a walk into the woods without taking permission from her father or mother. She lost her way. Her parents tried to search but could not find her. Three years passed. Now, in the same woods where her parents lived, there was a brave hunter. On every

Once upon a time, there lived a King. He was so powerful that whenever he sneezed, the people in his kingdom were bound to say ‘To your good health!’ Everyone said it except the shepherd with the glaring eyes. The King got to know this and was very angry. He ordered the shepherd to be

In a small village in Russia, there lived two brothers, one rich, the other poor. The rich brother went to live in the town and became a merchant. The poor brother became very poor and did not have anything to feed his children. One day, he went to meet his rich brother and asked for

Once, there lived a King and a Queen. The King wished to go out in the world and try his strength battling with the other kings. So, he called his ministers and ordered them to get the army ready to march towards a far-off country where a heathen king ruled who was cruel and ill-treated

There was deep snow in the forest. The branches of the trees were laden with snow. Huge lumps of snow kept falling on the ground under the trees. In the middle of this forest was a small hut. It was made up of pine logs cut from the forest. Inside the hut, Maroosia sat with

Once in Russia, there lived a Tsar and a Tsarina. They had one daughter, Marya Tsarevna. After some time, the old Tsarina died and the Tsar married another woman who was in reality a witch. Now, the witch had three daughters, one of whom had one eye, the next two eyes, and the third had

In a small Russian city, a merchant lived with his wife. They had a son, Vasili, who was wiser than his age. Once, when all of them were having their lunch, a nightingale who sat in a cage over the table started singing sadly. The merchant was angry and could not bear it. He said,

Once upon a time, two old serfs lived together for many years without a child. In their old age, they prayed for a child. After seven years, their prayers were answered and the old woman gave birth to seven sons, who were all named Simeons. When they were ten years old, their father died. Simeons

Once upon a time, there were three brothers. They lived in a small village on the shore of the Volga River. The two elder brothers were married. They were merchants. The youngest Emelya was foolish, lazy, and despised work. While Emelya’s brothers went out to work, he sat on a warm stove in the kitchen.

In all the legends, St. Nicholas is regarded as a kind character. This quality was attributed to him in the story in which he and Prophet Ilya were introduced together. It was autumn. One afternoon, a Russian peasant was driving along a heavy road. All of a sudden, his cart stuck fast in the mire.