151 Tales Form Russia

Once upon a time, an old man planted a turnip. After a few days, it grew and became an enormous turnip. The old man decided to pull the turnip out of the ground. He tried very hard but couldn’t pull it out. So, he called out to his wife for help. The wife took hold […]

In a certain kingdom, there lived a King who was getting old and his vision had become poor. He had heard of a garden with apples of youth that would make a man grow young, and well with the water of life that would restore his vision. He called his three sons and asked them

Once, there lived a mighty Tsar named Visalev who had a magnificent orchard of which he was very proud. But every night, a firebird came to his favourite apple tree and stole away golden apples. Feeling upset, he called his three sons to help. The Tsar said, “Whoever catches this firebird, I will give him

Once upon a time, there was a King who had twelve beautiful daughters. All of them slept together in one room in twelve beds. When they went to bed, the doors were shut and locked up. Nevertheless, every morning their shoes looked quite worn as if the princesses had danced all night. But nobody knew

In a small Russian village, there lived an old man and an old woman. They had a daughter named Alyonushka and a son named Ivanushka. Soon, the couple died, and Alyonushka and Ivanushka were left all alone in the world. Alyonushka had to go out to work and Ivanushka went along as he was too

Once upon a time, there was a Princess who never laughed. Throughout her life, she did not even smile. Her father loved her very much and felt very sad to see her like this. He made the announcement that whoever made the Princess laugh would marry her. Soon, the palace was filled with clowns, jugglers

Once, a Prince married a beautiful Princess but soon had to leave for a long journey. The Prince asked her not to leave her chamber and to avoid wicked people. The Princess promised to do so, and as soon as the Prince left, she locked herself in her chamber. One day, a woman who was

Once upon a time, there was a rich merchant named Marko. He was a miser. One day, he went for a walk. On the way, he saw an old man sitting and begging in the name of Christ. Though Marko noticed him, he walked past him. At the same time, a poor man came walking

Once upon a time, there was an old woman. Her son was a fool. One day, the fool found three peas. He picked them up and planted them outside the village. When the shoots came up, he began to guard them. One day, he saw a crane pecking at them. The fool quietly went and

Shabarsha, a peasant, was upset as the harvest that year was bad. His master racked his brains about how to take care of the cattle and where to get some money from. “Don’t worry, master!” Shabarsha said to him. “Just give me the day, and I’ll find a way!” Then, he went to the mill

Once upon a time, there were two peasants, Ivan and Naum. Together, they decided to go to another village and look for work. They kept travelling and finally came to a well-off village. They were hired by different masters. After working for a week, they met on Sunday. “My dear friend, how much have you

Once upon a time, a couple had a daughter named Masha and a two-year-old son, Vanya. One day, the mother and the father were going out for work. They asked Masha to look after herself and her little brother. Masha carefully listened to her parents but as soon as they left, she seated her brother

Once, a peasant was sowing seeds in a field. The King came riding along, and asked the peasant, “How much do you earn from this field?” The peasant replied, “Some eighty rubles if the harvest is good.” The King, then, asked him what he did with the money. The peasant said, “I give twenty rubles

Once upon a time, there was a proud young pike. One day, it so happened that the foolish pike decided to leave his home in the water and live like the cat. He was either jealous of the cat’s easy, comfortable life or perhaps he was fed up of eating fish dinner every day. He