Russian Fairytale: The Spotted Hen

Once upon a time there lived Grandma and a Grandpa. They were very poor, and often went hungry.

One of their few earthly belongings was a hen, which laid very few eggs. One day the hen laid a golden egg. Grandpa set it on the table and called his wife. They discussed what they should do with the egg. Grandpa thought that if they took it to the tsar they might be honored as nobles

and given some land.

“But what good is it to be nobles if we have no finery?” Grandma asked.

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Russian Fairytale: Morozko – Father Frost

Many years ago there lived an old widower and his pretty, diligent daughter Nastenka. With time, the man married a second time to a woman, who had her own nasty and lazy daughter, named Marfa. The woman doted upon Marfa, praised her at any opportunity, and she despised and hated her stepdaughter. Nastya had to work hard every day, and nevertheless her stepmother was always unsatisfied and made her work more and more

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Russian Fairytale: The Frog Princess

Two or three hundred years ago in some kingdom there lived a Tsar who had three sons. One day the Tsar called his sons and said, “My children, all of you have grown up to a manhood. It is time to think about marriages. Each of you should shoot an arrow as far as you can. The girl who catches your arrow will be your bride whom you will marry.”

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Russian Fairytale: Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka

Once there lived an old man and his wife, and they had a daughter named Alyonushka and a son named Ivanushka.

The old man and the old woman died, and Alyonushka and Ivanushka were left all alone in the world.

“I am dying of thirst, Sister Alyonushka. May I drink out of the hoof?”

Alyonushka set off to work and took her little brother with her. They had a long way to go, and a wide fie (more…)

Russian Fairytale: Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird, and the Gray Wolf

A Very long time ago in a certain kingdom there reigned a Tsar who had three sons, the first was Dimitriy Tsarevich, the second – Vassiliy Tsarevich, and the third – Ivan Tsarevich. The Tsar had a magnificent orchard, where grew his favorite magic apple-tree with golden apples. However every night a Firebird fell into the habit of flying on that apple-tree and tear away few apples. Its feathers were red-and-gold, and bright as a fire, her eyes were like Eastern crystals.

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