Russian Myths

Russia is the largest country in the world, with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. Over a thousand years this multifaceted nation of shifting borders has been known as Rus, Muscovy, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago, it was reinvented as the Russian Federation. Russia is not an enigma, but its past is violent, tragic, sometimes glorious, and certainly complicated. Like the rest of us, the Russians constantly rewrite their history. They too omit episodes of national disgrace in favour of patriotic anecdotes, sometimes more rooted in myth than reality.

Vasilisa the Beautiful is a Russian fairy tale collected by a Russian poet, writer, editor, ethnographer and translator Alexander Afanasyev. It tells the tale of a beautiful girl named Vasilisa. When her mother dies, she gives her a magic doll. Her father remarries, and she gains an evil stepmother and two stepsisters. Despite the stepmother's attempts to diminish Vasilisa's beauty, she continues to grow more beautiful.

Finist Clear Falcon 's feather is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki (1855-1863). The story of a daughter who asks only for a scarlet flower when her father goes to market, instead of the luxuries her two sisters ask for. Two times her father forgets; the third time, he buys a scarlet flower from a mysterious old man as long as the daughter agrees to marry his son, Finist the Falcon. This sets in motion a tale of love, jealousy, and adventure as the two overcome many obstacles to their love.

Sister Alenushka, brother Ivanushka is a Russian fairy tale collected by Russian Slavist and ethnographer Alexander Afanasyev. A classic Russian fairy tale about Alyonushka and her naughty brother turned into a goatling.

Marya Morevna is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. Marya was a warrior queen who ruled a small kingdom and for some 10 years, kept Koschei the Deathless a captive in her castle's tower. The character Koschei is an evil immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.She fell in love with Ivan Tsarevitch, and while she was away on a campaign, he accidentally released Koschei. The evil wizard then abducted the queen and Ivan Tsarevitch was forced to find some way to kill him. Ivan was successful and was reunited with Marya.

Russkie narodnye skazki: Lisichka-sestrichka i volk, Lisa i zhuravl', Petushok - zolotoy grebeshok, Kot i lisa, Hitryy kozel, Volk i koza, Kolobok, Repka, Masha i medved', Mal'chik s pal'chik, Gusi-lebedi, Sestrica Alenushka i bratec Ivanushka, Havroshechka, Volshebnoe kol'co.

Когда-то давным-давно в одном персидском городе жили два брата Касим и Али-Баба. Али-Баба с самого утра и до позднего вечера рубил дрова, чтобы потом продать их на рынке и купить себе немного еды.

Russkaja narodnaja skazka - proizvedenie ustnogo tvorchestva russkogo naroda, odin iz vidov fol'klornoj prozy. V russkih skazkah russkij narod pytalsja vyskazat' svoe nacional'noe mirooshhushhenie, nastavit' svoih detej v pervobytnoj, no glubokoj zhiznennoj mudrosti, - razreshaja lezhavshie na ego serdce zhiznennye, nravstvennye, semejnye, bytovye i gosudarstvennye voprosy.

В сборник вошли наиболее известные сказки зарубежных писателей: Братья Гримм "Храбрый портняжка"; В. Гауф "Маленький Мук"; Г. Андерсен "Соловей"; Ш. Перро "Золушка"; Д. Харрис "Братец Лис и Братец Кролик"; Р. Киплинг "Слоненок"; О. Уайльд "Преданный друг"; Э.

Триста лет назад французский писатель Шарль Перро опубликовал сборник "Сказки матушки Гусыни".

Aleksey Nikolaevich Tolstoy - russkiy pisatel', poeht, publicist i dramaturg, sozdavshiy original'nuyu detskuyu povest' "Zolotoy klyuchik, ili Priklyucheniya Buratino", istoriyu o derevyannom mal'chishke s dlinnym nosom po motivam skazki Kollodi. S "Buratino" vyroslo ne odno pokolenie lyudey, umeyushchih smeyat'sya i druzhit', lyubit', byt' muzhestvennym i imet' v serdce mesto dlya sostradaniya, a povest' A. N. Tolstogo stala odnoy iz luchshih v detskoy mirovoy literature.

Знаменитые немецкие филологи-фольклористы братья Гримм, Якоб (1785 - 1863) и Вильгельм (1786 - 1859) до сих пор остаются одними из самых известных сказочников планеты.

V nekotorom gosudarstve zhil-byl car', holost - ne zhenat. Byl u nego na sluzhbe strelok po imeni Andrej. Poshel raz Andrej-strelok na ohotu. Hodil, hodil celyj den' po lesu - ne poschastlivilos', ne mog na dich' napast'. Vremja bylo k vecheru, idet on obratno - kruchinitsja.

Возвращаясь в поезде в Петербург с заболевшим сыном, он под стук колес рассказывал ему сказку про крокодила. Ребенок очень внимательно слушал. Прошло несколько дней, Корней Иванович уже забыл о том эпизоде, а сын запомнил все, сказанное тогда отцом, наизусть. Так родилась сказка "Крокодил", опубликованная в 1917 году.

12 января 1628 года в Париже, во времена мушкетеров и завитых париков, родился тот, кого сегодня называют одним их самых великих сказочников - Шарль Перро. Именно он написал всеми любимых "Красную шапочку" и "Мальчика с пальчик", "Синюю бороду" и "Спящую красавицу". Его сказки удивительно волшебные и реалистичные одновременно.

"Alisa v Strane Chudes" - skazka, napisannaja anglijskim matematikom, pojetom i pisatelem Charl'zom Ljutvidzhom Dodzhsonom pod psevdonimom L'juis Kjerroll i izdannaja v 1865 godu. V nej rasskazyvaetsja o devochke po imeni Alisa, kotoraja popadaet skvoz' krolich'ju noru v voobrazhaemyj mir, naseljonnyj strannymi antropomorfnymi sushhestvami.

Surviving the ill-fated expedition to Knnot, Valeria, Alik, and the others have found refuge in Valeria's village. Though Val should find comfort in reuniting with her family, everything has changed—including herself. For now, Val is the Pale God's chosen champion. And she is ready for revenge on the Czar.

The tale is about a fisherman who manages to catch a "Golden Fish" which promises to fulfill any wish of his in exchange for its freedom. Narrated by Tim Mirkin.

A collection of funny tales in which magic is sure to be present! There is not a single child in the whole world who would not like fairy tales! Especially folk tales transmitted from generation to generation. The wise Russian people composed many fairy tales: funny and sad, magical and everyday, long and short, fairy tales for the youngest children and older children.

Russkie narodnye skazki: Carevna-lyagushka, Ivan-carevich i seryy volk, Finist-yasnyy sokol, Nikita-Kozhemyaka, Skazka o molodil'nyh yablokah i zhivoy vode, Morskoy car' i Vasilisa Premudraya.