A certain king has three wonderful, princely sons. But none of them has a bride! So the king decides to fix the problem, and test their virtue at the same time. Each of them must shoot an arrow up into the sky. Wherever it falls, there they will find their bride.
Poor Ivan, the third son, shoots his arrow straight into the swamp. But not only does he find a bride there, he also gets more than he ever bargained for…
In the analysis section, Nicholas Kotar explores the strange, but compelling fact that stories of talking animals appear in nearly every folkloric tradition since ancient times. What do these stories say about us? Might they be reflections of some deep, primordial desire for something we lost?
The Frog Princess
In a certain kingdom, in a certain land, there lived a king. He had three sons–all of them young, single, strong and good-looking, such fine specimens of manhood that you could hardly describe it in a story, hardly explain in in words. The youngest was named Ivan the Prince.
One day the king called them all together and said, “My dear boys! Take each of you a single arrow, find the tightest bow you can find, and send flying that arrow, each in a different direction. Wherever that arrow falls, there you’ll find your bride.”
The eldest nocked his bow, and his arrow fell in the yard of a boyar, right in front of the women’s quarters. The middle son nocked his bow, and his arrow feel on the porch of a gorgeous house. On that porch stood a maid, the daughter of a rich merchant.
As for Ivan, his arrow fell into a dirty swamp. For a long time he couldn’t find it, then he saw it lying in the reeds. A slimy frog was holding it.
Ivan the Prince said aloud, “How can I take a frog for a wife? A frog is no equal to a king’s son!”
“Take her as your wife,” said the king. “It seems that’s your fate.”
And so all three prices had their weddings. The eldest was married to the boyar’s daughter, the middle son to the merchant’s daughter, and Ivan the Prince married … the frog!
Then the king called them to himself and said, “my boys! I want your wives to weave me a rug in a single night.”
Ivan the Prince came back to his room sad, his head hanging below his wide shoulders.
“Kwaa-Kwaa, Ivan the Prince! Why are you so sad? Has your father said something unkind to you?”
“How can I not be sad, frog? My father the king has ordered you to weave a silk rug overnight!”
“Don’t be sad, my prince! Go to bed now. The morning is wiser than the evening.”
The frog tucked him into bed, and as soon as he fell asleep, she shed her frog-skin and turned into a beautiful Princess, Vasilissa the wise. She came out to the porch and called with a loud voice ,
“come out my dear servants. Gather and help me make a silken rug like I used to sit on in my father’s house. “
No sooner said than done.
In the morning, Ivan the Prince woke up, and to his surprise the frog had long completed her silk rug , and it was so beautiful that you could hardly describe it in story, hardly explain it in words. it was woven with gold and silver thread, and intertwining dizzying decorations.
Even the Prince was happy , took the rug, and brought it to his father.
Then the other brothers brought the rugs that their wives had made overnight. The King looked at the rug of the eldest , and said, “that rug is only good enough to put at the threshold .”
then the King looked at the rug of the middle son. “That rug is only good enough to wipe your shoes on.”
But then the King looked at the rug of Ivan the Prince, and he gasped in wonder . “That’s a rug that can only lie in front of the King’s throne .”
Some time passed. The King called his sons to himself once again , and said , “Have your wives bake me a loaf of bread by tomorrow morning .”
Ivan the Prince came back to his room sad, his head hanging below his wide shoulders.
“Kwaa-Kwaa, Ivan the Prince! Why are you so sad? Has your father said something unkind to you?”
“How can I not be sad? The King my father commanded you to prepare him a soft white loaf of bread by tomorrow .”
“Don’t be sad, my prince! Go to bed now. The morning is wiser than the evening.”
The frog tucked him into bed, and as soon as he fell asleep, she shed her frog-skin and turned into a beautiful Princess, Vasilissa the wise. She came out to the porch and called with a loud voice ,
“Come out my dear servants! Gather and help me make a loaf of bread, the kind that I used to eat in the court of my father the King .”
In the morning Ivan the Prince woke up, and the frog had prepared the bread long ago, and it was so beautiful that you could hardly imagine it hardly guess at it, only tell about it in story. it was a raised red with decorations so intricate that from the side you could see it was covered as though with the towers of a King’s Palace.
Ivan the Prince was thrilled, he put the bread into a towel , and came to his father. At that moment, the King was accepting the breads from his elder brothers. The King looked at the bread of the eldest, and sent it to the servants table . He looked at the bread of the middle son, and sent it to the same place. but then Ivan the Prince brought his bread, and the King said,
“Now that’s the kind of bread that we only eat on a feast day .”
Some more time passed. Then the King called his sons to himself, and said, “I want you and your daughters to appear tomorrow as a feast called in their honor .”
Ivan the Prince came back to his room sad, his head hanging below his wide shoulders.
“Kwaa-Kwaa, Ivan the Prince! Why are you so sad? Has your father said something unkind to you?”
How can I not be sad? The King my father commanded you to appear With me at a feast in your honor . How will I show you to the whole world?”
“Don’t be sad, my prince! Go on to the feast without me , I’ll come afterwards. As soon as you hear a loud noise and Thunder, just tell everyone that it’s your frog in her little box.”
And so the elder brothers appeared at the feast with their wives , who were dressed to the nines for the occasion. They saw Ivan come by himself, and they mocked him, “Well, well, brother. Why did you come without your wife? Couldn’t you at least have put a shawl on her? And where oh where did you find such a beauty? You must have looked and looked through the whole swamp!”
Suddenly there was a loud noise and Thunder, so loud that the entire Palace shook to its foundations. All the guests we’re frightened , jumped up out of their seats, not knowing what on earth to do. but even the Prince got up and tried to calm them down.
“Don’t be afraid, dear friends. That’s just my frog arriving in her little box .”
Suddenly, everyone saw a wondrous Golden carriage arriving at the steps of the Palace , led by six glorious horses. Out of that carriage came Vasilissa the wise, a beauty so fine that you could hardly describe it in story , hardly explain it in words. she took Ivan the Prince by his hand , and led him to the feasting table.
Everyone began to eat and drink and make merry. But Vasilissa the wise only drank a little, then poured the rest into her left sleeve. Then she ate a bit of Swan, and put the rest into her right sleeve.
The wives of the elder brothers saw what she was doing, and decided to do the same thing. Then Vasilissa the wise began to dance with Ivan the Prince, she waved with her left hand, and suddenly a Lake stood in their midst. She waved with her right hand, and all along that Lake Swans began to swim. The King and all the guests were amazed !
Then the elder wives began to dance, waved their left hands , but only splashed all the guests. Then they waived their right hands and only landed the bones in the King’s face. The King was furious, and sent them out of the room.
In the meantime, Ivan the Prince found an appropriate moment , ran to his room, found the frog skin, and threw it in the fire . Vasilissa the wise ran in after him , but nowhere could she find her frog skin. She got so sad , and turned to her husband, and said,
“Oh, Ivan the Prince! What have you done? If you had waited only a little bit longer, I would have become yours for all time period but now, farewell! You will only find me beyond the thrice nine lands into the thrice tenth Kingdom, into the Kingdom of Koschei the Deathless.”
She turned into a white Swan, and flew out the window. If on the Prince began to cry bitterly, then he left and went wherever his eyes led him. Whether he went near or far, whether he walked for a long time or a short, suddenly he saw an old man walking in the woods.
“Hello young man. What are you seeking, and where are you going?”
The Prince told him his unhappy tale .
“Oh, Ivan the Prince! Why did you burn the frog skin? It was not you who put it on, it was not for you to take it off! Vasilissa the wise was born more cunning and more wise even than her father . For that, because he envied her, he cursed her and commanded that she be a frog for three years. Here is a skein of thread for you. Wherever it rolls, follow it boldly.”
Ivan the Prince thanked the old man, and went in the wake of the skein of thread. he walked and walked and then he came out into an open field. Ivan the Prince knocked his arrow and was just about to kill the bear, when the bear spoke in a human voice,
“Don’t kill me, Ivan the Prince! I will be useful to you someday.”
Ivan the Prince didn’t touch the bear, and went on his way. He went further and further, and suddenly he saw a Mallard flying above him. the Prince knocked his arrow, and was just about to shoot the Mallard, when suddenly the Mallard spoke in a human voice,
“Don’t kill me, Ivan the Prince! I will be useful to you someday.”
Ivan the Prince felt sorry for the Mallard and went on his way. Suddenly a rabbit ran right in front of him. Ivan the Prince knocked his arrow, began to aim, but the rabbit spoke to him in a human voice,
“Don’t shoot me, Ivan the Prince! I will be useful to you someday.”
The Prince felt sorry for the rabbit and went on his way all the way to the banks of the deep blue sea. Then he saw, lying on the sand, a huge Pike.”
“Oh, Ivan the Prince! Have mercy on me, throw me back into the ocean!”
The Prince did so, and went on his way walking alongside the shore.
Whether a long time or a short past, the ball of thread led him to a hut . There it stood on chicken feet, spinning around itself. Ivan the Prince said,
“Hut! Hut! Turn with your back to the forest, and your front to me!”
The hut did so. The prince walked in and saw quite a sight: On the stovetop, on the ninth brick, Baba Yaga with her bony leg lay there, her nose growing all the way to the ceiling. She was sharpening her own teeth.
“Well there, young warrior! Why have you darkened my doorstep?” asked Baba Yaga.
“Oh, Baba Yaga with the bony leg! Why are you asking me questions? First you should feed me, give me drink, let me wash in the bathhouse, and then you can ask me anything you like.”
And Baba Yaga did! She fed him, gave him drink, let him wash in the bathhouse, and then the prince told her that he sought his wife, Vasilissa the Wise.
“Oh! I know all about that,” said Baba Yaga. “She’s stuck in the kingdom of Koschei the Deathless. It will be hard to get her out, you know, not easy to deal with Koschei. After all, his death is on the end of a needle, but that needle is in an egg, and the egg is in a duck, and that duck is inside a rabbit, and that rabbit is inside a chest, while that chest is in the branches of a tall oak tree, and Koschei’s vigilant eye never leaves that oak tree.”
Then Baba Yaga showed Ivan the prince where the oak grew. Ivan the Prince came to that place and didn’t know how to get the chest down. Suddenly, a bear showed up out of nowhere and pulled the tree out, together with its roots.
The chest fell and broke into pieces, but out of that chest a rabbit ran out as fast as the eye could see. Suddenly, Ivan the Prince saw another rabbit running after it. It caught the rabbit and tore it into shreds.
Out of the rabbit, a duck flew up and into the sky. But then, a mallard swooped in out of nowhere and struck the duck with his bill. An egg fell out of the duck and into the waters of the deep blue sea.
Ivan the Prince, seeing the failing of all his plans, sat down and began to weep. But then, out of nowhere, a pike swam right up to him. It was holding an egg in its teeth.
Ivan the Prince took the egg, broke it apart, and pulled out a thin, sharp needle. Then he broke off its tip. No matter how much Koschei resisted it, no matter how much he thrashed from side to side, he had no choice in the matter. His death got to him and finished him off.
Ivan the Prince entered the palace of Koschei the Deathless, took Vasilissa the Wise by her lily-white hand, and returned to his own kingdom. And they lived happily ever after.
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