Week 14 Extra Reading Diary: Russian Fairy Tales cont.

Image Information. The Headless Princess. Source: Abyssual

The Witch Girl:

Death visits every night. Cut off the intruders arm, the family wasn’t killed. Found the witch by looking for someone with a cut off arm. Witch was drowned.

The Headless Princess:

Enchantress daughter. Princess who took off her head when she washed herself. Kid to read psalms over the princesses body. He said no because he thought she was a witch. Don’t look behind you. Boy did all he was told, the witch princess did not get free, and the king rewarded the boy handsomely.

The Warlock:

Father’s death wish. Wives did not follow them and so he strangled two of three. Third one was too smart and got lots of money for outsmarting the dead father.

The Fox Physician:

Cabbage stalk kept growing and growing. Went to carry his old woman up the stalk and she got smashed to pieces. Fox ate the old woman up. Old man left alone and in poverty.

The Fiddler in Hell:

Prosperous man who died without telling his children where all of his money was. Because he did not give to the poor or give his money to his children, he was to be tortured in the afterlife. If he didn’t eat for three years he would be saved. Released from depths of hell.

The Two Friends:

Marriage pact. Except one man died. The other one got married. Invited his dead friend to the wedding. Dead friend invites him into his grave for a drink. While he drank hundreds of years passed. Lost his wife after he escaped because so much time had passed.

The Shroud:

Stolen shroud. Girl who disrespected the dead disappeared from sight.

The Coffin-Lid:

Fell into a grave. Corpse trying to tell them how to be brought to life. Moujik escaped and told the town. They vanquished the corpse and he was given great honor.

The Two Corpses:

Two corpses that reanimated. Wanted to eat a soldier. Daybreak and they deanimated and the men were saved.

The Dog and the Corpse:

Graveyard in the dark. Decides to just keep going. Came across a corpse. Dog saved him. Left his dog behind. Dog followed him and tried to attack him. Dog disgusted that his master had not helped him with the corpse. Never forgot how the master had offended him. SO THEY KILLED IT.

The Soldier and the Vampire:

God punishment. Warlock sitting by a fire in a graveyard. Warlock invited soldier to a wedding. Warlock going to kill the soldier. A haunting. Turns out the couple actually had died that night. Soldier says he can bring them back to life. Burned warlock alive.

Week 14 Reading Diary A: Russian Folktales

Image Information: Mother and child. Source: Acuarela de Suset Maakal

The Dead Mother:

Death after childbirth. Despairing father. Baby cried all day and refused to eat. Slept peacefully though. Something was coming in at night to suckle the babe. Dead mother was feeding her baby from her dead breast in the clothes she had been buried in. Baby died after the townsfolk saw her and she left.

The Treasure:

Poor old couple. Woman died and no one would help him dig a grave for her. He couldn’t afford a funeral for her so even the pope turned him away. Went to dig the grave himself. Worked hard and found huge pot of money at bottom of grave he dug. Took the money and used it to buy his wife a coffin and a grave and a funeral and feast. Evil pope set out to trick old man and steal his money. God punished the pope by merging him with the goatskin he used to trick the old man.

The Bad Wife:

Woman who disobeyed her husband and didn’t listen to anything he told her. Did the opposite of what he asked always. Decided to push her into a pit in the woods. So bad she even scared the demon out of the well.

The Three Copecks:

Poor orphan. Worked for three years for three copecks. Bought a kitten with them. Worked for another man. Gave the kitten to him to catch mice on a ship. Kitten saved man. Decided to rip off the orphan boy and almost died. Changed his mind. Repented his sin. Orphan boy spent all the gold praying to god. Riches or a good wife? Got a wife?

The Miser:

Rich man borrowed money from a poor man. Refused to pay him back. Even faked his own death. Never paid him back.

The Water Snake:

Snake holding a maiden’s clothes for ransom. Cost=marriage. She agreed because she thought it impossible to be held to her word and marry a snake. Forgot all about it. Until a mass of snakes came and stole her away. All the snakes turned into people once in the pond. Not allowed to go see her mother. Eventually went to see her with her children. Mother asked the girl how she was to go back to her husband and used the intel to kill the husband. When she found out her and her children turned into birds.

Friday:

Mother Friday. Must pay reverence to her. Great sin to dishonor her.

Wednesday:

Young maiden asked Mother Wednesday to aid her and help her wake early so she could finish her sewing. Came to her aid; spun her cloth and they bleached it together. Strangle her or scald her with the linen after she goes to fetch water. Tricked her out of her cottage. Didn’t go away until Thursday.

The Leshy:

Girl disappeared. Hunter killed a leshy in the woods. Found the lost maiden in the Leshy’s house crying about who would now take care of her. Given to the hunter as a thank you for saving her. Never found the hut again.

Dneiper, Volga, and Dvina:

Once a boy and his two sisters. Grew up with no luck. So poor. Lots of toil and work just to make end’s meet. Sisters left their brother by the stream. He became steam to follow after them.

Emilian the Fool:

Three brothers—two smart, one not. The two brothers’ wives took advantage of the fool while the brothers were away. Got luck in the woods and things could happen if he asked them to at the Pike’s command.